Restoring Original Christianity For Today #2

Fred R. Coulter—January 25, 2014

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Restoring Original Christianity for Today. What is that? You look at all the Christianity in the world and there are thousands of ideas, denominations, various usages of the Bible, and various translations of the Bible. They all claim to be Christian.

Let's look at some of the words of Jesus that are very important for us to understand. The way to begin to understand is look at easy-to-understand Scriptures first and understand them. We will see that what we did in part one, even the Protestants would agree up to the point that we covered. However, we will see there are some things that they overlook. Then we will follow through in the book of Romans and see what is required. Then we will look at how the Protestants do it and why Christianity in America has failed. {note new booklet: Why "Christianity" Has Failed in America}.

Here's something very important, fundamental, John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way… [the way to walk, the way to go, the way to follow] …and the Truth… [everything that is done in original Christianity is with the Truth of God, not the ideas of men] …and the Life…'" You cannot receive eternal life any other way than how God has ordained it through Jesus Christ.

"'…no one… [absolutely exclusive] …comes to the Father except through Me.'" Everything else flows from there. This becomes important in understanding what God wants us to do. Always remember this: The greatest sin of mankind is that men want to tell God what to do! 'Here's how I look at it, God,' rather than saying, 'Oh, Lord, show me how it is.'

Jesus said this, John 6:63: "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing…." The carnal mind is called the mind of flesh. The ideas of men without the Spirit of God can never come to the Truth. They can come so far in the simple Scriptures that God has given so that if they proceed God will reveal more and more to them.

"…The words that I speak to you…" (v 63). What we have in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all the words that God wants the rest of the world and His people to know. Then we have the writings of the apostles and it expounds on the words of Christ.

"…they are spirit and they are life'" (v 63). That means they are spiritually understood. Men can only go so far in trying to understand the Word of God without the Spirit of God. As I have been covering on Church at Home (churchathome.org), should we take the Bible literally? I started out with the Ten Commandments. There is not one person in the world that cannot understand the Ten Commandments. God made them easy to understand. But men and women don't want to be told what to do. That's the carnal mind. The carnal mind is enmity or an enemy of God!

Once you get past the simple things to understand, then you need the Spirit of God to understand it. That Spirit of God has to be within you and today we will cover: How do you receive the Spirit of God within you, because that is the foundation of original Christianity.

• not an organization
• not a church
• not a number of people
• not ideas of men
• not: 'I think this about God and I think that about God; oh, that's a brilliant statement'

I want you to understand how vitally wonderful and important it is that God has given us the understanding of His plan.

How many watch Fox News and have seen Jesse Watters' section? He's the guy who goes out with the microphone and he interviews this person and that person, and so forth. I wonder what would happen if he took his microphone and went out, going to all age brackets and say:

• Can you tell me what God is doing?
• Can you tell me what is the plan of God?
• Can you tell me how to get eternal life?

It would be Babylon, mass confusion!

• Do you think that people are going to heaven? Yes!
• Did you know the Bible says the soul that sins it will die?
• How can you have an immortal soul?

That would be really be a very enlightening street interview—wouldn't it? Yes! Do it in New York City where you have a multiplicity of ideas and many people.

1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written… [this is without God] …'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'"

The first thing concerning restoring original Christianity—everybody wants God to love them; God does love them—is that God wants to know is 'Do you love Me?' What did He say to the Apostle Peter?

• Peter, do you love Me? Feed My sheep!
• Peter, do you love Me? Shepherd My lambs!
• Peter, do you love Me?

Peter got irritated and said, 'Lord, You know I love You.' Jesus said:

• Feed My sheep!

God wants to know: Do you love Him above all else? True Christianity is based on this, and we find that in Matt. 22. The greatest commandment is: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul.' How much devotion do you have to self? Zero!

Then He says, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Then He makes an astounding statement: 'On these two hang all the Law and the Prophets.' That's interesting! They are not pillars that support the love of God. The love of God supports the Law and the Prophets.

To go beyond some basic statements in the Bible, in order to understand restoring original Christianity you have to come to God and love Him. That also brings about repentance and forgiveness. Then we will finish the rest of the story.

Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us…"—the true Christians who are living the lives of restored original Christianity today—Us—not the world. Remember what Jesus prayed in His final prayer? 'Father, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world!' The world doesn't understand; they have been spiritually blinded. The way to understand what God is going to do with those, you must then understand God's plan.

How does He reveal them? "…by His Spirit…" (v 10). Remember, 'the words that I speak to you they are Spirit and they are Life.' When you read the Word of God, with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God gives you understanding.

"…for the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God" (v 10). Some of the things are very deep. Some of the prophecies are very difficult to understand. They have found some copies of the New Testament without the book of Revelation. How did that happen?

When they first got the book of Revelation, after they got through the first four chapters, it was all written for the end-time in symbolic language that could only be understood in the end-time. Some of them actually thought that John got crazy when he was on the Isle of Patmos and refused to put it with the rest of the New Testament. Later it was put with it, but they still found copies without it. If someone would open the Bible and just start reading the book of Revelation, with nothing else, they would conclude, 'This is nuts.' It takes the Spirit of God to understand it; the deep things of God.

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man which is in him?…." That's why we have intelligence and life, but that's only part. You know the old story: you're only half here. That's correct! If you have the spirit of man without the Spirit of God, you're only half here. You are incomplete as a human being. You don't know that, because most people think the world revolves around every individual. So, they can't understand it without the Spirit of God.

"…In the same way also, the things of God… [all His Word, what He has put in here] …no one understands except by the Spirit of God" (v 11). That means that God has made it so there are simple things for people to understand. If they reject them, automatic blinding takes place. That's why when you start with the Ten Commandments, everyone thinks they keep the first one, but how do you know you're worshiping the true God? The only God who is the true God is the God who created the heavens and the earth and brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, which is a type of sin and bondage.

Then the second one, they miss the first sentence. They make all kinds of excuses. 'You shall not make for yourself any graven image of any likeness of anything in the heavens above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.' Don't make them! What we're already dealing with is 'yeah, but…' You must have the Spirit of God and God does not give the Spirit to those who do not repent and who do not love Him.

Verse 12: "Now we have not received the spirit of the world…" That's what's in the Christianity of this world, not the Spirit of God.

"…but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God. Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit in order to communicate spiritual things by spiritual means. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (vs 12-14).

People can read, and God has given general wisdom in the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs is easy to understand. There is nothing complicated about the book of Proverbs. That's why it is designated for young people, so that they can get their minds programmed correctly.

Let's review a little bit. God is the one, though His graciousness, that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2). We come to repentance. We repent of our sins. We accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We know that all of that comes from God, as a gift from God by grace. We have our sins forgiven when we repent.

All the way through Rom. 4: freely justified through His blood. Even Christianity in the world would agree to this, but also remember, God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him! That's where it begins to separate Christianity of the world and original Christianity restored.

Romans 4:24: "Rather, it was also written for our sakes… [that's the whole account of Abraham] …to whom it shall be imputed—to those who believe in Him Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." You have to believe in the Father and in Christ! What happens to most of Christianity in the world? They believe in Jesus!

I remember I was giving a Bible study to some people who just came out of Protestantism. I was going through the Gospel of John. The comment was made to me, 'In our church we never read from the Gospel of John.' I said, 'That's because they want Jesus, but Jesus came to reveal the Father.'

That you "…believe in Him [God the Father] Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification" (vs 24-25). Justification means put in right standing with God because you have repented and your sins have been forgiven. This is all a part of original Christianity

Romans 5:1: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God [the Father] through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Whom we also have access by faith into this grace…" (vs 1-2).

Grace means more than the forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness of sin comes through God's mercy. Grace is your standing with God. Grace is also the foundation of your relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Grace expands our relationship with God.

Verse 2: "Through Whom we also have access by faith… [to God the Father] …into this grace…" Think about it. We're going to see that we are under grace. That does not mean without law. But we will show where the Protestants have gone wrong.

"…in which we stand…" (v 2). If you're standing in grace, you are under grace. From grace comes:

• God's love
• God's Truth
• God's mercy
• God's forgiveness

Verse 3: "And not only this, but we also boast in tribulations…" That's hard to come by. But when you really come to the understanding of the Truth of really deep down actual conversion of restoring original Christianity, you will understand there is nothing in this world that can be against you—period! If God is for you, nothing can be against you.

"…realizing that tribulation brings forth endurance, and endurance brings forth character, and character brings forth hope. And the hope of God never makes us ashamed because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us" (vs 3-5).

Let's see how that works, because having the Holy Spirit of God is a continual two-way operation between you and God.

Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes—both to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For therein… [in the Gospel] …the righteousness of God is revealed…" (vs 16-17). Everything about the righteousness of God:

• His justification
• His mercy
• His forgiveness
• His right standing

"…is revealed from faith unto faith…" (v 17). Your faith to God and then God's faith back to you. It's like alternating current.

• you believe in God
• you repent
• you stay close to Him
• His Spirit comes to you
• that draws you further to God

—and it's a continuing thing: faith from God!

After all of that has been taken care of, this is where the separation between Christianity of this world and original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and the apostles begins.

Many decades ago the Protestants believed in baptism; now they don't. They miss the whole point. They have absolutely nothing to do with true Christianity. Like it says in 2-Tim. 3: they have a form of Godliness, but deny the power of true Godliness!

Let's see what they are missing. To be a true Christian:

• one who follows Christ
• one who loves the Father
• one who loves Jesus Christ
• one who loves the brethren
• one who loves his neighbor as himself

that is what God wants; and the reason that they do it is because each one is in a special covenant with God.

Everyone wants the sacrifice of Christ to forgive their sins—true—and it does. But what does God require of us in return? We saw how the love of God and the faith of God works like alternating current. What Jesus went through so that this could happen, requires of those who want Christ to do what it says here. You enter into a covenant. Remember, the New Testament is the New Covenant. A covenant is the pledge of your life. Before the New Covenant could be established, Christ died.

In order for you to enter into the New Covenant, you likewise must die. You must have an irrevocable, unreturnable commitment to God that cannot be changed. That is baptism.

Recently they had on the news Pope Francis I baptizing 32 infants. They're all dressed up in whatever Sunday-best that they have. Here comes the pope with a little kind of seashell of a dish and pours water over their heads. The children are held with their faces up and then he pours a little water over the top of their head.

Before baptism comes repentance. Can babies repent? No! They can't even change their diapers. They know nothing. It has to be an adult decision answering a call of God.

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound?" That's the dividing point right there. If they are keeping Sunday, they are living in sin. If they are keeping the holidays of this world, they are living in sin. Original Christianity is different. We love God and keep His commandments and His commandments are required. We will understand why the Protestants say, 'No, you don't have to do that.'

Verse 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin…" What do you mean, 'died to sin'? How do you die to sin? You're still alive. Paul said, 'When the commandment came and I understood what lust meant, I died.' If he died literally, how could he write what he wrote? He couldn't have. This is a symbolic death, which is actually a pledge of your future death, if you do not complete the covenant with God.

"…how shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant…" (vs 2-3). This is what Christianity in the world today is. It is ignorant! They can tell you a lot of things: how to overcome your problems in your life, and how to control your temper, and all of those things. Those are all things out of the book of Proverbs.

"…that we, as many as were baptized into…" (v 3). That is motion into Christ Jesus. We are baptized into His death.

Today there's a book out by Bill O'Reilly, Killing Jesus. I would give him an F+. A lot of people having never read anything about the real death of Jesus Christ, he did pretty well in describing the Scriptures there of it, and how brutal it was indeed. What does it mean you are baptized into His death?

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death… [the death of Christ] …so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life." We are to walk in God's way, a new way:

• the Truth
• the love of God
• the commandments of God
• the way of God
• the days of God

This is very important the way it is translated, because this conveys exactly what the Greek means, v 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death…"—baptism and the covenant. God made the covenant through the sacrifice of Christ. He makes the covenant with us through His sacrifice and we are conjoined.

In order to have the sacrifice applied to us in a covenant relationship we are conjoined to His death. That's pretty powerful stuff. It's not how Protestantism does it today and why they do it the way that they do, and they must ignore mountains of Scripture in order to do what they do. They actually follow a theory of progression or evolution that drops off all of the requirements that are necessary to be a trueoriginal Christian.

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection."

• What is the promise? Eternal life!
• When? At the resurrection!

That doesn't take place until Jesus returns.

• How was He when He was resurrected? A spirit being, immortal!

We are going to be like Him because we will see Him as He is. That is the ultimate goal.

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified…" That's what baptism signifies. Jesus was crucified, but that crucifixion through baptism is applied to you; that you crucify the old man; that you, your carnal self, die in that watery grave and pledge your life to God. That is the New Testament pledge that you give. It's not just a commitment. It is because you are put under the water, full immersion in water, it signifies your whole being, not just a token of the trickle of a little water running down across the top of your head.

"…co-crucified with Him in order… [there is work to be done] …that the body of sin might be destroyed…" (v 6). The body of sin is not just the physical body; it's everything in the mind. And to be under grace is one of the most fantastic things in the world because in receiving the Spirit of God the Father and of Christ together, you have direct connection to God the Father in heaven above. That's under grace!

"…that the body of sin might be destroyed... [How do we do that?]…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6). We overcome sin. We don't let sin run loose in our minds.

Verse 7: "Because the one who has died to sin has been justified from sin. Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all…" (vs 7-10). All who repent and accept Jesus Christ and are drawn to God to answer the call, you die with Christ in that watery grave, once for all! That's applied to all of those who do so for all time from the time of Christ all the way through as long as there are human beings.

"…but in that He lives, He lives unto God…. [How are we to live? Unto God!] …In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin…" (vs 10-11). Dead to sin means you forsake your own thoughts, your own way; you forsake everything that is contrary to the will of God. Furthermore, you come to the point that in yourself you despise those things.

For example, there's a big court case going on with a school and teachers' union and parents at this school in Wisconsin where a man for years and years was addicted to pornography and was caught and was fired. The union has won to have him back in the class.

There is no indication he has changed his behavior. If that man were really sincere, he would absolutely forsake all of it and abhor all of it and get it out of his life. But since he does not have the Spirit of God, he is incapable of doing it, so he should not be teaching the children. We'll have to wait and see what happens. All the parents in the whole school are in an uproar. This shows what happens in the world when sin gets a stronghold, when Satan rules the roost.

"…reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord" (v 11). Whenever it's talking about God it means to the Father.

Now comes the conclusion, because you have repented, you have been baptized, you have received the Spirit of God with the laying on of hands, now then, we have the strength through the power of God's Spirit to do something that you cannot do without it: You cannot overcome sin without the Spirit of God! You may be able to stop some sins here and stop some sins there, but you can't overcome the sinful nature. All you will do is substitute new sins for the old sins.

Verse 12: "Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body…" That's what ruled your life:

• human nature
• sin
• Satan the devil
• the things in the world

"…by obeying it in the lusts thereof" (v 12). That is quite a statement. This is why the rest of the New Testament tells us how we do not let sin rule in our mortal bodies. We've got two series you need to have:

1. How to Use the Holy Spirit
2. The Washing of the Water by the Word

God, through His Spirit, wants us to actively yield to Him that with His Spirit He can cleanse our minds, our hearts, our thoughts, and get rid of sin within. That's the only real solution to sin! You could have all kinds of laws. Have the laws stopped anyone from sinning? No! The law has no power. The power is in the mind and choice. We need the Spirit of God to have the strength to rule over sin, rather than sin rule over us!

"…by obeying it in the lusts thereof" (v 12). How does sin begin?

• Lust!
• Enticement!
• then we agree to it
• then we accept it and we have sinned

Verse 13: "Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead…" If you don't have the Spirit of God, you are as good as dead.

What did Jesus say when the man said, 'I'll follow You, but let me bury my father.' A lot of people today would be offended by what Jesus said. He said, 'Let the dead bury their dead and you follow Me.' That was that man's father; how dare you; unkind, unthinking. Not so! A truth!

"…as those who are alive from the dead… [you come out of the watery grave] …and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (v 13). If you are doing that, which is the whole function of original Christianity, the real change and conversion within—because of God's Spirit directly from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—in your mind! You see how this follows along?

Verse 14: "For sin shall not rule over you… [you can rule over it] …because you are not under law, but under grace."

Track 2: or Download

Rom. 6:14 is one of the most difficult verses to understand because of assumptions. "For sin shall not rule over you…" It doesn't say you can't sin, but it won't rule over you. Why? Because you will repent! That's why in the model daily prayer we ask God to forgive us our sins every day. He has given us the power of His Holy Spirit to day-by-day, instant-by-instant, event-by-event to overcome sin through the power of God's Spirit. It does not say you will never sin. It says "…sin shall not rule over you..."

• Would you say that in the world in general sin rules over people? Yes, indeed!
• Why will sin not rule over us? Because you are not under law; very important phrase!
• What does under law mean?

 Most people think that means keeping the commandments of God. It does not mean that whatsoever. It's talking about your relationship with God. Everyone in the world has a standing before God. There are two standings:

1. under law

Which all human beings are subject to the instant they are born until they die.

2. under grace

Those are the ones that

•  God has called
• They answer the call
• they repent
• God leads them to repentance
• They are baptized
• They receive the Spirit of God from the Father

as begettal; and from Christ, the Spirit of Christ, which gives you the mind of Christ. Only those are the ones who are under grace! Having sin forgiven alone is not under grace.

• you must be baptized
• you must receive the Holy Spirit of God
• you must love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and being

—to be under grace.

I do not know how many people have read this how many millions of times and completely miss the point. I have for years, because I understood the difference between underlaw and under grace, but not as sharply as this.

Romans 7:1: "Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know law), that the law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live?" That's over every man, every woman.

• Is the whole world judged by the commandments of God? Yes, indeed!
• Is the whole world under law to God? Yes, indeed!
• Why are they under law to God?

because

• they did not answer the call of God
• they did not repent
• they were not baptized
• they did not receive the Holy Spirit

Therefore, they are not under grace, they are under law! Grace, once you receive the Holy Spirit of God, gives you the power to overcome sin within.

In the world, certain things can be overcome by discipline. But that doesn't change your mind. Your mind is not converted. Everyone in the world is under the law. It has nothing to do with commandment or law keeping. Under law is the relationship of people to God in the world. If you are under law, you are also under sin.

Romans 3:9: "What then? Are we of ourselves better?.… [Jews, most of them haven't learned a lesson, yet.] …Not at all! For we have already charged both Jews and Gentiles—ALL—with being under sin." We will see that also means being under law, because there are only two classes of people in the world:

1. those who belong to God the Father and Jesus Christ
2. those who are in the world

•  those that are in the world are under law
• those that are with God the Father and Jesus Christ are under grace

Is it not the greatest grace in the world to have direct access to God the Father and Jesus Christ, as close as your next thought? Actually dwelling within you. 'We will come and make Our abode with him.' We! That's what Jesus told the apostles on the night before He was arrested and crucified. That is absolutely amazing!

Verse 10: "Exactly as it is written: 'For there is not a righteous one—not even one!'" That is, righteous before God in the spiritual sense. Are there good people in the world? Yes! There are many good, sincere people in the world who do 'good things,' but do they keep the commandments of God? No! Do they live in sin? Yes, in varying degrees! But spiritually before God, unless there is repentance, baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit, there is none righteous before God—in the spiritual sense.

They can be very good people in the world, outstanding citizens, be recognized for things they do, win awards, win recognition, but, do they have the Spirit of God? If you don't have the Spirit of God, you are not under grace! It's not a matter of no law, under grace, and law-keeping as being under law. That is a complete misnomer. That is absolutely wrong. It's talking about the two relationships with God.

1. those who has the Spirit of God and is under grace
2. all the rest of the world that don't have the Spirit of God

Some of them may do a lot of things that are in keeping with the commandments of God, but they won't answer the call of God. Just try it next year when Christmas comes around. Christmas is a time when they all do their 'good' works.

Just think of this: How well would you be received if you went into a department store where they are all shopping and all the little kiddies are up there, 'Santa Claus, will you bring me this?' and their mommies and daddies standing out there, and so forth. You came barging into the department store, I don't care if you're well dressed or if you have long hair and a beard and you look like an old prophet of old in your sandals and you have your draping clothes on.

You come in and say, 'This is sin! You are sinning by bringing your kids here. You are teaching your children to lie. That man back there is a fake. Rip off his beard; take off his hat. He's never been to the North Pole and he doesn't have elves and he doesn't have reindeer. Reindeer don't fly.' You would be arrested, thrown in jail, disturbing the peace, because you offended all of these good people.

When Paul talks about good, he's talking about the goodness of God and you can't have that without the Spirit of God.

Verse 11: "There is not one who understands… [How do they understand? Revealed by the Spirit of God (1-Cor. 2)] …there is not one who seeks after God." Then it lists all the ways of the world.

Verse 18: "'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Now then… [here's the conclusion]: …we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (vs 18-19). All are under law who do not belong to God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Verse 20: "Therefore, by works of law…" We'll explain what that means, what you can do that you think is good to God. But what does God say? 'To this man will I look, he who is of contrite spirit, broken heart, and trembles at My Word!'

The very, very thing that Paul says we are not to do, the Protestants do, because they are not in covenant with God; likewise the Catholics, etc.

Romans 6:15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace?.…" That is in your relationship to God. You're either under law, like the world is, or under grace. That puts you in an entirely different category.

"…MAY IT NEVER BE!.… [this becomes very clear]: …Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (vs 15-16). You see the two categories? What does this also tell you? That those who are under grace are of obedience unto righteousness! You do have things you need to do.

Verse 17: "But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin… [not now] …but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you; And having been delivered from sin… [through Christ, by the Spirit of God] …you became the servants of righteousness" (vs 17-18). The Greek word for servants is 'doulous,' which means the slaves of righteousness. What is righteousness?

• the fruits of the Holy Spirit
• the commandments of God
• loving God
• loving your neighbor
• loving the brethren

All of those are the fruits of righteousness. Those cannot come about until you have 'the washing of the water by the Word' so that you can overcome sin.

Verse 19: "I speak from a human point of view because of the weakness of your flesh; for just as you once yielded your members in bondage to uncleanness… [under law, judged by the law, living in sin] …and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now yield your members in bondage to righteousness unto sanctification."
We will see the operation of how this is done. How we remain in righteousness to God through the grace of God. This is with the power of God's Holy Spirit through His Word. This is why everything gets back to:

• pray every day
• study every day
• overcome every day
  • that's how you are converted
  • it is a process

Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your own wives, in the same way that Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it." He didn't give Himself to the world, yet. It will be applied to the world. Even Jesus said in His final prayer, 'Father, I do not pray for the world,' though 'God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son.' But it is not applied to them because they have not yet repented. 'But I pray for those whom You have given Me.' Quite a prayer!

Verse 26: "So that He might sanctify it…" What does sanctify mean? To be made Holy,from being sinful! To be made Holy, to have a mind of spirit or a spiritual-led mind, sanctify, make Holy!

"…having cleansed it…" There is a spiritual cleansing that must take place every day, and especially in today's world.

If you resurrected someone who had nothing to do with any of the modern conveniences that we have—all the transportation things, the phones, the videos, everything—they would be absolutely overwhelmed. Some might say, 'You've got to be kidding, this is crazy.' Sometimes a lot of it is.

But stop and think. A lot of people would like to do it, live someplace very isolated. You'd have to learn how to take care of yourself. What you need to do is watch the program, Alaska, the Last Wilderness. Then ask yourself, 'Would you like to do that?' They don't have television. They might have cell phones, but just suppose they don't have any. They have to live off the land, work in the summer in order to live in the winter. Quite different! A lot of people would like to have this, especially those who live in the hustle and bustle of the city. Everything is all going on all the time and you just want to get away from it, like one of the Psalms says: 'Oh, that I were a dove that I could fly away.' Get away from it all.

I want you to think about how much our minds are exposed every day to an awful lot of sin. If you watch television, half or more of the commercials have to do with soft pornography, how to lose weight and everyone's in a bikini. Everything! Next time you watch some of these ads, ask yourself: How much of this is just outright sin? and lust? and temptation? Remember, our mind can receive even a flash of something, so this tells us that today we have got to pray this prayer and ask God with His Spirit to give us the cleansing with the washing of the water—which is God's Spirit—by the Word. This tells us how important study is, how important prayer is, especially in this world. I don't know about you, but that is my prayer every day and I pray this for the brethren every day and for all the ministers everywhere, regardless of where they are.

"…with the washing of the water by the Word" (v 26). That's what it means then.

Romans 6:19: "…so now yield your members… [that starts with your mind] …in bondage to righteousness unto sanctification." Sanctification is Holiness. Now you see how far removed we are from Christianity of this world? Yes, indeed! Now you know why it says, 'Many are called, but few are chosen.'

Verse 20: "For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness." Isn't that interesting? Servants of sin—under law. 'The law rules over a man as long a time as he lives.'

Verse 21: "Therefore, what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?.…" Think about it. Remember, God knows every thought. He is a heart-knowing God. He doesn't go around and know all the hearts everywhere all the time, but He can know your thoughts anytime He decides to know. Those who have the Spirit of God, He knows them all the time, because you have His Spirit within you. Notice how grievous that makes it if we go out and deliberately sin. Think of that!

"…For the end result of those things is death. But now that you have been delivered from sin… [through the sacrifice of Christ, the Spirit of God] …and have become servants of God…" That's why you have the Spirit of God.

This also answers another question: Why then, those who are the teachers and leaders in the Church are called overseers, rather than overlords. Just like ancient Israel, under the system of judges, they wouldn't yield to God, so they thought that if they had a king, like all the rest of the nations, that the king would help them do better.

But what it really did, was put a layer of a man between God and them; likewise, within the Church. All the elders and teachers are to be overseers to teach people, not rule over them. To show them the Word of God, so they can develop their relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. That's why the government of God is Christ in you and not a church structure.

You "…have become servants of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (vs 22-23).

Where did Protestantism go wrong? We won't even include Catholicism. Catholicism is so pagan, it has nothing to do with the Truth. Where did the Protestants go wrong? I've read a lot of writings of those early Protestants. Outside of Sunday, they had everything about 95% correct. When they began accepting the holidays of this world, and got all wrapped up in that—they had Sunday, they had a lot of other things—they began to, as one man wrote, appeal to the apostates to come into the church, they had to make it easy.

What did they do? The first thing they did was said that Jesus did away with the Law or Paul did away with the Law! They missed on the very first thing. Rom. 2 talks about repentance or not repentance in the first part of it.

Romans 2:13: "Because the hearers of the law are not just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." That's why under law has nothing to do with law-keeping, because when you repent:

• you repent of your sins
• you turn from them
• you forsake them
• you hate them
• you don't want them
• you want them out of your life

What do you do then? You start obeying God, instead of obeying sin! So then, "…the doers of the Law shall be justified." Think about that! Repentance, and before you are baptized you have to start keeping the laws and commandments of God in order to receive justification. If you continue living in sin, you have no justification, even though you hear the law.

So, step number one they have missed it right there. Then what did they do? They even use Scripture to do this: Rom. 10 is really very, very interesting. In the King James, Romans 10:4 reads: "For Christ is the end of the law..." They read that and say, 'the law has been done away' because it is wrongly translated. So, if you say the law is done away and you're not a doer of the law, you have no chance of justification. They have missed the point on step one.
How do you explain the difference? What does Rom. 10:4 mean? If Christ ended law, heaven and earth would not exist. Didn't Jesus say, 'I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets. One jot or one tittle shall not perish from the law until all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall perish, but My Word shall never perish.' How then could Jesus, Who was the Lord God of the Old Testament, be the end of the law?

The phrase the law is an incorrect translation. It is Christ is theend of law. What does that mean? We will see what Paul was really writing, because you have to take it in context. The context explains that phrase end of law.

Romans 9:24: "Those of us whom He also called, not from among the Jews only, but also from among the Gentiles? Accordingly, He also said in Hosea, 'I will call those who are not My people, "My people," and those who were not beloved, "Beloved." And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them, "You are not My people" there they shall be called the sons of the living God.' But Isaiah cried out concerning Israel, 'Although the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For He is accomplishing and limiting the matter in righteousness; because the Lord will limit the matter He is doing upon the earth.' Accordingly, Isaiah also said before, 'Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom and we would have been made like Gomorrah.' What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith" (vs 24-30). Faith does not mean you are disobedient.

Verse 31: "But Israel, although they followed after a law of righteousness did not attain to a law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but by works of law…" (vs 31-32). What are the works of law? That's why you need to read Appendix Z in the Holy Bible in Its Original Order.

Works of law have to do with sacrifices and the laws of Judaism. Those are works that you do. You can never receive the righteousness of God by you originating it. Why? Because every human being has 'the law of sin and death' within them! Can you ever, ever of your own, without the Spirit of God, do anything that is really righteous toward God, in the spiritual sense? No!

The Jews wanted to do it by works of law. "…for they stumbled at the Stone of Stumbling [Christ], exactly as it is written, 'Behold, I place in Sion a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense, but everyone who believes in Him shall not be ashamed'" (vs 32-33).

Rom. 10 is works of law by their own righteousness. Any sacrifice you would give did not change your mind. Circumcision did not change the heart. The laws of Judaism, which we have of the book of Judaism—A Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? We have some of the law of Judaism there. Read those. You will understand works of law. That is a phrase that has nothing to do with commandment-keeping.

Romans 10:1: "Brethren, the earnest desire of my heart and my supplication to God for Israel is for salvation. For I testify of them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God…" (vs 1-3). If you are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, that's how they had all the traditions of Judaism replace the commandments of God and why Jesus said, 'Full well, as you keep your traditions, you reject the commandment of God and you worship Me in vain.'

"…and seeking to establish their own righteousness…" (v 3)—by works of law. That's what it says in:

Romans 9:32: "Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but by works of law…"

Romans 10:3: "…seeking to establish their own righteousness… [by works of law] …have not submitted to the righteousness of God."

Here is the correct translation and I think the only Bible in the world to have it correct. Most of them have a Protestant/Catholic fight concerning commandment-keeping and tradition and things like this, rather than understanding that the fight and the debate in the early New Testament church was not Catholicism vs Protestantism. It was the New Covenant vs Judaism. That was the problem and Paul says that they were ignorant of the righteousness of God.

What did Jesus say to the Pharisees? He said, 'I know you.' These were the 'religious' leaders, the ones who invented all of the traditions, the ones who were trying to establish their righteousness by their works of law. Jesus said, 'I know you, that you do not have the love of God. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed Me.' That tells you that you must believe Moses before you can believe Jesus.

Verse 4: "For Christ is the end of works of law…" {See Appendix R: What is Meant by "the Works of the Law"?} Wherever it is works of law in the New Testament, like we pointed out in Rom. 3, they have the works and the is not there in the Greek. Of the law and the is not there in the Greek. It is works of law—'tone ergon nomu.' The works of law, referring to Judaism. Have nothing to do with the commandments of God. Protestantism has no understanding of Judaism. Most, when they come out of Protestantism, are astonished that they missed the point.

Verse 4: "For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

• you believe in Christ
• you keep the commandments of God
• you love God
• you have faith
• you have the fruits of the Holy Spirit

Those do not come by the works of law.

I know I have given you a lot to handle today; I hope you understand it. What we have in the Judaism book is very little of what they really have. I've got a book that has thousands and thousands of laws of Judaism.

I remember one time Dolores said, 'Wait till you see what the Jews do at the Wailing Wall on the Day of Atonement.' Of the works of law of Judaism on the Day of Atonement, they take a white chicken and they wave it around in a circle over their head so that they can have their sins forgiven. What does that have to do with repentance? Nothing! They need to be very careful to not do it too long, because something may happen.

Scriptural References:

1.  John 14:6
2. John 6:63
3. 1-Corinthians 2:9-14
4. Romans 4:24-25
5. Romans 5:1-5
6. Romans 1:16-17
7. Romans 6:1-14
8. Romans 7:1
9. Romans 3:9-11, 18-20
10. Romans 6:15-19
11. Ephesians 5:25-26
12. Romans 6:19-23
13. Romans 2:13
14. Romans 10:4
15. Romans 9:24-33
16. Romans 10:1-3
17. Romans 9:32
18. Romans 10:3-4

Scriptural referenced, not quoted:

•  Matthew 22
• 2-Timothy 3
• James 1

Also referenced:

• Booklet: Why "Christianity" Has Failed in America by Phil Neal

• Books:
• Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly
• Judaism—Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? by Phil Neal
• Sermon Series:
• How to Use the Holy Spirit
• The Washing of the Water by the Word

• From The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:
  • Appendix Z, Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God
  • Appendix R, What is Meant by "the Works of the Law"?

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 2-4-14
Formatted: bo—2-4-14

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