Message 22 - By
Leroy Surface
Unbelieving Believers!
Editors Note: This message was
first published in our “Behold the Lamb” publication in 1999. We believe it is just as relevant today as it
was at that time, perhaps more so.
Introduction
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?
Isaiah 53:1
Beware therefore, lest that come upon you,
which is spoken of in the prophets;
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which
ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
Acts 13:40-41
“How many believe John 3:16?”
Almost every hand in the building went up. “How many believe Hebrews 13:12?” One amen, and two or three hands went
up. “Why don’t you believe Hebrews 13:12,”
I asked? “We don’t know what it is,”
someone answered. “It’s the word of God,”
I responded. Suddenly almost everyone in
the service understood what was being said.
This is a scenario that has taken place almost identically in several different
meetings I have preached in the past year, and it points to a fact that is
increasingly true in our churches today.
Many Christians do not know if they believe the Bible or not. Most Christians will readily tell you that
they believe every word in the Bible.
What many of them really mean is that they believe it if it fits the
tradition they have been taught in their particular religious background. Many Christians totally ignore large portions
of the New Testament, especially the letters of Paul, simply because they don’t
understand them. Some, on the other hand
simply refuse to believe anything that is in conflict with their ability to
“reason.” Because of this, many in the
church are weak, sinful, and condemned.
Paul said the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to “everyone that believeth….” Let’s consider in this message what we
believe, and what many “believers”
refuse to believe.
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Unbelieving Believers!
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. They answered Him, We be Abraham=s seed, and were never in bondage to any
man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant of SIN.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth
ever. If the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:31-36
Jesus was speaking here, to “believers” of
His day. They professed to believe “on”
Him, but they did not believe His words.
They lived in denial. They were
in bondage to SIN, yet they were angered when Jesus told them “…the truth shall make you free.” “We be Abraham’s seed” they
answered, “we were never in bondage to
any man.” Jesus continues, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
(the slave) of SIN…If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” There is no condemnation in the words of
Jesus, only a promise to make them free indeed from SIN. These “believers” continued to argue and deny
all that Jesus said until they finally “…took
up stones to cast at Him” (John
8:59). They were not believers at
all; they were “unbelieving believers.”
The American “church” is filled with
“unbelieving believers.” Sixty percent
of the American public profess to be “Christian believers,” while ninety one
percent according to the same poll admit to lying on a daily basis. Many of America’s most famous religious
leaders don’t believe that sin matters.
They number themselves with those who inquired of the Apostle Paul, “Shall we continue in SIN that grace may
abound?” Not wanting to
know the truth about SIN, they deny Paul’s answer, “God forbid. How shall we, that are
dead to SIN, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). Notice that
Paul’s answer does not indicate that we “should not sin”, but rather, “we who
are dead to SIN cannot
continue in sin.” This statement is
based on numerous gospel facts he gives in this same chapter, which the
believer will “know,” but the “unbelieving believer” will not confess.
Knowing the Truth
Know ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Romans 6:3
Everyone who is “in Christ” came in through
His death. We were baptized into His
death. When He died unto SIN (Romans 6:10), we died unto SIN, for the
believer is dead with Him. “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world…”
(Colossians 2:20).
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him that
the body of SIN might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve SIN. For he that is dead is freed
from SIN.
Romans 6:6-7
The believer knows his old man is crucified
with Christ; because crucifixion is not the goal of the believer, but the
experience. We were crucified on the
same cross, at the same time, “with” Jesus Christ. Who can believe such a thing? Certainly not the “unbelieving
believer.”
The purpose of crucifixion is: “…that the body of SIN might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not
serve SIN.” Notice that I
have underlined the words “might” and “should.”
A simple check in your Strong’s concordance will confirm that there are
no Greek words used for “might” or “should” in the New Testament. They are always added by the translators or revisers to some other Greek word. They are what I call “possibility words” and
are never found in the Gospel. The
Gospel is always “absolute,” “steadfast,” and “sure.” It is never a “maybe” message. Understanding this, we ARE crucified with
Christ, “…that the body of sin…BE
destroyed, that henceforth we…NOT serve SIN.” Without the “might” and the “should” the
language does not flow as well, but we see the positive truth which Paul was
teaching as he concludes, saying, “For
he that is dead is freed from SIN” (Romans 6:7).
Understanding the Believable!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
This is good news, a precious promise of
God. Every believer believes this
scripture. It has been called the
“golden text” of the Bible. There are
few, however, that understand it.
To understand John 3:16 we must see its
connection with John 3:14-15. “And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, EVEN SO must the Son of man
be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life.” These
words were spoken by Jesus Before He went to the cross. That whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish is contingent upon Jesus hanging on a cross in the same manner that
Moses “hung” the serpent on a pole in the wilderness. If the Son of God did not hang on a cross
everyone would perish, but thank God, Jesus did go to the cross.
Even though the verses, John 3:16-21, are printed in red in most Bibles, Jesus did not speak those words.
They are, instead, the words of the Apostle John, written years after
Jesus hung on the cross. When John said “For God so loved the world,”
he was not only telling HOW MUCH God loved, but also HOW God loved the
world. “For God SO LOVED” in John
3:16 is irreversible connected to “EVEN
SO must the Son of man be lifted up” in the 14th verse. “That whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish…” is the
conclusion of both statements. It is not
how much He loves us, but what He did in our behalf that saves us. “But
God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us (Romans 5:8).”
“That whosoever believeth in Him…” confirms that full salvation is received by believing and not by
any other effort or work on our part.
Simply believing that Jesus is the Son of God, however, does not
save. “Believing in Him” relates to our
believing the purpose of the sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus. Jesus had said “…even so MUST the Son of man be lifted up….” But why “MUST” it be the cross?
The Purpose of the Cross
A close
friend asked me why we preach the cross so much; after all, he said, the cross
was just a “murder weapon.” He reasoned
that if a gang captured one of his sons and murdered him with a pistol, he
would surely not lift up the pistol, and preach about it. He continued, saying if relatives and friends
of the family glorified the pistol that had killed his son, he would think it
to be a horrible thing. Surely, he concluded,
this must be the way God feels when we preach about the cross.
I carefully considered my answer. We do not preach the cross only because the
Son of God died on it. If that was all
that happened, it would indeed be a horrible thing; but that was not all that
happened. It was on that cross that our old man died; it was on that cross,
that the body of SIN was destroyed (Romans 6:6); that Satan was defeated (Hebrews
2:14); that principalities and
powers were spoiled (Colossians 2:15);
and it was to that cross that religious
ordinance and ceremony was nailed (Colossians
2:14).
Again, hear the words of the Apostle Paul
concerning the cross, “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); “Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…”
(Romans 6:6); “And,
having made peace through
the blood of His cross…” (Colossians
1:20); “…that He might reconcile both (Jew and Gentile) unto God in one body by the cross…” (Ephesians 2:16); “Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances (the religious laws of Moses, and of all men) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it (those
contrary ordinances) out of the way,
nailing it (them) to His cross”
(Colossians 2:14); “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (unto salvation;
I Corinthians 1:18; Romans 1:16).
Sanctification, The Purpose of the Blood
Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people
with His own blood, suffered without the gate.
Hebrews 13:12
Again, this is wonderfully good news from
the word of God, but DO WE BELIEVE IT?
Every news reporter knows there are six
questions that must be answered, in every report, if it is to be
complete. These questions are “Who?,” “What?,” “Where?,” “When?,” “Why?,” and
“How?”. Hebrews 13:12 answers five
of these six questions. I know of no
other verse of scripture in the Bible that is so complete in telling what the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is. Let’s examine
each of these six questions, and the answer that Hebrews 13:12 gives.
“Who?” “Jesus
Christ” is the subject of
this verse.
“What?” Jesus “suffered”
and died for the “people” of the world.
“Where?” He was crucified
“outside the gate.” It was on that hill
called Calvary.
“When?” This is
the only question not answered in this verse, but we know “when.”
“Why?” That He might “sanctify the people.” The word “sanctify” means “to make holy.”
“How?” Jesus sanctifies
the people “with His own blood.”
Do we really believe that the very purpose
of the suffering and death of the Son of God was to make the believer “holy,”
and that He would do it with His own blood?
Do we dare believe the purpose of the shed blood of Jesus is to sanctify
the believer? That is exactly what the
Bible teaches in very absolute terms, but it only works for those who believe
it. After all, that is what a believer
is.
Believing the Unbelievable
Several years ago the Lord spoke to me by
His Spirit. He instructed me to never
make an excuse for anything His word (the Bible) says. Little did I know the impact this would have
on many things I had believed for much of my life. I could no longer ignore scriptures simply
because I didn’t understand them. I
realized that God’s word is true whether I understand it or not, or even
whether I believe it or not. I began to
believe the scripture regardless of my understanding, and even began to preach
some things I could not understand just because God had said them in His
word. I settled it in my heart that the
Bible is the word of God, forever settled in Heaven, and far beyond the
intellectual grasp of the flesh. If I
waited until I understood it, I would never believe it, but I found that when I
believed it simply because God said it, understanding came and my entire life
and experience was transformed instantly upon the knowledge of the truth.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,
for His seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
I John 3:9
Who can believe this scripture? “Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin….” This is impossible for the natural mind to
believe. I struggled with it for
years. My intellect denied it and my experience
told me it was not so. Numerous teachers
told me that the word “commit” in this text really meant “practice”, but a
simple study of the word in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance revealed that the
word “commit (Greek word ‘poieo’)” spoke of a “single
act.” The last part of this verse
continues, “…he cannot sin, because he is
born of God.” Almost everyone “knows by their
experience” that this scripture cannot be true.
“Experience” says we sin even though we are born again. I was living proof of that fact. I had been born again years before, but there
came a time in which I was backslidden and living in SIN. There was no way that I could believe that
the “born again” could not sin. After
being forgiven and restored to God I preached harder against sins than ever
before. I could comprehend that the born
again person “should not sin”, but the scriptural teaching that they “could not
sin” was beyond me. It was about this time
that the Lord told me not to “make excuses” for what His word says.
The Word of God is truth whether we
understand it or not. It is truth
whether we believe it or not. Truth is
not known by experience, but only by God’s Word. If our experience is contrary to the Word, it
is our experience that is a lie. Our
experience does not establish the truth, but believing the truth will establish
a true experience. I decided to believe
the truth; in this case, “Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God.” I still didn’t understand it, but I believed
it. It was my experience that had been a
lie. If everything I saw in the church
around me denied it, yet God is truth, as Paul said, “…let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).
No SIN in Christ
And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins;
and in Him is no SIN. Whosoever abideth
in Him sinneth not:
I John 3:5-6
This text makes three powerful points which we will consider separately.
1. “And ye know that He was manifested to take
away our sins.” John the
Baptist had introduced Jesus to Israel with these words, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the SIN of the world.” Jesus was manifested to take away both “…the SIN of the world,” and “…our sins.”
The SIN of the world speaks of SIN that
entered the world through Adam’s transgression. “Wherefore,
as by one man SIN entered into the world, and death by SIN…” (Romans 5:12). SIN entered the heart of Adam, Eve, and all
their descendants. SIN is a cruel
taskmaster, the lord over the sinner. It
is often called the “fallen nature,” or the “sin nature.” By the scriptures we know that Jesus is the “Lamb of God that taketh away the SIN of the
world.” When He was offered on the cross
as a “…lamb without blemish and without spot…”
(I Peter 1:19), Jesus totally
defeated SIN. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for SIN, condemned SIN
in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). Jesus both condemned and destroyed SIN in the
flesh. He “took away” that cruel
taskmaster called SIN out of the heart of every believer and nailed it to His
cross.
The last part of Romans 5:12 says “…and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” After SIN and death entered through Adam’s
transgression the scripture says that …all
have sinned.” Everyone who has
been born into this world is a sinner, both by nature and by action. Death is upon all humanity both by inheritance
(through Adam’s transgression) and by reward (the wages of our sin is
death). By the scriptures we know that
Jesus was manifested to “…take
away our sins….” Thank
God, we are forgiven for sins we committed, and freed from the taskmaster that
caused us to be sinners.
2.
“…and
in Him is no SIN.” It is
amazing to me that many modern day “faith” teachers, teach that Jesus could
have sinned while He was on earth. We
know by the scriptures that whosoever is born of God “…cannot sin because they are born of God” (I John 3:9). Surely this must apply to God’s only begotten
Son. It was not in the realm of
possibility that Jesus could have sinned or failed any test whatsoever while on
earth. When John says “in Him is NO SIN,”
he is not only telling us that Jesus did not sin, but that He could not sin
because there was no SIN in Him. Sin
comes from the SIN nature that is in the heart of an unregenerate person. SIN begets sin. If there is no SIN in the heart there can be
no sin in the action of the individual.
In Jesus there is NO SIN.
3. “Whosoever
abideth in Him sinneth not.”
Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of the child of God. Seventy
six times the Bible uses the term “in Christ.” Hundreds of times phrases such as “in whom,”
“in Him,” “wherein,” etc. are used referring to Christ. Jesus Christ is the kingdom of God. And, II
Corinthians 5:17, “If
any man be IN Christ, he is a
new creature.” God the
Father, Ephesians 1:3 (through 1:11), “…hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places IN Christ….” Ephesians
1:4, “…He hath chosen us IN Him….”
Ephesians 1:6, “…He
hath made us accepted IN the beloved….” Ephesians
1:7, “IN
WHOM we have redemption through
His blood….” Ephesians
1:11, “IN
WHOM also we have obtained an
inheritance….” II Corinthians 5:21, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” It is obvious that it is “in
Him”, in Christ, that we live, and move, and have our being. Many have said that it is ONLY “in
Him” that we are righteous. This
is very true, but it is also very true that “in Christ” is the only
dwelling place of the child of God. If
any man be “in Christ,” he is a new creature, and if any man “be NOT in
Christ” he’s NOT even saved.
It is an obvious truth that “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not,” because “In Him is no SIN.” Further, it becomes obvious that “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin:
for His (God’s) seed
(God’s children) remaineth (abide)
in Him (in God): and he (the one born of, and
abiding in God) cannot sin, BECAUSE he
is born of God.” The
“unbelieving believer” will wrestle with this and seek to deny it, but freedom
from SIN and righteousness in Christ will never be their experience until they
acknowledge the truth of these scriptures.
Only those who believe the truth of God’s word, will know the truth, and
rest in the righteousness that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Message 22 - By Leroy
Surface - Unbelieving Believers!
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