*Download article in PDF Format	*Watch YouTube video

Antinomianism (Greek anti, “against”; nomos, “law”) is a Christian doctrine that asserts salvation is by faith and divine grace to the point of proclaiming that the saved are not bound to obey the laws of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. This article will refute the doctrine of antinomianism, also known as easy believism, which is a resurgent, widely held end time belief.

Antinomianism has been around in some form since the early Christian churches formed. The doctrine of antinomianism sprang forth from the Protestant Reformation and controversies concerning the law and the gospel. The doctrine was first attributed to Johann Agricola, an assistant of Martin Luther [1].

Antinomianism is soundly refuted throughout Scripture. Many who hold to the doctrine will proclaim that God’s laws are too difficult and / or impossible to follow. This false premise asserts that God has intentionally given mankind impossible laws to obey, so man was destined to fail at keeping them.

ARE GOD’S COMMANDMENTS TOO DIFFICULT TO DO?

DEUTERONOMY 30:9-16:
For this commandment which I command you today IS NOT TOO MYSTERIOUS FOR YOU, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, THAT YOU MAY DO IT.
See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love YHWH (the Lord) your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and YHWH (the Lord) your God will bless you…

ARE BELIEVERS REQUIRED TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS TODAY?

1 JOHN 2:3-6:
Now by this we know that we know Him, IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

MATTHEW 7:21-23:
“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 24:35; MARK 13:31; LUKE 21:33:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

ARE GOD’S COMMANDMENTS REALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW?

MATTHEW 17:20:
So Yeshua (Jesus) said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE for you.”

MATTHEW 19:26; MARK 10:27:
“With God ALL THINGS are possible.”

With God ALL THINGS are possible, not all things except obeying His commandments. It is an indictment against God, proclaiming Him to be a liar and an unfair taskmaster, if anyone proclaims that His commandments are impossible to follow. Yeshua (Jesus) has given believers a light yoke, which is to obey His commandments (Matthew 11:30). The easy yoke is not mere belief in Him, for even the demons believe (James 2:19).

REPENT AND BELIEVE OR REFUSE TO REPENT AND PERISH

HOSEA 4:6:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … forgotten the law of your God.

MARK 1:15:
“Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

LUKE 13:3,5:
“Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Antinomianism or easy believism, mere belief in Him for salvation through faith and grace only, while rejecting the necessity of repentance and obeying His commandments, is a doctrine of lawlessness and a phony license to sin freely.

1. “Antinomianism,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2016,
<https://www.britannica.com/topic/antinomianism>.