Zero Sin, One Church, and Two-fold Salvation I believe many are not aware of these three ultra important points of Bible truth. This pamphlet will cover just the highlights of these vital teachings. We hope it will whet the appetite of the honest-hearted seeker of truth. Additional literature on these essential topics is available from this publisher. See address at the end of this article. Two-fold salvation We will start here as this Bible truth has a bearing on the other two. God’s Word teaches there is a second work of grace in the plan of salvation. It is termed sanctification or the baptism with the Holy Ghost. This all important, glorious, second work of grace has seemingly been ignored, rejected, misunderstood and even counterfeited. Paul states that God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. (II Thess. 2:13) He also told the Thessalonians For this is the will of God, even your sanctification… (I Thess. 4:3) This second work of grace supplies us with additional power and destroys an inward foe that zaps our power. Yes, besides destroying that carnal nature that we all inherited from Adam, this experience also supplies power. The disciples preached, cast out devils, healed the sick etc.; yet were still instructed to tarry in Jerusalem and told, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you… (Acts 1:8) This is not a power that knocks one to the floor or to do something unseemly. It is power to enable the young person to stand for what is right at school. It is power for the shop worker to stand at work when others want to tell their dirty stories etc. Holy Ghost power is power to live holy, power to live righteously. Holy Ghost power is not speaking in an unintelligent jargon. The gift of tongues is the gift or divine ability to speak an intelligent understandable language not previously learned. (As on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:4-11.) The tongues spoken by these Pentecostals were languages understood by both parties. The tongues spoken in Acts 10:46 were also intelligent languages that magnified God. The tongues spoken in Acts 19:6 were intelligent languages too, for they understood that they were prophesying. Every example where they spoke with tongues in the Bible was always intelligent language. The unknown tongue in I Corinthians 14 does not mean unknowable but means foreign or unknown to the hearer. The speaker understood he was giving thanks. (See verses 16-17) In addition to receiving more power, this experience is also a crucial second cleansing for believers of the carnal nature. Jesus teaches a second cleansing under the figure of a vine. Only saved people are branches and these needed purged. ...every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1-2) In Acts 15:8-9, the reception of the Holy Ghost (a second experience) is accompanied with a purifying (cleansing) of the heart. Also when we get this baptism with the Holy Ghost, we have the Spirit of Truth within us to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The Spirit of Truth dwells with us when we are justified and in us when sanctified (See John 14:17). This is the experience that perfects our holiness (Heb. 10:14) and completes our salvation. …Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? (Acts 19:2). Zero Sin By this term we are speaking of people actually living without committing any sinful deeds, not just in heaven but in this present world. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (Titus 2:1-12). Someone may say this verse says we should live righteously in this present world, but it surely is not possible. Let me say this first, the main reason most people believe we cannot live righteously is because most religious teachers have saturated our world with Satan’s big lie of sin you must. Secondly, the true Bible conditions of godly sorrow for sin and true repentance (a forsaking of all known paths of sinning) to be born again has not been generally taught thereby deceiving many into thinking they are saved when they only have a religious profession. Many have went forward, joined a church, got baptized or said they accepted Christ, but have never been really delivered from the power of sin. Because when one is truly born again he does not commit sin! Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin (I John 3:9). Precious heart, real Bible salvation does not leave us to resume the life of sinning in a modified degree, as is so prevalent today. Jesus said, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin (John 8:34). Then Romans 6:17-18 tells us, But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Yes friend, the Bible still teaches, We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (I John 5:18) Now we should quote here what the Bible defines as sin and how it is charged to us. …Sin is the transgression of the law (I John 3:4). Since we are not under the Old Testament Mosaic law, the law referred to here is the New Testament law of Christ (Gal. 6:2) or Christ’s words (His teachings). (See John 12:48) The New Covenant includes and surpasses all the righteous principles in the Old Testament. Then James 4:17 says, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. So we could say that sin is doing what we know is morally wrong or refusing to do what we know is right. It is not a mistake or temptation, but willful transgression. It is disobedience. Our knowledge is involved. A small child for example, could lie and remain innocent. Whereas you and I that are old enough to know better would be found guilty. Now let’s look at how to be absolved from this guilt and how to obtain this greatest treasure human spirits can find. This miraculous experience of Bible salvation that delivers us from sin and gives us power over it is available to whosoever will. If you desire real peace in your soul and a rich experience with God it can be yours if you will meet the Bible conditions. First of all it is possible only through Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12) No other name or religion can deliver one from all sin. We could summarize these conditions as repentance and faith. …repent ye and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). These words are easy to say so let’s elaborate on this. To repent we must have godly sorrow. (II Cor. 7:10) To have godly sorrow we need to see sin in its true perspective and ourselves as God sees us. Sin is not a light thing. The seriousness of sin is not just in the deed but in whom it is committed against. Let me illustrate it this way. If I were to hit my neighbor in the face, the penalty would not be as great as it would if I committed the same deed to our President. The importance and dignity of the office being the difference. There is no higher dignity or any greater one we could offend than God. So it is not just the deed itself that is so serious. Eating a piece of forbidden fruit does not seem as bad to us as murder or rape but the offense in the garden of Eden, like all sin, was disobedience against almighty God. That is why the penalty for sin is so severe. Telling a so-called little white lie makes one a liar and all unrepentant liars will be cast into the lake of fire! (Rev. 21:8, 20:15) I know these are repulsive thoughts, but friend this is reality. If we can see sin as it really is, it can help us get to the place of seeing ourselves a little more like God sees us. We can never find this hidden treasure until we can cast our pride aside and admit our true condition to ourselves and to God. It is so easy to justify our selves. There are many people doing things worse than we. Perhaps even among those who are claiming to be Christians. No doubt we have many good points that others do not have. But these are not the issue now. The issue for us, is to face what we are guilty of; our sins. If we can get to the place of admitting our guilt and realize the seriousness of whom we have offended and what the consequences will be, that can lead us into godly sorrow. Sorry enough to be willing to quit doing the things we know are morally wrong and start doing the things that are right. That is what repentance is all about. It is a turning from a sinful lifestyle and a turning to a holy and righteous lifestyle. Forgiving any who have wronged us and a willingness to straighten up our past wrongs would also be the attitude necessary when we go to God in prayer. When we know in our heart we have met these conditions, it will enable our faith to take hold that God will hear and answer our prayer for forgiveness. The guilt will lift off us and His Spirit will bear witness with our spirit that we have been accepted. (See Rom. 8:16) So we see that to repent and have faith for Bible salvation is not a light thing either. It is a major crisis in our life. One reason for this is because there is an enemy to our soul that opposes us getting (and keeping) this victorious experience. In January 1974 I remember thoughts of could I live it? Did I really want to?, what would others say? etc. The scripture teaches we must press into the kingdom. (Luke 16:16) It is more than just a willingness to give up sinful habits; it is a complete surrender of our way. From here on out the way we talk, the places we go or refrain from going, even the way we dress will all be in accordance to the will of God. What a change! (II Cor. 5:17) After receiving this life-changing experience we still have our power of choice. When temptations come our way we will have a power to resist if we so choose. (I Cor. 10:13) If we choose to yield to temptation (God forbid) and actually sin we would need to repent of that to get back to God. I am not talking about nightly confession, for if we are truly sorry for sin we won’t still be doing those sins every day. The …ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance (Luke 15:7) are those who have repented, forsaken sin and are living without sinning. I am just pointing out that if one were to yield to sin there is still hope if he will again repent. (I John 2:1) Every time we resist temptation it will make us stronger and give us confidence in our experience. Then as we continue to walk in the light we can apply for that second work of grace that we talked about earlier. One Church The Bible only speaks of but one true church. It is the one Jesus said He would build in Matthew 16:18. …I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So His church must still be in existence yet today. Thank God it is! Even though there is only a remnant today, there are yet true congregations of God’s church scattered throughout the world. We emphasize the word true because just as the name Christian has been abused there are those with the correct scriptural name (Church of God) that are no longer worthy to use that name. The Bible defines the church as the body of Christ. Christ being the head and all the saved people being members in particular, making up the one body of Christ, (I Cor. 12:27, Col. 1:18). The believers that made up the church we read about in Acts 4:32, …were of one heart and soul… and singleness of heart. They were united in doctrine too, for Acts 2:42 says, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship... In I Corinthians 1:10, Paul says, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak [teach] the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. They were united in name, the Father’s name, as Christ prayed in John 17:11-12. Paul teaches us in Ephesians 3:14-15, that the whole family in heaven and earth is named after the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father’s name of course is God. Thus the name of the church we read about in the Bible was called church of God. When Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth he addressed them as the church of God at Corinth, (I Cor. 1:2). The church that Christ purchased with His own blood was the church of God, (Acts 20:28). When we read about the early church in the book of Acts, we do not see divided up denominations. The early church portrayed Christianity as Christ had prayed for in the 17th chapter of John; united in one that the world might believe. The members were added to the church as they got saved (Acts 2:47). This is the only mode of membership into God’s church. The early church was governed by gifts of the Holy Ghost, imparted to enable them for the task (Eph. 4:11-12, I Cor. 12:28). In the different geographical congregations that were established, they were not divided up over doctrinal points with different creeds and man-made modes of membership. Nor were they called by different names. They were all called church of God. We read how they healed the sick, cast out devils and performed many miracles. They baptized by immersion, (Acts 8:38) practiced feet washing (I Tim. 5:10) and observed the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 1:24-25). They preached two-fold salvation: Justification: being saved through repentance and faith (II Cor. 7:10, Eph. 2:8) and Sanctification: being baptized, filled and cleansed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:26, I Thess. 5:23). This produced unity and is still Gods plan for His people today; to be saved, sanctified and unified. When we look at what is called Christianity today, we see something entirely different than what we read about in the Bible. We see denominations of all sorts with different names, teachings and beliefs. The book of Revelation symbolizes the religious maze of confusion we see today as Babylon. God has and is calling his people out of spiritual Babylon to the true church of God. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4) Gospel Truth & Publications P.O. Box 142, Jackson Center, OH 45334 Posted by Bill Roberts
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 14:46:11 +0000
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