Today we have people who contend that we must 'stop sinning and trust Jesus yet they do not stress the imperative of the actual PURGING OF THE ROOT OF INIQUITY WITHIN. In effect they are contending for the cutting off of the branches of tree but never laying the Ax to the corrupted Root so the New Tree will produce clean-pure Fruit. The Tree must be made Good and its Fruit good or be cut down and cast into the fire. It's the Root that has to be renewed:
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Matt12:33-37
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Lk3:8-9
You will
Never escape the Corruption of Lust until the Root of iniquity is destroyed,
that's why Peter spoke of it as something that has already taken place in those
who partake of the Divine Nature in Christ:
2Pe 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath
called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (you
cannot ADD to a Faith, as he goes on to say, 2Pet1:5, while the heart is still
defiled by sin. It’s a lie to say you can 'grow good fruit on a bad tree)
He clearly viewed the 'escaping the corruption that is in the
world through lust as a PAST EVENT that takes place in repentance as Paul
said in Rom6:6-7, knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin.
For he who has died has been
freed from sin.
Again, shown Clearly as taking place in the past, once for all, NOT to be repeated again and again as is taught in the general consensus among Professed Christendom. 'Those in Christ HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and lusts' Gal5:24, Look it up, spoken as an event that has taken place once for all, not something done repeatedly.
James reveals
to us the mechanics of sin working through lust: (un-crucified in Christ)
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust,
and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when
it is finished, bringeth forth death. Js1:14-15
Tempted and drawn away, 'taken Captive, by your OWN Lust! Not some
'substance of sin dwelling in your flesh, but the lust of eye, flesh, pride of
life still active and alive in your heart, the Root of inequity you have YET
to Crucify in Repentance, because you were told that Christ accepts you as is,
by faith alone, not of works and will clean you up later in His own good time.
So the 'Lustful eye remains because the 'Tree is still bad. Therefore you can
never escape the corruption that is in the world through lust, as Scripture
says, until the Root has been renewed in Christ. (make the tree good!) You
cannot merely 'cut off the sinful branches one by one and expect the Tree to
produce good fruit, the Tree itself has to be made GOOD before any type
pruning (adding to faith, growing in grace) can take effect. The Tree is not 'Practicing'
growing good fruit is it DOING so, the Tree is Known by the Fruit
it Produces Jesus said, good or bad, not a little bit of each as you have been
taught in your churches. Certainly a person can stop certain sins, for a while,
even appear to be zealous for God and desirous to serve Him. But its never
permeate because they are bound to fail due to the 'lust still in them and the
negative influence of the sin-repent cycle, revolving door of easy forgiveness
so common among the professed. This is why even the 'Stop sinning and Trust
Jesus' heard on the streets today is so dangerous, because it doesn't address
the ROOT issue within. It sounds a step above the common clap trap,
repeat after me, altar call type salvation we see so prevalent in the
establishment churches, but its still infected by the same fundamental error;
that you can be 'forgiven of sin without first being Purged of it in Redemption!
YES we are Justified freely by His Grace (meaning past sins
remitted) But it is through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Rom3:24, meaning as the word is defined 'Released from Bondage-redeemed!
You cannot be freely forgiven without also being FULLY Released and that
means the corrupting influence of sin, the root of iniquity within, must be
destroyed once for all, just as Rom6:6 says, 'the body of sin
(lusts-passions-addictions) is DONE AWAY-destroyed, katargeō,
'cease, inactive, inoperable, deprived of power, abolish, put an end to. I don't
know how it could have been made more Clear than that, unless you DIE to
Sin in repentance you will never enter into Christ, 'that
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness 1Pet2:24
The
Purpose of Redemption is to produce a Good tree baring Good fruit, purged for
Present Service to Christ in Purity, sincerity and love.
Here's what
you must understand if you are to ever be Redeemed in Christ. You cannot come
and merely 'receive Him into your heart by some common routine the Church
invented and expect some kind of magic to kick in and change your inner desires
from naughty to nice. You have to DIE first ….
Joh 12:24-25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
In this 'falling into the ground and dying' is the Self Denial, losing of your
life Jesus constantly spoke of, 'If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Lk9:23-24, 'And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy
of Me.
He who finds his life
will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. Matt10:38-39
These vital concepts of Redemption are lost entirely to the Professing Church,
speaking of 'self-denial, being found worthy, losing one's life' is considered
'works by your preachers, so these type of passages are always presented as
something secondary to initial Salvation by faith (trust) alone. But death to
the self-life of sin is the very Core of true faith-belief in Christ, no
matter which passage they can quote to 'prove its all based on a simple
trusting in Christ; John3:16, Eph2:8-9, Rom10:9-10, Rom4:4-5, the
Foundational
issue remains enforced by the entire weight of scripture, you must DIE
before you can Live. The Seed (word of God) cannot fall among thorns and briars
and take Root to Produce a result, it will be choked out and wither, Lk8:13-14,
if you just 'Trust but not Die to your sinful self-indulgences, you remain
alone, as Christ said, the 'wheat-seed' cannot fall into the ground and die
again and again in some gradual process of 'dying out to sin (they teach in the
churches) that's the exact Opposite
of what Christ Himself taught and the reason there isn't any
'good ground' among the professed for the Seed to fall and take root. Because
the concept of 'good ground' Lk8:15, is out of the question in the filthy rags,
if I say I have no sin, desperately wicked crowd who were 'saved in their sins
and are waiting for Jesus to clean them up. Jesus said the 'good ground' was
that of an honest heart prepared to receive it, Matt13:23, Mk9:20, not a heart
still defiled by the thorny briars of sin, but one emptied of guile and deceit
in repentance, Therefore
lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness
the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls, Js1:21, the
'Preparations of the heart belong to man', Prov16:1, not God, He cannot change a
heart unwilling to depart from iniquity, nor can the 'engrafted word' take Root
and save your soul unless it has fertile ground to produce an increase. It’s a
'working together' process FEW shall find, because it requires
effort (Striving, Lk13:24) on man's part to press through that Narrow Gate and
again such exertion is highly despised by the professed as 'works and therefore
a forbidden message in the churches. That's why they have 'deceived themselves'
being hearers and not doers as James said:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.
In this sense he used the word 'deceived as guile, false
reasoning applied to the mind in order to draw an opposite conclusion. (look it
up!)
Among the Professed the emphasis is always placed on the 'free gift, not of works' aspect of forgiveness, but never on the Purging of the Blood in Redemption. Heb9:14 says: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? His once for all sacrifice was to 'put away sin' once for all, Heb9:26, 10:12, not gradually purge it away bit by bit. That's why claiming to have forgiveness by His Blood and continuing in sin is paramount to 'trampling it underfoot and insulting the Spirit of Grace, Heb10:29, because the Covenant He established by the shedding of His blood was in order to 'Sanctify forever' those who enter it by faith, Heb10:14, in that manner the laws (righteous requirements thereof) are Written on the hearts and minds of those who abide in faithfulness, holding fast to His Word, Heb10:16, 22-23. Those still sinning have not 'entered in' through the veil to the most holy and had their hearts sprinkled (by the blood) and bodies washed in the Regeneration, Renewing of the soul. Consequently they are still in rebellion (have not ceased form their own works) seeking to be Justified through other means than entering through an abiding faith into Covenant with Christ. Herein is the reason the Professed languish in a half-way world responding to emotional hype and empty promises, ever struggling with the lust of the flesh, trapped in the sin-repent cycle of ruin, using Christ's blood as their revolving door of forgiveness for ongoing sin. It’s the Wide Road to Perdition, but they have it wrapped up in a neat little package called 'Trust. The 'Great Swelling words of emptiness, alluring you into this trap through the Promise of Liberty in your sins', 2Pet2:18-19, escaping, 'not the corruption of lust', but the penalty and guilt of your sin although its ever present in you through the lust you never put to death in Christ.
How is all this possible many will ask, first because 'all things are possible with God, Matt19:26, Mk10:27, and second because you possess within a God given free will and ability as the means to 'come clean with Him once for all in Repentance! 2Cor6:1-2 says this: We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
This Concept of
'working together' is called 'Synergy in the Bible; 'Two or more
things working together to produce a result that cannot otherwise be obtained'.
Your Church teaches the opposite, 'momergism', God doing it all, but it
is by this same Dynamic of working together that Abraham was Justified:
James2:22 Do you see that faith was working
together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? The
Conclusion being, 'That man is Justified by what he does and not by faith
alone', James2:24. Does this mean he 'saves himself'… not entirely, past sins
can only be remitted by the Blood of Christ, but in order to 'receive the Grace
of God effectively to the saving of the soul, (instead of in Vain, to no effect,
without purpose) you must respond in proper manner to His invitation 'Now is Day
of Salvation', He is extending His hand to us, not willing any perish,
convicting through His Spirit, you must now put forth the effort He requires for
the engrafted Word to take root; humility and death to self-life as James says:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and
your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you
up. Js4:7-10
He can't and won't do this for you because you are fully able to DO it yourself and the longer you refuse and excuse yourself with empty rhetoric about human inability due to inbred sin, the more tenaciously that bitter root of sin will take hold of your heart with guile (deceit) and harden you into a state of rebellion you may never be able to escape. Understand that it’s the Seed (engrafted Word) Springing up on good ground to produce an increase or it’s the bitter root of sin 'springing up to entangle your mind in delusion, Heb12:15-17. Your conscience can 'By Nature accuse or excuse you of wrong doing', Rom2:14-15, acting as a Moral Compass placed in us by God with the ability to choose either good or evil. By our Nature-physis or Physics of growth and development we possess the means by which to make a rational moral choice to seek out God toward a right path or serve our base instincts (passions and desires) and become a slave to self-indulgence. That's why it says: 'You are a Slave to whom you Obey, sin unto death or Obedience unto Righteousness', Rom6:16, the 'engrafted Word can take Root or the lust of flesh, eyes and pride of life can be your god, its your choice. You have no one to blame but yourself if you remain addicted to sin.
The Bible says 'all things that pertain to life and godliness, the exceedingly great and precious promises are freely given to all who enter into Covenant with Him, 2Pet1:3-4, like the Prodigal Son, everything he lost was freely restored to him by the Father, BUT only after he 'rose up came OUT of the Pig Pen and returned to the Father! This everything for nothing 'trust gospel in the churches is a plague on the land, in reality its nothing but garbage in and garbage out, professed Royal Sons in Rags still in the pig pen but under the façade of a forgiveness based on fables. In God's creation you reap what you sow and you cannot escape the consequences of your actions. You Sow everlasting Life through the engrafted Word or sow corruption and death through lust, Gal6:8-10. In the end you will be Judged in accordance with the harvest produced, good or evil, its your choice to make.
The Son of man shall
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Matt13:41-44
By Mike D