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The Question 4 out of 5 Christians Refuse to Answer

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "Rom 14:23 But he who is in doubt is judged if he takes food, because he does it not in faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin."

The moment we do not love the Lord with all of our hearts, all of our minds, and all of our souls--we sin (Mt 22:37). But when we confess our sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn 2:1).

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "You should read that more carefully. John is writing those things "that you may not sin." In other words, he wants you to stop sinning completely because it's possible to do.

He also says that those who do sin don't Christ and have never seen him (1Jo 3:6), and that they are of the devil (1Jo 3:8), not God. John also writes that those who are born of God do, and cannot sin (1Jo 3:9). He writes that those born of God successfully keep themselves from sin (1Jo 5:18). Now, either John was a liar or that's possible."

The Christian is not sin less. He sins less. We are freed from sin's dominion in our lives (Ps Ro 6:18). But while we are in the flesh, sin will be with us.

The law shows us that we are sinners (Ro 3:20; 7:7); it shows us our exceeding sinfulness (Ro 7:13), stirring up sin (Ro 7:5,8,11). Christ's cleanses us from sin (1Jo 1:7).

Saints are cleansed from sin (1Pe 4:1). They cannot live a life marked by sin (1Jo 3:9Hi ; 5:18). They are resolved against it (Job 34:32), ashamed if they commit it (Ro 6:21); Abhor themselves on account of it (Job 42:6; Eze 20:43) and have the remnants of sin in them (Ro 7:17,23; Ga 5:17).

Torrey, R. (1995, c1897). The new topical text book : A scriptural text book for the use of ministers, teachers, and all Christian workers. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos research Systems, Inc.

["Christ's cleanses us from sin (1 Jo 1:7)."] "That's what I believe, but not what you believe."

Why did I refer to it?

"If you still sin then Christ has not cleansed you from sin...You are trying to use the blood of Christ like a stain stick you rub on whenever you sin, which is blasphemous."

Saints have yet the remains of sin in them (Ro 7:17,23; Ga 5:17).

"Torrey, R. will reap what he has sown by publishing such a perversion of the scriptures. Follow him to hell if you like."

Sounds like an angry sinner (Eph 4:31).

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "There's also something called righteous indignation, and Jesus expressed it often...those who preach a false gospel are accursed...You can follow him to hell..."

So when you sin it is righteous indignation. When others sin, they are accursed, never having been cleansed from sin, on a path to hell.

Here are the facts--On your very best day, you are still a sinner saved by the grace of God (Ro 7:17,23; Ga 5:17). Why not just tell God--thank you. It's all about his grace. Just continue to resole against sin (Job 34:32).

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "You have no ability to discern whether my indignation is righteous or otherwise...Even if you want to assume that I have not reached the goal of being sinless, it doesn't change that the goal is being sinless."

Only you discern...yet Christians disagree with you (1 Pe 3:8).

Have you asked the Holy Spirit to make sin known to you? (Job 13:23). Is Christ's work in you finished? If it is, you are the first person to be sinless while in the flesh (Ro 7:17,23; Ga 5:17).

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "Jesus was sinless in the flesh...Sorry, but you are in darkness, so I don't expect you to understand."

Are you sinless in the flesh? The area that you believe you have overcome is where you'd better watch out for most (Mt 26:41; 1Pe 5:8). We are at war everyday: the world, the flesh and the devil. If you are unaware of the battle, you will be a sure casualty.

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "Say you committed a sin today; tell us the exact sin, prove using the scriptures it is a sin you committed..."

I answered that question in an earlier post: "The moment we do not love the Lord with all of our hearts, all of our minds, and all of our souls--we sin (Mt 22:37). But when we confess our sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn 2:1, September 25th, 2009, 05:56 PM)."

"How do you recognize that moment? You need a standard. What's your standard?

In our walk with the Lord we may stumble from time to time. If our consciences are working, we will be responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God's law is perfect (Ps 19:7) and we are to follow it. If we sin, we should confess. God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 Jn 1:9, 1 Jn 2:1). He continues to cleanse us from sin (Ezek. 36:25).

Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake [Rom. 13:5].

"Christians are to obey the law not only because we’ll be judged and have to pay a fine if we don’t, but obey for conscience sake."

McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (4:736). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM TO LAW

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil [Matt. 5:17].

"Remember that part of the Mosaic Law was the ceremonial law. Christ was the sacrifice for the sins of the world, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth. Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law. He fulfilled it in that He kept it during His earthly life. And the standard which was set before man He was able to attain, and now He is able to make over to you and me (and every believer) His own righteousness. God’s standards have not changed, but you and I cannot attain them in our own strength. We need help; we need a Savior. We do need mercy, and we obtain mercy when we come to Christ.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled [Matt. 5:18].

I hope you don’t misinterpret what I am saying in this section which we call the Sermon on the Mount. I am not saying that we are free to break the Mosaic Law. The fact of the matter is that the Law is still a standard. It reveals to me that I cannot measure up to God’s standard. This drives me to the cross of Christ. The only way I can fulfill the Law is by accepting the only One who could fulfill it—Jesus Christ.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven [Matt. 5:19].

You cannot break the commandments and get by with it. But you cannot keep them in your own strength. The only way you can keep them is to come to Jesus Christ for salvation, power, and strength. The commandments are not a way of salvation but a means to show you the way to salvation through the acceptance of the work of Jesus Christ.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven [Matt. 5:20].

It is very important to see His point right here. The Pharisees had a high degree of righteousness according to the Law, but that was not acceptable. How can you and I surpass their righteousness? It is impossible in our own efforts. We need Christ to do it for us.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire [Matt. 5:21–22].

This is a tremendous statement! It means that if you are angry with your brother, you are a murderer! Do you claim to be keeping the Mosaic Law? You cannot break the Law and get by with it. You can’t get by with mouthing the boast that the Sermon on the Mount is your religion and then break every part of it. My friend, both you and I need a Savior who has perfectly kept the Law and can impute to us His own righteousness.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing [Matt. 5:26].

Note that Jesus says, “Verily I say unto thee.” He is lifting His teaching above the teaching of Moses. He is lifting Himself to the position of the Lawgiver and also the Interpreter, by the way.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart [Matt. 5:27–28].

For many years I have publicly made the statement that nobody but the Lord Jesus has ever kept the Law. One Sunday morning I repeated it in my message, and afterward a big, burly, red-faced fellow came to me and said, “You always say that nobody keeps the Law. I want you to know that I keep the Law!” By the way, he belonged to a cult, although he attended services at the church I pastored. Since he claimed to keep the Law, I said, “All right, let’s look at it,” and I showed him verse 22 regarding hatred being the same as murder. He said that he kept that, although I don’t believe that he did. So I gave him verse 28 and said, “It says here that if you so much as look upon a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery. Now look me straight in the eye and tell me that you have never done that.” He was red-faced to begin with, but you should have seen him then—he was really red-faced. He grunted some sort of epithet, turned on his heels, and walked out. Of course, he walked out! And I say to you, if you are honest, you will not claim to be keeping the Law. Remember that there were ten commandments. Although Matthew mentions only these two that Christ dealt with, I am of the opinion that He lifted all ten of them to the nth degree.

Oh, my friend, the Sermon on the Mount shows me that I have sinned and that I need to come to Him for mercy and help. To say that you are living by the Sermon on the Mount while all the time you are breaking it is to declare that the Law is not important.

In the following verses the Lord deals in a tremendous way with the Law and man’s relationship to it.

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell [Matt. 5:29–30].

This is severe, very severe, and it reveals, friends, that if you cannot meet God’s standards, you need a Savior. Don’t kid yourself and fool around with pretending that you are keeping the Law. You are only being a hypocrite. In Christian circles we are intent upon patting each other on the back and complimenting one another and giving each other credit for what we do when all the time we all are a pack of low-down, dirty, rotten sinners, not even fit for heaven. The Sermon on the Mount ought to drive you to the cross of Christ where you cry out for mercy. To do that is to honor the Law, my friend. Don’t try to kid me into thinking that you are keeping it. I know you’re not—because you are just like I am.

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery [Matt. 5:31–32].

Here the Lord gives the grounds for divorce. If someone is divorced for a reason not given in Scripture, that person is an adulterer. This is something that is entirely ignored today in Christian circles. This, however, will be the Law during the kingdom age because there will be men and women who will want to leave their mates during that period. We will deal with the divorce question in some detail when we get to chapter 19.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King [Matt. 5:33–35].

The Lord Jesus is saying that we are to be the kind of persons who don’t have to take an oath. As a boy, I can remember that my dad could go into the bank and borrow money, then come back a couple of days later to sign the note. Or he could call the bank by phone and have a certain amount of money credited to his account. Well, believe me, it is different in our day. Why? Because there are a lot more folk today who cannot be trusted. The Lord says that the child of God, under all circumstances, should be trustworthy. The Lord says:

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil [Matt. 5:37].

When a man says to me, “I’d swear on a stack of Bibles a mile high,” that is the fellow I do not believe because I think the lie he’s telling is a mile high.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth [Matt. 5:38].

All of that will be changed when Christ is reigning in His kingdom.

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also [Matt. 5:39].

Do you live like this, or do you resist evil? There is a principle for us here, but we are living in a day when a wise man armed keepeth his house. And Paul could say, ‘Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works’ (2 Tim. 4:14). In the kingdom you will be able to turn the other cheek. It reminds me of the Irishman whom someone hit on the cheek and knocked down. The Irishman got up and turned his other cheek. The fellow knocked him down again. This time the Irishman got up and beat the stuffin’ out of that fellow. An observer asked, “Why did you do that?” “Well,” replied the Irishman, “the Lord said to turn the other cheek and I did, but He never told me what to do after that.”

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away [Matt. 5:40–42].

If you have a banker who says that he is living by the Sermon on the Mount, give this verse to him and see how far you get with it. Let’s quit being hypocrites and realize that this is the law of the kingdom. When my Lord is on the throne down here on this earth, folk can live this way. In our day, business could not be conducted by this law. Years ago Archbishop McGee of Ireland said that it was impossible to conduct the affairs of the British nation on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount. I do not know whether I am related to Archbishop McGee or not, but I certainly find that I think as he did about the Sermon on the Mount. Although it contains great principles for the Christian in our day, it can be enforced only when Christ is on the throne. I think that ought to be quite obvious.

In our contemporary society many of the wealthy churches say that they follow the Sermon on the Mount. That is what the congregation gets as a steady diet on Sunday morning. However, if you go to the rich and try to get something from them, you won’t get very far, I assure you. On Sunday they hear, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” It sounds great. They think the Sermon on the Mount is a great document, but on Monday morning it is cold-blooded business and cash on the barrelhead. That, of course, is the way the business world is set up today.

However, there is a great principle in these verses for us, and we should not miss that. Certainly we should be helpful to those who are in need. And there are many fine Christian acts that can be performed by believers. Historically, hospitals, orphan homes, and works of charity (which the Bible calls acts of love) have followed the preaching of the gospel. I do not know any place on earth where they preceded the gospel, but they always followed it. There should be the fruit of good works in a believer’s life.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you [Matt. 5:43–44].

This rule, I insist, is for the kingdom. The Lord Jesus lifts the Mosaic Law to the nth degree. He says that in the kingdom the enemy is to be loved instead of hated.

The believer today operates on a different principle. We are commanded to love all believers, and we express our love to our enemies by getting the gospel to them, giving them the message of God’s saving grace that is able to bring them to heaven.

In concluding this chapter, our Lord says that we are to be perfect—

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect [Matt. 5:48].

How is it possible for you and me to be perfect? We are accepted in Christ, in the beloved.

There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ, and we get in Christ by faith in Him. The only way we can become perfect is through our faith in Christ—Christ imputes to us His righteousness. And then begins the slow process of sanctification in which God attempts to conform us to the image of His Son. This, of course, should be the goal of every believer. But seeking to attain perfection by our own efforts is absolutely futile. Do you think that you can go to God and say, “Look what I have done; look how wonderful I am,” trying to get all the glory for yourself and to force God to save you on that basis? My friend, you are going to do nothing of the kind because you and I are not perfect. Most of us remember this:

Little Jack Homer

Sat in a corner

Eating a Christmas pie;

He put in his thumb,

And pulled out a plum,

And said, What a good boy am I!

We see a lot of that in religion today. Little folk sit around, reach in their thumb, and pull out a plum and say, “What a good boy am I!” My friend, you and I are not good by God’s standards. We need a Savior.

As we have seen, in this chapter the King speaks of the righteousness which His subjects must possess. And it must be a righteousness to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. They had a religious righteousness. For instance, Nicodemus was an outstanding man, and he was religious. You can’t find much to criticize about him. But our Lord said to him, “You have to be born again” (see John 3:1–8). Now we have to have a righteousness superior to that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and it can only come through trust in Christ."

McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (4:31-35). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The Questions 4 out of 5 Christians Refuse to Answer