God hates sin but loves the sinner
See the Father's love for you, to the same extent to which He hates sin! Pretty looooong:)
Believers, how much do you hate the disease that is destroying a loved one? To the same extent that you love your beloved!
See the Father's love for you! He hates sin to the same extent that He loves you - so much that He gave His own Son for you! He hates sin because sin destroys man that He so loves. This is akin to the way that a loving father hates the terminal cancer that is destroying his beloved child.
Imagine a farmer rejecting a batch of millions of apples because one of the apples has a bruise that cannot even be seen with the most powerful microscope in the world. This is not even close to how seriously God views and hates sin. God hates sin to the uttermost, so much that just stumbling at one point of the Law makes one guilty of all. James 2:10 says "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."
Just a tiny speck of sin in man makes him unacceptable, even if he has done a gazillion good works and done his best to obey the law. Our best can never be enough, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands..." Romans 3:20.
According to the Law, the sinner must be punished with death. "The wages of sin is death" and God the righteous Judge will exact judgment to the uttermost. His righteousness and justice demand it. He cannot overlook even the tiniest sin. One tiny sin ruins every good work done and every commandment kept. He hates sin that much.
We also have this trait, albeit in a far diminished capacity - if our white dress got torn or stained with palm oil as we were leaving the house to attend an important interview or meeting, we would change the entire outfit:). Man can manage the white dress if the tear or stain is not too bad or obvious, but God cannot accept this standard from anyone. The tiniest stain is punishable by ALL the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and finally, death!
God saw the hopelessness of our case: our law-keeping cannot make any righteous in His sight (Romans 3:20). All of us have at least one bad apple (all have sinned) and so our whole batch is rejected by default according to James 2:10 (stumble at one point of the law and you're guilty of all.) Most of us have several. We were all doomed for the wages of sin no matter how hard we tried to obey the Law.
Those who think that their efforts at law-keeping and good works should count for something with God do not know how seriously He takes the issue of sin and how much He hates sin. He cannot abide an iota of sin. He cannot stand an atom of dirt in universes of white.
See how He views the good things we do to get into His good books: "We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight...." This concerning the good things we do to get right with God! They are like a menstruation cloth.
Because He sees what many cannot see: that all our righteousnesses (fasts, seeds, and obeying the Ten Commandments done to curry His favour or get right with Him) are like a menstrual rag (Isaiah 64:6) and have been sullied because they proceed from the sin nature which all inherited from Adam by default (Romans 5:17- "For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners...;) because He saw that no one can qualify for His blessings or be saved by sheer self-will and determination to obey; above all, because God loved us so, He punished all of our sins, past, present and future, in the body of His Son, our Saviour Jesus "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10.) He gave His righteousness as a gift through Christ to all who believe- "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
It is by this gift of righteousness that we have right-standing with our heavenly Father - Romans 5:19 -"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Our own righteousnesses from keeping the Ten Commandments cannot give us right-standing with God. It is tainted with sin and proceeds from the sin nature inherited from Adam. You are either under Law (righteous by keeping the Law which is impossible according to Romans 3:20) or under Grace (righteous by faith through Christ according to Romans 5:19). Law and grace cannot mix, for the law was given through Moses but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.
For this righteousness to take effect the in the life of a anyone, that one has to forsake his own righteousnesses from his own efforts at law-keeping (his many excellent apples that have been made filthy and unacceptable by the presence of his bad ones, even if it's a bruise on just one.) And this we do by His grace.
Think of it as everyone writing an exam for which the price of failure is death (the wages of sin is death) and where failing one question means our score is zero (you break one law, keep the rest and you are still guilty of all.) For us to pass (be saved from eternal damnation, sin and addiction, oppression, sickness, etc) we need a 100% score, no more, no less. But everyone has already failed at least one question (all have sinned; there is none righteous.) Christ came and righteously offered all of us the needed 100% (the only brand of righteousness that cuts it with God.)
But many people reject Christ's 100% to hang on to their 99% score (human effort at keeping the law and living right) which is as good as zero because of the 1% stain (break one law and you're guilty of all,) and thus are cut off from Christ: "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace." Galatians 5:4.
Others attempt to take some marks from Grace to complete their own score from works of the Law! Such think that they are "still okay" because they are doing their best to obey the law, just like the Pharisees. These ones are not totally under Law and not totally under Grace. Neither cold nor hot! This is an abomination to the Lord. Look what Christ says of this lukewarm church in Revelation 3:
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
These ones feel that they have some good in them, that they are still "okay." They do not know that their garments (law-keeping and works done to get right with God) are like "a menstrual rag" or that they need white garments (Christ's righteousness).
Some misinterpret being "hot" as burning for Christ by obeying the Ten Commandments and doing good things. This way, the other extreme of being "cold" would mean living a hedonistic lifestyle and not caring about Christ. But Christ said " I could wish you were cold or hot." Why would Christ want anyone to live a careless, hedonistic life? Believers, Christ is saying He wants the church to be either totally under law (cold) where we see that we can never pass by our own efforts and be driven to Grace; or totally under grace (hot), where we get to have the Lord as our Righteousness and thus overcome sin and enjoy the full benefits of our Lord's goodness.
This is how seriously God hates sin: to the same degree that He loves us, so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins so that we can freely receive the righteousness that it takes to escape the wages of sin; SO THAT WE CAN STOP SINNING; so that we can produce "a harvest of good deeds for God" (Romans 7:4) and also reign in life!
When you try to obey the Law, you sin more. When you stop trying to get right with God by your puny efforts at obeying the law and start believing, YOU WILL NOT CONTINUE TO SIN (see Romans 7:4-5 please please please!) Romans 6:14 too says "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." But somehow, many in the church have this backwards thinking that the law is the path of righteousness. Believers, the law is not of faith and without faith, it is impossible to please God.
"Believing Jesus" goes beyond being able to attach "in Jesus name" to prayer points. It is acknowledging that we have no righteousness of our own and that our salvation, up to the point of the Rapture and our being with Christ forever- has got nothing to do with what we did but all to do with what Christ has done. It is a gift. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." But many are trying to earn eternal life by obeying the law so sin has dominion over such who try (Romans 6:14)
This is the logic of heaven and it is confusing to the man who is yet to get a revelation of Christ; see 1 Cor. 1:18- "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God."
Even people who shout "Lord, Lord" will be cast away at the last day. Why? Because their righteousness is from self and not Christ's.
Unless we die to the old (sin) nature inherited from Adam (a death that Christ died for all thereby fulfilling the righteous demands of the Law for all who believe and receive His gift of righteousness), those who reject Christ’s righteousness and continue to do and hold on to their 99% obedience to the Law will continue to be controlled by this old nature and sin acts will multiply according to Romans 7:5-
"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."
Try to keep the Ten Commandments in order to make heaven and you will continue to sin, even at harvest levels! By contrast, receive God’s abundance of grace and of His gift of righteousness and you will reign in life according to Romans 5:17. This reign in life covers reigning over sin. You will also produce a harvest of God deeds for Him according to Romans 7:4-
"So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”
The Law gives sin its power over man. 1 Corinthians 15:56 says ”For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.”
It's sad to hear some "men of God" boldly come out to twist "faith without works is dead" to mean that we should keep on presenting "a menstrual rag" of works of the law to our Abba Father in order to get right with Him. Believers, human effort at being godly (be like God) has been failing since Adam and Eve first tried to be godly by their own effort in Eden. The arm of flesh will fail. Only the Righteousness that is from the obedience of Christ will suffice! Is this license to sin as many say? Never! Be glad if anyone accuses you of this for the sake of the gospel. Paul too was accused of saying that it is okay to sin because of grace. See this Romans 3:7.
Believers, Grace is not a license to sin. God hates sin! Grace is the key to right living- God's gift to us to cause us to reign over sin and death. See this is Romans 5:17-
"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
This is the ONLY way to reign over sin and death, including death's symptoms of fear, anxiety, stupid mistakes, sickness, lack, oppression, depression, fast-tracked ageing, etc.
The difference between the righteous and the wicked is not their deeds. Many unbelievers are very morally upright yet are not saved. The difference is how one believes that he is made righteous: by Christ's obedience (Romans 5:19) or by good works and obedience to the law which can never make any righteous in the sight of God (Romans 3:20.) This is why not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord, Lord!" are saved. Many have "menstrual rag" good deeds and works of the law as their source of righteousness. Only with the Lord as our Righteousness are we accepted and do we get to live a life that mirrors that of the moral excellence that the law demands (while not under law but under grace,) yet not us but Christ in us.
Grace stops sin. In Christ, there is no condemnation for the one who is believing. Like the woman caught in
adultery, it is His "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "Go and sin no more." YOU WILL NOT CONTINUE TO SIN AND NOT BY YOUR EFFORT BUT CHRIST IN YOU.
He said "Without Me, you can do nothing."
Believe Right and you will Live Right!
Believers, how much do you hate the disease that is destroying a loved one? To the same extent that you love your beloved!
See the Father's love for you! He hates sin to the same extent that He loves you - so much that He gave His own Son for you! He hates sin because sin destroys man that He so loves. This is akin to the way that a loving father hates the terminal cancer that is destroying his beloved child.
Imagine a farmer rejecting a batch of millions of apples because one of the apples has a bruise that cannot even be seen with the most powerful microscope in the world. This is not even close to how seriously God views and hates sin. God hates sin to the uttermost, so much that just stumbling at one point of the Law makes one guilty of all. James 2:10 says "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."
Just a tiny speck of sin in man makes him unacceptable, even if he has done a gazillion good works and done his best to obey the law. Our best can never be enough, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands..." Romans 3:20.
According to the Law, the sinner must be punished with death. "The wages of sin is death" and God the righteous Judge will exact judgment to the uttermost. His righteousness and justice demand it. He cannot overlook even the tiniest sin. One tiny sin ruins every good work done and every commandment kept. He hates sin that much.
We also have this trait, albeit in a far diminished capacity - if our white dress got torn or stained with palm oil as we were leaving the house to attend an important interview or meeting, we would change the entire outfit:). Man can manage the white dress if the tear or stain is not too bad or obvious, but God cannot accept this standard from anyone. The tiniest stain is punishable by ALL the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and finally, death!
God saw the hopelessness of our case: our law-keeping cannot make any righteous in His sight (Romans 3:20). All of us have at least one bad apple (all have sinned) and so our whole batch is rejected by default according to James 2:10 (stumble at one point of the law and you're guilty of all.) Most of us have several. We were all doomed for the wages of sin no matter how hard we tried to obey the Law.
Those who think that their efforts at law-keeping and good works should count for something with God do not know how seriously He takes the issue of sin and how much He hates sin. He cannot abide an iota of sin. He cannot stand an atom of dirt in universes of white.
See how He views the good things we do to get into His good books: "We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight...." This concerning the good things we do to get right with God! They are like a menstruation cloth.
Because He sees what many cannot see: that all our righteousnesses (fasts, seeds, and obeying the Ten Commandments done to curry His favour or get right with Him) are like a menstrual rag (Isaiah 64:6) and have been sullied because they proceed from the sin nature which all inherited from Adam by default (Romans 5:17- "For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners...;) because He saw that no one can qualify for His blessings or be saved by sheer self-will and determination to obey; above all, because God loved us so, He punished all of our sins, past, present and future, in the body of His Son, our Saviour Jesus "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10.) He gave His righteousness as a gift through Christ to all who believe- "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
It is by this gift of righteousness that we have right-standing with our heavenly Father - Romans 5:19 -"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Our own righteousnesses from keeping the Ten Commandments cannot give us right-standing with God. It is tainted with sin and proceeds from the sin nature inherited from Adam. You are either under Law (righteous by keeping the Law which is impossible according to Romans 3:20) or under Grace (righteous by faith through Christ according to Romans 5:19). Law and grace cannot mix, for the law was given through Moses but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.
For this righteousness to take effect the in the life of a anyone, that one has to forsake his own righteousnesses from his own efforts at law-keeping (his many excellent apples that have been made filthy and unacceptable by the presence of his bad ones, even if it's a bruise on just one.) And this we do by His grace.
Think of it as everyone writing an exam for which the price of failure is death (the wages of sin is death) and where failing one question means our score is zero (you break one law, keep the rest and you are still guilty of all.) For us to pass (be saved from eternal damnation, sin and addiction, oppression, sickness, etc) we need a 100% score, no more, no less. But everyone has already failed at least one question (all have sinned; there is none righteous.) Christ came and righteously offered all of us the needed 100% (the only brand of righteousness that cuts it with God.)
But many people reject Christ's 100% to hang on to their 99% score (human effort at keeping the law and living right) which is as good as zero because of the 1% stain (break one law and you're guilty of all,) and thus are cut off from Christ: "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace." Galatians 5:4.
Others attempt to take some marks from Grace to complete their own score from works of the Law! Such think that they are "still okay" because they are doing their best to obey the law, just like the Pharisees. These ones are not totally under Law and not totally under Grace. Neither cold nor hot! This is an abomination to the Lord. Look what Christ says of this lukewarm church in Revelation 3:
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
These ones feel that they have some good in them, that they are still "okay." They do not know that their garments (law-keeping and works done to get right with God) are like "a menstrual rag" or that they need white garments (Christ's righteousness).
Some misinterpret being "hot" as burning for Christ by obeying the Ten Commandments and doing good things. This way, the other extreme of being "cold" would mean living a hedonistic lifestyle and not caring about Christ. But Christ said " I could wish you were cold or hot." Why would Christ want anyone to live a careless, hedonistic life? Believers, Christ is saying He wants the church to be either totally under law (cold) where we see that we can never pass by our own efforts and be driven to Grace; or totally under grace (hot), where we get to have the Lord as our Righteousness and thus overcome sin and enjoy the full benefits of our Lord's goodness.
This is how seriously God hates sin: to the same degree that He loves us, so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins so that we can freely receive the righteousness that it takes to escape the wages of sin; SO THAT WE CAN STOP SINNING; so that we can produce "a harvest of good deeds for God" (Romans 7:4) and also reign in life!
When you try to obey the Law, you sin more. When you stop trying to get right with God by your puny efforts at obeying the law and start believing, YOU WILL NOT CONTINUE TO SIN (see Romans 7:4-5 please please please!) Romans 6:14 too says "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." But somehow, many in the church have this backwards thinking that the law is the path of righteousness. Believers, the law is not of faith and without faith, it is impossible to please God.
"Believing Jesus" goes beyond being able to attach "in Jesus name" to prayer points. It is acknowledging that we have no righteousness of our own and that our salvation, up to the point of the Rapture and our being with Christ forever- has got nothing to do with what we did but all to do with what Christ has done. It is a gift. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." But many are trying to earn eternal life by obeying the law so sin has dominion over such who try (Romans 6:14)
This is the logic of heaven and it is confusing to the man who is yet to get a revelation of Christ; see 1 Cor. 1:18- "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God."
Even people who shout "Lord, Lord" will be cast away at the last day. Why? Because their righteousness is from self and not Christ's.
Unless we die to the old (sin) nature inherited from Adam (a death that Christ died for all thereby fulfilling the righteous demands of the Law for all who believe and receive His gift of righteousness), those who reject Christ’s righteousness and continue to do and hold on to their 99% obedience to the Law will continue to be controlled by this old nature and sin acts will multiply according to Romans 7:5-
"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."
Try to keep the Ten Commandments in order to make heaven and you will continue to sin, even at harvest levels! By contrast, receive God’s abundance of grace and of His gift of righteousness and you will reign in life according to Romans 5:17. This reign in life covers reigning over sin. You will also produce a harvest of God deeds for Him according to Romans 7:4-
"So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”
The Law gives sin its power over man. 1 Corinthians 15:56 says ”For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.”
It's sad to hear some "men of God" boldly come out to twist "faith without works is dead" to mean that we should keep on presenting "a menstrual rag" of works of the law to our Abba Father in order to get right with Him. Believers, human effort at being godly (be like God) has been failing since Adam and Eve first tried to be godly by their own effort in Eden. The arm of flesh will fail. Only the Righteousness that is from the obedience of Christ will suffice! Is this license to sin as many say? Never! Be glad if anyone accuses you of this for the sake of the gospel. Paul too was accused of saying that it is okay to sin because of grace. See this Romans 3:7.
Believers, Grace is not a license to sin. God hates sin! Grace is the key to right living- God's gift to us to cause us to reign over sin and death. See this is Romans 5:17-
"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
This is the ONLY way to reign over sin and death, including death's symptoms of fear, anxiety, stupid mistakes, sickness, lack, oppression, depression, fast-tracked ageing, etc.
The difference between the righteous and the wicked is not their deeds. Many unbelievers are very morally upright yet are not saved. The difference is how one believes that he is made righteous: by Christ's obedience (Romans 5:19) or by good works and obedience to the law which can never make any righteous in the sight of God (Romans 3:20.) This is why not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord, Lord!" are saved. Many have "menstrual rag" good deeds and works of the law as their source of righteousness. Only with the Lord as our Righteousness are we accepted and do we get to live a life that mirrors that of the moral excellence that the law demands (while not under law but under grace,) yet not us but Christ in us.
Grace stops sin. In Christ, there is no condemnation for the one who is believing. Like the woman caught in
adultery, it is His "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "Go and sin no more." YOU WILL NOT CONTINUE TO SIN AND NOT BY YOUR EFFORT BUT CHRIST IN YOU.
He said "Without Me, you can do nothing."
Believe Right and you will Live Right!
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