What the Bible says about Paul not Antinomian
(From Forerunner Commentary)

1 Samuel 15:22-23 Saul had convinced himself that God would accept an extravagant offering of animal flesh, bestowing on Him great honor and glory for their victory over the Amalekites, in place of his simply doing what He said. Put another way, the king had prioritized a pious demonstration of worship (read, appeasing gift) over obedience. Samuel's inspired response is essentially, "Sorry, Saul, but you got it completely backward!" As the prophet says, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (see Mark 12:33). God looks more favorably on a person who takes His Word at face value and single-mindedly follows its direction than on someone who blithely excuses his failures and reframes them as "opportunities" to bring God glory. This latter attitude is perilously close to the apostle Paul's rhetorical question, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1). The explanation for Samuel's declaration of God's priorities appears in I Samuel 15:23: "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." Not doing as God says is not merely disobedience but rebellion: "open opposition toward a person or group in authority," as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it. In other words, it is a manifestation of an individual's active, anti-God nature. Disobedience to God's commands puts a person on the wrong side of the battle line dividing right from wrong. Such a one may as well have taken up arms against God! His comparison of rebellion to witchcraft can seem strange at first, since insurrection and sorcery appear to have little in common. However, the comparison is not focused on the kinds of sin they represent but on their magnitude: Rebellion is just as bad as witchcraft. Disregarding God's clear commands is just as spiritually dangerous as getting involved in demonism. In fact, rebellion is one of the demons' great sins. Both rebellion and divination lead a person away from God, and without repentance, open a place for him in the camp of the demons. This is why God rejected Saul as king over His people. He would not have a declared enemy ruling over Israel. A few clues in the chapter show that this singular act of rebellion over the punishment of the Amalekites was not the first, although it may have been the worst. For one, Saul speaks to Samuel of "the LORD your God" three times (I Samuel 15:15, 21, 30), suggesting that the LORD was not truly his God but Samuel's. By this time, he appears to have begun going through the motions of serving God, but he had no personal devotion to Him. For another, despite being the undisputed leader of the nation, he blames the people for failing to do as God commanded (I Samuel 15:15, 21, 24). His shifting of blame is just an evasion, since he could have ordered the animals and other plunder destroyed at any time. He probably did not want Agag and the spoils of war destroyed because he had other plans for them—most likely to enrich himself and to reward his soldiers to keep their loyalty. In this light, his seeking of pardon for his sin and his worship of God are a sham (I Samuel 15:24-25, 30). He is merely saying the right words, but they are not from his heart. There is no contrition for his grievous sin. In fact, in the second instance, after Samuel tears the kingdom from Saul, the king does not even bother to ask for forgiveness. Instead, he requests that the prophet join him as he worships God—a cynical act of political theater. Undoubtedly, God knew Saul's heart had been trending away from Him for a long while, and his willingness to compromise in the Amalekite matter was simply the last straw. The man had declared himself a rebel and would not return to Him. So, Samuel proclaims: The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent. (I Samuel 15:28-29) God's decision was final because Saul's rebellion had hardened into permanent character. He was as apostate as a witch. This vignette has dire ramifications for those nominal Christians who believe that it is no longer necessary to obey God's commandments, many of whom do not keep even those from Jesus Himself! While God desires that we worship Him and wants us to be sincere in doing it, He wants us even more to take His commands seriously and make obeying them an integral part of our lives. It is so vital that Jesus tells the rich, young ruler, "If you want to enter into [eternal] life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). Reason tells us that refusing to keep them will deny us eternal life. Later, Jesus commands His disciples in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." If we strive to do this in faith and without compromise, He will provide the grace we need and lead us to salvation. Richard T. Ritenbaugh Rebellion as Witchcraft Related Topics: Antinomian Influence on Christianity | Antinomian Protestantism | Loving God is Keeping Commandments | Paul not Antinomian

Romans 3:31 When we understand how our faith in Christ's sacrifice upholds God's law, we can better understand the rest of Paul's letter. Grasping the meaning of this one line reveals that what seems like the apostle faltering between two opinions is actually a brilliant argument to keep his audience from two errors: » One is thinking too highly of our works, such that we use them to commend ourselves to God when they are, in reality, simply our duty. God will never be in our debt. » The second is thinking that, since works cannot justify us, they are of no value at all. This faulty conclusion leads to assuming we can live however we please, and God's grace will cover it all. This antinomian misreading of grace is the error of those who disregard God's standards as they hum their way to destruction. Paul's teaching in these chapters harmonizes with his Savior's warning of the coming judgment: Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23; emphasis ours) Neither keeping the law nor doing works of charity will justify us. On the other hand, both withholding good from our neighbor and practicing lawlessness—continuing in sin—will separate us from our Savior. The correct reading is that God justifies us freely through belief in His Son's redemptive work to give us a clean slate to begin a spiritual relationship with God and learn how to live by His every word (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4). David C. Grabbe How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part Two) Related Topics: Antinomian Influence on Christianity | Antinomian Protestantism | Antinomianism | Disregarding God's Law | Lawlessness, Practicing | Living by Every Word of God | Paul not Antinomian | Works Do not Justify

Romans 9:16 The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:5 that we are part of the church "according to the good pleasure of [God's] will." So we are not where we are because we desired it, willed it, or earned it. We are here because of God's mercy. The Jews thought they were in the position they were in because they were so good and had the law. The first drastic effect of this was that they were circumventing God's supremacy, His sovereignty over His creation. The second effect was that they were also circumventing the true way of justification because, according to them, justification was something God owed because one earned it. Therefore, the Father's grace and Christ's sacrifice flew right out the window, and from their perspective, Christ had died in vain. Paul could see that this was nothing more than a vanity trip, made in ignorance undoubtedly, but nonetheless completely and totally wrong. They could say, "Look how great we are that we can do these wonderful things, so that even God is indebted to us!" Samuel Bacchiocchi writes in his book, Biblical Perspectives: One's status before God came to be determined by one's attitude towards the law as a document of election and not by obedience to specific commands. The law came to mean a revelation of law God's electing will manifested in His covenant with Israel. Obviously, this view created a problem for the uncircumcised Gentiles because they felt excluded from the assurance of salvation provided by the covenant. This insecurity, naturally led Gentiles to desire to be under law, i.e., to become full-fledged covenant members by receiving circumcision, and Paul felt compelled to react strongly against this trend because it undermined the universality of the Gospel. (p. 103) Because of these factors, Paul appears in Galatians to be quite anti-law. First, because of the matter of justification. Justification is achieved through Jesus Christ, not by our works. Second, because we do not come to God through a covenant system of law. We are drawn to God because He elects to call us. So, with both of these issues, Paul had to address law. In every case, he was against it. If we do not understand what he is talking about, we cannot but conclude that he is anti-law. However, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water, as it were. We cannot throw out what God has graciously given for our guidance on how to live simply because a group of misguided people has devised incorrect concepts about law and our relationship with Him. No, we must get rid of the wrong concepts, which is Paul's aim in Galatians. John W. Ritenbaugh The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Five) Related Topics: According to God's Purpose | According to His Will | Circumcision | God's Mercy | Justification | Paul not Antinomian

 

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