Bible Doctrine

The prophet Isaiah was inspired by God to write, “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (See Isaiah 11:9). “And IN THAT DAY (yes, at that time in the yet future) there shall be a root of Jesse (the father of King David), which shall stand for an ensign (standard) of the people, to it shall the Gentiles (the nations) seek, and His rest shall be glorious” (verse 10). There will be a glorious rest from the deceptions and false religions that have gripped the minds and hearts of men for ages.

Approximately 200 years after Isaiah, God inspired another lesser known prophet, the prophet Habakkuk to write again, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (See Habakkuk 2:14). Just as the seabeds of earth are covered with thousands and thousands of feet of water, just so someday this earth will also be inundated with the truth of God. God has a plan, folks, and a wondrous plan it is. God wants us to know that His time for enlightening the world to the truth IS FUTURE! God’s not even trying to save the world in this present era, nor has He tried to do so in any previous era. If preachers would forget what they have been spoon-fed in their Bible colleges and seminaries, they would see the truth of God more readily and more clearly.

“Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch (Jesus Christ), and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days (as reigning King) Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely….” (See Jeremiah 23:5-6). God isn’t even trying to save His chosen people, the Jews yet. Save for only a small remnant, they have been cut off in this present “church” age. (See Romans 9:1-3). Upon Christ’s return He will minister His Word and truth first to the Jews THEN to the Gentile nations. “The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah FIRST!” (See Zechariah 12:7). “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn…….In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (See Zechariah 12: and 13:1).  Even the long dead of Sodom and Gomorrah will be raised from their graves to hear the summons of their Creator to worship Him and be saved: “When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou (Judah) and thy daughters shall return to your former estate” (Ezekiel 16:55).  The apostle Paul believed that with all his heart. (See Acts 24:14).  The wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah were reduced to ash by the vengeance of God’s eternal fire (Jude 7).  God says, “I kill, and I make alive!” (See Deuteronomy 32:39).  “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake (be resurrected), some to everlasting life (making the right choice after finally hearing the truth and being given an opportunity to inherit eternal life), and some to shame and everlasting contempt (having made the wrong choice and continued following the way of the flesh)” (Daniel 12:2).  God help you to understand!

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

Donald Wiley

Some years ago, a painting was brought to Sotheby’s Auction house in London. The gentleman who owned the painting was unsure of who had painted the obvious masterpiece as Rembrandt signed his earlier works with the Latin monogram RHL. A Sotheby’s employee took one brief look at the painting and exclaimed excitedly, “Sir, your painting is a Rembrandt original. It is a masterpiece and is worth a fortune!”

The apostle Paul says of the redeemed that we are God’s workmanship and just as the Sotheby’s employee instantly recognized a Rembrandt masterpiece, folks ought to quickly realize that we, who are the redeemed, are the workmanship of God. If they see us as no different than themselves, then we need to examine ourselves to discern whether we are truly converted sons and daughters of God or just religious folk.

Paul says it is God working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (See Philippians 2:13). By faith, the righteousness of God ought to be apparent in our daily lives. (See Philippians 3:9). The apostle Peter agrees with Paul, saying “we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (See I Peter 2:24). John concurs with these two fellow apostles, writing, “whosoever abides in him sins not!” (See I John 3:6). “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother” (See I John 3:10).

Living lives of purity and holiness does not become second nature to us now. It IS our nature. Our new nature. “For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them….And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS in the fear of God” (See 2 Corinthians 6:16, 18 and 7:1).

And on those ever more rarer occasions when we slip and fail and commit some manner of sin, we have an Advocate with the Father and will find that our walk of holiness and purity can instantly be regained when we confess and forsake our sin. God help you to understand.

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

Donald Wiley

For two thousand years the Jews have had an excellent answer for why they flatly reject Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. Have you ever asked a Jew why they are thoroughly convinced Jesus is not their Messiah? They will quote Jesus’ own words to you as their answer. Those words are found in the 12th chapter of Matthew’s gospel account. Here is what He said to those Jews so long ago: “The certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered,saying, ‘Master (or teacher), we would see a sign from thee,’ (as proof positive He was truly their Messiah). But He answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly (Greek “ketos” any huge fish), so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (a tomb carved out of the earth).” And what had Jesus just said before making that declaration? “But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (when the moment arrives that will prove or disprove the truthfulness of what has been uttered), for by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned” (See Matthew 12:36-40). And note that these Pharisees well remembered Jesus’ words, for following our Lord’s crucifixion the “Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, ‘Sir, WE REMEMBER that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, AFTER THREE DAYS I WILL RISE AGAIN. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night, and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse than the first.'” (See Matthew 27:62-64).

The ONLY sign Jesus gave the Jewish people He indeed was their promised Messiah was not that He would rise from the dead. More than once in Jewish history the dead had come back to life again. (See I Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37 and 2 Kings 13:20-21). The ONLY sign He gave them as absolute proof He was their Messiah was the length of time He would remain in the tomb – three days and three nights! And it is the false tradition of deceived Christians celebration of the Good Friday – Easter Sunday myth that has convinced the Jewish people that Jesus Christ was a false Messiah. For two thousand years the vast majority of Christian denominations have taught that Jesus was placed in the tomb at sunset on “Good” Friday and came out of the tomb before sunrise Easter Sunday! But that myth is only one day and two nights! The Jew argues, “So there you have it! Jesus of Nazareth said you are either justified by the words you have spoken or condemned by the same as someone speaking falsehoods. He said He would be in the tomb for three days and three nights. You Christians say He was only in the tomb for one day and two nights, so, by your very own well accepted tradition, you reveal the Jesus you worship as being one who spoke falsehoods, and, hence, a false Messiah! He failed to fulfill the ONLY sign He gave us that He was our Messiah.”  To be continued in Part 2.

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

Donald Wiley

There is a satanic lie that is widely embraced and wholeheartedly believed by much of professing Christianity today. I have heard it proclaimed from the pulpit many times. Here is that LIE: “When God looks upon a Christian all He sees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”

You would have had a hard time convincing those in the early church in Jerusalem that lie. They had among their members a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who had lied to the apostle Peter about some land they had sold. Peter said to Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart TO LIE!” (See Acts 5:1-3). When looking at them did God still see the righteousness of Jesus Christ in them? No! He saw their lying hearts. He heard their lying tongues, and He struck both of them dead on the spot. (See Acts 5). “So great fear came upon all who heard these things!” (verse 5 and 11).

Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth, Greece, “Now being absent I write to those WHO HAVE SINNED before, and to all the rest (of the congregation), that if I come again I will not spare, since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me” (See 2 Corinthians 13:2-3). Paul said one sure proof that Jesus Christ was using him as one of His anointed spokesmen was his speaking out boldly against sin among God’s people, and not just speaking out against it, but dealing swiftly with those who had sinned! Are we to believe Paul saw their sins but God did not???

Paul further wrote, “If we would judge ourselves (identifying any sin in our lives and dealing with it swiftly), we would not be judged (by God).” He also said, “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, AND MANY SLEEP (the sleep of death).” (See I Corinthians 11:30-31). When looking upon these sinful Corinthian believers God saw their sins, chastening them with sickness. Some were chastened with such severe illness they died! Multitudes of church members suffer lingering illnesses and die prematurely unaware they are being judged by God in the here and now for their continued sinful conduct!

Paul warned the Galatian believers, “You’ll reap what you sow.” (See Galatians 6:7-8). He told them, “God is not mocked.” He sees your sins. You’re only fooling yourselves if you think otherwise.

Read Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 slowly and carefully. Jesus Himself is addressing Himself to seven congregations in the early church, and He sees and identifies their sins, commanding them to repent or suffer the consequences. Yet it was Jesus Himself who said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, AND SHALL NOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION (of their PAST sins) but is passed from death unto life” (See John 5:24). But Jesus clearly shows from His own condemnation of five of the seven congregations mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3 that if we sin after being washed by the blood of Jesus Christ He does indeed see that sin. Over and over again He commands these congregations to repent of their continued sins. In fact, seven times in these two chapters you will find where Jesus tells them to repent.

So much error has crept into Christianity over the past two thousand years that many congregations haven’t the slightest idea how greatly God disapproves of their conduct. And a deceived ministry is to blame. May God have mercy on these blinded sheep who have gullibly swallowed Satan’s lies because Pastor So-and-so said so. God help you to understand.

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

Donald Wiley

Few understand what Jesus Christ meant when He told His disciples, “You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come.” (See Matthew 10:23). Jesus was referring to the fact that “spiritual” Israelites, the elect of God, are sprinkled throughout all nations and cities of the earth. They can be found in China, Italy, Iraq, Russia – wherever. All truly converted men and women of every race and lineage, in God’s eyes, are spiritual Israelites. In fact, we are the only true Israelites in God’s eyes and estimation. This mystery and this truth is far more profound than at first meets the eye. Whatever God demands of Israel He demands of YOU if you are a truly converted person with the exception of Old Covenant demands superseded and set aside by the New Covenant. And whatever God PROMISES Israel, He promises YOU if you are now His child through belief in and submission to His firstborn Son, Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ meant what He said when He told His disciples, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel!” (See Matthew 15:24). And, if you are beginning to see this truth, then Jesus would say to you what He said to Simon Peter two thousand years ago, “Blessed art thou…for flesh and blood hath not revealed it (this truth) unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (See Matthew 16:17). Do you appreciate the divine revelation being given to you in such matters, or is it a “ho-hum” affair? “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (See Matthew 13:16-17).

I realize how greatly blessed I am. That is why while others sleep I am awake pondering these great mysteries of God. While others follow the most trivial and passing pursuits I read and ponder the inspired scriptures. Jesus was not one given to exaggeration, and when He says I am more blessed than many prophets and righteous men of old, I believe Him and I deeply appreciate the revelation He has given me and gives me more and more each day.

Long life is PROMISED those faithful to the Lord. In fact, this is a promise expressed many, many times throughout the Bible. “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many” (Proverbs 4:10).  “My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments, for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee” (Proverbs 3:1-2).  “The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened” (Proverbs 10:27).  “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings and the years of your life shall be many” (Proverbs 4:10).  “Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.  I will set him on high, because he has known my name.  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.  I will be with him in trouble.  I will deliver him, and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16).  And I could quote a dozen more such texts. The date of one’s death is not pre-set or pre-ordained.  Individually we have the power to extend that date or to draw it ever nearer.  Though the scripture says “It is appointed unto all men once to die,” it does not say the time or date of one’s death is appointed and cannot be extended.  When Solomon asks, “Why should you die before your time?” the context where that question is raised shows that he means behaving foolishly and failing to exercise wisdom can result in one dying prematurely.  Heroin addicts die decades before their time.  Many teenage drug addicts who over dose and die could well have lived into their seventies or eighties had they never abused illegal drugs.

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

Donald Wiley

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39).

Do you notice what is obviously missing from that list of things that cannot separate us from God? YOU, yourself, and SIN! Notice, it is “any OTHER creature” that cannot separate you from God. Only you, yourself can do that. Also, nothing SINFUL is mentioned in that long list of things that cannot separate you, for Paul taught, as do many other scripture writers, that SIN can indeed separate you from God. Paul had just written in verses 12 and 13 of that same chapter, “Therefore BRETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh (its pulls and temptations) to live after the flesh, For if ye (you BRETHREN) live after the flesh, ye shall die (the second death as we are ALL going to die the first death regardless of how we live), but if ye through the Spirit (the only way possible) do mortify (put to death) the deeds of the body, ye shall live (eternally).” The ONLY humans who will avoid the first death are those true believers still living at the time Jesus Christ returns. All the rest of us will die the first death.

Speaking to His people Israel through His prophet Hosea, the God who changes not, says “All their wickedness (their sinning) is in Gilgal: for there I HATED THEM for the wickedness of their doings. I will drive them out of mine house, I WILL LOVE THEM NO MORE. All their princes are revolters” (See Hosea 9:15). “But your iniquities (their SINS) HAVE SEPARATED BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD, AND YOUR SINS HAVE HID HIS FACE FROM YOU, that He will not hear (when they pray)” (See Isaiah 59:2). And the verse right before that says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (verse 1).

The ONLY thing that will prevent God from saving someone is continued sin. Sin that is not repented of and abandoned SEPARATES US FROM GOD, preventing Him from saving us. As Paul says in Romans 8, no OTHER creature can separate us from God, only we can do that ourselves by continuing in sin as sin separates any human from God if persisted in, if unconfessed and unforsaken!

Remember, Paul told his accusers, “But this I confess to you that according to the Way which they call a sect, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the prophets” (See Acts 24:14). So, Paul absolutely believed what God said through the prophets Hosea and Isaiah. You could have read those verses to Paul and asked, “Is there anything we can do to where God will say to and about us, ‘I will love them no more?’” His reply would have been, “Yes, continue in wickedness and sin!” (Hosea 9:15). You could have asked, “Is there anything WE can do ourselves that will separate us from God?” Paul would have instantly replied, “Iniquity (sin) if continued in and not abandoned will separate you from God” (Isaiah 59:1-2). Remember, Paul said no OTHER creature can separate us from God, and in that long list of things he names in Romans 8 that cannot separate us from God Paul never mentions anything sinful, as he knew and taught that sin will indeed separate us from God.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We do not rightly divide the Word when we isolate verses of scripture and build a doctrine wherein we ignore what God has said on a given subject through many other scriptures!!

Jude was not giving an idle warning when he wrote, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (See Jude 21). As an anointed teacher of God, Jude well knew of the texts in Hosea and Isaiah we have just looked at. He knew God had thundered to His ancestors: “I will love them no more!” Such verses of scripture seem shocking to those who have often heard the opposite from preachers they highly respected and were certain taught only the truth of God. Radio preachers and world famous evangelists can be and often are WRONG in some of the things they say and teach. Fail to believe and see that and I guarantee you that you will embrace doctrines that are utterly contrary to the plain truth of scripture.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest (self-evident), which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying s, murders drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you (warned you) in time past, that they (those believers) who do such things SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD” (Galatians 5:19-20). Paul was making no idle threat to the Galatians, nor was he contradicting what he had written the believers in Rome. He was in full agreement with Jude, Hosea and Isaiah and all other Bible writers. Sin, unabandoned, unconfessed, unforsaken will keep the rebel believer OUT of the kingdom of God!!!

Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: CONTINUE YE IN MY LOVE” (John 15:9). And HOW do we continue in Christ’s love? “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love…” (verse 10, same chapter). And what is obviously the opposite of that statement of Jesus Christ? Continue to break our Lord’s commandments, that is, continue in sin, and you will not abide in His love!

One thing, and one thing only, will cut men off from God in any age, under any covenant – SIN! So says your Bible. All too many read that long list of things that CANNOT separate us from God in Romans 8, and think Paul is saying, “For I am persuaded that neither murder, nor incest, nor suicide, nor prostitution, nor any other sinful thing shall be able to separate us from God.” Such sinners think, “Hallelujah, we are still going to heaven no matter what we do!” Again, I warn you, that is a doctrine of demons regardless of who preaches or teaches it.

“Take heed, BRETHREN, lest there be in any of YOU (you brethren) an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Living God” (Hebrews 3:12). Although God vows never to forsake us, we can forsake Him, and we do so quite effectively by continuing in sin. We then depart from God.

Following the prophet Nathan’s visit, accusing him of adultery and murder, David penned the 51st Psalm wherein he begged God, “Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (verse 11). David knew what continued, unconfessed and unforsaken sin could and DOES do. He had witnessed it in the life of his predecessor Saul. God had taken His Spirit from Saul and cut him off. David knew God has no respect of persons and would do the same to him. This is true even of angels. Those angels that sinned were cast away from God.

The blinding power of Satan is staggering. If we don’t get to know the Word of God intimately well and walk in uninterrupted obedience to God, we can embrace error that is far reaching and deadly in its consequences! We can begin to teach others doctrines that are utterly false and have no basis in scripture. That is WHY James warns believers, “My brethren, be not many masters (teachers), knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1). God is highly displeased when those who teach the scriptures teach error. All teachers will answer to God for what they teach others.

Before writing Romans 8, Paul had written in Romans 6: “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin UNTO DEATH, or of obedience unto righteousness” (verse 16). Yes, believers can become servants of Satan, and, if and when they do, it is unto death – NOT eternal life. Satan’s servants will not inherit eternal life and will not be found in the kingdom of God. Paul says the end, or final result, of continued sinful conduct is death. (See verses 21 thru 23, Romans 6).

“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has ANY inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one (no preacher, no TV evangelist) deceive you with empty words for because of these things (these sins) the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:5-6). You’ll not find one disobedient son in the kingdom of God. So says your Bible.

I know that those who teach the “once saved, always saved” doctrine believe themselves to be honoring God and His Word by doing so. God in His infinite mercy and understanding will take this into consideration when judging them and their teachings. They are not willfully teaching error. Nonetheless, they ARE teaching error – profound error.

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

Donald Wiley

“The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law and make it honorable” (Isaiah 42:21).  The prophet Isaiah had long ago prophesied that the Messiah would magnify, or promote, the law of God, making it honorable and worthy of respect.  And that is exactly what Jesus did when citing the law in His sermon on the mount.  He quotes the seventh commandment word-for-word, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (See Matthew 5:27).  He then magnifies, or expands, that commandment by saying, “But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart.”

When Isaiah speaks of God’s righteousness in Isaiah 42:21 he is again referring to the Ten Commandments for we read in Psalm 119:172, “All thy commandments are righteousness.”  In God’s eyes a truly righteous person is someone who is keeping God”s commandments.  Only a fool would call an adulterer, or liar, or killer a righteous person!

The sabbath is mentioned nine times in the book of Acts.  Never is it spoken of as being abolished or changed.  There are three verses in the 13th chapter of Acts that are a real eye opener if one will only read that text and accept what it so clearly reveals.  Here is that text: “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue (of Antioch, Pisidia where Paul had at length exhorted them to accept the truth concerning Jesus), THE GENTILES BESOUGHT THAT THESE WORDS MIGHT BE PREACHED TO THEM THE NEXT SABBATH.  Now when the congregation was broken up (dispersed) many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, PERSUADED THEM TO CONTINUE IN THE GRACE OF GOD.  AND THE NEXT SABBATH DAY came almost the whole city (comprised overwhelmingly of Gentiles) together to hear the word of God.” (See Acts 13:42-44). 

Notice, Paul is preaching the grace of God to these Jews and Gentiles.  The Gentiles ask that Paul preach these words to them the next sabbath.  Since he is preaching the grace of God, why didn’t Paul tell these Gentiles, “Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day.  We will meet with you then and preach to you the grace of God?”  I’ll tell you why Paul didn’t do that.  The next day, the first day of the week, or Sunday, was not the Lord’s Day and never shall be.  “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day!” (Matthew 12:8).  If Jesus is Lord of the sabbath day then it naturally follows the sabbath is the Lord’s day!  No scripture calls Sunday, or the first day of the week, the Lord’s day.  That is an invention of men misled by the master deceiver Satan.

Reader, I warn you again, Satan is a master of his craft – that being the art of deception.  He deceived the wisest man who ever lived!  (See I Kings, Chapter 11).  You are no match for him whatsoever.  If you are not utterly and completely surrendered to Jesus Christ, obeying Him in toto 24/7, I assure you Satan has you grossly deceived in some, if not most, of what you think the Bible says.  God help you to understand.  To be continued….

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

Donald Wiley

The apostle Peter gave the church fair warning that his beloved fellow apostle Paul “in ALL his epistles (wrote) in them…some things hard to understand, which they that are unlearned (in the scriptures as a whole, both Hebrew and Greek scriptures) and unstable (spiritually) wrest (twist, pervert, distort), as they do also the other scriptures (not just Paul’s writings), unto their own (spiritual) destruction” (See 2 Peter 3:15-16). NOTE: All comments inside parentheses are those of the author of this study).

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 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).

But it is the 19th verse of Romans 6 that really clarifies just what Paul was, and WAS NOT, saying in Romans 7 when He made all those clearly defeatist statements, such as “I am carnal, sold under sin” and “How to perform that which is good I find not!” Romans 6:19 says: “I speak AFTER THE MANNER OF (SPIRITUALLY DEFEATED) MEN because of the infirmity of YOUR flesh (not his own flesh, but THEIR flesh), for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity (committing one sin after another), even so (in the same manner) now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness (the continued, uninterrupted practice of righteous conduct).” It is that simple! Here is what Paul says in that 19th verse: “I speak after the manner of men (that is, I am going to put myself in your shoes and talk like you talk in order to address this problem YOU are having in ceasing to sin).” Notice, he says “because of the infirmity (Greek, “weakness”) of YOUR flesh – NOT Paul’s flesh – THEIR FLESHLY LUSTS AND APPETITES! They had the problem, not Paul! 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).

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

Donald Wiley

Jesus purged your sins on Calvary. He didn’t just pay the penalty. That’s the two-fold message of the cross! The writer of Hebrews speaks of those who once purged would have no more consciousness of sins – because having been purged of their sins they aren’t committing them anymore. (See Hebrews 10:2). They are not like the dog returning to his vomit or the sow, having washed, wallowing once again in the mire. They don’t return to their sins.

“For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). Jesus died in order to be your Lord, not just your Savior. “(Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we, HAVING DIED TO SINS, might live for righteousness” (See I Peter 2:24). “Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate (outside the city of Jerusalem)” (See Hebrews 13:12).

Many professing Christians fail to see this most glorious aspect of the cross, that not only was the penalty for our sins paid on that cross but we were also freed from our sins by our Lord’s death on Calvary. It seems that aspect of the cross is rarely preached. In fact, many believers are told just the opposite from the pulpit. They are told they cannot break with sin in this life, while in this body of flesh. They are falsely informed, “We (yes, even we blood-washed believers) sin every day in thought, word or deed!” Well, that’s certainly true of some misinformed believers, but I assure you there are multitudes of faithful followers of the Lord who do NOT have to confess some sin at the close of each day.

Am I to believe that the righteousness which is by faith is a shoddy righteousness continually interspersed with flagrant disobedience and willful sin, one moment sinning, the next repenting. Am I to believe that by faith a 90 year old woman can give birth to a child, but every child of faith must continue to sin daily though commanded by the Author and Finisher of their faith to “Go, and sin no more?!!!” (See Hebrews 11:11 and John 5:14 and John 8:10-11).

Am I to believe that the best testimony to be had from the living faith imparted to me by Jesus Christ is that I definitely will sin every day in thought, word or deed? That’s the very best God has provided for us in Christ Jesus? Get real! Am I to believe that a faith that can raise the dead can’t keep me from sin? 

“Therefore He is also able to SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Saved to the uttermost does NOT mean one continues to sin day in and day out, friend. That’s the theology of the devil. The very heart of the New Covenant, the better covenant is that this ever living High Priest is able to extend strength to us in time of temptation so that we need not sin! This is the “better hope” mentioned in Hebrews 7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect, on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” Notice that this better hope brings us closer to God, whom without holiness no man can see. (See Hebrews 12:14).

“He was manifested TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS” not merely to grant us forgiveness of our sins! (See I John 3:5). Christ’s precious shed blood has the power to prevent us from sinning. That’s what your Bible clearly and plainly says. Read it! “He appeared TO PUT AWAY SIN!” (Hebrews 9:26).

To deny the possibility of total continuous victory over sin is to rob Jesus Christ of the glory of His mission. He came to destroy the works of the devil. Those works are the works of sin. (See I John 3:8). Jesus stated that He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). That which was lost included a sinless character. Restoring the image of God in man is a very important part of the message of the cross. That work is to be done before Jesus returns and not as some magical after-thought. (See I Corinthians 1:3-9, 2 Corinthians 11:1-2; Ephesians 1:3-4; Ephesians 5:25-27 and Philippians 2:14-15).

Listen, there is not a habit or sin known to the human race that cannot be finally and forever conquered through faith once one is fully submitted to the LORDship of Jesus over their lives. Every descendant of Adam needs two things desperately – forgiveness for the past and power for the future. Redemption includes both of them, and the idea that full deliverance from the guilt of sin is included, but only partial deliverance from the power of sin is a perversion of the gospel. Salvation is not a negative thing, not just the absence of something. Jesus did not come just to take away something, our guilt and penalty, but to give us something – victory over sin. For God to forgive us and still leave us under the power of continued sin would make God an accomplice of sin!!! The inspired writers use almost fanatical language in describing the possibilities for victory over sin. (See Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 3:20 and Ephesians 3:19. And there are scores of similar texts). Read your Bible, folks.

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

Donald Wiley