The Closet Antinomians Are Exposing Themselves

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To be an Antinomian is to teach that once you are saved, you can live the way you want.  The heresy of easy believism is really nothing more than closet Antinomianism.  Easy believism according to Theopedia defines easy believism which I will paraphrase for easy reading:

  • The definition of faith for the easy believist is that it's just a one-time decision, a mental assent to the bare facts about Christ.
  • They believe that sanctification and obedience are not necessarily results of salvation.  They believe that there's a difference between inheriting and entering God's kingdom.  They believe you can be saved, live the way you want and enter Heaven with no reward.
  • They also believe it's possible to be saved and apostasize and still be saved.  That is like a person may convert to another religion after making a profession of faith and still be saved.

These people tend to call people like me demonic or that I adhere to works salvation.  Before I'm going to refer again to Reformed Theology - let's look at the reality of Scripture to debunk their demonic heresy:
  • Faith in the Bible is not just static but dynamic.  James 2 and Hebrews 11 are a commentary to each other.  Hebrews 11 shows the great acts done by faith.  James 2 shows what true living faith is - if you really have faith then works will follow.  I didn't say that true faith is faith plus works but rather, faith begets works.  Justification in James in Greek is edikaiōthē (ἐδικαιώθη) or to prove one's faith is genuine.  The Bible gives us the right to doubt anybody's salvation if they claim to be saved but live like devils.
  • To divorce sanctification and obedience from Christian life is another heresy.  They say that when I say that true conversion results to sanctification and obedience is the fruit, not the root.  The heresy that says you must be 100% obedient to everything Jesus says is just as heretical as to say that a Christian will be 0% obedient to Jesus.  John 10:27 is frequently left out which shows that the sheep of Christ hear Him and follow Him.  Titus 2:11-14 shows that God's grace teaches proper behavior to Christians.  1 Corinthians 6:11 which some use to justify their sinful lifestyle says, "And such were some of you..." meaning you were once living a sinful lifestyle but now you are sanctified and you are justified. 
  • To say that you believe once and you are still saved - even if you don't believe afterwards is another heresy.  The Bible warns about departing from the faith.  Before, I thought it was possible to lose your salvation by choosing to reject Jesus after you are saved.  Later, the more I got into serious Bible study the more I realized from 1 John 2:19 that those who were not saved depart from the faith.  The Bible warns that many will claim to be saved but later they will end up departing from the faith.
What I find weird about the closet Antinomians is that they also may say something like, "Well I believe we should go good works."  However the more they preach, the more they really sound like, "Oh we can live the way we want and not worry about it.  All that matters is that at one point in my life, I prayed a prayer or I professed faith."  That is a very misplaced faith as their faith is not in Jesus Christ but on a decision made so long ago or prayed a prayer without understanding what the sinner's prayer really was about.  

I really challenge such heretics to really show I am teaching works salvation when I emphasize the Biblical truth that a true faith begets works.  When I finally ask the question they can say, "Oh I tried to be humble but you wouldn't listen." which ironically, they have condemned themselves as much as the works salvation crowd.  Their reason is because they believe in another Jesus that may be like the Madison Avenue Jesus rather than the Jesus of the Bible.  They may not want to admit it but they believe in a Jesus that saves people in their sins rather than from their sins.

If you think I believe that I am sinless, I don't because I am still in the body of flesh.  I believe even the greatest of Christians can fall into serious sin but the result is different.  Can a Christian sin... the answer is yes.  But can a Christian live in sin without the chastising of God?  Absolutely not.  Hebrews 12:5-6 says that God chastens and rebukes those He loves.  They may say, "Oh I believe that... and time will come God will just take the believer home."  God is too patient to immediately kill a Christian and sometimes, God will take a believer home not because they backslid but because it's their time.

As said, it's not the words we speak but the life we live that has the strongest content to what we believe.  It's just like how works salvation preachers can go ahead and accuse me that I am teaching a license to sin but they are living like they have it.  Likewise, Antinomians may go ahead and say they still believe in holy living but they don't have any holy living.  Both groups are equally on their road to Hellfire.


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