May we Go on Sinning?
But now what of that scripture that says: ". . . ye are not under the law, but under graced (Rom. 6:14).
Now that you are UNDER GRACE — does this mean you are given license to disobey God's Law?
Listen to GOD'S answer: "What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? GOD FORBID! How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom. 6:1-2) Later, verse 12: "Let not sin {transgressing God's Law} therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
Once again, verse 14: "I or sin {transgressing the Law} shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under grace." The very next words show PLAINLY this does not mean you are free to break God's Law — to Disobey God, "What then? Shall we SIN {break the Law}, because we are not under the Law, but under grace? GOD FORBID! Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness ."
GRACE does not mean license to SIN. And the BIBLE definition of SIN is: "Sin is the transgression of the LAW" (I John 3:4).
You were UNDER THE LAW, when the Law stood over you, claiming its penalty. When Christ paid the penalty, and satisfied the claims of the Law, you were no longer under the Law, but under GRACE.
It is the FALSE prophets of our day who try to deceive you into believing "GRACE" means permission to BREAK GOD'S LAW! We are being saved FROM SINNING (now and in the future) as well as from PAST sins. Christ came to save us FROM sinning — not to save us IN sin.
WHY the Holy Spirit?
I have been showing you, step by step, the way of "salvation." Where are you, now? You have been reconciled to God — your past forgiven — and you have received God's Holy Spirit. But WHY?
God's Spirit, first of all, is His very own LIFE injected into you the begettal of ETERNAL life. You are now an HEIR of God — a joint-heir — a co-heir with CHRIST. Not yet an inheritor. The Holy Spirit injects into you also the characteristics of God. First of these is LOVE — not carnal or human love, but DIVINE love — GOD'S love.
And WHY? In order to KEEP GOD'S LAW — that's why! How is God's Law fulfilled? "LOVE is the fulfilling of the Law" (Rom. 13:10). But carnal human love cannot fulfill it. WHY? Because the Law of God is a SPIRITUAL Law (Rom. 7:14). It can be fulfilled only by a SPIRITUAL love, which is THE GIFT of God. It is "the love of GOD shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 5:5). And, again, God gives His Holy Spirit only to "them that OBEY Him" (Acts 5:32).
Also it requires FAITH to keep God's Commandments. And your faith is not strong enough. It requires CHRIST'S faith — the same faith He exercised and lived by during His human life time. God also GIVES you this very same FAITH, by the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit also imparts to you spiritual comprehension — power to UNDERSTAND spiritual truth; and wisdom, and patience, and spiritual POWER! All these are imparted to you from God, by the Holy Spirit — as His GIFT! But these are given to you to LIVE BY — to USE, in order to GROW spiritually in knowledge and grace and to overcome.
MUST There Be "WORKS"?
I have tried to make it PLAIN that we cannot EARN salvation by "works."
Yet EVERYONE does produce "works — either good or bad. Your evil "works — disobedience of the Commandments — will EARN you the penalty of DEATH. But what about GOOD works? Do they earn anything?
INDEED THEY DO!
Are good "WORKS" required?
INDEED THEY ARE!
But WHAT, then, do they EARN?
They do NOT earn "salvation." They do NOT earn eternal life. They will NOT get you into the Kingdom of God!
Well, then! What DO they earn?
Ah — that is the point of this article!
You are not JUSTIFIED by "works," nor "saved" by "works," but you are to be JUDGED by your "works," and "rewarded according to your "works."
This thing called "WORKS" — meaning deeds, good or bad — cannot put you INTO God's Kingdom of Immortals. You get IN by GRACE! But, once in, your "works during this present life — during your Christian life after being "converted" and receiving God's Holy Spirit — DO determine WHAT OFFICE, or POSITION, or RANK, or degree of GLORY, you shall have!
This is what ALMOST NO ONE seems to have understood!
First notice what Jesus said — AFTER His resurrection — inspired after the year 90 A.D.: "To him that OVERCOMETH will I grant to sit with me in my THRONE . . ." (Rev. 3:21). Further: "And he that OVERCOMETH, and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give POWER OVER THE NATIONS: AND HE SHALL RULE THEM. . ." (Rev. 2:26-27).
Notice again, ". . . hast made us unto our God KINGS AND PRIESTS; and WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH" (Rev. 5:10)
Notice what is said of those in the first RESURRECTION, at Christ's coming: ". . . and they lived AND REIGNED with Christ a thousand years. . . . Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, AND SHALL REIGN with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4, 6).
Notice, in these scriptures, the "saved" are to REIGN with Christ in the coming WORLD GOVERNMENT, the Kingdom of God. And notice the requirement of OVERCOMING, and keeping Christ's WORKS and also of ENDURING TO THE END! NOTICE! Jesus said "he that . . . keepeth my works canto the end.
Now notice further: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall REWARD every man ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS" (Matt. 16:27). Nowhere does the Bible teach being "SAVED" by our "works," but it does teach the degree of regard according to "works."
Alexander the coppersmith did great evil to the Apostle Paul, and Paul says: ". . . the Lord reward him according to his works" (II Tim. 4:14). Notice this distinction! This man did EVIL works. He won't get salvation at Christ's coming. He will be REWARDED — that is, PAID WAGES according to his WORKS — and the WAGES of SIN is DEATH — eternal PUNISHMENT. "WORKS" means the wages you earn — or the REWARD to be given — either good or bad. Evil works (sin) can EARN eternal punishment, but GOOD WORKS can EARN a better position or office in God's Kingdom IF you get there — but it cannot earn salvation!
Now notice Romans 4:4: "Now to him that WORKETH is the reward NOT reckoned of GRACE, but of DEBT." Salvation is not paid as a DEBT, but is GIVEN by GRACE — undeserved GIFT. But "WORKS" earn wages, paid as a debt.
So what we WANT is not GRACE or WORKS, but GRACE and WORKS. The "GRACE" will get us into God's Kingdom — give us Immortality as God's GIFT. The "works" will EARN us — that is, Qualify us for a better office — an opportunity for bigger SERVICE — for doing MORE GOOD, once we are born into God's Kingdom.
Degree of Reward
Notice, now, Jesus' parable of the "pounds."
Jesus' disciples wrongly Supposed the Kingdom of God was to appear in their lifetime. To CORRECT this error, Jesus spoke this parable.
". . . because they thought the Kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, 'A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom, and to return' " (Luke 19:11-12). That is, Jesus Himself was going to heaven to receive for Himself the Kingdom of God, and to return to earth. Now continue:
"And He called His ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, 'Occupy till I come.' But His citizens hated Him, and sent a message after Him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us"' (verses 13-14). Jesus had Come "to His own," the Jews — the remnant of the Kingdom of JUDAH — and "they received Him not" (John 1:11), so Jesus turned to "the lost sheep of the House of Israel" (Matt. 15:24), and sent His twelve apostles to them (Matt. 10:6). That is, to the so-called "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel. They were then, most of them, in Northwestern Europe and the British Isles.
But continue Jesus' parable:
"And it came to pass, that when He was returned — now speaking of what SHALL happen at Christ's return — "having received the Kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had given the money, that He might know how much every man had gained by trading" (Luke 19:15).
This is speaking of every converted true Christian, to whom God has GIVEN of His Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts. Every one, at that time entering God's Kingdom as an INHERITOR — as a POSSESSOR, no longer just an HEIR — actually then "SAVED" — will be called to an accounting — JUDGED, to determine WHAT POSITION in God's Kingdom he has qualified for. And notice that this "REWARD" will be according to his "WORKS" in this present mortal life. Continue, verses 16-19:
"Then came the first, saying, 'Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.' And He said unto him, 'Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.' And the second came, saying, 'Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.' And He said likewise to him, 'Be thou also Over five Cities.' "
NOTICE CAREFULLY! They got into God's Kingdom by GRACE (as numerous other Scriptures make plain). But they are rewarded — that is, given authority, or rule, or position, according to their "WORKS" — according to how well they did with what they had to do with WHILE CHRIST WAS IN HEAVEN — that is, during their mortal Christian lives.
Continue now:
Beginning verse 20 — read it in your Bible — the one who GAINED NOTHING in this present mortal life — the one who had no good "works" — who did not grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ (II Peter 3:18) — not only was not given ANY position — but even had TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM even the spiritual gift he had been given! In this parable, the English pound, the main English unit of money — worth approximately $2.40 United States money — is used as a symbol of spiritual value.
This parable teaches what has been shown by other scriptures in this article — that the Christian must OVERCOME; he must GROW spiritually — grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ (II Peter 3:18). We are being SAVED to SERVE — and if we do not qualify to serve, we may have taken away even the salvation we thought we had!
IF YOU do not have good works, you have evil works, or sin, which earns the penalty of sin — DEATH!
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) shows the same thing, showing that each is judged by what he has to do with. But the one who makes no Spiritual PROGRESS after his initial "conversion" is cast as an "unprofitable servant into outer darkness" (Matt. 25:30).
Life Is a Race
Finally, SEE WHERE ALL THIS LEADS us. Man is MORTAL, without inherent life, possessing in himself only a transitory physical, chemical EXISTENCE.
God is Immortal, composed of Spirit, having self-contained life inherent within Himself. He made mortal man to be formed and shaped like He is, but composed of matter. ETERNAL life comes as GOD'S GIFT. It comes through the gift of God's Holy Spirit, GIVEN after the prior conditions of real REPENTANCE, and FAITH in Christ.
But, once receiving the GIFT of the Holy Spirit, entering upon the Christian life, this Christian life is pictured as A RACE in a stadium, or in a contest. We must TURN FROM SIN (and the Bible definition of sin is: transgression of God's Law — I John 3:4). Notice: "Wherefore . . . let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with Patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1).
FURTHER: Paul wrote: "And this do for the Gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but ONE receiveth the prize? So RUN, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they {those unconverted} do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we {Christians} an incorruptible. I therefore SO run, not as uncertainly; so FIGHT I . . . Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway, {REJECTED}" (I Cor. 9:23-27) .
We must STRIVE to overcome. We must fight temptation and sin. The Christian life was pictured by Jesus as the hard, rutty, difficult way — NOT the easy way that leads to destruction.
So, SALVATION — being born INTO Gods' Kingdom — depends not only on once receiving the Holy Spirit, but being LED by God's Spirit through life (Rom. 8:14), and God's Spirit DWELLING in us, at the end of life's race! That is, at the time of death, or of Christ's coming, whichever comes first.
God's impregnating Holy Spirit is received by GRACE, as God's GIFT, not as a debt or compensation earned; not by "works." But, once we receive the Holy Spirit, it does not remain bottled up; it does not stagnate; it is not static — it Flows in outgoing concern (LOVE) to fellow man, and in worship, reverence, obedience to GOD. It flows into us from God. We can love God only because He first loved us — our love toward God is only a return of His love, which He gives to us.
This spiritual LOVE — the HOLY SPIRIT — must be kept on that RETURN CIRCUIT — fulfilling God's LAW — flowing back to GOD by fulfilling the first four Commandments, and out to neighbor fulfilling the last six.
The parable of the sower and the seed illustrates this. There were four classes. The first heard the Gospel Message, but it never conceived — they never were converted. They may STILL have a chance — later. A second class was converted, with great joy, but simply had no spiritual depth of character, and endured only for a while, but yielded to temptations UNTIL they fell away — that is, CONTINUALLY, till they QUIT TRYING. A third was converted, received God's Spirit, but let the cares of this material life — earning a living — or former unconverted associates — keeping one foot in the world — seeking the PLEASURES of this world's materialism — and they "brought forth NO FRUIT to perfection." So THEY lost out! You MUST BRING FORTH Fruit — make spiritual PROGRESS — develop spiritual CHARACTER! In other words, good works.
Too many, today, are preaching a FALSE salvation of "NO WORKS."
Your "WORKS" won't get you converted — won't earn you God's Spirit — won't earn salvation — as I have made PLAIN in this article. BUT THE LACK OF GOOD WORKS CAN GET YOU LOST, if persisted in!
The fourth class of the parable are they, "which in an HONEST and GOOD HEART, having heard the Word, KEEP it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15). In Matthew's account of this same parable, those finally SAVED, enduring to the END of life's race, brought forth fruit — some thirty-fold, some sixty, some a hundred. ALL of these were SAVED! ALL of these go into God's Kingdom.
But those who bring forth a hundredfold, during their Christian lives, will receive a higher REWARD, or position in the Kingdom, than those who produce only thirty-fold!
SALVATION comes as God's free GIFT, by GRACE.
But the DEGREE of office, once in the Kingdom — once made Immortal — the rank, the position, the degree of glory — this is what you must QUALIFY FOR, by the fruits you bear in THIS LIFE. Your degree of REWARD will be according to your WORKS!
THAT is the teaching of GOD!