Anne Hutchinson, 378 years ago today...

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Romans 6:14-19 ESV)

Puritan Anne Hutchinson was excommunicated from the Congregationalist (and theologically Calvinist) Church of Boston on this day in 1638. Seems trivial, but the reason why makes for a good devotion for Passion Week. Anne Hutchinson was a midwife who conducted weekly meetings in her home. She believed that God’s grace could be directly bestowed through faith. However, Puritan clergy preached that people must live strict, biblically sound lives of good works. Concerned about order in the community and protecting their exclusive position as sole interpreters of Scripture, Puritan ministers quickly confronted anyone who dare deviate from doctrine. Anne Hutchinson's banishment was a symptom of what became known as the Antinomian Controversy.

On his History Project webpage, U.C. Davis professor Roland Marchand provides a little background what it meant to Puritans like Anne Hutchinson to try to live under a "covenant of grace" or a "covenant of works" (both gummed up by the Calvinist doctrine of predestination*; that God has chosen some to be saved and others to be damned):
*Lutherans believe the Bible does not teach reprobation, i.e. an election of wrath for those who are lost; God earnestly desires the salvation of all; the lost are lost by their own fault. The Bible does not solve the problem that exists for the human mind that tries to harmonize the doctrine of universal grace and the doctrines of election and salvation by grace alone. The doctrine of election by grace, properly used, will not foster carnal security, but will make the believer conscious of the matchless glory of the grace of God, serve as a constant incentive to sanctification, comfort him in the ills and tribulations of this life, and give him the blessed assurance of final salvation.

One of the most enduring myths in American history is the belief that the Puritans fled to America in search of religious liberty. Unfortunately, this belief is at best only a half truth, The Puritans were strict religious people who believed in a sovereign God, who all men were to obey. To better serve their God, and to create a more godly society, the Puritans removed from England to the wilderness surrounding Massachusetts Bay. There they hoped to covenant among themselves and with God in order to create a religious and civil society based on the Bible and dedicated to worshiping God in the "correct" manner. According to Puritan theory, God would bless and protect his chosen people as long as everyone kept God's commandments, but should anyone in the society stray, the covenant would be broken and the entire community would suffer.

Thus the main purpose of the colony was religious: To establish a society based on the Bible. In order to do this the civil and religious authorities worked together to insure an ordered and saintly community. The main job of the civil authorities, the governor and his assistants and the deputies to the General Court, was to maintain domestic peace in the colony, to keep the laws, and, in the event of transgressions, to mete out punishments. The role of the clergy was that of spiritual adviser and final arbiter of God's will. In this interlocking system, any political problem that threatened the stability of the colony was also a religious problem, and anything religious that threatened the covenant was inherently political. Given such a system manned by religious zealots, any minor religious differences could easily be blown into a major crisis that could split the colony. Such a crisis was the Antinomian controversy in 1636-1637.

[Antinomianism (from Greek anti- "opposite, against" + nomos "rule, law") means, loosely (but accurately), using God's grace as a license to sin; in other words, since grace is infinite and we are saved by grace, then we can sin all we want and still be saved. The Apostle Paul tells us this is contrary to living in Christ: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (Romans 6:14-15 ESV)"]

As good Calvinists, the Puritans believed in predestination -- that a person was chosen at birth either to receive God's grace of eternal life or to suffer the fiery torment of the pit. Grace was a gift from God that could not be earned by good works on earth. This idea was termed the "covenant of grace" and stood in contrast to a theory, not held by Puritans, that God's grace could be earned through good actions. This was called the "covenant of works." According to the Puritans, a person could never really know for sure if he or she were among God's elect. Such doubt could lead to severe psychological problems for the intensely religious, but even more important, some way had to be found to differentiate between those who were saved ("justified") and those who were damned since the Puritan church was based on the idea that only the saved could be true church members and take communion. Working on the theory that only the elect could lead a saintly life, the Puritans accepted outward appearance and action as criteria for acceptance into church membership ("sanctification"). Most Puritan ministers were quick to point out that though sanctification was based on earthly works, these works could not earn salvation. But for some Puritans, such as Anne Hutchinson, such ideas smacked of the "covenant of works." Hutchinson and her followers believed that until a person had had a direct religious experience with God, he or she could not know if they were saved, Thus, for Hutchinson, an inner experience replaced the outward appearance used by Puritan ministers to judge the saintliness of their flocks. One ramification directly followed from Hutchinson's position. If a person knew he or she were saved, then outward appearance and conformity with laws were not necessary. Hence the term "antinomian."

This is the time of the church year to remember how we are justified, declared righteous by God-- by Christ's obedient and atoning sacrifice on the Cross. It is faith and faith alone that saves us from a fate worse than death. God justifies (declares righteous, pronounces innocent) those who believe that they have been forgiven for Christ's sake. The question of whether our sins-- past, present, or future-- will count against us was answered by the Cross; God has forgiven the world for Christ's sake. God's gracious gift of faith receives the righteousness of Christ, forgiveness of sins, and salvation.

In thinking about Anne Hutchinson today, I am reminded that God's greatest Gift to me (and to you) moves ever closer to fulfilling His destiny on Good Friday, that His life was exchanged for mine (and for yours). No "covenant of grace" (though still a tenet of some Christian churches today), no "covenant of works" (ditto).

Only a "covenant of Christ." (To live under grace, in Christ, through faith!)