The
Oberlin Evangelist
Holiness Of Christians In The Present Life:--No. 11
July 19, 1843
JUSTIFICATION.
Modernized by Cliff
Collins
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
In today’s message, I will discuss,
I. What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus?
II. What do the words ‘no condemnation’, mean?
III. Why is there no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus?
IV. What is intended by not walking after the flesh,
but after the Spirit?
V. Only those who walk after the Spirit, are in a
justified state.
I. What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus?
There are four common answers to this question. I will briefly consider each of these four
answers, and then I will present what I believe to be the true answer.
1. The first answer to what it means to be in Christ
Jesus is the doctrine of eternal justification by imputed righteousness. This doctrine states that a certain number
of souls were unconditionally chosen from eternity past, to whom, Christ is
their Covenant Head, in such a sense that they are eternally justified. This gross and absurd notion has recently
been shattered and, as a result, most churches today generally reject this
teaching. Since I recently presented my
views of imputed righteousness, I will not dwell on it here.
2. The second popular answer revolves around the
doctrine of perpetual justification by one act of faith. This doctrine says, that our first act of
faith, brings our soul into such a relationship with God, that afterwards, we
never need to be condemned or exposed to the penalty of the law, no matter how
many sins we may commit. Concerning Christians,
the simple idea is that the penalty of the law is completely set aside.
(1.) Now, concerning this doctrine, let me begin by
saying that there are two kinds of justification, legal justification and
gospel justification. Legal
justification consists in pronouncing a moral agent innocent of ever violating
the claims of the law, so that the law has no charge against him. Gospel justification consists in pardoning a
sinner for whatever transgressions he may have committed, that is, gospel
justification arrests or sets aside executing the penalty he deserves.
(2.) Legal justification is out of the question,
because the whole world has become guilty before God. To maintain that a soul is perpetually justified by one act of
faith literally tosses God’s laws right into the garbage, and it is one of the
worst forms of error. Concerning
Christians, this doctrine maintains that God erases His law for the one who
performs this one act of faith. Now, a
law is made up of both a precept and a penalty, and if either is eliminated,
that law ceases to be law. It does not
matter whether the precept or the penalty is set aside, the law is abolished
the minute you set aside one or the other.
If you set aside either the precept or the penalty, you are making a
deadly mistake. It is the nature of a
pardon, to set aside the execution of the penalty that is due because one has
violated the law in the past, and to restore the person to governmental favor,
based on their good behavior. A pardon
cannot do any more than this, without giving people a license to sin anytime
they want to. If sinning in the future
cannot incur the penalty of the law, it follows that the Christian would no
longer be in danger of going to hell, no matter how many sins he may commit, no
matter how bad those sins are, or even if he should die in a state of the
foulest apostasy. Any doctrine that
even suggests that this is possible, is a horrible abomination!
(3.) The doctrine of perpetual and eternal
justification simply can’t be true, because no one can prevent condemnation
anytime someone sins. There is
condemnation even when a Christian sins.
I mentioned in a recent lecture, that the law is not based in God’s
arbitrary will, but in the nature and relationships of moral beings. Whenever a penalty is due because of any
sinful act, that penalty is due because of the nature of the situation, so that
every sinful act exposes the possibility that the sinner may receive the
penalty for that sinful act. God cannot
pardon anyone in advance. In other
words, Christ cannot forgive sin in advance, and to claim that He can forgive
sin before someone commits that sin is the same thing as saying that Christ approves
of sin.
(4.) Again, if Christians are not condemned when
they sin, God cannot forgive them.
Why? First, for forgiveness is
nothing more than setting aside the penalty of the law. Now in order to be forgiven, the condemned
sinner must repent. However, if
Christians are not condemned, how can they properly pray for forgiveness? In fact, it would be wrong for them to pray
for forgiveness for something they did that they didn’t feel that it was wrong
for them to do. It would be unbelief
for the person to pray for forgiveness for something he or she does without
condemnation because that sin, no matter how bad it might be, never exposed the
one who committed it, to the penalty of God’s law.
(5.) This doctrine of perpetual and eternal
justification simply can’t be true, because the Bible uniformly makes
perseverance in holiness, that is, perseverance in obedience, just as much a
condition of final acceptance with God, as it makes repentance, or one act of
faith a condition of final acceptance with God. As for me, I must say, that I don’t know where the Bible says
that salvation depends on one act of faith.
Those who defend this doctrine should, at least, tell us where it is
taught.
(6.) The Bible, on the other hand, clearly declares,
“When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and
dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies”. (Ezek 18:26) What can be more straightforward or explicit than this
passage? I don’t know how so many
people can overlook or evade this passage.
(7.) If this doctrine is true, it follows that if
Christians were not condemned for one sin, they would not be condemned for two
sins, or ten sins, or even ten thousand sins.
That means, that God would save the greatest apostates even without
repentance. But, what kind of a gospel
is that? That kind of gospel would
overthrow the entire government of God.
Such a pretty gospel! Such
strange good news!
(8.) Not only that, if God were to abolish the
penalty of the law for believers, then God would have to abolish the law for
believers. To them, God’s law becomes
nothing more than simple advice, which they may choose to accept and follow or
not to follow.
(9.) Finally, the experience of every Christian
condemns this doctrine of perpetual justification. Is there any Christian who does not feel condemned when he
sins? Now, a Christian is either condemned
when his conscience tells him that he is, or his conscience is opposed to the
government of God, falsely condemning him.
And if Christians were under the rebuke of a conscience that is opposed
to God’s government, if they yield to their false conscience and go and ask for
pardon, they become guilty of unbelief, and thus add one sin to another. The truth is, no conscience is opposed to
God’s government. Every Christian’s
conscience condemns this doctrine. This
doctrine is obviously evil, and only evil, and continually evil, in everything
it tends to produce.
3. The third answer to the question of what does it
mean to be in Christ Jesus is that there will be no final condemnation. Without saying anything about whether this
doctrine is true or false, let me say here, that this passage never says there
will be no final condemnation. It says,
‘there is now no condemnation’. This
agrees with Romans 5:1, where it says, “Therefore, having been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. Indeed, what the Bible says here is in complete
harmony with the rest of the scriptures.
4. The fourth answer to the question of what does it
mean to be in Christ Jesus is this. To
be in Christ, is to have a personal, living faith in Him. To be in Christ is to abide in Him by a
living faith.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is
withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are
burned. If you abide in Me, and My
words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for
you.” (John 15:4-7)
“And you know that He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him
nor known Him.” (1 John 3:5-6)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
I could quote many other passages, all stating that
there is no condemnation for those whose faith brings them to the place where
they actually conform to God’s divine will.
5. To be in Christ, is to be so under His influence,
that you no longer walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. In other words, you receive constant divine
influence from Him, just as branches continuously derive their nourishment from
the vine. Many passages in the Bible
talk about this intimate connection with Christ. These passages also mention that we spiritually submit ourselves
to His control.
(Gal. 2:20) “I have been crucified with Christ; it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if the Spirit leads you, you are not
under the law. Now the works of the
flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness,
revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told
you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal 5:16-25)
II. What do the words ‘no condemnation’, mean?
1. If you are condemned, you are under the sentence
of the law. The law judges you, passes
sentence on you, and condemns you.
Those who are condemned are not only not pardoned for their past sins,
but also their present state of mind is also blameworthy and condemned. Neither the law nor the gospel justifies
them, but the whole penalty that is due because of all their iniquity stands
out against them.
2. When the Bible says that there is no
condemnation, it does not mean that they never were condemned. The Bible simply means that their past sins
are all pardoned. God completely
delivers them from their exposure to the penalty of the law, which is due
because of their sins. In addition to
this, this passage suggests that, in their present state of mind, they obey the
law, so that the law does not condemn them in their present state. It does not mean that they will never be
condemned again, if they sin, but that, as long as they are in Christ Jesus,
they are free from all present condemnation.
III. Why is there no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus?
1. Freedom from condemnation certainly isn’t because
they are the elect and therefore they are eternally justified.
2. The fact that those who are in Christ Jesus are
not condemned is not because Christ’s righteousness is so imputed to them that
they can sin without being exposed to the penalty of the law.
3. The fact that those who are in Christ Jesus are
not condemned is not because they are perpetually justified by one act of
faith. Thinking that you are eternally
justified because of just one act of faith, as I tried to show you, is a
serious and deadly error.
4. The fact that those who are in Christ Jesus are
not condemned is not because God accepts any kind of imperfect obedience. There is a general opinion throughout the
Church today, that somehow or another, God accepts imperfect obedience as
genuine. Now it seems to me, that this
view of obedience is horribly wrong.
The truth is, God has no choice in this matter, any more than any other
being has a choice in this matter, because the law exists and it makes its
demands completely independent of God’s will.
Whatever the nature and relationships of moral beings demand, God, as
moral Governor, must enforce. God
cannot enforce anything else. Now what
is there, in our reason or the Bible, to sanction the idea, that God will, or
can accept any kind of imperfect obedience?
The Bible insists that we must serve Him with our whole heart. The Bible insists that our love must be
perfectly unselfish. The Bible proposes
no lower standard. Nor could we believe
the Bible, if it offered a lower standard.
What kind of obedience is half obedience, or imperfect obedience? No one can tell, and, as a result, no one
can intentionally obey half of all he is required to obey. The very idea of it is absurd.
5. However, there is now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, because they are in Christ Jesus in the sense that
they have a personal living faith in Him.
Christ does not shield that person from the penalty of the law so he can
continue to violate the precept. No,
but Christ saves him from sin, and because Christ saves him from sin, He saves
him from the desert of the penalty of the law.
Today’s passage says, “Who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit”. Please pay
attention to the result of walking according to the Spirit as we continue
reading this chapter. In the seventh
chapter, Paul spoke about a law in his members, which brought him into
captivity to sin and death; that is, under condemnation. Now he says, (8:2-4) “For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not
walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Here Paul states that the reason why God
sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, and the reason
why God condemned sin in the flesh, was, “that the righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit”. Now, what
Christ accomplished by dying on that old rugged cross satisfies public justice
as soon as our heart willingly chooses to commit itself to conforming to the
law; which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbor as
ourselves. Now, that is a very good
reason why that person is pardoned. The
statement “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and
I will be their God, and they shall be My people” means the same thing. (See Hebrews 8:10)
6. There is no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, because they “walk not after the flesh, but after the
spirit”. This same thought is contained
in Gal. 5:16-25: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the
lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to
one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if the Spirit leads you, you are not
under the law. Now the works of the
flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness,
revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told
you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Here the fruit of the Spirit is just what the law
requires, and therefore there can be no condemnation.
7. This statement must either mean that when we are
in Christ we do not sin, or that in Christ we can sin without
condemnation. Now, what does this
passage mean? This passage cannot mean
that we can sin without condemnation, for that would make Christ approve of
sin. No individual can sin without
breaking the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. The first meaning that when we are in Christ
we do not sin, then, must be the true meaning, and this agrees with what the
Scriptures teach, “Without holiness no
man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews
12:14) Therefore, the reason why there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus is,
(1.) That in Christ their former sins are pardoned
on the ground of his Atonement, on the ground that He died on the cross to pay
the penalty for their sins, and,
(2.) That while they are in Him, they do not
sin. He saves them from their sins, and
therefore, He saves them from condemnation.
IV. What are we trying to say when we talk about not
walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit?
1. The flesh in this passage means the appetites,
desires, and tendencies of our soul. To
walk after the flesh is to indulge in our appetites, desires, and
tendencies. To walk after the flesh is
to commit our will to gratifying selves selfishly. ‘Walking after our flesh’ means that we are in bondage to our
tendencies. Our appetites and desires
become our masters and govern us. To
walk after the flesh is to be selfish.
2. But, to walk after the Spirit, is to obey the
Spirit of Christ. To walk after the
Spirit is to obey the law of God.
V. Only those who walk after the Spirit are in a
justified state.
1. By this statement, I am not saying that those who
walk after the flesh were never justified.
For it is true that individuals, who once obeyed and were justified,
have fallen. The angels who did not
keep their first estate, who sinned and fell once obeyed and were
justified. Adam and Eve sinned after
they were in a state of justification.
They were all justified, in the legal sense, before they sinned. But many, who were once justified in the
gospel sense, have also fallen into serious sin and iniquity.
2. I am not saying that those who walk after the
Spirit are not Christians. The way
people commonly accept this phrase these days, walking after the Spirit is not
limited to those who are in a state where they actually conform to God’s will,
but the phrase, walking after the Spirit, applies to all who give credible
evidence of having been converted.
Moreover, it is true that Christians sustain a peculiar relationship
with God, and the phrase, walking after the Spirit, does not indicate that they
never sin or that they never fall into condemnation, but that they sustain a
certain relationship to God that others do not have.
3. However, I do mean that no one can commit sin
without condemnation. When a Christian
sins, he is just as condemned as any one else is condemned, and he not
justified any more than he is obedient.
4. What I am saying is that God cannot justify or
pardon anyone, until that person obeys the law or repents. Obeying the law and repenting is the same
thing. It is important that we all
should understand that repentance is not sorrow for sin, but a real turning
away from all sin to God. Now when any
individual sins, he must be condemned until he either repents or he forsakes
his sin. A great many people talk about
always repenting. They say that we even
need to repent of the best acts we ever perform. Now, this is all nonsense, and nothing but nonsense. Religion is nothing like this, and to represent
religion this way is to talk loosely.
“The soul who sins shall die.”
(Ezek 18:4) Repentance is a
hearty and complete forsaking of sin and entrance into obedience to God.
5. When one truly repents, God justifies him, and he
remains justified as long as he remains obedient, and no longer; and when he
falls into sin, he is condemned just as much as any other sinner, because he is
a sinner.
6. Beloved, justification follows
sanctification. Justification does not come
before sanctification as some vainly imagine.
I use the term sanctification here, not in the high sense of permanent
sanctification, but in the sense of simple total consecration to God. God never justifies people before they forsake
sin. God certainly could not legally
justify anyone this way, and the gospel offers no pardon until after they
repent, or until after they heartily submit their will to God. Let me also say, that Christians are justified
no longer than they are sanctified, or obedient, and that complete permanent
justification depends on complete and permanent sanctification.
REMARKS.
1. I have often thought, and could not help coming
to the conclusion that the great majority of professing Christians today are
habitually committing known sins, and yet they still expect that God will save
them?. In addition, when someone urges
them to seek holiness with all their heart, they say, “No one expects me to be
perfect in this life. I expect Christ
will make up for my deficiencies”. Now
this kind of religion is no better than universalism or infidelity. Look that that professing Christian. What is he doing? Why, he is indulging in his appetites and tendencies in many
different ways. He knows that what he
is doing is against God’s will. Ask him
about it and he will tell you that he does this every day; and yet he thinks
that God justifies him. But if the
Bible is true, he is not justified. “Do
you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that
one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to
righteousness?” (Rom 6:16) Yet, he can tell you about his Christian
experience. Perhaps he wrote it all
down on paper so he wouldn’t forget it.
Perhaps he tells about his Christian experience a hundred times. He tells how he felt the day when God
pardoned his sins, even though he is now living in sin every day. Perhaps he never talks about any experience
at all, but yet, he relies on something that he felt when he imagined he was
converted. Now this is nothing but an
excuse to throw away God’s law, and how astonishing it is that so many of these
same people will cry out so vehemently against others who trample on Gods
law. Yet, they are doing the very same
thing themselves. This is a terrible delusion!
2. God justifies men by faith in Christ, because
they are sanctified by faith in Him.
They don’t have righteousness imputed to them, and thus stand justified
by some fictional doctrine, while they remain personally unholy, but they are
made righteous by faith, and that is the reason why they are justified.
3. If you talk about depending on Christ and being
justified by Him, while you indulge in any form of known sin, you are insulting
God. You are really charging God with
approving of your sin. A woman, not
long ago, was talking with her minister about certain women who always dressed
most extravagantly. He said that he
thought the dressiest people in his church were the best Christians. They were the humblest, and the ones who
depended on Christ the most. That was
his idea about religion. What did he
mean? Why, he meant that that such
people did not even pretend to be holy, and they still said that they depended
completely on Christ. They acknowledged
that they were sinners. And they should
acknowledge that they were sinners! But
what kind of religion is that? And how
did this minister get such a notion?
The only reason this minister could make such a statement is because he
believed that people are not expected to be holy in this life, and that they
can still be justified even while they are still living in sin! Now I could just as easily expect a pirate,
whose hands are red with blood to be saved, as professing Christians who
indulge in any form of sin, lust, pride, worldliness, or any other
iniquity. “Do we then make void the law
through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31) But, the Church today has sunk into such a sad state of affairs
when ministers can utter statements like that!
4. This twisted idea of justification fuels the
sinner’s objection that the gospel is a system that allows you to sin without
punishment. The Unitarians have leveled
this objection against the doctrine of faith.
They say that the doctrine of faith allows you to sin without
punishment. Ask them why they say
so. They answer, because the doctrine
of justification by faith is harmful to good morals because it allows you to
sin without punishment. A circuit
Judge, several years ago said, “I cannot admit that the Bible is true. It teaches that men are saved by faith, and
I therefore regard the gospel as harmful to good morals, and as involving a
principle that would ruin any government on earth”. Now, did he get this idea from the Bible? No, he got that idea from the false
representations made of the teachings of the Bible. The Bible does not teach anything like that. Instead, the Bible clearly states that a
faith that does not sanctify is a dead faith.
5. There are many people hoping that they are
Christians, who yet live in such a way that their conscience condemns
them. “For if our heart condemns us,
God is greater than our heart, and knows all things”. (1 John 3:20) Now to
teach that God can justify people while their conscience condemns them, contradicts
this passage. If our own conscience
condemns us, then God condemns us.
Shall God be less just than our own conscience?
6. A great multitude of professing
Christians today are nothing more than careless sinners. Now let me ask you, if you compared the way
many people live in the Church with the way many careless sinners live, isn’t
it obvious that there is no difference between them. And am I to harsh to say that they are nothing more than hardened
sinners? What will become of them?
7. Many well-known Church members, who are
considered the most pious people in the church, are, really, only convicted
sinners. It is a very remarkable thing,
and one that I have spent a lot of time and effort observing, that many who thought
they were converted in recent revivals are really only convicted sinners, that
is, they are only legalists. The
preaching they’ve listened to turned them into legalists. The preachers presented the claims of the
law to them along with telling them that they are required to religiously obey
the law. They are told that they must
trust Christ for pardon, and they try or want to trust in Him. Many really end up trusting in Christ, while
others stop short by only making resolutions to trust in Christ. They intend to trust in Christ, but they
don’t really trust in Christ. All those
who only make resolutions, will backslide, or they will stay in the Church
almost constantly distressed by the lashings of their conscience. If you hold up the law, they become
distressed because they do not obey it, and if you hold up Christ, they become
distressed because they know that they do not really exercise faith in
Him. Hold up either, and they have no
rest. As it turns out, they really are
convicted sinners, and yet they think they are religious. In times when they feel cold, they always
sink back, but in times of revival, they are aroused and driven to perform a
heartless service that continually fails to appease the demands of their
conscience. This is the only experience
that they know about. They refer you to
the seventh chapter of Romans, to prove that they are experiencing a Christian
experience, and this is how they bolster their hope.
I remember that some time ago, after I had preached
against the common belief that the seventh chapter of Romans is the Christian
experience, a minister said to me, “Well, Brother Finney, I can’t believe that
what you said is true”. Why? “Because that’s my experience, and I believe
I am a Christian”. What a strange
reason that was! I suppose it was his
experience! Great multitudes have this
experience, and they believe that it is genuine. I fear, in some situations, whole Churches are filled with these
people, and their ministers teach them that this is genuine religion. What would the minister I just mentioned
preach to his congregation? He would
preach, saying that “living a life in
sin is Paul’s experience, and it is my experience also.” Congregations often receive a lot of comfort
from what the minister says about his experience. Oh, what kind of teaching is this? It is high time there was a complete change in the Church on this
subject. Whoever has no other
experience but the kind of experience that is described in the seventh chapter
of Romans is not justified at all, and the fact that great multitudes are
deluded, is the reason why so many can sit down contented under this view of
the subject.
8. One who walks after the Spirit has this inward
testimony that he pleases God. An
individual may think he pleases God when he does not, just as people in a dream
may think that they are awake, only to find it all a dream. In the same way, individuals may think they
please God when they do not, but it is nevertheless true that those who please
God know that they please God. He who
believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself that he believes and
pleases God.
9. However, this view of the subject does not
address the final perseverance of the saints.
What I am attempting to show is,
(1.) That God pardons or justifies true believers,
and treats them as righteous, because of what Christ has done for us in dying
on the Cross for the penalty of our sin.
(2.) That God justifies those who truly believe
because they are actually righteous.
The question is not whether a Christian who has fallen into sin will die
in that state, but whether, if he does die in his sins, will he be damned? Whether, while in sin, is the Christian
justified.
10. Those who sin do not abide in Christ. “And you know that He was manifested to take
away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him
nor known Him. Little children, let no
one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is
righteous. He who sins is of the devil,
for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy
the works of the devil. Whoever has
been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin,
because he has been born of God.” (1
John 3:5-9) As long as Christians abide
in Christ, they are not condemned, but if they overlook what abiding in Christ
is, they will surely fall into sin, and then, God must condemn them. The secret of holy living, and freedom from
contamination, is to abide in Christ.
Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. (Gal 2:20)
We must have such confidence in Him that we let Him have complete
control of our lives in all things.
11. Sinners, can you see how you can be saved. You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
with all your heart. You must become
holy and walk after the Spirit.
12. Convicted professing Christians can also see what they must do. Have you felt misgivings? Have you felt a load on your conscience? Are you unable to say, “I am justified? I am accepted in the Beloved.” You must come to Christ now, if you are experiencing condemnation.
13. There is neither peace nor safety except in
Christ, but in Him is all fullness, and everything we need. In Him, you may come to God as children with
the utmost confidence.
14. If you are in Christ, you have peace of
mind. How sweetly the experience of a
Christian answers to this. Perhaps many
of you here today can testify to this.
A burden too heavy to carry weighs you down. You cry out, “Oh, wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?” But your
faith grabs a hold of Christ, and suddenly your burdens are all gone. You no longer feel condemned. The hand of grace wipes out all the stains
of sin. You can now look calmly at your
sins, and not feel them grind like an iron yoke. Are you in this state?
Can you testify, from your own experience, that there is now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus?
If so, you can reflect on your past sins without being ground down into
the dust under the guilty burden that rolls upon you. The instant you experience a freedom from condemnation, your
whole soul yearns with unselfish love for others. You know what their state is.
Ah, yes, you know what it means to drink the wormwood and the gall, to
have the arrows of the Almighty drink up your spirit, and when you find deliverance
you must of course, want to teach others what this great salvation is all
about. You want to strengthen those who
are weak. And an individual who can sit
down at ease, and not find his love burning like fire shut up in his bones, who
does not even feel agony, not for himself, let alone feel agony for others,
cannot have discovered yet that there is now no condemnation. He may dream that he has, but if he ever
wakes up, he will find that it only a dream.
Oh, how many need to be aroused from this sleep of death!