Hey, Tommy!
You said once that Jesus came to Earth to be an "example" of how to live a sinless life. Was that His only purpose?
You also said that you kicked your porn addiction on your own, without God's help! What do you think of the verse that says "apart from Me, you can do nothing"?
You also talk a lot about how you pursue righteousness. Does righteousness come from obeying God's law?
Thank you for your questions, Jesus came to be our example, our strength against sin and temptation, and to set mankind free from the bondage's of sin, but of course, we need Him, as I stress real repentance as commanded doesn't save us, but makes us savable, because I do not buy into the original sin false teaching, God made mankind upright, but he sought out his own way!
He set an example to follow, to walk in His steps, He never said we must be as perfect as God, but He did say we must obey His commands, and this comes from a truly repented heart.
His purpose surely wasn't to take the wrath of God, or to be a substitute for us, but He died as a ransom to set mankind free from the bondage's of sin, not in them, so yes He had many purposes for us to follow and walk an obedient life IN His strength, in no way am I saying we don't need Jesus from the false accusers.
I never said I kicked my addictions on my own, BUT I am saying we must forsake them IN repentance first, anyone can stop fornication, getting drunk, lying, cheating, smoking, etc, on their own, if you could understand what biblical repentance is for and what it produces in the broken sinner then you can see I took that step in repentance, the porn stopped, and now I walk IN the spirit giving NO provision for the flesh, yes I can fall back into this vile addiction, my choice to walk out of the light, but I walk in the spirit, and not the flesh, and Jesus resisted all temptation in His flesh and so can I as His perfect example, fear God and obey His commands!
Of the command says the righteous walk by faith, faith which is obedience is imputed to us as righteousness, the scriptures never teach the righteousness of Christ is imputed onto us, but faith is imputed to us as righteousness as we walk in the spirit, keeping the RIGHTEOUS requirements of the law!
All that I preach comes to life when you realize you are not born a poor helpless sinner, or that Jesus was your substitute, He is our example, our strength, out light and power to resist sin and the world! he made it clear, he who overcomes will inherit eternal life, and unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes, you will not make it onto the Kingdom.
Here is some proof of what I claim:
What Did the Early Christians Teach? Part 1
First of all, What was their Bible? (there was no NT Cannon until forth Century) There Bible Consisted of: The Septuagint, a Greek Version of the Jewish Old Testament. AND:
The Epistles of Paul, Peter, James & John. (And the Gospel Accounts)
The Official Language of Scripture was: Common Greek. (this is ancient Greek)
Most of the Original Apostles were gone by the Year 50, except for John, who lived till 90-100 AD
From these evolved their Doctrines and Understanding of God’s Truth. They Did Not have a Systematic Theology, only a Doctrine Which is According to Godliness, as handed down to them from the Lord.
Basically their Doctrine Consisted of the following:
1) Jesus as a Teacher of Righteousness, Setting an Example to follow after
2) The Ransom Model, in that Christ Rescued us from the corrupting influence of sin
3) Reconciliation to God through Repentance Proven by Deeds. Sin had to STOP!
4) Faith Working by Love, Actively Obeying God
5) Contending earnestly for the faith to keep it Pure
Presently Christian Doctrine Does not Resemble the Primitive Model:
1) Substitution (Jesus took our place, suffered our Penalty, Became Sin & went to Hell)
2) Moral Transfer (imputed Righteousness)
3) Pre-forgiveness of future sins
4) Rewards System
5) Eternal Security (No further condemnation for ongoing sins)
The Ransom Model: (Matt20:28, Mk10:45, 1Tim2:6)
For the first 1000 years of the Church the Death of Christ was a RANSOM to Purchase His People from the Corrupting influence of sin. To which they had been Sold into, (the Power of sin & Death) by Adam.
Thus forgiveness can be granted without a Payment or Penalty. (Matt18) On Virtue of Christ’s Death (Blood, Heb9:14) that Purchased us from the Dominion of Satan (god of this age) ON CONDITION that we Repent, (Get Clear of our wrong doings! 2Cor7:10-11) and Seek the Mercy of God in Reconciliation. The Early Saints understood that Man had Sold himself into sin (slave to whom you obey!) Satan’s Kingdom, and had to be Redeemed by the Blood of Christ to Cleanse them & Make their hearts PURE. This was accomplished through the Reconciliation. (2Cor5)
NO ONE Taught or Believed:
1) That any kind of Moral Transfer of Virtue or Vice had Taken place
2) Or that Christ’s Death was any kind of Substitution
3) Or that future sins were automatically forgiven
The Fathers saw man as Subject to Death & Temptation of Satan, But NEVER as inheriting Adam’s Sin & Guilt. Man possessed a Free Will capable of Seeking & Obeying God without coercion. (Grace was Divine Influence extended to all) Sin was ALWAYS a CHOICE, Never a SUBSTANCE, inbred into the flesh.
Until Augustine, 4the Century Rome, No one suggested such a thing, because it was Gnosticism!
ONLY the Gnostics taught the DUAL Nature of Man. Never the Christians! Today this is Reversed!
This ONE False Doctrine has Predicated all the Others:
1) Man Can’t Obey God, so Jesus Obeyed for him!
2) Man can Never be Righteous, so God Transfers it to him
3) Man can Never Stop sinning, so his Future sins must be Covered
4) Justification is a One Time Deal, for all time, a Complete Package!
5) Salvation is accomplished by: Receiving, Trusting and Resting in all this.
The COMPLETE OPPOSITE of Bible Doctrine & Early Church Teaching. No Doers, Just Hearers!
For Review:
The Major Difference between Penal Substitution (taught today) and Ransom is:
One Deals with Divine Justice (PS) and the other with Deliverance from sin & Bondage of Devil.
Penal Sub calls for Retribution, Satisfaction of God’s Wrath by Punishment. Moral Gov denies need for Public Justice, thus the Good of God’s Gov is upheld and man is influenced toward Repentance by His Great Love. BOTH call for a SUBSITUTION which is Absent in Early Times because the Aim of Ransom is to FREE man from Bondage of Sin, NOT provide him with a Sub for his sins.
Ransom in the Scriptures: (What the Early Saints were seeing as Redemption from Sin)
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Hos13:14
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many Matt20:28
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark10:45
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 1Tim2;5
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. Acts20:28
Being Justified freely by His Grace through the Release by Ransom that is in Christ Jesus Rom3:24
Redemption: Apolytrōsis: releasing effected by payment of ransom, redemption, deliverance, liberation procured by the payment of a ransom. Translated: 9-Redemption, 1-Deliverance
Rom8:23, 1Cor1:30, Eph1:7, 14, 4:30, Col1:14, Heb9:14, 11L35
Ransom: Lytron: the price for redeeming, ransom, paid for slaves, captives, for the ransom of life, to liberate many from misery and the penalty of their sins. Used: Mk, Matt
1Tim2 Passage: antilytron, what is given in exchange for another as the price of his redemption, ransom
The Teaching of Imputed Righteousness:
the Father embraces us in Christ when he clothes us with the innocence of Christ, and accepts it as ours, so that in consideration of it he regards us as holy, pure, and innocent ... Provided with this righteousness, we constantly obtain the remission of sins through faith. Our imperfection and impurity, covered with this purity, are not imputed, but are as it were buried, so as not to come under judgment ..." - Calvin, Institutes, Book III, chap. 14, #12.
To declare that we are deemed righteous, solely because the obedience of Christ is imputed to us as if it were our own, is just to place our righteousness in the obedience of Christ.
The imputation of righteousness we need very much, because we are far from perfect. As long as we have this body, sin will dwell in our flesh. Then, too, we sometimes drive away the holy spirit; we fall into sin, like Peter, David, and other holy men. Nevertheless we may always take recourse to this fact, that our sins are covered, and that God will not lay them to our charge. Sin is not held against us for Christ's sake." -- Martin Luther: August 1st, 1521
So faith without works is dead also.
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?[f] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[g] And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.(James 2-20-26)…
Today faith as described in the word of God has taken on many different forms that can easily confuse anyone truly searching for truth. Faith has been so very misrepresented by many well-meaning and not so well meaning Bible teachers and scholars that there are many false and dangerous teachings on this simple act of obedience.
As you can see from the great example set forth by Abraham on what a real saving faith is, it seems near impossible for anyone who has some discernment to not see how obedience and faith go hand in hand, together, two peas in a pod, and mesh as one fine oiled machine when used and put into action as an act of obedience to the commands of God.
I won’t go into every aspect of the above powerful verses, I just encourage you to read them apart from your conceived notions that you were born a sinner, totally depraved, and now faith to you is some forensic ideal that was already done when you said I accept Jesus!
Yes, faith is a work, a working faith through love, where you love God supremely as commanded, and obey His commands from a heart made pure through repentance, and obedience to the truth.
So as we can see Abraham obeyed God from his heart, for He loved God supremely, he did what God told Him to do, no questions asked, thus this obedience was imputed or put onto him as righteousness.
This blows the myth that Jesus did it all in advance, and that faith is just a passive notion that has no dynamics working behind it such as, purity, obedience, synergy (working together with God to produce something powerful together) righteousness, justified by works (deeds) and not faith alone.
But many who profess Christ today have a dead faith, either by sheer laziness or ignorance , or have sat under the repeat after me teachers, who boldly claim faith and obedience are not the same, where obedience was done for them through the provision Jesus somehow made for them, and now their faith equal’s the faith of the demons.
Abraham, Rahab, Jobe, Noah, Daniel, Joseph and many others God used mightily, all produced the deed or works of faith; they obeyed God from their heart, and great love and fear of His awesome power, producing a perfect upright walk with Him.
Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Faith is a work, we must do to please God, it’s a command not a side issue reserved only for the obedient saints in the Bible, but for all who come to Christ as commanded, by faith, with an obedient heart, that can only come through real repentance and faith proven by deeds!
So the next time you want to scream “It’s not of works” remember to be very sure you know what works the word of God is talking about, as clearly portrayed and lived out by Abraham, and many others God declared righteous by their working obedient faith!
To sum this us:
Faith is not passive; it is active, alive and ongoing!
Faith is a work, from the heart that obeys as commanded!
Faith is pleasing to the Lord, in fact He commands all His saints to walk by it, everyday!
Faith=Obedience!
Faith is imputed as righteousness to those who obey God!
Faith purifies the heart, made pure through repentance and clearing of wrong doing!
Faith can become shipwrecked by disobeying God, and following the flesh over the spirit!
There are many more strong examples of faith working through love in the word of God, many have read them and have gotten inspired by them, but the main concern is where your faith is?
In something that never happened, or a working, dynamic, obedient faith as laid out by many brave and godly men and women in the word of God!
And remember IF any of these men or women decided to disobey God, then God would have choose someone else to work with Him, as He is no respecter of persons, but His mercy and kindness is bestowed on the righteous, or the ones who are declared righteous by obeying Him through their heart, keeping His commands, and working together with Him to be counted worthy of their calling on the narrow road!
Act 15:9 And He put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith ((obedience).
Obedience matters, but it’s a free will choice God has given us, where He tests His saints to see if they are real, genuine, walking in the spirit, living a crucified life unto Him, obeying His commands each and every day, knowing that they can become disqualified IF they turn away from Him, seeking to obey their flesh and the many false doctrine’s that teach faith is already done for you in advanced, and any disobedience to God is just a speed bump, not a road block leading to spiritual death!
Tommy
