The Antinomian Accusation

(Col 2:14-15)  “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  (15)  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

There are a number of self-appointed heresy hunters within orthodox-evangelical Christianity. One accusation that they often level against those that teach the law was canceled and grace is the rule is this… they label them antinomian. NOMOS, is the Greek word for law and antinomian means against the law. So then, in English, antinomian is anti-law. What part of “canceling the record of debt” in Colossians 2:14 do they fail to understand? What was canceled anyway? The simple answer is the penalty of the debt, death. The cancellation of the penalty for all intents and purposes cancels the record also. Still the anti-nomian accusation continues.

The main proof text for their position comes from Jesus words. Matthew 5:17-20 says this; "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  (18)  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  (19)  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (20)  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” I have and entire blog post that deals with this passage; you can read it here. The crux of the post is that all has been fulfilled and jots and tittles have been removed.

When one looks at progressive revelation, and the way that the scripture unfolds the story of redemption, one sees that Matthew 5:17-20 was said to Jews who were under the law before the resurrection. I have time and again shown here that the New Testament is a document that shows a transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant. It runs the gamut from John the Baptist the last Old Testament Prophet, to Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, Pentecost, the solely Jewish Church, the inclusion of the Gentiles and the anticipation of the end of the age of Moses with the destruction of the temple. This becomes very important in the cancellation of the Law of Moses. Make no mistake it has been canceled.

I wish that the heresy hunters would engage in honest debate. I am quite certain that they will not. We need to become less afraid of the word heresy. It is time that someone unveils the simpleton behind the curtain pulling the levers. Heresy is a word that simply means not orthodoxy. Orthodoxy simply means the accepted theory. I have shown over and over again here, with a PREPONDERENCE  of scriptural evidence that the accepted theory of orthodoxy is grossly in error in so many areas.  Orthodoxy is wrong in their view of scripture… wrong in their view of eschatology… wrong in their view of the transformation process…. ah the lines of that song is coming back… “when will they ever learn… when will they ever… learn?