False Doctrine Part 1 - How To Stop Sinning

[Aquila]

Most think the Law was actually designed to be obeyed. LOL

It wasn't. God gave it and commanded obedience... knowing that man couldn't obey it. Knowing that it would crush mankind and bring the soul to desperately cry out for a Savior.

Trying to live according to Law is the way of death. Believe it or not...it is the law that stirs up the sinful passions of the flesh. I'm reminded of part of Pilgrim's Progress when Christian enters a room with a floor covered in dust. He tries to use a broom to sweep it up...but it only stirs the dust up until it becomes unbearable. That's the law. When you use the Law to try to sweep up the sin in your life...it only stirs up that old sinful nature.

The key is a biblical understanding of Grace.

[LUKE2447]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Most think the Law was actually designed to be obeyed. LOL

So John 15:4-15 are not actually to be obeyed? Yeah... God was playing a joke and ZAch and eliz did where not blameless according to the law.

It wasn't. God gave it and commanded obedience... knowing that man couldn't obey it. Knowing that it would crush mankind and bring the soul to desperately cry out for a Savior.


Trying to live according to Law is the way of death.

So does living according to John 15 = death?

Believe it or not...it is the law that stirs up the sinful passions of the flesh. I'm reminded of part of Pilgrim's Progress when Christian enters a room with a floor covered in dust. He tries to use a broom to sweep it up...but it only stirs the dust up until it becomes unbearable. That's the law. When you use the Law to try to sweep up the sin in your life...it only stirs up that old sinful nature.

Nice but that has to do with the flesh not your ability to choose.

The key is a biblical understanding of Grace.

...

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by LUKE2447

So John 15:4-15 are not actually to be obeyed? Yeah... God was playing a joke and ZAch and eliz did where not blameless according to the law.

So does living according to John 15 = death?

Those who do not obey Jesus by being born again cannot abide on the vine. The same Jesus said,

John 10:28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Nice but that has to do with the flesh not your ability to choose.

We choose to be born again. When we are REALLY born again we are partakers in the divine nature. It is impossible for the saint to continue in sin. The saint might choose sin and experience it's pleasures for a season...but the new nature will propel the saint of God to their knees in repentance. The key is to surrender to the grace and that divine nature imparted to you. This is called walking in the Spirit. Turning to obey the Law isn't the answer.

[LUKE2447]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Those who do not obey Jesus by being born again cannot abide on the vine. The same Jesus said,

John 10:28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

We choose to be born again. When we are REALLY born again we are partakers in the divine nature. It is impossible for the saint to continue in sin. The saint might choose sin and experience it's pleasures for a season...but the new nature will propel the saint of God to their knees in repentance. The key is to surrender to the grace and that divine nature imparted to you. This is called walking in the Spirit. Turning to obey the Law isn't the answer.

you have a black and white conversion just like the view of Reformed teachers which is false and not what scripture says. Many taste teh heavenly gift and endure for a while and fall away. Jesus compels all the time in Revelations. It does not mean you will turn back and you where not saved at one point. Jesus conditonal points of IF are not irresistible. You are teaching a form of irresistible grace which is false doctrine.

[LUKE2447]

gotta go!

[Socialite]

Luke, you seem to have a lot of knowledge on covenants. Please share

Covenants are different than contracts. You view the arrangement of Jesus to us as a legal contract. If there were any "legal contract" transaction, it's between God and Christ. To us, he offers us a gift of eternal life if we believe in Him.

Not sure why it amuses you that I clarify that I don't believe in "flying under the radar."

Anything that tries to add on to what God has does (Galatians) is an effort to be your own Savior and sounds like "you almost paid it all, but you left me a couple bucks to cough up."

Jesus is faithful to the covenant, and He's Perfect in that. I still fail him and let him down. Thankfully, it didn't invalidate the covenant. The covenant requirement (ie, justice) has been paid in full

[Socialite]

Looking unto Jesus, the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith!

[Socialite]

We are not under the Old Covenant of Law, blessings or curses given based on our performance, but under the New Covenant of grace, granting us blessings from God based on Christ’s performance. In other words, under the New Covenant, the blessing precedes our obedience. We obey because we are blessed in Christ (Eph 1:3), not the other way around.

New Covenant
Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25, Hebrews 9:18, 9:20, 12:24, 13:20

Sadly, most Christians believe that Jesus shed His blood merely to “forgive their sins”. Actually, Jesus shed His precious blood “for the remission of sins” (Mat 26:28) and to institute a New Covenant.

The entire book of Hebrews is taken up with the vast difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, law and grace, the inferior priesthood of the Old Covenant versus the superior, the perfect, eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, the inferior mediation in the Old Covenant, and the superior mediation of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant.

We know that a covenant, particularly a blood covenant, is the most binding promise of performance or contract that exists.

In short, the Old Covenant is the Covenant of Law. It is a contract between God and man, based on man’s performance. In essence the Old Covenant says:
* IF you obey, perfectly, all of the law, THEN you will be blessed (Deuteronomy 28:1­-14).
* If you fail to perfectly obey, you are cursed. (Deuteronomy 27:26, 28:15-­68). Jesus made it even clearer when He said that perfect obedience must come from the heart (Matt 5:21-30).In short, the Old Covenant is a conditional covenant, based on the performance of man, based on man’s obedience. It says “Perfectly, totally obey and then you will be blessed. Disobey, even at one point, and then you will be cursed” (James 2:10, Deuteronomy 27:26).

Then Jesus came along and put the law on steroids. He declared in Matthew 5:20:

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

The reason was simple: God demands perfect obedience, from the heart. He is not interested in fake, artificial or counterfeit (external) righteousness.

Thus the Old Covenant is a covenant of failure, condemnation, curses and death. Romans 1:18-­3:19 provides ample evidence of the total, abject failure of all men in sin. Romans 3:19 says:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

That is why Romans 3:20 declares:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

[Socialite]

The whole point of the Old Covenant – a covenant that promises blessings, IF you totally, perfectly and always obey, wholeheartedly (and curses if you fail) – is this:

To exalt the righteousness of God and condemn the “righteousness of man”.

The reason is simple: all righteousness apart from God is idolatry, it is sheer blasphemy. If we could derive righteousness and obedience from ourselves, then God would have to worship us. God will have nothing to do with that.

The Bible plainly declares in myriad places that man is not good. That God alone is good.

“No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18b)

Romans 3:10­-12:

[10] As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

[11] There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.

[12] They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

So, the idea that we “get blessings from God because of our obedience” is crushed repeatedly in all 66 books of the Bible! The Bible is abundantly clear in at least 1,000 verses that man is an abysmal failure and that God alone is righteous.

So what does the Bible teach that man deserves? Guilt, wrath, condemnation, curses and death. Hell.

Thank God He doesn’t stop there! Thank God our God is a redeeming God!

You see, then, that the entire plan of salvation rests on a cornerstone, foundational concept in the Bible that says:

“Unless God blesses us, we have no hope”!

Praise God, because God is GOOD, He goes out of His way to bless us. Not because of our obedience (because we are such failures), but based upon the perfect obedience, perfect righteousness and perfect goodness of God Himself, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8­-11:

[8] But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[9] Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.[10] For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.[11] And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus

That is precisely why God instituted The NEW COVENANT, in the precious blood of Jesus!


The book on the New Covenant is the Book of Hebrews. The New Covenant, prophesied centuries earlier by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31i­34) is cited twice in Hebrews, once in chapter 8 and again in chapter 10. Here is the reference in chapter 8:31­-34

[31] “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—[32] “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.[33] “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.[34] “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

The first thing to observe about the New Covenant is that it is not about our “I wills”. It is not about us or what we “do for God”. It is about what God does, what He initiates, what He wills, what He performs. Look at the same passage with some helpful highlights:

[31] “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

[32] “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. [33] “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [34] “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

So what does God do in the New Covenant?

He puts His law in our minds and writes it on our hearts. In other words, His action, His blessing enables us to wholeheartedly obey.

Because of His action, we are blessed with a personal relationship with Him. “I will be their God and they will be my people”. We are His people as the result of His action, His choice, His will. Not ours.

Because of His action, His will, He forgives our iniquity and remembers our sin no more.

Let me ask: are not these things blessings from God? How do we get them? Through our obedience? No! But through the perfect righteousness and obedience of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ!

What is the result of that blessing?

* Wholehearted obedience (because He blessed us by putting His law in our minds and writing them on our hearts!)
* We become His people (because He blessed us by saying, “I will be their God and they shall be my people”!)
* We are completely cleansed and God doesn’t even recall our sins against (because He blesses us by declaring, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”)
The New Covenant also appears in other places in the Bible. One dramatic reference is found in Ezekiel 36:25-­27:

[25] “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.[26] “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.[27] “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Let me ask: isn’t this the case of God blessing us, not because of our obedience, not predicated or conditioned on our obedience?

In this recitation of the New Covenant God promises and blesses us with:

* Cleansing, real cleansing from our filthiness and idolatry (verse 25). Is this not a blessing? Is it conditioned on our obedience or God’s goodness and grace?
* God gives us a new heart and a new spirit. He takes out that dead heart of stone, that’s lifeless and unresponsive to Him, and gives us a new heart and a new spirit – one that’s alive and responsive to Him! Is this not a blessing? Is it conditioned on our obedience or God’s goodness and grace?
* God puts His Spirit – that means Himself (“Christ in you the hope of glory”, Col 1:27) – inside of us. What is the result of Jesus Christ, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, living in us? God Himself, internally causes us to “walk in My statutes” and “keep my judgments and do them”. Is this not a blessing? Is it conditioned on our obedience or God’s goodness and grace?

Here’s the New Covenant in Jeremiah 32:40-­41a:

(40) ‘And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good [that’s blessing!]; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. (41) ‘Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good [that’s blessing!]

Isn’t it ironic, though, how we – in our unrenewed, fleshly minds – think that there is some sort of an “I will” on our part that can somehow merit the favor (blessing) of God? Where does such thinking come from?

(Cue Lucifer's "I Will"s in Isaiah)

Sometimes it's best to just do citing. Above citation is from the blog of Mark VanOuse

[Socialite]

Sinless Life?

What GOD, through the scriptures, is telling us all, is that if He is living His life in us then when evil thoughts do come, they will no longer have dominion in our lives. That is what 'doth not commit sin... and cannot sin" means. It means Roman six:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin , live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:
Rom 6:6 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.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 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.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16 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?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin , ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things [is] death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

At least six times in this one chapter Paul affirms that these Roman converts are 'dead to sin... freed from sin... and sin does not have dominion over them." And by this Paul is saying that there should be a change in direction in the lives of those in whom Christ dwells just as Christ was in type telling the man who was healed of his lameness and the woman caught in adultery,"Go, and sin no more." Christ certainly was not saying 'Go, and do not ever even raise your voice to another human or a worse thing will come on you.' What He is saying is that "sin shall not have dominion over you... you have now become a servant to God, and you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

Peter makes the exact same point that Paul and John make when he says:

1 Pet 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1 Pet 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

So "ceasing from sin" scripturally means simply that "we no longer... live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."