Bible Doctrine

If all the cross means to you is that is where Christ died for your sins, you have missed its’ greatest truth! “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, BY WHOM THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD.” (Galatians 6:14). “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). You see, when Christ died, I DIED! That is the greatest truth of the cross. The old former YOU is to be reckoned dead and buried – gone, no more! The world that once held so many attractions for you, appealing to the lusts of the flesh, is another world – a world that has passed from the scene, a world to be forgotten.

And that is another aspect of the cross, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins (dying on the cross), THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD, according to the will of God and our Father” (Galatians 1:3-4). Have you noticed I haven’t even left the Galatian letter in expounding this great truth to your mind? So many miss this primary truth Paul expounds upon in this tiny letter to the believers in Galatia. “O foolish Galatians (or Americans, or British, or Canadians), who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you…” (See Galatians 3:1). How could Jesus Christ be crucified AMONG US, since He was crucified long, long ago on a hill called Mount Calvary outside the ancient city of Jerusalem??? Look about you at fellow believers! Are they not following the exhortation of their Lord, taking up THEIR crosses, dying to the world, to self and to sin? “And He (Jesus Christ) said to them ALL, ‘If any man (or woman, any believer) will come after me (desirous to be a follower of Jesus Christ), let him deny himself, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY, and follow me, for whosoever (you, me, anyone) will save his life (maintaining control over the same, doing things OUR way, choosing how to live our lives) shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake (letting Jesus Christ lead us in the way we are to live), the same shall save it (to life eternal)” (Luke 9:23-24).

Entering into eternal life is not just believing Jesus Christ died for you, it is DYING WITH CHRIST! “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, THAT HE MIGHT BE LORD both of the dead and living.” (Romans 14:9). That is WHY Christ died – that He might become your LORD, the one who “calls the shots” in your life. “He died for all THAT THEY WHICH LIVE SHOULD NOT HENCEFORTH LIVE UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO HIM WHICH DIED FOR THEM, AND ROSE AGAIN” (See 2 Corinthians 5:15).

Over and over again, the apostle Paul expounds this truth in all of his letters: “Christ..loved the church (believers called out from the world), and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it…that He might present it to Himself a glorious church (a glorious assembly of former disobedient humans), not having spot (of sin), or wrinkle (of impurity), or any such thing, but that it should be (truly) holy and without blemish” (See Ephesians 5:25-27). Don’t limit God. And don’t fight Him either. Let Him work in your life so that other believers might see Christ crucified among them IN YOU!!! “(Christ) gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from ALL iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar (special, exceedingly different) people (group of human beings), zealous of good works (working the works of God in their individual lives)” (See Titus 2:14). Yes, when Christ died, YOU DIED! Now let Jesus Christ make that concept a reality. He will, but you must submit to Him as your LORD and let Him work by resisting any contrary impulse, and as sure as day follows night, you will find that He who died most assuredly did rise again and now lives in you! God grant you the mind to see this and believe it and, yes, enjoy it is my prayer.

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“And He said, ‘That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man, for from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.'” (Mark 7:20-23). This one small passage alone convinces me that the Lord both desires and commands that His followers live sanctified lives and that such is possible, even to be expected.

Are we to believe that God’s sons and daughters must be defiled every day they live, that they thereby, as it were, wallow in defilement. When the command is given to “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” are we to believe we have no power or ability to obey such a command? (See Matthew 5:49). There, of course, must be a concerted, conscious decision to walk that pathway of moral perfection, to exercise the will to say, “NO” to every temptation of the flesh and spirit. It should not be assumed that this walk is indeed an easy one, but we are warned that “the way of transgressors is hard.” (See Proverbs 13:15). Of the two pathways, the way of holiness or the way of transgression, the easier of the two is the walk of holiness in that it is less fraught with dangers and inexorable penalties. It is, of course, often easier to give in to the pulls of the flesh when first the temptation arises, but we will find that a continued resistance will in but a short space of time cause the temptation to lessen its attraction and pull until before too long the temptation is no longer felt at all. Of course, Satan will always seek a more convenient time to move again, but, as the old hymn says, “each victory will help us some other to win.” Think on these things.

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

Donald Wiley

“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7). You can’t tempt a dead alcoholic with liquor. Go to a funeral home where a dead alcoholic is on display in his casket. Take a flask of Early Times or Old Grandad out of your pocket, unscrew the cap and dab a little on his lips. You will get no reaction whatsoever. Why Not? The man is dead and, thus, freed from any desire to drink ever again.

Brethren, have you been freed from sin? Do the sinful pleasures of this world still attract you. No, there is no sin in being tempted. Even Jesus Christ was tempted. (See Matthew 4:1-11). “There has no temptation taken (or confronted) you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer (permit) you to be tempted above (or more than) you are able (to bear), but will with the temptation (at that exact same moment in time) also make a way to escape (a GOD-MADE way, hence a perfect escape route) that you may be able to bear it (bear up under the temptation without ever giving in to sin)” (See I Corinthians 10:13). That’s a promise from God. A promise He will keep IF you do your part. Your part is to resist the temptation and to flee from the very appearance of evil. All too many do not resist. When confronted with a temptation to do wrong, to do evil, to sin, they might momentarily hesitate, but they don’t absent themselves from the vicinity of the temptation, and all too quickly they find themselves having given in to the temptation.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? GOD FORBID! (And God does forbid sin in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ). How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). Since God is so forgiving, even instructing us to forgive those who sin against us seventy times seven times in a single day, shouldn’t we let grace abound, let God do His thing by forgiving us again and again and again as we give in to temptation and sin again and again and again? Of course not! That’s the philosophy of the world. But look once more at that last sentence in verse 2: “How shall we that are DEAD TO SIN live any longer therein?”

Are you dead to sin? Many believers are not and they know they are not. They are live wires when it comes to temptation. In fact, many believe wholeheartedly that sin is absolutely inevitable for all humanity. It matters not if one is totally surrendered to Jesus Christ and even has God’s powerful, universe-creating Holy Spirit imparted to them, many still believe one cannot consistently avoid all sin. Paul writes that baptized believers “should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (a new creation): old things are passed away, behold, ALL things are become new. AND ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD!” God now controls in the believers life. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). “Our old man (the former “you”) is crucified with Him that the body of sin (our old fleshly “self”) might be destroyed” (See Romans 6:6). Then comes the statement given at the beginning of this study: “For he that is dead is freed from sin!” (Romans 6:7). If someone asked you, “Are you freed from sin?” What would be your answer? Would you say, yes, indeed, or would some sin you committed but hours ago immediately come to mind, causing you to squirm and hem and haw and sheepishly reply, “I guess not!”

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:8). Of course, many would argue, “I AM dead with Christ! When God sees me all He sees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.” Brethren, you might want to read Chapters 1 through 3 of Revelation a bit more closely. Also ponder over the revelation given in Acts 5, verses 1 through 11. When you surrender your life to the Lord and are baptized, the merit of Christ’s shed blood is applied to your PAST sins – every one of them. (See Romans 3:23-25). At that moment in time when God looks at you He indeed sees the righteousness of Christ in you. But if you, like Ananias and Sapphira, tell a lie, or if you are sexually immoral, like the brother in the Corinthian assembly (See I Corinthians 5), God instantly sees that sin and counts it against YOU, not Jesus Christ, leaving you with but one option – to repent and forsake such sin.

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

Donald Wiley

How many are the Christians who can quote Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Yet how few are the believers who can quote the 29th verse wherein God informs us just WHAT is this good God is seeking to work in us! I quote: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Yes, there is awesome purpose in our being called by God to become members of the Body of Christ. It is not merely to save us from eternal death or even to inherit the splendors of heaven. It goes far beyond that and begins in the here and now! God is literally creating a family of spirit sons (ladies included) – what the Bible calls, “sons of light.” (See Hebrews 12:9; James 1:17; John 12:36; Matthew 5:14-16 and I Corinthians 15:40-42). As sons of light, we are called out of the darkness and misunderstanding of this world. And we are called to walk in holiness and purity in this present physical body so as to be a burning and shining light in whatever generation we happen to be born into. Satan hates this doctrine and truth and blinds countless numbers of believers from seeing it. (That is why every warning to beware of spiritual deception is directed to believers? See I John 4:1; 2 Peter 3:17; James 1:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, etc.)

God places teachers in the body of Christ “for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect (spiritually complete, mature) man, TO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST” (Ephesians 4:12-13). Let’s not water that down or try to “interpret” it. Those words mean exactly what they say. It is God’s clearly stated intention to conform or mold YOU into the very spiritual image of Jesus Christ, so that upon our Lord’s return He can be presented with a resplendently pure bride that is “glorious…not having spot (of sin) or wrinkle (of impurity), or any such thing, but that she should be HOLY and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). Remember, God has COMMANDED us “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (See I Peter 1:16). Would God give His human followers a commandment He knew good and well could not be obeyed? Peter goes on to say that Jesus Christ “left us an example that you should follow Him, WHO DID NO SIN!” (See I Peter 2:21-22). He further stated that we are to be “dead to sins” and “should live unto righteousness” (See 1 Peter 2:24).

Where do believers get the warped, and frankly satanic, idea that believers cannot break with sin, that sin has been, is now, and ever shall be an insurmountable obstacle for the fully surrendered child of God. (If you, my reader, have used Romans 7 for excusing sin in your Christian life, I urge you to ask the Lord to open your eyes to the 19th verse of Romans 6, the verse that unlocks the true meaning of Paul’s defeatist statements in Romans 7. He is speaking of the defeated Roman believers in Romans 7, NOT of himself!) 

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

Donald Wiley

The apostle Paul says, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (See Romans 5:1). How can I have peace with God if I keep sinning day in and day out? Sin interrupts our peace with God. Our conscience is bothered. We feel a distance developing between ourselves and God when we sin. A believer is to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4), a life of joy unspeakable and full of glory – not a life of constant defeat and subsequent depression! Paul says that the believer is “made free from sin” (Romans 6:18). The tempter’s power is broken. Finally, I can say “NO!” to the pulls of the flesh.

Paul told the believers at Corinth that the life of Jesus is to be made manifest IN OUR MORTAL FLESH! (See 2 Corinthians 4:11). Satan would have us believe that the flesh is stronger than God’s Holy Spirit and that as long as we are in the flesh we will do the deeds of the flesh. That is a devil’s LIE! “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). Yes, dead to sin NOW.  Paul never even hinted that none of us will be free from sin as long as we live in these physical, fleshly bodies. Those who say such are saying our own death frees us from sin, not Christ’s death. We then become our own savior – not Christ! What a satanic teaching that is!

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). We don’t gain the victory over sin through our own human strength and efforts. GOD gives us the victory via the Holy Spirit. “Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Don’t look at your weakness. Look at HIS strength. “Look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). “Having therefore these promises dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves (through HIS strength) from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). God help us all to understand is my hope and prayer.

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

Donald Wiley

The road of error has a point of no return. That is what Jesus was speaking of when he said of the multitudes who followed Him, “They seeing see not, and hearing, they hear not.” He meant they had physical sight but no spiritual sight. They had physical hearing but could not pick up on and understand the spiritual truths He was speaking. The road of error has a point of no return for one can progress down the road of error so far that they become totally engulfed in error and are held fast by their falsehood and misconception. That explains why a Roman Catholic priest remains a Roman Catholic priest until the day he dies. It explains why a Mormon remains a Mormon all of his, or her, life.

Jesus spoke of this same phenomenon when he said one does not put new wine into an old wineskin else the wineskin bursts and one loses both the wineskin and the wine. New wine is still fermenting and emitting gases. If it is placed into an old wineskin, a wineskin that cannot expand without cracking or ripping, then the gases will cause the wineskin to expand to the breaking point whereby one loses both the wine and the wineskin. Likewise, one cannot place new truth into a mind that is saturated with false beliefs and errors. The one embracing falsehoods will reject the truth spoken to him. The truth given to him will be “lost”, so to speak.

One embracing false spiritual concepts and beliefs generally has several scriptures they think fully support their viewpoint. Looking about them both in the now and historically, they will often find that they are in the majority in what they believe and have many highly respected preachers and theologians who agree with them wholeheartedly in their Christian views. If in error, they are then so far down the road of error that their getting off of that road and on to the road of truth is problematic.

One does not merely absorb spiritual truth as they pass through life. Truth is the pearl of great price, a buried treasure that must be carefully and energetically sought. Much error is often absorbed into the mind and thinking before one ever really begins to prove and fully document his, or her, religious beliefs. Dislodging that error and replacing the same with divine spiritual truth can be the most difficult task one will ever undertake. Most never even make the effort.

Reared in a Baptist church, one absorbs and believes Baptist doctrine while the family across the street attend a Pentecostal assembly, absorbing the teachings of that group and naturally assume their particular belief system to be more correct and in line with scripture. This is one glaring pitfall of being human. But take heart. The truth CAN be known. But one must search for the same with an open mind and with the firm commitment to obey the truth once it is revealed to their mind. And, of course, such personalities are in the minority in the human family. This is one reason why teachers of God’s truth are in short supply in any given generation. For every truly anointed teacher of the Word of God, you can well believe there are many dozens who perform that function entirely on their own even though sincere and well meaning.. But the Lord knows those that are His and the sheep hear the Master’s voice regardless of the one through whom the Shepherd desires to speak and teach.

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

Donald Wiley

You probably have never thought of it, have you? The power of repetition. If someone says something once, it might well be forgotten by the hearer soon after it has been uttered. This has proven to be true in many trial situations where a witness is asked, under oath, if they can recall the defendant having made a certain statement. Often the witness will say, “I can’t recall.” And oftentimes they are telling the absolute truth when they give that answer. But if the defendant said it again, and again, and again, day in and day out, well, that’s a different story, isn’t it?

The power of repetition is a phenomenon understood very well by Satan the devil. I think it was Adolph Hitler who said that a lie repeated long enough and often enough will be accepted as absolute truth by the majority of those who hear that lie. The power of repetition has the power to both bend as well as absolutely destroy the truth. The scriptures are very clear about the state of the dead – that they are just that, absolutely dead, awaiting a resurrection to bring them back to life. But when the opposite is repeated again and again, year in and year out, century in and century out, by countless thousands and thousands that the dead really are not dead at all but very much alive somewhere in the ether, or on another planet called heaven, or inside the bowels of the earth where the fiery flames of hell torture them, or on another plane of existence or dimension then the power of repetition begins to work in the minds of the hearers and it becomes accepted as fact that death is merely an illusion. No one really dies. They just move on to another realm called heaven, hell, limbo, purgatory, or a host of other sites. Did that pagan Chinese farmer who was struck by lightning in the year 746 B.C. go to hell at that moment and has he been there for almost three thousand years now screaming and beating at the flames.

Most folks seem to never follow to their logical conclusion many of the beliefs that they hold to be true. What happened to the pagan Aztec Indian warrior who died in battle in 1429? Pagan that he was, did he go to hell? Has he been there now for nearly 600 years crying and writhing in agony? Wouldn’t you say, “Enough’s enough.” How long would you watch and do nothing as your neighbor took lighter fluid, squirted a bit on his disobedient dog, lighting it and burning a little of the dog at a time, first one foot, then the other, then an ear, then a bit of the back. If you looked out the window and hours later the dog was still yelping and writhing in horrible pain in the neighbor’s backyard, would you just turn away and go back to watching your favorite TV show, thinking, “Well, God does much worse than that to billions of human beings who died lost!”

Haven’t you ever wondered WHY, when the Bible speaks of death and the state of the dead, the Bible writers and characters in the Bible only use one of two terms in describing the dead, saying they are just that – dead – or asleep? These two terms are used interchangeably by the prophets, the apostles and Jesus Himself. Jesus said, “Lazarus is dead….Lazarus is asleep.” But millions believe the very opposite to be true. They believe the dead are now more vibrantly alive in death than they ever were in life!!!

Of course they have several passages of scripture to which they refer that they think shows that Lazarus was not asleep. It never seems to dawn on them that their erroneous beliefs and interpretation, or MISinterpretation, of some scriptures portrays Jesus and many other writers of scripture as being in error or teaching false doctrine.

And what a can of worms I have opened up with this short email article, as to really see the truth of God in this matter one must minutely examine many widely scattered texts throughout the Bible, including those speaking of the “soul”, the “spirit”, immortality and several other related terms and texts. Well, at least I have given you something to think about, huh?

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

We have all seen photographs taken with a telephoto lens where the setting sun seems to be looming on the horizon so close to earth it appears they could even collide.  It looks as though it is a thousand times closer to earth than ever before.  There is something else looming on the horizon that few seem to see at all – eternity!  Like a product bought in a grocery store we all have an expiration date.  Though we cannot read it, it is there perhaps stamped invisibly on our forehead.  And when that date arrives we will breathe our last.  Our hearts will pump their last beat.  Our earthly pilgrimage will be over.  We will join the billions that have lived before us and memory of us will soon be forgotten.  A generation or two will pass and it will be as though we never even existed.  Folks from future generations will walk by our graves and take no note of our names.  We will mean nothing to them – nothing at all.

Life is a mystery to most.  It seems to have no rhyme or reason.  An African-American is born on a plantation in the year 1804, begins working on that plantation at the age of six or eight, endures a life of abject slavery for thirty more years and dies aged thirty-eight of tuberculosis.  A Chinese peasant farm couple produce six sons and daughters between the years of 1345 and 1356, all dying in infancy save for two sons who perish in a famine that strikes China in 1364.  The farm couple themselves die of typhoid fever two years later in 1366.  All of these unfortunates live and die having never seen or even heard of a book called the Holy Bible, knowing absolutely nothing of Jesus Christ, the cross, or the possibility that humans can live eternally. To them there truly is no rhyme or reason for human life.  Their existence was noted by few, their deaths noted by none.  Do they have an eternal fate?  Did a “soul” survive every one of them?  Are their souls now in a place called hell?  Is their human suffering carried on into and through all eternity?

Our Lord continues my life and may well extend it into another decade as He has mercifully and graciously provided me with HIS answers to the above queries.  And He cautions me that to whom much is given much is required.  He has spiritually begotten sons and daughters around the globe who have besought Him to give them the answers to such questions.  I trust He has provided all who read my words with those answers as well, especially if YOU have been begotten by Him, too.

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

Donald Wiley

Do not look upon Maui, Hawaii as an aberration. God’s fury is about to be poured out on this nation. The year 2024 will totally eclipse the years 2021, 2022, and 2023 as years of national distress and natural disasters. We are on a collision course with the anger of God.

Men refuse to be corrected by God and His sacred Word. The most basic truths of God are viewed as strange doctrines to most professing Christians. “But to us THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER……and one Lord, Jesus Christ!” (See I Corinthians 8:6). Meeting Mary, in the garden near His tomb, Jesus told her, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, AND TO MY GOD, and your God!” (See John20:17). Jesus, in His high priestly prayer to the Father, said, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (See John 17:3). In that same prayer, making reference to His followers, Jesus said, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, AND THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEM!” (verse 8, John 17). The Lord’s sheep do not have to be cajoled, wheedled, pleaded with and argued into accepting the truths of God. “The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice” (See John 10:4). “They know not the voice of strangers!” (See John 10:5). After being back at the Father’s side in heaven for approximately sixty years Jesus has this to say to the Philadelphia assembly of His church, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of MY GOD, and he shall go no more out (his or her eternal reward then fixed), and I will write upon him the name of MY GOD (the new name the Father Himself has chosen for him or her), and the name of the city of MY GOD, which is new Jerusalem (that one now forever called a citizen of the holy city New Jerusalem), which cometh down out of heaven from MY GOD, and I will write upon him my new name (both the Father and the Son choosing new names for the overcomer)” (See Revelation 3:12).

Who may abide the day of His coming (His return)? And who shall stand when He appears? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver!” (See Malachi 3:2-3). Jesus Christ is not returning for a rag-tag bunch of bickering, dissenting Christians 75% carnal and 25% spiritual and holy. He is returning for a pure virgin bride wearing spotless garments of righteousness and holiness. Multiplied millions of “believers” will stand dumbfounded and filled with consternation when they see the Son of God with blazing eyes and stern countenance surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand holy angels suspended in the sky above their heads and the heavens literally filled with the righteous dead from ages past as well as those faithful ones who had died even moments before His appearing. These are those spoken of in Jude 14, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest for the day (of Christ’s return) shall declare (reveal) it, for it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide (the fire), he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire (where all one’s possessions are consumed but he escapes with his life)” (See I Corinthians 3:13-15). A glimpse of this testing fire is given us in Daniel 7, verses 9 through 28). God help you to understand.

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

Donald Wiley