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When testifying of the message of Victory Over Sin – that Biblical teaching that those who are born of Yahweh cease from all known transgression, (1John 3:9) and are thereafter sanctified (Isa 1:16, 17) – we get a number of interesting reactions in response. The most hostile, by far, are from the Churches. The world may look at us with curiosity, because the concept of “sin” is not something they consider very often, and they expect to be viewed in a certain negative light by legalists and zealots. But the Churches, those who consider themselves God’s own People, are often offended by the implication that they have neither truly understood, nor truly obeyed, the Scriptures that they have been studying for so long.
It is a judgment that we bring; not that we are judgmental in the sense that we condemn anyone, but our invitation of love, to the life that Yahshua died to give them, reveals that we have something that they do not, something that they need. Our testimony is to Laodicea, a People speaking judgment to a people under judgment. We, just like them, have been found wanting, the wages of our sin fixed as death; but our Father has opened up to us the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Way of Escape, and we have gratefully accepted. It is a narrow Way, but a secure one, and it is wide enough to allow the journey for as many as willingly accept it.
One of the ways that the formally religious will show their hostility is often disguised as a question. Sometimes it is deliberate, an attempt to catch us in a contradiction. At other times it comes from genuine ignorance of Yahweh’s nature, of who He is, but in either case, it is actually a very valuable question because of what it reveals.
The question is, or may be phrased as, “So, you claim that you do not commit any sin. What would happen if you did? What would happen if you were to sin?”
As I say, it is a valuable question, but not because of what it asks on the surface, not because of the way they word it. The question reveals the heart of the seeker. Suppose someone were to say to me, “Your long lost relative, whom you thought was dead, is actually alive, and he has come to visit you!” This would be good news indeed; this would be a cause for immediate rejoicing, because it is something I desire. What I would not do is ask, “What if you’re lying to me?” What I would not do is ask, “What if you are wrong about that, and completely deceived?” Now, it is possible to ask, in wonder, “Could it really be true?” But the motive for that last question is different… it is coming to terms with how good the news is, it is not an attempt to deny the reality of the report. It is acceptable to be naïve when it comes to Yahweh. It is acceptable, even necessary, to accept the divine promises with child-like innocence.
It is written thus, “And [Yahshua] said, ‘Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.’” (Mat 18:3) Be converted and become as little children – what a combination of ideas; but that combination is spirit, and it is life. This is what it means: to trust as a child does, not to bring an adult, scarred heart to the Father and expect to be blessed. We must reject the effect that this world has on our innocent hopes, we must deny it completely. We have been wounded by this world, but we are invited to a Fountain of Life. That transformation comes with conversion from the life of the flesh to the life of the Spirit. In such a life, it is safe to be trusting again.
The question, and the way it is asked, reveals the desire of the heart. “What would happen if you sin” is a question that is looking for a reason to deny the gift of Yahweh, because it is not truly desired by those who are comfortable in the shadow of God’s winking. They think in their hearts, “There will always be time to repent of those things I do that I know to be wrong,” when if they would ask for and receive the desire, and the strength, to repent that very moment, they would enter in reality what they claim in error. They would enter into life.
The question, “What if you sin after conversion” does not reveal joy in the heart of the asker, that there is a people in the world even now that has been saved from sin, and that their invitation to join this people has arrived. It does not reveal joy that it is possible to truly be set free, and that Enoch and Elijah were not exceptions, but examples for a generation to follow. No, it is not joy that is revealed, but it is doubt, skepticism, and often an attempt to “trap” the testifier. We do not reply to the question with, “I would be lost,” because that would testify to a religion of works, not of faith, one in which actions would save or condemn us. We do not reply, “We would just repent and be forgiven,” because that would testify that the Scripture is false, and that those who are born again DO occasionally commit sin. The Biblical reply to this question is to deny the very premise. This is how we deal with questions that attempt to capture spiritual meanings within carnal boundaries.
Here is what I mean: “And they come again to Jerusalem, and as [Yahshua] was walking in the Temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and say unto Him, ‘By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things? And Yahshua answered and said unto them, ‘I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from Heaven, or of men? Answer Me.’
“And they reasoned with themselves, saying, ‘If we shall say, From Heaven, He will say, Why then did ye not believe him?’ But if we shall say, Of men…’ they feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Yahshua, ‘We cannot tell.’ And Yahshua answering saith unto them, ‘Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Mark 11:27-33)
He answered them, but He did not give them an answer that they were expecting. Instead, His reply, beginning with another question, revealed to them that the issue of “authority” was not what they were really seeking to clarify. If the authority to baptize, or do other works in Yahweh’s name, was such an issue for them, they would have decided John’s status a long time ago. Instead, because Yahshua’s work reveals their impiety, they attack Him under false pretenses, with questions that seek to trap Him in words. If they did not care about authority when it comes to John the Baptist, why do they care about it now? It is for pride, for cowardice, for jealousy, that they ask the question, not because they seek an answer for their spiritual education.
The same is true of the question, “What if…”
When we are asked, “What if you fall into sin,” we might well say, “I ask you in return, is it possible for God to fail? Or, is it possible for God to arbitrarily break a promise?”
What they who ask such questions do not realize is that to the one who truly believes in the Victory as the Bible teaches it the question is nonsensical, because it implies that we, of our own power, have ceased from sin, and maintain ourselves in righteousness. But no, it is Yahweh who has redeemed us. It is Yahweh who is able, (Jude 1:24) and has pledged, to sustain us. He is both able, and committed, to upholding us. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the Right Hand of my Righteousness.” (Isa 41:10) Because of these words, the only way that those who believe them could fall into sin is if the One who keeps us from sinning were to fail. It is, for all conceivable practicality, impossible.
The professed people of God need to believe in miracles. Every second that Yahshua was in human flesh was a miracle...a continuous ongoing miracle; the Son of Yahweh was walking about among us, there teaching a crowd, there healing the sick. There was an unbroken, continuous, supernatural event. Now consider those who are born-again, made in His likeness. Every word they say, every act of righteousness, it is because of, directly because of, that miracle. The miracle goes on, the same supernatural event. The life of the saint is an unbroken, continuous miracle, and so we are held in righteousness. It does not matter that it is impossible. It is of no concern to us that it is not possible to walk on water. (Mat 14:28, 29) Our Savior has called us. We go.
The question being asked, then, is really, “What if God fails?” or “What if God breaks His promise?” There is no real answer to that question, because it would deny a fundamental reality, that Yahweh is faithful. We cannot tell them what could, or would happen, because they cannot tell us, “What if God fails?”
They may say, “Well, God does not fail, but what if you fail Him? After all, don’t you teach that God’s promises are conditional?” Here again they reveal in their question that they do not understand salvation. These people believe in ghosts. The dead do not rise to trouble the living. The dead do not act on their own. All Adventists, and many other Christians as well, know that “the dead know not anything.” (Ecc 9:5) When one is truly born again, and therefore spiritually dead, there is no possibility of him failing God, because failure is an action, and the dead do not do anything. The dead cannot fulfill any conditions, or violate a contract, “neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” (Ecc 9:6) “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3) Our minds are alive, yes, but only because our life, now over for its own sake, is hidden in Yahweh with Yahshua, and we are resting in the choice that we have made to be dead to self and one with Christ.
Here is one way of looking at things: when we are born again, we are justified. Justification is making the “Big Decision” to follow Christ always. After that, we live in that Big Decision. Sanctification, then, is reconciling the little decisions of daily life with the Big Decision we have already made. Sanctification is living in that Big Decision and understanding our little, daily decisions in light of that big one. We do not sin, because we have made the choice (by God’s grace and through His power) to cease from sin in Christ. Every other decision we make after that is learning what that decision means in its fullness, and if a genuine error of ignorance is made, we learn that a certain decision was not in line with the big one; we confess, we repent, and we are restored... but we did not fall out of grace. We did not die in our transgression. Yahshua is not crucified afresh for us; because His blood was already shed for His people’s sins.
There is a common twisting of the Scriptures, that Christ died for all our sins, past present and future, so that we may, even must, continually sin and repent; but here is what is written of Christ, He “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Rom 3:25) But that is not a problem at all. Do not think that this is a limitation. For those who are born again, that is more than sufficient. Yahshua does apply His once-shed blood to the sins we recognize and confess now in this time of judgment. But those sins, even though they are recognized now, are actually the “sins that are past.” They truly died on the cross... we are just recognizing them as dead now, and that’s a big difference. It is not a new sin. It is not a new choice we are making to transgress the Law. It is an old choice, an old defect of character, that we are now seeing in the light of righteousness, and asking Yahshua to forgive us, in that He had already died for that sin when we first accepted His gift of life everlasting. The System, the Plan of Salvation, is perfect, designed for both our solemn sanctification and our peace in the process of judgment.
Now, the result of this brings us (finally) to the name of today’s study... A Father’s Pride. The most important words a human ear will ever hear are these words, “Well done,” from the Creator of the universe. We who stand fast until the end shall receive the fulfillment of this Scripture: “His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’” (Mat 25:21)
We read of this same fulfillment in another way later in the same chapter: “And before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Mat 25:32-34)
All who genuinely and fully accept His love with child-like innocence, hear this well: Your Father is proud of you. He rejoices that you are with Him. You are accepted. These words mean a lot to someone who is reading them, because Yahweh told me to say them. I know they mean a lot to me.
You are received into the House of your Father with joy, not because of your own merit, lest you should be tempted to be boastful, but because you have chosen to accept Christ, and have let His righteousness become yours. But it is yours, yours indeed, just as the responsibility over all humanity was Adam’s indeed. The righteousness of the Father is yours to use in your sanctifying decisions, your testimony, and your life forever more. If you have understood today’s study so far, that being born again, you have let your Father save you from sin, and that He actively, continuously, miraculously, keeps you from the possibility of falling, or failing, then you may rest from your labors, and understand the blessing of the Sabbath, one of our Father’s necessary gifts. Enter into the joy, the rest, the Sabbath, of your Lord. In that rest, you are accepted, and know that you are accepted in love.
“Yahweh thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.” (Zeph 3:17) The more you think about this verse, the less it will make sense to your flesh, and the more it will make sense to your spirit.
There is something that perhaps you might not know about the Scriptures. Here are three verses, a few examples among several:
“He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved.” (Psalm 47:4)
“Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” (Isa 60:15)
“And he shall stand and feed in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God; and they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” (Micah 5:4)
That word, translated as “excellency,” in some places as “majesty,” is exactly the same word (when used of mankind) that is rendered into English as “pride.” The pride of man is destruction, but the pride of Yahweh, the Seal of His approval, placed lovingly on our foreheads, is everlasting life. (Rev 9:4)
These thoughts often bring tears to my eyes, because as unworthy as I am, I am beloved, I am wanted, I make my Father proud. By the testimony of Yahshua, “I do always those things that please Him.” (John 8:29) These are powerful words, as anyone who has ever desired the approval of a parent well knows. But to make such a claim… we must either be arrogant, prideful, as the fallen ones often accuse us of being… or we are resting in the pride, the excellency, the majesty, of our Father, whose love is upon us. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” (1John 3:1)
I would like to end with this: When I am writing the notes for these studies, especially lately, I sometimes think, “I have been talking about unity and Church membership a lot; maybe I should focus on something else this week,” but just as I think that, my Father shows me something and tells me to share it with the Church, so obviously, the Spirit is still working on something here, some reader, and it has a lot of relevance to what I have been speaking about this week.
Thus, it was shown to me more of the significance of this passage, which is a manifestation of Yahweh’s joy over us, His rejoicing over us: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)
We know that in that passage, when it says they were “in one place,” that phrase is used literally, one actual, physical location. And yet, we also know that when the parallel to this is fulfilled in these last days, there will be people in various countries, sometimes far from one another. We will be separated in space, but not in Spirit. We will be in “one place,” not one person believing this thing, and another something else, about the character of our Father. We will be “with one accord in one place.” We will be One People, burning with the love that binds us together. This must take place before the Latter Rain will reveal itself in the final work of preparing the way for Yahshua’s return, with all signs and glory that is prophesied to close the work – with all the signs and glory that reveal to the universe a Father’s pride. It is the gathering into a single Flock, dependent entirely upon its One Shepherd.
I am excited to be a part of that, at any cost, for any price. To know that my Father is pleased with me, proud of me before the universe, and that He has gathered me with others on whom He sheds that same affection, is the most important thing that has ever happened to a human being. I am utterly unworthy of it, but what can I do? I accept it, I rejoice in it, with a gratitude that will last for all eternity. I dearly wish that everyone in the world could read these words, and say to them, “Amen.”
David.
An Enduring Witness
“And however short our service or humble our work, if in simple faith we follow Christ, we shall not be disappointed of the reward. That which even the greatest and wisest cannot earn, the weakest and most humble may receive. Heaven’s golden gate opens not to the self-exalted. It is not lifted up to the proud in spirit. But the everlasting portals will open wide to the trembling touch of a little child. Blessed will be the recompense of grace to those who have wrought for God in the simplicity of faith and love.” [Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 404]
“While engaged in our daily work, we should lift the soul to heaven in prayer. These silent petitions rise like incense before the throne of grace; and the enemy is baffled. The Christian whose heart is thus stayed upon God cannot be overcome. No evil arts can destroy his peace. All the promises of God’s word, all the power of divine grace, all the resources of Jehovah, are pledged to secure his deliverance. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. And God was with him, a present help in every time of need.” [Messages to Young People, p. 249]
“He who healed the sick and cast out demons when He walked among men is the same mighty Redeemer today. Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.’ You can never perish while you do this – never.” [The Desire of Ages, p. 429]