Dallas Willard on Antinomianism
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In his book The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard teaches through the Sermon on the Mount. He offers this assessment of the Western church.
If people in our Christian fellowships today were to announce that they had decided to keep God’s law, we would probably be skeptical and alarmed. We probably would take them aside for counseling and possibly alert other responsible people in the group to keep an eye on them. We would be sure nothing good would come of it. We know that one is not saved by keeping the law and can think of no other reason why one should try to do it.
This leaves us caught in a strange inversion of the work of the Judaizing teachers who dogged the footsteps of Paul in New Testament days. As they wanted to add obedience to ritual law to faith in Christ, we want to subtract moral law from faith in Christ. How to combine faith with obedience is surely the essential task of the church as it enters the twenty-first century.
Do you agree? Is antinomianism prevalent in the church today? Or is the church too concerned with unnecessary rules and regulations? Have we over-reacted to legalism to the point of lawlessness?
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The goal is to stay in the middle, not to become a legalist and also not to become a friend of sin. It’s called living by the Spirit. At the end of the book of Romans Paul applies the truth of the gospel and says if we are going to honor that gospel we will do three things. Honor God, love the brethren, obey the government.
Sounds a lot like the great summary of the Law that Jesus gives. “Love God. Love others.”