Filed under: Tid-Bits | Tags: Godly living, Rejoicing, Repentance, Righteousness
In God’s word there are many passages that give moral exhortation. This implies that the hearer has the ability to change his character and conduct. If this were not so, what would be the point in encouraging people to change if they did not actually have the ability to make those changes? All humans have the freedom of will and can repent and turn from evil to doing good. This implies that negative changes are also possible. People who live rightly today can also cease to live rightly in the future. How many Christians have we seen who were so on fire for God for so many years and then have ceased to live rightly and have gone back to performing immoral deeds? We risk negative judgment if we don’t continue being faithful to Jesus. This is why it is important to persevere. Jesus said those who endure to the end shall be saved.
More later…
Filed under: Tid-Bits | Tags: Cross, Debt, Forgiveness, Free, Penal Substitution, Repentance, Suffered
If Jesus had to PAY the debt for sin, then there was no true forgiveness. Many will say that Jesus paid for our sins. This is so wrong. If a debt was paid then it was not cancelled as the Bible says. Nowhere in the Bible does it say Jesus “Paid” or was “Punished” for our sins. In fact, quite the opposite is said. In Matthew chapter 18 we see where a debt was cancelled without anyone having to make payment or punished. If someone has to pay for sin, then sin is not freely forgiven. All this teaching about Jesus paying for our sin or that He was our substitute is nothing more than Post-Reformation theology and not true Biblical teaching. It is called the “Penal Substitution” theory.
Some people may say that the Penal Substitution does speak of forgiveness, in that God can forgive sins because He punished Jesus. Just the thought of this should concern us. God punished Jesus? Let’s use the analogy of a mortgage to put things into perspective, and will show that such an act does not represent true forgiveness. Imagine a letter from your bank saying, “Your mortgage does not need to be repaid and is forgiven, so long as it is repaid in full by one of your relatives.” Obviously the bank has not cancelled the debt graciously at all! The bank is allowing someone else to pay it. Likewise, penal substitution suggests that God will ‘forgive’ so long as there is punishment in full. This is not true forgiveness. All that has happened is that punishment was transferred to an innocent person. This is not a picture of a loving God graciously forgiving repentant sinners. All through the Bible God freely forgives all those who sincerely repent of their sins. The Penal Substitution says that forgiveness is not free and is in fact impossible and that God must punished sin.
If Jesus had to pay for all sin, then salvation cannot be of grace. The cause of salvation is by the merit of payment. If Jesus paid for all sins, then logic dictates that there must be universal salvation and that we must teach Unconditional Eternal Security. And if Jesus had to pay for all sin, there is no such thing as pardon or forgiveness!
Such words as propitiation, reconciliation, justification, redemption, being brought near, putting away sin, suffering, dying for sin, ransom, and offering oneself up, is not payment.
What happened on the cross is that Jesus suffered; He was not making a payment or being punished. (Mark 8:31; Luke 22:15; 24:46; 17:25; Acts 3:18; 26:23; Heb. 13:12; 1 Peter 1:11; 2:21; 2:23; 3:18; 4:1; 5:1; 2 Cor. 1:5)
For further reading (before quoting other verses out of context) see:
“The Vicarious Death of Christ?”
And
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Our God is compassionate, merciful, loving, caring and patient. God wants us to be like Him.
I read a story the other day and it went like this. A lady asked,
“Why is God so miserable? Why has he got such a downer on everything we do? Don’t do this and don’t do that. Don’t desire what other people have got. Don’t lie. Don’t commit adultery. It’s pathetic.”
The gentleman interrupted her with a question. “Does it really say those things, I mean, does God really say, ‘Don’t commit adultery”’? “Yes he does,” came her rapier reply. “Well, I’ve never read that bit,” I said. “You know very well it’s in the Bible,” she retorted. “It’s one of the Ten Commandments.” “Oh, now I know what you’re talking about,” I exclaimed. “It’s just that I didn’t recognize it at first because of the tone of your voice you were using.” “What do you mean,” she asked. “You’re absolutely right,” I continued. “God does say that we shouldn’t commit adultery, but not in the way you’ve read it. You see, before he gives any of the Ten Commandments he introduces himself as the God who loves Israel. He lets them know that he is for them, not against them. He wants the best for them. God didn’t sit in heaven making a list of all the things he knows human beings like to do and then outlaw them all to spoil their fun. God didn’t start his relationship with human beings by drawing up a list of moral rules that they had to keep. They are God saying, ‘I love you. I’m on your side. I got you out of slavery. I’m the best deal you’ve got going for you. Trust me. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t abandon me. Don’t commit adultery, because if you do it will unleash destructive powers that will slowly overshadow you, destroying you, your families and your society.’”
The woman looked at him in astonishment. “No one has ever explained it to me in that way,’ she said quietly. That makes a lot of sense.”
If only people would realize that the commandments shape a moral vision that gives us a picture of the character of God and God’s people rather than seeing them as a list of rules to live by whether we like it or not.
When Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Mount, it was not just another set of rules to to make us miserable. He was giving us core principles that compromise God’s character. God established the framework for moral development, to be like Him. God wants our hearts that will produce profound obedience, to display His character; a heart that radically trusts in God where obedience to Him will transform our lives.
You see, anyone can modify their outside behavior and God still not have their hearts. For example, a person may not commit violence, but yet his heart is full of hatred and rage. A person may not commit physical adultery, but commit adultery within the heart. A person may give to charity, but is missing the generosity of spirit. We can even do those things we are supposed to do, like chores or our jobs, but not have the heart of a servant.
People can follow a list of rules and clean up the outside and God still not have their heart. Jesus said to the Pharisees, the hypocrites:
“You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness….You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness…First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean…You’re like tombs that have been whitewashed. On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. That’s what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good. (Matt. 23:23-28)
We should examine ourselves to make sure we are not Pharisees and hypocrites. Does God truly have our hearts? Do we have a faith that expresses itself by working through love? (Gal. 5:6)
More later…
Filed under: Tid-Bits | Tags: Corrupted, flesh, Moral character, Moral depravity, Moral perfection, Phycial depravity
The command to “cease to do evil” (Isa. 1:16), and to “sin no more” (Jn. 8:11), implies that all sin is volitional. It implies that sin is not some involuntary substance dwelling inside of you which you cannot get rid of. Therefore, you don’t need a new body or a new substance to be free from sin.
You can have a pure and perfect heart or be morally perfect in this life, even while you have a fallen and corrupted body or are physically imperfect. This is evident since the Bible described certain men as being perfect in heart in this life, even while existing in their corrupted, depraved, or fallen flesh (1 Kin. 6:61; 11:4; 15:3; 15:14; 20:3; 1 Chron. 12:38; 28:9; 29:9; 29:19; 15:17; 16:9; 19:9; 25:2; Job 1:1, 8; Ps. 102:1; Isa. 38:3). “And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8). “And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight” (Isa. 38:3).
Clearly, you can be morally perfect, or completely obedient to God, even while you’re physically depraved. Your heart can be right with God, in obeying all the moral knowledge that you have, even while your body does not sustain perfect health. Though your flesh is corruptible (just as Jesus’ was, but without sin), your moral character does not have to be. Your will can obey all the moral knowledge of your mind, thus creating a perfect moral character, even while your body or flesh is fallen and depraved, or even while you are physically imperfect.
The distinction between the moral and the physical must be kept in our minds. We must differentiate between moral depravity (Rom. 3:23), and physical depravity (1 Cor. 15:22-23). And we must distinguish between moral perfection (1 Kin. 8:61; Php. 3:15), and physical perfection (1 Cor. 15:42; Php. 3:11-12).
More later…
Filed under: Tid-Bits | Tags: flesh, Free, Moral, Moral perfection, Perfection, Physical, Resurrection, sin
Some suppose Romans chapter seven to be a description of the Christian life, as opposed to a description of an unconverted state. But we know Paul is not referring to his own converted state because he already said that Christians have been made “free from sin” (Rom. 6:18, 22). The man in Romans seven was not “free from sin” and, therefore, he was not a Christian.
Paul also said that, “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1). Yet the man in Romans chapter seven was under condemnation and therefore needed to be saved by Jesus (Rom. 7:24-25).
And Paul said that, “to be carnally minded is death” (Rom. 8:6). But the man in Romans chapter seven said, “I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14). Therefore, the man in Romans chapter seven did not have eternal life.
And finally, Paul said that as a converted man he lived with a good and pure conscience that was void of offense (Acts 23:1; Acts 24:16; 2 Tim. 1:3). The man described in Romans chapter seven is deeply disturbed by his conscience (Rom. 7:16). Therefore, the description given in Romans chapter seven was not of the converted life of the Apostle Paul. It is a narration describing what happens when an unconverted sinner’s mind encounters the law of God and is convicted by it.
Paul did say, “…not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect” (Php. 3:12). When Paul said he had not yet attained perfection, he was talking about being free from physical corruption and attaining physical perfection. This is obvious since He said in the verse right before, “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Php. 3:11). The context of verse eleven gives clarity to the meaning of verse twelve. Paul was saying that he had not yet attained physical perfection because he had not yet attained a glorified body.
Paul was not saying that he was sinful and had not yet been made free from sin, since Paul already said that Christians have been made “free from sin” (Rom. 6:18, 22), and that he had a “conscience void of offense” (Acts 24:16; see also Acts 23:1; 2 Tim. 1:3). Paul was certainly not saying that moral perfection is unattainable in this life, as many misunderstand him to be saying, since only two verses down he said, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded” (Php. 3:15).
Clearly, Paul was writing about two different types of perfection. One type of perfection Paul said he had attained and one type of perfection which he said he had not yet attained. Paul was making a clear distinction between physical perfection and moral perfection and stated that the former is only attainable in the next life while the latter is attainable in this life. Moral perfection is attainable in this life while we are still in our flesh, since our flesh is not sinful in and of itself, and our flesh does not necessitate our choices, but we are free to live after it or to choose not to (Matt. 16:24; Rom. 8:13; 1 Cor. 9:27).
More later…
Filed under: Tid-Bits
The god of Calvinism says that, “God is seen as the great and mighty King who has appointed the course of nature and who directs the course of history even down to its minutest details.”
The god of Calvinism says, “He also perfectly controls all the depraved and impious affections of the wicked, and turns them as He pleases.”
The god of Calvinism says, “When we get the larger view we see that even the sinful acts of men have their place in the divine plan.”
So the god of Calvinism is actually an EVIL god! The next time you read about the most cruel and vilest crimes committed such as the rape of children, putting a baby in a microwave, doctors botching up abortions and tossing the babies to die in a trash can, murderers chopping people and eating them, when a woman is forced at gunpoint to remove her clothes, then repeatedly and brutally raped and then shot in the back of the head, when a drunk runs over and kills a child; no matter what you read, THE CRIMINALS HAD NO CHOICE! Why? Because the god of Calvinism had control of every thought, impulse, and feeling, for the evil god of Calvinism is one who “perfectly controls all the depraved and impious affections of the wicked, and turns them as He pleases.”
The god of Calvinism is Satanic!
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Filed under: Tid-Bits
The bible says that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 5:1) A lot of people think peace is just a mellow, calm feeling. It’s more than that. One can be in the midst of life threatening situations and scared and still be at peace. I remember when I was held up at gunpoint. I was very scared and at the same time at peace. I didn’t freak out. At peace means to be in right standing with God the Father. This kind of peace is internal and does not depend on external circumstances. Those who have no peace are the enemies of God.
Filed under: Eternal Security, Tid-Bits | Tags: Able, Faultless, sin, Unconditional
There is a passage of Scripture that is commonly wrenched from its context. Jude 24 says, “Now unto him that is ABLE to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory…”
What they (sin defenders) make the verse to say is that God will “infallibly” present them faultless. Unbelievable that people believe God will infallibly present them “faultless” while they continually deny that God can keep them from falling!
Note it says God is “ABLE.” Where does it say God will infallibly do this? The context is that God is ABLE but on the condition of our willingness to continue in Him. Verse 21 says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
The condition is that we “keep ourselves in the love of God,” thus He is ABLE to “keep us from falling” and is ABLE to “present us faultless” before the presence of His glory.
It is twisting Scripture to change the statement that God is “ABLE,” based upon conditions, to “God WILL unconditionally present us faultless.”
More later….
