Truth, Tried and True!

[Netchaplain]

In our relationship with the first Adam we had no freedom at all (sin had its dominion – Rom 6:14—NC), the members of the old Adam being under obligation to furnish personal righteousness before God (an impossibility before Christ came—NC), as moral beings responsible to Him (not just obedience, but also guiltless, which is only in Christ—NC). But our position as believers is declared by Paul to have been perfectly secured in the risen Lord Jesus Christ; our responsibility in the fallen Adam and in connection with him having been met and discharged as our federal head, the Lord Jesus became sin for us at the Cross, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (not became literally sin but with the appearance of sin, i.e. “the likeness of sin” - Rom 8:3; 2Co 5:21—NC).

To declare, therefore, that new creatures in Christ Jesus are under the law, either for salvation, or as a rule for Christian living is like unto prescribing rules to an apple tree. Simply seek to have the conditions of growth fulfilled and it will then “bear fruit.” So a human soul in order to “bear fruit unto God” (Rom 7:4), must live in that truth that sets it free.

The Christian has been born from above and was never meant to be in any other state than the freedom of heaven, in his life and service. This is shown by the words “even so” or “likewise” in Romans 6:11. We are told in verse 10 that Christ having been made sin died unto sin once for all, but the life He now liveth, “He lieveth unto God” (Rom 6:10). For that reason, since we are in Christ Jesus, having died with Him, we are to live as risen beings who died with Him; being now ourselves “alive unto God in Him.” The word “likewise” here shows that even “as He is, so are we in this world” (1Jo 4:17). Now He is not under law, yet He delights in the will of the Father in the very spirit and essence of it, as His inner and absolute pleasure.

Paul’s blessed doctrine that those who are in Christ Jesus are dead to the law and discharged therefrom, is absolutely necessary to those who would walk in the Spirit and make progress in their spiritual growth. To be filled with the Spirit at one time, does not prove that we will be walking in the Spirit at a later time. For example, Peter was filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but later, at Antioch, we find him walking not uprightly according to the Gospel (Gal 2:14).

No blessing can take the place of the truth. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” So our Lord’s promise, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (Jhn 17:17). If we have been taught to believe what is contrary to the written Word of God, although we may have blessings now and then, we cannot become established in the risen Lord Jesus until we see and receive the truth.

How can the Holy Spirit lead the saints of God except He leads them into truth? He is the Spirit of Truth! To teach believers that they are under the law as a rule of life, is to teach what is contrary to the Word of God; for the Spirit of God has declared unto us in Romans 6 and 7, that we have died to that law (Israelites died the Law of Moses and to the law of sin; Gentiles have died to “the law of sin” (Rom 8:2; also Rom 5:21), that made such demands on us we that we could do nothing but sin (Tit 1:15—NC), even in seeking to keep it! So that the Spirit saith, “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but
under grace” (Rom 6:14 – the old man will not dominate you, i.e. cause you to desire sin, which is a promise—NC).

We had to be discharged from the law so that we could serve the Father in the true spirit of service, which is always liberty and gladness. The same blessed Spirit of God has distinctly written to us, that “ye also are become dead to the law by the Body of Christ” (physical suffering in the body - Rom 7:4—NC); that our death with Him was a fact, and that we who are now in Him share that death, He being our Head and our Life, instead of Adam the first; because we, having died with the Lord Jesus (Gal 2:20; Col 3:3), have been positioned before the Father with Him.


—Wm R Newell









MJS daily devotional excerpt for Nov 24​

“If spiritual thirst is the language of your heart, there is great blessing in store for you. When believers are being turned upside-down and inside-out they are apt to be much discouraged, and to have their souls ‘disquieted’ within them. But even amid the exercise the Father would give us the encouragement of knowing that He has taken us up to bring us into inconceivable blessing.

“We must travel through these processings, for the simple reason that if the Lord Jesus is to be everything, the old man must be nothing, and it is often times a long journey to reach this point in the history of the soul. Hence the long, dreary, and painful years of ‘self-occupation’ through which most believers drag their slow steps of spiritual progress.” -C.A.C.

None But The Hungry Heart

 

[Randy Kluth]

In our relationship with the first Adam we had no freedom at all (sin had its dominion – Rom 6:14—NC), the members of the old Adam being under obligation to furnish personal righteousness before God (an impossibility before Christ came—NC), as moral beings responsible to Him (not just obedience, but also guiltless, which is only in Christ—NC). But our position as believers is declared by Paul to have been perfectly secured in the risen Lord Jesus Christ; our responsibility in the fallen Adam and in connection with him having been met and discharged as our federal head, the Lord Jesus became sin for us at the Cross, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (not became literally sin but with the appearance of sin, i.e. “the likeness of sin” - Rom 8:3; 2Co 5:21—NC).​

I have difficulty with this because it sounds as if it is an attempt to replicate Paul's doctrine of Salvation with an ontological condition that isn't accurate. We were certainly born with "Free Will!" Paul simply took pains to show that no matter what we did as human beings--no matter how righteous or moral it was, it wasn't enough to earn Eternal Life.

I believe all of mankind were born with a conscience and with the free will to pursue righteousness. But once our human nature had become infected with spiritual sin in our bodies, we had an undeniable stain in our behavior and on our record. Apart from the atonement of Christ, and apart from your choice to receive Christ, we could not obtain Eternal Life.

Even those who do not choose to receive Eternal Life and to live for Christ all the time may choose righteousness on occasion. But again, apart from choosing Christ as our life, we cannot--not even through our righteousness, obtain Eternal Life. At best we can only do some good works which, without Christ, appear only as selfish attempts to cover our guilt. It may be that we're saying, in spirit, the same kinds of things. I just may be having trouble with the language you're using?

There's no question that once we receive Christ as our life that our righteousness obtains a greater consistency, indicating we're received a New Nature. But again, all people can express the love of Christ, whether they're born again or not. It just won't save them unless they become Born Again, in my view.

It is when we choose Christ as our life that we pursue the overcoming of our Sin Nature. And this is the thing that indicates we've truly received Christ, and is the very thing that indicates we've received his Salvation.

 

[Netchaplain]

We were certainly born with "Free Will!"

Yes, free to choose or not choose God, but not free from the dominion of sin if unsaved. We are slaves to the sin nature (old man) until freed in Christ!

 

[Randy Kluth]

Yes, free to choose or not choose God, but not free from the dominion of sin if unsaved. We are slaves to the sin nature (old man) until freed in Christ!

Yes, the unsaved can know Christ and obey Christ's word, but not sufficient for Salvation unless they actually embrace Christ as their life. They remain in bondage to sin if they are unsaved not because they cannot do good, but only because they are not able to overcome sin by a regular display of Christian righteousness, which is what it means to be Born Again.

To truly overcome sin in the sense of "being Saved," one must displace their sinful indulgences with a new heart and a new mind--essentially the new nature Christ gives us when we accept him. It isn't enough just to do good occasionally--we must acknowledge that our sin is not a good thing, is not an acceptable thing. We do that by embracing Christ as our Lord and Savior.

There are unsaved people who in their ignorance acknowledge that their sins are not good, and yet do not have the nature of Christian righteousness, necessary to displace those sins. They may be saved by their conscience testifying to their guilt through their attempts to do the right thing, despite their bondages to some sins. I do believe Christ covers those who in ignorance do not make use of the Christian nature by appealing to God's mercy inwardly.

 

[Netchaplain]

To truly overcome sin in the sense of "being Saved," one must displace their sinful indulgences with a new heart and a new mind--essentially the new nature Christ gives us when we accept him. It isn't enough just to do good occasionally--we must acknowledge that our sin is not a good thing, is not an acceptable thing. We do that by embracing Christ as our Lord and Savior.

It's my understanding that the new heart is the result of being saved, not the cause for salvation (and not saying you're saying this, just stating a fact). The sole cause as we know is Christ's expiation for all our sin, which we have upon receiving Christ.