The New Theology, part 3

The basic difference between the two gospels being taught in our church can be traced to the differing definitions of sin, as found in the Word of God and in the theories developed by men. The popular worldly gospel has crept into our church by, what theologians call, the “original sin” dogma. This false gospel teaches that sin is a part of our nature so therefore we are guilty of sin because we were born into this world. Under this false gospel, no one has the freedom to choose to sin or not to sin. This power of “sin guilt” is so great that when one tries to resist sin, in the power of God, it is impossible.

This devilish philosophy teaches that Jesus could not have had our nature, because He would have been guilty of sin at His birth. Furthermore, it teaches that no one can ever overcome sin until Jesus comes the second time and changes their human nature. It is impossible to become perfect, because it is impossible to follow God’s instructions since people were born with the corruption of sin within them.

If you accept this false gospel, the great sanctuary truth, the investigative judgment and the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14, all become insignificant. This New Theology teaches that everything was completed for man’s salvation at the cross, and that all that God now requires of us to be saved is that we receive justification and a covering of our sins. Sanctification, they say, is a slow growth process in one who has no power to overcome sin.

In the light of the truths of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, if you accept this false gospel you will be eternally lost. God is willing to share His divine power with all that ask for it, making it possible for you to overcome sin and enter heaven where there will be no sin.

 

Sin—An Action or Part of the Nature?

 

To get a clear understanding of the differences between these two gospels, we need to see how the Bible defines sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Therefore, sin is the breaking of God’s law, which is an action. Since sin is the result of an action, rather than a part of our nature, as taught in the false gospel, we begin to understand the harmony that is expressed by all Bible authors regarding sin.

James says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17. This Scripture states that sin comes by knowledge that brings individuals to the realization of their need to make a decision and use the power of free choice that God has given them.

What brings the knowledge of sin? Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:7–9.

Guilt does not come until there is knowledge of the law, but willful ignorance is no excuse. Jesus taught this in John 15: “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.” John 15:22, 24.

“If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 116.

“None will be condemned for not heeding light and knowledge that they never had.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1145.

For over one hundred years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church consistently taught that sin was the result of the action of choice; that before we become guilty of sin, our mind must consent to the temptation. This teaching does not disregard the fact that we all have a sinful nature, but that this sinful nature can successfully resist temptation when we come to Jesus and experience a rebirth through the re-creating power of Christ working in and through us.

With a clear understanding of this, we can better understand how Jesus was born with the same flesh and blood that you and I possess, yet He never once sinned. He always made the right choice, through the power of the Holy Spirit, by fully surrendering to this divine agent.

Jesus came to this world as Adam was after his fall. He was born with our sinful flesh, but not our sinning flesh. Because of this, He is our great example and if we follow His pattern of success, we, too, may overcome through the divine power which He freely gives to the fully surrendered soul. To substantiate this, I present to you the following quotations:

“Jesus also told them [the angels] that . . . He should take man’s fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 25.

“It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon Himself the form and nature of fallen man, that He might be made perfect through suffering, and endure Himself the strength of Satan’s temptations, that He might the better know how to succor those who should be tempted.” Ibid., vol. 4, 115.

“This was the reception the Saviour met as He came to a fallen world . . . And took upon Himself man’s nature that He might save the fallen race. Instead of men glorifying God for the honor He had conferred upon them in thus sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh, by giving Him a place in their affections, there seemed to be no rest nor safety for the infant Saviour. Jehovah could not trust to the inhabitants of the world His Son, who came into the world that through His divine power He might redeem fallen man.” The Review and Herald, December 24, 1872.

“Through His humiliation and poverty Christ would identify with the weaknesses of the fallen race . . . The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the Redeemer taking the place of fallen Adam . . . The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity. He would take man’s fallen nature.” The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874.

“Christ stooped to take upon Himself human nature, that He might reach the fallen race and lift them up . . . [He] partook of our human nature, that He might reach humanity.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 746–747.

“But many say that Jesus was not like us, that He was not as we are in the world, that He was divine, and we cannot overcome as He overcame. But Paul writes, ‘Verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” The Review and Herald, March 1, 1892.

We see from these quotations that over many years the servant of the Lord was consistent, in her writings, that Christ took upon Himself the nature of Adam after his fall.

 

New Theology and the Antichrist

 

In an article written by J. B. Conley, he shows how the teaching that insists that Christ came in the nature of Adam before his fall is connected to the antichrist. He wrote: “The Scriptures have placed the identity of antichrist beyond either guesswork or confusion. The Bible has clearly named the guilty one. John says that he denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. 2 John 7. Let this be the first mark of antichrist by which his identity will be placed beyond dispute.

“Far from denying the existence of Christ, the text suggests that antichrist teaches that Christ has come but teaches a doctrine about His coming which denies that He has come in the flesh. If the Catholic Church is guilty as the Protestant Reformers claimed her to be, then her teaching concerning the nature of Jesus in His incarnation into this world as a babe will reveal it.

“Let us examine that teaching in the light of the text before us. The Bible teaches that Jesus was born into the world through Mary who was a direct descendent of Adam. By inheritance she partook of Adam’s nature. Adam’s nature was mortal and subject to death as a result of the transgression of God’s will in Eden. His flesh was by nature that of the children of wrath. Mary partook of this nature in all of its aspects. She was a representative of the whole human race and in no way different from others descendent from Adam’s line.

“She was favored among women only because she was the one chosen of God through whom the mystery of godliness was to be made manifest and through whom Jesus was to be brought from heaven where He had been one with the Father in the Godhead to be born into the human family, there to partake of all the temptations to which Adam’s race is subject. This was possible only as He would partake of the nature of Adam’s race. Of this Paul says, ‘For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;. . . Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.’ Hebrews 2:14–17.

“If further evidence were needed, this same writer supplied it. In 1 Timothy 3:16, he records, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.’ Here he says is the mystery of godliness. The ability of Jesus to come from heaven, suffer Himself to be manifest in human flesh and yet to live sinlessly. This latter fact antichrist was to deny. He was to deny that Jesus came in a divine manifestation which brought Him in all phases of His nature to partake of the weaknesses of Adam’s race. He would deny that Jesus came in the flesh, the same flesh as that of mortal men.

“On this first count, the denial that Jesus is come in the flesh, the Catholic Church stands convicted of guilt and thus is identified by the marks of antichrist. Through the teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that she was preserved from all original sin, they in theory provide a different flesh from that of the rest of Adam’s race to be the avenue through which Jesus was incarnated into the plan of salvation.

“To state their teaching with authority it will be best to quote our evidence from Catholic authors. Our first proof will be from the pen of Cardinal Gibbons in his book, Faith of our Fathers, 203, 204. He says, ‘We define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception was preserved free from the taint of original sin. Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin.’

“Cardinal Gibbons has here clearly stated the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary. It is a teaching not taught in the Bible, but which has been introduced by Catholic teachers who claim to have authority even above that of the Scriptures in matters of doctrine. Here I would ask my readers, both Protestant and Catholic, to ponder carefully what this teaching does to the gospel plan. It means that if Mary were born without sin and was preserved from sin for the express purpose of bringing Jesus into the world, then Jesus was born of holy flesh which was different from that of the rest of Adam’s race.

“This means that He did not identify Himself with humanity. It means, too, that Paul was all wrong when he wrote the book of Hebrews in which he declares that Jesus also Himself likewise took part of the same flesh as the rest of Adam’s race and that in all things he was made like unto His brethren. Hebrews 2:14, 17. But above all this, if the Catholic teaching is true, then Jesus—not having come within reach of humanity by partaking of man’s nature—cannot be the one mediator between God and man.

“Nor can we ‘come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4: 16. All this plays conveniently into the hands of the Catholic plan of salvation. It opens wide the door for the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the respective saints who form part of the Papal mediatorial system. And moreover, it places in the hands of the priesthood the power to usurp authority which God in the Scriptures has never delegated to them—that of being controllers of the approaches to the throne of mercy.

“In the Papal claim that Jesus was born of one who had been preserved from every taint of original sin and who, unlike the rest of the children of Adam, was never subject to sin, we find the first antichrist indelibly implanted. The papacy certainly teaches that Jesus did not come in the flesh.” Australian Signs of the Times, May 24, 1948, 46, by J. B. Conley.

This is a most alarming accusation with profound implications for the New Theology that is being preached in Adventism. This is a doctrine of the antichrist that Christ did not come in the flesh. “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 7.

Is it any wonder then that the servant of the Lord speaks of the Omega apostasy as being startling in its consequences? The New Theology links all of its believers with the antichrist. Dr. Ralph Larson wrote the following: “Since it is common knowledge that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is now being recommended for addition to the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church it would appear that a careful examination of that doctrine should be undertaken by all who share a concern for the purity of the Adventist faith. Major changes in our theology would be required by the addition of the doctrine of original sin because of the nature of God, the nature of the incarnate Christ, the nature of man and the nature of salvation itself are all involved in the Augustinian doctrine.

“Significant changes would be required in the cherished doctrine of righteousness by faith. The student may easily verify the close relationship between the concepts of original sin and the doctrine of righteousness by faith by asking advocates of the so-called ‘New Theology’ two questions:

  1. Why do you believe that it is impossible for Christians to stop sinning, even through the power of Christ?
  2. Why do you believe the incarnate Christ had to take the nature of the unfallen Adam rather than a nature like ours?

“The same answer will be given to both questions: Because of original sin. Since the corruption of original sin remains in all believers until they die, it is impossible for them to ever stop sinning, even through the power of Christ. And since the inherited guilt of original sin would have disqualified Christ from becoming the Saviour of the world, He had to be protected from original sin by assuming the nature of the unfallen Adam.” The Word Was Made Flesh, 330, by Dr. Ralph Larson.

We know that God’s true gospel has nothing to do with the antichrist. It assures us that absolute victory over sin is possible through divine power. “Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 394.

Ellen White explains how this can be done. “Christ is willing to take possession of the soul temple, if we will only let Him. He is represented as knocking at the door of our hearts for admission, but Jesus never forces Himself upon us; He will come in only as an invited guest . . . In order to let Jesus into our hearts, we must stop sinning. The only definition for sin that we have in the Bible is that it is the transgression of the law. The law is far reaching in its claims, and we must bring our hearts into harmony with it.’” Signs of the Times, vol. 2, 363.

Likewise Peter tells us to follow the example of Christ. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 2:21, 22.

“Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us.” The Desire of Ages, 123.

“Humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin.” Ministry of Healing, 180.

We can be perfect in Christ. Christ commanded, ” ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Matthew 5:48. This command is a promise.” The Desire of Ages, 311.

“None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” The Acts of the Apostles, 531.

And here is another precious thought. “The victory is not won without much earnest prayer, the humbling of self at every step. Our will is not to be forced into cooperation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted . . . The will must be placed on the side of God’s will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,’ God will accomplish the work for you.” The Mount of Blessing, 142.

In view of such godly counsel, do not listen to any church leaders who would guide you into a path that leads to the antichrist. Keep your eyes and ears open and be on guard. Do not be surprised to find that this false theology is being promoted by men whom you once honored for their faithfulness to God’s last day message. The day is already here when we must stand alone in faithfulness to the pure gospel or follow the crowds to perdition. The true gospel teaches that:

  1. Men have the power of free choice. God took a risk, with His entire universe, to perfect a freedom of choice. This is why sin was permitted to exist. Forced obedience is worthless, and the gospel of Christ is built upon the foundation of free choice.
  2. Man is not born with the guilt of sin within him. We believe the gospel of Christ that states that sin is the transgression of the law. Not until we have joined our will in active opposition to God’s will, does sin exist in us. It is willful disobedience. The true gospel teaches that sin is our willful choice to exercise our fallen nature in opposition to God’s will.
  3. Christ took the nature of fallen Adam. Since sin is a choice we make, therefore Christ could inherit our fallen nature without becoming a sinner. He could remain sinless because Christ’s choice was always to obey God. Never did He allow His fallen nature to control His choice. At the time of Christ’s birth, man’s condition was not that of sinless Adam, for man had descended to the depths of sin after four thousand years. Christ could become man’s Saviour only by assuming his fallen condition so He could bridge the gap between God and fallen man. Thus He can mediate for us before the Father since He has identified Himself with us in our fallen nature.
  4. God loves to forgive and restore the sinner. The nature of God’s justification, given to the sinner, because of the mediation of Christ, makes it possible for us to stand righteous in the merits of Christ and to be restored to God’s image. But such justification can only take place when the sinner repents. There can be no repentance without conviction of sin, a sorrow for it and a turning away from it.
  5. An individual can be comfortable about Christian perfection, when he is willing to let God work within his heart to overcome sin. This is possible when we trust God’s power to overcome. The gospel of Christ makes it possible for sin to become repulsive so that we will have no desire to disobey God’s will. Perfection does not do away with our sinful nature, but perfection is possible by the subjection of our nature to Christ as He surrendered to His Father. Thus it is possible to have a sinless character with a sinful nature. Such an experience requires agonizing prayer and unquestioning faith in God’s promises.

I have chosen some thoughts to share with you, written by Dennis Preiebe. In this passage, he describes the New Theology, which seems to be an easy path to follow: “It is an escape route from the daily battle with Satan. You can sit back and relax to enjoy your newfound ease because there is no more hassle, no more struggle. All you have to do is just believe, for Jesus did it all for you on the cross. He kept the law for you; there are no more dos or don’ts. Feel the excitement of this glorious freedom, for you do not even have to think about your sins. You can sin until Jesus comes because He has already forgiven you in advance. Come, celebrate! Express your freedom with rock music. Let the drums beat in celebration of your new discovery. Do not even think of obedience as necessary anymore. Forget that you ever heard of a sanctuary in heaven where Jesus is conducting an investigative judgment. Do not pay any attention to that little old lady called Ellen White who pleads for you to be sanctified as a fitness for heaven. Ignore all those passages of Scripture that warn you of a narrow road to heaven and few there be that find it. Keep thinking every moment that you are saved in spite of your unconfessed sins.”

My friend, this is the road to eternal loss. If you follow it, you find in the end only misery and the loss of what you value most—eternal life with Jesus. I must point you to the Saviour of the real gospel of Christ. Look to Jesus as He struggled with human nature just like you and I do every day. Watch Him pray by the hour for the mighty power of God. See Him struggle until His sweat turns to great drops of blood. Hear Him overcome evil with the words, “It is written.” Stand in awe as you see Him die on the cross rather than commit one sin. Follow Him into the heavenly sanctuary as He stands before His Father, and tells how He died for you and your sins and justifies you as though you had never sinned. Watch as He sends the mighty Holy Spirit that you have asked for that you may be sanctified for heaven. Claim the victory that Jesus now offers as you read in Jude 24, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Choose you this day whom you will serve, as Joshua said in Joshua 24:15. Choose the gospel of the New Theology developed by Satan, which will end in death or choose the everlasting gospel of Christ that provides you with Christ’s victory over Satan now and for eternity.

 

Principles of the Two Kingdoms

God’s word is based on principles. The word principle comes from a Latin word meaning beginning. Some of the definitions of principle are: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine or assumption; a rule or code of conduct; the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts.

Basically, principles produce actions. Right principles produce right actions and wrong principles produce wrong actions. Jesus said, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:17–20.

In the beginning, “God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:11, 12.

God’s word is law. When He says, “Let every tree and herb yield seed and produce after its own kind,” it happens. Everything necessary is in the seed to produce after its own kind. An apple tree can only ever produce an apple.

“God has ordained laws for the government, not only of living beings, but of all the operations of nature. Everything is under fixed laws, which cannot be disregarded.” The Faith I Live By, 179. There are only two types of principles: those connected with Satan’s kingdom and those principles of God’s kingdom. Whatever kingdom man chooses, he will produce like fruit.

God said, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. Here is mentioned the two seeds and their relevant produce—two opposing sets of principles.

“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto Him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:35–40.

Jesus here specified the two underlying principles of the Ten Commandments—love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. John explained this principle further when he said, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” I John 4:7, 8.

The only way that love is possible is through a relationship with the Source of that love, which is God. Our identity is tied up in that relationship. It is God-centered; it is Christ-centered.

One principle of Satan’s kingdom is brought out in the first lie he told Eve: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4, 5.

The result of that lie is to believe you have life in yourself, outside of a relationship with Christ. You would then have the ability to produce your own works and God Himself could not take that life from you, resulting in the lie of eternal hellfire. The seed of the serpent was planted in the heart of the human race and produced a new fruit.

Of Adam and Eve, the Bible says, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Verse 7. In their innocence before sin they were naked and did not know it, but now, they knew that they were naked; they were ashamed and sought to clothe themselves to cover their nakedness.

Ellen White wrote, “From eternal ages it was God’s purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the divine One.” The Review and Herald, December 31, 1908.

When man sinned, he lost the glory of God. In the earthly temple the light of the glory of God was represented as the Shekinah glory. When Adam and Eve sinned they lost that covering of light, and they were no longer vessels for the indwelling of the Spirit of God. That relationship had been broken, and now they were naked. They were now born of a different spirit.

“The light of the garments of heavenly innocence departed from them; and in parting with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robes of ignorance of God.” Conflict and Courage, 17.

Not only did they lose the presence of God, but their whole relationship to Him had changed. They now had a different view of Him. With the garments of light removed, they found themselves in darkness concerning His character and were governed by the new principles that Satan had planted in their hearts that would produce a different fruit.

Under Satan’s kingdom we are separated from God, and our identity is performance based and determined by what we do. God’s kingdom is an identity based on relationship. Those under God’s kingdom are valued as sons and daughters of God regardless of performance.

God always deals with principles. “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” I Samuel 16:7.

God is more interested in a man’s heart and the motivation for each action. If the heart is right, the relationship is right, and when the good seed is implanted, the fruit will manifest itself. Performance will be based on the relationship and not the relationship based on performance.

God’s perspective and man’s perspective are completely different. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.” Isaiah 55:8.

The scribes and the Pharisees were the most religious people at that time, but they operated under the principles of Satan’s kingdom. Their main focus was their performance.

Jesus said to them, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hyprocrisy and iniquity.” Matthew 23:23–28.

To hear this denunciation was a terrible shock to them for they thought themselves righteous. They did all the right things. They tithed, they fasted, and obeyed all external rules, forgetting the weightier matters. Jesus put things in a proper perspective; He said to work on cleansing the inside of the cup and the outside will also be clean.

One man came to Jesus inquiring what he could do to have eternal life. He claimed to have kept all of the commandments since his youth, but when Jesus told him to go and sell all that he had, the young man went away sorrowful for he was very wealthy (Matthew 19:16–22).

The young man wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus went straight to his heart discerning his motivation, which was not a desire for a relationship with Him because this man’s identity was linked to his possessions. He rejected a discipleship to keep his treasure, the things of this world, and as a result, he rejected eternal life. The devil knows exactly what is in the heart of man outside of their relationship with God, because he is the author of those principles.

Satan’s first attack toward Christ, when He was led into the wilderness after His baptism, was to doubt His relationship with His Father. He had succeeded in casting doubt on God’s character and His love for them with Adam and Eve.

First he attacked Christ’s relationship, and then he said, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Matthew 4:3. Then he appealed to the human nature of Christ—the principles that are inherently in us, in our human nature, to perform or prove ourselves—to prove who He was by performing a miracle. This temptation was repeated throughout Christ’s life as well as on the cross, “If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us.” Luke 23:39. The devil continually attacked Christ’s relationship with His Father and appealed to the principles of humanity, but there was nothing in His heart to which the devil could take hold for he was of a different seed. He said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. There are two opposing principles.

The Devil’s Kingdom God’s Kingdom
Based on receiving the lie Based on receiving the truth
You shall not surely die You shall surely die
You have life in yourself Your life is in the Son
You are able to produce good works The Son produces works in you
Your life is bound up in performance Your life is bound up in relationship
He who has not the Son has not life He who hath the son hath life

Jesus said, “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you … . Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” John 15:7, 8.

The principles of the devil’s kingdom lead to pride and feelings of superiority. Those who achieve, look down on others who do not. When not doing so well, we get depressed because our value is based on our performance. Under these principles, truth is mixed with error causing confusion and there is an entitlement to heaven because of our good works. This can never create harmony with God or others. In the church, the natural result is a hierarchical structure of government that develops into different classes and different values where people are valued differently.

In God’s kingdom we realize that everything we have comes from God—our life, our talents, and everything that we possess. This promotes thankfulness and humility. All are in harmony with each other knowing that without God we are nothing but dust and ashes. It is God who gave us life and we are all brethren and equal in value. In God’s kingdom, the reward that God gives us is because of unmerited grace, an undeserved gift that is received by faith.

Peter adds one virtue to another like a ladder showing the Christian experience (II Peter 1:5–7). The closer the relationship is to Christ and the Father, the higher up the ladder we will be, but it has nothing to do with our own works and no one is higher or better than another.

Two Principles Produce Different Fruits

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

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Verses 22, 23.

Which principles are guiding your life; which seed has been planted in your heart?

Jesus told a parable of a son who decided to separate from his father’s house, take his inheritance and go off into a far country to make his own life and to experience life. We are like the young man. The inheritance we have received is everything that God has given to us in this life—our strength, our health, our talents, our ability, and money, whatever it may be.

His inheritance was spent supporting his new life of riotous living. He lived what we call today “the high life” associating with harlots, and in drunkenness he experienced the temporary pleasures of sin. But as always happens, after a while when things start going wrong, it all stops being fun. There was a famine in the land and he found himself destitute and his friends disappeared when his money ran out. Desperate and all alone he hit rock bottom. He was so hungry that the food with which he was feeding the pigs was tempting to him, but no one helped him. Finding no power within himself to change his condition, “He came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Luke 15:17.

In his distress, his thoughts went back to his father’s house. Though this parable focuses mainly on the son, we can get an idea of what the father was doing while he was away. “How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of the them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12–14.

“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Luke 15:20.

The father did not just wait at the gate for his son to return; he was actively searching for him. “O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” Psalm 139:1–12.

The Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6) and God loves us so much, even when we chose to separate ourselves from Him and were yet enemies, that He sent His Son to die in our place so we might be reconciled to Him. What love!

“The love of God still yearns over the one who has chosen to separate from Him, and He sets in operation influences to bring him back to the Father’s house. The prodigal son in his wretchedness ‘came to himself.’ The deceptive power that Satan had exercised over him was broken. He saw that his suffering was the result of his own folly, and he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father’ [Luke 15:17, 18]. Miserable as he was, the prodigal found hope in the conviction of his father’s love. It was that love which was drawing him toward home.”
A Call to Stand Apart, 12.

Even as the prodigal son responded to his father’s love and turned his heart toward home, he wondered what he could do to gain his father’s favor and be accepted. The prodigal son still did not understand the unconditional love that his father had for him and that there was nothing he could do to increase that love.

Jesus spoke this parable to show His Father’s love for man. “For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:16, 17.

“Little did the gay, thoughtless youth, as he went out from his father’s gate, dream of the ache and longing left in that father’s heart. When he danced and feasted with his wild companions, little did he think of the shadow that had fallen on his home.” A Call To Stand Apart, 13.

How little do we understand the ache in the Father’s heart when we are separated from Him. “And now as with weary and painful steps he pursues the homeward way, he knows not that one is watching for his return. But while he is yet ‘a great way off’ the Father discerns his form. Love is of quick sight. Not even the degradation of the years of sin can conceal the son from the father’s eyes. He ‘had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck’ [Luke 15:20] in a long, clinging, tender, embrace.” Ibid.

This is a picture of our heavenly Father, one that the devil does all in his power to hide from us.

“The father will permit no contemptuous eye to mock his son’s misery and tatters. He takes from his own shoulders the broad, rich, mantle, and wraps it around the son’s wasted form, and the youth sobs out his repentance, saying, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son’ [Luke 15:21].” Ibid. His plan was to confess his sins to his father and then ask to be accepted as one of his hired servants, but his plan was thwarted.

“The father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry’ [Luke 15:22–24].

“In his restless youth the prodigal looked upon his father as stern and severe. How different his conception of him now! So those who are deceived by Satan look upon God as hard and exacting. They regard Him as watching to denounce and condemn, as unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there is a legal excuse for not helping him. His law they regard as a restriction upon men’s happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they are glad to escape. But he whose eyes have been opened by the love of Christ will behold God as full of compassion. He does not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son.

“Do not listen to the enemy’s suggestion to stay away from Christ until you have made yourself better; until you are good enough to come to God. If you wait until then, you will never come.” Ibid.

The parable ends with a restored relationship. The son received a robe and a ring. The father commanded his servants to kill the fatted calf and to rejoice and be merry. There was a feast in the father’s house, but the parable does not end there. When the older brother returns from the field, he heard the music playing and enquired of the reason for the festivities. On hearing the story, he was angry. He had always stayed home and worked in his father’s house, yet he had never received the reception that was spent on his wayward brother who had wasted his inheritance on harlots and drinking. He reminded his father of all the things he had done for him, but his motivation was from a performance-based philosophy and not from his heart.

“One son had for a time cut himself off from the household, not discerning the father’s love. But now he has returned, and the tide of joy sweeps away every disturbing thought. ‘This thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found’ [Luke 15:32].

“Was the elder brother brought to see his own mean, ungrateful spirit? Did he come to see that though his brother had done wickedly, he was his brother still? Did the elder brother repent of his jealousy and hardheartedness? Concerning this, Christ was silent. For the parable was still enacting, and it rested with His hearers to determine what the outcome should be.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 209.

What principles are guiding your life? Whether part of a church or not, the choice is yours. The only way we can be freed from Satan’s kingdom is to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and be restored back into a relationship with God. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:5–7.

The only way that we can inherit eternal life is to be born again and restored into the relationship that man had with the Father in the Garden of Eden before man sinned. We know that we have this relationship when we love one another. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and he that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” I John 4:7, 8.

It is time to be honest with yourself. You may fool others, but you cannot fool God, for He knows your heart. Ask yourself the question, What principles are guiding me? “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12.

Jim Stoeckert worked in many capacities for Steps to Life over many years; video department, Bible worker and maintenance. He is currently living in Australia with his wife.

Getting Out of a Bad Marriage, part 1

In the eighth chapter of Romans, the epistle reaches its highest point. The seventh has presented to us the deplorable condition of the man who has been awakened by the law to a sense of his condition, bound to sin by cords that can be loosened only by death. It closes with a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One Who alone can set us free from the body of death.

Our union with Christ and with His righteousness may be and should be just as close and complete as our union has been with sin. The figure of marriage shows that to be so. We were held in union with sin—married to the old man—to the body of sin. That was an unlawful connection; consequently, the body of sin was a body of death to us, because we could not be separated from that body except by death. That body and ourselves were identified—we were married; therefore, we were one, and the body of sin was the controlling influence in that union; it dominated everything.

Now Christ comes to us; and when we yield ourselves to Him, He looses the bonds that have bound us to the body of sin. Then we enter into the same intimate relation with our Lord Jesus Christ that we previously sustained with the body of sin. We become united to Christ—married to Him—and then we are one. As in the other case, where the body of sin was the controlling influence, so in this second marriage, Christ is the controlling influence.

Notice how perfectly that figure of marriage is carried out. We are represented as the woman. The husband is the head of the family; and so Christ is our head, and we yield ourselves to Him. We are one with Him. What a precious thought it is, that we are one flesh with Christ! In this we see the mystery of the incarnation appearing again. If we can believe that Christ was in the flesh, God incarnate in Christ, we can believe this—Christ dwelling in us and working through us—through our flesh, just the same as when He took flesh upon Himself and controlled it. It is a mystery that we cannot understand, but we acknowledge it; and that gives us freedom.

He says that our old man was crucified with Him. That is true, but it is not raised with Him. Christ came to minister, not to be ministered unto; but He came to minister to us, not to be the minister of sin. Therefore, when we and the body of sin together are crucified with Christ and are buried together, we are raised up to walk in newness of life; but the body of sin remains buried, so we are free from it. Now what follows?

Freedom from Condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1.

Why is there no condemnation to those who are in Christ? Because He received the curse of the law that the blessing might come on us. Nothing can come to us while we are in Him without first passing through Him; but in Him, all curses are turned to blessings and sin is displaced by righteousness. His endless life triumphs over everything that comes against it. We are made “complete in Him.” Colossians 2:10.

Some say, “I do not find this scripture fulfilled in my case, because I find something to condemn me every time I look at myself.” To be sure; for the freedom from condemnation is not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus. We are to look at Him, instead of at ourselves. If we obey His orders and trust Him, He takes the responsibility of making us clear before the law. There will never be a time when one will not find condemnation in looking at himself.

The fall of Satan was due to his looking at himself. The restoration for those whom he has made to fall is only through looking to Jesus. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” John 3:14. The serpent was lifted up to be looked at. Those who looked were healed. Even so with Christ. In the world to come, the servants of the Lord “shall see His face,” and they will not be drawn away to themselves. The light of His countenance will be their glory, and it is in that same light that they will be brought to that glorious state.

The text does not say that those who are in Christ Jesus will never be reproved. Getting into Christ is only the beginning, not the end, of Christian life. Association with Christ will more and more reveal to us our failings, just as association with a learned man will make us conscious of our ignorance. As a faithful witness, He tells us of our failings. But it is not to condemn us. We receive sympathy, not condemnation, from Him. It is this sympathy that gives us courage and enables us to overcome.

When the Lord points out a defect in our characters, it is the same as saying to us, “There is something that you are in need of, and I have it for you.” When we learn to look at reproof in this way, we shall rejoice in it instead of being discouraged.

The law without Christ is death. The law in Christ is life. His life is the law of God; for out of the heart are the issues of life, and the law was in His heart. The law of sin and death works in our members, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ gives us freedom from this. It does not give us freedom from obedience to the law; for we had that before, and that was bondage, not freedom. What He gives us is freedom from the transgression of the law.

This is made very plain in verses 3 and 4. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. There is no fault to be found with it but with us, because we have transgressed it. Christ’s work is not to change the law in any particular but to change us in every particular. It is to put the law into our hearts in perfection in place of the marred and broken copy.

The law is strong enough to condemn; but it is powerless, with respect to what man needs—namely, salvation. It was and is “weak through the flesh.” The law is good, and holy, and just; but man has no strength to perform it. Just as an ax may be of good steel and very sharp yet unable to cut down a tree because the arm that has hold of it has no strength, so the law of God could not perform itself. It set forth man’s duty; it remained for him to do it. But he could not, and therefore Christ came to do it in him. What the law could not do, God did by His Son.

There is a common idea that this means that Christ simulated sinful flesh, that He did not take upon Himself actual sinful flesh but only what appeared to be such. But the Scriptures do not teach such a thing. “In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17. He was “made of a woman, made under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law.” Galatians 4:4, 5.

He took the same flesh that all have who are born of woman. A parallel text to Romans 8:3, 4 is found in II Corinthians 5:21. The former says that Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” The latter says that God “made Him to be sin for us, although He knew no sin, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

All the comfort that we can get from Christ lies in the knowledge that He was made in all things as we are. Otherwise we should hesitate to tell Him of our weaknesses and failures. The priest who makes sacrifices for sins must be one “who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that He Himself also is compassed with infirmity.” Hebrews 5:2.

This applies perfectly to Christ. “For we have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15. This is why we may come boldly to the throne of grace for mercy. So perfectly has Christ identified Himself with us that He even now feels our sufferings.

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5. Note that this depends on the preceding statement, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Verse 4. The things of the Spirit are the commandments of God, because the law is spiritual. The flesh serves the law of sin (see the preceding chapter and Galatians 5:19–21. where the works of the flesh are described.) But Christ came in the same flesh to show the power of the Spirit over the flesh. “They that are in the flesh can not please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Christ dwell in you.” Romans 8:8, 9.

Now no one will claim that the flesh of a man is any different after his conversion from what it was before. Least of all will the converted man himself say so; for he has continual evidence of its perversity. But if he is really converted and the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, he is no more in the power of the flesh. Even so, Christ came in the same sinful flesh, yet He was without sin because He was always led by the Spirit.

“The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7.

Opposing Forces

The flesh and the Spirit are in opposition. These are always contrary the one to the other. The Spirit never yields to the flesh, and the flesh never gets converted. The flesh will be of the nature of sin until our bodies are changed at the coming of the Lord. The Spirit strives with the sinful man, but the man yields to the flesh and so is the servant of sin.

Such a man is not led by the Spirit, although the Spirit has by no means forsaken him. The flesh is just the same in a converted man as it is in a sinner; but the difference is that now it has no power since the man yields to the Spirit, which controls the flesh. Although the man’s flesh is precisely the same as it was before he was converted, he is said to be not “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit,” since he, through the Spirit, mortifies the deeds of the body.”

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10. Here we have the two individuals of which the apostle speaks in II Corinthians 4:7–16. “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” Though our body should fail and be worn out, yet the inward man, Christ Jesus, is ever new. And He is our real life. “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3.

This is why we are not to fear those who can kill only the body and after that have no more that they can do. Wicked men can not touch the eternal life which we have in Christ, Who can not be destroyed.

Surety of the Resurrection

“But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11. Jesus said of the water that He gave, which was the Holy Spirit, that it should be in us a well of water springing up unto eternal life. (See John 4:14; compare John 7:37–39.) That is, the spiritual life which we not live in the flesh by the Spirit is the surety of the spiritual body to be bestowed at the resurrection when we will have the life of Christ manifested in immortal bodies.

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” Romans 8:12. All the work that the flesh can do avails nothing, for its works are sin and therefore death. But we are debtors to the Lord Jesus Christ, “Who gave Himself for us.” Consequently, everything must be yielded to His life. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Verse 13.

Those who yield to the strivings of the Spirit, and continue so to yield, are led by the Spirit; and they are the sons of God. They are taken into the same relation to the Father that the only-begotten Son occupies. (See I John 3:1.)

We Are Sons Now

There is a notion held by some people that no man is born of God until the resurrection. But this is settled by the fact that we are now sons of God. “But,” says one, “We are not yet manifested as sons.” True, and neither was Christ when He was on earth. There were but very few who knew Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. And they knew it only by revelation from God. The world knows us not because it knew Him not. To say that believers are not sons of God now because there is nothing in their appearance to indicate it is to bring the same charge against Jesus Christ. But Jesus was just as truly the Son of God when He lay in the manger in Bethlehem as He is now when sitting at the right hand of God.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:16. We know that we are children of God because the Spirit assures us of that fact in the Bible. The witness of the Spirit is not a certain, ecstatic feeling but a tangible statement. We are not children of God because we feel that we are, neither do we know that we are sons because of any feeling, but because the Lord tells us so. He who believes has the Word abiding in Him, and that is how “he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” I John 5:10.

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7. “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” I John 4:16–18.

Christ gave Himself to deliver those who through fear of death were all their lives subject to bondage. (See Hebrews 2:15.) He who knows and loves the Lord can not be afraid of Him; and he who is not afraid of the Lord has no need to be afraid of any other person or thing. One of the greatest blessings of the gospel is the deliverance from fear, whether real or imaginary. “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4.

Joint-heirs with Christ

If we are sons of God, we stand on the same footing that Jesus Christ does. He Himself said that the Father loves us even as He loves Him. (See John 17:23.) This is proved by the fact that His life was given for ours. Therefore the Father has nothing for His only-begotten Son that He has not for us. Not only so, but since we are joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, it follows that He can not enter upon His inheritance before we do. To be sure, He is sitting at the right hand of God. But God in His great love for us “hath quickened us together with Christ, . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places.” Ephesians 2:5, 6. The glory which Christ has He shares with us. (See John 17:22.) It means something to be a joint-heir with Jesus Christ! No wonder the apostle exclaims, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” I John 3:1.

Suffering with Him

“If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:17. “For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18. Suffering with Christ means, therefore, enduring temptation with Christ means, therefore, enduring temptation with Him. The suffering is that which comes in the struggle against sin. Self-inflicted suffering amounts to nothing. It is not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. (See Colossians 2:23.) Christ did not torture Himself in order to gain the approval of the Father. But when we suffer with Christ, then we are made perfect in Him. The strength by which He resisted the temptations of the enemy is the strength by which we are to overcome. His life in us gains the victory.