Message 66 - By Leroy Surface
Is a Christian Also a Sinner?
Introduction
When I ask the question, “Is a Christian
also a Sinner,” it should be understood that I am not comparing Christians
to Jews, or to Muslims, or any other religion of the world. The apostle
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth saying, “It is reported commonly that
there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named
among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife” (I
Corinthians 5:1). The Gentiles, in this case, were living
cleaner lives than some of the “Christians” in the Corinth church, yet
the “Gentiles” were not saved. The question is, were these “sinning
Christians” saved? The comparison in this message is between the “Christian”
that is truly “born of the Spirit of God,” and secularized “Christianity”
that is so prevalent in the churches today.
I recently
received a very nice letter from a lady who questioned me concerning my stand
on sin. I will reprint that portion of the letter and seek to answer her
questions for the thousands of others across the land that may have the same
questions. Here is an excerpt from her letter:
…“I have read repeatedly in your publications that Christians who are
still struggling with sin are not really saved. At least that’s my
understanding of it. When I converted to Christ I had a radical change of
life style. I gave up drugs, alcohol, boys, etc. and instead spent my
time reading the word, memorizing, and fellowshipping and telling others about
my new found Savior that found me. But there are the more subtle sins of
pride, fear, anger, selfish desires, the unruly tongue, etc. If I said
that I didn’t strive with these sins in my own life I would be a liar. I
have also met many Christians who love our Lord dearly, and they all will admit
they struggle against these kinds of sins. Can you tell me honestly that
you don’t?”
“I believe in God’s eyes a sin is a sin, whether it’s theft or murder, or
whether we give in to anger and pride and lash out at our spouse, or act out of
fear in ignoring God’s commandment to speak to someone about Jesus. It’s
all spelled S-I-N. And yes, I have committed some of those, and some
repeatedly. I do know though that if I ask forgiveness in true repentance
He is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins.”
“I fight the good fight against the devil who tries to get me to sin, and
sometimes he succeeds when I’m not alert in the Spirit. I’m not always
victorious, but what I can’t do for myself, the Lord has done for me. He
is the Victor over sin and Satan, and in Him is forgiveness of sins.”
“I will not excuse my sins with what I just said, nor will I say that it
is O.K. to sin every once in a while, but I am weak at times, aren’t you?
Maybe you can explain to me in the light of what I expressed to you what you
mean by saying, we are not sinners anymore and, we do not struggle against
sin. I am awaiting your response.”
With brotherly
greetings
and in His Love;
--------------
My Response
John 8:31-36: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which (who) 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.”
I was saved March 9, 1958, and was baptized
in the Holy Ghost on the same day. From the time I got up from the altar
it was like heaven on earth to me. I was in a good church where the
presence of God was. I had really good fellowship with my newly found
Christian family. We met for a five A.M. prayer meeting most every
morning, and in many of the night services. My zeal for the Lord had no
bounds. I witnessed to everyone about
Jesus and His wonderful salvation. My heart and spirit were clean and pure
and I knew it. It was so wonderful to be forgiven, and even more
wonderful to be clean and pure. About a month or six weeks after I was
saved, I was visiting with another young man in the church. We were both
young married couples. He had been saved longer than me, and had been
praying with me when I was saved and filled with the Spirit. I invited
him and his wife to go play “putt-putt” with us some night. He
appeared shocked as he declined. He said to me, “we don’t do those
things”. He explained that
since I was saved, sin would be trying to deceive me at every turn. I
would have to struggle and fight against it every day that I lived for the rest
of my life. The brother that told me these things was a dedicated
Christian, and is today a man of God and a pastor of a great church. My
reaction to what he told me, however, brought me into a struggle with sin, both
real and imagined, that lasted for many years. Even though I was not a sinner, I kept looking for sins
to overcome. Within ten years or so from that time, I was in fellowship
with a group that believed it was a sin for a man to wear a necktie, or for a
woman to cut even a single hair of her head. You may find this
incredible, or even impossible to believe, but we fasted a minimum of three
days out of every week, gave fifty percent of our income to the church, and “tried”
to pray three hours a day. I said “tried,” because this was the
one thing I could not consistently do. After several years I pulled away
from that ministry and sought to lead a more “normal” lifestyle.
Within five years I found myself in a “backslidden” condition.
Being “restored” by God in 1980, I began to preach against sin harder
than I had ever preached in my life. I hated sin. It is worse than “death”
when it revives in a child of God. In fact it was death to me. I
didn’t want anyone to ever suffer the things I had suffered in sin. In
the latter years of the eighties I cried out against sin on our “Awake to
Righteousness” radio broadcast. I preached about the religious “scandals”
of the eighties even before they happened, but every time another preacher fell
to sin I wept, because I identified with them. I still carried the
horrible guilt of backsliding, even though I knew that God had forgiven
me. It was in 1989 that I came to such a place of despair that I said to
God in prayer; “Lord, if you can’t give me the answer for the sin problem
that rages in the heart of man, I will close my Bible and never preach again.”
I truly meant the things which I spoke, and God took me at my word. It
seemed that overnight every door of ministry closed to me; but in my private
prayer and study, the Spirit of the Lord took me to the blood of Jesus and the
cross. There I began to see what it was that Jesus died to do. It was
a little over a year later that I was made wonderfully free from the inward
struggle with sin. I was reading in the ninth chapter of Hebrews, and had come to verses thirteen and fourteen;
“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?” I found that the “conscience”
spoken of here, meant “moral consciousness,” or “the innermost
thoughts, feelings, and imaginations of man.” This was where my
struggle was. The scripture exploded within me. The light of it
flooded my soul. “How much more would the blood of Jesus wash my
innermost thoughts, feelings, and imaginations?” In an instant the
uncleanness of my dreams and imaginations ceased. The horrible guilt I
had carried for so long was gone. I was free, gloriously free, and I
preached it to all who would hear. Everywhere I looked in the epistles I
saw the same glorious truth that my eyes had been blinded to for so many
years. In the next ten years I saw hundreds of people made free from sin
through the knowledge of the truth, and it was only beginning. Today,
tens of thousands are reading about it every month in the “Behold the Lamb”
and “The Shepherd’s Voice” publications. Dozens of young ministers
are seeing and proclaiming this truth across the nation. It is going into
numerous prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere. It is not a “truth”
about me, or what I am, or what I experience; it is the truth of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. The very knowledge of it makes believers free from sin and
its struggle.
What
is Sin?
First, SIN is a nature. Adam was not
created with a sin nature. Sin entered when he ate of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil. This was his “transgression” through “disobedience.”
Every descendant of Adam was born with the same sin nature. Paul says in Romans 5:19, “for as by one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus’ obedience to the death of the
cross) shall many be made righteous.” The way “many are
made righteous” through the obedience of Jesus is found in Romans 6:6-7; “ …knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with Him (Christ),
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” At the
cross of Christ, the sin nature (body of sin) is destroyed. We are no
longer “slaves” to sin, because our “old man” is dead, crucified
with Christ. It is not “we” that died, but the sin that was in us
died. We are “born again” by the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead, quickened together with Him in newness of life. Now, it is not “we”
that lives, but Christ that lives in us. The child of God is both “dead
to sin, but alive to God” at the same time.
You have probably been taught that after
you were born again you had two natures. This was given as the reason for
the inward struggles, the “good” wrestling with the “evil.”
This is not true. No one has two natures. The teaching of two
natures is the doctrine that Jesus said He hated (Revelation 2:15). Some will tell you that your spirit is holy
and pure since you have been born again, but you struggle with a mortal body
that is sinful and unclean. This is also a deception. Your body has
never been a sinner. The sinner lived in the body. The body does
nothing of itself. James tells us “the body without the spirit is
dead.” The body does nothing but what the one dwelling in it
does. In fact, Paul tells us that our body is the “temple of the Holy
Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19),” and again, “…the temple of
God is holy, which temple ye are (I Corinthians 3:17).”
By this we know that the body of every child of God is just as holy as his
spirit is. As long as a person believes they have two natures dwelling in
them, they will struggle with sin. We must reckon ourselves “dead
indeed (“indeed” means, in fact)
unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Secondly, sin is every act, whether good or
evil, that comes out of the SIN nature. A sinner may do “good,”
but he can never do “righteousness.” We should remember that the “tree”
that caused the fall of Adam was the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
Both good and evil are the fruit of that tree, and God rejects both. The
man in the seventh chapter of Romans
says, “…when I would do good, evil is present with me (Romans
7:21).” This man is not a child of God, but a “product”
of the knowledge of good and evil. Both are on the same tree, and he can
never escape the evil regardless of how hard he tries. He says, “for
the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I
do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me (Romans 7:19-20).”
He cannot separate the good and the evil for they are both the fruit of the
same tree.
The other tree in the midst of the garden,
that Adam could have eaten of, was the “tree of life.” Its fruit was not the “knowledge of
good and evil,” but of the very “life” of God Himself that would be
given to the eater. All religion, from the beginning until this present
time, gives the knowledge of good and evil to all that come to it. Our
salvation, however, is “life” from the tree of life. It is these
two trees, and those who partake of them, that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:18. There He says, “a good tree (life) cannot bring forth evil fruit (sin), neither can a corrupt tree (knowledge of good and evil) bring forth
good fruit (life).” Certainly this is the message of John in I John 3:9 where he (John) says, “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.” Now, read the verses previous
to this, I John 3:5-6, where he
says, “…ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is
no sin. Whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath
not seen Him, neither (nor)
known Him.”
Two
Kinds of Sin?
I John 5:16-18: “If any man see his brother sin
a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them
that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall
pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and (but) there is a
sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;
but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth
him not.”
In this text John defines two kinds of
sin. You may believe, as was written in the letter to me that “…in
God’s eyes a sin is a sin, whether it’s theft or murder, or whether we give in
to anger and pride and lash out at our spouse, or act out of fear in ignoring
God’s commandment to speak to someone about Jesus. It’s all spelled
S-I-N.” This is an error that keeps millions in condemnation as
sinners. Let me explain.
John first identifies a sin “which is
not unto death.” Then he identifies a “sin” that is “unto
death.” In order to understand these, we will go back to the two trees Jesus spoke of in His “Sermon
on the mount.”
Matthew 7:16-20: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good
tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know
them.”
Notice that there are two trees spoken of
here, a “good tree” and a “corrupt tree.” These trees represent “life”
and “the knowledge of good and evil;” the two trees that were in the
Garden of Eden. They also represent those who have eternal life through
Jesus Christ and those who abide in death, even though they may be very
religious in the knowledge of good and evil. Just as there is a “fruit” that the
good tree cannot bring forth, there
is sin that anyone born of God cannot commit. Likewise, as there
is a “fruit” that the corrupt tree cannot bring forth, there is “righteousness”
that a sinner cannot bring forth
(do). When Eve looked upon the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” she
saw what appeared to her to be good fruit. It was “pleasant to the
eyes,” it was “good for food,” and it was “a tree to be desired
to make one wise.” She ate of what she thought was “good,” but
it brought forth “evil,” for the “good and evil” of that tree are
inseparable. No wonder the man in
Romans seven says, “I would do good, but evil is present with me (Romans
7:21).” This man is not a child of God; he is a “corrupt tree.”
The “good
tree” Jesus speaks of is “life,” and all those who have life
through Him. The fruit of this tree is “love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians
5:22-23),” and all the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews
12:11). In Romans 7:4, Paul speaks to the child of God; “Wherefore, my
brethren, ye also are become dead to the law (the knowledge of good and evil) by the body of Christ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead (Jesus),
that we should bring forth fruit unto God (the tree of all life).”
The “corrupt tree” Jesus speaks of
is a mixture of good and evil and is personified in everyone from the most
devout of every religion, including “Christianity without Christ,” to
the “Adolph Hitlers” and the “Osama Ben Ladens” of the world. The fruit of this tree is “adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife seditions, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: …” (Galatians
5:19-21). Paul continues in verses 21-23, “…they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.” These are the fruit Paul speaks of in Romans 7:5; “For when we were in the
flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to
bring forth fruit unto death.”
The “good tree” cannot bring forth
fruit unto death, and the “corrupt tree” cannot bring forth fruit unto
life. These are absolutes. There is no crossover of fruit between
these trees; there is no “cross pollination,” and no “hybrid fruit.”
The person that struggles with “two natures” is actually struggling with
the “good and evil” that only a sin nature can produce.
The idea that all sin is the same, whether
it’s theft or murder, or whether it’s failing to witness to someone about Jesus
is a common, but foolish, thought. Many of those who preach such things
do it ignorantly, thinking to urge the people on to holiness and
perfection. “Surely,” they think, “if failure to witness is sin
just like theft or murder, the people will be more diligent to be a witness.”
In reality, however, the result is exactly the opposite. I spoke earlier
of a group I once knew that believed it was a sin for a woman to cut even a
single hair of her head. They presented this as though to cut the hair
was the same before God as if she had committed adultery. Surely the
woman would never cut her hair if this were the case, but again, in reality the
opposite effect is most often the case. If everything is a sin, then sin
becomes more acceptable in the eyes of the people.
Back in 1988 Ted Koppel, of ABC news, had a
panel of nationally known preachers on his “Nightline” broadcast.
The subject of discussion was the sex scandals that were in the news concerning
two of the largest ministries in the world at that time. All but one of
these famous preachers were on the defensive, saying for the entire world to
hear, “we are all sinners, we sin everyday.” Strangely, it was Ted
Koppel that rebuked his guests, saying, “maybe we are all sinners, but
shouldn’t there be a difference between the sins of the church and the sins of
the world?” Of all the guests on the panel, only James Kennedy, a
Presbyterian, believed that not all sin was the same. He quoted Ephesians 5:3, “But fornication, and
all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.” The Apostle Paul continued in
that same text as follows; “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor
jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this
ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let
no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the
wrath of God upon the children of disobedience (Ephesians 5:4-6).”
Sins
“unto death”
Matthew 3:10:
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
When a sinner “surrenders” to Jesus Christ, his “old man” is crucified with Christ, and his “body of sin” (his sin nature) is destroyed (Romans 6:6. The axe is laid at the root of the corrupt tree
(the sin nature). A new man is quickened (made alive) with Christ with a
new heart and a new spirit. A good tree comes forth in place of the
corrupt tree that was cut down at the root. Isaiah prophesied of this in Isaiah 61:3: “…that they might be
called trees of
righteousness, the
planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” This new man is not a sinner.
He is born of God, and I John 3:9
says he “cannot sin.” In order
to “commit sin,” which John calls a “sin unto death,” there must
be a sin nature. Sin only grows on a corrupt tree, and is cut down at the
cross of Christ. If you must have
a “list” of those sins which no one who is “born of God” could
commit, the New Testament scriptures give the following:
I Corinthians 6:9-11: “Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God.”
Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Ephesians 5:3-6: “But fornication,
and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named
among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness,
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient (not proper; not something to attain to): but rather giving of
thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience.”
Sins that are ‘Not Unto Death’
I John 5:16: “If any man see his brother sin a sin
which is not unto death….”
This is the only scripture I find in the
Epistles that speaks of the possibility of a true “brother” sinning, and it is called a “sin which is not unto
death.” Our forefathers taught of “sins of commission,” and “sins
of omission.”
This is another terminology for what our text in I John calls “sin unto death,” and “sin which is not unto death.” To understand this, we must again look at the two trees
which Jesus spoke of. The “sin of commission” can only be on the
corrupt tree, for sin is the fruit of that tree. Notice however that John
says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin….” The
Greek word translated “commit” in the King James Version of the Bible is
“poieo” and speaks of a “single act.”
The modern versions have erroneously used the Greek word “prasso,” which translates “practice.” The
Child of God does not commit even “a single act” of sin, for he has no
nature to do so.
“A sin of omission,” or, “a sin not unto death,” is not “something
we do,” but “something we neglect to do.” This is caused by a
lack of fullness of the good fruit on the good tree. Remember that the
fruit of the “good tree” is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, etc.” Have I
always manifested the “fullness” of love since I was made free from
sin? No, and I have repented several times because of it. Have I
always manifested sufficient longsuffering or gentleness? Again, the
answer is no. These “sins” are due to a lack of fullness of
fruit. Does every child of God always manifest a fullness of the good
fruit? The answer, of course, is no. Peter said “grace and peace
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”
Grace, peace, and all the fruit of the Spirit will increase through the
knowledge of the truth. Peter ends his second epistle with these words, “but
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
A child of God does grow in grace, truth, and every fruit of the Spirit.
No one, however, grows out of sin into righteousness. All growth on the
corrupt tree is an increase in sin. Growth on the “good tree” is
in the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
If a person hates, he is a corrupt tree. Hatred can in no way
be construed to be simply a “lack of love.” If you occasionally “lose
it,” and curse someone, you are a corrupt tree. Your problem is not
simply a “lack of longsuffering,” it is a corrupt fruit. A “good
tree” may not always have the fullness of good fruit on it, but it can
never bear the corrupt fruit of the corrupt tree. Lack of the good fruit is the main reason we
sometimes fail to witness, or show compassion to those around us. God
said if we would pray for one another in these areas, He would give life for
those that sin “not unto death.”
Did
Jesus Sin?
The Pharisees had a “sin test” that
Jesus couldn’t pass. Be careful of the sin tests that man will give
you. Those who seek to prove that every one sins, and is a sinner, will
use the Pharisees sin test. A famous television preacher says he has a
sin test of one hundred and thirty-five sins that will prove everyone to be a
sinner. He said he has gotten his sins down to about twenty-five, and the
big one is a “profane tongue.” This is such as Paul warned Timothy
about in II Timothy 2:16-17; “But
shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is….”
If they can convince you that everyone is a sinner, they feel justified in
their sins. One of the major “Christian” television networks has
been plagued with sin problems. Within the past decade one of their top
singers was in drug rehab, one of their top evangelists was in alcohol rehab,
and one of the top women hostesses had an affair with another musician.
These are “sins unto death.” Paul spoke of such in I Corinthians 5:9-11 in his reproof to
the Corinthians; “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with
fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or
with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs
go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if
any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an
idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” Any of these could be saved through
repentance and Godly sorrow, but, strangely enough, they don’t believe their
sin to be any worse than yours, if you failed to witness. After all, they
“witness” everyday on their broadcasts. “Surely,” they
think, “God will never judge us for sin.” Do not be deceived, He will.
On the other hand, Jesus was judged to be
guilty of “breaking the Sabbath.” Hear the accusations of the Pharisees
against him:
John 9:16: “Therefore
said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day.”
John 9:2: “Then again called
they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that
this man is a sinner.”
Jesus’ “sin,” according to the Pharisees,
was healing the sick on the Sabbath day. He was “guilty,” but no,
Jesus did not sin. He could not, because He was “born of God.”
Can
a Child of God Backslide?
Romans 7:9: “For I was alive without the
law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”
There was only one way out of Paradise, and
Adam and Eve found it. While I continuously preach the scriptures that
tell us a child of God is free from sin, and does not sin, it would be an error
for me to tell you that it would be “impossible” for a child of God to
ever sin again, even to be lost. But
there is a way out of this wonderful
salvation. Notice carefully the words of this text; “I was alive…once,
but…sin revived, and I died.” I purposely left out the part of this
verse that tells how it happened to this
man in Romans seven. The important thing to know at this point, is
that he was once alive, but something happened, and sin revived, and he
died. In this case, just as it was with Eve in the garden, it was
deception. Sin deceived this man through something that was “good”
and by the “good,” sin slew him (Romans
7:9-13).
James 1:13-15: “Let no man say
when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man: But every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.”
James tells of a “process” that will
actually birth sin once more in the heart and nature of man. I said a “process”
because that is what it takes to bring a child of God back under the power of
sin. Those who “abide in Christ” do not sin (I John 3:5-6). In fact, they are not even drawn to sin.
There is nothing in them, as long as they “abide in Christ,” that either
needs or desires any sinful thing. They must first be “drawn away”
from Christ by something that appears “innocent,” or even “good”
in their sight. An entire generation of the “church” has been “drawn
away” by the desire for earthly prosperity. It is sad that this
desire for riches was created in the people by the preachers they trusted
in. Certainly there can be nothing “wrong” in the possession of wealth,
but many have been deceived into thinking that “gain is godliness (I
Timothy 6:5).” But Paul does not end his letter to
Timothy without giving this dire warning.
I Timothy 6:9-11: “But they that
will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love
of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
The desire for riches is a snare that
brings its victims into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown them in
perdition. Jesus speaks to this issue in Mark 4:19; “And
the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of
other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh
unfruitful.” Jesus speaks of three things that “choke”
the word: “the cares of
this (present) world,
the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things… (rather than
things ‘above’, Colossians 3:1-3).” In Luke 8:14
Jesus adds a fourth, the “pleasures of this life,” to the list of things that draw people away
from Christ. These are excesses
of a thousand different and seemingly innocent things: hunting, fishing,
sports, work, overtime, fun, entertainment, television, books, world news,
etc. There is no way anyone could make a complete list. None of
these things in moderation are sin, but excesses of any of them will draw your
affection away from Christ, and thus be a snare to you. The person being “drawn
away” and becoming “unfruitful” is in danger of being “taken
away.” Again, hear the words of Jesus on this issue; “Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit He taketh away…” (John
15:2). Jesus
speaks even clearer in verse six; “If a man abide not in me (if he is drawn away), he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.”
Returning to our text in James, who writes, a man is drawn away
by his own lust (his own desires) and “enticed.” The Greek word
for “enticed” actually means, “entrapped.” Every person
that is drawn away from Christ by their own unsinful
desires is snared in a place where they can be “tempted with evil,” or,
“drawn to sin.” They must first be drawn away from Christ before they can be
drawn to sin. James tells us that when lust “conceives,” it “brings
forth” sin. This speaks of a “conception” and a “birth.”
The soul of man that was once dead unto sin and alive unto God becomes “impregnated”
by the natural desires of man, and this “newly born thing” is called sin. James continues, “…and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death.”
Is It Christ?
Isaiah 33:14: “The sinners in
Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall
dwell with the devouring fire?”
If the sinless Son of God were to return to
earth in a body of flesh to live and walk among men, would He be received by
the world? Or, even by the “church?” I say that many sinners in
the world would receive Him, but not the “sinners” in the church.
The modern church, with its philosophy, “we’re all sinners, we sin every
day,” would condemn Jesus as the worst of sinners; cold, bitter,
uncompassionate, etc. Are you shocked to hear me say this? The
scribes and Pharisees in that day were shocked. The moneychangers were
certainly shocked. The prophet Malachi prophesied the coming of Christ to
Israel and it happened just as he said. Hear the prophet in:
Malachi 3:1-2: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and
he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But
who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like
fullers’ soap.”
The scribes and Pharisees most certainly
taught about the coming of their Messiah. They sought His coming and “delighted” in Him, until He came.
Then, they hated Him. They plotted His death. They condemned Him as
a sinner, and eventually found Him guilty of blasphemy because He said He was
the Son of God. Everything He was, was a contradiction to what they
were. Everything He said condemned them. Jesus said if He had not
come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now, since He came, they
had no covering for their sin (John
15:22). The tradition and religious law of their day could not
convict them, but His very presence condemned them. He openly rebuked the
scribes and the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. In one message, He called
them “hypocrites” seven times (Matthew, chapter 23).
He also, in the same message, calls them “fools” two
times, and five times He calls them “blind. ” Finally, he called them “serpents” and
a “generation of vipers.” All
these things He said in a message to the multitude, warning them of the
hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees. This message was one of His last
before going to the cross, but in His first recorded message at the beginning
of His ministry He began by telling the people “Except your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).” Two
different times Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the Temple, once at the
beginning of His earthly ministry, and once at the end. One of those
times He actually used a whip to drive them out. In Matthew 17:17, Jesus reproved His disciples for their lack of faith
to cast out an unclean spirit, saying, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?
how long shall I suffer you?” Even after His resurrection He “upbraided” the
disciples because of their unbelief and hardness of heart (Mark 16:14). Is it at all possible that Jesus Christ, the
sinless Son of God, and our Lord and Savior was sometimes “aggravated;” yet without sin?
I do not point out these things to excuse
anyone for mimicking the very things Jesus did. Certainly no one should
preach with the directness and even the “harshness” as Jesus did to the
scribes and Pharisees; unless it is the Holy Spirit speaking through
them. Neither would it be “in order” for anyone to take a whip and
“purge” the churches with it, but Jesus did, and He was in order.
What do you think the “moneychangers” in the modern church would think
of Jesus if He came “in the flesh” today and spoke and did as is
recorded in the Bible? What about most pastors, or their deacon boards,
or even the person on the pew; would they “abide His coming?”
Would they receive His words? Many sinners in the world would repent and
be gloriously saved, but the “sinners” that call themselves “brothers”
would not. They would be, just as Isaiah prophesied, afraid.
Fearfulness would grip the hypocrites and, once again, they would seek to
destroy Him.
Christ is come in the flesh! He is
come in the flesh of His righteous and holy people. Paul says, “…it is
not I, but Christ that liveth in me: the life I now live in the flesh (his physical
body)…” (Galatians 2:20).
While John says, “we…shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us (I
John 1:2).” Again, Paul says, II Corinthians 4:2, “(We)
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Jesus’
very presence was a reproach to the leaders of the synagogues of that
day. Even as it was with the presence of Paul, Peter, and John, and so it
is today with every righteous and holy child of God. If Christ is come in
your flesh, you have been made a reproach to many in the modern church.
If you are not “still a sinner,”
but have been made “free from sin” by the Son of God, everything you say
and everything you do is a reproach to the leaders of the modern church.
Don’t be intimidated by them. Speak the truth with every man. Bear
witness of it. Testify of it. You will be a “manifestation of
the truth,” if so be that Christ is come in your flesh. If you have
repented, believed the gospel, and are truly saved; then you are not a
sinner. You do not commit sin. You are free from sin. Don’t
let them make a sinner of you.
Message 66 - By Leroy Surface - Is a
Christian also a Sinner?
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