Does Justification-Centered Sanctification Lead to Antinomianism?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:05.680 | Steve writes in to ask this, "Pastor John, can our emphasis on gospel-centered
00:00:10.400 | sanctification, rooted in our justification, lead to antinomianism?"
00:00:15.440 | In the sinfulness and finiteness and fallibility and cultural limitations of the human heart,
00:00:24.720 | any way of thinking can lead to any other way of thinking.
00:00:29.760 | [Laughter]
00:00:31.920 | In my sin, in our sin, we are not rational. Sin is not rational. It's insane. It's irrational.
00:00:41.920 | It's suicidal. So if it looks like there's no possible path from God-centeredness and
00:00:49.360 | justification to a lawless life, that's a mirage. There is a path from anywhere to anywhere in the
00:00:58.000 | mind of the flesh. In the darkness of sin, two plus two is five. And gospel plus justification
00:01:06.560 | is antinomianism. But that's not probably what Steve is asking. He probably knows this. He wants
00:01:16.720 | to know, well, how might it lead there? I mean, how might it lead there? So let me just think
00:01:23.680 | out loud for a minute. Let's start with a robust affirmation for gospel-centered life. Yes,
00:01:29.200 | absolutely. What else would you want your life to be centered on but the gospel? And let's start
00:01:34.640 | with a robust affirmation of justification-rooted sanctification. Where else would you want to root
00:01:41.360 | your justification than in the fact that God has declared you righteous before him already?
00:01:47.440 | There certainly is no sanctification for the unjustified. So yes, yes, yes. Gospel-centered
00:01:54.080 | life, justification-rooted life. But the question is, how does the gospel work at the center? How
00:02:02.960 | does calling it central give it effectiveness in our lives? There's the question. Until we explain
00:02:10.080 | how the gospel centrality brings about justification or brings about sanctification,
00:02:17.120 | we're just sloganeering, probably. And how does justification work as the root of sanctification?
00:02:27.840 | How does the declaration of righteousness bring about the fruit of righteousness? Paul says,
00:02:36.240 | Paul prays in Philippians 1, "Believers should be filled, that believers would be filled with
00:02:42.720 | the fruit of righteousness." How does justification help that happen? That's where we can go off the
00:02:48.800 | rails. And what I have found is that when we start talking about this, the devil is in the
00:02:55.920 | definitions or the absence of the definitions. There's a common saying, "The devil is in the
00:03:01.920 | details." Well, right. Broad-sweeping generalizations are hard to disagree with
00:03:08.720 | because they don't say anything clear and specific. The devil is in the detailed definitions,
00:03:16.160 | and the truth is in the detailed definitions, and we can't recognize the one from the other
00:03:20.640 | until we get to those detailed definitions. So on this issue of justification and sanctification,
00:03:27.280 | the term antinomianism is often, it's not defined enough for me to know what to say. I'm not sure
00:03:35.280 | what people are referring to when they talk about it. It contains the word law, nomian, and anti,
00:03:43.200 | which means against or in the place of, so it can mean a person is against the law as a way of
00:03:50.640 | salvation. But what's in mind with the word law here? All imperatives, Mosaic law, whole Old
00:03:59.760 | Testament, ceremonial law, ethnic Jewish markers, and what is meant by the word way, in way of
00:04:06.960 | salvation. Do they mean law-keeping as a way of earning salvation, or do they mean way in the
00:04:14.560 | sense of path, so that they are saying we don't even walk in the path of love, which is a fulfillment
00:04:21.200 | of all the law? So I just want to scream sometimes, say, "Oh, for definitions, please, definitions."
00:04:28.560 | Does antinomian mean anti-godliness, anti-holiness of life, anti-fruit of the Holy Spirit,
00:04:34.800 | anti-obedience of faith? It would be a lot clearer if people said what they precisely
00:04:43.440 | mean if they're going to accuse somebody of being antinomian or if they're going to distance
00:04:48.800 | themselves from antinomianism. I'm just constantly crying out for definitions and for the freedom
00:04:56.720 | from ambiguities in the absence of these kinds of failed or absent definitions. So here's what I
00:05:08.560 | would ask a person who exalts in God-centeredness and justification in relation to sanctification.
00:05:15.040 | Does your view mean the obedience of faith or the work of faith, as it's called in 2 Thessalonians
00:05:24.560 | 111, or the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of righteousness, as it's called in Philippians 111,
00:05:30.400 | or practical holiness and purity of life? Does your view mean any of these are unimportant
00:05:38.240 | or unessential in the Christian life? And then I would say, "How important or how essential are
00:05:44.320 | they?" And then I would say, "How does the gospel at the center and justification at the root bring
00:05:51.600 | these about?" And the answer to those questions will reveal whether gospel-centeredness and
00:05:58.880 | justification-rootedness have begun to undermine a life of holiness or not.
00:06:06.160 | Thank you, Pastor John. So you left us hanging on how exactly gospel-centeredness and
00:06:11.120 | justification work. And so we'll go there tomorrow. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Ask
00:06:16.000 | Pastor John podcast, featuring longtime pastor and bestselling author, John Piper. Please visit us
00:06:21.520 | online at DesiringGod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources,
00:06:26.000 | all free of charge from John Piper, and all intended to help explain why God is most glorified
00:06:30.880 | in us when we are most satisfied in Him. I'm your host Tony Renke. We'll see you tomorrow.
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