WHO ARE CARNAL CHRISTIANS?

The word carnal comes from the Latin word – carnis, meaning: flesh! That which is carnal is of the flesh as opposed to being of God’s Spirit. The word carnal is used ten times in the New Testament and the word carnality is used three times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. In this lesson we will study all fourteen scriptures to determine who are Carnal Christians! We will begin with the word carnally as written in –

Leviticus 18:20

Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

Here we see an Old Testament law that was given to preserve the honor of the marriage Covenant – women were to be faithful to their husbands, not adulteresses! Men were to be faithful to their wives, not adulterers! We can therefore conclude that all sex out side the marriage Covenant is of the flesh and not motivated by God’s Spirit! Christians who commit adultery or fornication are under the control of the flesh as opposed to being submitted to the Holy Ghost through God’s word.

Leviticus19:20-22And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman,

That is a bond maid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her:

she shall be scourged: they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, Unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

even a ram for a trespass offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for

his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

The above scripture is referring to a couple that had sexual intercourse before their planned marriage. If the couple had not been espoused they would both be put to death by public stoning. The fact that marriage was planned between them freed them from the death penalty, never the less the female was scourged, and the male had to sacrifice a ram as a sin offering, that their sin of fornication be forgiven through the offering of the death of a ram as their substitute – the blood of the sacrificial ram covered over their sins, thus God granted them repentance and forgiveness. All such Old Testament laws were given to honor the sanctity of the marriage Covenant! The ram that was sacrificed as a sin offering was a type and shadow of Jesus, who in the fullness of time would come into our world and give His sinless life as the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin. Without doubt or shadow the Old Covenant demonstrated the amazing grace of God towards His chosen people the Jews, who were all sinners. Grace is the demonstration of God’s agape unconditional love, which is unearned, unmerited, undeserved favor, and acceptance of sinners by God. Through the Covenant agreement God made a way of escape from eternal punishment for His chosen people the Jews, through the shedding of the blood of animals- the Old Covenant contract! Believers who indulge in fornication before taking their marriage vows are controlled by the flesh as opposed to being submitted to the Holy Ghost through God’s word! All things, which happened to God’s chosen people the Jews, were an example to us that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. The apostle Paul admonishes believers, neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, neither let us commit fornication or tempt the Lord. (See 1 Cor 10:1-12) In Numbers chapter five reading from verse thirteen; we can see how an adulteress was dealt with under the terms of the Old Covenant! If she had a secret affair with another man and her husband became suspicious and jealous she put herself under the curse of the law whereby her belly became swollen up and her thigh rotted. The curse that comes upon those who have loose sexual relationships in our day is the curse of Aids – multitudes worldwide are dying the cursed death of Aids because they have no regard for God, His word or the sanctity of marriage, which God set in motion between a man and a woman. Yet in the days in which we now live sinners want to have

legal homosexual and lesbian marriages, a thing which is an abomination in the sight of Almighty God who created woman for man and man for woman, for the purpose of reproduction. We have looked at the three times the word carnally is used in the Old Covenant, and we can come to only one conclusion, all sex outside the marriage relationship is forbidden by God, under both the old and New Covenants. Yet we must also agree that God’s amazing grace made a way of escape from eternal punishment for sexual sin, in the case of His chosen people the Jews, who kept the Covenant in obedience and faith. The blood of the Covenant purified the flesh and sanctified the sinner through the act of obedience in sacrificing the trespass offering and faith in the purifying power of sacrificial blood. Having offered the ram as a trespass offering their sins were forgiven As revealed in Leviticus 19:22!

Carnal or Spiritual mind!

We will go on now to the New Covenant where the word of God speaks of those who are carnally minded, a carnal mind is a mind that is ruled, controlled and dominated by carnal sense knowledge: that which we see, hear, smell, taste and touch! The carnal mind has little or no knowledge of God’s word, to be carnally minded is death! Those who are carnally minded cannot escape the second death – eternal separation from God in the lake of fire and brimstone!

Romans 8:5-9 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they who are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

So they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

The spiritual mind has been washed and renewed through knowledge of God’s word; those who are spiritually minded have brought their thinking into line with God’s thinking, as revealed in the Bible. The carnal mind on the other hand has no Godly knowledge but is ruled and controlled by carnal sense knowledge, which is injected by hereditary sin.

Those, whose minds are dominated by God’s word, live by faith in the promises revealed in God’s word and have received eternal life and peace with God. Those who are carnally minded trust in the dictates of their carnal sense knowledge and self-effort. Proverbs 23:7 teach; a person is what they think they are! As a man thinketh in his heart so is he! Those who are in the flesh think only of carnal things, their speech and actions are also carnal, and God’s word makes it very clear that we all get what we believe in the heart and speak with the mouth. (Mark 11:23) Carnal thinking, speaking and action can only produce death – both physical death and the second death. Those whose minds have been renewed and brought into harmony with God’s way of thinking, think, speak and act according to biblical principals, which produces life and health for this life and throughout eternity. The way we determine if they are walking after the Spirit or the flesh is to judge our own thinking, words and actions. If we are living in the true vine our minds, words and actions will be dominated by God’s word! Those who are in the flesh are dominated by carnal sense knowledge, words and actions. Those who are in the flesh love carnal things and spend all their free time feeding their carnality by watching TV, videos, internet and using all modern technology to satisfy and gratify their carnal lusts. Those who walk after the Spirit will give no place to such carnality in their lives, those who walk after the Spirit hunger for deeper wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God’s word and spend their free time studying the scriptures. The carnal mind is enmity against God and therefore refuses to put any value in God’s word; the result being those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The carnal mind hates the word of God and looks upon God’s word as foolishness, because the carnal mind cannot comprehend God’s word, which is spiritually understood and discerned. (See1Cor 2:14) The living word of the living God can only be understood and discerned by the power of the indwelling Holy Ghost. Every regenerate Son of God has to learn to deny our natural carnal way of thinking or carnal sense knowledge and renew our minds through biblical knowledge, before we can walk in the Spirit and be pleasing to God! Actions are a result of thoughts! To control our actions we must change our thinking, we never do anything without first thinking about it! If our thoughts are dominated by God’s word our actions will

correspond with God’s word, and we will live to let Jesus live through us. If our thoughts are dominated by carnality we will live to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the end thereof is the second death!

James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted,

when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin:

And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Actions are conceived in our thoughts; a woman cannot give birth until she conceives in her womb! An individual cannot sin until they first conceive the sin in their mind; once sin is conceived in the mind the sinful action will be birthed. How do we avoid conceiving sin in our minds? As always the answer is found in our Fathers word!

2Cor 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God’ and bringing into captivity every thought to the

obedience of Christ;

Every regenerate Son of God is in a war and the mind is the battlefield! To win the war of the mind against the lusts of the flesh and the fiery darts of the enemy, there are two things we must fight against- 1) Imaginations! 2) Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God! Imaginations are not true – things imagined are deceptive fantasies- mere speculation! High things include anything that opposes the truth as is recorded in God’s word! We have to cast down or cast out every thought that is a deceptive fantasy which opposes the truth as recorded in God’s word, however we cannot do this if we are ignorant of God’s word! We must weigh our thoughts and compare them with God’s word, if a thought opposes God’s word it has come either from the carnal flesh or is a fiery dart of the enemy. We have to say a positive NO to all thoughts that have come from the flesh as well as the fiery darts of the enemy.

As we weigh our thoughts we learn to bring every thought captive to the obedience of God’s word, and keep our minds stayed upon Christ and all that He has freely provided in the atonement for his blood bought family.

Not all carnality is looked upon as sin!

The word carnal has more than one meaning, for example all sin is carnal - of the flesh, but not all carnality is looked upon as sin! Carnality can also refer to human ability, self-performance or self-righteousness. Trying to be a “holy christian” by our own efforts, human ability, self-performance or self-righteousness is of the flesh – carnal! All Self-righteous believers are carnal Christians who depend on their own performance and works for acceptance with God. It is impossible for any fallen carnal human being to achieve the holiness God requires, as God requires perfect holiness! Fallen humanity fell from perfect holiness and can never achieve perfect righteousness by human ability or self-effort. Attempting to be holy by human ability is carnal- all self-righteousness is of self! Flesh! Carnality, and is rejected by God as “another gospel” which denies the true way of salvation - by grace through faith in Christ, the Redeemer of the world! The true regenerate Son of God claims no merit for his/her holiness, our holiness and right standing with God is a result of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus was made to be sin for us, - a sin offering that we be declared the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The true regenerate Son of God is holy with Christ’s imputed holiness, which we wear as a garment by faith. Praise Him for His amazing grace! We will move on now and take a look at the other nine scriptures, which use the word carnal in the New Testament, bearing in mind that the object of this lesson is to determine who amongst us are Carnal Christians. The word carnal can also be used to describe things, such as love gifts or contributions for poor saints as seen in-

Romans 15: 27 It hath pleased them verily; and their

debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

The Jews were God’s chosen people unto whom the oracles of God were first committed, The Old Covenant established between God and His chosen people, was a schoolmaster to bring fallen humanity into the Spiritual blessings of the New Everlasting Covenant sealed with the Holy redeeming blood of the Jewish Messiah. Therefore the Gentiles who had been received into the Everlasting Covenant along with the Jewish Christians by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as the Promised Messiah were bound to show their gratitude to their Jewish brethren by ministering to them in carnal things. The carnal thing, which the Gentiles were to minister to the poor saints at Jerusalem, was money, that their daily needs be met. Those who are rich in spiritual blessings also have carnal needs such as money, to live in this world, which is our temporary home.

1 Cor 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things,

Is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? Compare the above scripture with Deuteronomy 25:4, 1Timothy 5:18, Mathew 10:9-10 and Luke 10:7 Once again we can see that God’s word talks of carnal things which are the things of this world such as money, that is needed to provide daily needs – food, clothing and a place to live etc! In any profession a worker has the right to his/her wages! Paul uses a Hebrew custom to explain that ministers who sow spiritual things should reap carnal things from those whom they minister to. It was prohibited by the Law of Moses to muzzle the mouth of the oxen during the process of treading out the corn; the oxen was free to eat from the stalks as they worked! So it is the right of Christian ministers to reap carnal things from those they have sown spiritual blessings upon.

Envy, Strife and Division !

In the first four verses of 1Corinthians 3: 1-4 the word carnal is used four times.

And I, brethren, could not speak unto

I am of; Apolos; are ye not carnal? you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even

as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able

to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is

among you envying, and strife and division, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

For one saith, I am of Paul; and another,

Paul discerned that the Corinthian church were still babes in Christ because of their carnal attitudes, they continued to be envious of each other, there was also strife and division amongst them which was a result of their spiritual pride. Proverbs 13:10 states; only by pride comes contention! It can be concluded that believers who walk in like manner as did the Corinthians are carnal Christians! Babes in Christ are fed milk if you we feed babies meat it will choke them! Hence Paul could not teach the Corinthians the deeper mysteries of Christ, because these babes in Christ could not handle it, the little knowledge they had already received gave them a measure of self-conceit which caused envy, strife and division in their midst. Exactly the same thing is going on in the body of Christ today; a little knowledge of God’s word causes self-deceit, pride and division in Christ’s body. Another reason for division amongst the Corinthian believers is that they had their eyes on man, “I am of Paul or I am of Apolos!” They were looking to man as their spiritual head and leader instead of looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Is not this the case amongst carnal Christians today? Different groups put differing ministries on a pedestal and boast about their favorite preachers, in the same spirit of carnal pride and self-conceit as did the Corinthians. Ministries who work for a following after themselves rather than the extension of Christ’s body are carnal self- idolaters who deliberately preach a man pleasing ear-tickling gospel to hold the favor of their followers for their own financial gain. Paul pointed out to the Corinthians that he and Apolos were God’s instruments to teach Christ’s body, therefore all the glory belonged to God not the instruments. A gardener cannot take the credit for creating beautiful flowers; all the gardener did was plant the seed that

carried the God given power to reproduce its-self, therefore the credit and glory belong to none other than Almighty God. This is a vital lesson that all true ministers of the gospel must learn, our responsibility is to preach the gospel and plant the seed – God’s word! God’s word carries the faith of God and the miraculous ability to reproduce its-self, or bring into reality that which God has declared. Therefore all the credit and the glory belong to God not the planter – the minister! As ministers of Christ we can do nothing of ourselves – nothing without Jesus! So let Christ’s body knock their idols off their pedestals and give God all the credit and Glory for the ministries He has set in His body.(See Ephesians4:11-12) Where there is envy, strife and division in a Christian assembly this is a sure sign of carnality, unity amongst believers is of vital importance! For where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Strife opens the door for the enemy to come in and cause confusion; confusion leads to fear, worry, and anxiety and causes God’s people to loose their peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Having said all that it is important to realize that we have been called to earnestly contend for the true faith and truth causes division.

COMPLETE IN CHRIST!

Col 2:10 reveals that born again believers are complete in Christ, the regenerate spirit has been created in righteousness and true holiness and is complete in Christ, and is as perfect and holy now, as it will be throughout eternity. (See Eph 4:23-24) Our spirit-man is the part of us that has been created to live forever; our mortal body is only a temporary house, which must die, so that our regenerate spirit-man can take up residency in our eternal immortal glorified house – glorified body! Then our redemption will be complete and we will walk in sinless perfection through out eternity. Many self-righteous individuals are trying to bring about our completed redemption in the carnal mortal body of flesh not understanding that the work of redemption begins in the Spirit and is completed in immortality. Our regenerate spirit already possesses the mind of Christ, because God the Holy Ghost possesses our born again spirit. (See 1 Cor 2:16) The Holy Ghost is not inferior to the Father and Son, He is God; one in

unity with The Father and Son therefore our regenerate spirit is possessed by God and possesses the mind of Christ. As the Holy Ghost – the seed of Christ possesses our regenerate spirit, our born again spirit is incapable of committing sin and is capable of doing the same works Christ did when He was on earth, at the moment of conception – regeneration! When an individual is regenerated by the indwelling Holy Ghost, he/she believes they are forgiven and believes God’s word, believes that whatever they ask God will do it, such child like faith enables God to perform miracles that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Sadly as soon as we are regenerated by the Holy Ghost religious demons are assigned to our case by the enemy of Christ – Satan and his fallen angels! Religion places so many conditions on individuals receiving from God that they loose their simple child like faith and end up in unbelief. The point being made here is the mortal body of flesh was not regenerated by the Holy Ghost and continues to be influenced by hereditary sin; we are in the process of subduing the carnal flesh through renewing our minds and bringing our thinking into line with God’s thinking as recorded in the scriptures. All envy, strife, pride and division is of the carnal flesh, those who have not learnt to subdue such attitudes are Carnal Christians! Never the less we have been called to earnestly contend for the true faith, and truth does cause division as seen in Mathew 10:33-37. Jesus came to give us peace with God, peace in our conscience, peace with the true brethren, peace in heaven but not peace on earth. In this world we shall have tribulation and our enemies can be those of our own household. We cannot and must not compromise the truth of God’s word for the sake of peace unity without truth is deception! There is a place where it is right to stand our ground for what we believe is right if someone has done us an injustice, even if it causes division, because the wrong doing did not come via God’s Spirit.

2 Cor 10: 3-4

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, But mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that

exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Paul taught justification by grace through faith, not of works lest any man boast, and was unjustly accused by the self-righteous Pharisees of walking according to the flesh. Those who preach justification by grace through faith are often accused of giving believers a license to sin, by those who are clothed in their own filthy rags of self-righteousness. Paul never claimed to have reached a place of sinless perfection in the flesh, but on the contrary said; “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,” he acknowledged that he walked in a body of flesh that was contaminated by hereditary or imputed sin. The self-righteous Pharisees, who judged after the flesh and the outward appearance, underestimated Paul! Regardless of the fact that Paul had not attained sinless perfection in his flesh, he was called, anointed and appointed of God. His power and authority came from the indwelling Holy Ghost and the amazing grace of God, and not his body of flesh! His body of flesh was a temporary house, which enabled God the Holy Ghost to work through him, that the Father may be glorified in the Son! Although Paul walked in the flesh – a human body contaminated with imputed hereditary sin, he did not war after the flesh with the strength of human power – determination, will power, self-effort or self-righteousness. His weapons were not of human carnality, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Paul’s strength was the indwelling Holy Ghost and God’s amazing grace, which enabled him to get up and go on after enduring such persecution as being scoured on five separate occasions, beaten with rod’s on three occasions then stoned to the point of death. No amount of carnal human resources could have enabled him to be victorious in such a situation! Neither Paul’s accusers who were of the seed of the serpent or Satan and his demonic forces could prevent the power of God being made manifest through Paul, carnality cannot win a spiritual battle! One of the main weapons used by Paul to win the victory over the works of darkness that were trying to kill him was, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God! It is God’s word backed by God’s Spirit, which breaks the strongholds of Satan. Paul used the word “weapons” in the plural, the whole armor of God as laid out in Ephesians 6: 10-18 are our weapons of warfare against the enemy.

Why did the Jews who were Paul’s own people, hate him to the extent that they tried every means possible to kill him? Because the New Covenant gospel, which he preached, is the gospel of grace through faith, which opposed the Pharisees belief that Justification with God was accomplished by works – keeping the Ten Commandments! Paul’s persecution was a result of religious opposition to the true way of salvation!

Carnal Commandment and Ordanences!

In the book of Hebrews the word carnal is used twice, firstly in-

Hebrews 7:16

Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an

endless life. The back ground to the above scripture refers to the priesthood, the Levitical priesthood was appointed after the law of a carnal commandment, upon the death of the Father the eldest son fulfilled the role of high priest, under the law the high priests were normal carnal humans who faced death. The Lord Jesus Christ out Great High Priest was appointed by the power of endless life. The life and immortality which Jesus had in Himself qualified Him to be a High Priest forever.

Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks,

and diverse washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The Old Covenant with the sacrificing of animals and sprinkling of blood, surrounded by laws concerning meats, drinks and diverse washings was a type and shadow – carnal ordinances, imposed upon the Jews until the time of reformation; until the time that the Promised Messiah would come and fulfill the law by giving His sinless body of flesh to die, as the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin. The high priests of Old Covenant times were appointed by the law of a carnal commandment; the Old Covenant was established on carnal ordinances, because it was a schoolmaster to bring fallen humanity into

knowledge of why God in Christ chose to come into our world to die the cursed death of crucifixion.

All Believers Are Carnal In Their Flesh!

We will now look at the last and final scriptures, which use the word carnal-

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual:

but I am carnal, sold under sin. The Law is spiritual- the Law is perfect, holy and just and reveals to fallen humanity our exceeding sinful state, without the Law we would never have come into knowledge of the fact that we are all condemned sinners. The Law reveals to humanity what our Holy God and Creator condemns as sin! The Law revealed to Paul that he was carnal, sold under sin! Paul did not choose to be a sinner, he had no choice in the matter, he was sold into or under sins power, like a slave is sold from one master to another master. Adam’s rebellion sold the entire human race under sins curse! Sin is at work within the entire human race, which included the great apostle Paul who said, “In my flesh dwells no good thing!” He acknowledged that the good he wanted to do, he did not! He also said, “What I hate, I do!” The entire human race inherited Adam’s rebellious sin nature; we were all sold into sin like a slave who is sold from one master to another master. We are in the same boat as was the apostle Paul; if we are honest we must confess that in our flesh dwells no good thing, the good that we want to do, we do not, and we do things we hate! We are all carnal in our flesh, sold under sin because the flesh serves the law of sin! (Read Romans 7:14-25) Why should we suppose that we are any better than the great apostle Paul, we are all in the same boat, and need a Redeemer to buy us back to our original Master to save us from eternal damnation. Conclusion: All believers are carnal Christians in the flesh because Adam’s sin was lodged or imputed to our mortal body of flesh! Just as Adam’s sin was imputed to the carnal flesh, so Christ’s righteousness is imputed to our regenerate spirit, our regenerate spirit cannot sin for the Holy Ghost – the seed of Christ has taken possession of our born again spirit! Yet those who have been regenerated in their

spirit still have a sin problem in their flesh, those who say they do not sin in the flesh, deceive themselves and the truth is not in them, according to 1 John 1:8. The desire of every regenerate believer is to live a life that glorifies Jesus, who bought us out of Satan’s kingdom with His own life’s blood. Like the apostle Paul we must be meek, honest, and humble and confess that in our flesh dwells no good thing, let us not be like the self-righteous Pharisees who frustrate the amazing grace of God towards fallen humanity! Let us rather praise, worship and adore Him for His amazing grace towards fallen humanity: that saved a wretch like me! Being saved by grace through faith does not give a believer a license to live like the devils children; we do not abuse God’s amazing grace, we live by grace through faith, knowing that we could never achieve the perfect righteousness, which God accepts. Never the less we strive against temptation, the lusts of the flesh and live a separated life, not to try and gain favor with God, because we wholeheartedly believe that the blood of Jesus perfectly atoned for sin once for all. We strive against the lusts of the flesh, the world and the devil to stop Satan getting an inroad into our lives, for he comes only to steal, kill and destroy.

Gal 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked;

for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit

shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Reaping what we sow is a biblical principle that never fails, and it does not need to be believed to work. To be carnally minded is death; those who sow to their flesh are dominated by their carnal mind, which is an enemy of God and leads to damnation in the lake of fire and brimstone. Sowing to the flesh is living under the control of the carnal sense knowledge that delights in fulfilling the evil lusts of the flesh. Those who sow to the Spirit and renew their minds through serious study of God’s word reap everlasting life and all the benefits, which have been freely provided in the atonement in Christ Jesus. Regenerate believers struggle and strive to overcome the lusts of our flesh such as lusting after chocolate or food, alcohol, nicotine and much more, we set out to gain the victory using carnal weapons such as

promise, will-power, determination some have even made vows never to do such and such again. Our resolve wins through for a season, but we succumb again and throw themselves onto God’s grace, and through faith in the blood of Jesus get up and go on again, using the same carnal weapons in yet another attempt to gain the victory. God’s grace and mercy is our life belt that stops us drowning in desperation and keeps us afloat and encourages us to get up and go on, in this battle between the carnal flesh and the regenerate spirit. The secret of success is stop trying to gain the victory over the flesh using carnal weapons such as promise, will-power, determination, self-effort for we can do nothing without the Lord! We cry out to the Lord, “I hate this lust which is in my flesh, please deliver me Lord!” Then we get up and in our own strength and take the carnal sword in hand – willpower, promise, determination and self-effort only to fail again! Finally we get the message that we of ourselves cannot win the victory, we can do nothing without the Lord! The striving and struggling ends and we rest in God’s grace and the completed work of the atonement in Christ our Lord by faith, and learn the valuable lesson that God’s grace is sufficient for us. He gets all the credit and glory, which prevents us falling into the pit of self-righteousness and forgetting that it is not giving up all vices that gains us favor with God. But faith in the perfect atonement Jesus provided for us when He died as our sacrificial lamb, to buy us out of slavery from an evil cruel master- imputed sin, that had the power to send us to the second death

Justufication and Sanctification Gradual-Progressive or Instantanious?

In Bible Colleges here in the Philippines young students are taught a false doctrine of gradual Justification, slowly but surely – gradually one overcomes all vices and lusts of the flesh and becomes righteous. Therefore this doctrine teaches that Justification is a result of self-effort! Concerning sanctification some teach, “Sanctification is your being set apart from sin by the progressive work of God’s Spirit in your heart and life” This is yet another false doctrine which shifts the completed work of atonement away from the sinless death and Holy blood of Christ, to a progressive work of the Holy Spirit in the

individuals heart and life. This is yet another false doctrine that teaches that sanctification is a result of self-effort but with the help of the Holy Spirit. Sanctify means: Freed from sin and set apart as Holy! Freed means set free, the work is done the victory is won by the atonement in Christ’s death and redeeming blood.

1Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and

sanctification and redemption:

By the work of God’s amazing grace towards fallen humanity we are “in Christ” through the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost, the only means whereby the Holy Ghost can perform the miracle of regeneration is through the incorruptible seed - the word of God. (See 1 Peter1: 23) Jesus does not make our flesh wise, righteous, sanctified or redeemed! Christ Jesus becomes our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. Jesus imputes His wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption to our born again spirit. The only way fallen humanity can be righteous enough to approach the Holy One of Israel is through the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Our flesh has not been regenerated or justified or sanctified! Our spirit has been regenerated by the power of the indwelling Holy Ghost: that is created in righteousness and true holiness possessing the image and likeness of God – perfect holiness with endless life! In Old Testament times God’s Spirit or God’s presence dwelt in the Holy of Hollies in the Jewish Temple, the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Hollies into the presence of God carrying the blood of the animal that was sacrificed as a sin offering to appease Divine Justice. If the High Priest did not one hundred percent – wholeheartedly believe in the sacrificial blood to cover over his sin, he would have died instantly, for sinful flesh cannot enter into the presence of God’s Holiness and live. The Holy Ghost can only take up residence in a temple – body that has been cleansed by the blood of the Covenant- the Holy Redeeming blood of Jesus! When the Jews entered into a state of religious apostasy by turning to false gods it proved that they no longer had faith in the blood of the covenant to cover over their sins. The result was that God withdrew

His presence from the Holy of Hollies, which was the innermost part of the Jewish Tabernacle. If there is no faith in the blood of the Covenant to cleanse and purify of sin there can be no presence of God’s Spirit! So it is under the New Everlasting Covenant, many have made commitments to follow Christ and said prayers to accept Christ and receive the Holy Spirit with little or no knowledge of God’s word, therefore they have no understanding that the Holy Ghost can only enter a temple that has been cleansed and purified by the blood of the Covenant - the Holy Redeeming Blood of Christ! Thus they end up trying to justify and sanctify themselves by their own gradual or progressive self- effort, self- performance and religious law keeping, which leads into self-righteousness or self-salvation and they have therefore no need of a Redeemer!

Heb 9-22 WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO

REMISSION. It is impossible for the Holy Ghost to regenerate the spirit that is dead in trespass and sin if the temple-body has not been washed, cleansed and purified by the Holy Redeeming Blood of the God-Man – the Lord Jesus Christ! The Holy Ghost can only dwell in a temple -body that has been cleansed and purified by the blood of the Covenant, because the Holy Ghost is God, who is Holy, and He cannot inhabit a defiled temple!

I John 5:7-8 For there are three that bear record in heaven,

The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood:

and these three agree in one.

There are three that bear witness on earth, 1) The Spirit-God the Holy Ghost! 2) The water- the word of God! 3) The blood of the Everlasting covenant- the precious holy redeeming

blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus was THE WORD! And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)

The word of God is the great means of regeneration; Jesus cleanses our soul - our intellect, our mind, our understanding, with the washing of water by the word. It was through knowledge of the Law that we realized we are damned sinners; likewise it is through knowledge of the word that we realize that the price of sin was fully paid by the sacrificial death and redeeming blood of Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. Jesus - the WORD OF GOD, THE INCORRUPTIBLE SEED washed us clean- renewed our intellect, our reasoning, our thinking concerning His sacrificial death on our behalf and the power in His blood which paid the full penalty for the sins of the carnal flesh. God’s word acts as water to wash away the filth of our flesh, before any one can be regenerated, justified and sanctified we must first - A) Be washed in the water of the word, to renewing our minds –

educate our reasoning with Godly knowledge and bring our thinking into line with God’s word!

B) The temple – the believer’s body must be cleansed and purified by the blood of the Covenant by faith!

C) Then we become fit vessels for God the Holy Ghost to indwell! Fallen humanity is in a state of defilement we were all polluted and made filthy by imputed hereditary sin from Adam, by which we were all separated from our Holy Creator and God, living under the curse of the law separated from God’s favor and blessing.

Divine Justice Determined- “Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission for sin!” Therefore we sinful human creatures must be purged by Holy blood! Justification and sanctification can therefore only be accomplished by A) Water- the soul cleansing power of God’s word! B) The Holy redeeming blood of Christ by faith! C) The indwelling Holy Ghost! The procedure, which produces regeneration, is as follows; God draws sinners who are dead in trespass and sin unto Himself by His amazing grace. A sure sign that a sinner is responding to God’s grace is that they start reading the bible, as they read the bible they come into knowledge that Jesus gave His life a ransom for sin and that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. God then grants the sinner repentance and forgiveness as they confess their sins and believe in the power of Jesus blood to wipe out their sins. The temple- body of flesh is cleansed or

purified by the blood of the Covenant and the Holy Ghost comes in and regenerates the spirit. The cleansing methods as practiced under the Old Covenant was a mere type and shadow of what Jesus was going to accomplish by fulfilling the Law, which annulled the Old Covenant and established the new better Everlasting Covenant. This was accomplished through Christ’s substitutery sacrificial death to buy fallen humanity back to God: that is as many as would respond to God’s amazing grace and receive Him as their Redeeming Lord through knowledge of God’s word!

Heb 9:13-14 For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes

of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, SANCTIFIETH TO THE PURIFYING OF THE FLESH:

How much more shall the BLOOD OF CHRIST, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot

to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

God’s chosen people the Jews, were no different to the rest of humanity they were all unclean sinners through Adam’s imputed sin. To become God’s chosen highly favored people they had to be purged of their sin, thus God established the Old Covenant and the sacrificing of animals whereby animals were put to death as the sinners substitute, the sacrificial animals were bled, and the blood was carried by the High Priest into the Holy of Hollies and sprinkled upon the mercy seat in the presence of God’s Spirit. Thus the blood of the Covenant agreement reconciled God and sinner; Divine Justice accepted the death and blood of sacrificial animals as a covering for sin providing the Jews kept their side of the agreement and acted in obedience and faith. A Covenant being a mutual agreement sealed with blood- it took two parties to make the Covenant agreement function effectively. Sinful man could only enter the Holy of Hollies wherein dwelt the presence of the Lord through the blood of the Covenant agreement! The blood of the Old Covenant sacrifices sanctified to the purifying of the flesh – freed the Jews from sin and set them apart as Holy, sacrificial blood being the vehicle of sanctification. In other words the blood of the Covenant purified the carnal flesh from sins defilement! Did that mean the Jews ceased to sin in their flesh? No! Year by year on the day of Atonement the Jews had to confess their sins to the High

Priest, who in turn laid his hands upon the especially chosen sacrificial animal and confessed all the sins of the Jews upon the head of the animal. This was done as a legal transaction whereby the sins of the Jews were imputed to the sinless sacrifice, which would be put to death as their substitute. (See Leviticus chapter 16) The blood of animals obtained a yearly reprieve or pardon for sin for God’s chosen people. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered His sinless body of flesh to God as the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin – sanctify to the purifying of the flesh – free believers from sin and set us apart as holy. Christ’s death and Holy blood being the vehicle of the perfect atonement for sin! The sacrificial blood of animals under the Old Covenant obtained a yearly reprieve or pardon for sin, the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ obtained eternal redemption for believers as well as for the Jews, whose sins were covered by the blood of animals. The holy blood of Christ is sufficient to purge our conscience from dead works. Dead works being the sins of the carnal flesh that would lead to the second death if there were no atonement for sin. Jesus was made to be sin for us; that is the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin, He died as the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, this was a legal transaction in accordance with Divine Justice whereby the death of our innocent sinless substitute paid the full penalty or ransom for sin, our sins were imputed to Him – set down to His account. This our Redeemer did in order to impute His righteousness to those who are washed in His blood by faith. After Christ the Promised Messiah died as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world a soldier pierced His side with a spear and forth with came there out blood and water –the water revealed Jesus as The Word made manifest in a human body. The pouring forth of His Holy sinless blood reveled Him as the Promised Messiah – The Saviour and Redeemer of fallen humanity - God’s sacrificial Lamb, who gave His life to save His people from their sins. The water refers to the cleansing power of God’s word, which cleanses our souls, renews and educates our minds and imparts Christ’s wisdom to our intellect. The blood of Christ that sealed the Everlasting Covenant cleanses and purifies the mortal body of flesh and makes our bodies fit vessels for God the Holy Ghost to indwell, that we may serve the living God! Through the operation of God’s Spirit the water and the blood we are reconciled, regenerated, justified, sanctified, and declared righteous by

our Holy God. Does this mean that we will never sin again? No! The carnal flesh continues to serve the law of sin, and the battle against sin continues! Regardless of this truth, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus by faith in the atoning blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whose blood purified our carnal flesh from the defilement of imputed sin forever! Trouble is, self-righteous individuals try to bring about our completed redemption in the carnal body of flesh, not realizing that our redemption begins in the regeneration of the spirit and is completed in immortality.

Titus 2:5-7 Not by works of righteousness which we

have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the holy ghost;

Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

That being justified by his grace, we should be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

God’s word must be the deciding factor for all who claim to be in Christ Jesus! The above scripture on its own is concrete evidence that gradual or progressive works of righteousness does not justify or sanctify anyone. On the contrary God will not accept our good works or works of righteousness as a means of obtaining favor with Him, we are saved, justified and sanctified by God’s mercy and grace by the washing of regeneration – the word of God which acts as a cleansing agent to renew our soul and bring our intellect – our reasoning into line with God’s word, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Renewing of the Holy Ghost refers to the actual miraculous work of regeneration when God the Holy Ghost indwells us and imparts Christ’s righteousness and eternal life to our spirit. The renewing of the Holy Ghost cannot happen until our temple has first been cleansed and purified by the blood of Christ by faith. The Holy Ghost can only dwell in a temple that has been purified and cleansed by the blood of the Covenant. Under the Old Covenant sinful flesh could not enter into the presence and holiness of God without sacrificial blood. As God is the same yesterday today and forever and the fact that the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the Old

Covenant, it stands to reason that God the Holy Host cannot enter a defiled temple, the believer’s body must be purged; set free from sins defilement by the blood of the Covenant prior to the indwelling of God the Holy Ghost.

Ephesians 5:26-27

….. Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing

of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church,

not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The Spirit and the word and the sinless blood of Christ, are God’s divinely chosen instruments of regeneration, justification and sanctification. Justification and sanctification is the gift of God’s amazing grace! Just as Adam’s sin was imputed to our carnal body of flesh, so Christ’s righteousness is imputed to our regenerate spirit. The bride of Christ is a glorious church having neither spot nor wrinkle but holy and without blemish, unblameable and unreprovable!

Colossians 1:12-14 Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made

us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

The above is yet another scripture that denies gradual or progressive justification by self-effort or self-performance. Those who have been regenerated by the Holy Ghost have hearts full of thanksgiving to the Father for His amazing grace in sending His only begotten Son as our sacrificial Lamb, whom we will praise, worship and adore through out eternity. The Spirit, water and blood has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light –Son’s of God- children of light, who have been delivered from the power of darkness, sin had the power to damn us in the lake of fire and

brimstone. Through the atoning blood of Jesus, sin has lost its power over us; neither sin nor Satan can condemn or damn us. Atonement: the expiation of the sins of mankind by the redeeming blood of Christ, the reconciliation of sinners with God. Expiation; pay the penalty for wrongdoing! We were not redeemed by self-effort, self-performance or keeping the Ten Commandments or obeying religious laws or belonging to a particular religion, but through the Spirit, water –the word and the precious blood of Christ. The ploy of the enemy to caused the redeemed believer to fall from grace is to cause us to become preoccupied with the sins of the flesh, whereby we strive to walk in perfection using carnal weapons such as willpower, determination, and making promises never to do such and such again, or claiming to keep the law- the Ten Commandments, the effect of this leads the believer into self-righteousness whereby they fall from grace in that they are no longer wholeheartedly trusting in the blood of Jesus to keep them in right standing with God.

Gal 5:4

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law;

ye are fallen from grace.

To be justified and sanctified by the Law an individual has to perfectly keep the law from birth to death, which is impossible for fallen mankind. Jesus being miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin was not affected by imputed hereditary sin, therefore He was the only human being who perfectly kept the law and fulfilled the law, which He did to present Himself as the once for all sinless sacrifice to God, thus Jesus satisfied Divine Justice on behalf of fallen mankind. Those who believe they are justified because they conform to a certain religious standard have never understood the true biblical meaning of justification. Those who have been justified by grace through faith and are enticed back into trusting in self-performance, keeping the Law, conforming to a religious code of practice by religious demons of deception, have fallen from grace! One falls from grace when they try to achieve justification by turning away from salvation being the free gift of God’s amazing grace received by faith in the perfect atonement in Christ Jesus, to trusting in

self-performance, keeping the Law, trusting in a particular code of religious practice. The foolish virgins lamps went out, they were initially saved by grace through faith in the perfect atonement in Christ Jesus. With the passing of time religious demons enticed them away from believing that salvation is the free gift of God’s amazing grace received by faith, to a false gospel of works! Hence their lamps went out, the Spirit of light and life left them, and they were cut off from God because they turned away from God’s amazing grace to seeking salvation by another way – works as opposed to grace and faith! The atonement in Christ is in vain, of no value to those who seek justification by religious works, self-effort or self-performance.

Gal 3:10-11

For as many as are the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written,

Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law

to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight Of God, it is evident for, the just shall live by faith.

Those who trust in religious law keeping put themselves under the curse of the law; since all have sinned no one can ever attain the blessings of the Law through self- performance or holding to a religious code of practice to obtain favor with God. I have had first hand experience of the curse working against me. Let me explain! As a seven-year-old child I accepted Jesus as my Shepherd through learning and singing the 23rd Psalm in school. We lived in a little house by the sea that was not accessible by road, so I had a thirty-minute walk through the fields after being dropped by the school bus. As I headed down the hill towards our little house I was singing with all my heart, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want, etc” Suddenly the scene changed, the field I was walking in was a beautiful meadow full of brightly colored flowers and a figure was standing in the midst of the flowers with outstretched arms, I knew it was my Shepherd and I ran into his arms, He caught me and tossed me in the air and caught me again, as he held me with outstretched arms above his head he said, “You belong to me!” Then it was over, I was back in the field heading home from school, but I knew that my

Shepherd had accepted me as one of His sheep, and I loved Him with all my heart. We moved from the little house by the sea to a village nearer to school but I was not happy because I felt separated from my Shepherd. Then I started to attend a Christian Fellowship with my cousin and heard preaching about the blood of Jesus that cancels out or washes away our sins. Once again I knew the presence of my Shepherd and I was gloriously happy. My mother and step-Farther were not believers, and when I came home from the meetings singing: “I am redeemed, I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb, I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, filled with the Holy Ghost I am, all my sins are under the blood, I’ve been redeemed!” They did not like to hear me singing about the blood of Jesus and would not allow me to continue going to the meetings on the pretext, “Religion is a bad influence on a child of your age!” I was broken hearted and it caused a rift in the family, as I was not allowed to see my cousin who took me to the meetings. In the years that followed I grew up with no spiritual impute into my life, yet I was aware that God was watching over me. I my mid twenties I decided to find my real father and present myself to him, having found out where he lived I had my hand on the gate, which led to his front door and a voice with great authority yet full of loving concern spoke within me, “Turn around and walk away! “I could not disobey the voice for it was the voice of my Shepherd. I turned around and walked away and all desire to meet the man who was my earthly father was removed from me. My heavenly Father knew what was best for me and I choose to follow His leading. In the year 1979 when I was working as a district agent in the insurance world, God’s grace began to draw me into a deeper walk with Him; on this occasion God used a simple poem to reveal to me that I was precious to Him. The poem pointed out that God provided each blade of grass with a drop of dew every morning, if God cared for each blade of grass and provided for it daily, how much more did God care for me and could provide for me on a daily basis. The result of that was that I dedicated my life to the Lord and asked Him to use me for His glory, within months I sold all my worldly possessions and the Lord led me to the mountain provinces in the Philippine Islands with the Great Commission was burning in my heart.

I was saved by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus, I knew and believed that it was faith in the blood of Jesus that gave me favor and right standing with God, not abstinence or self-effort so the fact that I continued to smoke did not trouble me. However I soon came to realize that I would not be accepted as a Christian if I continued to smoke, fear of being rejected by God caused me to quit the habit, and I jumped on the religious bandwagon and began to preach a mixture of grace, abstinence and religious works. I was no longer wholeheartedly trusting in the blood of the Covenant to keep me in right standing with the Lord but was trusting in a mixture of grace and self-righteous works. What happened? I put myself under the curse of the law and nearly died of typhoid fever, God’s amazing grace and miraculous power raised me out of that deathbed, but it took some time for me to come into knowledge of why I nearly died of the fever. With the passing of time as I grew in Godly knowledge God revealed to me that I had fallen from grace through moving away from justification being the free gift of God’s amazing grace to a false gospel which was a mixture of grace and self-performance. One reason why so many that name Christ, as their Lord and Saviour are sick is because they are trusting in a mixture of grace and self-righteousness for acceptance with God. When our redemption is completed our regenerate spirit will be clothed in an immortal sinless body and we will live in the Eternal City in sinless perfection forever! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And again I say Hallelujah! Gradual or progressive justification and sanctification by self- effort, self-performance, keeping religious laws and giving up all vices is “another gospel” which denies the full sufficiency of the atonement in Christ’s sacrificial death and Holy redeeming blood. It has been my observation that all who believe in gradual or progressive justification and sanctification are under the curse of the Law, and have ailments such as high blood pressure, angina, asthma, arthritis, ulcers and much more. The only way to get out from under the curse of the law is to give up trusting in your good performance and good living standard and throw yourself onto God’s mercy and wholeheartedly trust in the blood of the Everlasting Covenant to keep you in right standing with the Holy One of Israel!

Heb 10-10

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We are not sanctified by our good living standards or performance nor are we sanctified because we have given up all vices. Keeping religious laws or belonging to a certain religion can never sanctify anyone. Hear the word of the Lord! “We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The only way we can enter into the presence of our Holy God and Creator is through the Holy sacrificial redeeming blood of the Everlasting Covenant, which is sealed with the Holy sacrificial blood of Christ the Promised Messiah, who fulfilled all that was written concerning Him in the Old Testament.

Colossians 2:13-14

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened

together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the hand writing of ordinances

that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.

Because Adam’s sin was imputed to the entire human race, we were all dead in sin; a state of sin is a state of spiritual death – separated from the life of our God and Creator and from His divine favor. People who are dead are unable to help themselves; therefore we can only conclude that salvation is all of God and nothing of self-effort or self-performance! Those who are dead in their sins and the uncircumcision of their flesh are under the sentence of the Law and condemned already. (See John 3:18) A heart that has not been sanctified by the Spirit, water- the word and the Blood of Christ, is an uncircumcised heart; the Holy Ghost circumcises believers in the heart through the Word and the Blood of the Covenant! (See Rom2: 28-29) Now we who were dead have been quickened together with him, quickened means made alive, by virtue of our union with God the Holy Ghost in our regenerate spirit we have become partakers of Christ’s death, the death of our Redeemer was the death of our sins, because Jesus death and blood satisfied Divine Justice and obtained a legal discharge from the hand writing of ordinances which was against us.

Jesus death and holy blood paid the ransom, therefore our sin record was annulled, abolished, wiped out or washed away, therefore all our trespasses past, present and future have been forgiven! Our sins were nailed to the cross, through the death of Jesus; sins power to condemn or damn us was forever abolished. Praise His Holy name! Jesus purchased us with His blood1 Acts 20: 28. We are declared righteous through faith in Christ’s blood! Rom 3:22-28. The blood of Jesus justifies us! Rom 5:9 We are redeemed through the blood of Jesus! Eph 1:7 The blood of Jesus sanctifies us! Heb13: 12 Jesus washed us from our sins in His own blood! Rev 1:5. The above are just a few scriptures which concludes the debate, justification and sanctification is instantaneous, the moment we are indwelt by God the Holy Ghost we are justified and sanctified forever, providing we hold on to the true way of salvation and remain wise virgins. If we shift ground and put our faith and trust in gradual or progressive justification and sanctification according to self-effort, self-performance or trying to keep the law, we are trusting in another gospel which is a false gospel. Individuals thereby fall from grace and become foolish virgins!

Eph 2:8-9

By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works

lest any man boast.

Our justification and sanctification is the gift of God’s amazing grace and nothing of ourselves, it is a matter of faith in the promises of God, and the accomplishment of Christ’s sacrificial death on behalf of fallen humanity. Praise His Holy name! Final conclusion all believers are carnal Christians as far as the flesh is concerned, because the flesh serves the law of sin. Regardless of this truth those who have received their purification- sanctification and justification through the washing of the word and faith in the Holy redeeming blood of Jesus have been perfected forever! Forever means F * O * R * E * V * E * R!

H * A * L * L* E * L * U * J * A * H!