"Marcion sets up unequal gods." Tertullian writes, "The one a judge, fierce and warlike, the other mild and peaceable, solely kind and supremely good."⁵

Is this not exactly what many Christians do? They shun the "Old Testament God" because He is too stern and fierce. They focus instead upon the "New Testament God," who, in their minds, does not expect obedience to His laws. Listen to Tertullian's description of Marcion's God, and see if it is not a description of the god presented by the Church today: Marcion's god "displays neither hostility nor wrath." He "neither condemns nor disdains" and "does not punish." "A better god has been discovered," Tertullian sarcastically writes, "one who is neither offended nor angry nor inflicts punishment……..he is merely kind. Of course he forbids you to sin——but only in writing. It lies with you whether you consent to accord him obedience."⁶

"To what purpose does he lay down commands?" Tertullian asks. "This god is exceptionally dull-witted if he is not offended by the doing of that which he dislikes to see being done."⁷

We might ask ourselves the same question about the God we worship: To what purpose does He lay down commands? We are certainly not Justified by keeping the Law. We are justified by faith. But after we are justified, what are we to do with God's Commandments? Are we to put them into practice, or are we to disobey them?

One thing that has helped the ghost of Marcion to thrive so well in the Twentieth Century Church, is the popularity of the Scofield Reference Bible. Even Christians who have never seen a Scofield Bible have probably been affected by it indirectly, through preachers and teachers who have been influenced by it.

The Scofield Bible contains many excellent study notes and aids to understanding the Scriptures. Several of Scofield's notes, however, strongly suggest a Marcionite view of Law and Grace. A reader of Scofield's notes is left with the impression that Law and Grace are mutually exclusive.

Scofield's anti-law bias has fed and nurtured and sustained the tares of nomophobia (fear of the Law) that Marcion sowed in the Church nineteen centuries ago. As the end of the age approaches, God is sending forth His messengers to uproot these tares, so His wheat can mature and bring forth the fruit of obedience to God's Laws.