Antinomianism

What relation do works and faith have to one another? This has been an age old question and one that many men of the faith have struggled with their entire lives. When I speak on this topic, I am truly standing on the shoulders of giants. How can a Christian justify saying that unless you are producing good works, you are not saved? 

This statement needs to be prefaced, but at it's core, there is a pivotal truth to be grasped. In John 3, Jesus is talking to the pharisee Nicodemus. Nicodemus is an intellectual and a teacher who has come to Christ by night. Nicodemus probably wants to talk about the finer points of theology, but Jesus has another plan. He sees the real issue at stake. He says to Nicodemus, "You need to be born again." This baffles the pharisee. Jesus tells him that "unless a man is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh and that which is born of the spirit, is spirit." You see, Nicodemus had been placing his trust in his Jewish heritage. He had been missing the big picture. It wasn't about his genetics or about his circumcision, it was about his heart. The externals could not change the internal. Faith saves today and it has always been the means of salvation. John told the pharisees in Matthew 4 that God could raise up sons of Abraham from the stones! Circumcision could not and would not save them. Jesus had to.

Jesus compares his sacrifice to the snake upon the pole. Do you remember that story? God sent serpents to plague the Israelites in the desert. God told Moses to put a serpent up on a pole and that any man who wished to be healed may look upon it and be healed. This is such an incredible story because it demonstrates the free grace of God but it also demonstrates man's hardness of heart. Surely some Israelites did not look and thus died in their unbelief! This comparison is followed by the ever famous John 3:16. "...that anyone who believes upon him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Now that would settle it right? But Jesus goes on in verse 20 and 21,  "for every man that doeth evil hateth the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God." Faith causes action! Faith is not passive. One does not simply say, "I believe" and his unbelief disappears. Faith requires a work of God in man's heart. Ephesians 2 says that God quickened our dead souls and it also says that we are saved by faith and even that faith is a gift of God! This is so no man can boast. So the question comes, if by faith we are saved, what room have works? Let's see what John says.

1 John 2:3-6  "And hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he (Jesus) walked." John is absolutely crystal clear. If we are not seeking the Law of God, our faith is not real. James says that faith without works is dead. 

Here is where the problem arises. Am I saying that works save us? By no means! It is faith alone. As Martin Luther discovered, the righteous shall live by faith. It is through faith we are saved and made new. Yet, this faith must be real. A living and dynamic faith. Not a cold dead faith that is not faith at all. A living faith exhibits certain qualities. Just as a living human being performs functions such as breathing and heart beating, so too does a living faith exhibit a pursuit and love of God's commandments. A dead man may protest that he is alive, but if he does not exhibit the qualities of a living man, there is no way we can believe him! 

In summation, we are saved by faith alone in Christ's sacrifice to cancel the penalty of sin. But this faith exhibits a keeping of God's commandments. If that is not present, then it is not faith all. The problem is essentially a problem of cause and effect. The faith saves, but a living faith produces works. If you don't have the works, that is indicative of a dead faith. But I reiterate, it is the faith that saves.

God Bless,

Stanley

P.S. We are, of course, all sinners and we strive in this imperfectly. The key word is that we are striving. Romans says that no man seeks after God. If a man is seeking after God, it is only because God has quickened his dead soul because otherwise he would have no desire to commune with the Living God.

Enuma Elish

To compare the ancient Babylonian creation myth the Enuma Elish with the Genesis account is to compare apples and oranges. Yes, just as an apple and an orange are both fruits, the Enuma Elish and the Genesis account are indeed works of literature. That is where the similarities end.  Apples and oranges have different shapes, colors, tastes, textures, and come from different trees. Ultimately, this is the most important difference. The Enuma Elish is the product of a slave driven culture that is saturated with magic. The Creation Story is the very word of God. We can’t lose sight of that. When a pagan makes the assertion that they are so similar as to be counterfeits of one another (and usually the Bible is assumed to be the counterfeit), than they are perpetuating a ridiculous cliché.

            The obvious problem with claiming any sort of similarity is that the Enuma Elish isn’t really a creation story. It’s more a “puny gods decide to rearrange what’s already there” story. The water is already there. The fabric of space-time is already there. The gods are already there! Where did they come from? This stands in stark contrast to God’s creation of the universe ex nihilo. There was nothing but God. He spoke. Everything came into existence.  These two stories are fundamentally at odds with one another.

            Marduk is another serious issue with the Enuma Elish. Marduk simply is not like Yahweh. For one thing, Marduk has a father. God is eternally self-existent. Marduk is simply the greatest and strongest of the gods. What if a greater one were to arise? Just as Marduk’s father produced magnificent progeny, isn’t it possible for Marduk’s son to be even greater? There can be no threat to Jehovah’s glory and power. He is ultimate and transcendent in all His ways.

            In the Enuma Elish, men are simply cattle. The gods create the men out of pure laziness and greed for power. They do not show men love and their greatest act of mercy is sending crops.  In some ways, the Enuma Elish perpetuates a detached relationship between the gods and men. Men revere the gods and serve them in so far as they simply get what they want. After that, get back to your life.

            Yahweh shows us that He has so much more in store and a much greater purpose. The love between Him and the other members of the Trinity was so overflowing that, while He created us entirely superfluous to Himself, we are able to enjoy the benefits of His love and mercy. We are not His slaves. We are His sons. The Enuma Elish can never hold a candle to that.