Strive to Enter

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”  And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ (Luke 13:23-27)

Notice that in response to the question, “Are there few who are saved?” the Lord answers that many will seek to enter salvation but will not be able. He claims that people will call Him “Lord, Lord” in that day, and remind Him that they spent time in His presence and under His teaching, but He will tell them to depart from Him. Why does He not know them?–because they are “workers of iniquity.” The Lord’s exhortation is not “Just rest in my promises and relax and enjoy the ride,” as some suppose, but “Strive (the Greek word for “agonize”) to enter.” Make stringent effort to enter, otherwise you will be like others who sought to enter but were not able. Are we taking the Savior’s words seriously?

What does striving to enter look like?

Recently I met a Catholic man, who told me with tears that he was trying to raise money to support certain Catholic charities so that he wouldn’t have to go to purgatory after he died. He was certainly striving to be saved, but is this what the Lord meant by striving to enter?–No. Not only is purgatory an unbiblical and false idea, but no one can do enough good deeds to cancel out their bad deeds and make themselves justified before God. Wrongdoing must be forgiven by the One who was wronged (God), and His forgiveness (salvation) is granted freely to those who repent of sin and believe on/follow Jesus with saving faith.  However, entering into and abiding in salvation (Jesus) will take an agonizing effort, because to truly make Jesus Lord & Master of your life is not easy. Your flesh wants to rule, but it must be cast down, dethroned, and crucified. There can only be one King in the Kingdom, and usurpers of the throne of God are antichrist. Only those who are in submission to the King will be allowed in the Kingdom.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 13:41-42)

Today we have multitudes of people who go to church and know lots of religious lingo about the salvation they do not understand and do not in reality possess. They have never really agonized to enter the kingdom of God. They never truly repented of their sins. They don’t really believe in Jesus; if they did, they would follow Him and do what He says.  They haven’t experienced the sorrow that leads to repentance, and they remain waffling between the world and God, imagining they are the friends of God while they are really His enemies ( James 4:4).  Listen to what Paul described as the sorrow that precedes repentance leading to salvation:

Now I rejoice…that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!  (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

These people had responded to Paul’s rebuke with sorrow that led to a change in their behavior. They were diligent to clear themselves of wrongdoing, they were indignant against sin (siding with God against their own wrong), and they acquired a zeal for practical righteousness. This is a necessary step toward salvation, but it can’t be taken without some striving. Anyone who has been under the conviction of the Holy Spirit knows that a great wrestling occurs as the Lord convicts of sin, and the sinner is compelled to wave the white flag of surrender. Only those who allow Jesus to reign over them will escape being the “slain of the Lord” (Luke 19:11-27; Isa. 66:16). After being rebuked for his adultery and murder, David described his agonizing time of sorrowing to repentance as follows:

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  (Psa. 32:3-5)

Many people feel the hand of the Lord heavy on them, and their vitality is turned to the drought of summer, but they respond by lashing out at others and growing angry and bitter, rather than confessing to the Lord that they have wronged Him grievously and need His merciful forgiveness. It is easier to pretend the fault is all someone else’s than it is to acknowledge our own sin and turn from it. But this is what we must do if we want to be right with God. He does not allow pretension of godliness while hiding unconfessed sin. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Prov. 28:13)  Jesus went so far as to say cut off a hand or foot, or pluck out an eye, rather than continue in sin and wind up in hell fire! (Matt. 18:8-9) What is He saying, but that overcoming the flesh and entering eternal life will require some painful effort! Satan has a snare for everyone; we must watch and pray lest we fall into temptation and forfeit the great salvation prepared for us by choosing temporal pleasure over the things that have eternal value.

Often people will enter Salvation, but when they realize that it is a life of daily consecration, of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, they want out. They are like the children of Israel who cheered and rejoiced when they saw Pharaoh’s army drowned in the sea, but turned back to Egypt in their hearts when things got uncomfortable.  They have a “been there, tried that” mentality toward God, who they suppose should be more indulgent of their sensual cravings; rather than a loving thankfulness for His redemption and necessary providence.  They want to circumvent the valley of the shadow of death, rather than go through it. They want anything but to deny themselves, carry a cross, and to be as selfless and misunderstood as Jesus was;  but this is the only way. Jesus is the only way, so we have no choice but to obey His instructions no matter where they take us or how much it hurts.  Overcomers have three things:  the blood of the Lamb (forgiveness through Jesus), the word of their testimony (a changed life), and they love not their own lives to the death (Rev. 12:11).

Dare we imagine that loving not our own lives to the death is possible without striving?  We have this exhortation from the writer of Hebrews–You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin (Heb. 12:4).  Listen to Paul’s words on the necessity of striving for the imperishable crown of eternal life:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (I Cor. 9:24-27)

Dear Reader, strive to enter through the narrow gate. Do whatever it takes to make sure your life is 100% submitted to God. Many will be unable to enter because they will not part with their iniquity. Do not think to call Jesus “Lord, Lord” while disobeying His commands. He is not hoodwinked by empty words as men sometimes are. Do not think you will win the prize without self-discipline and effort. To produce the fruit God expects will require not just hearing, but keeping the Word of God, and patience under trial (Luke 8:15; 21:19).  The good news is that Jesus wants you to make it in! He offers instruction, strength, comfort, and everything else that is needed to bring you to heaven. All things are made possible through Him.  Will you strive to enter the narrow gate, and continue to live by your faith, or will you be like those who draw back to perdition?

God bless you!

The Unreasonableness of Sin

Today, I spoke to a pregnant mother outside an abortion mill with the hope of holding her back from murder.

At first, she spoke kindly, saying that she appreciated what we were doing, and she agreed with us. She said she was against abortion, but was going to get one anyway. I asked her why she was against abortion. She said, “Because this is a child God has given to me, and abortion is killing it.” Incredulous, I asked, ” So you KNOW that you are killing a CHILD? And you KNOW it is WRONG? But you are going to do it anyway?!”  She said she would do it anyway, because she “couldn’t live with herself if she gave her child up for adoption.”

Odd, no? She couldn’t live with herself if she gave birth to the child and found parents who wanted him/her, but she fancied she could live with paying an assassin to vacuum her baby into a bag (this procedure rips the baby to pieces).   Incidentally, the longer our conversation continued, the more angry she got, and the more determined to kill the child. She was clearly laboring to harden her own heart against the truth that she already knew.

Oh, the unreasonableness of sin!  There is nothing rational or sensible about sin–nothing.

People have all kinds of excuses for the sinful things they do, but none of their excuses make sense.

• I have to lie to my wife about the adultery I’m committing. I don’t want to hurt her.  Really? You don’t want to hurt her? This is why you are committing adultery?
• I steal from my company because they owe it to me anyway.  Really? They owe you?
• I am killing my baby because I couldn’t live with myself if I gave my baby to someone else. No, you are killing your baby because you are too selfish to put this baby’s needs before your own desires.

Oh, that I could make people see the unreasonableness of sin, and the reasonableness of obedience to a loving God!

Sin deceives the mind, and causes one to have skewed thoughts. Both the conscience within–and the revelation of God without–witness against the sin, and the sinner must either submit to the truth or attempt to override it with foolish arguments. How dangerous it is to hold the truth in unrighteousness! (Rom. 1:18)  Such people become vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts are darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they speak and act as fools; and no wonder, for they have exchanged the truth of God for lies!

Our only hope, if we have found ourselves deceived by sin, is to renounce it.  Agree with God; He is the wisest Person alive–to disagree with Him is pure folly.  If you aren’t with Him 100%, you are against Him. Believe what God has said about the sin, turn against it, and refuse to do it anymore. Sorrow (with godly sorrow) over having done it, and sorrow thoroughly to repentance. What does godly sorrow produce in a person?– diligence, clearing of yourself (from wrongdoing),  indignation (against evil),  fear (of God), vehement desire (to please the Lord),  zeal (to do good rather than evil), and vindication. (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, for this sums up all the law of God.  Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. (Psa. 119:165)

What does love look like?–

If you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. (John 14:21)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10)

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (I John 5:2-3)

In the spirit of Heb. 3:13, I exhort you while it is called “today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. May God open our eyes to see how truly deceptive and destructive and indefensible sin really is.

God bless you.

The Serious Consequences of Unforgiveness

Jesus said that the one who is forgiven much, loves much. I hope this describes you, dear reader, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

Just after Jesus told Peter that forgiveness must be given to an offender not seven times only, but seventy times seven, He taught an important parable that every Christian should be careful to remember.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  (Matt. 18:23-27)

Firstly, I’d like you to notice that being a Christian is likened to being in a kingdom under the jurisdiction of a King who will settle accounts with His servants. Jesus came preaching “the kingdom of Heaven” (or “the kingdom of God”) of which He Himself was and is the eternal King.  Each of us who have entered the good graces of that King, have done so by falling down before Him and desiring to be forgiven of a great debt we could not repay.  What man can cleanse his offending record and justify himself from the sins he has committed against this good King and His holy law of love? He cannot do it; he must have the compassion and forgiveness of the master, or he is all undone.  The master in this story (a picture of God) was “moved with compassion”–for the Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy (Psa. 145:8).  He released him from the debt and freely forgave him, just as God will do for any sinner who humbles himself before Him earnestly desiring the Master’s patience.

“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’  So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  (Matt. 18:28-31)

Forgiven Christian, the question before you now is what will you do when one of your fellow servants becomes indebted to you through some injustice in word or deed?  Will you respond toward him the same way the King has responded toward you? Or will you hold the debt over his head, refusing to follow the example of the One who forgave you?  It is very important that we receive not the grace of God in vain. The kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance. We ought not only to forsake the sin previously committed, but to become different people–people who respond to our debtors as God has responded to us.

Jesus instructed His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” and adds this warning: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.(Matt. 6:12, 14-15)  This is plain language indicating that our own forgiveness (and salvation) is in part conditioned upon our choosing to forgive our debtors.  If instead, we hold our debtors in the prison of unforgiveness, what will become of us? The Lord’s teaching is dangerously clear.

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”  (Matt. 18:32-35)

Is it possible to be a servant of the Lord, fully forgiven of all debt (sins) by the compassionate King, and then through our subsequent choices, forfeit the mercy that was ours? Indeed, it is, for the Lord has spoken truly: So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. And what will He do?  He will hold our past offenses (which were previously forgiven) against us until we pay for them. How can we pay for them and free ourselves from “the torturers”? We can’t.

Dear saint, you are called to be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48).  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5: 7). Therefore be merciful, just as your Father in heaven is merciful (Luke 6: 36).  You must forgive your brother from the heart, if you wish to remain in the love of God. Offenses sting and wound us, but as we forgive them, we are walking in the perfect way of love. We remember how great a debt the Lord forgave us, and how great a wound our sins imposed upon Him; and in the light of this, we count the sins committed against us of little regard and easily forgiven.  We lavish the same love on others that has been given unto us, thereby becoming conduits of the mercy of God to others. But if we reject this mission of mercy, we become debtors to God once again.

By the Spirit of God, our brother James wrote: 

Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (James 5:9)

Did James write that we will merely experience some loss of intimacy with God if we grumble against one another, or did he write that we will be condemned?  The wise Christian will take warning, and not try to explain away the clear teaching of God.  Forgiveness is not always easy, but it must be done by choice despite our feelings.  We choose to obey our Lord and follow His example, knowing His ways are right and good, and He in turn comforts us in our afflictions and removes the sting of our wounds. You can have a still-smarting wound and choose to walk in forgiveness, just as Jesus said, “Father forgive them” even as He suffered on the cross.  Choose today to always forgive your debtors immediately and thoroughly, from the heart, and you will be blessed.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Col. 3:13)

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.  (Eph. 4:31-32)

May God bless you!

What Spirit is Working in You?

And you [saints] hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. (Eph. 2:1-2)

I’d like to draw your attention to the last phrase, “the prince of the power of the air [satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”  The saints to whom Paul was writing had walked according to the course of this world only in time past.  Since then they had died with Christ, and been raised to a new holy life. Their conduct was no longer disobedient toward God, for those who are disobedient now are still being controlled by satan.

Many profess to be children of God and filled with the Spirit of God. However, the tree is known by the fruit it produces (Luke 6:44).

The Spirit of God is the HOLY Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to and finds rest in only those who obey God (Acts 5:32).  If a man is filled with the Holy Spirit, his works will be holy, for the Spirit working in him will produce fruit after His own kind (holiness). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love (obedience to God’s commands–Jn. 14:23), joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance [self-control] (Gal 5:22-23).

If the fruit being produced in a man is fleshly and disobedient to God, the spirit at work in that man is the devil. He can say he believes in Jesus all he wants; even the devil himself believes in Jesus. Not only that, but the devil trembles, knowing that Jesus will soon crush him beneath the feet of the saints (Jam. 2:19; Rom. 16:20).  What the devil will not do is obey Jesus. And those who are taken captive by satan to do his will also live in disobedience (2 Tim. 2:26). As their father does, so do they.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. (John 8:44a)

Those who are doing “the lusts of your father [the devil]” are yet children of the devil.

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (I John 3:10)

Are you DOING righteousness? Not merely acknowledging that Christ was righteous, but doing likewise–living as He lived? Have you crucified your flesh with its affections and lusts?–If not, you are not yet Christ’s (Gal. 5:24). If you are still walking after the flesh, be assured that you will die (forfeit eternal life; Rom. 8:13). Let no one deceive you that you can walk after your flesh and yet possess eternal life.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Gal. 5:19-21)

Those who DO such things shall NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God. For King Jesus Himself will send His angels to remove from His kingdom all things that cause sin and those who DO sin and cast them into the furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41-42). It makes no difference what you believe in your mind and profess with your mouth, if your works continue to be unrighteous.  For many will say “Lord, Lord” on judgment day, and the Lord will turn them away forever because they did not put His words into practice in their everyday lives (Matt. 7).

So I ask you, dear reader, what spirit is working in you? Is it the Holy Spirit of God, working what is righteous and obedient to the Lord? Or is it the spirit of the devil, working what is disobedient?

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;  neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  Be not ye therefore partakers with them.  (Eph. 5:3-7)

“Let it not once be named among you,” for the children of disobedience have only wrath to look forward to! Those who live and preach that we can only be disobedient for the rest of our lives have missed the whole purpose of the gospel of grace; they do not understand that Jesus has come to redeem us from all sin and purify for Himself a peculiar people who no longer walk in disobedience, but are zealous for doing what is good (Titus 2:11-14).

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence [lust], and covetousness, which is idolatry:  for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. (Col. 3:5-6)

Again, the children of disobedience will have wrath!  If this describes you, your only hope is to repent of doing evil, and turn to the Lord in obedience, trusting in His sacrifice to atone for your past rebellion.  Do not receive the grace of God in vain; do not do injury to the Spirit of grace by continuing in willful disobedience after coming to know the truth, lest you be considered worthy of greater punishment than those who despised Moses’ law and died without mercy (Heb. 10:26-29).

You must let the devil do his works in you no longer, giving him no place (Eph. 4:27).  Submit yourself to God (letting Him reign and rule in your life); resist the devil, and he will flee from you (Jam. 4:7).  The Son of God to Whom you submit was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (I Jn. 3:8). In becoming Christ’s servant and the servant of righteousness, you will no longer be the servant of sin or the devil. In submitting to His yoke (both His control and His divine assistance), you will find rest for your soul at last.  Follow the Lamb of God–Jesus–who only did what pleased the Father (Jn. 8:29).  As He lived, so you are called to live in this world (I Jn. 4:17).  If you do this, you will have confidence before Him at His coming because you have been abiding in Him (I John 2:28) and His Spirit has been living in you (I Jn. 3:24).

May God bless you and dwell in you by His Spirit!

The Command to Abide

 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  (John 15:1-10, NKJV)

I am amazed that any person can really read this passage and still teach the false doctrine of “once-saved-always-saved.”  Jesus did not believe or teach that doctrine and neither should we.

Some say, “Eternal life is eternal; therefore salvation cannot be lost.”  This argument does not take into account that salvation is a Person–the Person of Jesus Christ.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (I John 5:11)

This eternal life is where?–In His Son!  Jesus Christ is eternal life, and will always remain eternal, but that doesn’t mean people always remain in Him.  This is why Jesus taught His disciples that they must abide in (stay connected to) Him!

If a branch does not remain closely connected to the main Vine, it cannot produce fruit. Producing good fruit is absolutely necessary for salvation–for so you will be My disciples (and only disciples of Jesus will be saved, for He is the only Way, Truth and Life.) Jesus made it absolutely clear that if the disciples did not produce fruit through abiding in Him, they would be taken away.  Just as a withered branch is good for nothing but to be burned in a fire, a fruitless branch in Christ will be removed.  Once in Him always in Him? Not according to Jesus.

Jesus also taught that in order to abide in His love, we must keep His commandments!  (Note the conditional “if” in verse 10!)  Even Christ Himself did not take for granted the love of God the Father, but kept His commands and so remained in His love.

Oh dear, this writer is teaching works salvation…

No, my friend. This is the Word of God, and we must take its warnings and conditions seriously.

In Romans 11, Paul paints a similar word-picture using an olive tree instead of a vine. The Gentiles (pictured as wild branches) who believed on Christ were grafted into the good olive tree by faith, and the Jews who rejected Him were cut off. But this stern warning was given to those Gentiles already grafted in:

If God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,  if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (21-22)

Once grafted in, always grafted in? Not according to Paul. He said there is a condition to remaining grafted in–you must continue in His goodness.  You must abide in Him!

What does abiding look like?–

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (I John 2:6)

How did Jesus walk?  He gave this bold testimony, “I do always those things that please him [the Father].” (Jn. 8:29)  So whoever says he abides in Jesus must always, as much as is in his power, do the things that please God.  And God does not ask what is beyond our strength to give, for we are commanded to love Him with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength we possess, but never with more than we possess.  John wrote, “He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him,” and “whoever abides in Him does not sin.” (I Jn. 3:24; I Jn. 3:6)

In addition to loving God, we must also love our brother in order to abide in Christ (who is the light of the world), for he who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him (I Jn. 2:10).

And now, little children, abide in Him, that whenHe appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.  If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.  (I John 2:28-29)

Do you want to have confidence when you see Jesus coming on the clouds?  Make sure that you are grafted in, and then abide in Him! Remain in Him, do only those things which please the Father, love and serve the Body of Christ, and love your neighbor as yourself (being careful to share the truth with them as you are able).  When they see you zealous for good works, false Christians may cast you out of their fellowship thinking they do God a service, but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed (Isa. 66:5).

God bless you!

My God, We Know Thee (Lord, Lord!)

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.  Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. (Hos. 8:2-3)

Is God mocked? Can He be fooled into accepting those who treat His redeeming blood as an unholy thing by their continuation in disobedience after God has provided so great a salvation? No–

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.   For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Gal. 6:7-8)

Please note: according to this passage, depending on what we “sow” (do), we will either reap corruption or everlasting life (salvation).  This passage says nothing about losing a few rewards while still receiving everlasting life, as many are falsely teaching. Do not be deceived.  Israel was delivered from Egypt by the mighty power of God, and atonement was provided for his sins.  Yet because he cast off the thing that was good, counting the great things of God’s law a strange thing, the Lord declared, “The LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.” (Hos. 8:13)

It is not enough to cry out, “My God, we know thee!”–even if you really knew Him at one time. It is not enough to have a Bible and knowledge of what it says. We must cease from casting off the thing that is good. We must willingly wear the good yoke of Christ, keeping in step with Him through the Spirit, living as He is–holy–in this world (I Jn. 4:17). If we cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue us, for sin always brings forth death.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  (Matt. 7:21-23)

Have you escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing Jesus Christ, only to become entangled therein again? Have you known the way of righteousness only to turn from the holy commandment? Are you a worker of iniquity that must be barred from entering the kingdom of heaven?  Unless you repent, you would have been better off having never known Him! (2 Pet. 2:20-22)  For we will be judged according to what we did with what we were given, and the one who knew his Master’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many stripes, as opposed to the few stripes that will punish the ignorant (Luke 12:47-48).

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (Jam. 1:22)

God bless you.

Refuting Calvinism

This is a very well-written article by Doctor Patrick Johnston, demonstrating how Calvinism is contrary to Biblical reason and sound doctrine.  God bless you!

Refuting What Calvinists Believe with What Calvinists Know

Muting the Objection of Conscience and Creation

There are many Calvinists both dead and living who have earned my admiration over the years. That I believe that they are in doctrinal error does not mitigate my respect and admiration for them as mighty men of God. Some of the greatest open air preachers and evangelists during the first and second Great Awakenings were Calvinists. Calvinists are leading Christendom in the restoration of biblical order for the home, in pioneering Christian home education, and are at the forefront of the attempts to apply the truths of God’s Word to issues generally thought of as secular: public education, welfare, economics, criminal justice, and the lordship of Christ over all matters of life. For that, they have my deep respect.

A Calvinist I deeply admire is Greg Bahnsen, one of my favorite Christian apologists who taught me, through his writings, books, and sermons, the presuppositional approach to evangelism and strengthened my belief in theonomy – the belief that governments and nations should obey God’s Word in all matters. When I prepared to listen to a CD that he preached on the subject of Calvinism, I grew concerned that my worldview was going to come crashing down. I have never heard Bahnsen say anything where he wasn’t overwhelmingly persuasive. I felt for certain he was going to bring a probing application of presuppositional apologetics to prove that Calvinism was true, necessitating a sea change in my theological beliefs.

What I heard from him, however, was the opposite: rather than a vigorous appeal to conscience and creation to prove the veracity of the Calvinist system, he advocated rather a suspension of our rational faculties and the muting of the predictable objection of human conscience. He did so based upon a passage from Isaiah, which is often misinterpreted. I’m sure you’ve heard a preacher say it: “God’s ways our not our ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.” They often take that passage to mean that we just cannot understand God, and therefore shouldn’t try; just accept the truth of His Word by faith. However, a cursory perusal of the passage reveals the gross error in this thinking.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so our my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your  thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6-9

If your ways aren’t God’s ways, you shouldn’t just accept the conflict as unavoidable – you should repent. If your thoughts aren’t God’s thoughts, you shouldn’t give up trying to think God’s thoughts – you should repent. That’s what this passage plainly means. To interpret this passage to mean that sincere Christians cannot understand God or His thoughts or ways is absurd.

Before one fully embraces the Calvinist system, they must first fall prey to the unstated presupposition that we must suspend our rational faculties and mute the objection of our consciences to simply accept by faith whatever God’s Word says about how He governs. First of all, this is an impractical mission. Without our rational faculties we could not even understand Scripture, much less build a cohesive theological system.  In order for Calvinists to suspend their rational faculties and mute the objection of conscience, they first must engage their rational faculties to come to that conclusion, and enlist the mandate of conscience to submit to the Word of God. Thus, the unstated presupposition of Calvinism is false based upon what Calvinists in fact do. Calvinism’s conclusions so plainly contradict the testimony of nature and conscience that we must constantly be reminded by Calvinists like Bahnsen at the onset of their teaching on Calvinism that “God’s ways aren’t our ways” and we just need to accept Calvinist doctrine in spite of its apparent contradiction to self-evident truths.

Is it not a sin to reason. “Come let us reason together, saith the Lord.” It’s as if Calvinists think that God made our bodies and the devil created our intellect and reason. No, we are to “love the Lord thy God with all thy mind.” (Read More)

God Sees Your Sin, Pt. 3

In the previous post, I wrote out some Scriptures from the Old Testament that demonstrate that once being chosen and favored by God does not make one exempt from living a life pleasing to Him. After entering into covenant with God, one’s future sins are not invisible to God. Many members of “the chosen people” did not inherit the promise because they did not continue to obey the Lord; their carcasses fell in the wilderness, and these things were recorded to warn us that such can happen to us (I Cor. 10:1-12).  Now I would like to examine some New Testament texts that confirm our need for obedience to the Lord after being born into His family, and the consequences for disobedience.

A favorite doctrinal component of Calvinism is that if you have ever believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, or ever had a moment of true faith, His personal righteousness has been imputed to your account once-for-all, and is the only thing God will ever see when He looks at you in the future. In other words, even if you live a wicked life after that and die in sin, God can’t see it; all He sees is Jesus when He looks at you.  If such were true, then not only will He continue to see us as obedient when we disobey, He will be mocked.  He said we would reap what we sow, but we really won’t! He said the wages of sin was death, but we have found a loophole whereby we can sow to our flesh and not reap corruption! He is not only blind, He can’t chastise His children when they do wrong, since He can’t see their sin!

Complete hogwash!

One wonders how God could ever see the righteous acts of the saints, if He can’t see their sin! Do NOT be deceived by these teachings; God will not be mocked. If we sow to our flesh we WILL reap corruption, and God DOES chastise His children when they do wrong. (Gal. 6:7-8; Heb. 12:7) The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. (Prov. 15:3) The Lord is wearied when people falsely say that evildoers are good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them (Mal. 2:17). People who do what is wicked are wicked; only he that does righteousness is considered righteous in the eyes of the Lord (I John 2:29; 3:7).

Jesus taught the following:

The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves…shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (Jn. 5:28-29)

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus taught the importance of DOING the Father’s will (righteousness), not just acknowledging or SAYING “Lord, Lord.” So important is it to DO the teachings of Christ, that the man who DOES them is likened to a house that survives a storm, while the man who does not DO them is likened to a house that is destroyed in the storm for lack of a proper foundation.  Friend, you ARE that house, and you are determining the final destiny of your house by whether or not you are submitting to Christ and doing God’s will. This is FOUNDATIONAL to your spiritual life.  Remember, King Jesus will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend (cause sin) and all persons who do iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire (Matt.13:41-42). So serious it is to get the sin out of your life, Christian, that Jesus said it would be better to cut off an offending body-part than to have your whole body “cast into hell.” (Matt. 5: 29-30)

So what if you don’t do as Jesus said, and deal a death blow to the sin in your own life?  Is all automatically forgiven because of His blood shed on the cross?

If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:   of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:26-29)

Friends, this Scripture destroys the license-to-sin doctrine.  If you willfully continue to sin after being sanctified, you are treating the precious blood of Jesus as an unholy thing!  God sees it and views you as worthy of much sorer punishment than the punishments inflicted on those who disobeyed Moses’ law!  When Ananias and Sapphira sinned in the church, was their sin hidden from God’s view? On the contrary, Peter, speaking by the Holy Ghost, rebuked them publicly. Their judgment was swift, and caused the fear of God to fall on the people who heard about it. Paul instructed Timothy to deal with sin in the church in like manner:

Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.   I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.   Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.  (I Tim. 5:20-22)

Instead of following the right ways of the Lord, many in the church instead excuse or overlook flagrant sin, letting it spread like leaven through the whole lump. After all, if a person is considered positionally righteous even when they are doing unrighteous things, then who are they to judge?  False teaching is so dangerous!! Paul instructed the Corinthian church to put the sinner out of the church until he repents!! (I Cor. 5)  To refuse to do so is to be a partaker in other men’s sins and to become defiled.  Remember, the pure religion that pleases God includes keeping oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27); this presupposes that God sees when we become “spotted.”

In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus–who is God–addresses the church. Does He only see His own righteousness when He looks at them, or does He assess them exactly according to their own works, and command repentance when necessary?  Indeed, Jesus makes some startling threats toward those who will not repent!

“Thou hast left thy first love.  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev. 2:4-5)

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.   Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Rev. 2:14-16)

I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.   Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.   He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.  (Rev. 3:1-5)

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.  (Rev. 3:15-19)

Please study those two chapters in full, and you cannot fail to see that all the beautiful promises of God are specifically for overcomers. We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). There is no easy way; the easy way taken by most is the wide road that leads to destruction. We must die to ourselves, and strive [make every effort, agonize] to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (Luke 13:24)

Peter wrote that because the judgment of God is coming, and because we look forward to a new heaven and earth where only righteousness dwells, we must be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless…and beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. (2 Pet. 3:14, 17)  The righteous can be led away with the error of the wicked and fall? Yes!

Paul wrote of those who swerved away from love, a clean conscience, and sincere faith, and so had left the path of life and had only “vain jangling” or “meaningless talk”–the emptiness of religion without God (I Tim. 1:5-6). He wrote that some who had not held onto faith and a “good conscience” (they defiled and hardened their conscience by disobedience), had shipwrecked their faith! (I Tim. 1:19) He wrote that any who refused to provide financially for their own widows had, by his wickedness, denied the faith, and was worse than an infidel (I Tim. 5:8). He wrote that some younger widows, being idle and gossipers, had already turned aside after Satan. (I Tim. 5:15)  In fact, Paul recognized that he himself was not immune to falling away:

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.   And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.   I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:   But I keep under my body [keep my flesh crucified], and bring it into subjection [to God's will]: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (I Cor. 9:24-27, brackets mine)

Paul recognized he could be cast away even after all his dedicated service to God! Just as a man who wants to win a race must be disciplined, so must the Christian life be disciplined, for “if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (2 Tim. 2:5)  It is possible to begin the spiritual race and not finish the course, which is why we are urged to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and…run with patience [endurance].” (Heb. 12:1)  It is possible to engage in “the good fight” and not compete lawfully, being finally disqualified.

In 2 Peter 2, Peter wrote of false teachers who bring in damnable heresies [such as once-saved-always-saved or "God doesn't see your sin"], even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  Peter describes these false teachers as having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices. Beware if your spiritual teacher shamelessly claims he cannot cease from sin, and that we must all sin every day in thought, word and deed! They teach such lies because they themselves are spiritually adulterous, loving the things of this world, especially the adoration and financial support of others who love sin and wish to have their ears tickled with sin-excusing lies.  Such teachers allure through the lusts of the flesh those who were clean escaped from them who live in error.  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. And so these wolves pretending to be ministers teach the flock of God that they have “liberty in Christ” to sin all they want! But when a man serves sin, he becomes the slave of sin! His so-called liberty is false! Don’t be deceived. Peter called these who had at first escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and were again entangled therein and overcome worse off than they were before they knew the Lord!  They were like dogs returning to lick up the vomit they had expelled, or pigs washed from their filthiness returning to their filth.  Truly this is receiving the grace of God in vain!

Dear reader, it is possible to deny the Lord by your disobedient works (Titus 1:16). Consider this carefully:

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Tim. 2:19)

This is the foundation of the Lord, and will not change despite the empty promises of false teachers.  How do you then depart from iniquity? David said a man could cleanse his way by taking heed to God’s Word (Psa. 119:9)  It is by abiding in Christ that His good fruit will be manifest in your life (John 15).   I John 3:6 teaches that whoever abides in Jesus does not sin! When you go astray, it is directly due to your not abiding in Christ.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.  (John 15:7)

Paul said, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:2-3)  We must CHOOSE the things above or the things of this earth. We must CHOOSE to mortify our members which are on this earth, and to follow the things that please the Lord, because the wrath of God is coming on the children of disobedience (Col. 3:5-6).

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post!  I hope it is clear to you that in both Old and New Testaments, God’s covenants with men are conditional. If you have not already, please study both testaments on your own, asking God to open your understanding to the Truth. He has promised wisdom to those who ask, and He has promised to be found of those who seek Him with their whole heart.  He is the God of love, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a peculiar people zealous for good works. His grace teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-14). I pray that you do not receive the grace of God in vain! I will leave you with this powerful statement by the Apostle Paul:

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Rom. 8:13)

God bless you!

God Sees Your Sin, Pt. 2

In this post, I would like to present you with Old Testament Scriptures which demonstrate that God deals with people on a day-to-day basis. He makes conditional covenants (agreements) with people, but if the people violate the conditions for blessing and refuse to repent, God is not bound to bless them still. The covenant has essentially been broken. Though God is merciful and loves to forgive, He does not blind Himself to the future sins of His people, allowing them to sin all they want and still remain under His protection and grace.

Some will argue that the Old Testament has no bearing on the lives of New Covenant believers, but this is error. We must remember that Jesus and all the New Testament teachers taught new believers from the Old Testament! It is applicable because God changes not. His character in the Old Testament is still the character He has today. There is a newer and better covenant in place, with a greater High Priest and more precious promises, but God remains the same covenant God, whose conditions must be met if one is to remain in His favor.

The Old Testament Judaic law was a shadow of things to come (Heb. 10:1)–meaning it was a type, from which we can draw truth and parallels relating directly to the present gospel time. Paul wrote exactly that in I Cor. 10:1-12, warning Christians that although the Old Testament Israelites had exited Egypt (symbolically: separated from the world), lived under the cloud (symbolically: enjoyed the protection of God), were baptized in the cloud and the sea (symbolically: old man crucified in baptism, resurrection to a new life as God’s child), ate spiritual meat (symbolically: partook of the True Bread, Jesus), and drank of the Rock who is Christ (received living waters), most were still overthrown in the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land. Why? They lusted, committed idolatry, fornicated, tempted Christ, and murmured in continual complaint, being unthankful. All these things happened to them, and were carefully recorded for examples to us, according to Paul!!

Therefore, we under the New Covenant can be sure that if we do the same things the Old Covenant people did, we will suffer the same fate. Though we have at one time separated from the world, enjoyed God’s protection, been baptized in Jesus, and feasted at the table of God, it is possible that because of our future sins, we will not receive the promise.  For this reason, the writer of Hebrews admonishes us,

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (Heb. 10:36)

It is imperative for those of us who have faith in the promise of God to DO THE WILL OF GOD with PATIENCE–BEFORE we receive the promise!

Listen to the promise of God given to Israel in Deut. 31:8–

And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

Right after Moses delivered this wonderful promise to Israel, God gave him a snapshot of the future; Israel would “rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.” What would happen next? Would God overlook their future sin and “never forsake them”?–

Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? (Deut. 31:16, 17)

When Joshua’s men suffered defeat at Ai, he sought answers of the Lord. Hadn’t the Lord promised to be with them? Why was He not keeping His promise? The Lord’s answer:

Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.  Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. (Josh. 7:11, 12)

Clearly, God’s promise to be with Israel was conditioned upon their remaining separate from “accursed things.”  God’s present favor is not a promise of unconditional future favor, no matter what you do.

If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. (Josh. 24:20)

The same warning was given to Solomon, a man gifted with wisdom from God:

Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.  (I Chron. 28:9)

Azariah, speaking by the Spirit of God, said the following to King Asa, and the people of Judah and Benjamin:

The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. (2 Chron. 15:2)

Let us not forget David, the man after God’s own heart, the shepherd king chosen to replace the backsliding King Saul. When he took another man’s wife and had her husband killed, “the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.” (2 Sam. 11:27)  The Lord did not overlook the sins of the man He had chosen. Many people believe that David remained in a perfectly safe, “saved” condition during the long period of time before he repented, but the Bible does not make this claim–contrarily, it claims that unrepentant adulterers and murders will not inherit the Kingdom of God (I Cor. 6:9; Rev. 21:8). Certainly, God’s mercy was extended to David in that he did not die in an unrepentant state, and His hand was heavy on David leading him to repentance. David could have hardened his heart at Nathan’s rebuke; thankfully, he did not.  We should not conclude from this story that David was an adulterer who was saved (unbiblical), but that God saw David’s sin and expected repentance.

In Ezekiel 8, the prophet was encouraged by God to look upon the wicked abominations–and greater abominations than these–being committed in the house of God. Was this not the house that once had the glory of the Lord resting upon it? (I Kings 8:11) But now God was angry at what the people were doing, so angry that He said,

Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (Ezek. 8:18)

Dear reader, God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day (Psa. 7:11).  He does not turn a blind eye to the future deeds of those who are presently considered “righteous.” In fact, He declared that if a righteous person turns from past righteousness  to future sin, none of his past righteousness will even be remembered! (Ezek. 3:20; 18:24-26; 33:12) A righteous person’s future sins are not invisible to God! Dare you say to the all-seeing God, “You can’t see what I’m doing”?

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? (Isa. 29:15)

The Lord says to His chosen people that turn to sin, “I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.” (Amos 5:12) Not only does He know them, but “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:14)  If you cover your sins (perhaps with unbiblical arguments like “God doesn’t see my sin”), you will NOT PROSPER, but if you confess AND FORSAKE them, you will have mercy (Prov. 28:13).

Although Israel had a covenant agreement with God whereby his sins could be covered and forgotten, his refusal to obey God’s voice, and his continuation in wickedness made his iniquity to be remembered (Ezek. 21:24). Because the people refused to restrain their wandering feet, the Lord no longer accepted them, but would now “remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.” (Jer. 4:10)

This doctrine that “God doesn’t see my sin” grieves the heart of God, who desires to heal backsliders of their ways if only they would “consider…in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.” (Hos. 7:1-2)

Apostasy was so rampant when the prophet Jeremiah was preaching, that the Lord directly said to the people, “I will utterly forget you…I will forsake you…and cast you out of my presence.” (Jer. 23:39)  Because the people transgressed the covenant and “cast off the thing that is good,” counting the “great things” of His law “a strange thing,” the Lord would no longer accept them, but would remember their iniquity and send them back to Egypt! (Hos. 8:3, 12, 13)  Because the people went whoring away from the God who loved them, and insisted upon corrupting themselves, He would “drive them out of His house,” “love them no more,” and “cast them away.” (Hos. 9)

The Israelites were taught by God, through the Levitical system, how costly sin was by seeing their innocent beasts die for their sins. Whatever sins were remitted by the shedding of blood would not be remembered against them. It was not a one-time deal, but a lifestyle of obeying God’s voice, examining themselves, and making appropriate offerings to God while seeking His forgiveness and favor. A man who became careless with the things of God was “cut off from his people.” Although the blood of animals cannot take away sins, these things were written for examples to us, and for our admonition (I Cor. 10:11).  Our offering for sin is the blood of Jesus Christ (shed once for all time), but this does not negate the fact that we must live lifestyles of obeying God’s voice, heeding His correction, examining ourselves sincerely, confessing and forsaking sin while seeking the Lord’s forgiveness, and looking to the crucified & risen Lamb of God with faith in His blood.  Carelessness and callousness can still result in being “cut off.” I will discuss this same theme in New Testament Scriptures in the next post.

God bless you!

Go to Part 3

God Sees Your Sin, Pt. 1

One of the fallacies that is repeated in many churches is that when you become a Christian, all sins–past, present, and future–are forgiven, and God no longer acknowledges your present or future sin.

This belief, although prevalent today, does not adhere to either logic or Scripture.

To embrace this doctrine is to assume that God cares so little about His own righteous laws and the people He created, that he gives a blank check–a license to sin– to all who were ever sorry for sin at one time.

The reason this error (that God doesn’t see our sin) is so readily embraced is because people WANT to believe it. Often they want to believe it is because they don’t want to give up their sin. But it simply isn’t true. If you are a sinner clinging to this refuge of lies, please understand that any false refuge will disappoint you in the day of judgment.  It is imperative for you to know and obey the truth if you want to be truly free.

Do we really think that the righteous moral Governor of the universe, whose laws are good and right and lead to the happiness of all men, forgives criminals in such a way that they can continue to be criminals against God and men without consequence?  Is the God of Love willing to pardon criminals unconditionally, even while they continue their crimes against others? How loving is that toward those being sinned against?  Would any earthly government worth its own salt operate this way–freely pardoning criminals who have no intention of stopping their crimes? Would you want a child molester pardoned once for all, even if he continued to molest? How loving or merciful would that be to the children he continued to hurt? Wise love must look out not only for the transgressor’s welfare, but also for the welfare of those who have been hurt by the transgression, and those who will continue to be hurt if the transgressor’s heart is not changed.  The criminal must stop committing crimes.

A sinner is a person who breaks God’s laws (I Jn. 3:4). The reason he needs to be forgiven and “saved” is because he has not obeyed the law of God, but has chosen his own way and justly deserves death.  The reason there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood is because sin is very serious!! Simply pardoning a criminal does not erase the crime already committed, nor does it always reform the criminal’s heart to curb future offenses. The shedding of innocent blood for the guilty (under both Old Covenant and New Covenant) was meant to bring about a heart change in the criminal–he must hate the crime he committed, recognizing that it brought harm to everything that is good, if he is ever to become a voluntarily law-abiding citizen–and this is God’s goal, to make voluntary law-abiding citizens in His Kingdom!  In fact, all “things that offend, and them which do iniquity” will be cast out of His Kingdom into a furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41-42).  The Kingdom of God is for those who willingly submit to its King.  The blood of Jesus displayed the tremendous mercy of God toward His enemies, and is meant to produce a holy hatred for sin in the repentant soul.  It is able to cleanse away not only the sin committed but also guilt in the conscience.

The giving of oneself to sin/lawlessness produces slavery in the soul (Rom. 6:16). A man needs supernatural help to escape from this slavery. And so God sent His Word to heal us, He proclaimed His gospel of salvation to us, and He shed His own blood to change our hearts from rebellious to submissive, to atone for sin, and to erase the guilt of our past crimes so that we are free to serve Him as fully forgiven children.

Past crimes? Not present and future crimes too?

Christ Jesus:  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the REMISSION OF SINS THAT ARE PAST, through the forbearance of God. (Rom. 3:24-25)

While it is true that the body of Jesus Christ was offered “once for all” (Heb. 10:10), when we come repenting of a life of rebellion against God, we come to the King and ask forgiveness for having been lawless citizens in the past. It should be understood that we must lay down our arms and surrender if we wish to be pardoned!  We come as those whose hearts have been moved and changed by the self-sacrifice of this King–though we once proudly resisted Him, now we know He is all-wise, all-loving, all-merciful, and worthy to be obeyed. We come ready to submit to the King’s commands from henceforth because we know that in His commands is life (John 12:50).   We come as those sorrowful for our past sins, ready and willing to take His good yoke upon us and learn from Him the way we should walk in–we intend to be lawless citizens no more. Beloved, if we do not come to the King of the Universe this way, we do not receive a real salvation. Sorrow for sin brings repentance unto salvation (2 Cor. 7:10), and this salvation is the salvation from sin’s bondage. It is not merely a get-out-of-jail-free card. No, Jesus did not die so that you could admit you are a sinner, say “thanks” in a trite prayer, and continue to sin without consequence. He died to set you free from sin, to purify for Himself a peculiar people who are zealous to do good (Titus 2:14). He commands you to abide in Him and follow Him continually, so that you can produce good fruit instead of the evil fruit you produced when you followed your flesh!

Listen to the inspired words of Peter:

His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature (holiness!), having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

For if (IF!) these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Unfruitfulness will lead you to being separated from the Vine and thrown into the fire!–John 15.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be burned!–Matt. 3:10)

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (Purged from old sins, not future sins.)

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if (IF!) ye do these things, ye shall never fall:  for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  (2 Pet. 1:3-11)

Clearly, there are conditions to never falling. The doctrine that all sin–past, present, and future–is forgiven in a moment, and God chooses to blind Himself to our behavior for the rest of our lives, is a doctrine that reassures sinners and encourages them to stay on the wide road that leads to destruction.  When they experience guilt for their sin, they tell themselves there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, forgetting that the rest of the verse defines “those in Christ Jesus” as being those who are not obeying their flesh, but are obeying the Spirit of God. (Rom. 8:1, KJV) Sometimes they try rebuking the devil for their guilt, instead of confessing and stopping the sin that is causing the problem!

Walking with Christ (salvation) is characterized by freedom from sin and willingly serving righteousness.  Though we used to yield our bodies as servants of sin, now we yield our bodies as servants of righteousness unto holiness (Rom. 6:18, 19).  He that commits sin is of the devil, and Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (sin) in our lives, not to merely overlook them. Only he that does what is righteous is considered righteous in the eyes of the Lord, which are in every place, beholding both the evil and the good (I Jn 3:1-9; Prov. 15:3).

Now, it is still possible to sin after being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore–

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:  and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (I John 2:1-6)

The goal is to sin not, but if a man sins, he can be reconciled to God through the advocate Jesus Christ, returning to keeping His commandments once again, and walking as Christ walked. His sin can be cleansed away–

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (I Jn. 1:9)

Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, guides us and corrects us. We have a responsibility to listen to His voice and follow Him (Jn. 10:27), submitting to His correction if we go astray.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Prov. 3:11-12)

The Lord chastens us “for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness,” without which, no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:10,14). But–hear this warning–”he, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Prov. 29:1)

There are more passages of Scripture that teach that our present and future behavior has a direct bearing on our final salvation, and these we will discuss in a future post. God bless you!

Go to Part 2