Truth Magazine

By Frank Jamerson

The apostle Paul said: “For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai . . .(the other from) the Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:24). That should be sufficient to prove that there is more than one covenant, but further study will show that there are many covenants mentioned in the Bible, and though fellowship with God was always available to men, all were not under the same covenant.

According to “Quick Verse” there are 292 uses of the word “covenant,” fifteen uses of “everlasting covenant,” two of “perpetual covenant,” and there are many other covenants not specifically so called. The word covenant is defined as: “between nations: a treaty, alliance of friend- ship; between individuals: a pledge or agreement   . . . between God and man: a covenant accompanied by signs, sacrifices, and a solemn oath that sealed the relationship with promises of blessings for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking it” (Theological Workbook of the O.T. I:128). W.E. Vine says the word may refer to “a promise, or undertaking, human or divine . . . an agreement, a mutual undertaking, between God and Israel —  see Deut. 29 and 30 (described as a ‘commandment,’ Heb. 7:18, cp. ver. 22).” Hebrews 7 says “there is an annul- ling of the former commandment . . . for the law made nothing perfect . . . (and) Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant” (vv. 18, 19, 22). Here the law of Moses is called the former commandment that was weak, and is contrasted to the better covenant given through Christ. Thayer says: “a disposition, arrangement, of any sort, which one wishes to be valid . . . we find in the N.T. two distinct covenants spoken of (Gal. 4:24), viz. the Mosaic and the Christian . . . diatheke is used in 2 Cor. 3:14, of the sacred books of the O.T.” (136, 137). A covenant may refer to a promise, or a purpose of God. God’s eternal purpose (salvation of man in Christ, Eph. 1:3-11) has never changed, but a covenant may also refer to instructions, or law. Moses said, God “declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform,” and that covenant included the Ten Commandments (Deut. 4:13; 5:2, 3).

God was in relationship (or covenant) with Adam and Eve, but their relationship was severed because they violated his instructions (or covenant). Hosea said Israel “like Adam, transgressed the covenant” (Hos. 6:7, NASV). Circumcision was both a “covenant” (a command of God) and a “sign of the covenant” (the special relationship) between God and Abraham (Gen. 17:9-11). It was also included in the covenant God made with Israel (Lev. 12:3), thus, a sign of a special relationship between God and one nation, but it was also a law (Acts 7:8; Gal. 5:3). The Sabbath was a sign of God’s special agreement with Israel (Exod. 31:16, 17). It was also part of “His covenant . . . the Ten Commandments” (Deut. 4:13, 23), or “the law of commandments” (Exod. 24:12; Deut. 4:44).

When Hilkiah “found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses” (2 Chron. 34:14), King Josiah, “made a covenant (agreement) before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book” (v. 31). The “words of the covenant” were read in “the book of the law.” Covenant here refers to the revelation of God’s will, his law. There are many covenants, and more than a half dozen called “everlasting,” but my assignment is to discuss the two major covenants — the Old and the New (2 Cor. 3:6, 14), the First and the Second (Heb. 8:7), the one given through Moses (John 1:17; Gal. 3:19) and the one given through Christ (Heb. 8:6). We will affirm that God predicted the passing of the first covenant before it was given, at the very time it was given and while it was in effect.

Before The Old Covenant Was Given

Long before the Old Covenant was given, God gave a picture of its demise. While the promise to Abram was waiting to be fulfilled, Sarai suggested that her husband go into Hagar and bear children (Gen. 16:2). After Isaac was born, Sarah told Abraham to “cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son” (Gen. 21:10).

Paul said those who “desire to be under the law” (of Moses), need to hear what the law said. Then he referred to this story and said “which things are symbolic. For these are two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai (represents bondage of the law) . . . but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all . . . So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free” (Gal. 4:21- 26, 31). If the covenant that was given on Mount Sinai is still binding, we are still children of the bondwoman!

At the Time the Old Covenant was Given

When God gave the Old Covenant, Moses came down from the Mount, and “did not know that the skin of his face shone,” and the children of Israel “were afraid to come near him.” He called them to him and “gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face” (Exod. 34:29-33).

The Holy Spirit used the passing of the glory on Moses’ face as figurative of the “ministry of death, written and en- graven on stone” passing away (2 Cor. 3:7). The concealing of the fading of the glory was symbolic of the fact that some whose “minds were hardened” still did not see that the Old Covenant had passed away. “For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted” (v. 14, RSV). Paul said God “made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant” (v. 7). The Old Covenant was glorious, but the New is more glorious! The Old “passed away,” the New “remains”!

God never intended for the law given through Moses to be permanent. Paul said it “was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made” (Gal. 3:19). Like Ishmael, when the promised Seed came, it was “cast out.” It served its purpose as a tutor (or bus driver) to “bring us to Christ,” but after “faith,” (or “the faith”) came, we are “no longer under the tutor” (Gal. 3:23- 25). Paul was not talking about “Judaizing of the law,” but the basic purpose of the Old Covenant. It served its purpose, and is still valuable (Rom. 15:4), but as surely as “the faith” has come, we are “no longer under the tutor.”

While the Old Covenant Was In Effect

God, through Jeremiah said: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (cf. 2 Chron. 5:10), My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord . . . for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:31-34).

Those who advocate one covenant assert that this was fulfilled (simply “renewed”) in the restoration from Babylonian captivity and again under Christ. It is true that the basic principles stated, existed under the first covenant (the law of Moses), just as many of the things in the first covenant existed before Mount Sinai, but that does not prove that the new covenant was established upon the return from Babylon.

The prophecy of Jeremiah is quoted twice in the book of Hebrews. After the first quotation (Heb. 8:8-12), the writer concluded: “In that He says, A New Covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (v. 13). Before the New Covenant could come into existence the first had to become obsolete, or vanish away. When Jeremiah prophesied a New Covenant it implied that the current one would become old and obsolete. Jim McGuiggan commented: “Hebrews 8:13 doesn’t say the old covenant was ‘becoming old.’ It specifically says ‘In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made (perfect tense denoting completed action with results continuing in the present — the first covenant stands ‘having been made old’)” (The Reign of God 91). The first covenant became obsolete, not “renewed,” and the new was given! If the New Covenant was given during the post-exile period, why did Haggai exhort the people to keep the word that the Lord covenanted with them when they “came out of Egypt” instead of when they came out of Babylon (Hag. 2:5)? Ezra told those who had returned, and married foreign wives, to “put away all these wives and those who have been born to them.” Is this part of the New Covenant? Should we tell those who marry “foreign wives” (or those not in the covenant), to put them away? Ezra said “let it be done according to the law” — not ac- cording to the New Covenant (Ezra 10:2, 3; Deut. 7:3)! The Old Covenant was given through Moses to one nation (Deut. 5:2, 3). The New Covenant was given through Christ to the whole world (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 28:18-20).

Jeremiah 31 is quoted again in Hebrews 10:16, 17. The writer then concludes: “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (v. 18). If the remission of sins that Jeremiah prophesied was fulfilled in the post-exile period, why did Malachi condemn the Jews for not sacrificing the proper animals? Did animal sacrifices cease during the post-exile period? (There was a sense in which sins were forgiven under the Old Covenant, when people offered animal sacrifices [Lev. 17:11], but this is not what Jeremiah prophesied. The Hebrew writer said the law “can never with those same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect . . . For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins . . . for the law made nothing perfect . . . God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us” [Heb. 10:1, 4; 7:19; 11:40]. Christ died “for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant” [Heb. 9:15], not because they had been forgiven!)

When Jesus died on the cross, he “broke down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace” (Eph. 2:14, 15). The law, having been given to the Jew and not the Gentile (Deut. 5:2, 3; Rom. 2:14; 3:1, 2), brought enmity, but it was taken away and a New Covenant made with the Jew first (as Jeremiah prophesied), and then the Gentile (Rom. 1:16). Yes, many of the principles in the Old are repeated, but it is a New Covenant.

The Blood of Animals Versus the Blood of Christ

“Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words” (Exod. 24:7, 8). The Hebrew writer tells us that the first covenant was not “dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you” (Heb. 9:19, 20). This “blood of the covenant” was “blood of calves and goats,” not the blood of Christ! Though Jesus died for the transgressions under the first covenant (Heb. 9:15), he did not dedicate that covenant with his blood. His covenant went into effect when the appointed sacrifice was made — his death (Heb. 9:15-17). A man who “rejected Moses’ law” is contrasted with one who “counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing” (Heb. 10:28, 29).

Conclusion

Many teachings found in the Old Covenant are also found in the New, but the Old was dedicated with the blood of animals, and the New with the blood of Christ. Understanding this basic biblical distinction frees us from the impossible task of determining whether every practice in the Old Covenant is moral, or ceremonial — which is an accommodative human distinction. When Paul told the Romans, “you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ” (his death), he included the law that said “thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:4, 7). To the Corinthians, he said “the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones” passed away (2 Cor. 3:6-11). Both of these passages contain what is called “moral law,” but we died to it, and it passed away! We grant that many moral principles have not changed. Some before Sinai were incorporated into the Old Covenant, and some in the Old Covenant were incorporated into the New Covenant, but if it is not in the New Covenant, it has not been dedicated by the blood of Christ. What God spoke “through angels proved steadfast” (Heb. 2:2; Gal. 3:19), but “the great salvation” was “first spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him” (Heb. 2:3). Let us hear Christ!

By Weldon E. Warnock

The expression “the plan of salvation” is not found in the Bible. Certainly, the thought or concept is there. The nearest the Bible comes in using this phrase is when the demonic woman at Philippi said of Paul and Silas, “These men show unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). This notion is embodied in the statement, “the gospel of our salvation” (Eph. 1:13). According to 2 Timothy 1:9 salvation was purposed (planned, Beck) by God through Christ before the world began.

Some of us mistakenly conceive of the plan of salvation as hearing, faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. Careful study of the Bible will show that there is far more to the plan of salvation than these five steps. Indeed they are part of the plan, but these alone would leave out the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who saves. We cannot provide the way of salvation. We must trust in him and surrender our hearts to his will. Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We sing that grand old hymn, “We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves. Jesus saves.”

Though Jesus saves, and without his blood we can- not be cleansed from our sins (1 John 1:7), yet he saves conditionally. If there are no conditions, then universal salvation would have to be so because God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11). Regardless of how sincere one may be and how often he says, “Lord, Lord,” he must do the will of the heavenly Father (Matt. 7:21). Here is where the above five steps come in. We must do them in order to obey Christ and be saved as an alien sinner. Though the five steps are not put together in one passage as a unit, they are taught nevertheless in the New Testament. Examples of New Testament conversion plainly show this.

When the conditions of salvation to become a Christian are clearly and forcefully taught by faithful gospel preachers, some of the self-appointed intellects (?) pompously ridicule those of us who adhere to these divine precepts as “five-steppers.” Well, so be it! The truth of the matter is that we are all “steppers.” The problem is that they have gotten in step with a bunch of gospel-perverting denominational preachers. They need to get in step with Jesus (1 Pet. 2:21).

Some of our preaching brethren don’t even know what to do to be saved. They have “jumped the traces” and put on the same yoke with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and others of like persuasion. We read the following from the mouth of Max Lucado, a preacher in the church of Christ from Texas, December 1996 on radio station KJAK, Lubbock, Texas:

You can be sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You see in God, by virtue of your adoption, you have a divine affinity, you have eternal security, and you have a golden opportunity.

I cannot imagine an orphan turning down an opportunity to be adopted. With one decision, with one raising of the hand, with one agreement to leave the orphanage, that person all of a sudden goes from being abandoned to claimed, from having no name to having a new name, no future to a new future, he leaves the orphanage and enters the house of the father.

That’s what God offers you. There is no quiz, no examination, no charge. All you have to do is to say yes to the Father. And many of you have done that. But I have a hunch that not all of you have. I have a hunch that there is a few of you listening, even now, and God is using this to pull on your heart. The Holy Spirit is informing you of something that you have never really heard before — and that is, God is ready to be your Father. Maybe you never understood that the invitation was for everyone. Maybe you thought you were not worthy. Maybe now you do understand. God will make you worthy, and the invitation is for you. And all you have to do is call him Father. Just call him Father. Just turn your heart to him even right now as I am speaking. Call him your Father. And your Father will respond. Why don’t you do that?

With instrumental music playing in the background, “Father, I give my heart to you. I give you my sins, I give you my tears, I give you my fears, I give you my whole life. I accept the gift of your Son on the cross for my sins. And I ask you, Father, to receive me as your child. Through Jesus I pray, Amen” (Copied from The Spiritual Sword, January 1998, edited by Alan Highers).

Brother Lucado’s heretical doctrine is not recent among us in denying the necessity of water baptism for the remission of sins for an alien sinner. Logan Fox, a graduate of David Lipscomb University, a professor at Pepperdine University for a short time and a preacher in the church said, “It is possible also, that one might be born again and filled with the Spirit without being baptized, but happy is he who can with gratitude and confidence point to the day he was baptized” (Voices of Concern, Robert Meyers, 18). This shows the arrogance of men in light of Jesus’ explicit statement, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Fox said a man can be born without the water (baptism), but Jesus said he could not!

Randy Mayeux, a so-called gospel preacher, stated, “I don’t know many in our fellowship who are arguing that the New Testament doesn’t teach baptism. It’s what happens to the person who doesn’t understand that way” (Behold the Pattern, Goebel Music, 230). Well, try this same reasoning on faith. We believe faith in Christ as the Son of God is essential. What about the Jew or others who do not understand it this way? Jesus still said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Woe unto the man who would offer salvation on lesser terms! Mayeux also said, “I have preached and believed, I believe deeply that the New Testament teaches that salvation is a free gift of God period! You are saved by grace alone.” This not only eliminates faith, but also repentance and, yes, water baptism.

We are hearing that an alien sinner does not have to understand the reason for which he is being baptized in order to be saved. Rubel Shelley said, “Lately I have been bothered by two false teachings about baptism which are being circulated in our fellowship . . . unless one expressly understands that baptism is for (i.e., unto) remission of sins, he has not been baptized for the right reason, is still in his sins and needs to be baptized again” (Behold the Pattern 278). The Bible teaches we obey from the heart (Rom. 6:17-18). How can one obey God and do it for the wrong purpose? This is like saying we can eat the Lord’s supper acceptably while at the same time not discerning the Lord’s body. Strange reasoning. Buff Scott, who gravitated to the Christian Church, said, “I am convinced that the honest unimmersed who are seeking to serve the Lord but who die without coming to an adequate understanding of the new birth, will be eternally saved by God’s grace and mercy.” What a presumptuous statement! The highest authority for this is Buff Scott.

Brethren, we continually thank God for his wonderful grace and matchless love. Indeed by grace are we saved (Eph. 2:5). No man lives above sin. By the deeds or works of the law no flesh is justified in God’s sight (Rom. 3:20). This plainly shows that we cannot be saved by perfect law keeping or perfectionism. All of us sin and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Hence, we must depend on grace. We have to come to God by the way of the cross. There is no other way. However, none is saved by grace alone. Grace must be appropriated. This is done through faith (Rom. 5:2). This is not faith alone, but a trusting, obedient faith which entails repentance (Luke 13:3; 24:47), confession (Acts 8:37), and water baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3, 4; Gal. 3:27; 1 Pet. 3:21). By God’s grace Jesus tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9), but the benefits of his death, namely, his blood, are received in water baptism (Rom. 6:3).

The Pentecostians, the Ethiopian eunuch, Paul, Cornelius, Lydia, and the Philippian jailor had Christ preached to them and all responded in the same manner. None was saved by faith only, repeating after the preacher the so- called sinner’s prayer or direct operation of the Holy Spirit. Unless you were saved the same way these were saved in the examples stated above, you have not been saved. Think seriously about it. God’s great plan of salvation will be consummated at Christ’s second coming (cf. Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5).

Let us be careful that we be not led away by these nefarious doctrines promulgated by men who are making shipwreck of the faith.

For many years, brethren have opposed the error of the so called “Jehovah’s Witnesses” who deny the deity of Christ. As brethren responded by affirming Christ’s deity, they have consistently made the same arguments which will comprise the bulk of this article. Brethren did not find it necessary to redefine the concept of deity to affirm that Jesus possessed and exhibited his divinity while on earth. Neither did they find it necessary to ex- plain how Jesus was both deity and humanity while on earth. Generally, brethren merely affirmed his co-existent deity and humanity and left the how to God as a matter unrevealed (Deut. 29:29).

In recent years, however, strange sounds have come from some brethren who seem alternately to reject and then confess the deity of Christ while on earth and as he presently exists in heaven. The smoothness of those variations has left a question about which view is actually held by such brethren. The pursuit of that question is not the purpose of this article. However, the need to speak “right things” in answer to the “smooth” error of the following statements should be apparent to all who love the truth:

Jesus performed miracles as a man and through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. He did not perform miracles through his own innate power as the Son of God for this would have been to deny his humanity.

Jesus Christ did not give up divinity for just 33 years. He gave it up for all time — all time. It wasn’t just temporarily as Superman stepped out of the phone booth. He gave it up for all time.

These statements manifest an abandonment of the truth regarding the deity of Christ as set forth in the word of God. What does the Bible have to say about the past and present divine nature of Christ?

1. Jesus possessed divine nature upon the earth. While upon the earth, Jesus affirmed his knowledge of his eternal existence (John 8:14). In the same context, he claimed to be the same “I AM” as present in the time of Abraham (John 8:51-58). The knowledge possessed by Jesus of his eternal nature and previous place with the Father was not the knowledge of a mere man, but an evidence of knowledge which predated his earthly existence (John 13:1-3; 16:25- 28). He remembered the heavenly glory which he shared with the Father in the eternal realm and sought it again after completion of his redemptive work (John 17:4-5).

Jesus further claimed, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Upon hearing this claim, the Jews sought to kill Jesus for blasphemy because he made himself God (John 10:31-33). If such was a misunderstanding, Jesus failed to correct it. Every indication from the text is that the Jews rightly interpreted Jesus’ claim to be divine, but they wrongly rejected his claim to divinity. A similar circumstance led the Jews of his time to persecute Jesus because he “called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:16-18).

Jesus’ description as the “Son of God” evidences the truth of this claim because a son shares the nature of his father. If the Father is divine, the Son’s divine nature logically follows. Remember that Jesus claimed to be and was recognized as the “Son of God” while on the earth (John 10:36; Luke 1:35). That is why he could rightly be called Immanuel, “God with us,” in fulfillment of prophecy (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Matt. 1:22-23).

2. Jesus possessed and demonstrated divine power upon the earth. When Jesus healed the man sick of the palsy, it was to prove that he had “authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:1-12). This was not a power shared by the apostles, but one unique to Christ and his divine power to forgive even as he later did upon the cross (Luke 23:39-43). When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea to produce an immediate calm in the midst of a great storm, the disciples asked, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matt. 8:26-27). Later under similar circumstances, Jesus’ power over the natural forces caused his disciples to worship him and exclaim, “Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matt. 14:22-33). Thus, they saw his divine nature as the Son of God confirmed by a manifestation of Jesus’ divine power causing them to give to Jesus that which belongs only to God — worship.

Jesus also affirmed his divine power to bring about his own resurrection saying, “I lay down my life, that I may take it again . . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17-18). He made the same claim earlier in stating, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up . . . He spake of the temple of His body” (John 2:13-21). Paul affirmed that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). How could Jesus be proven “the Son of God with power” if he never used his own divine power and was divested of such power when he came to earth? In commenting on Romans 1:4, Moses Lard wrote:

Moreover, when we reflect on all the facts in the life of Christ, not one strikes the mind as so overwhelming a proof of the presence in him of divine power, underived or undelegated, as his raising the dead (Commentary on Romans 30).

This principle is true not only of Jesus’ own resurrection, but also of the other resurrections performed by his power — “underived or undelegated.” He clearly said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

Jesus also demonstrated his possession of divine knowledge upon the earth. As previously noted, he manifested a the Father (John 13:3; 16:28). Jesus also demonstrated a full knowledge of that which was going to happen unto him in the future (John 13:1, 11; 18:4). He also had a knowledge of the hearts of men (John 6:64; 1:47-51; 4:16-19, 39). Such knowledge is not within the power of a mere man (1 Cor. 2:11).

3. Jesus presently possesses and demonstrates divine nature and power as he rules in heaven. Jesus has now returned to the glory shared in the eternal realm before man ever came into existence (John 17:4-5). The same power of Jesus that produced the creation of all things is now being used to “uphold all things by the word of His power” (Col. 1:15-18; Heb. 1:3). If Jesus gave up his divinity for “all time,” how could he presently have all power in heaven and on earth? Yet, that is what the Bible presently claims for Jesus (Matt. 28:18).

4. Jesus’ acceptance of worship on earth and in the heavenly realm affirms his possession of the divine nature on earth and his continued possession of that divine nature in heaven. While on earth, Jesus was worshiped at his birth (Matt 2:11). He was worshiped by his disciples (Matt. 14:33). He was even to be worshiped by angels while in his earthly ministry (Heb. 1:6). While still on earth after his resurrection, Jesus received worship (Matt. 28:9; John 20:28). At his ascension, Jesus was worshiped (Luke 24:50- 52). In his present reign from heaven, Jesus now receives worship from those before the throne (Rev. 5). Jesus never refused worship directed towards him. When coupled together with scriptural teaching about whom we are to rightfully worship, the implication regarding the present possession of Jesus’ divine nature and his exercise of the divine prerogative of accepting worship is obvious (Rev. 19:10; 22:9; Matt. 4:10).

Conclusion

As Paul extolls Jesus towards the end of his first epistle to Timothy, Paul affirms that the same Jesus “who before Pilate witnessed the good confession” is the “blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:13-16). Jesus did not leave his divine nature behind for all time or for any time when he came to this earth. The Bible clearly teaches that a part of Jesus’ existence included the “days of His flesh” (Heb. 5:7). However, that very affirmation suggests that the same “He” had an existence both before and after that time which was not characterized by “flesh,” a mortal nature. That “He” was the same divine spirit known as the Word who came into the world in a body prepared for him (Heb. 10:5). After that fleshly existence, the same “He” re-entered his heavenly glory (John 17:4-5; Rev. 5). “Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).

By Johnie Paul Edwards

God’s people of old requested that the prophets speak smooth things (Isa. 30:10). The reason they wanted to hear smooth things was because they were rebellious children (30:1), they would not take counsel of God (30:1), they did not put their trust in God (30:2), they would not hear the law of the Lord (30:9), and they despised God’s word (30:12). Truly, those who despise God’s word had rather hear smooth things than the truth of God’s word. But, for those interested in truth, what is the truth about sin? The Bible teaches that . . .

Sin Is Against God

When Potiphar’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Lie with me” (Gen. 39:7), Joseph refused and said, “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). Joseph knew that to lie with another man’s wife would be a great wickedness and would constitute sin against God. All men should know what Joseph knew about sin!

Sin Is The Transgression of God’s Law

The Apostle John revealed, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). Ask people today what is sin and you’ll get about as many answers as people you ask. The Bible teaches that sin is the transgression of the law. “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4, ASV). Anytime we violate God’s law, by either going beyond or falling short of it, we sin!

All Unrighteousness Is Sin

In 1 John 5:17 we learn, “All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” The Scriptures are careful to teach us that all unrighteousness is sin! Too many want to pick and choose when it comes to sin. But, what kind of things are included in Scripture as unrighteousness? Paul, as he wrote about the Gentiles, said, “Being filled with all unrighteous- ness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:29-32).

Whatsoever Is Not of Faith Is Sin

The fourteenth chapter of the book of Romans ends with the words, “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Clearly, when we act apart from faith we sin. This was the reason that the man that doubted regarding the eating of meat was damned when he ate, “because he eateth not of faith.” Obviously, God requires that all things religiously be done in faith and according to the faith. When we do things according to the faith we do that which is authorized or taught in God’s word. While to eat or not to eat meat was an authorized liberty, for “let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not . . .” (Rom. 14:3), not all things fall into authorized liberties. The context of Romans 14 must be understood. It has to do with “nothing unclean of itself” (14:14), and things that “are pure” (14:20). Some things are outright matters of sin. John taught, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9).

It is clear as one reads and studies God’s word that some things are good and some things are evil. There is no middle ground! We are taught to do that which is good (Heb. 13:16). We do such or become guilty of sin.

To Know To Do Good And Not To Do It Is Sin

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17). This principle is important and is being contrasted with rejoicing in boasting and the statement that “. . . all such rejoicing is evil” (4:16). It is clear as one reads and studies God’s word that some things are good and some things are evil. There is no middle ground! We are taught to do that which is good (Heb. 13:16). We do such or become guilty of sin. There are many things identified by God as good, but when we fail to do them we sin.

To Say We Have No Sin Is To Lie

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). The reason that none can say that they have no sin is because “. . . all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Some refuse to admit sin. Such is to be guilty of lying.

Man Can Be Made Free From Sin

Since sin leads to eternal death (Rom. 6:23), we need to be made free from sin. How does this happen? Romans 6 teaches, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (6:18) and “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (6:22). Romans 6 reveals several things involved in being made free from sin. Being made free from sin involves, being baptized into Jesus Christ (6:3), walking in newness of life (6:4), no longer serving sin (6:6), not yielding our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (6:13), and obeying from the heart (6:16). This is God’s plan for man being made free from sin. “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom. 6:22).

The Blood of Jesus Christ Cleanseth Us From All Sin

The plan for such cleansing is revealed, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). In John 8:12 Jesus equated walking in the light with following him. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). In following Christ the child of God confesses his sins and “. . . he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The Wages of Sin Is Death

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). We all need to know that the end of serving sin is death, eternal death! Paul in Romans 6 deals with living in sin and explains that the walk of a Christian is not one of sin, but in newness of life (6:6). We are to be dead to sin (6:11), not let sin reign in our mortal bodies (6:12), and we are not to yield our members as instruments unto sin (6:13). The end of living in sin is eternal death and the end of serving God will be everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. James taught, “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (Jas. 1:15).

Sin Should Be Laid Aside

The apostle to the Hebrew Christians wrote, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). To successfully run the race that ends in eternal life, we must: lay aside every weight, lay aside sin, run with patience, and look unto Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2). As Paul wrote to the Colossians, we read, “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:8-10).

Man Can Die In His Sins

Jesus said, “. . . that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). God planned for repentance and remission of sins to be preached (Luke 24:47). It was preached and we need to continue preaching it! Christ was sent into the world to be a propitation for sin (1 John 4:10), that is he was “manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin (Heb. 10:4). Christ’s blood can take away sin in that in him “. . . we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). Rather than dying in our sins, we should choose to die in the Lord, for “. . . blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

May we ask not for the “smooth things” (Isa. 30:10), but for the “old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6:16).