ALL HAVE SINNED

ALL HAVE SINNED (Foundation number 4)

                Let us stop for a minute and ask ourselves; why are we going through the church’s declaration of faith, ours or anyone else’s.

1.       Some churches hold doctrines and interpretations and or additions that are not really biblical.

2.       What we believe we must personally own, or it doesn’t transform us.

3.       We are heading into a new Dark Ages in which our biblical faith will be severely tested and criticized.

4.       We may have to die for our faith and so we must have a faith worth dying for.

                The first Dark Ages occurred simply because the church ruled with impunity. No one dared question the authority of the popes and Bibles were very rare and largely unavailable to the public.

                The Reformation started first with a few hand copied pages of scripture and one Bible chained in a monastery, but it really gained steam with the invention of the printing press. Today there are Bibles everywhere, but we are heading into a new Dark Ages anyway, simply because most people aren’t studying their Bibles (on one hand) and because the world is in outward rebellion against God and His Word. (On the other hand.)

                It is not enough to say “My church teaches this or that.” We need to own what we believe. We need to take our own church’s declaration of faith along with a Bible and sit down and build our own textual foundations for what we believe. And if you can’t find it in the Bible, then don’t bother to make it your own, or if it is actually contrary to scripture, then maybe you belong to the wrong organization.

                We tend to sit in comfort in our churches, presuming that they teach the truth… and most fundamental, Bible believing churches do teach biblical truth. But do you know that truth yourself?

                What if the Bible and those who preach it are suddenly outlawed? The globalists are working very hard right now to enforce global laws that will make true biblical Christianity a felony. Is your church remaining true or is it falling away? There are Christian churches right now that are compromising heavily with the Word of God in order to remain politically correct. 2 Thess. 2: 3, 4

1.       Many church organizations are embracing the world’s acceptance of homosexuality in spite of the fact that God calls it an abomination throughout scripture.

2.       Many churches are allowing abortion even though according to scripture we are chosen by God from conception and to end the life of the child in the womb is murder plain and simple.

3.       Many churches are embracing the COEXIST movement, allowing the deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons of the New Age to infiltrate the church.

4.        Many are joining the chant of the Palestinians to split the land of Israel in spite of the fact that God gives severe warnings against those nations that will divide His land. People do not understand the issues involved there from a biblical viewpoint. That land belongs to God, but Satan wants to rule there in the place of Christ and that is what he is about to do in the form of the antichrist. Do you really want to side with the antichrist?

5.       Many Protestant denominations are making a pilgrimage back to the pope and the Catholic Church to join him in the formation of a global religion. This global religion will become the religion of the antichrist and it will be enforced by the Mark of the Beast in coming days. If you are willing to compromise now, then you will most likely compromise then. Unfortunately, the Bible says that those who take the Mark of the Beast will be eternally lost to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Taking the Mark of the Beast represents your choice to follow Satan instead of Christ, just as Adam and Eve did in the first place.

6.       There is a mass movement of a kind of grace that is not according to Scripture and so it has become an important part of the great falling away from the faith. Do you have a biblical knowledge of true grace and its transforming power?

7.       Many churches are now embracing Evolution as an alternative belief. This removes God’s authority, His ability to save us as well as the integrity of His Word. If you are a Bible believing Christian, you can’t go there.

                Okay, is that enough reason for you to study what your church believes? Is that not enough reason to take ownership of what you believe so that you live by personal conviction rather than just going along with the crowd?

So now let us take a look at DECLARATION # 4

                “We believe that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.”  (Romans 3:23)

                First of all, the Law defines sin for us and when we say the Law, (1 Jn. 3:4) we are not only talking about the Ten Commandments, but the entire Torah. In the Torah, God establishes how the world was created, how man was created and what his purposes are in this world. It shows us the things that please God and the things that bring judgment upon people and nations. It gives us a flow and purpose to History and it is filled with types and shadows that promised a coming Messiah. It tells us His divine nature, His purpose for coming to our planet and it provides a solid foundation for all that the New Covenant would be… and even though the Law itself cannot save us, it points to a Savior who would deliver us from the Law’s death sentence, and then to place His own Spirit within us so that the intent of the Law will be written in our own hearts. The Law is fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Romans 8:1-4

                So our salvation then consists of our repenting of our sins (2 Peter 3:9) and our sinful nature and coming to Jesus, to receive both His forgiveness and His Holy Spirit, so that we become new creatures that live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. (2 Cor. 5:17) We overcome sin by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. (Rev. 12:11) We become disciples, followers of Jesus who live by His power and not our own.  (Acts 1:8, Mt. 16:24)

                How are you doing so far? Are you a Christian in name only, or are you walking the walk by the power of Christ? (John 4:23-24, John 5:24-27, Jn. 6:63) Are you still living by your flesh and its desires or are you living by the very Spirit of Christ? Our eternal salvation is connected to this and yet false grace is saying that it doesn’t matter. (Romans 8:13, Col. 3:5)

                Repentance requires a U-turn. You were going the way of the world until you heard about Jesus. So you made an about face and you came to Jesus for forgiveness. You entered by faith into His death and you rose to new life by faith by the power of His resurrection to now live by that power and not your own. As such the Bible and the Holy Spirit will be your constant companions and guides for we are called to live in Spirit and in Truth. (Luke 15:11-32)

                Since the Law defines sin, many think that they can reverse their course or rectify the situation by keeping the Law. But there is an infinite element involved that requires much more than human effort to reverse the sentence of death. We did more than to break a few rules. We were created in God’s image and we fell from that image. We became traitors to the kingdom of God and joined the kingdom of Satan. As such we took on Satan’s nature in the place of God’s nature. We fell short of His glory in such a way that it requires infinite power and grace to restore that image and glory of God to us. It requires an infinite redemption and the shedding of the blood of Someone Greater than the sum of all humanity… nothing less than our Creator. (John 3:16, Jn. 1:1-14)

                So salvation is not just a matter of returning to the Law to keep it. We must receive the infinite resurrection power of Christ in order to be transformed into His image. It is not enough to be a church member, regardless of what church it is. You MUST own the truth and that truth must set you free from what WAS so that you can walk in the fullness of what IS in Christ.

                But instead of this being a dreaded obligation imposed upon us, it is the way of freedom and joy and peace. Peace with God heals ailing humanity. We become wells of living water as life springs forth from our innermost being. (John 7:38)  The fellowship of the saints is a most precious thing. It is sort of like moving from a menu of donuts that tasted good, but were destroying us, to a diet of healthy life giving food. At first it tasted strange to us. It required a vast change of appetite, but in time we began to appreciate and even crave healthy food and our diet was transformed little by little as we moved away from sickness and poor health to energy and vitality. Likewise it is in Christ; it feels contrary to our fleshly nature at first, but in time we are transformed by the Spirit and the Word until we begin to experience the love, joy and peace and all of the fruits of the Spirit so that their flavor changes not only us, but those around us. We are being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

                Truth, when united with the Holy spirit, transforms us more and more into the image of Christ, whom God sent here not only to die for our sins, but to model the kind of life that fulfills not only His Law, but also restores to us the image of God that Adam lost in the fall. We may become sons and daughters of God in whom He is well pleased. (John 1:29, John 1:17, Mt. 3:11, Mt. 3:17)

                We need to understand from the Tabernacle of Moses that our salvation is a three part process of restoring us completely, spirit, soul and body to the image of Christ. . 1 Thess. 5:23, 24.

1.       We are justified and made right with God by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus. Gal. 3:11, 1 Cor. 5:7)

2.       We are being sanctified, by the Spirit and Truth. (As pictured in the Holy Place) (John 17:17)

3.       And at His coming we will be glorified, when we receive our new resurrection bodies. ( 1 Cor. 15:51-58)

                So salvation may begin with a trip to the altar, but it will be followed by a transformed life in which we walk out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God‘s dear Son. (Romans 12:2, 2 Cor. 10:3-5) We are not alone in this for the Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway. Ps 119:105 and Jesus also promised saying. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides WITH you (Old Covenant) and will be IN you. (New Covenant)  (John 14:16, 17)

                All have sinned, but there is a remedy for sin and it is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is our true Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) Those who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) But more than mental ascent, we are instructed by Paul saying: “As you have received Him so walk in Him.” (Col. 2:6-10, Col 1:16-23)

                If you don’t have a firm and personal foundation for your faith, then take the few texts I have provided here and begin to build biblical support for what you believe. If you will take the Bible and the Bible alone and pray for the Holy Spirit’s understanding, you will be amazed at what the Bible actually teaches us … and you will be amazed at how it will transform you… your heart… your thinking… your understanding of God’s ongoing plans and purposes for your life. There has never been a book like it in all of human history and there has never been a Savior like Jesus, or the Holy Spirit whom He sent.

                The Bible is not just a book of facts: It is alive with transforming and interactive power. It is the Word of God. When He said, let there be light, the light is still shining. When He said, let there be grass, the grass is still growing, water is still flowing, birds are still singing, trees are still waving in the breeze. They remain vibrantly alive because God is moving in and through them. Likewise, His Word is alive with transforming power and eternal truth. Hebrews 4:12. Tap into your Source of eternal life today.