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Titus 2:11–14
“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness.”
Now that we have considered what the Scriptures say about the use of God’s law as restrainer, mirror, and guide, we can move on to consider two common but mistaken views of the law that have appeared again and again in church history. The first of these is antinomianism, which will be the subject of today’s study. Antinomianism is a combination of the prefix anti-, which means “against” or “in place of,” and the Greek word nomos, which means “law.” Antinomianism, being “against the law,” teaches that believers today are in no sense obligated to obey the law of God.
Radical antinomianism says that believers can live however they want. Such antinomians believe that we can impenitently lie, cheat, steal, and even murder and yet still be assured of salvation. This kind of radical antinomianism is not very common, though it does exist. A lesser but still dangerous version of antinomianism would say that Christians should not sin but that we should not depend on the law to define right and wrong. This kind of antinomianism in our day sometimes manifests itself in an ethic that says that the Holy Spirit will, apart from His inspired Word, tell us what is right and wrong. Some say that instead of an ethic defined by law, we must follow whatever “love demands” in a particular situation, but that love is defined subjectively and is not guided by any objective norm.
Antinomians sometimes appeal to texts that say that we “are not under law but under grace” to justify their rejection of the law. Yet while Paul does indeed teach that we are not “under law” (Rom. 6:14), he very clearly does not mean that we may therefore engage in licentiousness. Thus, not being under the law cannot mean that we can sin with abandon now that Jesus has come. Instead, not being under law means that we are not bound to sin but are bound to Christ and to holiness, as the Apostle makes plain throughout Romans 6. In fact, as we see in today’s passage, Christ died precisely to free us from lawlessness (Titus 2:11–14). To not be under law means that we are not under the law as a covenant of works to earn our salvation. To not be under law means that we are not enslaved to sin as are those who are in Adam, that we are not those who can take the law and only pervert it to increase their transgression. To not be under law does not mean that the commandments of God revealed in the Old Testament should be ignored. They continue to define what true love is, guiding us in living in a manner that pleases God (Rom. 13:8–10).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The New Testament’s teaching on the law of God is complex, but it very clearly teaches that the moral law continues to be an authority for the believer. “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). This does not mean that we must be perfect to be saved, but it does mean that those who are impenitent and who do not seek to follow the commands of Jesus do not actually belong to Him.
For Further Study
- Exodus 19:5–6
- 2 Corinthians 6:14
- 1 John 1:5–7
- 1 John 2:1–6
- 1 John 3:4–10