A.n.t.i.n.o.m.i.a.n.i.s.m

hmm...yesterdae's bible seminar was interesting, brought my mum along, hee :D here's a quick summary of wad we learnt:

*God talked abt walking e narrow road. Walking e narrow road /= (not equals to in case u din noe) being narrow-minded. "Wide and easy is e road tt leads to destruction".

*lawnessness(danger!)-----"narrow road"-----legalism(danger!)

*Legalism:

1) Divorcing the letter of e Word with e Spirit of e Word (doing wad is required, but having e wrong heart/mentality)

2) Adding legislation 2 e law of God n treating e addition as if it were divine law. (mostly traditions and worldly thinking e.g. attire, salvation by works, makeup, music, type of worship, etc.)

3) Relying on performance to merit favor frm God. (salvation is not by works, but by grace cos we can nv reach God by our own efforts cos His standard is way beyond wad we can even imagine). tts y He's called "God Almighty" in e first place...haha :D

God possesses 3 characteristics: omnipresence(everywhere at e same time), omniscience(all knowing), omnipotent(all-powerful). Tts y He can be both father, son, and spirit at e same time n yet they share e same personality, character, etc.

NOTE: conservative /= legalistic unless you become critical/bias/want others to feel e same way u do.

*Lawlessness: 3 types of Antinomianism ("anti"=against "logos"(gk.)=law)

1) GNOSTIC SPIRITUALISM - revolving faith round other ppl's personality and not e Word.
e.g. e doctrine of Marcion 85AD-160AD. (basically he split God into e OT God(obsessed with law) & e NT God(love n grace), talked abt no such thing as God's judgement and no 2nd coming. His purpose was to free ppl of condemnation, not of sinful nature).

2) LIBERTINISM (not liberty, but libertine/libertin, cant rem, haha). basically freedom with no restrictions. Bonhoeffer in 1945 rose against Hitler and against e doctrine of "cheap grace". Cheap grace is basically reffered to as LICENTIOUSNESS, which is grace giving u e license to sin even more, thinking tt "anyway i'll b forgiven".

3) SITUATIONALISM or (SITUATION ethics).
-Doing wad love requires even when u noe it's wrong. e.g to pay medical fees for grandma's op, u go n steal. But God said, "If you LOVE me, u will keep my commandments", not break them. :) another e.g is abortion. doing it out of love, for baby like "so tt he/she wont have to born to suffer", despite knowing its wrong.

*3 types of law mentioned in e Bible:

1) MORAL law / 10 commandments - reveals conditon of heart.
2) CIVIL law - reveals civility of nation
3) CEREMONIAL law - e word "ceremonial" tells it all =) e.g. e diff feasts for e Isrealites.

*Purpose of law:

1) The law acts as a MIRROR - reveals/reflects ur character according e God's standard of righteousness (who u are in God's eyes) e.g. shows u ur current standard of ur own character, reveals God's character, reveals God himself.

2) The law acts as a RESTRAINT - law does not prevent evil, law only restraints evil. e.g speed limits do not prevent accidents, they only increases awareness and seriousness (e.g. thru fines/prison/etc) and puts a restraint on ppl.

3)The law acts as a REVEALER-reveals standards and seriousness of sin. character, judgement, grace, etc.

In e time of e OT: covenant=a promise/agreement ; everlasting covenant= promise/agreement with an OATH.

*Abrahamaic covenant (gospel first shown to Abraham)
*430 yrs later e Mosaic Covenant/law of Moses-NOTE: this cov is only TEMP. - it is to tame e Isrealites in e desert. to show them wad is right, BUT it doesnt overwrite any other covenants. (leads them to e coming of e Messiah/New covenant).
*New Covenant (price paid by Jesus, and now is given freely to all who receive by faith).

Martin Luther: "If it hasnt been for e law, I would never have known my need for e gospel. I never would have seen the sweetness of e gospel, were i not exposed to the dreadful punishments of the law."

True faith always leads to true obedience =)