The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 17

“I in them, and Thou in Me”

Can one be a Christian, justified, yet not free from sin? Are we to wait for this freedom in some future experience? Can we excuse ourselves, as some, by saying: “Well, it’s not me; but it’s my old flesh that sins.” Are we allowed to accept Jesus as Savior now, while refusing to bow to Him as Lord till a later date? This cannot be! Such a teaching cannot be because of our union with Christ -in all that He is, and has done, and is doing for us. Children of God have become identified with Christ, united to Him in an unchanging and unbroken union. Our blessed Lord is vitally interested in this union, for we read in His High Priestly prayer, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me... that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:20-23). So we see that our Lord prayed for this union with His people, which He purchased for them at the cross; and that this prayer has been answered, for in salvation we become one in Christ, and are thus enabled to hold out to the end in that persevering grace and faith freely given to us!

Again, the Scriptures declare that this union is of God our Father: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” (I Cor 1:30). Yes, the Father purposed and planned it from eternity, the Son prayed for it and purchased it upon the cross; and I Corinthians 12:12,13 declares that the Holy Spirit has made it effective in the heart and life of each one of God’s children. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” We have it in plain words: we who are saved have been baptized into (or put into) one body, and that body is Christ. So we see then that we are united to Christ, who is “the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph 1:22,23).

In Romans 7:4 this union of the believer with Christ is spoken of as a marriage union: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” How precious-married to Christ-given to Him in the spiritual bonds of matrimony, never to be divorced or separated, because we have been joined together in that inseparable union of love! Having been joined to Christ in that holy union of spiritual love, having pledged myself to Him for time and eternity, making Him my choice for ever, leaving all other lovers to cleave only unto Him as long as I live-how could I think of, much less practice, spiritual adultery? He has won my heart with His dying love; He has won my heart with the power of His resurrection; He has won my heart by all of His love gifts to my soul. Yes, He keeps me by His continued High Priestly work within the veil and His indwelling Spirit; and I have His promise that He is coming to receive me unto Himself, that where He is, there I will be also throughout eternity!

In light of all this, I ask: Could I ever leave Him or will He ever leave me, so as to be again under the rule of sin? Never! He has pledged Himself to get me home at last, without spot or blemish, and to present me blameless before the heavenly Father (Jude 24), who Himself chose me to be the bride of His Son for ever. And this to me is shouting grounds, because I have His Word for it; that having redeemed my never-dying soul from the pit of hell, snatching me from the captivity of Satan, He shall hold me to Himself for ever and ever and will not let me go! How? By both His constraining love and His constraining power which has fenced me in.

Examples

This all holds true in the physical life. If one loves his wife, then there’s no need for another. If all others have been forsaken for her, then there’s satisfaction and contentment, and that until death doth part. Now just as true love holds the husband and wife together, and they are true to each other; so in spiritual realities true love to Christ holds us true to Him in that marriage vow taken in salvation.

“Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb 13:4). If that is true in the physical, rest assured it is true in the spiritual also. And James 4:4: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Yes, God will judge the spiritual adulterers and adulteresses who claim to be married to Christ and yet prostitute their love in the lust of sin. What God is saying here is that you are not saved if you live in sin! You are His enemy, and abide under His wrath!

Our union with Christ is brought out in these verses: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” (I Cor 6:15). “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph 5:30). Then in I Corinthians 6:15 the question is asked: “Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?” And the answer follows: “God forbid”-perish the thought! Why? Because we have been bought with a price. We are not our own but belong to another, even to Jesus Christ Himself, our Head and Husband.

In I Corinthians 6:17 we find written that the child of God has oneness of spirit with Christ; therefore he will not make sin the rule and practice of his life. In Romans 8:35 we find written that the child of God has the love of Christ; therefore he will not make sin the practice and rule of his life. Or as II Corinthians 5:14 declares, “The love of Christ constrains us”-it holds us. Again in Colossians 3:4 it is written that the child of God has the very life of Christ in him; therefore he will not make sin the practice and rule of his life. And finally, Colossians 2:10, “Ye are complete in him”! The child of God is complete in Christ, and needs none other and nothing else to make him joyous, happy, content and satisfied while he waits for his Lover from heaven; therefore, he will not make sin the practice and rule of his life.

Yes, the Bible is full of reasons why the true child of God will not make sin the rule and practice of his life: he is dead in Christ, therefore dead to the life of sin. He is married to Christ, therefore bound in the law of love and matrimony. He is in Christ, therefore, he has the mind of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the love of Christ, yes, the very life of Christ dwelling in him by the Holy Spirit!

Personal Application

Glory, hallelujah and praise unto our risen Lord for such a Gospel, such a redemption, such a deliverance. A Gospel that sets us free in Christ Jesus to walk in the light! He has set us in heavenly places in Himself that we might have fellowship with our triune God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes, this true Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus lets us live in heaven while we are yet on the earth!

Do you know anything about this Gospel that sets free from the law of sin and death? Have you ever experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart to convict you of sin, righteousness and of judgment to come? Have your sins been set in order before your face, showing you your guilty condition before God? Has God the Holy Spirit ever brought before you your true condition, that you are deceived, that your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked? Can you remember Holy Spirit conviction, how you were brought down at the feet of God in true repentance, with a hatred for sin and a longing after holiness and righteousness, a longing to be freed from the penalty and power of sin, and the wrath of God? And can you remember hearing the Gospel of the grace of God, that good news of salvation and deliverance in Christ. Have you closed in with Him by faith, that faith given by the Holy Spirit to trust Him with your never-dying soul for time and for eternity?

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 16

Why Must a Christian Be Dead to Sin?

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 5:21

“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom 6:2). We have seen that the entire 6th chapter of Romans sets forth the glorious truth of the believer’s death to sin and therefore freedom from its rule, its tyranny, its reign and its entire domain. I believe the key that gives us this understanding is found in Romans 5:21: “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are entirely set free from sin and its power in the Lord Jesus Christ, into whose death we were baptized.

Listen as we again stress this great eternal truth: A Christian is one who is in Christ. Because he is in Christ, he has died with Him, he has been buried with Him, he has risen with Him, he is alive unto God in Him; and because of this identification with Christ, the repenting, believing sinner has been freed from sin-he has died to it.

How Have We Died to Sin?

Now the question is asked, “In what sense has the believer in Christ died to sin, thereby being freed from it?” The Scriptures are plain that we are not dead to sin’s influence, for we are told that sin influences us because we still have sin in the flesh (Rom 7:15,19; 8:10). And we are not yet dead to the presence of sin (Rom 7:21), nor will we be till we get our new bodies in the resurrection. Nor are we freed from the effects of sin in this life, because Romans 7:24 and Psalm 51:2 tell us that sin still affects us; it is still the plague of our hearts. Our Lord has taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4), and He has given us I John 1:9 as our confession box and the throne of grace to come to (Heb 4:16) to find grace to help in time of need.

In what sense then are we dead to sin? The Scriptures are clear that we are dead to sin as a master who rules over us; for Christ is our Lord, and where sin once reigned unto death, grace now reigns through righteousness (Rom 5:21). We are dead to sin in regard to its guilt; sin cannot condemn us, for we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, washed by faith in His blood; and we stand before God completely justified from all sin. Our sins have been imputed to Christ (Rom 4:8). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1); “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Again, we are dead to sin as a course of life, for we no longer walk according to the course of this world (Eph 2:2), as we did before when we walked in darkness, but we are now light and walk as children of light (Eph 5:8). Sin is not looked upon as a friend, but as an enemy, so now the child of God desires to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh.

Now I have not told you that I believe the Bible teaches sinless perfection or the eradication of the old nature in the believer; nowhere have I said that the believer can live above sin in this life, for this is not what the Word of God teaches. But let me repeat again: (1) We are dead to sin as our master, for Christ is our Master and grace reigns in the heart. (2) We are dead to the guilt of sin, for there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. (3) We are dead to sin as the course of our life, for we no longer walk in darkness but in the light of the Lord. (4) We are dead to sin because it is no longer our friend, but our enemy; and we by the grace of God flee from it.

And this is something that God does for every soul He saves! We must never lose sight of this, for herein lies our hope, our peace, our assurance, yes, our very salvation that has been so freely given us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please, do not grow weary of me repeating these gracious truths, for I do it for your good. First, to you who are truly saved, that you may know what you have in Christ and rejoice in Him; and then to you who are deceived by this false gospel of carnal Christianity, that you may, by the grace of God, recover yourselves out of the snare of the devil (II Tim 2:25,26).

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 15

What Is the Gospel?

Now, what is the Gospel? The Gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (I Cor 15:3,4). Therefore, based upon this Gospel, which is Christ Himself and all His work, God can be just in delivering a poor sinner who comes to Him in repentance and faith, and God counts all that Christ did as if he, the sinner, had performed it-it is because of Christ’s work and by the power of the Holy Spirit that this deliverance takes place.

Out of free, sovereign grace the sinner is delivered, first, from the condemnation of sin, the penalty of the law, and the wrath of God, in justification. In Isaiah 42:7: Christ was sent “to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Again, Christ speaking in Luke 4:18,19 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Again in Romans 8:1 we read, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”

Then second, by the power of the true Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, in salvation there is deliverance from the power of Satan. This gracious truth is brought out in Colossians 1:13 in these words: God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” In Hebrews 2:14 we read that Satan, who had the power of death, has been destroyed for the believer; and that the child of God will never again come under Satan’s power (I John 5:18).

Third, in salvation by the power of the Gospel the sinner is delivered from the power of sin. Listen again to Romans 6:14,18: “Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace...Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Yes, our living God has once for all delivered us from the slave market of sin by the shedding of His own precious blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Yes, redemption is by blood and by power. Christ paid the price by His shed blood, and the Holy Spirit makes deliverance actual to our experience by His power. This is what the Gospel does for us! Therefore we are never again exposed for sale, because we have become children of God, heirs of the Father, joint-heirs with Christ, and our bodies have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is shouting grounds for praise unto our God!

And fourth, the Gospel by its power gives us a new heart and a new nature so we can now serve God and walk in a way we never walked before-in a way of righteousness! He causes us to keep His Word! Oh, glorious thought! All of God’s people have been saved and are safe forever, because of the keeping power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us!

Do you know anything of this gracious Gospel in Christ that sets us free from the power and reign of sin? Or are you deceived by this false gospel of carnal Christianity that comes by free believism and does not deliver from the power nor the reign of sin, and is therefore damning to your soul? Away with such a false gospel! Bring in the true Gospel of the grace of God that comes with its power to break sin in our hearts and lives and causes us to walk in newness of life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 14

The Holy Spirit Teaches Us

Why then does the majority of Christendom not know this deliverance from the power and penalty of sin? Why are they walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit? Why is every excuse given for the old flesh and the false gospel of carnal Christianity? My friend, the answer is because they have missed Holy Spirit conviction; for if they had ever been under Holy Spirit conviction, they would have known the bondage of sin and, therefore, deliverance from it. They would have been taught by the Holy Spirit in conviction the things that are so humbling to the flesh.

And what are these things that He teaches which are so humbling to the flesh? (1) That you and I are destitute of any righteousness or good works that the Lord will accept (Isa 64:6). (2) That in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing (Rom 7:18). (3) That you and I are by nature vile, wretched sinners before God (Job 40:4; Rev 3:17). (4) That you and I are destitute of any spiritual wisdom (Rom 3:11), therefore full of vanity and pride (Psalm 39:5). (5) That we are destitute of any spiritual strength (Rom 5:6), therefore unable to do anything good of or from ourselves (John 15:5). (6) That you and I are destitute of freedom (Isa 61:1), therefore sold under sin (Rom 7:14).

Further we are taught that we are the bondslaves of our lusts (Titus 3:3), walking after the counsel of the devil who takes us captive at his will (II Tim 2:26) because we are by nature of our father, the devil (John 8:44). This is what God shows us under conviction, and with this knowledge we are humbled before God in repentance.

You see, my friend, under the convicting power of His Word, the Holy Spirit lets the light of the glorious gospel of God shine into our hearts, giving the glory of Christ Jesus to us, and thereby turning us from darkness to light-taking us completely out of the kingdom of darkness and putting us into Christ and His kingdom. This is our position in Christ by virtue of His cross work in us, and this we experience by faith as the Holy Spirit teaches us from His Word. It is then that we understand by faith those blessed words spoken by our Lord in John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Yes, having been in bondage to sin (yes, its bondslave!), now in salvation in Christ we are shown by the Holy Spirit through His Word and accept by faith that we have been delivered (freed) by the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.

How is this effected in us and how do we understand this? It is by the operation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to work repentance in us, so we stand guilty before God with a hatred for the sins which we have committed against God, and for the sinner we see ourselves to be before Him. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that we believe unto life and know that God, in His mercy and grace, has pardoned our sins, putting them away under His precious blood; and has given us a new heart and nature, thereby enabling us to now walk in a way of righteousness and true holiness.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 13

Free from Sin’s Penalty and Power

1. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2. “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

3. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” - Romans 6:1-6

Romans 6:1-4

The entire sixth chapter of Romans is against the false gospel of carnal Christianity. Having previously considered the question in verse 1: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”-verse 2 tells us no, that we who are saved have died to sin and live no longer in it, because in His salvation the Son has made us free from sin and its reigning power. In verse 3 we read that in salvation we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ-that is, we were put into Christ, and therefore were baptized (or put) into His death. You see, all that Christ our Lord as our Substitute did in His death, has become ours, for we were in Him at the cross. When we were saved by His grace, all of the benefits that came out of His obedience unto death became ours. This is what God does for every soul whom He saves.

In verse 4 we read that since this has happened, we were buried by baptism into His death (or put into His death) that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the power of the Father, even so we have been raised up with Him to walk in newness of life. Therefore sin no longer has dominion over us because we died to sin, even as Christ died to our sin which He bore in His own body on the tree (vv. 9,10).

These truths from Romans can only be understood by the revealing power of God’s Spirit; but oh my beloved, if God be pleased to reveal them unto our hearts by His Spirit, what a wealth of spiritual truth we have here! What gold of His grace has been poured out upon us! You see, what the Holy Spirit is telling us is this: we have been made one in Christ. As Christ died under our sins, so we have died to these same sins; and they no longer have dominion over us, the reigning power of sin having been broken.

Romans 6:5

In verse 5 we have again the plain statement of the believer’s union with Christ in the words, “planted together.” What the Holy Spirit is telling us here (which to me drives another nail in the coffin of the false gospel of carnal Christianity) is this: Since we have been planted together in Christ’s death, we are planted together in His resurrection. Oh, that we would take our Bibles and read what God has done for and given to us in Christ in salvation! There we will find that all the benefits which we have received from being identified with Him in death are made sure to us by the power of His resurrection; and this leaves us no loop holes in the positive salvation which is given to us in Christ Jesus the Lord!

But there is yet another great truth brought out in this 5th verse: Being planted together, then we shall bring forth our fruit unto holiness (v 22), for we are united to Christ in that vital union of oneness. If you would compare this with John 15:5 where our Lord said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches,” you can see this same truth of identification with Christ in that vital union of oneness; and if we are united to Him in oneness, then as He is now in heaven, so are we upon this earth as we walk as pilgrims and strangers on the road toward glory. Therefore as a good tree, we shall bring forth good fruit, according to Matthew 7:18. Read this verse carefully, and we find that “a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.” Why? Because it is identified with Christ, the smitten One, in death to sin and resurrection to (or newness of) life that brings forth fruit unto holiness.

My friend, have you ever noticed that word “cannot” in Matthew 7:18? The good tree, which represents the born-again child of God (one who is accepted in Christ and joined to Him in the oneness of faith in salvation), cannot bring forth evil fruit! Why? Because the good fruit of the Holy Spirit is brought forth by the life of Christ in us! Oh, my fellow believer, this speaks of our position in Christ. Yes, these Scriptures are blessed to me, for they tell me that since I have been identified with Christ in His death and resurrection, then I will also, by virtue of His life in me, now be enabled to walk in newness of life with the power of sin broken, bringing forth fruit unto holiness, as God by His Spirit changes me from glory to glory into the likeness of Christ!

Romans 6:6

We come now to verse 6 of this 6th chapter of Romans which reads: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” We will look first at the expression, “Knowing this”; and this to me drives another nail into the coffin of the false gospel of carnal Christianity. How?-By the teaching of the Holy Spirit when one is under conviction. You see, He is saying here that this is something which we should all know, that is, all of us who claim to be saved. This is something with which we should be familiar, something concerning which we should have an absolute certainty; therefore the Holy Spirit says, “knowing this.”

I hear you asking the question, “What should we know?” This: that we died to sin in the death of Christ, and have been raised in His resurrection power to walk in newness of life; therefore we have become new creatures in Christ. Do you know this? Do you always live in the light of this knowledge? Is this something of which you are absolutely certain? You should be, if you are saved, because this is an essential, vital part of our salvation. Now we have the power to put off the former behavior of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph 4:22-24). Yes, because the power of sin is broken, we can obey these commands to no longer serve sin. Perfectly? Oh, I wish it were so! This is what the child of God longs for, because he despises sin. But in salvation we learn from God’s Word and accept by faith that this is our position in Christ-He’s freed us from the reign and power of sin!

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 12

Impossible to Continue in Sin

Again, this brings us to Romans 6:2: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” We cannot. Why? Because that word “live” means “to continue and abide.” We see from this that in view of our position (under the reign of grace ), it is impossible that we should continue to live a life of sin! See I John 3:9: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” This profound statement means that whosoever is born of God does not go on in a life of sin; he does not practice it habitually. He cannot go on under the reign of sin because His seed remaineth in him-that is, the new life of grace in Christ. John is not saying that a man born of God can never commit an individual act of sin, for if this were the meaning of the verse, there would be none in heaven, or any Christian on earth today. No, he is saying that such a person cannot go on abiding in the realm of sin. Notice the word “cannot”-it is impossible. Our Lord said concerning this: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.” So put together all of these verses, and you will see clearly that it is impossible for a Christian to live in sin, because such a man is under the power and in the realm of this mighty force called grace. Because the saved soul is under the influence and the power of Christ, he cannot continue where he was before; grace makes it impossible.

Now, I am certainly not saying that the Bible teaches sinless perfection, or that our sin nature can be eradicated in this life. For God’s people still have sin in the flesh, according to Romans 8:10. What God’s Word is saying is that as sin reigned unto death before God saved us, now grace reigns through righteousness; and greater is the Holy Spirit Who is in us to cause grace to abound in us than he who is without (that is, Satan) to cause sin to abound in us. The Lord further says in John 8: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (v 36)-that’s an absolute freedom where the Son is concerned, for He came to give us life, and that life to be more abundant in Himself.

This is the true gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, of which Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom 1:16). And this Gospel not only makes salvation possible, but it gives all that is needful for keeping us from here to eternity! So unto us who are saved by the true Gospel and grace of Christ, Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”; for praise our gracious God, we now can and will walk after the Spirit, by His grace!

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 11

The Reign of Grace

Now by the same Gospel that delivers us from the reign of sin, assuring us from the Word of God that our sins are forgiven, we are transferred to and put under the reign of grace and all that that means in terms of power. For the reign of grace is a very powerful reign; it is guaranteed to produce certain results. Consider the following questions: Did not the reign of sin produce certain results? Did it not cause death to pass upon us? Did it not cause us to sin, and make us hate, swear, blaspheme, murder, lie, cheat, steal, covet, envy and bear false witness against our neighbor?-to do that which would bring down the wrath of God upon us? Did it not make us drown our convictions and turn straight to hell? Sure it did, because it reigned over us! It was powerful-a monarch on the throne of the heart-and we had to obey. So in the same way grace will reign over every child of God-”Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom 5:20). Yes, if the power and dominion of sin guarantees certain results, the reign and rule of grace guarantees more certain results! And these results are that my full and final salvation is absolutely certain. It guarantees that all the dynamite and tremendous power of the reign of grace is upon me and working in me, and will bring me home at last in the presence of God, to a state of absolute perfection in glorification.

This then being the purpose of the Gospel-to break the reigning power of sin and to enthrone the reigning power of grace-shall we be “carnal” Christians and the flesh remain in the saddle? No! The whole object of the grace of God given to us in the Gospel is to destroy sin with all its works and all that belongs to it (which will be completed in the morning of the resurrection!). For Romans 6:14 tells us, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Why? Because grace is infinitely more powerful. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound; and this is the Gospel the Bible declares! This is the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ that breaks the power of sin, sets us free, and reigns in us, so we can walk in the pathway of righteousness and true holiness. Any other gospel is not the true Gospel, but a perverted gospel! Therefore, if you are living in sin, hiding under a false profession, making excuses for sin, and if sin’s power was not broken when you say you believed, then I say to you, based upon the authority of God’s Word, you’re lost and know nothing of the power of the true Gospel of Christ!

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 10

Free from the Power of Sin

This is what we are saying: The Gospel of the grace of God sets the poor, captive sinner free! He is free from the power, as well as the penalty of sin, because he is now in Christ and His kingdom. You see, the true Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16). The word “power” comes from the Greek word “Dunamis” from which we get our word dynamite. Yes, this dynamite of the true Gospel sets us free from sin to walk in newness of life in Christ. When we stand before God as poor, helpless, lost sinners, hearing our doom read from the courts of heaven-”The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze 18:20)-and we bow to this judgment, knowing and acknowledging that we are hell-deserving sinners, then when we hear the preaching of the Gospel-the good news of deliverance through the blood of Christ-and it comes home to our soul by the Holy Spirit, we desire and cry after this free gift of God in Christ. By faith we see in Christ and His Gospel a full salvation of deliverance from sin and all its power, and we are made to trust and praise Him for such deliverance, which is for time and eternity.

My friend, what good is a gospel, if it is not good news of deliverance in Christ? or if it does not set us free from that which holds, binds and reigns over us, damning our souls to hell? The true Gospel sets men free from the tyranny of sin and breaks its power. It does not say, “Come on down the aisle, give me your hand and try me for a day, a week or a month, and see how you’re going to make out, then if you cannot hold out, you can always go back and be a `carnal Christian’”- No! that’s not the offer of the true Gospel! The command of the Gospel is this: Come to God as a repenting, believing sinner, lay down your arms of rebellion against Him; then when you come (by the power of the Holy Spirit working in you), with a hatred for sin and a desire after the Lord Jesus Christ-desiring to know Him in His fullness, to know His power and deliverance, and to bow to His Kingship-my friend, this is grace; and in this grace, God gives you a salvation that will not let you go back to Satan’s kingdom. God’s salvation will not let you go back under the reign of sin any more; for you see, this Gospel and this grace holds, keeps, and delivers you for time and for eternity, giving you grace and power by the indwelling Holy Spirit to be a conquering one, an overcoming one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 9

Free from Sin’s Penalty and Power - Part 1

“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” - Galatians 6:7-8

Into the Kingdom of Grace

The bent of a man’s life must be in the Spirit of God or he is not saved. If he sows to his flesh, he shall of his flesh reap corruption. We read in Romans 8:5, “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;” and in verse 6, “To be carnally [or fleshly] minded is death”-which is spiritual death (the second death in hell) according to Romans 6:23; 8:6. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:8). So if the bent of a man’s life is after the flesh, then he is not of God. He pleases not God, but only himself. On the other hand, if the bent of a man’s life is after the Spirit, then he minds the things of the Spirit, and “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” in Christ (Rom 8:6).

The Word of God plainly declares in so many places that when God saves a sinner in Christ, giving him a new heart and nature, He takes him entirely out of the realm of sin (the rule, reign and kingdom of sin), and brings him into the kingdom of grace. He puts the redeemed and saved sinner under the reign of grace. To prove this, let’s go to the law and the testimony of God’s Word: Colossians 1:13-”Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Here we find the apostle Paul telling these Colossian believers that they, who once belonged to the power and the kingdom of darkness (of the devil and of hell), have been translated (or transferred) from that kingdom and put into the kingdom of Christ under the reign of His grace. So they no longer are under the power or dominion of the kingdom of sin and darkness, but they are now under the power and dominion of the kingdom of light, heaven and grace, which has freely been given to them by the sovereign God in Christ.

Again, writing to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul says about Christians: “Our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). He does not say that our citizenship is going to be there, but that it is in heaven now. We are a colony of heaven living in this world, but our citizenship has already taken place by the grace of God in salvation, worked in us by the Holy Spirit. And we find this same truth in Ephesians 2:19-Believers are “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” In other words, there has been a complete change in our position. We have changed our kingdoms once and for ever, so we are no longer in the territory of sin; and because we are no longer under the governing power of sin, sin no longer controls our destiny.

Before becoming a child of God by the new birth, we were united to Adam. Because we belonged to Adam and his fallen race, all the consequences of his sin and actions have come upon us. But if we are saved, we are no longer in Adam; we are now in Christ. There are only two possibilities for every person alive today-you are either in Adam or in Christ-this is the whole message of Romans 5:18-21. Listen as we go into it: “As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation [the reign of sin in Adam] even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life [the reign of grace in Christ]. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners [the reign of sin in Adam], so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous[the reign of grace in Christ].” And in verse 17, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one [the reign of sin in Adam]; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ [the reign of grace in Christ].”

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 8

The Fine Line of Demarcation

But although we can see clearly here in these verses of Romans 5:20,21 and 6:1,2 that the true Christian, the true child of God, has died both to the guilt of sin and its penalty, and the power of sin and its reign in the human heart, yet it is on this fine line of demarcation that Christendom is divided today. For this is where the subtle work of Satan has come in with this carnal Christian teaching that says: “The moment a man makes a profession of faith in Christ, he is saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, but that the power of sin has not been broken, so of a necessity he will still live in sin and sin will still reign in his life.” And again I must raise my voice in protest, and proclaim what God’s Word teaches-that in salvation both the penalty of sin and the reign (or power) of sin is broken. Yes, a believer still has sin in the flesh, but it no longer rules or reigns over him as a master. If indeed he is a true child of God, he will say, “I have died to the reign of sin; sin no longer has dominion over me, for now the principle of grace and not sin reigns in my heart and life.” So again we see that this is what the power of the true Gospel of Christ does for us: it delivers us and sets us free in Christ.

Please hear me. We are either under the reign of sin in Adam, therefore lost, or we are under the reign of grace in Christ, therefore saved and safe. There can be no middle ground of carnal Christianity! If the Holy Spirit, by His almighty power, has not brought us from under the reign of sin and its power, its realm of dominion, then we are lost and lost forever. But this is only negative; something else must be done. The same Holy Spirit must also bring us under the reign of grace, and this He does in salvation: for we know its power, its force, its might, and its dynamic influence upon our lives as it reigns in our hearts and lives through righteousness. I must warn you, my dear friend, be not deceived! If you sow to your flesh, you shall of your flesh reap corruption and eternal damnation; but if you sow to the Spirit, you shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting in Christ by His grace (Gal 6:6-8). Oh, be not deceived!

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 7

We Have Died to Sin

Oh, what a subtle trick Satan has pulled on the vast majority of Christendom today!-so subtle that many are deceived and cannot see that they are deceived, thinking that it is possible to be saved without the power of sin being broken (its reigning power); believing that they can live a life in the flesh and sow to the flesh. Yet all is well with their never-dying souls because they have made a decision and are living the best they can! But listen to Romans 5:19-21: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” Hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us: “As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is what I have been setting forth: that when God saves us, He breaks the reigning power of sin, and now grace reigns! How?- through righteousness, and not apart from righteousness; so by the grace of God we can walk in righteousness and true holiness.

You see, my friend, this false gospel of carnal Christianity has so permeated our churches today that no one questions his interest in Christ, because he is told that the believer can still live in the flesh, sow to the flesh, and have hope of heaven when he dies. But this is a lie out of hell, for as we have shown you, God’s Word teaches differently. From the verses we have read in Romans 5, we see that when the law enters in convicting us of the awfulness, guiltiness and offensiveness of sin before God, then we find sin abounding and reigning in our hearts and lives, and cry out unto God for mercy. When God saves us in Christ, giving us His new nature and sending His Spirit to dwell in us, then His grace abounds and reigns in the heart and life of His redeemed child.

Then Romans 6 opens with the question, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And the answer comes back in verse 2, “God forbid”-By no means, of course not! Heaven forbid, perish the thought!-for: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” If we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, shall we live any longer in it? No! For we have died to sin.

Before we go any further, let us define the word “dead,” for “dead, died and death” are used 14 times here in Romans 6. And what does it mean? Physical death is spoken of in the Scriptures as the separation of the individual from his physical body, while spiritual death is spoken of as separation of the individual from the life of God in salvation. So the Holy Spirit is here telling us that we have died to sin once for all-we have been separated from sin as the reigning monarch of our lives-and that now the principle of grace reigns, and reigns as monarch. Therefore we walk in newness of life (v 4) with the power of sin broken, never again to come under its reigning power. Why? Because the power of grace does much more abound; therefore this is the true Gospel-the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ.

“Well,” he asks, “since this principle of grace reigns, shall we then sin that grace may abound?” And again the answer is “God forbid!” For being what we are-justified, blood-washed and cleansed sinners-can we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? The answer is no, because as Titus 2:11,12 tells us, the grace of God which now reigns, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 6

No Compromise with Sin

This doctrine or false gospel of carnal Christianity (which is no gospel!) has swept Christendom today, and there is not that ingredient of repentance which causes us to hate sin, showing that the power of sin must be broken, and that God by His Spirit in true salvation not only justifies but also sanctifies us. You see, justification and sanctification are the two sides of the same coin; and when God justifies us before Himself in Christ by His blood, He also sanctifies us-that is, sets us apart for His holy use-and causes us to walk in His ways.

So the true Gospel of Christ makes no compromise with sin. It demands coming clean and coming clear with God or perishing. It says, “Down sinner, down at the feet of the holy and sovereign God in repentance; down at the feet of Christ in faith, looking only to Him for salvation.” And all sin must be forsaken; all sin must be renounced; all sin must be repented of; all sin must be hated. You must die to the world, and the world to you. You must forsake your sin and then go on to forsake yourself, or you will never know Christ in true salvation. The Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus will not let you cover, defend or excuse any sin, for when the convincing power of God’s Holy Spirit works in your heart, you are going to die to sin and self; and then Christ, by His mighty power-the power of the Gospel-will raise you to a new life. This will be His life in you, and you will be a new creature in Christ.

Therefore, my dear friend, do not seek to make terms with God, for you deserve to be cast into hell, but for Christ’s sake, God can and will have mercy upon you if you come to Him as a hell- deserving sinner, renouncing your sins and turning to God from them in true, heart-felt repentance. This is your only hope of salvation in Christ, to come unto Him with the rope around your neck, giving Him the other end and telling Him to slay you or to save you for Christ’s sake. Come to Him with bowed head just as you are, as a lost sinner, for He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The true Gospel of Christ not only makes no compromise with sin, but there is also no place in the true Gospel for a second compromise: a middle ground between the broad way and the narrow way. None! For when you come to Christ to set you free from the penalty of sin in hell by His cross work (and this is justification ), you of a necessity also come to Him to set you free from the power and dominion of sin in this life (and this is sanctification ). The very nature of faith which embraces a whole Christ, demands that justification not be separated from sanctification. For Christ Himself-His very Person-is our salvation and hope of glory, and you cannot divide the Person of Christ. No man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:3), and you cannot know Him as Savior without knowing Him as Lord, the One Who breaks the power of sin and sets you free. As John 8:36 tells us: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”- free from sin! In God’s salvation we die to sin and its reigning power (Rom 6:2).

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 5

The Meaning of the Cross

So you see, this false gospel of carnal Christianity misses completely the whole meaning of the cross, which means death. But the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, demands the death, burial and resurrection of you, the sinner, in Christ. It sets forth the cross of Christ as the abrupt, violent end of all that you are by nature, and raises you to a new life in Christ with the shackles of sin broken. It brings to an end your pride and ambition, and leaves you at the feet of a holy God crying for mercy.

The true Gospel of God tells you that you will take up the cross of Christ and say goodbye to your friends and the world, for you are not coming back the same person. It tells you that you are not going to have your life redirected, but you are going to the place of death. As Hebrews 13:13 puts it, “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,” for there we die to the world. As the Lord Jesus Himself says in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” We must die to the world and all of its pleasures and allurements, as Galatians 6:14 tells us: By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ “the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Did you know that the two ingredients that make up the table salt we use every day, when taken by themselves, are a deadly poison and will kill you? But put together, they become a blessing in the form of salt which purifies, gives taste, preserves, and is used in so many different ways. It is the same with the true Gospel, the Gospel of the grace of God! We can preach Christ and His blood for the forgiveness of sins, in such a way that will deceive sinners, if we do not tell them that the death of Christ means death to us and our ways, and death to sin! If we do not put all of the ingredients into the message we preach, what we do preach then becomes deadly poison to the soul, damning instead of saving!

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 4

Death to Self and Sin

“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).

A “Friendly Pal”?

Beware of that false gospel which allows a man to stay in his sins and sow to his flesh, and yet gives him a hope for heaven. Beware of that false gospel that sells you an insurance policy against the flames of hell and yet gives no power over sin. Beware of that false gospel which lets you go on in your same way of fleshly living and makes no demands for the death of your fleshly nature. Beware of that false gospel that gives you religion without life, profession without possession. Beware of that false gospel that leads you to believe that there are two roads to heaven and not only the one road which is described by our Lord in Matthew 7:13,14 as “the narrow way.” You see, this false gospel makes a second way, and it is the road of carnal Christianity-”a way that seemeth right unto a man [because it is an easy road], but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov 16:25). It appeals to the flesh, but it is a way that leads to hell!

Again I say, beware of the false gospel which is preached today, which makes no demands upon you, but shows you the easy way unto salvation (which is but the shortest way to hell). This false gospel is not opposed to your flesh, rather it is a “friendly pal”; and, if understood rightly, it is the source of oceans of good, clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets you live without interference; it never changes your life; it still lets you live in your own pleasure, only now instead of singing cabaret songs and drinking hard liquor, you take delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane, morally if not intellectually.
This false gospel encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic appeal. It seeks not to slay the sinner before he receives the new life in Christ, but tells him to receive new life before the old life is slain. So it tries only to redirect the sinner. It directs him into a jolly way of living, which saves his self respect. This false gospel says to the self-assertive: “Come and assert yourself for Christ.” To the egotist, it says: “Come and do your boasting in the Lord,” and to the thrill seeker: “Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.” It tries to pour new wine into old wineskins, and it will not work! The old must be torn down before the new can be built.

The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 3

The False Gospel - no power over sin

What a far cry this is from the present-day gospel that is preached-a gospel that gives no new heart or new nature, a gospel that does not break the power of sin, but allows one to live on in it, a gospel that gives only an insurance policy against hell and knows nothing about holiness of thought and action, a gospel that will let you indulge the flesh, and puts no restraint upon your passion, pride and evil heart! Oh, this is not a gospel, but a false thing! I say false because it says that all one has to do is say “yes” to the four spiritual laws and believe in a historical Jesus; and after he “believes” he is saved and saved for ever, no matter what he does.

Did you know that the average individual tells you that he made a profession when he was 6, 8, 12, or 15 years of age; but he drifted off into sin, and after 10 years or so he came back and rededicated his life and now gives himself to religious service? It is from this group that the majority of our missionaries, teachers and preachers come, and they know nothing of heart-felt repentance or standing before God as a guilty, lost sinner! If you are in this group, I tell you in love, you have mistaken the call to salvation -to come to Christ as a guilty, needy, lost sinner-as the call to service; and therefore you have become two-fold more the child of hell than you were before, unless the Holy Spirit by His Word and grace gives you a heart to see your desperate need of Christ. You see, you have mistaken the call to a broken heart and a contrite spirit, to repentance and faith-the call to break with sin and to walk in holiness of life in conversion-as a call to the ministry! I know this does happen, for I have heard so many testimonies given along this line. It even happened to me! I mistook the call to salvation as the call to the ministry, and only by the grace of God was I awakened to see that I had missed true repentance and faith, and was still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.

Therefore, let me proclaim today that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for that Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth (Rom 1:16). This salvation is the deliverance from the power of sin, which I have experienced by the grace of God in Christ; and beloved, I praise the Lord that Romans 6:18 is true: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness,” servants of Him Who has delivered us from the law of sin and death! (Rom 8:2).

C. H. Spurgeon has said it so well:

Each creature brings forth after its own kind: the old nature being radically evil continues to produce and to send forth swarms of sins; it is not reconciled to God, neither indeed can be, and therefore its thoughts and acts are those of rebellion and hatred toward God. On the other hand, the new nature “cannot sin because it is born of God”; it must have its fruit unto holiness, for it is holiness itself. Out of a dove’s nest we expect only doves to fly. The heavenly life breeds birds of paradise, such as holy thoughts, desires, and acts; and it cannot bring forth such unclean birds as lust, and envy, and malice. The life of God infused in regeneration is as pure as the Lord by whom it was begotten, and can never be otherwise. Blessed is the man who has this heavenly principle within, for it must appear in his life and cause him to abound in holiness, to the glory of God. Reader, have you this divine seed within you, or do you remain under the dominion of a corrupt nature? This question deserves a present and thoughtful reply.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity Part 2

A New Nature

Therefore, since God gives every sinner whom He saves a new heart and a new nature, and puts His Holy Spirit within him to guide him into all truth, that saved sinner now searches the Word of God, not to find things that will justify him in his sins, but to find that Word which warns him against sin and tells him how to flee to Christ from sin. He reads Romans 8:6: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”; so he begins to cry to the indwelling Holy Spirit to deliver him daily from a fleshly, carnal mind, and to give him that spiritual mind of life and peace in Christ. No, he is not seeing how close he can walk to the world and sin, but how he can walk close to God in Christ by His Spirit. He is not searching the Word of God to find out the sins of others recorded there so he might use them as a means of justifying his walking in sin, but he reads these things as warnings to him not to walk where others have walked and failed.

You see, the man or woman, boy or girl, whom God saves, and unto whom He gives eternal life in Christ, hears these words from Colossians 3:2-5: “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify [put to death, reckon as dead] therefore your members which are upon the earth.” How then could any soul justify living a life to the flesh? No, for because of what Christ has done for him and because Christ’s life is now his life, this saved soul now desires to put to death the things of the flesh, that he might sow to the Spirit and walk after the Spirit. Beloved, this is the way God deals with our souls-I know first hand: I know what the difference is between carnal Christianity and the life which is lived by faith in and upon the living God by the Holy Spirit, for I have lived them both. The only difference between me and the carnal Christian is the grace of God, and I praise Him for it!

Therefore, when the saved soul hears God’s Word: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry”; and “put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another”-now he desires to mortify them, and why? Because he has “put off the old man with his deeds” and “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col 3:5,8-10). So his desire is for Christ and His life, to walk in a way pleasing to God and not after sin, because he has been born of the Spirit of God and has a new heart.

Also in Colossians 3:6 the Holy Spirit gives us another reason for walking in the Spirit and not after the flesh. He says we are not to walk in these sins, “for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.” Yes, those who walk in such a way of disobedience to God’s revealed will, shall find themselves under His curse and wrath.

A Holy Life Follows Salvation

My friend, I would not have you deceived! A holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or it is not God’s salvation; for Christ came to save His people from their sins, and not in their sins (Matt 1:21). A holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives us in Christ or God’s purpose in saving us would be defeated, and this cannot be. Did we not read that God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4). We cannot thwart the purpose of God toward His people. Listen again to this definite and positive statement-”For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess 4:7). Yes, a holy life must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or God’s will would be turned aside, and this cannot be-”For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (4:3). Sanctification is your being set apart from sin by the progressive work of God’s Spirit in your heart and life.

Again, a holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or the grace of God would not reign in the believer’s life; and this cannot be, for we read in Titus 2:11,12: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” I want you to pay particular attention to these verses and pray that the Holy Spirit will write them upon your heart. When the grace of God that brings salvation appears to all, it teaches them the same thing. And what does God’s grace teach us?-that we will be self-denying ones. In what way?-saying no to the world and denying ourselves ungodliness and worldly lusts, because we hate sin, self, Satan and the world of ungodliness. “All” learn this lesson, not just some of God’s children. “All” of them are taught by the Holy Spirit to hate sin and deny self. If this self denial and hatred of sin is absent from the life, then God’s salvation is absent (John 16:13,15; Isa 54:13).

But this Scripture does not end only in giving us the negative; the Holy Spirit shows the grace of God that brings salvation will teach us something positive as well-how to live soberly, righteously and godly. Where? in heaven? No, in this present evil world, right at home, on the job, or wherever we walk! For by His grace and blood He has delivered us from “this present evil world” (Gal 1:4).

Remember this: the same Holy Spirit teaches all of God’s children the same lessons. What are they? He trains us to reject and renounce all ungodliness, and worldly, passionate desires; and He also trains us to live sober, temperate, self-controlled lives in an upright, devout manner (Titus 2:12). In other words, He teaches us to live spiritually-whole lives controlled by Him, here in this present evil world.

The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal ChristianityPart 1

The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” - Galatians 6:7

A False Gospel

There is rampant in this age a false gospel of carnal Christianity which has deceived many souls. The vast majority of Christendom today have not bowed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. These are on sinking sand and are an easy prey to such a teaching which has permeated our land and our pulpits. So our purpose is to bring out the true gospel and the false, showing clearly the warnings from God’s Word that we should not sow to the flesh, but rather to the Spirit. May you have an open heart and an open Bible, as we pray that God will deal with us all by His Spirit.

We are warned concerning this false gospel of carnal Christianity in Galatians 6:7,8: “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.” This to me is a most solemn warning to all of our hearts, and especially in this day of free-believism and carnal Christianity which is preached on such a large scale. You see, the vast majority of Christendom today is deceived as to the state of their never-dying souls before God. What is happening is justification in Christ is preached alone, at the expense of holy living; and the hearers of this one-sided gospel are left in the dark as to God’s requirement of the necessity of a holy life. God’s grace has been turned into lasciviousness; the attitude of most has been: “A little sin won’t hurt-I’m just a `carnal Christian’ you know, and besides, doesn’t grace cover it all?”

Holiness Required by God

But my prayer is that God would so work by His Spirit as to make blind eyes to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that there would be a mourning over it, for this is our only hope. Oh, how our hearts should cry to the Lord for the truth of His Word that appeals not to our fleshly desires or to our fleshly emotions, but to that which cuts off our flesh and lays us bare before God in confession and repentance! We should cry to Him to so work in our hearts by His Spirit, that holiness of thought, word and action would characterize our hearts and lives.

This false teaching of carnal Christianity has so permeated our churches that no one ever questions his interest in Christ, no matter how he lives. People are told that if they have believed, that is all that is necessary, and therefore all is well with their souls. But the Holy Word of God declares no such teaching, but in fact declares just the opposite! For we read in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Yes, holiness must characterize our lives, “for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess 4:7). “He hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4). Again, He “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling” (II Tim 1:9). This is the same One Who says to be “obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:14-16).

Our warning text from Galatians 6 declares the same thing. God would have us to understand and not to be deceived about this false teaching, that no matter what false preachers and teachers say about it: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” My friend, if you sow to your flesh, you shall of your flesh reap corruption. I don’t care how many professions you have made or whose church you may belong to; you cannot mock God! He is no respecter of persons. Each and every one who sows to his flesh shall of his flesh reap corruption.

Repentance Is Given

A man who sows to his flesh continually has never been saved; he’s never been born again. Why? Because under Holy Spirit conviction we are given the grace to repent, and in repentance we learn to hate sin, to abhor it, to loathe ourselves, and to flee by faith to Christ for deliverance from sin. We know that sin has not been eradicated, for it is still the plague of our hearts; but sin is no longer the practice and rule of our lives. It cannot be, for the soul whom God saves has had a new nature and a new heart put within; and he now desires holy things and walks in the way of righteousness. He knows in himself that this is true, because the Holy Spirit has worked in him the things found in God’s Word. He reads in Ezekiel 36:26 about the new heart that God has given him; and in II Peter 1:4 about the new nature he has been given. He finds in I John 3:9 that he has been born of God, and that he who is born of God does not make sin the practice and rule of his life.

Why? Because His seed (the seed of God) remaineth in him, and he cannot make sin the practice and rule of his life anymore. He hears the Word say, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). Having been taught by the work of the Holy Spirit that he is a lost, hell-deserving sinner, having laid at the feet of God in repentance, having looked by faith to Christ as his Lord and Savior, having seen that his sin put Christ to death, then he wants no part of the world. The love of God has been shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit’s work in him.

He learns well that “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh [the desire to indulge]...is not of the Father,” so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death. Again, he learns, “all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes [the desire to possess]...is not of the Father,” so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death. He learns that “the pride of life [the desire to attract to oneself]...is not of the Father, but is of the world”-the Satanic world system of sin -so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death on the cross. He also learns that “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (vv. 16,17), so he desires by grace to do the will of God, which is to walk in “righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24).

The best of men are only men at their very best

The best of men are only men at their very best

(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Matthew" 1856)

While He was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped
them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is My Son,
whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!"
Matthew 17:5

Let us see in these words a striking lesson to
the whole Church of Christ. There is a constant
tendency in human nature to "hear man" . . .
bishops,
priests,
deacons,
popes,
cardinals,
councils,
preachers,
and ministers,
are continually exalted to a place which God never
intended them to fill, and made practically to usurp
the honor of Christ.

Against this tendency let us all watch, and be on
our guard. Let these solemn words of the vision
ever ring in our ears, "Listen to Christ!"

The best of men are only men at their very best . . .
patriarchs,
prophets,
apostles,
martyrs,
church fathers,
reformers,
puritans;
all, all are sinners, who need a Savior.

They may be holy, useful, honorable in their place;
but they are sinners after all. They must never be
allowed to stand between us and Christ.

He alone is the Son, in whom the Father is well pleased.

He alone is sealed and appointed to give the bread of life.

He alone "hold the keys of death and the grave" in His hands.

Let us take heed that we hear His voice, and follow Him.

Let us value all religious teaching just in proportion as
it leads us to Jesus. The sum and substance of saving
religion is to "listen to Christ!"

"The MERCY of God"

"The MERCY of God." - Psalm 52:8

(The following is by Spurgeon.)

Meditate a little on this MERCY of the Lord.

It is tender mercy!
With gentle, loving touch, he heals the broken
in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as
gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it.

It is great mercy!
There is nothing little in God.
His mercy is like himself- it is infinite!
You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great
that it forgives great sins of great sinners,
after great lengths of time, and then gives
great favors and great privileges, and raises
us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven
of the great God!

It is undeserved mercy!
Indeed all true mercy must be undeserved, for
deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice.
There was no right on the sinner's part to the
kind mercy of the Most High. Had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he
would have richly merited the doom.
If delivered from wrath, sovereign love
alone has found a cause, for there was
none in the sinner himself.

It is rich mercy!
Some things are great, but have little
efficacy in them. But the mercy of God is--
A cordial to your drooping spirits!
A golden ointment to your bleeding wounds!
A heavenly bandage to your broken bones!
A royal chariot for your weary feet!
A bosom of love for your trembling heart!

It is manifold mercy!
As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's
garden are double." There is no single mercy.
You may think you have but one mercy, but you
shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies!

It is abounding mercy!
Millions have received it, yet far from its
being exhausted! It is as fresh, as full,
and as free as ever!

It is unfailing mercy!
It will never leave you. Mercy will be with you in
temptation to keep you from yielding. Mercy will
be with in trouble to prevent you from sinking.
Mercy will be with you while living to be the
light and life of your countenance. Mercy will be
with you when dying to be the joy of your soul
when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

The Immutability of God

The Immutability of God
Arthur W. Pink

IMMUTABILITY is one of the Divine perfections which is not sufficiently pondered. It is one of the excellencies of the Creator which distinguishes Him from all His creatures. God is perpetually the same: subject to no change in His being, attributes, or determinations. Therefore God is compared to a rock (Deut 32:4, etc.) which remains immovable, when the entire ocean surrounding it is continually in a fluctuating state; even so, though all creatures are subject to change, God is immutable. Because God has no beginning and no ending, He can know no change. He is everlastingly "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jam 1:17).

First, GOD IS IMMUTABLE IN HIS ESSENCE. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be. "I am the LORD, I change not" (Mal 3:6) is His own unqualified affirmation. He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse. Altogether unaffected by anything out-side Himself, improvement or deterioration is impossible. He is perpetually the same. He only can say, "I AM THAT I AM" (Exo 3:14). He is altogether uninfluenced by the flight of time. There is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity. Therefore His power can never diminish nor His glory ever fade.

Secondly, GOD IS IMMUTABLE IN HIS ATTRIBUTES. Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so for ever. Necessarily so; for they are the very perfections, the essential qualities of His being. Seniper ideni (always the same) is written across every one of them. His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unsullied. The attributes of God can no more change than Deity can cease to be. His veracity is immutable, for His Word is "for ever.. settled in heaven" (Psa 119:89). His love is eternal: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3) and "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). His mercy ceases not, for it is "everlasting" (Psa 100:5).

Thirdly, GOD IS IMMUTABLE IN HIS COUNSEL. His will never varies. Perhaps some are ready to object that we ought to read the following: "And it repented the LORD that He had made man" (Gen 6:6). Our first reply is, Then do the Scriptures contradict themselves? No, that cannot be. Numbers 23:19 is plain enough: "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent." So also in 1 Samuel 15:29, "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent." The explanation is very simple. When speaking of Himself, God frequently accommodates His language to our limited capacities. He describes Himself as clothed with bodily members, as eyes, ears, hands, etc. He speaks of Himself as "waking" (Psa 78:65), as "rising up early" (Jer 7:13); yet He neither slumbers nor sleeps. When He institutes a change in His dealings with men, He describes His course of conduct as "repenting." Yes, God is immutable in His counsel. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29). It must be so, for "He is in one mind, and who can turn from Him? and what His soul desireth, even that He doeth" (Job 23:13).

Change and decay in all around we see, may He who changeth not abide with thee.

God's purpose never alters. One of two things causes a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: want of foresight to anticipate everything, or lack of power to execute them. But as God is both omniscient and omnipotent there is never any need for Him to revise His decrees. No, "The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psa 33:11). Therefore do we read of "the immutability of His counsel" (Heb 6:17).

Herein we may perceive the infinite distance which separates the highest creature from the Creator. Creaturehood and mutability are correlative terms. If the creature was not mutable by nature, it would not be a creature; it would be God. By nature we tend toward nothingness, since we came from nothing. Nothing stays our annihilation but the will and sustaining power of God. None can sustain himself a single moment. We are entirely dependent on the Creator for every breath we draw. We gladly own with the Psalmist, Thou "holdeth our soul in life" (Psa 66:9). The realization of this ought to make us lie down under a sense of our own nothingness in the presence of Him in Whom "we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

As fallen creatures we are not only mutable, but everything in us is opposed to God. As such we are "wandering stars" (Jude 13), out of our proper orbit. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest" (Isa 57:20). Fallen man is inconstant. The words of Jacob concerning Reuben apply with full force to all of Adam's descendants: "unstable as water" (Gen 49:4). Thus it is not only a mark of piety, but also the part of wisdom to heed that injunction, "cease ye from man" (Isa 2:22). No human being is to be depended on. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help" (Psa 146:3). If I disobey God, then I deserve to be deceived and disappointed by my fellows. People who like you today may hate you tomorrow. The multitude who cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David," speedily changed to "Away with Him, crucify Him."

Herein is SOLID COMFORT. Human nature cannot be relied upon; but God can! However unstable I may be, however fickle my friends may prove, God changes not. If He varied as we do, if He willed one thing today and another tomorrow, if He were controlled by caprice, who could confide in Him?

But, all praise to His glorious name, He is ever the same. His purpose is fixed, His will is stable, His word is sure. Here then is a rock on which we may fix our feet, while the mighty torrent is sweeping away everything around us. The permanence of God's character guarantees the fulfillment of His promises: "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee" (Isa 54:10).

Herein is ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAYER. "What comfort would it be to pray to a god that, like the chameleon, changed color every moment? Who would put up a petition to an earthly prince that was so mutable as to grant a petition one day, and deny it another?" (Stephen Charnock, 1670). Should someone ask, But what is the use of praying to One whose will is already fixed? We answer, Because He so requires it. What blessings has God promised without our seeking them? "If we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us" (1 John 5:14), and He has willed everything that is for His child's good. To ask for anything contrary to His will is not prayer, but rank rebellion.

Herein is TERROR FOR THE WICKED. Those who defy Him, who break His laws, who have no concern for His glory, but who live their lives as though He existed not, must not suppose that, when at the last they shall cry to Him for mercy, He will alter His will, revoke His word, and rescind His awful threatenings. No, He has declared, "Therefore will I also deal in fury: 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" (Eze 8:18). God will not deny Himself to gratify their lusts. God is holy, unchangingly so. Therefore God hates sin, eternally hates it. Hence the eternality of the punishment of all who die in their sins.

"The Divine immutability, like the cloud which interposed between the Israelites and the Egyptian army, has a dark as well as a light side. It insures the execution of His threatenings, as well as the performance of His promises; and destroys the hope which the guilty fondly cherish, that He will be all lenity to His frail and erring creatures, and that they will be much more lightly dealt with than the declarations of His own Word would lead us to expect. We oppose to these deceitful and presumptuous speculations the solemn truth, that God is unchanging in veracity and purpose, in faithfulness and justice (John Dick, 1850)."

"How am I to Worship God?"

"How am I to Worship God?"

(by Horatius Bonar)

Man asks, "How am I to worship God?" and

he has answered it also in his own way. In the
gorgeous temple, in the pillared cathedral, with
incense, and vestments, and forms, and ceremonies,
and processions, and postures, he says.

But these performances are the 'will worship' of self righteousness, not the obedient service of men worshiping God in ways of His own choosing.

Man cannot teach man how to worship God. When
he tries it he utterly fails. He distorts worship; he
misrepresents God, and he indulges his own sensuous
or self righteous tastes. His "dim religious light" is
but a reflection of his own gloomy spirit, and an
ignorant misrepresentation of Him "who is light."

God's answer to man's question is given in the
Lord's words, "those who worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth."

The vestments may or may not be lovely; that matters not.

The music may or may not be beautiful.

The knees may or may not be bent.

The hands may or may not be clasped.

The place of worship may or may not be
a cathedral, or a consecrated building.

These are immaterial things; mere
adjuncts of religion, not its essence.

The true worship is that of the inner man; and all
these other exterior things are of little importance.

As it is with love, so it is with worship.

The heart is everything!

God can do without the bended knee,
but not without the broken heart!

Regeneration or The New Birth

Regeneration or The New Birth
By Arthur W. Pink

Two things are absolutely essential for salvation: deliverance from the guilt and penalty of sin; and deliverance from the power and presence of sin. The one is secured by the mediatorial work of Christ; the other is accomplished by the effectual operations of the Holy Spirit. The one is the blessed result of what the Lord Jesus did for God's people; the other is the glorious consequence of what the Holy Spirit does in God's people.

The one takes place when, having been brought to lie in the dust as an empty-handed beggar, faith is enabled to lay hold of Christ, God then justifying from all sins, and the trembling, penitent, but believing sinner receiving a full and free pardon. The other takes place gradually, in distinct stages under the divine blessing of regeneration, sanctification and glorification. In regeneration, sin receives its death-wound, though not its death. In sanctification, the regenerated soul is shown the sin and corruption which dwells within, and is taught to loathe and hate himself. At glorification, both soul and body will be forever delivered from every vestige and effect of sin.

Regeneration is indispensably necessary before any soul can enter Heaven. In order to love spiritual things—a man must be made spiritual. The natural man may hear about them, and have a correct idea of the doctrine of them—but he cannot love them (2 Thess. 2:10), nor find his joy in them. None can dwell with God and be eternally happy in His presence—until a radical change has been wrought in him—a change from sin to holiness; and this change must take place on while on earth. How could one possibly enter a world of ineffable holiness—who has spent all of his time in sin, and living to please self? How could he possibly sing the song of the Lamb—if his heart had never been tuned unto it? How could he endure to behold the dread majesty of God, face to face—who never before so much as saw Him "through a glass darkly," by the eye of faith? As it is excruciating torture for eyes that have long been confined to dismal darkness, to suddenly gaze upon the bright beams of the midday sun—so will it be when the unregenerate behold Him who is light. Instead of welcoming such a sight, "all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him" (Rev. 1:7); yes so overwhelming will be their anguish, they will call to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!" (Rev. 6:16) And my reader, that will be your experience—unless God regenerates you.

That which takes place at regeneration, is the reversal of what happened at the fall. The one born again is, through Christ, and by the Spirit's operation, restored to union and communion with God. The one who before was spiritually dead—is now spiritually alive. (Jn. 5:24) Just as spiritual death was brought about by the entrance into man's being of a principle of evil—so spiritual life is brought about by the introduction of a principle of holiness. God communicates a new principle, as real and as potent as the principle of sin. Divine grace is now imparted. A holy disposition is wrought in the soul. A new temper of spirit is bestowed upon the inner man. But no new faculties are created within him, rather are his original faculties enriched, ennobled, and empowered.

A regenerated person is a "new creature in Christ Jesus." (2 Cor. 5:7) Reader, is this true of you? Let each one of us test and search himself in the presence of God, by these questions: How is my heart affected towards sin? Is there a deep humiliation and godly sorrow, after I have yielded thereto? Is there a genuine detestation of it? Is my conscience tender, so that my peace is disturbed by what the world calls "trifling faults" or "little things"? Am I humbled when conscious of the risings of pride and self-will? Do I loathe my inward corruptions? Are my affections dead toward the world and alive toward God? What engages my mind in seasons of recreation? Do I find spiritual exercises pleasant and joyous, or irksome and burdensome? Can I truthfully say, "How sweet are Your words unto my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103) Is communion with God my highest joy? Is the glory of God dearer to me, than all the world contains?

There are seven new things, which all believers now possess:

Repentance—A new mind about God. Acts 20:21
Justification—A new state before God. Ro. 4:25
Regeneration—A new life from God. Titus 3:5
Conversion—A new attitude toward God. Matt. 18:3
Sonship—A new relationship with God. 1 Jn. 3:1
Sanctification—A new position before God. Jude 1
Glorification—A new place with God. Romans 8:30