According to the National Catholic Register, the Cardinal has warned several popes (including current Pope Leo XIV) about the loss of litrugical tradition and the growing threat of antinomianism. Here's the lowdown in this polysyllabic nemesis:
In every age, Christianity has wrestled with distortions of its core message. Among the most persistent and spiritually dangerous of these is antinomianism—the belief that moral law no longer applies to the lives of believers. The word itself, drawn from the Greek anti (against) and nomos (law), literally means “against the law.”
It suggests that once a person is saved by grace, the commandments of God become irrelevant. But this idea, though cloaked in the language of freedom, ultimately undermines the very foundation of the gospel and must be firmly rejected.
At first glance, antinomianism may seem to exalt God’s grace. After all, the Christian faith teaches that salvation is not earned through good deeds or obedience but is a gift, given freely through faith in Jesus Christ. This truth was championed by the Catholic Apostle Paul and later by Martin Luther during the Reformation.
But antinomianism takes this truth and stretches it beyond recognition. It claims that, because grace abounds, there is no longer any need for moral responsibility. The law, it insists, has no more claim on the believer’s life.
Yet Scripture speaks powerfully against this notion. Paul, anticipating this error, writes in Romans 6: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Far from casting off the law, Paul calls believers to a life of holiness, not to automatically earn salvation, but simply because they have been made new in Christ. Grace, rightly understood, does not free us to sin—it frees us from sin.
Antinomianism, by contrast, invites a kind of moral laziness. It erodes the seriousness of sin, discourages repentance, and divorces faith from obedience. It tells the believer, “You are saved, so do as you please.” But Jesus never said this. In fact, He warned that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom, but only those who do the will of the Father. He declared that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it—and then called His followers to a higher standard of righteousness rooted in love, truth, and purity.
Moreover, the New Testament, which opens the door to salvation, is also filled with commands for Christians to live morally upright lives. James reminds us that faith without works is dead. The writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to pursue holiness, “without which no one will see the Lord.” And the book of Titus tells us that the grace of God teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and live self-controlled, upright lives.
The practical consequences of antinomian thinking are as troubling as the theology behind it. When grace is turned into license, churches and communities suffer. Sin is incresaingly ill-defined and effectively minimized. Accountability disappears. Hypocrisy grows.
Some of the most destructive movements in church history have stemmed from this very mindset—groups that claimed spiritual enlightenment while indulging in immorality or selfishness under the banner of freedom. This is what happens when traditional guardrails are weakened or removed altogether.
Ultimately, antinomianism is not just a theological mistake; it is a betrayal of Christ’s call to discipleship. Jesus did not die simply to forgive us, but to transform us. To be a Christian is not merely to be declared righteous, but to be made new—day by day, by the power of the Holy Spirit. According to Catholic teaching, bedience to God’s law, then, is not a burden but a joyful response to His grace. As Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
In truth, Catholics believe that the Christian life is not freedom from the law but freedom to fulfill the law through love. Far from abolishing moral responsibility, grace empowers it. The believer is not lawless, but guided by the Holy Spirit and shaped by the example of Christ.
In this light, antinomianism must be recognized for what what the good Cardinal says it is: not a deeper understanding of grace, but a dangerous counterfeit. As Luther (again, of all people!) correctly stated, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” Faith and obedience walk hand in hand—and it is in their union (and that challenge) that the beauty of the Christian life is truly revealed.
No comments:
Post a Comment