on lawlessness

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Mat 7:23

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness. Mat 13:41

Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Mat 23:28

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Mat 24:12

Saying, Blessed are they whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Rom 4:7

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Rom 6:19

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 2 Cor 6:14

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 2 The 2:7

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:14

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. Heb 1:9

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds will I remember no more. Heb 8:12

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 1 Joh 3:4

Lawlessness, in every case above, is Strong’s G458, the Greek anomia, “without law.” It is a compound of a, the negative particle, and nomos, “law, commandment,” Strong’s G3551, which the Septuagint translators used to translate the Hebrew torah, Strong’s H8451, the Law of God.

For example, Exo 13:9 reads,

And it shall be for a sign for you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that YHVH’S law (torah, Strong’s H8451) may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand has YHVH brought you out of Egypt.

And in the Septuagint it reads,

That circled word is the Greek nomos, in Hebrew torah, the Law of God, and so it appears throughout the Hebrew Scripture and the Septuagint translation rendered into Greek.

We might read the words of Jesus in Mat 7:23, ‘Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ and think He is referring to anarchists like Antifa. But really He is censuring those who practice Torah-lessness, who flout the Law of God (of which anarchists are a narrow subset). We can see this from the context:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Mat 7:21

He is not talking about doing man’s law, but doing God’s Law, or torah, wherein His will for man is expressed by way of commandment. Yes, He is talking about walking the walk, that is, works, and not just talking the talk.

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Mat 7:16-20

Fruit is not the doctrine believed in the heart. Fruit is what is seen by others. Fruit is the works produced by the life. In fact, He said that works will justify one before God, if his works are perfect.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mat 19:16-22

He quoted most of the Ten Commandments, when asked which commandments to keep. The Ten Commandments summarize the entire Law of God recorded in Torah, Moses also concurring. The only problem is that the works of men aren’t perfect:

Therefore by the deeds of the law (nomos in Greek, which is torah in Hebrew) no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Rom 3:20

However, an uncharacteristic lapse in judgment – sin – of one whose heart is circumcised to love the LORD God and walk in His ways, whose nature and practice is joyful obedience flowing from love for God, is a far cry from one who practices lawlessness, that is, one who flaunts Torah as their normal state.

I believe that both testaments of the Holy Scriptures are in complete harmony with each other and teach the same message: that righteousness or right- standing (salvation or justification) before God is by faith not works. I believe that right behavior or actions (sanctification or obedience to God) is an outcome or fruit of true faith, and this admonition to behave rightly is preached without alteration from Genesis through Revelation. As such, I believe that Jesus and the apostles are not in opposition to Moses and the Prophets, but that Jesus and the apostles preach right behavior or sanctification as an evidence of saving faith, lest any man should be deceived.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Gal 6:7-9

that righteousness is of faith
obedience in the new testament

to be continued: antinomianism, the first heresy in the church