An Open Letter To Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian

A great post on Tullian Tchividjian's blog .... An Open Letter To Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian

There seems to be a fear out there that the preaching of radical grace produces serial killers. Or, to put it in more theological terms, too much emphasis on the indicatives of the gospel leads to antinomianism (a lawless version of Christianity that believes the directives and commands of God don’t matter). My problem with this fear is that I’ve never actually met anyone who has been truly gripped by God’s amazing grace in the gospel who then doesn’t care about obeying him. As I have said before: antinomianism happens not when we think too much of grace. Just the opposite, actually. Antinomianism happens when we think too little of grace.

Wondering whether this common fear is valid, my dear friend Elyse Fitzpatrick (in C.S. Lewis fashion) writes an open letter to Mr. Grace-Loving Antinomian–a person she’s heard about for years but never met–asking him to please step forward and identify himself.

Enjoy…

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Dear Mr. Antinomian,

Forgive me for writing to you in such an open forum but I’ve been trying to meet you for years and we just never seem to connect. While it’s true that I live in a little corner of the States and while it’s true that I am, well, a woman, I did assume that I would meet you at some point in my decades old counseling practice. But alas, neither you nor any of your (must be) thousands of brothers and sisters have ever shown up for my help…So again, please do pardon my writing in such a public manner but, you see, I’ve got a few things to say to you and I think it’s time I got them off my chest.

I wonder if you know how hard you’re making it for those of us who love to brag about the gospel. You say that you love the gospel and grace too, but I wonder how that can be possible since it’s been continuously reported to me that you live like such a slug. I’ve even heard that you are lazy and don’t work at obeying God at all…Rather you sit around munching on cigars and Twinkies, brewing beer and watching porn on your computer. Mr. A, really! Can this be true?

So many of my friends and acquaintances are simply up in arms about the way you act and they tell me it’s because you talk too much about grace. They suggest (and I’m almosttempted to agree) that what you need is more and more rules to live by. In fact, I’m very tempted to tell you that you need to get up off your lazy chair, pour your beer down the drain, turn off your computer and get about the business of the Kingdom.

I admit that I’m absolutely flummoxed, though, which is why I’m writing as I am. You puzzle me. How can you think about all that Christ has done for you, about your Father’s steadfast, immeasurable, extravagantly generous love and still live the way you do? Have you never considered the incarnation, about the Son leaving ineffable light to be consigned first to the darkness of Mary’s womb and then the darkness of this world? Have you never considered how He labored day-after-day in His home, obeying His parents, loving His brothers and sisters so that you could be counted righteous in the sight of His Father? Have you forgotten the bloody disgrace of the cross you deserve? Don’t you know that in the resurrection He demolished sin’s power over you? Aren’t you moved to loving action knowing that He’s now your ascended Lord Who prays for you and daily bears you on His heart? Has your heart of stone never been warmed and transformed by the Spirit? Does this grace really not impel zealous obedience? Hello…Are you there?

Honestly, even though my friends talk about you as though you were just everywhere in every church, always talking about justification but living like the devil, frankly I wonder if you even exist. I suppose you must because everyone is so afraid that talking about grace will produce more of you. So that’s why I’m writing: Will you please come forward? Will you please stand up in front of all of us and tell us that your heart has been captivated so deeply by grace that it makes you want to watch the Playboy channel?

Again, please do forgive me for calling you out like this. I really would like to meet you. I am,

Trusting in Grace Alone,

Elyse

Two Opposing Paradigms

"Imagine two people, both trying to obey the law of God, yet they operate from these two opposing paradigms. Both want to keep the Sabbath day, but in one case the obedience is a burden, an enslavement; while in the other it's a delight, a gift. How can that be? One paradigm is religion, which - as we observed before - is fundamentally advice. The other is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which begins and ends with news. These are two completely different things."

- Tim Keller, King's Cross

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When I think of advice, I think of something I need to do or not do in the future. When I think news, I think of the newspaper. You are reading about what is already done. The Scriptures are revealing to us NEWS about what Jesus has already done for us what we could never do. That is awesome.

Like One Who Finds Great Spoil

Sometimes I think we have a tendency to think God's grace is opposed to His law. That grace=good and law=bad. But this is not how the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 119. It is true, that God's law does bring us knowledge of sin, and drives us to God's grace as the source of our redemption and justification. Yet, God's law is also given for our good.

God didn't give us the commands as a 'booby trap' per se, where it is just a road block to make us turn to him. The law, the commands, are for our good. Does a Father give his young child rules just so the child knows he's an idiot and needs grace. No. Having rules will show the child how often he breaks them, and how much he needs mercy. But, the rules are also there out of the Father's care and provision. They are their because the Father loves the child. More so, when the child comes to a greater knowledge of the Father's love and delight towards him, the child will begin to willingly obey and delight in the Father's rules. They are no longer burdensome, because the child knows the Father loves him unconditionally, and has given him these commands for his good. My point is this, I think a lot of the time we have an overly Lutheran view of the law where ANY mention of the law is bad. Any mention of commands is BAD! I just don't think that is biblical at all. The law does give us knowledge of our sin. It is the hammer that crushes any hope of self-justification, leading us to look to Christ's finished work as our only hope of being righteous before God. Yes! But, for those who are children of God, there is great delight in the good commands our Heavenly Father has given us. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we can't earn God's love or favor by our obedience to the law, yet, it is right that we delight in His commands. It is right that we should find ourselves gravitating more and more towards imitating the written inscription of God's moral character. As God's grace transforms us, as children, we will begin to trust and delight in the commands our gracious Heavenly Father gives us.

"I rejoice at your word,
like one who finds great spoil.
I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love your law....
I hope for your salvation, O LORD,
and I do your commandments.
My soul keeps your testimonies;
I love them exceedingly.
I keep your precepts and testimonies,
for all my ways are before you.
Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word,
for all your commandments are right."

Psalm 119: 163-172

That a People May Praise the LORD

"Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: 'The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death'"

Psalm 102:19-20

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"

Ephesians 1: 3-7

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death"

Romans 8: 1-2

Run John Run

A poem by John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim's Progress and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners)

"Run, John, run, the law commands

But gives us neither feet nor hands,

Far better news the Gospel brings;

It bids us fly and gives us wings"

What Role Does the Law Have in Preaching?

An excellent article on Justin Taylor's blog about the law and preaching.

What Role Does the Law Have in Preaching?

Spurgeon: The Covenant Blessing

Mike, your last post was very insightful. Thank you for your consistent encouragement in your words. I learn a lot and love reading how God is transforming your mind. I just recently came across this passage in Spurgeon's Grace: God's Unmerited Favor...bulwark.

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"However, when God comes in the covenant of grace, He does not merely give us the law in a book--the law written in legible characters--but He comes and writes on the fleshly tablets of our hearts. That way, the man knows the law by heart. What is even better, he loves the law. That law accuses him, but he would not have it altered. He bows and confesses the truthfulness of accusation. He cries, "Lord, have mercy upon me, that you may incline my heart unto Yourself, to walk in all Your ways, and to keep Your commandments and Your statutes" (See 1 Kings 8:58). This is the covenant blessing: God makes men to love His commandments and to delight themselves in truth, righteousness, and holiness."

Earlier he writes...."It is a covenant of grace, a covenant made, not with the worthy, but with the unworthy; a covenant not made upon conditions, but unconditionally, every supposed condition having been fulfilled by our great Representative and Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ."

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What a wonderful reminder that God's grace is not only completely responsible for our salvation in our atonement, but also, for our sanctification, as we come to love his perfect law which he has given to us as a gift. God is always the actor. It is through His word, and the by the power of the Holy Spirit that we, the unworthy, may know our Creator and Redeemer.

The Law: Good or Bad?

I often think when we here about The Law, we instantly pit Law against Grace or Law against the Gospel. There are some good reasons for this. For one, the Law, (or God's Holy moral code) condemns us. When we look at the law, and then look at our lives, we are able to see the sin and defilement of our hearts. We fail to live up to the laws standards. In this sense, the Gospel frees us from the condemnation of the Law. Christ fully met the requirements of the Law and has imputed his obedience to us. Therefore, we not under the condemnation of the Law. We are free from this aspect of the law.

But, I don't think it is biblical to stop there in our discussion of the Law, or to think the Law is bad. Calvin talked about another use for the law (he called it the 3rd use), whereas Christians are to 'delight in God's law'. The logic is simple.

1) The Law is the written transcript of God's character

2) Christians, being in Christ, are in the process of being conformed to His image

3) Therefore, as Christians grow and are conformed to Christ's image, we will naturally obey His law. We will take delight in obeying God's law in being conformed to His character. It will be a joy.

Now, it is important to separate obeying God's law out of sonship and out of legalism. Christians do not obey the law in order to be accepted by God. Our acceptance was already accomplished by Christ and rests fully in God's grace. However, we increasingly obey the law because we are in Christ, and as our nature is renewed in the Spirit, we are inclined to love God. And how do we love God, well Jesus tells us pretty clearly, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3)

Do vs. Done

"The law says, Do, and you'll win;
But grace says, Live, for all is done;
The former cannot ease my grief,
The latter yields me full relief."

Ralph Erskine

Law and Grace

The following are Martin Luther's comments on the Epistle to the Galatians...

"It is an absolute and unique teaching in all the world, to teach people, through Christ, to live as if there were no law or wrath or punishment. In a sense, they do not exist any longer for the Christian, but only total grace and mercy for Christ’s sake. Once you are in Christ, the law is the greatest guide for your life, but until you have Christian righteousness, all the law can do is to show you how sinful and condemned you are. In fact, to those outside of Christian righteousness, the law needs to be expounded in all its force. Why? So that people who think they have power to be righteous before God will be humbled by the law and understand they are sinners. Therefore we must be careful to use the law appropriately. If we used the law in order to be accepted by God through obedience, then Christian righteousness becomes mixed up with earned/moral righteousness in our minds. If we try to earn our righteousness by doing many good deeds, we actually do nothing. We neither please God through our works-righteousness nor do we honor the purpose for which the law was given. But if we first receive Christian righteousness, then we can use the law, not for our salvation, but for his honor and glory, and to lovingly show our gratitude. So then, have we nothing to do to obtain this righteousness? No, nothing at all! For this righteousness comes by doing nothing, hearing nothing, knowing nothing, but rather in knowing and believing this only — that Christ has gone to the right hand of the Father, not to become our judge, but to become for us our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our salvation! Now God sees no sin in us, for in this heavenly righteousness sin has no place. So now we may certainly think, “Although I still sin, I don’t despair, because Christ lives, who is both my righteousness and my eternal life.” In that righteousness I have no sin, no fear, no guilty conscience, no fear of death. I am indeed a sinner in this life of mine and in my own righteousness, but I have another life, another righteousness above this life, which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows no sin or death, but is eternal righteousness and eternal life."