Would you Amen this quote?

Would you Amen this quote?


A post by Jim Biblitz:

“Whatever religion or doctrine condones or makes allowances for sin is not of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ everywhere teaches self-denial and mortification of worldliness and sin. The whole stream of the gospel runs against those things. Scripture emphasizes the 'holy' and the 'heavenly' (not the sinful and the worldly). The true gospel has not even the slightest tendency to extol corrupt nature, or feed it's pride by magnifying it's freedom and power. And it rejects everything that undermines or obscures the merit of Christ, or tries to give any credit to man, in any way. And it certainly never makes the death of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but rather it always speaks of it as an instrument that destroys it!"

After this someone said Amen….


And I went, “HUH?” Let’s look at what the Bible says….

On the surface this quote seems ok, as James does say James 1: 19. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20. for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24.and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.


Yet it is how we get rid of all moral filth… if one is saying by our own determination I will not ever agree… we get rid of all moral filth by the applying the Blood of Jesus to our life… by letting Christ Himself live His Life in and through us.

1. “Whatever religion or doctrine condones or makes allowances for sin is not of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ everywhere teaches self-denial and mortification of worldliness and sin.”

Actually the doctrine of Christ teaches of the Power of the resurrection to overcome (transcend) sin. It never denies one will sin. It does instead give us One who stands before the Father and defends us if we do sin.

1 John 1: 6. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

It also says: 1 John 2: 1. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2. He is the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

1 John 3: 3. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Why do we not keep on sinning? Because He took away our sins!!!! We have been placed into His Body… the same Body that was pure and found without sin. To say we have sin while in Christ is to say Christ has sin in Him….. To me, that is blasphemy!
The Life in Christ is not about what we do or don’t do but about what Christ has done!!!!

2, “The whole stream of the gospel runs against those things. Scripture emphasizes the 'holy' and the 'heavenly' (not the sinful and the worldly). The true gospel has not even the slightest tendency to extol corrupt nature, or feed it's pride by magnifying it's freedom and power.”

This cuts across the teaching of scripture and borders on Gnosticism… the flesh being evil and the spirit good. The Flesh is not evil but redeemed. Flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom, but Flesh and bone will. Why? Because at the Resurrection God will be in all and all will be in God… We will be living by the Life of Christ. Peter in the book of Acts 10 separated things as ‘holy’ or ‘heavenly’, yet the message of Christ was as He taught us to pray… “Your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven”. To Peter Jesus said, Acts 10 “9. About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14. "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15. The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

Paul speaks of the redemption not just of us, but the whole world! He speaks of
Romans 8: 19. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
20. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21. that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

3. “The true gospel has not even the slightest tendency to extol corrupt nature, or feed it's pride by magnifying it's freedom and power. And it rejects everything that undermines or obscures the merit of Christ, or tries to give any credit to man, in any way. And it certainly never makes the death of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but rather it always speaks of it as an instrument that destroys it!"

The first part of this thought I might agree with… except it still seems steeped in Gnosticism if he is saying flesh as evil. He seems to say we must depend our own righteousness… in fact Paul states quite the opposite as he says that the more sin there is, the more Grace abounds! This does not mean as Paul goes on to say we should keep on sinning….

Rom 5: 19. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21.so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul continues in Rom 6: Romans 6

1. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2. By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7. because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.



Yet, scripture is clear we must trust in Christ Righteousness alone.

All things for Godliness come from Christ that includes
His Righteousness… as we have none but His.
His Justification… or His perfect Nature imputed to us.
His Holiness… He declares us Holy and set apart… we can not add one bit to what Christ has done without nullifying and denying His works are finished.
His Obedience… We know not how to be obedient and as scripture tells us, we must be totally dependant on Christ’s obedience.

Romans 5: 10. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11. Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13. for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16. Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21. so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.





To think one can add more righteousness to the Righteousness of Christ that has been given to us by our own obedience… which is outside the obedience of Christ is a grave error. It is negating the finished work of Christ and in many ways saying His death was not enough.

I do not think I would want to be guilty of ever saying that… I would rather be guilty of listening to Paul.

2 Cor 3: 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

1 Cor 8: 8. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Of what the critics who say that Emergent’s say, “we can do as we please and fulfill our own desires.” I have not ever heard taught or have ever read. Yet, we do have freedom to either grow in corruption, which if one is a true believer will not continue as I believe the Holy Spirit will not allow. I see these as not having been truly converted… they have heard, yet have not taken root. The other option of our freedom is to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe if one is allowed to be lead by the Holy Spirit one will grow toward the image of Christ in which we as the redeemed are predestined to do. Freedom is not a license to sin, but rather a pardon from sin where the Judge not only throws the sins out of court… He takes the lashings of the punishment in our stead.

So holding this statement up against scripture it does not stand up as a good quote…Judgmental, yes, yet not Biblically accurate.

And by the way…. The last line is totally off the mark…


“The true Gospel...it certainly never makes the death of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but rather it always speaks of it as an instrument that destroys it!"

If one believes this, he has never really come to Christ Jesus, for our sin is not only covered but taken away… To say this is a slap against the receptive Blood of Jesus and a curse to the cross!!!! This I am against… saying doctrine saves you… Only the Person of Jesus Christ saves us… by our relationship with Him as we grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Who He is. Doctrine does not destroy sin… only the Seed of Christ that is planted in our hearts can destroy the works of the devil. If doctrine could have done as this man states, then we would have been able to be made righteous by following the Law, and been able to be content with the sacrificial system of the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats… Yet, if God was not satisfied with this and willing to send His Son to die for us, I think it a loss to continue in trusting doctrine to save us over Christ Himself. The True Gospel is about being free from sin... and the guilt and shame and living a new life in Christ It is walking in the power of the Resurrection. It is not about "stopping from sining" for sin has been taken away and cast away from the eyes of God. It is now having He Who gave His Life for me, now give His Life to me, so He can Live His Life through me. To focus on sin as th emajor part of ones faith denies the work of Christ and places one under the Law... and theLaw can not save you.

I pray that this quote was way out of context from its original presentation. I pray also that he can come to a fuller understanding of this great salvation… being more than just “not sinning”, but moving onto maturity in the faith…

Blessings,
iggy