Why can’t I stop sinning? (2/2)
Isaiah 64:6 shows us how God sees those righteous deeds, including attempts at being sins-free, which man of himself tries to offer up to God in exchange for His freely-given blessings in Christ—
“We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."
The law was not given for man to keep in order to be perfect/godly (be like God) by. That doctrine that is reflected in your question is the same one that Satan sold to Eve in Eden: dependence on human effort for the attainment of godliness (to be like God) and through the use of the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil. What Satan goaded Eve to do is seen as the right thing to do in many churches today: Satan simply deceived Eve, and consequently Adam, into trying to be what God already made she and Adam to be: godly(be like God) when Adam and Eve were CREATED in God's likeness: Genesis 1:27-
"So God created human beings, making them to be like Himself. He created them male and female,"
Adam and Eve were already godly "like God," and not because they had anything to do with attaining this status. It was a gift from God. But Satan deceived Eve and consequently Adam into striving for godliness by human effort and through dependence on the knowledge of good and evil. The law gives the same knowledge and the letter kills, just like the tree. See the forbidden fruit as a typology for the law which many churchgoers are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)—
8-12 "Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me."
Satan’s strategy has not changed since Eden. Beloved, in Christ, we are a new creation — created to “be like God,” but with better covenant promises than Adam and Eve: we are joint heirs with Christ. Christ suffered and died to make us godly like God. See the result of His suffering which He accomplished for us in Isaiah 53:11–
"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."
Romans 5:9 tells us how our Heavenly Father sees all who put their trust, even for Godliness/Righteousness and Strength in Jesus Christ, no longer trusting in human strength for the attainment of same—
"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
Only the blood of Jesus suffices for God to declare anyone godly/righteous. No human/arm of flesh additives required.
But as he did to Eve in Eden, Satan, through his extremely religious and seemingly pious pulpit-manning mouthpieces is still going about seducing people into trying to keep the law in order to be perfect like God; to be like God. Try to keep the law in order to be godly and sin has dominion as it did over Adam and Eve—
“For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.
But this verse is taught in reverse in many places. The law was not given for man to keep in order to be perfect/godly (be like God) by. It was given to increase sins—
“The law was given that sins might increase…” Romans 5:19.
Dependence on human effort for man’s effort at being “perfect for God” in Galatians 5:4—
“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.”
This trying to be right with God by human effort (law-keeping) is a very dangerous place to be seeing as God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."
Matthew 1:21 also tells us what Christ's job description is: "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Trying to be right with God through human striving at being godly cuts one off from Christ. Since Christ’s job description includes saving us from our sins, such who depend on their law-keeping prowess or will-power to stop sinning no longer have access to His saving power. This brings to mind the question asked by God Himself in Amos 3–
“Can two walk together unless they are agreed?”
See what God's word says about man’s non-existent good and his useless willpower that he relies on for being sins-free and doing good deeds in Romans 7:18, a truth that Paul experienced:
“For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."
God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. Christ says “There is none good but God.” But as he did to Eve in Eden, Satan through his “pastor” mouthpieces appeals to Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience or achieving good) that will fail and causes man to infer:
"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can produce good, keep the law and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power. I can and I must do works to be godly aka "be like God" or (as it was with Judas) to prove to God that I am truly sorry for my sins and can make amends.”
God knows that you cannot keep even a tittle of the law in your own strength. Beloved, let us take a cue from David who wrote in Psalm 16:2–
“I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
David also wrote in Psalm 130–
3 “If You, Lord, should keep account of and treat [us according to our] sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You [just what man needs], that You may be reverently feared and worshiped.”
Notice verse Psalm 130:4? This man David, a man after God’s heart who was under law knew something that many among us are unaware of today: the fear and worship of the Lord is not rooted trying to curb sins by useless human striving or in threats of punishment for sins; rather, believing that all of our sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus is what causes us to reverently fear and worship the Lord. In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace where our sins are no longer imputed to us—
18 “But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him],” 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].” 2 Corinthians 5.
But somehow, man disagrees and desires to be sinless like God by human effort at depending on his knowledge of good and evil— that is the hallmark of having the sin nature inherited from Adam—
“By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”Romans 5:19.
From the above verse, we see that committing acts of sin is not what makes a person a sinner. Adam passed on the sin/old nature or sin “virus” to all of his descendants. Sinners will produce sins just as a person infected with HIV will produce symptoms of his infection—the fact that he looks healthy (sinless) does not make his blood (works) acceptable. His works are deathly, even aka dead works.
Likewise, the one who receives God’s gift of righteousness in Christ gets to produce a harvest of good deeds for God because in Christ Jesus, we are a new creation having the same “righteous nature” as Christ. Christ has rid all who believe in Him (having Him as our Righteousness and Strength) of the old or sinful nature/sin virus which Adam passed on to all of his descendants. See Colossians 2:11–
“When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.” Colossians 2:11
That sinful or old nature which Adam passed on to all of his descendants conscripted man to a lifetime of producing acts of sins. Recall Christ’s typology for our salvation in John 3? The fiery serpent’s sting (sin nature) is what produces the symptoms that kill (acts of sin that lead to death.) The bronze serpent is a type of Christ. Look to Him alone as your righteousness and (w)holiness; as your LIFE; and and those symptoms of sin will vanish.
Unfortunately, in many places of worship, emphasis is placed on treating snakebite symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death) by scampering about trying to curb sins in order to be made whole/perfect while disregarding Jesus Christ who was lifted up “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness…” Recall Christ Himself gave us this typology. Many “pastors” are focusing on treating symptoms of the sinful nature (acts of sin that lead to death) and are ignoring the root (sin nature.) That is as wicked, deceitful and as useless as telling an HIV carrier that he will be healthy (righteous) if he just continues to treat his immunodeficiency-driven tuberculosis with his self-brewed cough medicine. No matter how healthy the carrier looks or tries to be, as long as the virus remains,he is still infected. Whatever he gives from his body (his works) are deathly and unacceptable and can kill his recipients. This is why Christ showed Nicodemus that he needed to be born-again— even the holiest church daddy cannot match Nicodemus when it comes to obedience and doing righteous deeds but he was WORLDLY. Recall that Nico was the first recipient of Christ’s word to us—
“For God so loved the world…”
None of us can match Nicodemus in the doing of righteousnesses and not sinning. But apart from God’s Grace and His gift of Righteousness to us in Christ, Nicodemus was “the world” aka WORLDLY aka “the wicked.” We tend to think of “the world” as reckless sinners who have no heart for God, but “the world” aka “the wicked” is simply everyone born of Adam at the time of Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus— following Satan’s doctrine of trying to be godly (be like God) by human effort when God in His love gave us His own Son Jesus Christ the Tree of Life for this purpose.
Recall Satan is described as “the god of this world” and “the ruler of this world.” The doctrine of the world is “DO GOOD, GET GOOD; DO BAD, GET WHACKED.” Basically, do your best to be good aka “be like God.” Every other religion and the legal system of the world is based on this tenet. It is not Christianity. It has been Satan’s doctrine since Eden. This truth is hard to swallow for religious folk who disagree with Christ on the “none good” status of man of himself, the utter weakness of human effort and our utter need for God’s saving Grace like the Israelites that were bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness; little wonder 1 Corinthians 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.”
Beloved, let us not follow Satan’s deceitful “try to be godly by human effort” doctrine. It seems good to man, just as it seemed good to Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, but it is not God’s Way. Rather, it is the way that Proverbs 14:12 speaks of—
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
See God’s Way as outlined in Romans 10—
“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.” Romans 10:1-4.
By God’s grace, let us not follow after the teachings of those who are outwardly religious like the Pharisees but refuse to accept God’s Way of making us righteous in His sight— those who challenge God by trusting in self for being sins-free, levy the flock with rules and regulations or demands for godliness by human striving at obedience and threaten the helpless sinner with God’s wrath which no believer in Christ will ever experience— Romans 5:9–
“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
The spirit of the antichrist is not necessarily anti-God. The word “antichrist” is translated from two Greek words—
Anti — meaning “replace” or “in place of” and
Christos — meaning “Christ” = “Anointed”
“Antichrists” refers to anyone who tries to REPLACE what CHRIST has done to make us righteous, free us from the imputation, guilt, condemnation and penalty of sin (death plus its symptoms of earthly ills) and to grant us eternal life in Himself with what MAN must do by his useless human effort aka the arm of flesh. For instance, Christ hung on the cross to redeem us from generational and every other curse (Galatians 3:13.) But pulpit-manning antichrists whose lives SEEM to be the epitome of godliness attained by human striving disagree by promoting things like fasting for 79 days and doing righteous deeds in order to escape the curse and God’s wrath.
For all of their religious piety, obedience and enforcement of the Law of Moses which none can match today and which many pastors push the flock to emulate, the Pharisees were antichrist. Little wonder Christ referred to them as “Brood of vipers” and “Satan is your father.” Jesus Christ the Tree of Life was right there with them to save them and grant them eternal life as a gift of grace (unmerited favour,) but they wanted to and felt that they could earn all or some of the glory, so that they could maintain their high esteem in society— just like many church leaders who follow their doctrine and preach that you should strive for sinlessness in your own useless strength (arm of flesh) while rejecting Grace. Refusing God’s way which is written for us in Romans 10 somewhere above, they choose to cling to doing righteous deeds in order to be righteous aka doing what the law commands in their bid to be good/godly aka “be like God,”— the same deceit that Satan the original viper/serpent sold to Eve in Eden. Beloved, if any is on this ground, NOW is the day of salvation. Never trust yourself. Trust Christ.
It takes God’s Grace to stand, beloved. Man of himself is flesh, beloved. Satan and his “pastor” agents have been quite successful in redefining the meaning of “fleshly” or “carnally-minded” or “walking in the flesh,” — for many, “flesh” or “carnal” connotes thoughts of people wallowing in sins usually of a sexual nature. Not so. “Flesh” or “carnal” is translated from the Greek word “Sarx.” See its outline of Biblical usage below—
In essence, whatever efforts at being sins-free; whatever righteous deed done in order to get right with, obtain favour from God or be seen as “trying my best” in His sight, it originates from the flesh aka self or human effort and it is sin— even if it seems righteous and respectable. Depending on such works not only challenges God on the matter of man’s inability to produce even an iota of good (be like God) by human striving, it points to rejecting God’s sacrifice of His own Son to make us righteous. Isaiah 64:6 describes such righteous works of men thus—
“We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.
Man of himself is flesh— can flesh move without a skeleton? Can it produce anything without Life blood flowing through it? Even as Christians, whether we are “50 years as a pastor” or pew warmer, we are utterly weak of ourselves. We need Christ as our Righteousness and Strength to stand and to produce good fruit just as much as the vilest offender. All flesh is absolutely the same like identical bottles off an assembly line: “no good.” The one who walks in the flesh thinks he can produce righteousness or be godly by his flesh/human effort.
Whatever good “flesh” (man of himself) thinks it is doing, he does it without being aware that God’s mercy is the “skeleton” that is still propping him up from expressing his true sinful nature— like an infant on his father’s shoulders in a parade boasting about how he can see further and better than his peers— attributing the Father’s mercy to his own smarts and strength. So much to say here. Paul addressed this truth in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth”of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) devolved into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —
“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”
If God lifted off His restraining hand that restrains us from devolving into committing heinous sins and let us rely on our human effort and will-power at keeping the law or doing good works to prove our faith or for whatever reason, like Peter who trusted himself before falling flat on his face three times, we would all devolve into sin and see how utterly lacking in good we are of ourselves.
Beloved, I could boast of so many things, but let our boast be in Christ alone:
If it seems as if you are currently driving against sins with the skills of Louis Hamilton and you assume that it is by your own good and your own strength, understand that the only reason why you are standing is the same reason why Peter thought his Maker was wrong on the matter of his then upcoming denials; he thought that he could never deny Jesus— God’s mercy in not letting you be consumed by heinous sins, and even Job-type calamities. Peter was not wallowing in sins when he made his God-challenging proclamation of “I will never deny you.” If you confess that you cannot drive but have Christ as both your Vehicle and your Driver, no Satan is going to bother to test your driving skills. You no longer live. Is it Jesus Christ in you who is “Fine Flour” whom Satan wants to sift like wheat? If it happens that you need to drive or Satan taunts you for your inability to do so, you will overcome with perfection because you depend utterly on Christ who never disappoints as both your Vehicle and Driver and everything else; yet not you driving but Christ in you.
Haven't we ever wondered why Christ gave charge of His sheep to Peter-- the disciple whom many of us see as "failed the most?" It is because Peter experienced his utter weakness of himself with his denials. He saw his utter need for Christ’s strength to stand.
Only the one who sees this utter weakness of man of himself and trusts Christ as his utter strength can feed the flock, beloved. Such can see (by Grace) that Christ as our Righteousness is the “Skeleton” who keeps us upright. He is the Vine Life flowing through us giving us life in abundance. And so he points the flock to Christ for salvation from sin and death and not man's works or his silly efforts to save himself or say things like— “But why won’t you stop sinning and accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour?” As if it was by our own human power and sense that we did so.
So many things that we go through in life are the result of that trust in self or pride in self to achieve good which gives Satan the opportunity to sift one like wheat for that good that he claims to possess in himself when Christ says “There is none good but God.” Christ gave Himself to be our good. The potential to commit heinous sins is in everyone. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances make many think that some sins are beneath them or that they can stop sinning by themselves. Peter's eventual denials after trusting in self show us the importance of following God's counsel in 1 Corinthians 10--
"So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."
If God was not filtering and screening…
One does not need to know Grace in order to be rolling in sins. In fact, Grace is why man does not continue to sin. David understood this, even though was not under Grace. Remember King David— killed a lion with his bare hands, killed Goliath, wrote many Psalms, experienced God’s power first-hand, a man after God’s heart…and slept with Uriah’s wife! Uriah had only one wife. He is listed among David's mighty men in 1 Samuel 30. In today's parlance, Uriah was like David's close friend. David slept with the wife of his close friend despite having many other women in his harem at his beck and call. Even worse, Uriah was away at war fighting the battles of his friend and general when this was happening. When David was writing Psalm 23 as a shepherd boy, had anyone told him that as king of Israel, he would lust after commit adultery with Uriah's wife despite having many other women, try to foist Bathsheba’s pregnancy on Uriah and when that didn't work out, give Uriah his own death sentence to transport to Joab the commander of his army when Uriah was going back to the battlefield - if anyone had told young David all of that, only by God's mercy would David not have had the same reaction as Peter did when Christ told him about his then soon-to -happen denials aka "I can never do that."
Even when the prophet Nathan came and told David about his sin using a parable about someone taking another person’s lamb, David was still carrying on his shoulder the chip of “I can never do that” with his “Such should be punished!” attitude, until he saw the Light and sought God’s Grace as we see in his Psalm 51.
Have we experienced God’s saving power like David? Did we experience Christ at His transfiguration like Peter who saw all of that yet denied Christ? All flesh is the same, beloved: no good. Beloved, let us take a cue from David who wrote in Psalm 16:2–
“I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
It takes God’s Grace to stand, beloved. If you are not wallowing in copious sins, it is because of God’s mercy — His restraining hand — that any is not consumed by heinous sins like Peter and Job-type calamities like Job who lifted up his good works and obedience as why calamity should not befall him, until He saw God’s grace. This is the purpose of the law which many are trying to obey for whatever reason—
“The law was given that sins might increase…” Romans 5:20.
To anyone who thinks that he can obey even a tittle of the law or produce an atom of good by himself; to the one who is still clueless about his utter need for God’s saving Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) and so says —
“So, since we are under Grace we should commit sins as we like…,”
— all that such needs to do to in order to commit horrid sins with reckless abandon like Peter before his denials is just be himself aka try to be sins-free by human effort aka obey the law. With time, given the vagaries of Time and Chance and Satan’s sifting which God’s merciful and restraining hand is still preventing such from experiencing, the symptoms of his sin nature (acts of sin that lead to death) will show up. God by obeying the law and doing all sorts. The very action of trying to be sins-free or good by human effort aka obeying the law causes sin to multiply-
"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." Romans 7:5.
Our being free from sins is Christ’s work. The law, which kills and gives the knowledge of good and evil like the tree of the same name in Eden, it was not given for us to obey in order to be godly (be like God)—
“For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin].” Romans 3:20 AMP
Many church leaders keep on preaching repentance as stopping sin and use the law as a guideline for what to do to please God. But “repentance” — (metanoia in Greek) which itself simply means changing one’s mind about God, seeing Him not as a hard Taskmaster who is just waiting in the wings to catch you in sins so that He can whack you with punishment or let the devil have a go at you — repentance alone is not the gospel. See the gospel which Paul testified about in Acts 20—
20 “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Another Bible version says— “testifying to both Jewish and Greek people repentance to God and trust in our Lord Yeshua.”
Repentance is seeing God as the Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son; consenting to be carried all the way home on Christ’s shoulders (place of strength) and not trying to walk the godly walk by human effort. Seeing Christ as our Loving Shepherd and Saviour from sin and death is to have faith.
“Faith” simply means trusting or believing that what God’s word says is true:
- when He says that man’s willpower to be good like Him is useless (Romans 7:18)
- when He says that our best efforts at not sinning/doing righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag (Isaiah 64:6)
- when He says that all the law-keeping and obedience in this world can never make any righteous in His sight (Romans 3:20)
- When He says that He gave us His own Son to be punished in our stead to make us righteous/godly (be like God) — Isaiah 53:11, 2 Cor. 5:21, Romans 5:19,
- When He says that we get to not perish but have eternal life the same way the Israelites who were bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness got to be rid of the serpent’s sting (sin nature) and its deathly symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death plus all earthly ills which are “death begun”)
—- when God says all of that and much more in His word to us, to “have faith” is simply believing that what He says is the Truth. The law is not of faith. Plodding on in the drive to be sins-free or to make things right with God by human effort as Judas did, that is the definition of being faithless.
Are you trying hard to give up some bad habits/sins? Trust Christ’s finished work and know that we who believe in Him are forever good with God because of what He has done. The worst thing you can do to yourself is strive to make things right with God by yourself, like Judas who ended up depressed and suicidal for his efforts; or promise our Heavenly Father that you will "not do it again!" That is boasting in your own strength/arm of flesh ability to save yourself. If you can stop sinning all by yourself, then you don't need Jesus.
The arm of flesh — human effort at being godly/right with God — will fail, beloved. For his efforts at setting himself right, Judas became depressed and suicidal— just like many churchgoers who are being fed that doctrine of Satan which promotes striving to be good (be like God) by human effort and through feeding on the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil. The result of following that seemingly good but deathly doctrine has not changed since Satan used it to deceive Eve in Eden— sin has dominion and death reigns.
HaSatan is literally “prosecutor at law” in Hebrew. Like any prosecuting attorney, Satan can only accuse one of imperfection and demand punishment based on the law. The law which Christ died and rose to free us from is the launchpadfor every accusation of Satan the Accuser. In Christ, we are dead to the law. But many hang on to it. Overwhelmed by Satan’s accusations for his imperfections in the face of his inability to perfect himself from his sin, Judas condemned and hanged himself— the height of self-righteousness: to try to pay for one’s sins. Beloved, what do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide in the church and even among non-Christians? It is GUILT for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not measuring up to particular standards of perfection - no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse and blamed himself for his sin, and looked to himself for this perfection that is found only in Christ.
The word “sin" is derived from the Greek word “Hamartia" which means to “miss the mark/target.” All have sinned. All have missed the mark of godly perfection and the LAW demands death for the slightest bit of imperfection. Anyone trying to hit the mark (be righteous even by a tiny bit) by himself is under LAW, whether he goes to church or not.
This our warfare is a court case, beloved; a legal battle. And the battle ground is the mind or heart from which proceeds the issues of life. The law pronounces as guilty and condemns the best of all who are trying to obey it to a life behind bars of earthly ills and death in hell— this is why the world keeps on wondering why bad things happen to good people. But Grace — Christ Himself — He saves the worst of us. He saves all who have Him as their ADVOCATE and bearer of sins. Notice all the judicial terms? Our warfare is a legal battle.
Like the law of gravity which does not require one to believe that it exists before it impacts one’s life, the law of sin and death which governs all who depend on themselves (and not Christ) to be called “good” (be like God,) it does not require belief in God the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE to impact the lives of those who are under it.
HaSatan is literally “PROSECUTOR at law” in Hebrew. Like any prosecuting lawyer, the only weapon in Satan’s arsenal which he uses as a launchpad to accuse and to put people behind bars of the righteous judgment/punishment of the Righteous Judge is the law. And the punishment is death. Now Bible “death” is not just falling down and breathing one’s last. It is translated from the Greek word “Thanatos” and has the following interpretations:
- the misery of the soul arising from sin, which begins on earth but lasts and increases after the death of the body in hell
- the miserable state of the wicked dead in hell
- in the widest sense, death comprising all the miseries arising from sin, as well physical death as the loss of a life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to be followed by wretchedness in hell
“Death” is a process that begins here on earth and culminates in the second death in hell. Sickness is "death begun." Lack is "death begun." Toiling with sweat and stress and having little or nothing to show for it is "death begun." Every earthly ill is “death begun.”
Jesus had no sins of His own. Why do we think the fullness of God’s wrath fell on Him at the cross? It is for our entire lifetime of sins! It is sad that many churchgoers are being given a reminder of the sins; being saddled with the burden of freeing themselves from the same sins that Christ died to wipe away every Sunday; it is sad that many are being taught to try to obey in order to be deemed righteous and to get an ACQUITTAL from and escape the wrath of God the Righteous Judge. God’s Righteousness and Justice demand that every sin be punished to the uttermost, beloved. Even we would be appalled to see an earthly judge sweep the sins of a guilty person under the carpet because the person is his child. Many try to keep the law and curb sins in order to be right with God and escape wrath for sins. But the word of the Righteous Judge tells us that doing so is an effort in futility, but glory be to His Name, not without showing us the Way to receive an ACQUITTAL—
20 “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our ACQUITTAL is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”
The law will cause you to see that what you are doing is wrong but it provides no remedy for sins. Of what help is a doctor who diagnoses your disease (sins) but gives helpless you no medication (faith) for it? The law was given to bring us to the end of our self-help tether, and point us to our utter need for God’s saving Grace who is a Person. God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."
Matthew 1:21 tells us what Christ's job description is: "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Christ- Grace Himself - tells us in (John 6:43-46) what He is doing in the life of every believer:
“Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End."”
Beloved, in Christ, God sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins."—
“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16.
This is God's written word. It is "license to sin" and blasphemy to those who, like the Christ-despising Pharisees, still look to useless human strength for the attainment of good or being free from some or every sin. It comes with the territory, beloved— trust in self for obedience and godliness is the antithesis of the message of Christ which is GRACE — undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. This is the Good News:
“None of self; all of Christ.”
In the Wisdom of God whose ways and thoughts are higher than man's, receiving His abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness is how we get to live in triumph over sin and death plus all of death's symptoms of earthly ills. See Romans 5:16-17 -
"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 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."
When your believing is right, you will live in triumph over sin and death, yet not by your power but through the power of Christ in you.
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