Fear and Trembling

Antinomianism, crassly stated, is the idea that a person can be a Christian without doing good works.   It is a separation of good works from true Christian profession.   Sometimes called “easy believism,” the idea of antinomianism is common in some Christian circles today. I have treated the necessity of good works in the life of a Christian in a post called “Faith + Works” on this blog.   In that post, I discussed John H. Gerstner’ s approach to antinomianism.   Gerstner teaches that people must necessarily do good works if they are Christians.   Those works do not earn them salvation, but they must be present in Christian’s lives.   Martin Luther, the great protestant reformer, first used the term “antinomian.”   Luther wrote, “Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever…Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” (“ Holiness Wars: Antinomianism in Church H...

Michael Scott Horton reviews Rob Bell’s Love Wins at this link . Mike Licona reviews Forged by Bart Ehrman at this link . Thank you Mike and Mike for reading those books and reviewing them for the rest of us.

I finished a book a few weeks ago by Michael Horton called Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 2008). The book is intended to diagnose and describe formidable problems facing the evangelical church in the U. S. In blogging terms, the book is a ‘rant,’ but it’s a powerful one. (Horton promises a “more constructive sequel “ to propose solutions (p. 27), and I look forward to that book.) Horton applies his keen, analytical mind in a devastating critique of a church that consumes a “regular diet” of “do more, try harder.” The book resonates with me as I have endured this many times. I have sat through sermon after sermon of “weekly calls to action” instead of the clear and simple statement of the gospel of salvation apart from my own works. (17) I have found much of what our Southern Baptist churches do to be vulnerable to Horton’s pointed criticism. He says of our theologically vacuous teaching that it “is not profound e...