What Does the Bible Mean by Lawlessness?

Before We Begin

Pull up a chair. I think we need fresh coffee for this one, because we are ending this section with a word that gets thrown around a lot in Bible conversations and is very rarely slowed down long enough to be studied: lawlessness.

If you have spent any time around Torah-observant believers, you may have heard Matthew 7:23 used almost like a mic-drop verse. Yeshua tells people who call Him Lord to depart because they are “workers of lawlessness,” and the argument usually goes something like this: lawlessness means Torahlessness, therefore Yeshua is condemning Christians who reject Torah. If you grew up in a more conventional Christian environment, you may have heard the same verse handled very differently. Lawlessness gets flattened into a general word for wickedness or evil, and the connection to Yehovah’s instruction may barely be mentioned at all.

As has become something of a pattern in these studies, I think both sides can see something real while still moving too quickly. The Greek word genuinely has a law dimension. We should not turn lawlessness into a fuzzy word meaning “whatever bad stuff people happen to do,” as though rebellion against Yehovah’s authority has nothing to do with His instruction. But we also should not assume every use of anomia is a secret code that automatically means, “This person failed to observe every command of the Sinai covenant in exactly the same manner ancient Israel did.”

We learned better than that in our New Covenant study. We learned better than that in our Paul study. We learned better than that when we looked at Sabbath, and we just learned better than that in our study of what Yeshua meant by fulfill. Context still gets a vote. In fact, context is going to do most of the teaching in this study.

Matthew 7:23 does not appear in a vacuum. It comes at the end of the very sermon we just studied. This is the Yeshua who said He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. This is the Yeshua who spoke about least commandments, greater righteousness, anger, lust, truthfulness, retaliation, enemy-love, prayer, hypocrisy, treasure, judgment, fruit, and doing the will of His Father. Then He says something terrifying: not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven.

That should get our attention because these people are not atheists. They are not standing there saying, “We rejected Yeshua. We wanted nothing to do with Him.” They call Him Lord. They claim spiritual activity in His name. And He still says, “I never knew you.”

So before we decide lawlessness is somebody else’s doctrinal problem, I want us to leave room for the passage to examine us too. That is harder, but it is also safer.

When you hear the biblical word “lawlessness,” what do you currently think it means?

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Do you think someone can call Yeshua “Lord” and still live lawlessly? What would that look like?

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What do you think separates ordinary human failure from a life characterized by lawlessness?

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Keep those answers. We are coming back to them.

Start Where Yeshua Uses the Word

Open Matthew 7:15–27 and read the whole section. I know the temptation is to jump directly to verse 21 because that is the famous part, but if you were sitting here with me at the table, I would probably reach over and say, “Nope. Back up. We need the whole paragraph.”

Yeshua has just warned about the narrow gate and the broad road. Then He warns about false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing. They look safe. They look like they belong among the flock. Their appearance is not what exposes them; their fruit does. Yeshua says a good tree bears good fruit and a diseased tree bears bad fruit. He is already teaching His disciples not to evaluate spiritual authenticity merely by claims, charisma, appearance, or religious packaging.

Then He says not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” enters the kingdom, but the one who does the will of His Father. After that comes the warning about prophecy, exorcisms, and mighty works, followed by the words, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.” Immediately after that, Yeshua gives us the wise and foolish builders. The wise person hears these words of Mine and does them. The foolish person hears the same words and does not do them.

Do you see the pattern building? Fruit, doing the Father’s will, lawlessness, hearing Yeshua’s words, and doing Yeshua’s words all sit together in one closing movement of the sermon. Matthew 7:23 is not a random vocabulary lesson about law. It is the climax of a whole section about whether somebody’s life actually comes under the authority of the King.

That context is going to matter all the way through this study.

“Lord, Lord” Is Not the Same as Submission

I want to stay right here for a little while because I think we can read “Lord, Lord” too quickly. The people Yeshua rejects know the right title. They call Him Lord, and not casually. They say it twice.

That means correct religious language is not the test. A person can know Christian vocabulary, sing the right songs, use the right titles, quote verses, speak passionately about Yeshua, attend church every week, and still not actually live under His authority. And before anybody on the Torah-observant side gets too comfortable, let’s turn the mirror around. I can say Yeshua instead of Jesus. I can say Yehovah. I can keep Shabbat, understand clean and unclean animals, know feast dates, use Hebrew terms, and have a Bible full of color-coded notes. None of those things automatically mean Yeshua knows me.

Those practices may be meaningful expressions of obedience. They may matter deeply. But they are not substitutes for surrender. That is what makes this passage so uncomfortable: it does not let any religious group build a safe little enclosure around itself and say, “Obviously this warning is about them.”

The question Yeshua raises is much more personal: Is the One I call Lord actually Lord? “Lord” is not merely a respectful title. Lord means authority. Lord means I am not the highest court of appeal in my own life. Lord means there are moments when Yeshua gets to say something I do not like—and I still follow.

That is where the word becomes real.

Their Spiritual Résumé Is Impressive

Now look at what these people say in Matthew 7:22. They appeal to prophecy, casting out demons, and mighty works, and they say these things were done in Yeshua’s name. That is an impressive ministry résumé. If somebody showed up today claiming prophetic ministry, deliverance ministry, and miraculous signs, there would probably be a conference by Friday, a podcast by Sunday, and a book deal somewhere in the mix.

We are naturally impressed by visible spiritual power. Yeshua is not, at least not automatically. Notice what He does not say. He does not respond, “Excellent. You performed enough spiritual works to earn entrance.” He does not say, “Your supernatural gifts prove our relationship.” He does not even debate whether the miracles happened.

Their works are the evidence they offer. Yeshua’s answer goes somewhere else entirely: “I never knew you.” Then He calls them workers of lawlessness.

That should permanently cure us of assuming spiritual manifestations are the same thing as spiritual faithfulness. Gifts are not character, power is not submission, and religious activity is not necessarily evidence that someone knows Yeshua. Modern Christianity is very good at measuring visible ministry—numbers, platforms, charisma, stories, experiences, influence. Yeshua keeps directing our attention back to fruit.

That is a different metric.

This Is Not Salvation by Résumé Either

Before somebody swings too far in the opposite direction, notice something else. The rejected people are the ones presenting their works as evidence. “Did we not prophesy? Did we not cast out demons? Did we not do mighty works?” Their argument is essentially: Look what we did.

Yeshua does not say, “You were only three good deeds short.” He does not say, “If you had kept Sabbath one more year, I would have let you in.” He does not describe a spiritual point system where they almost met the threshold. He says, “I never knew you.”

Relationship with Messiah is central. So Matthew 7 cannot honestly be turned into salvation by perfect commandment performance. But neither can relationship with Messiah be reduced to verbal profession while obedience is treated as optional, because Yeshua Himself connects kingdom entrance with doing the will of His Father and then contrasts that with practicing lawlessness.

This is the tension we have kept finding across all these studies. Grace and obedience are not competing rescue plans. Obedience is not the purchase price of salvation, but genuine allegiance to the King eventually shows up in a life being brought under the King’s authority.

That is fruit.

So What Is “Lawlessness”?

Now we can finally talk about the word itself. The Greek noun is ἀνομία — anomia, commonly translated lawlessness, iniquity, wickedness, or wrongdoing. The word belongs to a family related to nomos, law, and it carries the idea of being contrary to law, disregarding law, violating law, or living in rebellion against rightful order and authority.

That matters because the “law” idea is not imaginary. We should not bleach the word until it means nothing more than “bad person.” But here comes our now-familiar Bible-study warning: do not build an entire covenant theology out of one English syllable or one Greek word part. Words have ranges, and context determines use.

Anomia can describe conduct that violates divine law, but it can also function broadly for wickedness, rebellion, or a condition opposed to Yehovah’s righteous order. So the word genuinely has a law dimension, but the word itself does not tell us how every covenantal command functions under Messiah. It does not tell us whether Levitical priests are still required, how sacrifices function after Yeshua, how ancient Israel’s national judicial system transfers into a multinational New Covenant people, or how Gentile inclusion changes covenant administration.

We had to study those questions elsewhere because one Greek noun cannot carry all of that. What anomia does tell us is that the person characterized by lawlessness is not merely imperfect. They are living contrary to rightful authority.

Now the question becomes: whose authority?

Matthew has already answered.

Matthew Already Told Us Whose Authority Matters

Go back to Matthew 5:17–20. The Yeshua who says “workers of lawlessness” is the same Yeshua who began the sermon by saying, “Do not think I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” He warned about loosening commandments. He called His disciples toward greater righteousness. He spent the chapter driving obedience into the heart, then later in the sermon said the Golden Rule is “the Law and the Prophets.”

So whatever Matthew means by lawlessness, we cannot pretend Matthew has spent three chapters teaching that Yehovah’s standards are irrelevant. He has not.

But we also just learned that Yeshua is the authoritative fulfiller of the Law and Prophets. He brings Yehovah’s instruction to its Messiah-centered fullness. That means lawlessness in Matthew cannot simply mean, “Failure to reconstruct ancient Israel exactly.” That would ignore Yeshua’s fulfillment and the covenant changes the rest of Scripture requires us to acknowledge.

The authority confronting us is Yehovah’s righteous will as revealed in Scripture and brought to fullness in Messiah. That includes continuity, and it includes covenant transformation. I know that answer is less satisfying than a five-word slogan, but it fits Matthew better.

“Doing the Will of My Father”

Now look again at Matthew 7:21. Yeshua says the one who enters the kingdom is the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. That gives us a positive counterpart to lawlessness: lawlessness stands opposite a life submitted to the Father’s will.

So what does the Father’s will look like? We do not even need to leave the Sermon on the Mount to begin answering. Yeshua has spent three chapters telling us. Reconcile instead of nurturing contempt. Reject lust. Protect covenant faithfulness. Tell the truth. Do not retaliate. Love enemies. Give without performing for applause. Pray sincerely. Forgive. Trust Yehovah instead of living consumed by anxiety. Seek first His kingdom and righteousness. Do not judge hypocritically. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Produce good fruit. Hear Yeshua’s words and do them.

That is why Matthew 7:21 is so important. “The will of the Father” is not an undefined religious phrase. Yeshua has just spent the sermon giving it shape.

If we pull verse 21 out and say, “Well, nobody can do God’s will perfectly, therefore obedience cannot matter,” we miss what Yeshua is describing. He is not describing sinless performance. He is describing allegiance. The life is pointed toward the King.

Yeshua Tells a Story About Saying and Doing

Turn to Matthew 21:28–32. Yeshua tells a story about two sons. A father asks both to work in the vineyard. One son initially says no but later changes his mind and goes. The other says, “I will, sir,” but does not go.

Which one did the father’s will?

The one who did it.

That little parable belongs right beside Matthew 7. “Lord, Lord.” “Yes, sir.” Religious speech can sound excellent, but words that never become submission eventually expose themselves.

Yeshua is not dismissing confession. Confessing Him matters. He is exposing confession that exists without allegiance. A mouth can say yes while a life says no. But the parable also gives us good news: the son who initially said no changed direction. His first answer was wrong, but it was not the end of the story.

Repentance matters.

That is something we need to remember when we talk about lawlessness. The issue is not whether you ever said no to God. The issue is whether, when He confronts you, you remain committed to no.

“I Never Knew You”

Those may be some of the most sobering words Yeshua ever speaks. Not, “I knew you, but you made too many mistakes.” Not, “You had a bad week.” Not, “You misunderstood one doctrine.” Every disciple in the Gospels is imperfect. Peter is spectacularly imperfect.

The difference is not sinless performance. Yeshua says, “I never knew you.”

Biblical knowing often carries relational meaning. The issue is not whether Yeshua had intellectual information about them. Of course He did. The issue is recognition, relationship, belonging. They apparently knew enough about Him to use His name, but they were not known by Him as His faithful people.

That distinction should make every one of us less impressed with religious branding. It should also make us think carefully about what biblical relationship means, because “relationship with Yeshua” cannot mean, “I feel spiritually connected to Him, therefore His authority does not matter.”

The Lord who knows us is still Lord.

“Depart From Me” Is Older Than Matthew

There is another detail worth noticing. Yeshua’s words in Matthew 7:23 echo Psalm 6:8, where the psalmist says, “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.” Yeshua is drawing on older biblical judgment language rather than inventing an entirely new category.

Psalm 6 is not describing somebody who accidentally violated a small detail and immediately repented. It is talking about evildoers—people characterized by wickedness, people whose actions stand opposed to Yehovah. Yeshua takes that language onto His own lips as Judge.

That is extraordinary because it tells us something about His authority, but it also helps us understand the moral weight of “workers of lawlessness.” The phrase describes a pattern, a kind of life, an orientation.

Not one bad Tuesday.

Lawlessness Shows Up Again in Matthew 13

Turn to Matthew 13:36–43, where Yeshua explains the parable of the weeds. At the end of the age, the Son of Man sends His angels, and they remove from His kingdom stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness.

There is our word again, and again it appears in a judgment context. That gives Matthew 7 more weight. Lawlessness is not merely a passing problem in somebody’s spiritual development; it represents something incompatible with the completed Kingdom.

The final Kingdom does not normalize rebellion against the King. It removes it. That means salvation cannot honestly be described as, “I escape punishment, but I remain devoted to the rebellion Yeshua came to rescue me from.”

Something about allegiance changes.

Maybe not instantly. Maybe not perfectly.

But genuinely.

Then Matthew Gives Us a Surprise

Now turn to Matthew 23:23–28. This passage may be one of the most important safeguards in the entire study because Yeshua is speaking to scribes and Pharisees—people known for serious religious observance. These are not people who say, “God’s law does not matter.” Quite the opposite.

Yeshua criticizes them for carefully tithing herbs while neglecting the weightier matters of Torah: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Then a few verses later He says they look righteous outwardly but inside are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Wait.

These are the people everyone thinks are obsessed with Law.

And Yeshua calls them lawless.

That should stop us in our tracks because it destroys the simplistic equation lawlessness = not doing enough visibly religious things. Apparently a person can be meticulous about outward observance and still be lawless inside. You can count mint leaves while neglecting mercy. You can defend Torah while violating its heart. You can look righteous and resist Yehovah.

That is one of the most sobering things in this study.

Lawlessness Can Wear Religious Clothes

This is why I do not want us using Matthew 7:23 as a weapon pointed exclusively at Christians who do not keep Sabbath or eat biblically clean food. Those questions matter. We have studied them. But Matthew itself will not let lawlessness remain that shallow.

The Pharisees Yeshua condemns are not lawless because they refuse all commandments. They are lawless because their religious precision coexists with hypocrisy, injustice, mercilessness, self-indulgence, and corruption. Their obedience has become selective. They honor what makes them look righteous while neglecting what exposes the heart.

And I think that should make all of us uncomfortable in a productive way because selective obedience is easy. We naturally prefer the commands that confirm the version of ourselves we already like. The harder commands tend to be the ones that threaten pride: forgive, repent, make restitution, speak gently, do justice, show mercy, stop nursing resentment, confess when you are wrong.

Those do not always make good identity markers.

But Yeshua seems very interested in them.

Lawlessness and Love Grow in Opposite Directions

Now turn to Matthew 24:9–14. Yeshua warns about persecution, betrayal, false prophets, deception, and increasing lawlessness. Then He says something fascinating: because lawlessness increases, the love of many grows cold.

That relationship matters because lawlessness does not produce more biblical love. It freezes it. This should challenge the false choice we sometimes create between law and love. Yeshua does not treat righteousness and love as enemies.

When rebellion against Yehovah multiplies, love deteriorates. And when Yeshua summarizes the Law and Prophets, what does He use? Love Yehovah. Love neighbor. So love is not the alternative to righteous instruction. Love is one of its central purposes.

A community can talk endlessly about commandments and be loveless. That is lawless. A community can talk endlessly about love while rejecting everything Yehovah says love requires. That is not biblical love either.

Yeshua refuses both counterfeits.

“Sin Is Lawlessness”

Now turn to 1 John 3:4. This is probably the second most important passage in the study. John says the one who practices sin also practices lawlessness, then gives the compact statement: sin is lawlessness.

The Greek is direct:

ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία

hē hamartia estin hē anomia

Some older English translations render the idea as “transgression of the law,” and that wording has shaped a lot of theological discussion. Whatever translation we prefer, John is not giving us a standardless definition of sin.

Sin is not merely whatever makes me feel guilty. It is not whatever my culture currently dislikes, and it is not whatever offends my personal preferences. Sin has to do with rebellion against Yehovah’s righteous will.

That is a very important correction in a culture where morality is often treated as self-defined. But now we need to keep reading John, because if we stop after one sentence, we can produce another error.

John Is Not Talking About One Accidental Failure

Read 1 John 1:5–2:6, then 1 John 3:1–10. John does something very important. In chapter 1, he says that if we claim to have no sin, we deceive ourselves. He tells believers to confess sin and assures them Yehovah is faithful to forgive and cleanse.

Then in chapter 2 he says he writes so they will not sin, but if anyone does sin, there is an advocate. John clearly knows believers can stumble. He expects disciples to need confession, forgiveness, cleansing, and advocacy.

Then chapter 3 uses strong language about the person who practices sin and practices lawlessness. Whatever else John means, he cannot mean, “A person who ever commits a sin proves they never knew God.” He has already ruled that interpretation out.

The contrast is between stumbling and being characterized by rebellion, between falling and refusing to walk, between repentance and settled practice. That distinction matters enormously, especially for tender-hearted believers who read warning passages and immediately assume every failure means they are condemned.

Lawlessness Is Not the Same as Imperfection

Some people read Matthew 7 or 1 John 3 and become terrified. “I lost my temper yesterday. Am I a worker of lawlessness? I knowingly did something wrong. I messed up. Does that mean Yeshua never knew me?”

That is not how these passages describe lawlessness.

The New Testament never presents mature faith as sinless human perfection achieved through sheer effort. John explicitly rejects claims of sinlessness. A disciple can fall. A disciple can fail badly. David failed. Peter failed.

The question is what happens when Yehovah confronts us. Do we repent, or justify ourselves? Do we return, or harden? Lawlessness says, “I will not be ruled.” Repentance says, “I was wrong. Bring me back.”

Those are very different postures.

If you are grieving over sin because you want to obey Yehovah, that grief itself does not sound like the heart of someone joyfully committed to lawlessness. It sounds like someone being corrected by a Father they want to follow.

John Also Talks About Commandments

Now read 1 John 2:3–6. John says that we know we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. The person who says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments is called a liar.

There is our Matthew 7 tension again: claim, knowing, obedience.

Later John writes that love for God is expressed in keeping His commandments and that His commandments are not burdensome. Whatever theological system we bring to John, we cannot honestly say obedience is irrelevant to him.

But we should also resist turning John into an easy proof that every Mosaic statute remains unchanged under the New Covenant. John does not give us a Sinai-command inventory here. He is writing within a Messiah-centered New Covenant community, and that requires the rest of Scripture to help us interpret how commandments function.

The point we can state confidently is simpler: John does not recognize a version of knowing God that is comfortable with refusing His authority.

That is exactly what Matthew 7 has already shown us.

John Summarizes Too

In 1 John 3:23, John summarizes Yehovah’s command in terms of believing in the name of His Son Yeshua Messiah and loving one another. Some people take that summary and say, “See? There are only two commands now.”

But we just finished an entire study learning why biblical summaries do not automatically erase everything they summarize. Yeshua summarized Torah with love of Yehovah and neighbor. John emphasizes faith in Messiah and love. That tells us the center and shape of New Covenant obedience.

It does not create permission for idolatry, murder, adultery, dishonesty, greed, hatred, or rebellion merely because John did not list each one in that sentence. A summary gives orientation. It is not necessarily an exhaustive statute book.

That is why we have to keep reading Scripture as a whole instead of turning one summary sentence into a loophole.

So Does Lawlessness Mean “Torahlessness”?

This is where I want us to be especially precise. There is a reason Torah-observant believers sometimes use the word Torahlessness for anomia. The Greek word genuinely concerns lawlessness, and Torah is Yehovah’s foundational revealed instruction. Matthew 5 presents Yeshua as affirming and fulfilling the Law and Prophets. First John connects sin with lawlessness. The New Covenant promise includes Yehovah’s instruction being written on hearts.

So yes—Torah belongs in this conversation. It would be strange to define lawlessness as though Yehovah’s revealed instruction had nothing to do with it.

But translating every occurrence as Torahlessness can smuggle an entire covenant-theology conclusion into one Greek noun. The word itself does not tell us which commandments apply in precisely what form. It does not tell us how priesthood changes, how sacrifices reach fulfillment, how Gentile inclusion works, how Israel’s national civil administration functions under the New Covenant, or how Yeshua’s messianic authority reshapes covenant application.

We had to study those questions elsewhere because anomia does not answer them all by itself.

So I would say it this way: Lawlessness is a life of rebellion against Yehovah’s righteous authority and instruction rather than willing submission to Him. Torah is foundational to understanding what Yehovah calls righteous. Yeshua authoritatively fulfills and teaches that revelation. The New Covenant writes Yehovah’s instruction upon the heart. But anomia should not become a shortcut that erases every covenant distinction we have already studied.

That is less catchy than “anomia = Torahlessness.”

It is also much harder to misuse.

Paul Uses the Same Word

Now let’s bring Paul into the room. Open Romans 6.

Paul has just said believers are not under law but under grace, and almost immediately he anticipates the obvious abuse: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?”

His answer is emphatic.

No.

Then later in the chapter, Paul describes the believers’ former life as presenting their bodies to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, contrasted with presenting themselves to righteousness leading to holiness.

That is enormously important. Whatever Paul means by “not under law,” he clearly does not mean, “You are now free to live lawlessly.” Paul himself will not allow that definition.

Grace does not produce lawlessness. Grace changes masters.

Paul’s language in Romans 6 is slavery language for a reason. Everybody serves something. The gospel is not an announcement that human beings finally get to belong to nobody. It is rescue from one master into the service of another.

That is why “Lord” matters.

Grace Does Not Train Us to Rebel

Now read Titus 2:11–14. This may be one of my favorite passages for dismantling the false war between grace and obedience.

Paul says the grace of God has appeared, and then tells us what grace does: it trains us. Grace teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives. Then Paul says Yeshua gave Himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for Himself a people eager for good works.

Read that again.

Yeshua did not give Himself merely to protect us from the penalty of lawlessness while leaving us devoted to lawlessness. He gave Himself to redeem us from it.

Grace is not permission to remain in rebellion. Grace is rescue from rebellion.

I think we often talk about grace as though it means Yehovah stops caring what happens next. Titus says the opposite. Grace shows up with a lesson plan. Grace trains.

That is both comforting and inconvenient, which seems to describe a lot of Scripture.

Redeemed From Lawlessness, Not for Lawlessness

I want to stay here because this sentence deserves more than a drive-by reading. Sometimes salvation gets presented almost entirely as a change in paperwork: I was guilty, Yeshua paid, now I go to heaven.

There is beautiful truth in justification and forgiveness. I am not minimizing any of that. But the New Testament refuses to stop there. Yeshua saves a people. He purifies them. He changes allegiance. He makes them eager for what is good.

The goal of grace is not merely a forgiven rebel who proudly remains devoted to rebellion. The goal is a redeemed person learning to live under the goodness of the King.

That does not earn redemption.

It is what redemption begins producing.

Fruit does not buy the tree.

Fruit reveals the life in the tree.

The “Mystery of Lawlessness”

Now open 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12. Paul speaks about the “mystery of lawlessness” already at work and about a coming “lawless one.”

Look at the character of that lawlessness: self-exaltation, opposition to God, deception, false signs, rejection of truth, and delight in unrighteousness. This passage helps us see what lawlessness looks like when magnified.

It is not merely someone forgetting a religious detail. It is rebellion against Yehovah’s authority reaching toward its full expression. The lawless one does not want to live under God. He exalts himself.

That is the spiritual heart of lawlessness:

I will rule me.

And that heart can appear in quieter forms long before it ever becomes dramatic. That is why lawlessness is ultimately an authority problem.

The Original Temptation Was Lawlessness

You can hear the echo all the way back in Genesis. The serpent’s temptation is not merely about fruit. The deeper question is: who determines good and evil? Will humanity receive Yehovah’s definition, or seize moral autonomy?

That is the heartbeat of lawlessness.

It can appear loud and openly rebellious, or it can sound thoughtful and sophisticated: “I know what Yehovah said, but I think...” “I know Yeshua taught that, but surely He did not mean...” “I know Scripture calls this sin, but my situation is different...”

We need to be careful here because interpretation is real. Some biblical questions are genuinely complex, and we should not accuse somebody of rebellion simply because they studied a difficult passage and reached a different conclusion than we did.

There is a difference between wrestling honestly with Scripture and approaching Scripture already determined that we will obey only if we agree. One posture seeks understanding. The other seeks permission.

Yehovah knows the difference better than we do.

The New Covenant Is the Opposite of Lawlessness

Now turn to Jeremiah 31:31–34 and then Hebrews 8–10.

This connection is beautiful. Jeremiah promises a New Covenant in which Yehovah puts His instruction within His people and writes it on their hearts. Then Hebrews quotes that promise. Later, in the same New Covenant context, Yehovah says their sins and their lawless deeds He will remember no more.

Do you see the two movements?

Instruction written within.

Lawlessness forgiven.

The New Covenant does not sound like, “I forgive your lawlessness, therefore lawlessness is now righteousness.” It sounds like, “I forgive your rebellion, bring you near, transform you, and write My ways into you.”

Forgiveness and transformation belong together.

That is New Covenant grace.

The old problem was never that Yehovah had standards. The problem was hard hearts. So what does the New Covenant promise?

Heart change.

Written on the Heart Is Not Written in the Trash

I know that sounds almost silly, but sometimes our theology makes the New Covenant promise sound that way. Jeremiah says, “I will write My instruction on their hearts,” and then we explain, “Meaning God removed the importance of instruction.”

That is a strange reading.

At the same time, our previous New Covenant study taught us not to make the opposite mistake. “Written on the heart” does not mean the Sinai covenant continues administratively unchanged. Priesthood changed. Sacrifice changed. Sanctuary changed. Mediation changed. Gentile inclusion changes the covenant community.

So the New Covenant answer is not, “No law,” and it is not, “Sinai photocopied onto the heart.”

It is Yehovah’s righteous will internalized in a covenant transformed around Messiah.

That distinction is one of the major threads tying this whole section together.

Ezekiel Adds the Spirit

Now turn to Ezekiel 36:22–28. Ezekiel describes cleansing, a new heart, a new spirit, and Yehovah placing His Spirit within His people.

And what does Yehovah say the Spirit will do?

Cause His people to walk in His ways.

That matters because the Spirit is not given as an alternative to obedience. The Spirit enables transformed obedience.

Again, that does not answer every covenantal application question by itself, but it tells us the direction of the promise. Yehovah does not rescue people from rebellion and then abandon them inside the same rebellion.

He cleanses, changes hearts, gives His Spirit, and teaches walking.

That is the opposite of lawlessness.

Lawlessness and the Heart

Now Matthew 23 makes even more sense. The Pharisees can appear righteous outwardly while being full of lawlessness inwardly because lawlessness is ultimately a heart posture that eventually shapes behavior.

That does not make outward behavior irrelevant. Yeshua cares deeply about what people actually do. But behavior can be performed. It can be curated. It can be chosen because it earns approval from the people whose approval matters to us.

The heart eventually reveals what authority it truly recognizes.

Do I obey only when someone sees? Do I obey only commands that distinguish me from other people? Do I love the commandments that make me feel righteous while avoiding the ones that demand mercy, repentance, restitution, forgiveness, humility, or self-control?

That is worth sitting with.

Because sometimes the command I most enjoy defending is not the command I most need.

The Lawless Sabbath Keeper

Let’s make this painfully practical. Can somebody keep seventh-day Sabbath and still be lawless?

Yes.

Yeshua has already shown us how.

A person can protect twenty-four hours of sacred time and spend the week lying, humiliating family members, withholding mercy, feeding pride, refusing reconciliation, mistreating employees, despising neighbors, or nursing hatred. That person may be absolutely correct about which day is the seventh day. They may still be deeply wrong in the heart.

Sabbath obedience does not baptize cruelty. Dietary obedience does not cleanse pride. Knowing Hebrew terminology does not make contempt holy.

Torah itself will testify against selective obedience.

That is one reason we need Matthew 23 in this study so badly. Without it, lawlessness becomes an easy accusation to throw outward.

Matthew 23 makes us bring it home.

The Lawless Grace Believer

Now let’s turn the mirror around. Can someone speak beautifully about grace and still live lawlessly?

Absolutely.

A person can say, “Yeshua did it all,” “I'm not under law,” “God knows my heart,” or “It's relationship, not religion,” and use every one of those statements as a shield against repentance.

If “grace” always seems to mean I never have to change, never have to submit, never have to give anything up, never have to obey something inconvenient, and never have to let Scripture tell me no, I may not be describing biblical grace.

Titus says grace trains. Romans says grace does not authorize sin. Yeshua says His wise disciple hears His words and does them.

Grace that never produces submission is not the grace those passages describe.

That does not mean growth is instant.

It means grace has direction.

Toward Yeshua.

The Same Warning Reaches Both Houses

This is one reason I love Scripture. It refuses to flatter our team.

To the person who says, “Commands do not matter because grace,” Yeshua says: why do you call Me Lord if you will not do the Father’s will?

To the person who says, “Look how carefully I keep commands,” Yeshua says: what about justice, mercy, faithfulness, hypocrisy, and your heart?

Matthew 7 confronts empty confession. Matthew 23 confronts empty religious performance.

The answer to one is not the other.

The answer is a life actually surrendered to Yehovah through Messiah.

Grace without obedience becomes permission. Obedience without grace becomes pride.

Yeshua gives us neither.

Obedience Is Fruit, Not Purchase Price

We need to say this plainly: we do not obey to buy salvation. There is no spreadsheet in heaven where Sabbath earns twelve points, clean eating earns six, and forgiveness of enemies earns a bonus multiplier.

Yeshua is the Savior. His blood cleanses. Grace rescues. The Spirit transforms.

But Scripture consistently expects rescued people to bear fruit. That is why Yeshua’s false-prophet warning talks about fruit before He talks about lawlessness.

Trees do not earn their species by producing fruit. Fruit reveals what kind of life is in the tree.

That is a much healthier way to understand obedience.

Obedience is evidence of allegiance.

Not the purchase price of grace.

Fruit Takes Time

That also gives us room for growth. A newly planted tree does not look like a mature orchard. A new believer may have enormous areas of ignorance, and all of us still have areas of ignorance if we are willing to admit it.

Yehovah may convict one person about something years before another believer has ever seriously examined it. That means obedience should never become an excuse for arrogance. If I understand something today that I did not understand ten years ago, the appropriate response is gratitude, not “Look how stupid everyone else is.”

Truth should make us more humble because we remember how patiently Yehovah teaches us.

Lawlessness is not ignorance patiently being corrected.

It is resistance to the One doing the correcting.

That distinction gives us room for both truth and mercy.

What About People Who Genuinely Do Not Know?

This question matters. If lawlessness involves rebellion against divine authority, what about people who honestly misunderstand Scripture?

That is not the same moral situation as knowingly refusing Yehovah. Scripture repeatedly distinguishes knowledge, intention, ignorance, weakness, deliberate rebellion, and hardened persistence. We should too.

Two people can perform the same outward act while standing in very different places before Yehovah. One may be ignorant. One may be confused. One may be weak. One may be convicted and struggling. One may be defiantly saying, “I know what God says and I do not care.”

Only Yehovah sees all of that perfectly.

That should make us very cautious about appointing ourselves chief inspector of everybody else’s salvation. Our responsibility is to teach truth faithfully.

Yehovah judges hearts perfectly.

But Ignorance Is Not a Permanent Discipleship Plan

At the same time, “I did not know” is not supposed to become, “I refuse to find out.”

A disciple is teachable. That is built into the word.

We learn. We open Scripture. We allow correction. We change our minds. We change habits. We repent when necessary.

If my theological system requires me never to discover that I am wrong, it has become a fortress rather than a path of discipleship.

The opposite of lawlessness is not knowing everything.

It is remaining under the authority of the Teacher while He teaches us.

That is a posture I want, even when it costs me.

“I Never Knew You” Does Not Mean “You Were Never Imperfect”

Look at Yeshua’s actual disciples. Peter rebukes Yeshua. Peter falls asleep when asked to pray. Peter pulls a sword. Peter denies Him three times. Thomas doubts. James and John want status. The disciples argue about greatness.

These are not flawless men.

But when Yeshua restores Peter, Peter follows. When disciples misunderstand, Yeshua teaches. When they fail, the story keeps calling them back into faithfulness.

That is very different from Matthew 7’s portrait of people who claim Yeshua while being characterized by lawlessness.

Discipleship has room for failure.

It does not make peace with rebellion.

That is a distinction I wish more frightened believers understood.

Yeshua is not waiting for you to stumble so He can announce He never knew you.

He is calling disciples to follow.

The Wise Builder Explains the Whole Warning

Now return to Matthew 7:24–27. This comes immediately after “I never knew you,” and Yeshua tells us exactly what the wise person does.

They hear these words of Mine and do them.

The foolish person also hears.

That is important because both builders receive the teaching. Both know what Yeshua said. The difference is not access to information.

It is response.

One builds life upon His words. The other hears and does not do. Then the storm reveals the foundation.

If you want a simple picture of the opposite of lawlessness in Matthew 7, it is this:

Hear the King. Trust the King. Build on what the King says.

Not because perfect building earns salvation, but because trusting the King means we build where He tells us to build.

Faith and Obedience Are Not Enemies

Sometimes we act as though Scripture forces us to choose: faith or obedience, grace or commands, love or law, relationship or submission.

But biblical writers keep putting these things together.

Faith trusts the King enough to follow Him. Grace rescues us from the slavery that kept us from righteousness. Love seeks the good Yehovah defines. Relationship with Yeshua means He is not merely a mascot attached to my existing life.

He becomes Lord.

The problem is not that Christians talk too much about grace. We should talk about grace constantly.

The problem comes when we redefine grace until the King has no authority left.

That is not grace.

That is autonomy with Christian vocabulary.

Does Obedience Prove I Am Better Than Someone Else?

No.

If anything, obedience should expose how much grace I need.

The more I study Scripture, the harder it becomes to imagine I have mastered righteousness. Yeshua will not leave the discussion at murder; He asks about anger. He will not leave adultery at physical behavior; He asks about desire. He will not leave love at people who are easy to love; He asks about enemies.

If reading Torah and Yeshua makes me feel smug, I may not be reading deeply enough.

The Word should humble us.

Because the deeper Yeshua takes righteousness, the more obvious it becomes that all of us need mercy.

The Commandment Keeper Who Hates His Brother

John makes this point brutally clear. Read 1 John 2:7–11 and 1 John 3:10–18.

A person cannot claim to walk in light while hating a brother. John connects righteousness with love in practice—not sentimental love, but concrete love expressed through care, sacrifice, and meeting need.

So once again, obedience and love refuse to separate. A person who prides themselves on commandments while cultivating hatred has not found a loophole.

John will not allow it.

Neither will Yeshua.

And this matters deeply for any Torah-observant community because knowledge can become an identity badge very quickly. If knowledge makes us harsher, something has gone wrong.

The Grace Believer Who Refuses Commandments

And then John says the person who claims to know God while refusing His commandments is a liar. He will not allow that loophole either.

This is why I keep saying the Bible is inconvenient in the very best way. It will not let the commandment keeper use obedience to avoid love, and it will not let the grace believer use love to avoid obedience.

Yehovah wants whole people.

Hearts and hands.

Faith and faithfulness.

Love and truth.

Grace and transformation.

If our theology always excuses the area we personally do not want examined, our theology may be serving us rather than Yehovah.

The Man of Lawlessness Shows Where Rebellion Ends

Come back once more to 2 Thessalonians 2. The lawless one exalts himself.

That is where lawlessness always wants to go: self-rule.

Maybe not dramatically. Maybe not with a throne in a temple. But the seed is the same: I decide what authority God is allowed to have over me.

That is why idolatry and lawlessness are spiritual relatives. If Yehovah only gets to command what I already agree with, I am not really submitting to Yehovah.

I am consulting Him.

There is a difference.

A consultant gives advice.

A Lord gives commands.

That distinction makes Matthew 7 suddenly very personal.

Lawlessness Is More Than Rule-Breaking

By now I hope you can see why I do not want to define lawlessness merely as “breaking rules.” Rules matter because authority matters, but lawlessness goes deeper.

It is resistance to righteous authority.

A person can break a command through weakness and grieve over it. Another person can technically comply while their heart remains hostile. Yeshua cares about both heart and action.

That is why Matthew 7 and Matthew 23 belong together. Matthew 7 says, “Do not think religious language replaces obedience.” Matthew 23 says, “Do not think external obedience replaces righteousness of heart.”

Lawlessness can wear either costume.

That is why we need the whole Bible.

What Lawlessness Is Not

Let’s clear away some confusion. Lawlessness is not simply having questions. It is not studying a command and genuinely reaching a different conclusion. It is not an immature believer still learning. It is not a single failure followed by repentance. It is not struggling against a sin you hate, and it is not being saved by grace instead of by works.

The Greek word anomia is also not a magic proof that every command of ancient Israel’s national covenant administration applies identically to every New Covenant believer. We have already studied why that claim requires far more biblical work.

Lawlessness is something more fundamental.

It is a posture and practice of rebellion against the righteous rule of Yehovah.

What Lawlessness Is

Lawlessness says: I will acknowledge God without submitting to God. I will use His name without accepting His authority. I will keep the commands I like and redefine the ones that threaten me. I will perform religion without repentance. I will claim grace while resisting transformation, or I will claim obedience while neglecting justice, mercy, faithfulness, and love.

Lawlessness may be loud, or it may be respectable. It may stand behind a pulpit or sit quietly in a pew. It may keep Shabbat or attend Sunday church. It may know Greek. It may know Hebrew.

The question is not what uniform it wears.

The question is:

Who is actually King?

Build the Evidence

Now let’s gather the whole study before deciding what the word means.

Matthew 5–7: How does the Sermon on the Mount connect righteousness, commandments, fruit, doing the Father’s will, Yeshua’s words, and lawlessness?

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Matthew 7:21–23: What do the rejected people claim, and what does Yeshua say is missing?

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Matthew 13:36–43: What ultimately happens to those who practice lawlessness?

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Matthew 23:23–28: Why is it important that outwardly religious scribes and Pharisees are called full of lawlessness?

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Matthew 24:12: What happens to love when lawlessness multiplies?

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1 John 3:4: How does John relate sin and lawlessness?

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1 John 1–3: How does John distinguish sinless perfection from a life characterized by sin?

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Romans 6: Does being “under grace” give believers permission to live lawlessly?

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Titus 2:11–14: What does grace train believers to do, and what did Yeshua redeem His people from?

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2 Thessalonians 2: What attitudes and actions characterize ultimate lawlessness?

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Jeremiah 31 / Hebrews 8–10: How does the New Covenant address both instruction and lawlessness?

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What pattern do you see when you put these passages together?

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Test the Claims We Hear

“Lawlessness just means generic bad behavior. It has nothing to do with God’s law.”

Does the word itself and the surrounding biblical context support removing divine authority and instruction from the definition?

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“Lawlessness simply means failing to keep Mosaic Torah exactly as ancient Israel did.”

Does that definition adequately account for New Covenant changes in priesthood, sacrifice, sanctuary, and covenant administration?

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“Matthew 7 proves everyone who does not keep seventh-day Sabbath is rejected by Yeshua.”

Does Matthew 7 identify Sabbath as the specific issue? What does the surrounding sermon emphasize?

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“Matthew 7 proves salvation is earned by obedience.”

What do the rejected people point to as evidence, and what does Yeshua say instead?

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“If I say Jesus is Lord and believe the gospel, obedience is secondary.”

What do Matthew 7:21 and 7:24 say?

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“Spiritual gifts prove someone is walking with God.”

What spiritual claims appear in Matthew 7:22? Does Yeshua accept them as proof of relationship?

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“Grace means I am free from concern about lawlessness.”

What do Romans 6 and Titus 2 say?

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“If I keep Torah outwardly, I cannot be lawless.”

What does Matthew 23:28 say?

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“Love replaced obedience.”

What happens to love when lawlessness increases in Matthew 24, and how does 1 John connect love and commandments?

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Now Test the Torah-Observant Shortcut

We have to test our own side too.

“Anomia always means Torahlessness, therefore one Greek word settles the entire Torah-continuity debate.”

Does anomia itself explain priesthood, sacrifices, sanctuary, national judicial law, Gentile inclusion, and New Covenant administration?

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“Someone who attends Sunday church is automatically a worker of lawlessness.”

Does Matthew 7 actually say that?

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“If I keep Sabbath and eat clean, Matthew 7 is mainly about other Christians.”

What does Matthew 23 do to that assumption?

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“The more commands I visibly keep, the more righteous I necessarily am.”

What does Yeshua say about hypocrisy, justice, mercy, faithfulness, anger, lust, and enemy-love?

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“Lawlessness is only an outward behavior problem.”

Where does Matthew 23 locate it?

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We do not get to use a judgment passage to avoid being judged by the passage.

☕ Coffee Break With Sasha

Okay. Coffee.

Matthew 7 is one of those passages that can make everybody point across the room and say, “See! Those Christians over there are workers of lawlessness.” And Yeshua is probably standing there saying, “Did you want to read the rest of the sermon, Sasha?”

Fine. Apparently we are doing self-examination today.

I can keep Shabbat. I can avoid pork. I can use Yeshua and Yehovah. I can have Hebrew notes written all through my Bible. I can tell you exactly why Peter’s vision was not about bacon.

And I can still be mean.

Well, that is inconvenient.

I can be prideful. I can hold grudges. I can refuse to forgive. I can talk to my family in ways I would never talk to somebody at church. I can love being right more than I love the person sitting across from me. I can carefully tithe my theological mint, dill, and cumin while stepping right over justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Yeshua already met people like that.

He was not impressed.

But the other ditch is just as real. I can drink my coffee, put on worship music, talk about my “relationship with Jesus,” say grace covers me, and use that relationship as an excuse never to let Him tell me no.

What kind of relationship is that?

Imagine telling your husband, “I love you deeply. We have a relationship, not rules. Therefore I have decided faithfulness is legalism.”

That conversation is going to go well.

Relationship does not remove faithfulness.

Relationship gives faithfulness meaning.

And that is what hits me in Matthew 7. These people say Lord. Not once. Twice. They know His title. They know His name. They claim ministry in His name. But Yeshua says, “I never knew you.”

That scares me far more than a debate over whether somebody pronounced a Hebrew word correctly, because apparently I can know the vocabulary and miss the relationship.

Then He calls them workers of lawlessness.

Not workers of imperfection.

Thank Yehovah, because I would be in trouble before breakfast.

Not people who ever failed. Peter would be done. David would be done. I would definitely be done.

These are people characterized by lawlessness. Their lives say, “I know You are Lord, but I still reserve the right to rule myself.”

Then I look at 1 John: sin is lawlessness. Romans: grace? Great. Shall we sin? No. Titus: grace actually trains you.

Excuse me?

I thought grace was supposed to mind its own business.

Nope.

Grace shows up with a lesson plan.

And what does Yeshua redeem us from?

Lawlessness.

That is the sentence I cannot get around. He did not die so I could continue in lawlessness with better fire insurance. He redeemed me from it.

Then Hebrews takes Jeremiah and says Yehovah writes His instruction inside us and remembers our lawless deeds no more. There it is again: forgiveness and transformation together.

Are you picking up what I’m throwing down?

This is not salvation by commandment keeping. I cannot save myself. If obedience could erase my sin, I would not need Yeshua. But if salvation means Yeshua can never tell me what to do, I am not sure what I mean when I call Him Lord.

Lord is not a decorative title.

It means something.

And I think that is why this study had to come last. First we asked what Torah means. Then food, grace, salvation, New Covenant, Paul, Sabbath, and fulfill. And now we arrive here: after all of that theology, who is actually King?

Because I can win every debate and still refuse the King. I can also misunderstand half the debates and have a soft heart that says, “Yehovah, show me. Teach me. Correct me. I want to follow.”

I know which posture I would rather have.

Give me the teachable heart.

Every time.

Now Answer the Original Question

We began with:

What Does the Bible Mean by Lawlessness?

Answer from the evidence before reading my conclusion.

What Greek word is commonly translated “lawlessness”?

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What basic idea does the word carry?

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What surrounds Matthew 7:23 in the Sermon on the Mount?

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What do the rejected people call Yeshua, and what spiritual works do they claim?

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What does Yeshua say about knowing them?

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What does Matthew 7:21 say about the Father’s will?

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What does Matthew 7:24–27 say about hearing and doing Yeshua’s words?

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How does Matthew 23 prevent us from defining lawlessness only as lack of outward religious observance?

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What happens to love when lawlessness increases?

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How does 1 John define sin?

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Does 1 John teach that a believer who ever sins has never known God? Why not?

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What does Romans 6 say about grace and continued sin?

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What does Titus 2 say grace does?

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What did Yeshua redeem His people from?

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What does the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians reveal about the heart of lawlessness?

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How does the New Covenant address lawlessness?

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Now write your own definition.

Biblical lawlessness is...

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What I Think the Evidence Shows

Here is where I land. I believe biblical lawlessness is a practiced posture of rebellion against Yehovah’s righteous authority and instruction—a refusal to live under His rule even when religious language, spiritual activity, or outward observance is present.

That definition includes law, and it should. Yehovah has not become a God without standards. But I do not think the word anomia by itself settles every question about how each Sinai command functions under the New Covenant. We need the rest of Scripture for that.

Torah reveals Yehovah’s righteousness. Yeshua fulfills and authoritatively teaches the Law and Prophets. The New Covenant internalizes Yehovah’s instruction. The Spirit produces transformed lives. Lawlessness stands against that entire movement because lawlessness says, “I will not be ruled.”

That is why it can appear in someone who rejects commandments and in someone who outwardly keeps them while resisting Yehovah in the heart.

The issue is ultimately allegiance.

Matthew 7 Is Not Mainly About the Wrong Vocabulary

The rejected people know religious language. They say “Lord.” They invoke Yeshua’s name. Their problem is not lack of vocabulary. Their problem is that their confession and allegiance do not match.

That should make all of us cautious about identifying faithfulness by labels alone. Christian. Torah-observant. Messianic. Evangelical. Spirit-filled. Whole-Bible believer. Those labels may communicate something important, but none of them substitutes for knowing and following Yeshua.

A label tells me what box someone claims.

Fruit tells me something about the life.

And Yeshua appears much more interested in fruit.

Matthew 23 Is Not Mainly About the Wrong Calendar

Likewise, the scribes and Pharisees demonstrate that outward religious observance does not automatically cure lawlessness. You can keep visible commands and neglect the weightier matters. You can look righteous and still be corrupt inside.

That means lawlessness cannot be solved merely by adding more visible practices to an unchanged heart.

We need transformation.

Which is exactly what the New Covenant promises: new heart, new spirit, instruction within, Spirit-enabled walking.

That is not cosmetic religion.

That is re-formation from the inside.

First John Will Not Let Sin Become Subjective

John’s statement matters enormously: sin is lawlessness.

Sin is not whatever culture currently dislikes. It is not merely whatever personally bothers my conscience, and I do not get to redefine sin around my preferences. Yehovah defines righteousness. That is one reason we need Scripture.

But John also prevents us from turning this into terrified perfectionism. The same letter speaks of confession, forgiveness, cleansing, advocacy, growth, love, righteousness, and commandments.

The disciple’s life is not, “I never stumble.”

It is, “I do not make rebellion my home.”

That is a very different thing.

Grace Is the Cure for Lawlessness, Not Its Alibi

Romans 6 and Titus 2 make this exceptionally clear. Grace does not stand beside lawlessness saying, “Don't worry. Nothing needs to change.”

Grace comes to rescue, train, purify, and transform.

Yeshua gave Himself to redeem a people from lawlessness. I cannot read that sentence and believe the purpose of the cross is to make lawlessness spiritually harmless.

The cross forgives rebels.

Then the King teaches rebels how to live free.

That is grace.

New Covenant Obedience Comes From the Inside Out

Jeremiah promised something better than external legislation confronting hard hearts. Yehovah would write His instruction within His people. Ezekiel adds the Spirit and transformed walking. Hebrews carries those promises into Messiah’s covenant work.

That does not mean every Sinai institution continues unchanged. We have already studied why it does not.

It means the New Covenant is not a covenant of divine indifference. Yehovah still intends to form a holy people, only now the work goes all the way into the heart.

That is why lawlessness and New Covenant transformation are such natural opposites.

One resists the rule of Yehovah.

The other internalizes it.

Knowing Yeshua Produces a Teachable Life

This may be the simplest practical test I take away from the whole study: am I teachable?

When Scripture confronts me, what happens? Do I immediately explain why it does not apply? Do I hunt for the interpretation that lets me keep doing what I already wanted? Do I attack the person who brought it up? Or do I say, “Yehovah, I may not understand yet. Show me.”

A teachable disciple does not know everything.

A teachable disciple is willing to be ruled.

That is the opposite spirit of lawlessness.

And I would rather have a believer who is still wrong about several doctrines but has a soft, teachable heart than someone who can win every debate and has become uncorrectable.

One can be taught.

The other is in danger.

A Safer Lawlessness Checklist

When somebody uses Matthew 7:23 to make a theological claim, ask whether they have read Matthew 5–7 as one sermon. What does Yeshua mean by doing the Father’s will? What does He say about fruit? What does He say immediately afterward about hearing and doing His words?

Then ask whether the definition survives Matthew 23. If your definition cannot explain how outwardly meticulous religious leaders can still be full of lawlessness, it is too shallow.

Read 1 John 3:4 in the context of the whole letter. Preserve both truths: sin is lawlessness, and believers have confession, cleansing, advocacy, and a call away from the practice of sin.

Read Romans 6 before using “not under law” as a slogan. Paul immediately rejects the idea that grace authorizes sin and describes the former life as lawlessness. Read Titus 2. Grace trains. Yeshua redeems from lawlessness.

Read Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hebrews together. The New Covenant forgives lawless deeds, gives a new heart and Spirit, and writes Yehovah’s instruction within His people.

Then ask the hardest question of all:

Am I using the word lawlessness mainly to identify somebody else?

Or am I letting Yeshua search me?

One More Question

Imagine you had no denominational debate attached to the word. No Torah movement. No law-versus-grace argument. No Saturday-versus-Sunday fight.

You simply opened Matthew.

Yeshua says He did not come to abolish the Law and Prophets. He calls for righteousness that reaches the heart. He tells you to love enemies. He warns about hypocrisy. He says trees are known by fruit.

Then He says not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” enters the Kingdom. The one who does His Father’s will does. Some people will point to impressive religious works, and He will say, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, workers of lawlessness.”

Then He immediately says the wise person hears His words and does them.

Later He calls outwardly righteous religious leaders full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Later He warns that multiplying lawlessness causes love to grow cold.

Then John says sin is lawlessness. Paul says grace is not permission to sin. Titus says Yeshua died to redeem us from lawlessness. Jeremiah and Hebrews say Yehovah writes His instruction within and remembers lawless deeds no more. Ezekiel says Yehovah gives His Spirit and causes His people to walk in His ways.

If you read all of that together, does biblical lawlessness sound like, “I made a mistake”?

No.

Does it sound merely like, “I failed to follow one particular ancient regulation”?

Too small.

Does it sound like, “I claim God while resisting His rule”?

Now I think we are close.

Final Thought

Maybe the most frightening thing about lawlessness is that it does not always look lawless. Sometimes it prophesies. Sometimes it casts out demons. Sometimes it performs mighty works. Sometimes it says, “Lord, Lord.” Sometimes it tithes herbs. Sometimes it looks righteous. Sometimes it knows all the correct religious vocabulary.

That is why Yeshua keeps moving beneath appearances. Fruit. Heart. Mercy. Faithfulness. Love. Doing the Father’s will. Hearing His words and doing them.

Lawlessness is not merely failing to know enough rules.

It is refusing the rule of the King.

Grace is not Yehovah lowering His hands and saying, “Fine. Rule yourself.” Grace is the King coming for rebels, forgiving them, cleansing them, giving them His Spirit, writing His ways into their hearts, and teaching them to trust Him enough to obey.

We will stumble while learning. We will misunderstand things. We will need correction. We will need mercy every single day.

But the posture changes.

From I will be my own authority to Speak, Yehovah. Teach me.

From Lord, Lord as vocabulary to Lord as reality.

That is where I land.

Yeshua did not save me because I obey perfectly. He saved me because I could not save myself.

But He did not save me so I could spend the rest of my life telling the King He has no right to rule me.

He redeemed me from lawlessness.

And now, imperfectly but willingly, I learn to follow.

Don't take my word for it.

Open your Bible.

Continue the Study

The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5–7

Matthew 5:17–20

Matthew 7:12–27

Workers of Lawlessness

Psalm 5

Psalm 6

Matthew 7:21–23

Matthew 13:36–43

Outward Religion and Inner Lawlessness

Matthew 23:13–36

Micah 6:6–8

Isaiah 1:10–20

Lawlessness and Love

Matthew 22:34–40

Matthew 24:9–14

1 John 2:7–11

1 John 3:10–18

Sin and Lawlessness

1 John 1:5–2:6

1 John 3:1–10

1 John 5:1–5

Grace and Lawlessness

Romans 6

Titus 2:11–14

The Mystery of Lawlessness

2 Thessalonians 2:1–12

The New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31–34

Ezekiel 36:22–28

Hebrews 8

Hebrews 10:1–18

Hearing and Doing

Matthew 21:28–32

James 1:19–27

James 2:8–26

Study Notes

Anomia — Lawlessness

The Greek noun ἀνομία — anomia is commonly translated lawlessness, iniquity, wickedness, or similar terms. It describes conduct or a condition contrary to law and rightful order and can carry the broader sense of rebellion or wickedness. Context determines how specifically the law concept functions in each passage. Matthew uses anomia in Matthew 7:23, 13:41, 23:28, and 24:12.

Matthew 7:23 and Psalm 6

Yeshua’s “depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” echoes Psalm 6:8’s language concerning workers of iniquity. The connection places Matthew 7 within older biblical judgment language concerning people characterized by wickedness rather than reducing the phrase to one isolated technical offense.

Matthew 7 Context

Matthew 7:23 is surrounded by warnings about false prophets and fruit, the statement that the one doing the Father’s will enters the Kingdom, and Yeshua’s concluding contrast between those who hear and do His words and those who hear without doing. Any interpretation of “lawlessness” should account for this immediate context.

Matthew 23:28

Matthew 23:28 is a major safeguard against defining lawlessness only as lack of external religious observance. Yeshua describes scribes and Pharisees as outwardly appearing righteous while inwardly being full of hypocrisy and anomia. Lawlessness therefore includes inner rebellion and corruption that can coexist with visible religious precision.

Matthew 24:12

Matthew 24:12 links multiplying anomia with love growing cold. This connection challenges the idea that biblical love and righteous obedience are competing categories. In Yeshua’s teaching, widespread lawlessness corrodes love.

First John 3:4

First John 3:4 directly states that sin is anomia. The surrounding letter also speaks about confession, forgiveness, advocacy, righteousness, love, and keeping commandments. This prevents both a standardless definition of sin and a perfectionistic reading in which any single failure proves someone has never known God.

Practice and Pattern

Matthew 7 refers to people characterized as “workers” of lawlessness, while 1 John repeatedly contrasts practicing righteousness with practicing sin. These passages address a settled pattern or orientation rather than teaching that faithful believers never stumble. First John 1:8–2:2 supplies the balancing context of confession, cleansing, and Yeshua’s advocacy.

Romans 6

Romans 6 places Paul’s statement that believers are “not under law but under grace” directly beside his rejection of continued sin. Later in the chapter, Paul describes the former life as impurity and anomia leading to further anomia, contrasted with righteousness leading toward holiness. Paul therefore does not use grace as permission for lawlessness.

Titus 2:11–14

Titus describes grace as actively training believers toward godly living and says Yeshua gave Himself to redeem His people from all lawlessness, purifying a people zealous for good works. Grace therefore functions as rescue from lawlessness rather than theological protection for remaining in it.

Second Thessalonians 2

Paul speaks of the “mystery of lawlessness” already at work and of a coming “lawless one.” The surrounding description includes self-exaltation, opposition to God, deception, rejection of truth, and delight in unrighteousness. This portrays lawlessness in its broad spiritual character as rebellion against divine authority.

New Covenant and Lawlessness

Hebrews quotes Jeremiah’s New Covenant promise of Yehovah’s laws being placed within His people and later speaks of sins and lawless deeds being remembered no more. Ezekiel adds the promise of a new heart, the Spirit, and Spirit-enabled walking in Yehovah’s ways. The New Covenant therefore includes both forgiveness of lawlessness and internal transformation.

Lawlessness and Torah

Because anomia concerns lawlessness and Torah is foundational divine instruction, Torah is relevant to the biblical category. However, the noun itself does not independently determine how every command of the Sinai covenant functions after the changes brought by Messiah and the New Covenant. Those questions require the broader biblical evidence concerning Yeshua, priesthood, sacrifice, sanctuary, Gentile inclusion, covenant administration, and Spirit-enabled obedience.

A Working Definition

Within the full biblical evidence examined in this study, lawlessness is best understood as a practiced posture of rebellion against Yehovah’s righteous authority and instruction rather than willing submission to His rule. It can appear as open wickedness, religious profession without obedience, or outward religious precision without justice, mercy, faithfulness, love, and integrity of heart.

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