The Recovery of Purity

Romans 5:12-21
12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

In the beginning God made Man perfect and complete in His image and after His likeness (Gen. 1:26).

 

Man (Adam & Eve) was absolute in his spirit, soul, & body.

 

ABSOLUTE = “Perfect in quality or nature; complete. Not mixed; pure. Something regarded as the ultimate basis of all thought and being.” [1]

 

Synonyms include “unadulterated, undiluted, uncontaminated, total, unconditional, unquestionable finality, unequivocal, definite, sure.”[2]

 

There are absolutes of truth, which are held by all true orthodox Christians (Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus, first century Apostles, and the prophets), and these truths include:

1. The eternality of the Word of God: “For Ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
2. One God
3. The Bible standard of salvation: “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
4. The necessity of the “born again” experience: “Jesus answered…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

 

With the existence of these (and other) absolutes, there is also another truth. The devil wishes to pervert the beauty of Man’s original design and separate him completely from his Maker.

 

The spirit of perversion is at work today and began with Lucifer and his rebellion against God, moved to the Garden of Eden and the serpent’s tactic of questioning and corrupting the relationship between Man and God.

 

PERVERSION in 1388 was defined as “action of turning aside from truth, corruption, distortion (originally of religious beliefs).”[3]

 

This is the devil’s tactic; to subvert, corrupt, bend, misshape, and distort what God calls “good” into something perverse. Perversion is not, of necessity sexual in connotation, but it is the turning of something pure into a wrong use.

 

The Fall of Man resulted in the perversion of our original state into a nature - - the Adamic nature. Because Man has fallen so far from his original state we find examples in the bible of many types of perverseness (one such illustration is the Jezebel spirit found in 1 Kings 16:31-21:25; 2 Kings 9:7-37; & Rev. 2:20-23). Trinitarianism, cessationism, & the Jezebel spirit are all perversions, but Jesus has given the Church the power and authority to help bring those stuck in error back to completeness in God and in truth.

 

Sin is the state of perversion from the original design and purpose of Man. The account of the Good Samaritan can be viewed as Jesus’ attempt to warn the Apostles and Church of the dangers of perversion.

Jesus came to return what was once perverted back to its original state, by His love: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:6-8).

 

Because of Jesus Christ we now have the opportunity to walk in right relationship with Him. You’ve never met a man like Jesus. He never withdrew Himself from the lost sinners of the world (as many in the church do once they are “saves”). Instead, He went to the perverted (in spirit, soul, and body) who were looking for a change and a return to purity. He did not condemn the world, but He saved it through the work of redemption and reconciliation. He did not revile the perverse, but He removed the crookedness in them and returned them to a state of completeness. He, as the Potter, took the misshapen clay and created vessels of honor. Jesus heals, delivers, sets the captive free, restores broken homes, and places His love into right relationships.

 

Although tempted in all things, Jesus is our perfect example of a sinless life, and His obedience is what has reconciled Man to God. This ministry of reconciliation is the recovery of purity in our relationship with God.

 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

____________
SOURCES:
[1] Absolute. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/absolute
[2] Absolute. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/absolute
[3] Perversion. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perversion

Stephen Kuntzman - Presumption

Presumption

By: Stephen Kuntzman

Heb. 13:17, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

Deut. 17:8 & 13, “If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;.... And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.”

Num. 15:30, “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”

It is a dangerous thing to sin against God presumptuously. Presumption, as a sin, stems from pride, insolence, and arrogance. It is total rebellion against God and His appointed leaders.

The above scriptures offer us a glimpse of the predicament of those who sin willingly against God. Presumption is the idea that “I know more about how to do this than God and so I’ll do it my way,” or “I don’t care what God (or the man of God) says, I’m going to do this my way.”

Therefore, Presumption can be partially defined as arrogance and rebellion against God.

Moses was writing that it would be better to sin through ignorance than to sin willfully against God. The reason for this is that a person who sins willfully will be cut off from God and the people of God, which implies that the presumptuous sinner will have to live with the results of his sin no matter how often he tries to repent. The sin might be forgiven but the effect will continue because the sin was accomplished through rebellion and forethought. It was done presumptuously.

It might even be said that the person who sins presumptuously reproaches God to the point of committing blasphemy and thus his soul is cut off from salvation because of his blasphemous behavior. This is why it is necessary for the people to “hear, and fear.” They need to know that presumption will not be countenanced.

Peter identifies two traits that accompany the sin of presumption: "...them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled..." (2 Peter 2:10).

Christians who willingly sin are bringing a reproach against God and His Church. This is dangerous business because God “will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.” (Ps. 103:9)

While God’s grace and mercy might allow some latitude for those who are weak or need to grow in the grace of God it is a mockery to think that God will allow presumption indefinitely.

The New Testament speaks of the responsibility of the leaders that God places over us. These individuals are given a job that has eternal consequences for the saint. We must be careful to obey the man or woman that God has placed over us to protect us from the enemy of our soul. Paul knew what it was like to have to share a sad tale of men who willingly sin against God and bring reproach upon the name of Christ. He also knew the eternal effect of such behavior and wanted to warn against such eternal damnation.

Presumption is a dangerous thing and we must make certain that all actions are done in accordance with God’s plan and not our own insolent prideful rebellion. This is why the commandment reads, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Ex. 20:7).

The very idea of doing something in the name of God without having the authority to do so is presumption. The scriptures are clear concerning the fate of presumptuous sinners. Men like king Saul, king Uzziah, and Uzza were guilty of different aspects of the sin of presumption and each was punished for their sin.

Even those who speak as the prophets of the LORD should be careful that they don't sin after this fashion: "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him" (Deut. 18:22).

This is especially important for us to understand in our day when the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit are claimed by so many. John was wise in his advice to "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

Remember Joab, at the end of his life he attempts to escape judgment and death by grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, but Solomon commanded his death. This may bother us when we consider the mercy of God, but Solomon had a responsibility to be obedient to the Word of God, which states, "But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die" (Deut. 18:22). Joab was certainly in violation of the Law because he sinned presumptuously in the murders of Abner and Absalom.

The New Testament is viewed by many as the dawning of an age of unmerited favor and mercy, but ask those two presumptuous sinners -- Ananias and Sapphira -- about their experience (Acts 5:1-11).

Earlier, it was mentioned that presumption runs pretty close to blasphemy. The reason for this is that the KJV records the psalmist's following words, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression" (Ps. 19:13).

I echo his prayer, "God, keep us all from presumptuous sins."