The Good Ministry of Sin

The Good Ministry of Sin

By Fred O. Blakely

As Paul declares, Christ is certainly not "the minister of sin." God forbid that it should be so (Gal. 2:16-18). Neither can God be faulted for taking vengeance against impenitent sinners (Rom. 9:18-21), though their sin justifies Him in His "sayings" (Rom. 3:4-7; cf. Ps. 51:4). Under the reign of Divine grace, however (which is able to turn the curse into a blessing), sin can ac­tually minister both succor to the sinner and glory to God in those who are properly affected by it.

Although forgiven of past sins and set apart unto God by obedience to the gospel, the best of men (notwithstanding the claims of some of them to the contrary), on occasion, continue to be painfully guilty of sin. As they are convicted of this by the Word and led by the Spirit, they are caused to hasten with all speed to the throne of Divine grace for forgiveness and cleans­ing, that they may go on walking before God with a conscience "void of offense" toward Him (Acts 24:16).

Because these saints recognize that it is "the blood of Jesus Christ" that constitutes the basis upon which the Father grants this additional cleansing (1 Jn. 1:7), the very sin that was com­mitted becomes a reminder to them of the exceeding precious­ness of that blood, with the propitiation for sin which it ef­fected. Since the experience of falling into sin is continually repeated, sin, under this procedure, can veritably be used by God to make us more deeply appreciative of the soul-cleansing efficacy of His dear Son's blood, and to bind us closer to Himself.

It is in this view of the situation that the Lord's table at the center of the church's weekly assembly takes on new and vital significance. The brethren come to present themselves as a body before the God of their salvation. During the past week they have been striving against sin; perhaps they came off the loser in some of the strife.

How refreshing and strengthening to sit together at the table acknowledging mutual dependence upon the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same time receive both individual and corporate assurance from God that their sins are forgiven them "for His Name's sake" (I Jn. 2:12; cf. Eph. 4:39). Their very sin, rather than keeping them from their appointment their Lord, thus draws them to His table. So do they have, as it were, their feet "washed" by Him (Jn. 13:4-10) and are cleansed for another week of conflict with the evil one.

Certainly, we do not sin in order that grace may abound. God forbid! But we praise His Name that, despite the agonizingly humiliating experience of sin by His children, it can serve to enhance to them the infinite value of Jesus' blood, and so endear both Him and the gracious Father to them. Thus, does the marvelous wisdom, grace, and power of God bring to naught the work of the Devil in seducing us into sin, and make his wrath against us to glorify God's grace.
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The Law of Christ's House

This is the law of the House . . .

Grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (II Pet. 3:18)

By Michael Zaucha

The Scripture reveals that Jesus died for our sins and was buried and rose again (I Cor. 15:3-4), but the power usward of Jesus’ accomplishments is not in the mere knowing of the facts, but rather when that power is accessed, when God joins us to His Son’s death, burial and resurrection.

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“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom. 6:3-5).

After He raised from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven, was received up into glory, exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on High, where He received from the Father Himself “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:12). The revealed implications of the gospel declare that Jesus’ exaltation to the right hand of God was not merely ceremonial in nature. In other words, Jesus is not a figurehead king. There is still work to be done to fulfill the eternal purpose of God, in order to bring to a finality the work of salvation. Therefore, Jesus was also ordained and anointed of God High Priest in things pertaining to God (Heb. 5:1-6) and God’s King whom He set upon His holy hill of Zion (Ps. 2:6).

Although – now – all men do not recognize and acknowledge Jesus in His highly exalted and glorious position – and this is manifested in their living - there is a soon coming day when this will all change. For in the day of the Lord, when Jesus comes again, God will unveil and fully reveal His Beloved Son in the fullness of His glory: “Which in His times (God) shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of Lords” (I Tim. 6:15). On that day, all men will give the glory and homage that is due to God’s Christ. But that confession will not benefit those who did not make it now, while on the earth.

But now, to all those who do honor God through honoring His Son, Jesus is faithfully executing the government of God’s so great salvation in them and through them, and His reign is prospering and increasing in His hand just as God promised it would (Isa. 9:7), for “the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isa. 53:10).

And as God’s appointed king, Jesus is about heeding to the decree of God given to Him when God said to Jesus: “rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies” (Ps. 110:2). For this reign is what Jesus was raised from the dead to do: “For out of prison He cometh to reign” (Eccl. 4:14) the Scripture declares. And Jesus is faithfully fulfilling that which the prophets said He would do in His present reign at the right hand of God.

Of the effectualness of his reign, the prophet Jeremiah declares:

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“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”

The gospel makes known that Jesus is the promised king the prophet said God would raise up and His reign has as its primary objective the fulfilling of the eternal purpose of God, and what follows is the judgment of God that He will faithfully execute.

First, “He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” ( I Cor. 15:25-26). All this hasn’t happened yet. There are still enemies to be subdued and put under foot, with the last one being death. But put your faith and hope in God, He will do this very thing.

But – praise God – this is only one aspect of the judgment and justice of God. Judgment and justice not only pertains to this to be sure, but it also pertains to the raising up of the righteous.

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“In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:5-6).

This will be the focus of the message today, about God’s people being saved – even to the uttermost, and of our dwelling safely with God, which includes far more than getting there safely. Safe dwelling includes our partaking and participation in that work which Jesus now is engaged in usward, purifying the sons, and purging them as silver and gold, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness (Mal. 3:3). Jesus is preparing a people to present to God that they may dwell with Him forever and ever.

Of this truth, the people of God can be assured of because Jesus is truly reigning and prospering in that reign according to the will and purpose of God, and Jesus is faithfully executing God’s judgment and justice in the earth. Jesus’ reign is an effectual reign, affecting the very purpose of God in us. And the name whereby He is called – The Lord Our Righteousness – must not be overlooked, for the reign we will focus on today is the one that is toward the righteous – and to them alone - the reign that is mediated for the righteous by the Righteous One. Behold the goodness of God to everyone that believes!

We will begin in the third chapter of Second Peter with the glorious promise of the second coming of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ: “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Pet. 3:10). With the truth of Jesus’ coming even at the doors, God’s people are now, to be about girding up the loins of their minds for action (I Pet. 1:13). For the day of salvation is a day of action for God’s people, “1ooking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” (II Pet. 3:12) – and how are they doing this: “in all holy conversation and godliness” (II Pet. 3:11) because this is the day when the fullness of the eternal things will become reality and they will be unchangeable – either eternal salvation or eternal damnation, either the fullness of safe dwelling, or the reality of being cast from the presence of the Lord forever and ever where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt. 8:12).

With the truth of Jesus’ soon return brought to bear on the hearts and minds of God’s people, the Apostle Peter continues to exhort the people of God to continued action: “be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (II Pet. 3:14). This exhortation is a call to diligence for all God’s people, to labor for this in earnest, to draw near to the God of all grace (I Pet. 5:10), and partake of the provisions He has made that we would truly be in peace with Him, without spot and blameless when we stand before the judge of all the earth, because these are the only ones who will dwell safely..

This is neither directed to a select group of God’s people nor is it optional for any one of us, because, as each of us sits here today, none of us yet are out of the danger of this present evil world, or yet rid of our adversary who roams about seeking who he may devour (I Pet. 5:8), or has been set free from the work of crucifying the old man who lusteth against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), or has been freed from the possibility of falling from your own steadfastness (II Pet. 3:17). This is the very possibility that brings the Apostle to declare the provision for salvation and safety.

With all these things being against God’s people, it would seem like an impossibility to overcome them and attain to our high calling in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14). Apart from faith, and the partaking of the provisions of God in Christ Jesus - it is. But God has made sufficient provision in the person of His Beloved Son to overcome them all. So let your faith take hold of the promise of God to overcome, to be saved, and to dwell safely in His presence: “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 3:18) is that provision. Growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the provision by which all God’s people will be saved and dwell in safety.

It needs to be stressed again that the growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to which Peter urges us is not a matter of mere option; it is an absolute necessity for all the people of God. For from the beginning of the newness of life in Christ, there is a progression ordained of God toward His purposed end for which the growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord is an absolute necessity.

For we are not complete and perfected beings at the first of our entrance into the kingdom. Rather, we are translated into the outskirts of the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Col. 1:13), but from the beginning, there is progress intended for us all unto the fulfilling of the purpose of God in each of us. The psalmist would say: “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces” (Ps. 48:12-13). The Apostle Peter would open that up, as newborn babes in the household of God, we are to "desire the sincere milk of the Word," that we may grow thereby (I Pet. 2:1-3). Likewise, we are to grow in "the grace and knowledge" of Christ. That is, we are to be developing in the partaking of the provisions of God that are absolutely necessary in order for each of us to come to the goal of our being the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

The exhortation of our consideration is given by the Apostle because of the perilous times in which God’s people live in, then and now. There are those who proclaim themselves to be shepherds of the Lord’s flock, but in their speaking they give themselves away as hirelings. For the Apostle calls them unlearned and unstable, who not only wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction, they can have devastating effects on the flock.

While there is glorious provision and the working of God in His creating newborn babes, to stay in that infantile state puts one in the gravest of peril. For there are those who through deceitfulness and lies they do toss around those who be children, carrying them about by every wind and wave of doctrine (Eph. 4:14). Notice, it is the children who are thusly tossed around. So, be no more children is the direction all God’s people must grow in. For this growing in grace in the knowledge of the Lord is that which strengthens, settles and stablishes us so that we are no longer carried about by the sleight of men, and their cunning craftiness.

It is the provision of the current reign of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ from the right hand of God, that the growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is effectually working in the righteous and this will occur in all who continue in the faith. For Jesus is working out God’s purpose in the righteous, readying them for the fullness of salvation and safe dwelling. But know this, it will not happen automatically, without any involvement or labor on our part.

Of a truth, salvation will take the full involvement and labor of all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. It is absolutely essential that all God’s people continually partake of the provisions of God through Jesus Christ in order to enter into the fullness of salvation and safe dwelling.

In other words, all those who do not continue in this manner will not make it to glory and the attaining of the prize. For although starting the race is essential in salvation, the crown of righteousness and the crown of life is promised to only those who finish the race (II Tim. 4:8; Rev. 2:10).

But know this brethren, God is not willing that any of His people perish (II Pet. 3:9), and we can all know the glory of this truth and God’s commitment to it as we see Jesus, having been set down at the right hand of God, truly reigning and ruling in the midst of His enemies. And as to the manner of Christ’s reign, the Scripture reveals: it is a reign of grace “through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). Grace is the manner of Jesus’ reign unto His people. Because of Jesus’ accomplishing death on the earth, and His new life He now lives at the right hand of God, we have access to this grace wherein we stand (Rom. 5:2). By faith, we can come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace to help in our time of need (Heb. 4:16).

The One who mediates God’s grace is the Lord, our righteousness. Through the Righteous One, we are righteous before God, and through our Lord Jesus Christ, enabled to find grace to help in our time of need. Only the righteous are so enabled. The provision and the partaking of the reign of grace in Christ Jesus that we are speaking about today is for those who first be partakers of the grace of God having been born again.

As such, all those have received of His fullness – the One who is full of grace and truth, and we receive grace for grace (Jn.1:16). In Christ, through the reign of grace through righteousness, this grace causes us to grow, working in us according to the will of God fulfilling His purpose in us. And those who continue in the grace of God, they do grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – for this is the promised eternal life (Jn. 17:3). This is the manner of Christ’s reign: they find the grace to walk and live by faith, they receive grace to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord, they find grace to set their affections on things above, and not on the things of the earth. They find grace to put off the old man, and to put on the new. And they grow in the knowledge of God, knowing that this is the very thing God desires for His people and by His grace, it is affecting His purpose.

And one of the main reasons for the reign of grace is to keep God’s people righteous - in peace with Him, without spot, and blameless. So the reign of grace will not be one that overlooks and tolerates sin, and make God’s people feel comfortable in sin, but rather Jesus’ reign of grace is a reign to help us in the time of need to overcome the temptation to sin, to keep us from sinning, that we sin not. The reign of grace is to keep the lust of our old man from being conceived in us, to prevent it from bringing forth sin, so that it will not bring forth death unto us (Jam. 1:15). For as it was in the beginning, it is true to this day:

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“the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4, 20).

These are but a sampling of the effectualness of the grace of God working in the righteous because Jesus is ruling in the midst of His enemies. In order to be saved and dwell safely with God we must grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the good news reveals with every expectation of God’s people comes the grace to walk therein. And that is because Jesus dispenses grace to those who come unto Him. If any man be in Christ Jesus, they are growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior unto salvation. This is the manner of His reign.

Just as there was a manner to the earthly reign of King Saul, the point being, that these laws could not be broken or changed, even when the people cried out unto God – “He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers, And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants, and He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants” (I Sam. 8:10-17) – so there is a manner to the reign of the glorified Christ.

While King Saul’s reign was unto the fulfilling of his own earthly desires, Jesus’ reign is unto the filling of the eternal purpose of His Father, one in which God will be glorified and honored, and the people of God greatly and eternally benefited. The manner of the reign speaks of laws or operating principles which govern the reign and these are fixed and inviolable – they cannot be broken or changed. They are the same yesterday, today and forever, because they are a manifestation of the very nature and character of God. For it is God who has made them known and established them, and He can no more fail to do them precisely as He has declared as it would be possible for Him to lie or to deny Himself.

The prophet Ezekiel was given to begin to reveal the law of the house of the Lord: “This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house” (Ezek. 43:12). This is the law of the House of the Lord because this is precisely how God is, He is holy holy, holy (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8), and this aspect of God’s nature will never change. He was holy, holy, holy in the beginning, He is now, and always will be. So if unholy men are going to dwell with the holy, holy, holy God, they must change, for God never will! So God commands His people over and over again: “ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” For without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

But the gospel is truly good news, for it reveals in Christ alone resides the effectualness of the power of God who will work this work of God in His people: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (I Pet. 3:18). Here, then is an aspect of Jesus’ death and His resurrection: our Lord’s quickening was to fulfill the promise: “we shall see Him as He is” (I Jn. 3:2) – in the beauty of His holiness. For if any man be in Christ, we are holy in Him as He is holy and we are kept holy by our continuing abiding in Him.

Jesus also revealed the manner of His reign, and these are the words of the King Himelf: “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (Jn. 6:37). Brethren, this law is positively without any exception at all. Upon it, each of us totally depends. Our faith is anchored in the reigning Christ and His faithfulness to His word. Again Jesus would reveal, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (Jn. 6:51). By the grace of God, there are no exceptions to this rule. And as to the effectualness of His reign: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:37-38). Would Jesus deny a single one that believeth on Him the Holy Spirit? “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9). God forbid!

The Apostles would also reveal and open up the glory of the manner of Christ’s reign unto the righteous, and hear again the glory of His reign, for what is revealed is fixed and unchangeable: “he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:8). Brethren, this is without fail, for God that promised is faithful. Again, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (II Cor. 9:6). God desires that each of us sow and reap bountifully, so His grace will effectually work this in each of us. Again, “If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him” (II Tim. 2:12). These are the things effected in the righteous by the reign of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father

So, reckoning on the manner of Christ’s reign, if it is absolutely essential unto salvation for all of us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, can Jesus be deficient in making provision for the righteous in any of this? Brethren, now we take hold of the promises by faith, but it will be on that day when Jesus comes again we will see the faithfulness of God and the effectualness of the reign of Jesus Christ as there will not be a single instance where these things shall not be so.

The main governing law of the house is that Jesus has the preeminent position in salvation, and any growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior must come from our connection to Him. As Jesus said: “without Me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). This too, is the law of the house.

The means by which this growing occurs as the gospel reveals is through our connection to the Head, which is Christ. It is as we abide in Him and Him in us, as His words abide in us that the growth of our consideration occurs (Jn. 15:4-7). Sever yourself from the Head, and they cannot be any growth, for Jesus alone is the Way, the truth, and the Life (Jn. 11:25), and if the provisions received cannot be traced back to Jesus, God – that giveth the increase or growth (I Cor. 3:6-7), will not cause anything to grow in regards to grace and the knowledge of the Lord. There will be no growth in this manner apart from its coming through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we are to be daily loaded with the benefits of growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, this growth must come through Jesus, for He alone is the Head from which all the realities of God’s provisions do truly flow to us. This must be declared and believed and taken hold of because there is only one Head by which this will occur, and that being Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For he alone is in the truest and fullest sense “the Head over all things” (Eph. 1:22), and not only is He “the Head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18), He is revealed to be “the Head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:10).

Because of Him and His effectual reign, everyone that holds to the Head is ministered nourishment from Him – through His body the church (Col. 2:19), and they all – individually and as a body – increase and grow with the growth that comes from God – growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This too, is the law of the house.
To tie this all together, it is one thing for us to come to an intellectual awareness of the nature of Christ's reign, but it is quite another for us to personally experience that grace and knowledge. Job had heard of God "by the hearing of the ear," but, by the word of God and His grace, it was later that Job himself could say of a truth, "Now mine eye seeth Thee" (Job 42:5). The growth in divine grace and knowledge to which Peter exhorts us includes increase in such experience. Like the Colossians, we are to know the grace of God and the knowledge of the Lord in truth, or become really acquainted with it ourselves.

A good representation of the operation of grace and the knowledge of the Lord, and its growth in the lives of the saints is given by the Apostle Paul, as he recounts his own experience of it. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (II Cor. 4:8-11). Grace and the knowledge of the Lord is thus ministered, not so as to contribute to a sense of our personal sufficiency, but to exalt the Lord God and His Christ, and to increase our complete reliance upon Them. As the Apostle declares in the same connection, "We have this treasure (the knowledge of the glory of God) in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (II Cor. 4:6-7).

Our growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in other words, is designed to cast us wholly upon God all of the time, not just on occasions of extremity. It is the desire of our gracious Father constantly to be our All in all. He wants to be the beginning and end of our days, as well as All that lies between the two points.

To increase in the experience of grace and the knowledge of the Lord, is to advance in the realization of God even moment by moment and day by day, and in perception of the full sufficiency of His provision for all of our needs. In this perception, we take hold of the knowledge of God, that God is able, and that God is "for us" (Rom. 8:31); and that is enough. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). In this knowledge, we are enabled and strengthened to “fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life” (I Tim. 6:12).

The more we increase in grace and the knowledge of God, the more we will come to implicitly rely upon Him. Thus, do we go from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and from glory to glory in the reign of God’s King. This, of course, is because God is true and unfailingly trustworthy. "He is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10:23; 11:11); as He has said, so will He do. To grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord, is to develop in this persuasion. Each of God’s people should be more strongly convinced of the power, the love, and the provision of God, and be depending more upon them each day of his life. This, truly, is to "grow up into Him in all things," which is not only that which will keep us from the wiles of the devil, but will be that which readies us to dwell with God forever and ever.

What the Psalmist was given to see long ago has come to pass because of the faithfulness of the God of All Grace (I Pet. 5:10), and His Provision of His King which He has set upon His holy hill of Zion: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps. 92:12-13).
To God be glory now and forever. Amen.

I want to dedicate this message to brother Fred O. Blakely, he being dead yet speaketh (Heb. 11:4) through his insightful writings, for his continuing help to me to see the truth of these things more clearly.

Some Considerations regarding our Old Man

Some Considerations regarding our Old Man

Our Old Man is Crucified with Christ. 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. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him (Rom 6:6-9).

This is the part of us that is yet fully capable of sinning, and continues to be offensive to God. But God has made abundant provision in Christ to put of, to keep off, to keep under, to mortify this part of us. As a matter of fact, at our baptism into Christ, we come into the kingdom of God with our old man being cruicified with Christ. The old man that we speak of is constantly at war with our new man, which, lives in accordance with God's Person and ways, because "in the likeness of God" it "has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Eph. 4:24, NASB).

The Acquired and Required Hatred of the Old Man. We must be brought to hate our old man with a perfect hatred, along with his ways and expressions. All of the things which cause us grief and trouble in this life proceed from the old man. Our old man is our most lethal enemy, and consequently, he is not to be treatied with, cuddled, or coddled. From our old man proceed such things as fornication, and all uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, jesting, all of which have the capability of disbarring men from their inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (cf. Eph 5:3-5). This is absolutely the case in spite of the boisterous clamor of a host of false teachings today, which come to men under the subtle guise of fundamentalism. In all of them, the Devil is saying once again, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). Now, through the mouthpiece of these doctrines of men, and of devils, he has a captive audience of multitudes, and not just the woman. The old serpent is energetically engaged in holding men under a cloud of delusion. He will seek to persuade those professing faith in Christ, either that their "old man" is "really not that bad after all", or that God is "too good to consign men to eternal punishment". Or, perhaps, he would seek to convince men that as long as they "have their theology straight" regarding the "old man", that would be sufficient to be pleasing unto God. But we are not ignorant of his devices.

Our old man is the part of us that has the capacity to be animated by, is frequently found to be the remote mouthpiece of, that old serpent, the Devil. The Devil has come down to us, having great wrath, and the subtle effects of that wrath are often projected into the old man, to produce distress, carefulness, distraction, doubt, and if possible, to turn men away from the truth. The serpent was "more subtle than than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made" (Gen. 3:1), and that characteristic subtlety is also part of the make up of the old man. The old man is all making for truces and treaties with the new man. "Let's be reasonable about these matters of not compromising with sin," he can be often heard to suggest. But there can never be any concord between Christ and Belial (cf. II Cor. 6:15), between light and darkness, between the truth and the lie. We must continually reckon that our old man is, indeed, crucified with Christ. This is a foundational premise that God has granted us to reckon upon for stability, consolation, and as a shield held up against all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And it is only as godly men earnestly ponder things of this sort, that they are granted to acquire and develop a "perfect hatred" of the old man and his deeds. Millennia ago David declared, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate Thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies" (Ps. 139:21-22). If such things can be freely confessed to the Lord with regard to enemies that are outside of us, and all about us, of a certain the same can and must be reckoned and declared regarding the deadly enemy that is within us, namely our old man. This enemy has been, of God, placed within us to prove us, and to know what is in our hearts, to see whether we, indeed, love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength, and understanding.

Base animations and wicked voices proceeding from the old man are from beneath and can only be stilled by putting on the new man, (that is, by feeding the new man, and by being renewed in the spirit of our minds). These are the blessed (and the only effectual) provisions for putting off the old man, which provisions God has abundantly equipped us with in the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking to put off the old man, merely by discipline (touch not, taste not, handle not, etc.) can only result in failure, despair, and eventual destruction. This amounts to trying to climb up some other way than the way that God has appointed and provided in His beloved Son. From one perspective, it is almost amazing how that men, animated by the carnal mind (which is part of the old man) gravitate to this approach in their futile attempts to be pleasing to God. But it is only in hearing and submitting to "the voice of the Son of God" (Jn. 5:25), that men receive strength to keep the old man crucified. The Lord Jesus promised that such continual hearers "shall live".

The Old Man and his Deeds. "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds" (Col. 3:9). Just as men are known by their fruits, so the old man also has its characteristic identifying deeds, deeds that must be traced back to their corrupt source. If the old man did not have deeds, he would not pose nearly the threat that he does. The old man has deeds such as lying, "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy" communications proceeding from the mouth (cf. Col. 3:8). The old man loves to lie, or at least distort the truth, or be misleading. In this matter he exposes his kinship to Satan, who is "a liar, and the father of it," as the Lord Jesus declared (Jn. 8:44). He loves to rage and to exalt himself in much the same way that the Devil does. The old man is completely capable of giving expression to whatever things are offensive to God, or are contrary to the will of God.

The deeds of the old man are what pose the jeopardy of leaving him unmortified. It is at the point of expression of these deeds, that sin occurs. That point of expression is elsewhere called in Scripture fullfilling the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16), "the superfluity of naughtiness" (Jas. 1:21), or that which comes out of a man and defiles him (cf. Mk. 7:20). Prior to the point of sin's expression [while those professing faith in Christ are yet striving against sin, and putting to death their members which are upon the earth] they, in a manner of speaking, are within the domain described by Paul in Romans 7, and are regarded as be well-pleasing unto God [though the old serpent would try to convince them that they are not]. But wherever sin does actually erupt and express itself, then it is no longer a Romans 7 situation, but rather one where the sin must be confessed and repented of. And, to be sure, there is abundand provision for this matter, but to sin must be regarded by the believer as a serious matter. "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared" (Ps. 130:3-4; I Jn. 1:7-2:2, etc.).

And God's hatred of sin has not changed, or diminished, one iota. The putting away of our sins by the death of His only begotten Son had to occur [if we were to be received of Him] because of God's hatred of sin. Christ's sufferings did not, in any way, change God's mind about the exceeding sinfulness of sin.(cf. Rom. 7:13). If there could possibly be any change, it would be that sin is now perceived by Him as being even more abominable, now that such a great price has been paid by Him to put the sin away. (But in this matter, we are in the realm of conjecture.)

A Substantive Declaration. Our old man is crucified with Christ. This is a statement of substantive truth and reality, and not of mere orthodoxy, or doctrinal position. The crucifixion of the old man is a work that God has wrought within us when we were baptized into Christ, and yet it is a work that we must continually reckon upon and build upon, and participate in. In the sufferings of Christ, and in the glory which has followed God has layed a solid foundation for believing men to build upon, and He has even provided the resources, with which men are to build. Our old man is, indeed, crucified with Christ, and that crucifixion, which God has wrought in us, is something that was totally impossible for us to accomplish. We were simply without strength with regards to this matter. But, nevertheless, it is absolutely essential that men labor with God in this matter, by, in a manner of speaking, keeping the old man on the cross. In the words of the Apostle Paul, we are continually to mortify our members which are upon the earth, and then he goes on to enumerate a number of sins which lie dormant in the old man, but are ready to express themselves, unless they are mortified, whenever opportunity arises.

Old Things are Passed Away. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Cor. 5:14-17). With regard to the crucifixion of the old man, we are constrained by love, both by the perception by faith of the love of Christ for us (for me), and reciprocally, by a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, as we grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Him, and as we are granted to "comprehend with all saints" the exceeding great cost of our redemption (cf. Eph. 3:18; I Pet. 1:18-21).

In view of these considerations, let us ever seek grace that we may reckon that the old things, namely, those which proceed from, and are harmonious with, the old man, have passed away. This is a crucial aspect of the warfare of faith. That is to say, it is not an optional one. Let us seek to glorify God as we engage in this warfare, by God's grace, and let us not be ignorant of the Devil's devices. --editor@banner.org

Eleven Arresting Questions

ELEVEN ARRESTING QUESTIONS

By Given O. Blakely

1. If eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20), why are men so interested in obtaining knowledge in other areas – to the neglect of knowing God?

2. If men are known by their fruits (Matt 7:20), why does anyone attempt to explain immoral conduct?

3. If men live by every word of God (Lk 4:4), then how is it possible to sustain spiritual life independently of that word?

4. If those who communicate the Word of God are admonished to commit what they have learned to faithful men who will be able to teach others (2 Tim 2:2), why is it so rarely done?

5. If believers are admonished by the Word of God not to forsake the assembling of themselves together (Heb 10:25), why are there so many professing Christians who do so?

6. If "every man" who possesses hope in Christ purifies himself even as He is pure (1 John 3:3), how is it possible for someone with hope to continue in an unholy state?

7. If believers are told to mark those who cause divisions and avoid them (Rom 6:17), why are professing believers found within formalized sects?

8. If believers are to turn away from those who have only a form of godliness, rejecting the power of it (2 Tim 3:5), why are there believers in dead churches?

9. If it is not possible to become Christ’s disciple without forsaking all (Lk 14:33), then how is it possible to be a Christian while maintaining a fundamental alliance with this world?

10. If the love of God cannot be found in any person who loves this world (1 John 2:15), then how is it possible for a person who does love this world to be a Christian?

11. If those in Christ are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14), why do professing Christians form such yokes?

It is time for all who claim to be Christians to take the Word of God seriously. This begins with preachers and teachers, who are to faithfully proclaim what has been revealed on these matters. Those who hear these words are then to conform their lives to them. If this is not done, then such people owe it to others to cease any formal identity with the body of Christ, and they should not be recognized as members of Christ. God does not receive such people, as is expounded in Second Corinthians 6:15-17. His reception is conditioned upon them coming out from among those who are defiled, and touching not the unclean thing. That is what He has declared: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Cor 6:14-17).

There is no room for a pretentious gospel that accommodates itself to those who prefer sin. The summons to "come out from among them" is a serious one, and it is to be heeded (2 Cor 6:17; Rev 18:4). Any Gospel that does not send forth this clarion call is no gospel at all. It is really "another Gospel, which is not another" (2 Cor 11:4; Gal 1:6). If this appears to be strong, remember that in Christ we are dealing with eternal issues. Preachers must preach, and hearers must hear, with the day of judgment in mind. While that is not the whole of the matter, it will assist men in obtaining the sobriety that is essential to a fellowship with Christ in this world, as well as that which is to come.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, use me in the good work of exposing the works of darkness, and enabling men to possess the light of life.

The Lord of Sabaoth: The Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of armies)

The Lord of Sabaoth: The Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of armies)

The Lord of Sabaoth (the Lord of armies)

This name of the Lord puts us in mind of the greatness of Him who is now set down at the right Hand of the Majesty on High, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Savior ascended into Heaven, "angels and authorities and powers" being "made subject unto Him" (I Pet. 3:21) who alone is worthy. Angelic armies stand at attention to the beck and call of the exalted Savior. He has been exalted of God to be "Head over all things to the church" (Eph. 1:21). The name (Lord of Sabaoth) is but one of Christ's names which, among other things, assist us in not having too low a view of the Father and of the Son, as angels, though their power is derived, or borrowed from the Most High, they are "greater in power and might" (II Pet. 2:11) than men.