Bible Doctrine

The fully surrendered follower of Jesus Christ does not find sin impossible. He finds it unbearable! The convicting work of the Holy Spirit comes quickly into the heart and mind of the fully surrendered child of God. He instantly sees himself as he really is at that moment – a sinner, a rebel, a spiritual failure. Repentance is not something finally achieved some time in the future. It is instant. It is heartfelt. It is genuine. The pathway of holiness is instantly regained, and the chastened believer, chastened only by his conscience is once more at peace with God and enjoys full fellowship with his Lord once more.

Long ago I learned that many believers have little, if any, interest in living holy, blameless lives. Many have bought into the devil’s lie that God already sees them as truly holy. They believe that from the very moment they “accepted” Jesus Christ, or were baptized, all sin was removed from them – even future sins, and that when God looked upon them all He could see was the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And what a doctrine of demons that is. And what a plethora of scriptures one must ignore to entertain that devil’s lie for even a moment!

“But God be thanked that you WERE (past tense) the servants (slaves) of sin, but you have obeyed FROM THE HEART (from the depths of your being) that form of doctrine which was delivered (to) you, being THEN (yes, THEN, when your surrender to the Lord was wholehearted, total, all consuming) made free from sin (the tempter’s power finally broken) you became the servants (slaves) of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).

And then follows that KEY verse that unlocks for the reader of the Roman letter the true meaning of what Paul is and is not saying in the 7th chapter of Romans. Notice, Paul says, “I speak AFTER THE MANNER OF MEN (and spiritually defeated men at that), because of the infirmity of YOUR flesh (not Paul’s flesh – THEIR flesh), for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity (sin after sin after sin), even so now yield your members servants to righteousness (utter continual obedience) unto holiness” (Romans 6:19). Even though Paul uses the personal pronoun “I” thirty-three times in Romans 7, he is NOT speaking of his own condition. He has placed himself in the shoes, so to speak, of these defeated Roman believers in order to show them their problem and, also, to show them the only solution to that problem – Jesus Christ AS LORD! (See verse 25 of Romans 7).

One of the most misunderstood texts from the pen of the apostle Paul is the 7th chapter of Romans, especially verses 14 through 24. Here are a few of the surprising statements Paul makes in those verses: “I am carnal, sold under sin” (verse 14), “What I hate, that do I” (verse 15), “Sin dwells in me” (verse 17), “How to perform that which is good I find not” (verse 18), “The good that I would (do), I do not, but the evil which I would not (do), that I do” (verse 19), “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (verse 21), “I see another law in my members…bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (verse 23), and, finally, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (verse 24).

It seems that many who read those plain, clear statements in Romans 7 forget that in the previous chapter, chapter 6, Paul had just made these plain and clear statements, too: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? GOD FORBID. (And He DOES forbid sin in the life of the believer). How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (verses 1 and 2). “Our old man (the former YOU) is crucified with Him, that the body of sin MIGHT BE DESTROYED, that henceforth (from the time of conversion forward) we should not serve sin” (verse 6). “He that is dead is freed from sin” (verse 7) – NOT “sold under sin!” “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (verse 11). “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (verse 12). “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (verse 13). “For (then) sin shall not have dominion over you” (verse 14). “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under (the penalty of) the law, but under grace (unmerited favor and forgiveness)? GOD FORBID!” (verse 15). “But God be thanked, that ye WERE (past tense) the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart (from the core and depth of your being) that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you (by none other than Paul himself). Being then MADE FREE FROM SIN, ye became the servants (slaves) of righteousness” (verses 17 and 18).

Remember, Paul said, “I keep under (control) MY body (his own fleshly pulls and appetites), and bring it into subjection (to the Holy Spirit’s leading and control) lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (from fellowship and union with Jesus Christ).” (See I Corinthians 9:27).

The teaching device of applying the problem or actions of another to his own self was used by Paul more than once. Notice these words in I Corinthians, chapter 4. Paul writes, “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure TRANSFERRED TO MYSELF AND APOLLOS for your sake (in order to teach or show the Corinthian believers) that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another” (verse 6). Paul again refers to this same methodology of teaching in chapter 9, writing, “TO THE WEAK BECAME I AS WEAK, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (verse 22).

Paul had the victory over sin in his own life. Approximately six years before writing the Roman letter, Paul had written the believers at Thessalonica: “You are witnesses, and God also (notice now Paul says God will attest to what he is about to say), how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe” (See 1 Thessalonians 2:10). Paul had long lived a holy, just and blameless life! That is WHY Paul could dogmatically state to both Timothy and Titus that a bishop (spiritual overseer, a pastor) MUST BE BLAMELESS…JUST, HOLY!” (See Titus 1:7-8 and I Timothy 3:1-7). Paul wasn’t a hypocrite, telling these men THEY had to be holy and blameless while he, himself, had to admit that he was “carnal, sold under sin!” How ridiculous that any Bible teacher would even think so!!! Paul well knew that God had said through the Psalmist words long ago, “he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me” (See Psalm 101:6). God is not so hard up for earthly representatives that He will anoint the ungodly to represent Him and speak on His behalf.

In Hebrews 12:14, we read “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Yet in 2 Corinthians 12 Paul speaks of a man who was caught up to heaven. Most all Bible scholars agree the man Paul speaks of in this text was Paul himself. Then, too, Paul also speaks of seeing Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. (See Acts 9).

Remember, Peter warned that Paul wrote some things hard to be understood. Some, indeed, think Paul was speaking of his own present condition in Romans 7. After all he DOES use the present tense and uses the personal pronoun “I” in all those statements about sin overcoming him and holding him captive. But they fail to consider the plain, clear VICTORY statements of Romans 6 and 8. They also fail to grasp the true meaning of that 19th verse in Romans 6, wherein Paul says that he is now going to speak “after the manner of men” who have weakness in the flesh. And, further, they fail to consider all the other statements Paul makes in his other epistles about our living dedicated lives of holiness and purity, and how he, himself, led such a life as a shining example of a true minister of Jesus Christ.

That’s not all they forget. Here are a few other statements Paul makes that they obviously overlook when reading Romans 7. Paul wrote the Corinthians: “I know of NOTHING against myself!” (See I Corinthians 4:4). He could search his mind, his heart, and life without one twinge of guilt over unforsaken sin. The New International Version words it this way: “My conscience is clear.”

In writing the Philippian believers, Paul said, as touching the righteousness required in the law, he was blameless. (See Philippians 3:6). He told them that Christ was magnified in HIS body, and that for him to live was for Christ to live anew. (See Philippians 1:20-21). How could Paul seriously exhort the Philippian believers to be “blameless, and harmless, and without rebuke” if he, himself, was ever giving in to the pulls of the flesh? (See Philippians 2:15). Paul would have been a hypocrite!

Paul exhorted the believers at Corinth, “Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1), and cried out to the Galatian believers, “Christ LIVES in me!” (See Galatians 2:20). It would be a pathetic joke today for many believers, even many ministers, to make such statements and apply them to their own lives and conduct.

When Paul wrote, “I am carnal, sold under sin” (Romans 7:4), he wasn’t speaking of himself for just a few verses later he wrote, “To be carnally minded IS DEATH” (See Romans 8:6), and “the carnal mind is hostile against God” (See Romans 8:7). Do you really think this apostle was hostile against God??!! Let’s wake up and forget our preconceived ideas for a moment, and yes, we will have to forget much ERROR that has been spoon fed us from the pulpit and from “theologians” who were in gross error in this matter as well as many other matters having to do with what the scriptures actually do teach and reveal.

Jesus Christ lived His life marvelously and victoriously in and through the apostle Paul. Paul wrote the Galatian believers that he was travailing in birth that Christ might be formed in them, too. (See Galatians 4:19). (Is it quite obvious that YOUR pastor is striving diligently week in and week out to see Jesus Christ’s purity of life obviously manifested in YOUR life? How about your pastor’s life?)

The personality Paul speaks of and describes in Romans 7 is “sold under sin” – not freed from sin, as was Paul. All that is said in Romans 7 can fit a Christian’s experience if he, or she, is not submitted to Christ for deliverance, or who continues to yield the members of their body to various fleshly appetites. Peter wrote that it was cursed spiritual adulterers who could not cease from sin. (See 2 Peter 2:14). Do you think Peter saw his fellow apostle Paul as a cursed spiritual adulterer?? (Come on, pastor, rethink some of your warped theology for the sake of your own spiritual welfare as well as the spiritual welfare of those who look toward you as a spokesperson of divine truth if you are one of the multitudes who believe and have taught that Paul was speaking of his own spiritual condition in Romans 7).

Paul told the Galatian believers it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. (See Galatians 1:15-16). Paul wrote the Corinthians that when he was weak that was when he was actually strong, for that is when he depended most upon the Lord Jesus Christ to give him continued victory over sin or some temptation to err or do evil. (See 2 Corinthians 17:10). In Romans 8:37, Paul affirms that believers are MORE than conquerors through Christ!

Paul urged the Corinthians to bring their every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 10:5). Paul was not a hypocrite. He had done the same in his own life years and years before and was continuing to do the same day by day, allowing Jesus Christ to truly live in him!

Paul wrote the Thessalonian believers: “Abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace sanctify you WHOLLY (completely), and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body (your total person) be preserved BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (that is, for the rest of their lives). Faithful is He that calls you (to this walk of holiness), WHO ALSO WILL DO IT” (See I Thessalonians 5:22-24). How could he be so sure God would bring these Thessalonian believers into a blameless walk before Him – and, remember, God sees it all? BECAUSE HE HAD BROUGHT PAUL THERE, THAT’S WHY!

Here are a few other scriptures that show absolutely, conclusively that Paul taught absolute holiness of life for the fully surrendered believer: Romans 8:2, 12 and 37; I Corinthians 10:13; I Corinthians 15:34; 2 Corinthians 4:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 with 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Galatians 1:3-4; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 1:3-4, 18-19; Ephesians 3:14-21; Ephesians 5:25-27; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians: 1:9-13, 21-23, 28-29; I Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Timothy 2:19 and Titus 2:11-15. How anyone with a thinking mind can read those texts and think Paul himself was a carnal believer, sold under sin is absolute PROOF there is a deceiving spirit called Satan much alive and well and at work on this planet!

Also, bear in mind that “with God nothing shall be impossible” (See Luke 1:37). God is fully able to bring forth holy righteous character in His sons and daughters while they yet live in the flesh on this earth. To say that God cannot do this is to say God cannot do what He has promised He will do for all who submit totally to His Son as their Lord and Savior. God help you to understand!

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

What might well appear as arrogance on my part is but the expression of supreme confidence in what I know to be the true ways of God. My relationship with the Most High is one hundred percent genuine. For many years now I have been able to say God is my life.

Realize that there are dozens and dozens of differing, dissenting, contradictory denominations in the “Christian” religion. This being a fact, that means there is a lot of profound error going forth under the color of truth. If one is not totally and completely surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ in every area of his or her life, and fails to really study God’s Word in depth, then it is a foregone conclusion they are going to embrace much error. Satan is a master at his craft. Never forget that. And he has plenty of demonic and human help to assist him in the spreading of his lies and errors.

In the 17th chapter of I Kings is recorded the account of the prophet Elijah’s encounter with the widow of Zarephath and the raising of her young son from the dead, “And he (Elijah) stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, ‘O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come into him again.’ And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came unto him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the (upper) chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother, and Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives.’ And the woman said to Elijah (and note this well), ‘Now BY THIS (by this obvious manifestation of God’s power being present and undeniable) I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A MAN OF GOD, AND THAT THE WORD OF THE LORD IN YOUR MOUTH IS TRUTH” (verses 21 through 24).

“And it came to pass in Iconium that they (Paul and Barnabas) went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they (in Iconium) speaking boldly in the Lord (Jesus manifesting Himself through them), WHICH GAVE TESTIMONY OF HIS GRACE, AND GRANTED SIGNS AND WONDERS TO BE DONE BY THEIR HANDS” (Acts 14:1-3). The gifts of the Spirit (healing, exhibiting the word of knowledge etc.) manifested through Paul and Barnabas cried out to every thinking mind “these men are representatives of Jesus Christ and speak the truth.”

Anywhere the TRUE gifts of the Spirit are manifested God is saying as graphically and loudly as possible: “THE TRUTH IS SPOKEN (OR TAUGHT) HERE!”

When Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar both what he had dreamed and the interpretation thereof, that pagan king declared: “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods ,and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal this secret” (See Daniel 2:47). Real, genuine, spiritual gifts exalt the Most High and declare Him to be the God of all gods, and testify to the fact that those exhibiting such miraculous gifts are truly the Lord’s representatives. Counterfeit gifts do the opposite. They cause those who witness the same to view “Christians” as charlatans and frauds!

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Few believers have any inkling as to “what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward WHO BELIEVE, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places!” (See Ephesians 1:19-20).

Yes, it has ever been “according to YOUR faith be it unto you.” (See Matthew 9:29). If you don’t believe you can be freed from sin’s power in the here and now, you can’t! Notice the POWER available to those who believe IN THE HERE AND NOW. It is that same power exerted by God when He raised His Son from the dead when all the forces of Satan were mustered and concentrated together in one place and at one moment in time to kill the Son of God AND KEEP HIM DEAD! Yes, that exact same power that brought Jesus back to life and raised Him to God’s throne, THAT SAME POWER IS NOW AVAILABLE TO EVERY BELIEVER TO KEEP US FROM ALL SIN!

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, ALWAYS HAVING ALL SUFFICIENCY in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Believer, you will always have all you need to say, “NO!” to each and every temptation that comes your way! “There has no temptation taken you (seized your mind or will) but such as is common to man (we have ALL had such temptations sometime in our lives), but God is faithful, who will not suffer (allow) you to be tempted above that (which) you are able (to bear), but will WITH THE TEMPTATION (yes, at that exact same moment in time) also make a way to escape (a GOD-MADE WAY OF ESCAPE, hence a perfect escape route) that you may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13). (All words in parentheses are my own in order to make the meaning of the text clearer and easier to understand). Now obey your Lord, and “Go, and sin NO MORE!”

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Continuing with our discussion about the huge masses of mankind that will eventually be redeemed and become part of the eternal family of God. Folks, we need to give our Creator a little credit regarding this matter of salvation. We need to stop seeing Satan as far more powerful than God in this matter. Many Christians see a great battle raging between God and Satan – God doing His best to get everybody saved while Satan is doing his best to get, or keep, everybody lost and Satan winning the battle hands down. At the end of it all, they could easily see Satan saying to God, “Let’s do it all over again with another earth, or planet, and another race of peoples. After all, I won, and won big time and will surely win again!”

Why can’t the religious-minded think and think a bit more deeply than they quite obviously do, or don’t do??? Remember, God had all of eternity past to think about this grand scheme of creating mankind and extending to us humans the invitation to become heirs of eternal life and members of His heavenly kingdom. He surely had the insight and intelligence to consider long and hard every single eventuality and situation that might present Him with an obstacle in accomplishing His desire and to devise a means of overcoming each and every one of those obstacles. The circumstances, time or place of your birth would not be the slightest obstacle to the God with whom all things are possible! Can’t you see that? Can’t you believe that? It wouldn’t matter if you lived only six years, sixteen years or sixty years. Death is no obstacle to God. NOTHING human mind can devise or think of presents an obstacle to God in His accomplishing His desire. That is WHY Jesus Christ “by the grace of God should taste death FOR EVERY MAN (Greek, “every person” – male, female, young, old, all races, etc.). (See Hebrews 2:9).

I assure you Jesus Christ did not shed His blood needlessly! “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall ALL (that same all that died in Adam) be made alive (by Christ’s sacrificial death on Calvary)” (See I Corinthians 15:22). True, multitudes will fail to take advantage of this opportunity to inherit eternal life, though. Still Jesus Christ died for Geronimo and Ghengis Kahn as surely as He died for Queen Elizabeth and the rabbi across town. He tasted the second death for the Aztec maiden sacrificed a thousand years ago as surely as He tasted death for Billy Graham or Mother Theresa! The doctrine of a limited atonement, that Christ died only for the “elect”is a patently false doctrine! And, believe this for it is true, NO ONE is going to get a better shot at salvation, a better chance at inheriting eternal life than anyone else. Not even John the Baptist, Jesus Christ’s own cousin who grew up with Him and heard Him expound the truths of God with his own ears. NO ONE will ever shake their fist in God’s face and be able to say, “I never had as good an opportunity as your cousin. I never had a chance at all.” NO ONE!

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

n the 14th chapter of Acts, verse 27, we read these words: “And when they (the apostle Paul and Barnabas) were come (to Antioch), and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” And in the 16th verse of that same chapter, we read these words, “(God) in times past suffered (permitted, allowed) ALL NATIONS to walk in their own ways.” Century after century for hundreds and hundreds of years a full the people of India were permitted by God to accept, believe and practice Hinduism. God had sent no prophet, not one, to India to inform these unwary and unsuspecting people that they had been duped. Throughout the African continent various and sundry nations of dark-skinned people had long embraced a plethora of tribal religions.. Multiplied millions around the globe were born, lived out their lifespans – some lasting a few days, some lasting many decades – yet living and dying having no knowledge whatsoever of the Bible, Jesus’ life and death, or the possibility that human beings could be granted immortality and eternal life by their Creator. Yet God’s Word says Jesus Christ died for each and every one of them. and that “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death FOR EVERY MAN! (See Hebrews 2:9), that He is “not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.” (See 2 Peter 3:9). It was my teaching of this great truth that prompted what I now describe:

Several years ago a local “theologian” saw it as his duty to stop my effectiveness as one who spoke the divine truths of God by revealing that I had once been addicted to dope. (I had shared with him this human failure that I had experienced years before). I wrote him a letter. Here is an excerpt from that letter. “In Romans 8, verse 33, we read, ‘Who shall lay ANYTHING to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.’ Forgiven men and women are to follow their Lord’s example and remember their sins no more. (See Jeremiah 31:34). Once God has justified an individual, no one is to dare lay anything to their charge regarding their past behavior. (See Romans 8:33). God says that He, Himself, will not remember such acts and behavior. (See Jeremiah 31:34). How dare some dust of the earth sinful human do so!? We tread on extremely dangerous ground when we seek to ferret out the past sins of the redeemed sons of God. I have seen God move dramatically and swiftly against those who do such, causing me to pray fervently that God would remove His heavy hand of judgment from them. We are to forget those days of failure and acts of disobedience that are behind us and to go on to spiritual and moral perfection. (See Philippians 3:13-15).” The gentleman fell desperately ill shortly thereafter and backed off.

Brethren, there is a spiritual graveyard where God has buried all your past sins and failures if you be in Christ. And when someone takes a spade and begins unearthing those sins and failures, turning over the dirt and saying to others, “Come, look and see” they instantly become a bona fide, dyed-in-the-wool agent of Satan whoever they may be. They are then fully accusers of the brethren and are ripe for God’s harshest judgment. God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

The scriptures warn that Christians do not all worship the same Jesus. Read on.

The 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians contains some of the most startling and eye-opening revelation found anywhere in scripture. In this chapter, the apostle Paul warns of “another Jesus,” “another spirit” and “another gospel.” He goes on to speak of “false apostles” (verse 13) and “false brethren” (verse 26). In verse 15 he speaks of Satan’s “ministers,” and those ministers, however unwittingly, present to the world a counterfeit Jesus!

The average believer hasn’t the vaguest idea of how powerfully deceptive Satan is. To the average believer those “false brethren” are the Mormons or those snake-handling weirdos in the Kentucky and Tennessee mountains. False brethren, of course, are false Christians, men and women who think they are followers of the real Jesus while, in fact, they have been duped by Satan’s clever deceptions into giving allegiance to that other Jesus spoken of by Paul.

Few realize that true Christianity was corrupted early on, even while many of the apostles of our Lord were still living. In writing to the believers at Galatia, Paul said, “O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched (deceived) you, that you should not obey the truth?” (See Galatians 3:1).

And the apostle John says, “I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, receives us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words, and not content therewith, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and forbids them that would, casting them out of the church!” (3 John 9-10). The true people of God go underground at that time, you might say, and a great false “Christian” church arises, establishing their headquarters not in Jerusalem or Antioch, but in Rome, and from this ancient counterfeit church arises various and sundry denominations known commonly as protestants!  With the passing of the centuries men arise – and sometimes women – who either form another denomination or have a denomination spring forth that is built upon their beliefs and teachings.

Jude, in his tiny epistle, writes: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith (the set of true doctrines) which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men (false apostles, false ministers and false brethren) crept in unawares….ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (licentiousness, lewdness), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (See Jude 3-4).  The true doctrine of grace was corrupted and a false doctrine of grace was then preached and accepted by the multitudes – a grace that fostered sin and scorned the holiness doctrine.

These false ministers were preaching a Jesus who wasn’t the believer’s LORD! The doctrine of grace became warped and watered down, a grace that taught believers all their sins, past, present and future, were blotted out on Calvary. This perverted grace assured believers that when God looked upon them all He could see was the righteousness of Christ. Never again would any of their sins be charged against them. Jesus paid it all! And like most other deceptions of Satan there is an element of truth found in this false doctrine of grace, and that element of truth is what makes such false doctrines believable and acceptable to those who don’t connect all the dots and allow all the scriptures to speak on this and other super-important subjects. (Read Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 slowly and carefully).

While it is true Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all mankind on Calvary, only our PAST sins are forgiven when we first repent and are baptized into the body of Christ.  (See Romans 3:23-26).  Any sins committed after that point must be confessed and forsaken in order to obtain forgiveness for those sins. The apostle John makes this clear when he writes: “If we (we believers) confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (yes, at that point), and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (See I John 1:9). A counterfeit Jesus is presented when one is told that Jesus has pre-forgiven you of even your future sins before they are committed.

The counterfeit Jesus leaves you in your sins while supposedly forgiving you of your sins. The real Jesus forgives you of your forsaken sins and delivers you from returning to those sins like a sow returns to the mud after being washed. “God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, IN TURNING AWAY EVERY ONE OF YOU FROM HIS INIQUITIES!” (See Acts 3:26). 

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

In the four gospel accounts, Jesus only once spoke of a sin that immediately places one in danger of hell fire.  Many other sins, like murder and idolatry, do not just endanger one to the prospects of suffering the judgment of hell fire but assure those so guilty that hell awaits them if such sins are not abandoned.  The one sin that Jesus specifically identified as a sin that edges one ever closer to the judgment of hell fire if not forsaken and abandoned undoubtedly surprises many.  Here is that sin, “WHOSOEVER shall say (to a fellow human being) ‘Thou fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.  (See Matthew 5:22).  Jesus Christ wanted to make that clear early on, in fact in the very first recorded sermon He preached to the masses – the Sermon on the Mount!

Note well, Jesus does NOT say those who belittle others in such a fashion are sure to be cast into hell.  He says they are “in danger” of experiencing hell fire.  Howso?  If someone discounts another as of such little worth by calling them a fool, or an idiot, or a moron, or some similar term.  They edge themselves toward treating another as worthless and having no value to God or man.  The next step in that direction can enable the offender to act upon their animosity and do physical harm, even to the point of killing a fellow human being.

I have often pointed out that, in actuality, there are but two classes of human beings on this earth: 1) the redeemed sons and daughters of God, and 2) potential sons and daughters of God as whosoever will may come and enjoy the merits of our Lord’s life and death.  The one that has been called some terrible name may well be a child of God, and, if not a child at that moment might yet become a child of God.

“You have heard that it has been said, ‘You should love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’  But I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven”.  (See Matthew 5:43-45).

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.  And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.  Let ALL bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice.  And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (See Ephesians 4:29-32).

We pay a terrible price when we ignore our Lord’s warnings and the counsel of His apostles.  Having grieved the Holy Spirit, our prayers are no longer heard or answered by God, for “If I regard iniquity in my heart, THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR ME!” (See Psalm 66:18).  And we just might find ourselves in a situation where we desperately need God to hear and answer our prayers.

God help you to understand is my prayer.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

When Adam and Eve chose to go their own way and to do their own thing they were driven from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life was shut off from mankind. And, although Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, it was a man called Abram, or Abraham, that God chose to be the father of the faithful, saying through Isaiah, “I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.” (See Isaiah 51:1-2). Terah, Abraham’s father, served other gods, and God ordered Abraham, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee” (See Genesis 12:1 and Joshua 24:2-3).

God is totally in charge of the redeeming of mankind and, although He will eventually show mercy to all, in this present age He declares that He will show mercy to whomever He desires to show mercy and will choose to serve Him whosoever He will. He doesn’t need or want man’s input in the matter. Jesus told His disciples, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” and plainly declared, “No man can come unto me, except it were given him of my Father” (See John 15:16 and John 6:65). Again Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me shall come to me” (See John 6:37). If you had or have a relative who has shown no interest in following and obeying Jesus Christ, it is simply because they have not YET been given to Jesus Christ to convert and sanctify for God’s use. Later on Jesus would assure His disciples, “If I be lifted up from the earth (crucified), I will draw ALL unto me” (See John 12:32). John the Baptist declared that Jesus would give light, or understanding, “to every man that comes into the world” (See John 1:9). Those not yet enlightened and given understanding will yet have their minds opened to spiritual truth. So says your Bible.

Of course, there are many who, like Adam and Eve, have been given light and understanding from God yet chose to go their own way, also. There will be no second chance for those who have experienced God’s overtures to guide and instruct them yet chose the path of disobedience and the flesh. 

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Scripture cautions, “If you (you believers) be without chastisement (corrective punishment), whereof ALL (the children of God) are partakers, then are you bastards (illegitimate children, false converts), and NOT sons” (See Hebrews 12:8). Many fail to see the Bible’s clear teaching as to a believer’s judgment for sinning because they have been taught that upon “receiving Jesus” all sins, including future sins are forgiven, blotted out, no longer counted against them in any way. I have even heard it argued that when Christ died all of our sins were future and that this is proof God forgives future sins before they are even committed – a diabolical, satanic LIE! Scripture plainly declares, “If we (we believers) CONFESS our sins, (then, at that point in time) He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us…” (See I John 1:9). And John doesn’t mean confess it to some fellow human being, some supposed “priest”, who himself might be even a greater sinner than we ourselves. (What if that “priest” is a closet pedophile! Do you think such a one can then absolve you of your sins while in the grip of gross depravity himself???) And, of course, scripture further declares that it is only those who confess AND FORSAKE THEIR SINS, who then obtain mercy from God (See Proverbs 28:13). “Let the wicked FORSAKE his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will (then) have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (at that time)” (See Isaiah 55:7). Confession is made to God and forgiveness given by God, not some “priest.”

Again, in James 5, we read: “Is any sick among you (among you believers)? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (restoring him to health), and if he has committed sins (if his sickness is corrective chastening from the Lord), they shall be forgiven him (yes, at that time, at that moment – NOT before)” (verses 14 and 15).

If a believer’s sins are pre-forgiven, why strive against sin? What God forgives He forgets. He takes no note then of a believer’s sin. Yet Revelation 2 and 3, Acts 5, I Corinthians 5, 10 and 11, and many other passages of scripture show clearly that God does indeed see a believer’s sins, and that they definitely are NOT pre-forgiven! At the moment of justification (what many refer to as the moment they are “saved”) we receive “remission of sins THAT ARE PAST” (See Romans 3:25). Peter writes that we were “purged,” or cleansed, from our “OLD sins” (see 2 Peter 1:9). The Greek word translated “old”” in that verse is palai (pronounced PAL’-ahee), and means “former” or “past” sins. No scripture even intimates that upon surrendering one’s life and total self to Jesus Christ’s LORDship and guidance his future sins are, at that moment, forgiven. That is ludicrous and a doctrine of demons!!

“For if we (we believers) sin willfully (voluntarily, wittingly, knowingly, intentionally) after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a CERTAIN fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries…The Lord shall judge (and punish) His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (See Hebrews 10:26-27, 30b). This is WHY Paul became indignant with any sin he found among God’s people, warning the Corinthians, “I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare” (See 2 Corinthians 13:2)

When believers sin they become adversaries of the Lord. I speak of willful, voluntary, intentional sin here. The manner of sin spoken of in Hebrews 10. Those who sin in such manner counter-work the Lord. The Lord is striving diligently to bring us into holiness (without which NO ONE will see the Lord – see Hebrews 12:14), instilling us with purity through and through. When we willfully, premeditatedly sin we do despite to the Spirit of grace given to keep us from sin, and we trample underfoot the blood of Christ in that we eloquently show what little regard we have for our Lord’s sacrifice. (Read Hebrews 10, verse 26 through 31 slowly and carefully – and God grant you understanding).

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley