We have a problem. Americans have been infected by antinomianism, and it is modifying their behavior, impacting their relationships, and weakening social bonds.

If antinomianism is a disease, it is not a physical one. If it is contagious, it is not spread by touch nor is it airborne – unless by that one means it is disseminated through the airwaves. Antinomianism is an old word which, broken down etymologically, means “against law.” An antinomian is a person who believes that laws, whether divinely sourced or socially sanctioned, do not apply to them. They think of themselves as above, or at least outside, the law.

There are various strains of antinomianism. The theological version was rampant in England and America in the seventeenth century. Our forefathers tried to stamp it out when it spread rapidly through the Boston area in the mid-1600s, but they failed to eradicate it.

Politics has its own variety of antinomianism. When the former president boasted, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” it was a very antinomian thing to say. Recent polls show a third of voters believe it might be necessary to break the law to obtain a desired outcome. That bespeaks antinomianism.

Theological antinomianism is spreading once again. There are teachers who claim it is unnecessary and even counterproductive to obey “the law,” which for some includes even the commands of Jesus. But what do they mean by unnecessary? Unnecessary for getting into heaven? Unnecessary for leading a productive life? Unnecessary for spiritual health?

The antinomian tendencies in society do not bode well for the future of our nation, but it is antinomianism in the church that concerns me most. Something is wrong when Jesus’s followers, in the distressing words of St. James, “speak against the law.” Teachers who consider God’s law a barrier to spiritual health are out of step with both Jesus and the Apostle Paul.

My wife and I once spent a few days with friends aboard their boat in the Florida keys. One day we left the marina and motored through a long channel and out to a reef to go snorkeling. The channel was narrow but deep enough for large boats to navigate. However, if even a pleasure craft were to wander outside the channel, it was liable to run aground. We saw numerous derelict boats on our way to the reef.

The vast expanse of water outside the channel looked safe and inviting. And it clearly offered the shortest route to our destination. Why not take it?

Is that, I wonder, what religious people are thinking who espouse an antinomian position? “Staying within the rules is fine if that’s what you want. But we will get to heaven anyway, so why would anyone, except a religious legalist – who only half trusts Christ – insist on staying within the rules?

But the “rules” were never about getting into heaven. Jesus did not give his disciples commands so they would get an A on the final exam. The commands were given to guide them into a life of joy.

At the heart of the universe – which is to say, at the heart of God – one does not find endless rules but endless joy. God, who is the most joyous being in the universe, did not give commands to make people miserable but to fill them with joy. His commands enable us to move unimpeded through life and reach our goal with joy.

The sailor who has left the channel only to bury his keel in the mucky bottom is not having a good time. Neither is the person who has run aground in the muck of greed, resentment, and hypocrisy. The commands are channel markers that guide people on their way to joy.

If the commands are channel markers, the channel itself is love. While we are loving God and loving others, we never need to worry about running aground, which is why St. Augustine said, “Love God and do what you will.” When we are loving God, whatever we do will be just fine, for “love,” as St. Paul insisted, is nothing less than “the fulfillment of the law.”