Since both are equally heretical, how does a church maintain the orthodox middle ground? This seems to be a very problematic area and it seems to be difficult for churches to realize when they are moving too far in either direction.

Thanks,

David

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David
PCA
Richardson, Texas

Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, resting upon Him alone, for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of God's grace.
--C.H. Spurgeon

I believe that legalism is just another form of antinomianism. Anytime we replace God's Laws with our own, that is antinomianism, because it is anti the Law of God. As for how to battle it, well, adhere to the Confessional teachings on the matter.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
Board Rules - Signature Rules - Suggestion Box

It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

I think if we just expositionally preach the Bible in its Redemptive-Historical context, you will get the proper balance between law & grace. When the Bible talks about grace and the indicatives of the gospel, preach that faithfully. When the Bible talks about law and the imperatives of our duty before God, preach that faithfully! I don't think we need do anything but preach the word in season and out of season.

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Carl Gobelman
Long Grove Community Church (Evangelical)
Vernon Hills, IL
Blog: http://newcreationperson.wordpress.com

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

It's a problem for the individual as much as anything else, to walk the tightrope of liberty between legalism and licence.

The only Man who was perfectly balanced was the Lord.

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Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

I'm not sure it's best to think in terms of "middle ground" or "proper balance." Paul's answer to the idea that his railing against legalism might lead to antinomianism was that such either/or thinking belongs to the old life: "Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom. 6:1).

We are reborn! We have a Spiritual way of thinking, driven by the gospel.

The gospel is an enemy of legalism. It declares we come to God only by his grace. Any must-prove-myself attitude is opposed to the gospel. We obey God out of our freedom and joy.

But the gospel is equally an enemy of antinomianism. It takes sin and God’s rules very seriously—so seriously Jesus had to die. And it declares we are transformed into people "who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).

Free and zealous is so much better than legalistic, and it simply can't lead to antinomianism where the gospel is understood and reaches the heart of the Spiritual man. If it's the gospel that's leading us away from legalism, it will equally lead us away from antinomianism.

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Jack K.
PCA, worshiping with some fine Baptists in Colorado

I don't know that anyone or any church or even any denomination can preach the Gospel absolutely perfectly without tending to err on the side of antinomianism and/or legalism. The goal should be able to strive for the Gospel alone in our personal lives and as a community. In practice that is very hard to do...

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Mason
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
New York, NY

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." - Isaiah 1:18