Have they not read
that Christ knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and that He was tempted in all things and
yet remained sinless? (Heb. 4:15)
If Christ was less than perfect in His character and in His nature,
then His death would have been in vain as God the Father could not accept any
less than a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.
When we read the Pentateuch which consists of the law from the book of
Exodus to Deuteronomy, the reader should notice repeatedly, that the sacrifices
had to be perfect in their form. They
could not be crippled, deformed, or sick which was a picture of the sacrifice
on behalf of the entire world that was to come.
The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews goes to great lengths to
explain how vital it was for the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world
to be flawless, even stating, that if the previous covenant had been flawless,
there would have been no need of the second, (Heb. 8:7-9) even drawing a
contrast between the inferior priesthood of the Old Covenant in which the high
priest each year had to offer a blood sacrifice, not just for the sins of the
people, but also for his own sins whereas Christ only had to offer Himself up
once which was sufficient to take away the sins of the world for all time. (Heb. 9:12)
Salvation is at stake when professing followers of the faith deny the
sinless of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior as they do not seem to consider the
ramifications of that falsehood that they apparently have been deceived into
believing as such belief and teaching diminish the character and person of
Jesus and not only that, they attack the purpose of His coming into the world
and of the purpose and significance of His death by He offered Himself up on
behalf of all the world to take away the sins of all mankind and of His
resurrection, for it is by His death our redemption was purchased and by His
resurrection are we made justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) who call upon Him for the
forgiveness of sins, trusting in Him alone for our salvation and in nothing
more or less.
Whoever has been teaching that Jesus did not live a sinless life needs
to be denounced as a heretic and those who have been deceived by such heresy
need to be admonished to make themselves well read and studied in the
scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15) so that they might not be any more deceived by such
soul destroying heresies but so that they might come to a better understanding
of who Jesus is, of His character, attributes, and nature, and of the Gospel
message itself.
Now, I understand that this particular story by the Christian Post
was published in 2023, but the reason why I am sharing it is because false
doctrine and heresy continue to be a problem today as they were when this
particular item was first published and I do not expect that the situation has
gotten any better; in fact, I fear it has only gotten worse.
This item also seems to imply that the reason why professing
Christians have been deceived by such egregious heresy was due to the cowardice
that led to a massive amount of church service suspensions that took place
during the COVID outbreak [1] and because congregants were unable to regularly attend church in
person like they otherwise would have been able to, they were seeking other
alternatives such as listening to radio broadcasted, televised, or online
services, sermons, and teachings and in the process, may have been led astray
by heresy, but false doctrine, heresy, and a lack of biblical literacy have
been serious problems within the body of Christ even before COVID which is why
the blame is be laid, not at the feet of the COVID outbreak, but should be laid
at the feet of church leadership who have been entrusted with instructing their
respective congregants in the Word of God and with the failure of many
professing followers of Christ to diligently read and study the Word of God for
themselves and so often rely upon what is preached to them from the pulpit,
what they listen to on the radio, or what they receive from the internet for
their doctrine without taking into consideration that what they may be reading
or listening to could be lie of the devil.
It should be very clear that when less than half of professing
Christians believe that Jesus led a sinless life, (44 percent according to the
Christian Post) [2] that the
level of biblical literacy must be disastrous and that biblically sound
teaching is dismally lacking.
And unless there is active discipleship in our churches,
unless Christians began to commit themselves to diligent reading and study of the scriptures, unless leadership is put in place that will teach the scriptures in an authoritative fashion and treat them as inerrant and authoritative in all things upon which they speak,
unless congregations and their respective leadership are committed to the adherence and upholding of sound doctrine with in their ranks and to exposing, calling out, and holding accountable those who preach false doctrine and heresy, we can only expect that damnable heresies will continue to plague the body of Christ until the end of this present age.
For those of us who care about the salvation of lost souls and who
want to see as many people persuaded to repentance as possible, we should also
be just as concerned about what is being preached from the pulpits, the content
of books, articles, and blogposts being published, and what is being
broadcasted on the radio, television, and the internet because there are a lot
of influential figures within the body of Christ upon whose every word their
respective audiences hang and many of whom are preaching errant doctrine and
heresy and by which their respective audiences are being deceived and even into
hell itself.
Building the Kingdom of God does not stop with persuading the lost to
make a sincere profession of faith but also includes ensuring that they are
instructed in biblically sound doctrine, godly living, and that they have a
proper understanding of who the God is that we serve, upholding and defending
sound doctrine, and when necessary, being made ready to give as sound and
reasoned of a defense for the faith that we profess as we possibly can (1 Pet.
3:15) and contending for the purity thereof (Jude 3) against any teaching,
doctrine, or philosophy that stands opposed to the teaching of the scriptures
by which the Gospel is delivered and which may undermine confidence in the
faith and in the authority of scripture by which the faith is delivered because
we should desire that those won over to the faith be made fully confident in
the faith they’ve been persuaded to embrace, firmly grounded and instructed in
doctrinal purity, and to be dedicated steadfast followers and servants of our
Lord and Savior who will not be confused, deceived, or led astray by any false
doctrines or heresies at the cost of their faith and souls.
It takes a sinless Christ to take away sins that condemn us before God
and estrange us from Him.
It takes a sinless Christ to reconcile us to a God from whom we’ve been estranged due to sin.
It takes a sinless Christ to transform us in such a way that we no longer want to do that which is evil and displeasing in the eyes of God but what is good and pleasing in His eyes.
It takes a sinless Christ to conquer death that finds its power in sin.
And it takes a sinless Christ to restore all things to what God the Father initially intended for all things to be before sin came into the world.
And when God created the Heavens and the earth, He created the world
to be a place of goodness, peace, happiness, joy, and contentment. There was no death, no decay, no suffering,
and nothing associated with that which is sin, but before sin came into the
world and defiled it, there existed a perfect and uninterrupted harmony between
God, man, and nature, but sin, through the disobedience of one man disrupted that
harmony that had once been in place when the first man Adam and the first woman
Eve who was the wife of Adam, committed an astronomically consequential act of
disobedience when they ate of a fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil of which they were warned of God to not eat from
lest they surely die. (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3)
But instead of heeding that warning, they ate of that forbidden fruit
and it was in that day that sin entered into them and due to the sin that
entered into them, the sentence of death came upon them as they were warned
(Gen. 3:19) the sin which entered into them and brought about their eventual
deaths, was also passed down to all of mankind for all of us are descendants of
that first man and that first woman and because we are their descendants, we
have also inherited the sin that entered into them (Rom. 5:12) and because of
that sin which we have inherited, we all sin in some form or fashion and as a
consequence we all die for as it is written, the wages of sin is death (Rom.
6:23) but sin is not merely confined to outward behavior or performance or even
the words we speak, but it is rather the inherent inward corruption of our very
nature defiling our thoughts, hardening and darkening our hearts, and
corrupting our very motives which is why it is written that we are not defiled
from that which comes from without, but that which comes from within (Mt.
15:11, 18-20) and which is why it is written that all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) which demands of us nothing less than
moral perfection and not just in our outward acts but also in our inward as
well which is why it is impossible by our own efforts and our own goodness to
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, for sin taints, corrupts, defiles, twists,
and distorts more than we can comprehend and the effects of sin are not merely
confined to mankind, but all of creation is subjected to a curse because of sin
which is why it is written that the entire creation groans and travails in pain
to this day. (Rom. 8:19-22)
By the disobedience of one man did sin enter into the world and death
through sin.
And by the faithful and perfect obedience of one man who is Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior was redemption purchased on our behalf through the shedding of His blood upon the cross on which He was crucified and reconciliation to Father God made possible in Him as well as the eventual liberation from bodily death when our mortal and corruptible forms are transformed into that which is immortal and incorruptible and from that which is imperfect to that which is perfect (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be delivered from the curse placed upon it because of sin when it is made into a new and better world (Rev. 21-22) in which there is no sin, no death, and no suffering, but only peace, joy, and happiness before the Lord God Almighty just as He intended for things to be.
If you reader have not already done so and find yourself concerned
about what happens after death and desire peace and assurance about where you
will spend eternity, then I urge you reader to call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.
It is but a simple sincere prayer of repentance away:
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
End notes:
1. Leonardo Blair, “Less than
half of born-again Christians believe Jesus lived sinless life on Earth: study,” Christian Post, April 23, 2023
https://www.christianpost.com/news/fewer-born-again-christians-believe-jesus-lived-sinless-life.html?utm_medium=notification&utm_content=headline&utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=2023-04-23
2. Ibid.
Scripture
references:
1. 2 Corinthians 5:21
2. Hebrews 4:15
3. Hebrews 8:7-9
4. Hebrews 9:12
5. 2 Timothy 2:15
6. 1 Peter 3:15
7. Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
8. Genesis 3:19
9. Romans 5:12
10. Romans 6:23
11. Matthew 15:11, 18-20
12. Romans 3:23
13. Romans 8:19-22
14. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18
15. Revelation 21-22
unless Christians began to commit themselves to diligent reading and study of the scriptures, unless leadership is put in place that will teach the scriptures in an authoritative fashion and treat them as inerrant and authoritative in all things upon which they speak,
unless congregations and their respective leadership are committed to the adherence and upholding of sound doctrine with in their ranks and to exposing, calling out, and holding accountable those who preach false doctrine and heresy, we can only expect that damnable heresies will continue to plague the body of Christ until the end of this present age.
It takes a sinless Christ to reconcile us to a God from whom we’ve been estranged due to sin.
It takes a sinless Christ to transform us in such a way that we no longer want to do that which is evil and displeasing in the eyes of God but what is good and pleasing in His eyes.
It takes a sinless Christ to conquer death that finds its power in sin.
And it takes a sinless Christ to restore all things to what God the Father initially intended for all things to be before sin came into the world.
And by the faithful and perfect obedience of one man who is Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior was redemption purchased on our behalf through the shedding of His blood upon the cross on which He was crucified and reconciliation to Father God made possible in Him as well as the eventual liberation from bodily death when our mortal and corruptible forms are transformed into that which is immortal and incorruptible and from that which is imperfect to that which is perfect (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be delivered from the curse placed upon it because of sin when it is made into a new and better world (Rev. 21-22) in which there is no sin, no death, and no suffering, but only peace, joy, and happiness before the Lord God Almighty just as He intended for things to be.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/fewer-born-again-christians-believe-jesus-lived-sinless-life.html?utm_medium=notification&utm_content=headline&utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=2023-04-23
10. Romans 6:23
11. Matthew 15:11, 18-20
12. Romans 3:23
13. Romans 8:19-22
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