Blog Thirty-Two After Salvation, How Shall We live? Part Three
What is sin? This generation today seems totally confused on this subject. If the church is confused on this matter then how will they know?
Simply put, sin is an act of rebellion based on free will. Sin was not a created substance. But who or what is this rebellion against?
Webster’s Compact Dictionary= Sin / n: offence against God, v: commit a sin
Webster’s New World Dictionary=Sin/ n. 1. The willful breaking of religious or moral law. 2. Any offence or fault. V. to commit a sin.
We can see that sin is a choice made to rebel against God and His Word; commandments or laws given to us to live by.
Why do you think God made guidelines for us? Being our creator, He knew how harmful sin would affect our lives. God is Love; and because of his great Love for mankind, He wanted to spare us the sorrow, pain and suffering that sin would bring.
1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Sin destroys us; spirit, soul and body here on earth and in eternity. It leads us to be forever lost and out of the presence of God. All of our thoughts are not our own, we are tempted in our minds by our enemy; Satan our thief, who steals, kills and destroys.
Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The enemy speaks these thoughts in our minds, "This is fun! Try it, no one will know. You aren’t really going to get into trouble." He has no new lies. It is the same one he told Adam and Eve, when he said, "God is not telling you the Truth, you won’t surely die." What a lie, God had created the human body to live forever. They believed Satan’s lies; bowed their knee to Satan, made him the prince of this earth and put themselves and the whole earth under the Law of Sin and Death.
(My new book "The Truth About God, He Doesn’t Do Evil That Good may Come" has a chapter titled, What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden?)
God was not being mean by making laws and commandments that say, "You don’t do this and that." NO, He desires to give us abundant life, with full joy, lasting joy no matter the circumstance we may be in. Happiness is temporary and is conditional. Happiness is not a fruit of the Spirit, but Joy is.
Joy comes from within our spirit and is the Peace of God: the peace that inspires these thoughts and gives sweet assurance, "We are going to be okay, God is going to see us through and out of this trouble."
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The word Joy is at least mentioned 166 times in the Bible and joyful 25 times:
From the Old Testament, the Joy of the Lord is our strength:
Neh 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
How do we get this Joy? By repenting of our sins and obeying his commandments:
God’s promises always come with, "If you will… I will." There is always something we must do to open Heaven’s windows of blessings. Because of our Free Will; we can choose to live by His Word or rebel against Him.
Jesus said, "Ask and seek."
Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
John records Jesus’s words about our blessings and joy, if we live in Him and let His Word live in us, by keeping His commandments:
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
How can we have full Joy? Joy comes by keeping his laws and commandments, loving God and loving each other, (every human being, race and color) even loving our enemies. This doesn’t mean we are to except all their sin as okay, it simply means love the person with the Love of God and hate the sin that is destroying them. It is the goodness of God that draws people to Him. We must show them God’s Goodness.
Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Meaning God ‘s Character will never change;(God is the same forever backwards and forever forward.) He is LOVE and He esteems His Word higher than His Name, and cannot lie. So His covenants with man will never change.
( My new book "The Truth About God ,He Doesn’t Do Evil That Good May Com" explains with Scripture why the Old Testament sounds like God is a God of Anger, judgement (condemn and punish), and destroyer.
TRUTH #1: The New Testament says the Old Testament was vailed in Darkness, but Jesus came with TRUTH and Mystery (something that was unknown to the writers of the Old Testament. Jesus said, "I come that you know the Father, if you have seen me you have seen the father, because I do nothing or say nothing except the Father tell me." Jesus revealed the LOVE of GOD." Why did the disciples not understand Jesus’s teachings? The Holy Spirit was not yet joined to the heart of man again. That is why Jesus said "I will send the Comforter, He will be in you and teach you all things that I have taught you." (The paraphrase is mine.)
TRUTH #2: They called God and the Law of Sin and Death ONE and the same. What basic Truth were the Old Testament writers missing? It had to be what Jesus unveiled, right? Jesus revealed the knowledge of God’s TRUE character, which must include the study and knowledge of the law of Sin and Death; and the Law of Sewing and Reaping, and who was judging and carrying out the sentence of sewing and reaping?
KEY: Before Jesus came Lucifer and his fallen angels (demons; evil forces) were hardly mentioned; they called God and the Law of Sin and Death ONE and the same. Before Calvary man had to reap their sin, an eye for an eye. Before Jesus NO one could cast out a demon, so the people and things had to be destroyed that was evil possessed. God gave the Children of Israel the Mosaic Law and rituals to sacrifice an animal to the Law of Sin and Death, which required death for sin (The sacrifices were NOT unto GOD) so they wouldn’t have to reap their sin on earth (but didn’t save them for eternity).
It is sad, but I think most Bible teachers today are still missing this Truth about God’s character, and missing the study of the Law of Sin and Death, and are still teaching what the writers of the Old Testament taught about God’s character and therefore are making a confused message of flip flopping back to Jesus’s God of Love. Truth mixed with untruth does NOT equal TRUTH.
The very foundation of Christianity MUST be the Character of God. Our foundation must be on the ROCK/ Corner Stone; Christ Jesus and what He did, said and taught, or our house (Christian Doctrine, faith) will be on sinking sand. The Holy Spirit has a very tough time trying to teach us precept upon precept and line up on line; TRUTH upon Truth, if our foundation is faulty.
Note: I don't have space here to go into detail on this subject, but if you are interested in learning more about God's Character as taught by Jesus Christ, my Book One also explains where this Law of Sin and Death came from, and that Jesus set us free from it through Calvary, but we must repent and believe on Him. Romans 8:1-2 It also shows Scripture that tells that all those who died before His Death at Calvary tasted of that Rock Christ Jesus who descended before He ascended, meaning: He preached to all in Hades and in Abraham’s bosom.
After Salvation our lives should demonstrate the Love of God. When the Kingdom of God comes in us, only then can He flow out through us in a Divine Partnership to win the lost souls in this earth, and to set the captive free from their addictions and mental soul ties to their past. Calvary goes beyond what counselors can not do with their learned books. Now I believe Christian counselors are necessary, but most of the time God's deliverance healing power is also needed, along with continued discipleship and fellowship with the body of Christ. Salvation means our thinking and paradym must be changed.
Don’t miss next week’s lesson, we will be looking at the specific sins that the Scriptures name, in order to know and understand God’s guidelines for a healthy spirit, soul and body, the abundant life here on Earth.
And by the way, if we are going be judged by this same Word of God in the end, shouldn't we want to know what these laws and commandments of God are? Join me onthis journey through Scripture.
