THE SHACKLING OF GRACE
Before the Cross
Greetings! Think about this...
The unbelieving Jew and Gentile and even the believing Jew in the Old Testament (Old Covenant) were at a tremendous disadvantage compared to the New Covenant believer. In Ephesians 2:12 Paul said to Christians, ....at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. He was referring to their pre-Christian days.
The Old Covenant Jews did not have God indwelling as we do. When the judges, kings, and prophets spoke on behalf of God, the Spirit would come upon them and then depart. Of course, the law, which was their primary restraint, was locked up in the tabernacle. Is it any wonder God says to the people of Judah, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Is this then the believer's condition in the New Covenant?
David, after his sin with Bathsheba, pleaded in Psalm 51:10 for a clean heart and a steadfast spirit. Through Ezekiel God prophesied that he would fulfill David's request by cleansing his people from sin. God also promised,...I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). When did this occur? It was accomplished and available for the first time after Pentecost!
In addition, Romans 7 talks of the Jew who lived under law (count the number of times that law is mentioned in this chapter), and Paul says that when we were in the flesh (not in Christ), sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death (Romans 7:5). Does this sound like a man who has died to the law? Paul continues to make the distinction between past and present, But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by (Romans 7:6).
A thorough understanding of these truths is vital for discovering the fullness of the victorious life that God has so graciously and freely provided for his beloved children.
Is It Time For a New Reformation?
After reading through the Reverend’s complete articles, I was left with the thought, “If this is all the Bible offers, we are in serious trouble.” But more likely it is time that the Bible is studied for purposes of another Reformation. If the writer is correct, then God is suspect when he says through Paul, How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:2).
Most Christians will, of course, give credit to God for any progress gained in their fight against sin, referenced as sanctification. You may have noticed, as I have, that many believers get more crotchety as they get older. What does this tell you about their success in becoming sanctified by works?
The Ultimate Decision
Do you fully realize that salvation is by grace alone—a free gift? Do you realize that sanctification, as taught in the New Covenant, is also a free gift?
Vanderwell apparently believes it is helpful to think of sinners much like the world sees addicts. That is, we will always be recovering sinners, as we gradually become better sinners.
God tells us we are new creations, saints, the elect, pure, holy, righteous, without blemish. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ....to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:4,6). And... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new, For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21).
As Charles Trumbull said in his book, Victory in Christ, “It is not that we are not able to sin, but it is that we are able not to sin.”
Do you, Reverend, believe we are a new creation? Or are we just an old creation, cleansed and forgiven through numerous confessions and continuous forgiveness?
Romans 5:8 reads, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still(yet) sinners, Christ died for us. The clear implication of this verse is that Christ's death took place when we were sinners, but we are sinners no longer. What do those who believe we are still sinners do with this verse? Ignore it? Paul too believes that what was true about us, before Christ died for us, is no longer true! Yet many people believe we are still sinners because of passages like 1 Timothy 1:15, .... that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
As we look closely at that passage and put it into context, I believe we see a powerful argument in Paul’s own statement that would refute that view. In verse 13 of that passage, Paul states, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
In the book of Acts however, in Paul’s appeal to Caesar, he says...
“I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
On the one hand Paul says that God had mercy earlier in his life because he acted in ignorance. But now, he knows the truth, and the truth is he is no longer that man who was a sinner in the eyes of God, but is now free from that identity and curse.
Assume for a moment that you were the champion pole vaulter in your high school. As you take someone on a tour of the gym they see your many trophies. If they ask, “Who is the champion of all pole vaulters in your school,” you could answer “I am!” Present tense. Does that mean you are still pole vaulting? No it doesn’t because you are now 72 years old and would break your silly neck.
So it was with Paul. He could say in the present tense, “I am chief of sinners,” because he held the record, not because he was still a sinner.
Who is telling the truth—God or man? We must not be tempted to ignore the truth of the Word of God.
Learn more in my next email, "Making a Mockery."
-Lee LeFebre
