Jesus' Victory Over Sin

Most think of sin as actions. Stealing is a sin, etc. But sin is not the actions themselves but the tally of those actions. A sin is a record of a negative action. Sins are scores & statistics that are kept. Sin is defined in both Hebrew & Greek as "a missing of the mark as in an archery contest."

2 Corinthians 5:19 says God is no longer charging anyone with sins. That means God is no longer keeping score. Jesus took away the sin of the world, meaning the score card, the record book. So people can still steal & lie, etc. but those things are no longer defined as sin because the game is over & Jesus has won for everyone! Because He won for everyone it was just for Him to throw away the record book. The consequence of the game was that the winner gets life & the loser gets death. Jesus just wants people to join in His victory party so they may live.

Do people still do bad things? Yes. Do people still sin? Only if someone other than God is keeping score. You do have the option to charge yourself with sin & feel like a loser or charge others with sin & make them feel like losers.

Adam lost the game for all mankind thus dooming their flesh & spirit to death. Jesus took Adam's place in the rematch & won eternal life for the spirit. One consequence for losing the first game still stands, death in the flesh for all. Since we ourselves didn't win & Jesus stepped in & won life for us we have to join in His victory party to receive life for our spirits. "Anyone who comes to God must trust that he exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." So getting saved is saying, "Hey Jesus where's the party? Auooo!" Remember the father threw a party for the prodigal son & angels party when someone is saved. "The Kingdom of God is at Hand" aka "It's Party Time!"

Game 1: Adam vs. The Serpent
Winner: The Serpent
Losers: Adam & all mankind after him
Stakes: The winner got control of the world. The loser dies physically & spiritually.

Exhibition Game: God's People, The Jews vs. The Law
Purpose: To exhibit, by keeping score, that mankind, on their own, cannot win back what Adam lost.
Winners: Those who realized the purpose of the exhibition
Losers: Those who defected to The Law's team
Notes: The only time in history score was being kept by God was while the law was in effect. Romans 4:15 says, "Where there is no law there is no sin." Romans 5:13 says, "Sin is not charged when there is no law." The law was the opponent, Colossians 2:14 & Ephesians 2:15 say the law was "against mankind" and "stood opposed to mankind."

Game 2: Jesus vs. The Serpent
Winners: Jesus & whoever wants to join in His victory party
Loser: Satan
Stakes: The winner can spiritually resurrect losers of the first game & give them eternal life in the spirit. The winner also regains control of the world when He desires to. The loser suffers forever.

Results for mankind of the 2 Games
Mankind can live forever in the spirit because of Jesus' victory if they join in His victory party.
Mankind still dies in the flesh because of Adam's loss.
Losers of the first game can still die spiritually in what is called "the 2nd death" if they never join in Jesus' victory party.

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Clarification on what sin is.
Hebrew words tend to have one meaning but many applications. For example the word iniquity means twistedness. It can refer to a twisted personality/heart, twisted actions, guilt because of twisted actions, or punishment for twistedness. I presume sin is the same way. We typically know sin as: a spiritual condition, a fleshly condition, & sinful actions. I believe sin is also the record of those actions (as well as the burden/guilt/shame from those actions).

Scripture says, Christ took away the sins of the world WHEN He came in the flesh BY the sacrifice of Himself. He has already taken them away. We know people still perform actions that we would call sin & we know people still carry the condition(s) of sin. So the sense of sin that Jesus TOOK AWAY for THE WORLD is the record of sins. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says God is no longer charging anyone with sins (recording anyone's sins) & He has reconciled the world to Himself.

The word forgive in the bible does not mean "to stop being mad" or "to accept an apology." It is another word that means "take away." When you are experientially "forgiven" as you are when you are first saved (described in 1 John 1:9) God takes away the condition of sin from your spirit & you are given a new spirit/identity. He also removes the burdens/guilt/shame of sin, at least in the moment before you are tricked into believing it is still there by thinking God still charges you with sin. I remember feeling the burdens of sin months & months before I got saved & I remember feeling Him removed those burdens when I got saved.

God did take away the record of sins for everyone so there is no barrier to keep mankind from approaching God. God never takes away the actions of sin because that would mean He would override people's freewill. But because He no longer charges people with sin, He no longer identifies actions as sin.

God can't take away the condition of sin in the flesh because of the fall & the flesh is destined to die, though through the willful renewing of the mind the condition can be improved.

God will take away the condition of sin in the spirit from those who trust (have faith in) Him. He will separate them spiritually & in their identity from sin & the flesh, freeing or delivering them from sin. Thus they, in their identity, their spirit, are not able to produce sinful actions (1 John 3:6,9).

God still deals the people's actions. He isn't blind to helping us but He holds nothing we do against us. He only wants to work things to people's good. God is not keeping score. The game/war is over. God doesn't care about your performance, He only cares about your person. He knows that your actions can harm your person. Remember he is our "Father" & our "Wonderful Counselor."

The actions of sin point to the condition of sin which points to God as the solution. The good news is God is not counting your actions of sin against you & He is willing to remove the condition from your spirit by giving you a new everlasting spirit.

If WHO loves Him? They will keep WHAT commandments?

Many have heard people quote Jesus as saying, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" But what did Jesus say next? He said "and.." That means the oft quoted "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" isn't even a quote of the full sentence Jesus spoke! Here it is with the "and" in tact:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments AND I will ask the Father, and He will give to you another Comforter, that He might be with you forever the Spirit of truth. He will be in you." (John 14:15-17)

Seeing this together causes us to beg the question of who the "you" Jesus is speaking to is. It cannot refer to us today because:
1. The Spirit of Truth has already been sent/given.
2. The Spirit of Truth is already in us who know God.
3. We are not saved by keeping commandments (works) we are saved by trusting in God.
4. Salvation occurs not because we loved God but because He first loved us.

If this were to us today it would mean Jesus only sends to Holy Spirit into us after we first love Him & work to keep His commands. That is the total opposite of the gospel! By now it should be obvious that we now have no business throwing this broken sentence around trying to get people to keep commands.

But this still makes no sense because Jesus did say this to someone yet it seems to be against the gospel itself. Now let us consider the greater context. Jesus said this to His disciples shortly before He was arrested & sent to the cross. This was a short & unique time in history were Jesus could be known before He finished redemption.

Jesus was saying "Do you love me Peter? Do you love me John? Do you love me Matthew?... If you love me you will keep my commandments.." Jesus had even just specified the commandments. In John 14:1 Jesus says, "Trust in God. Trust also in Me." This was Jesus' appeal to the human relational love they had for Him which was built in the time they were with Him so they would trust Him through the devastating time where He goes to the cross and even to the grave. Jesus foretold them of His death and resurrection numerous times. John 13:1 says that everything Jesus did this night was to love His disciples because He knew He was going to be arrested and die soon. Jesus wanted His disciples to trust Him so they would see Him risen & receive the Holy Spirit of Truth.

He did still love them first. They just lived in the unique time where they could love Him before they were redeemed. They were still saved by trust (faith/belief) & not works because Jesus' commands were to "Trust in (have faith in/believe in) God. Trust also in Me."

So be free my friends. God does not require us to prove our love for Him by our works. Continue to trust in Him & His love for you. When you know His love for you then you'll never doubt your love for Him.

Related Posts:
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments † I Will Love You So You Will Trust Me
"This is love for God: to keep His commands" Uh oh! ...there goes grace!
Trust and Love, Everything We Need

Is The Law of Moses The Law of God?

I checked every place in the New Testament Moses, the Law, & commands are mentioned. Interesting that in the New Testament the law is always credited to Moses. The law of Moses.. Moses wrote.. Moses said.. It is called The Law, The Law of Moses.. We call it God's law & in the OT narrative it comes across that way but does the NT ever say it is God's law or the Lord's law or the Father's law?

Twice the law is said to have been "ordained by angels" it never says it was ordained by God.

In Romans Paul seems to call the Law of Moses "the law of God." However the only place He does this is at the end of chapter 7 which is immediately followed by Him talking about "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." In 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul confirms that the law of Moses is not the "law of God" he spoke about saying, "I too live apart from that Law (of Moses) so I can bring the Gentiles who are not under the Law (of Moses) to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ." The law of Christ is the law of God, it is "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." Thus Paul never calls the Law of Moses the Law of God.

Luke 2 is the only place in the entire New Testament, including the rest of the book of Luke, that the Law of Moses is called "the Law of the Lord." Contextually it only speaks of ceremonial law. Also of note is the fact that the Marcionite Gospel, which is likely an earlier version of Luke, does not contain the first two chapters of Luke. Luke 2 this is the ONLY place in all of the NT that calls the law the "Law of the Lord." There are times Jesus confirms commands as "of God" but He, nor any other NT person label the Law of Moses (as a whole) as the Law of God. Of note is that sometimes Jesus said "Moses commanded," other times He said "God commanded."

Perhaps most interesting of all is what Jesus says in John 15:25, "They have done this to fulfill the word that is written in THEIR Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’" Jesus calls the Law THEIR LAW, not His law, not His Father's law. Jesus never calls the Law "God's Law," "the Law of the Lord," or "my Father's Law."

Something to think about..


Related Posts
Did God Desire for All of His Laws to Be Obeyed?
The Truth Behind God, Humanity, & The Law
The Devil Has the Power of Death

Living Under the Law Puts the Gun in Sin's Hand. Examining Romans 7-8

Romans 7

Romans 7 isn't about the history of the law or how an unsaved person discovers that they are a sinner. It is instead what happens to a Christian when they put themselves again under the law. It is not talking about how the law was under the old covenant but how law & sin is under the new.

"You were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. While we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."
Paul speaks briefly about being a Jew under the law having sinful passions aroused by the law. He says that they have been released from the law & no longer have to live that way. In the rest of this chapter He warns that the way we experience life is similar to that of a unsaved person when we put ourselves again under the law. He says, as he does again in Romans 8, that we are not "in the flesh." This sets the stage telling us that we have been released from the law & to no longer serve/walk by it. The remainder of Romans 7 goes on to speak about what happens when a Christian puts themselves under the law & I can say from experience & observation that it is totally true.

"Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
The law exposes sin, it was meant to do that under the old covenant so people could protect themselves from sin.

"But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind"
Sin used the law against people like a weapon gaining greater power over them. This was true for old & new covenant people.

"for apart from the Law sin is dead."
This is a decisively new covenant statement. Sin was alive before the law in the days of Genesis. Sin was alive before the cross but Jesus killed it. Now, for those under the new covenant the only way for sin to have life is through someone subjecting themselves to law. "Sin shall have no power over you because you are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14).

"I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me."
This isn't about how unsaved people find out that they are sinners, verses 4-6 makes that clear when it talks about Christians not living by the letter of the law anymore.

This is experiential language not literal or spiritual language because
1. All people are "dead in Adam" from physical birth.
2. Sin was already alive in all mankind before the cross.
3. Sin does not "kill" an unsaved person's spirit only when they find out about the law. Sin also killed before the law was given.

He was alive apart from the law, meaning He was living exclusively under grace but then commandments came & sin became alive. The commands that used to sustain life in the old covenant now produce (figurative experiential) death (a crappy shame filled life of burden). Sin deceived him using the law, this is easy because the law sounds good because it was once very good. It deceived him into putting himself under the law (walking by the old way of the letter) & thus "killed" him causing him to struggle when before he was free from sin. So this is not about sin & law under the old covenant but under the new.

"So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good."
The law was a good weapon meant to be used against sin to kill it while it was alive in the days of the old covenant. Now however that the law has ended through Christ sin uses the law as a bad weapon against us who are under grace.

"Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Certainly not! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful."
He says sin should be most obvious when it uses the once good commands to produce death in us. The law was meant to be good & stand against sin & it did or else we'd have to ignore the positive ways the law is spoken of in the Old Testament. But now that Jesus has drained sin of its power Himself we have no need for the law & in fact the law has become sin's favorite weapon to persecute us. To us who have tasted grace it should be obvious that sin is at its most utterly sinful state when it uses God's commands against us.

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."

This can only refer to a saved person.
1. He clarifies that nothing good lives in his flesh suggesting that something good, God, lives in his spirit. He also separates the inner man (spirit) from the "members of his body" (flesh).
2. He says sin is what sins in him. This is only true of someone born of the Spirit. Those who are not born of the spirit do produce sin from themselves because they are sill in the "old man" identity that includes the flesh.

Paul says that he knows the law is good. Later in 1 Timothy he says the law is only good if used right pointing out that the law is not made for the righteous thus we should not subject ourselves to it. Why is Paul struggling? The verses examined just before this tell us exactly why. It is because sin is using the law against him. It is because he has put himself under the law thus sin is alive to him thus something to struggle with. This is Paul describing what it is like to "serve/walk by the oldness of the letter of the law." In the new covenant walking by the law is also walking by the flesh. This struggle IS NOT the inevitable common struggle of all Christians. It is ONLY the struggle of those who empower sin by putting themselves under the law. I am also saying this from experience. I'm not just pretending this is true because I think the bible says so.

Let's step back & review these verses in light of what we've learned before moving on to Romans 8.
"Is the Law sin? Impossible! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead."

Is owning a gun murder? Certainly not! But a murderer taking hold of a gun produces death. Guns are meant to protect you from evil yet evil men can take your gun & kill you with it. The law is the same way. It was meant to protect people from death & the power of sin under the old covenant, it did, but the law was too weak to stand against sin. So sin took the weapon that is law & pointed it at people gaining more power & producing death. Sin was armed before the cross but Jesus disarmed it to where now the only way sin is alive with power is through the law. "Apart from the law sin is dead" means apart from the weapon of the law sin is unarmed. I've said this before, "the only way for sin to have power over you is for you to put the gun in its hand." But to my surprise scripture says the gun is the law. God officially abolished the law on the cross thus God does not require us to put the gun of the law in sin's hand to shoot us.

Romans 8

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
This again shows us that Romans 7 is for "those in Christ Jesus." He says, "Instead of judging us by law keeping God sets us free from it." You are free from the law. You are free from the reality of sin & death. If you struggle against sin or death (shame & burden) you are living with a false mindset, sin has used the law to deceive you, because the reality is you have been set free from them.

"For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
This essentially says that "Jesus fulfilled the law!" He condemned sin, robbing it of its power. Some translations falsely say that "the requirement of the Law" is fulfilled in us. But instead it truly says that the "righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us." The righteousness, the "good" of it that Romans 7 speaks about. It is speaking about the good & righteous actions the law talks about. They are performed when we "do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Walking by the law is walking by the flesh under the new covenant.

So this is said in light of what is said in Romans 7. If we try to keep the law we are doing it by the flesh because sin has deceived us into doing so. Sin tells us that it is good to try to keep the law & thus it empowers itself when we try to keep the law. Why? because the law was good but it is inferior to the new way of the spirit. If we simply walk by the spirit all of the good things the law talks about doing comes naturally. God has "Put His laws (instructions/guidance) in our hearts, and writes them on our minds." If we look at the written commands like a check list or if we even consider keeping the written law (letter of the law) we will empower sin & be condemned. But it is not a condemnation from God but a false condemnation from sin because sin cannot truly condemn us because Christ condemned sin.

"Those who walk according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who walk according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
If you lack the experience of peace it is likely you have set your mind on the law &/or the flesh rather than the spirit. He also points out that regardless of if your mind is set on the flesh "if the Spirit of God is in you" you are in reality "not in the flesh but in the Spirit." This possibility of Christians having fleshly/legal mindsets is why he points out that God "will give life to your mortal bodies (members/body parts & unrenewed mind) through His Spirit who dwells in you."

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh (law), to live according to the flesh (law)— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
This is saying that we are not obligated to keep the law by the flesh, we are not obligated to live trying to keep laws. If we do this we will figuratively die. This is not talking about loss of salvation, eternal life cannot be snuffed out. This figurative death involves us thinking or feeling like we are experiencing the sad realities people who don't know God & people under the old covenant felt. Things such as condemnation, burdens, guilt, shame, feeling separated from God, feeling like we don't measure up, feeling that God is mad at us, struggling against sin as Romans 7 describes, & many other miserable things.

"The (bad) deeds of the body (flesh)" still happen because we still have bodies. We are living abundant life. If we don't put ourselves under the law all we have to do to continually experience that abundant life is to "put to death the deeds of the flesh by the weapon of the spirit."

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."
Embracing & experiencing these realities are marks of setting your mind on the Spirit:  Living like God is your actual Father, absence of fear, never feeling burdened, obligated, or persecuted like a slave, knowing we are God's children & that He shares with us & gives to us.

Additional truths from Romans 8 relating to all of this.
The Spirit helps our weakness. God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. God is for us. Sin cannot truly stand against you, you cannot truly be condemned, all accusations against you are baseless. We cannot be separated from God's love by anything including sin & ourselves. When it comes to giving God didn't spare His own Son so He will also with Jesus freely give us all things. We overwhelmingly have victory, conquering through Him who loved us.


See this post for more on the purpose of the law under the old covenant regarding it protecting people from sin, The Devil Has the Power of Death

If you're going to preach against sin you should also preach against the law.

Sin kills (Romans 7:11)
The letter of the law kills (2 Corinthians 3:6).

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
The ministry of laws engraved in letters on stone brought death (2 Corinthians 3:7).

Sin gives birth to death (James 1:15).
The law arouses sinful passions & bears fruit for death (Romans 7:5).

You have died to sin (Romans 6:2).
You died to the law (Galatians 2:19). You have died to the law through the body of Christ (Romans 7:4).

Because Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross we have died to sins & live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).
We have been released from the Law, having died to the law which bound us in chains (Romans 7:6).

Consider yourself just as dead to sin as Jesus is (Romans 6:10-11).
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. If you are led by the law you are not being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18).
When you are not under law sin stops being your master because you are instead under grace (Romans 6:14).

Jesus made us alive together with Him while we were dead in our sins and transgressions. He has taken away from us all of our sins and transgressions. He canceled out the certificate of debt which consisted of laws that were against us & hostile to us. He has taken the law out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

The law was not made for the righteous, know that everyone who has trusted Jesus is righteous. The Law is only good if one uses it lawfully, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Do not use the law for anything other than revealing the glorious gospel of the blessed God to the unrighteous so that they may trust Jesus (1 Timothy 1:8-11).

Fear Behind the Curtain

One reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of God. They think He will be angry with them, punish them, or break fellowship with them if they aren't vigilant to avoid sin & diligent to obey Him.

Another reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of sin. They don't believe that Christians are dead to sin or free from sin. They believe sin still has power over us. They think we have to avoid sin like perpetually falling acid rain. Romans 6:14 says sin is powerless against someone who lives under grace (the recognition that God desperately loves you no matter what, y'know like a loving Father would). It also says that when you put yourself under law you give sin power over you that it otherwise would never have.

If you fear either of these things you doubt or limit God's love for you. 1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in a relationship where you know that you are loved. Knowing you are loved actually pushes away any fears that may come up. Zechariah said the very proclamation of the coming of the Messiah was "Fear not, your King is coming." Zacharias prophesied, "The Lord God of Israel has granted us the freedom to serve Him without fear." Every Christian that believes in the power of sin also believes they must fear God. They are living as if Jesus has never come to this earth. If you reject the grace message, you at least in part are rejecting Jesus & the suffering He has done on your behalf.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. If you are fearful you are not walking by the spirit He has given you. The spirit He has given us causes our hearts to cry out, "Daddy! Papa! Father!" What father demands fear? What father angrily punishes? What father abandons you whenever you make a mistake? Not Jesus' Father. Not my Father. What child wants to run to a father that does those things?

♥♥♥LOVE♥♥♥

Sometimes we get things backwards. When the bible tells us that love summarizes the law & makes similar statements, most of us think, "Ok now I only have two laws to obey, love God & love others." But that was not the purpose of those statements. The point is love can safely replace the law. You don't have to have a law mindset to love. Love is not "the new law" either, because law condemns you for breaking it. Love does not condemn at all. Law places a perpetual burden upon you. Love removes burdens & gives you rest. There is no fear in love. There is fear in law, fear of breaking, fear of not keeping.

In fact law gives you fear of having to maintain EVERY aspect of your life by your own performance. You have to maintain your self-worth, be in control of your relationship with God, & control your relationships with others. Law demands for you to strictly control every natural thing in your life whether you have the slightest ability to or not. Love offers freedom, freedom from questioning your self-worth, freedom from being in control of your relationship with God, freedom from assessing or manipulating your relationships with others.

The demand of the law was "fear!" The message of Jesus is "love!" Notice that it is the message of Jesus, not the demand. It is love given to you until it naturally flows out of you. Jesus never once told His disciples to "love God" & He only told them to "love one another" after He had walked with them for years so they could "love one another as He has loved them." Who goes out into their yard & starts demanding that their grass grow? No one. Growth is always a natural process & love grows love.

Love only requires two things to be received, awareness & acceptance. You have to be aware of the love someone has for you & you also have to be willing to accept that love into your life. In order to be saved we must simply be aware of the good news that God loves us & accept His love into our life by trust.

There are only two things you need to be able to give love, awareness & affection. You have to be aware of the value of another person to love them. If you are not you will judge them & possibly even attempt to get them to conform to the behaviors that you think will make them valuable. You also have to show affection. There are countless ways to show affection & the beauty of love is to explore those ways to the delight of everyone involved.

Love does not suck up resources. Love is the resource. Love does not demand from you, love gives to you. Love is what gives you the desire & strength to value a person & show them affection no matter the costs. ALL good things are built into love. You don't have to add to love. Love is perfect & complete in itself.

Love does not require commitment because it is natural for love to never leave. Love does not have to forgive (except verbally for others' piece of mind) because love never holds a thing against the person in the first place. If you have to add anything to love then your love is incomplete. If you are worried about your love being incomplete, don't be. God, who is Love itself, lives inside of you. You have an infinite resource of love. You need to let love produce the natural versions of the things you think love requires rather than obligate yourself to do those things by laws, rules, or commands you think you have to keep.

♥♥♥GOD IS LOVE♥♥♥
Now I will take the above statements & replace the word love with God & we shall see how He perfectly represents love.

God can safely replace the law. God does not condemn at all. God removes burdens & gives you rest. God offers freedom, freedom from questioning your self-worth, freedom from being in control of your relationship with Him, freedom from assessing or manipulating your relationships with others. The message of Jesus is "Abba, Father!" Growth is always a natural process & God grows love.

God only requires two things to be known, awareness & acceptance. You have to be aware of the love God has for you & you also have to be willing to accept His love into your life. In order to be saved we must simply be aware of the good news that God loves us & accept His love into our life by trust. There are countless ways to show affection & the beauty of God is to express those ways to the delight of everyone involved.

God does not suck up resources. God is the resource. God does not demand from you, God gives to you. God is who gives you the desire & strength to value a person & show them affection no matter the costs. ALL good things are built into God. You don't have to add to God or His finished work. God is perfect & complete in Himself & He wants to share that perfection with us.

God does not require your commitment, He is the one who is faithful to you & He does not want you to experience the shame of failure that comes with breaking promises. God never had to forgive you because He never held anything against you in the first place. He seeks to remove your burdens & give you life. You have an infinite resource in God. You need to let God produce His natural love in you rather than obligating yourself to perform acts of love according to law, rules, or commands you think you have to keep.

Boiling it Down

I think it is interesting that we still boil things down to laws, "love god, love others."

If the message to pass on from scripture were to "love god & love others" a person wouldn't even need to know God to try to pull that off. It would also be easy for the person we pass it onto to still live in a "how much love do I have to give to make me ok" mindset. They had those laws before Jesus came. If they were the only truths that mattered why would Jesus die?

I think the most important thing to get out of scripture is "God loves me & that means I'm ok & God loves you too & that means you're ok." He'll love us well enough for us to love Him back & to spread His love around.

If you don't trust that He loves you then your experience in life is not going to be ok because you will try to get Him to love you & even if you don't try that you'll still be missing out on living in His love. If you don't trust that He loves others then you will make yourself superior to them in your mind. Or you will fear for them & be angry with them because they aren't trying hard enough to get God to love them.

Without trusting that you are loved you won't be willing to accept yourself as worthy of love. Likewise if you don't trust that others are loved you'll treat them the same way you'd treat yourself, as unworthy of love & needing to earn that worth.

I don't care if my "most important thing" sounds universally or not. The fact is God will give you another chance to trust His love. God will do His uttermost to save us all. God isn't going to be like, "Ohp you waited until your deathbed to trust in me, too late" or "Oh too bad you waited until judgment day to trust in me, too late."

Good News Flash! Romans 14:10-12 reveals to us that Isaiah 45:18-24 tells us what God says on judgment day to all of those who have not yet been saved. He says, "There is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other." He also says, "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near" & Isaiah says "men will come to Him." Hebrews 7:25 tells us that "God will save forever those who come & draw near to Him."

"God is patient with everyone. He does not desire for anyone to perish. He wants every person to come to changing his or her mind to trust in Him" (2 Peter 3:9). Here are the main two things to know about God. God is love & God is a Savior.

See this page for related posts:  Choose Life & Live!

What if The Story of 'The Woman Caught in Adultery' Never Happened? Examining John 7:53-8:11

Most translations today say that John 7:53-8:11 is almost certainly not a part of the original gospel of John but represents a later addition to the text. While there are specifics that may have never happened the primary truths in this story are still present elsewhere in scripture.

"Everyone went to his home. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Jesus Still Didn't Condemn
In John 4:18 Jesus knew the woman at the well's heart and revealed that she was an adulterer. He did not take the woman at the well and have her stoned as the law says to do. Jesus didn't carry out any of the punishments of the law.
Jesus said in John 3:17, "God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." In John 12:47 Jesus says, "I did not come to condemn the world, but to save it." So Jesus could have done this or something like this. It certainly was in His character & mission to do so.

Jesus & Stoning
We can still know how Jesus felt about stoning without this story. Jesus said the second greatest law was to "love your neighbor as yourself." If you were caught in sin that was punishable by death you would want to be forgiven. You would not want to have stones picked up by others to kill you. If you love your neighbor as yourself you wouldn't pick up stones to kill Him. You would instead say, "Lord have mercy on us all!" So Jesus ranking love your neighbor as yourself at the top of the law lets us know what Jesus thought about people carrying out the punishments of the law. Again there is no instance where Jesus carried out or approved of one of the law's curses/punishments being inflicted upon someone.

Go & sin no more.
In John 5 Jesus heals a man. Later in 5:14 Jesus encounters him in the temple & says to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." Unlike the woman caught in adultery no specific sin was made mention of for this man. Jesus gave the man a reason to sin no more, to keep a worse ailment from coming upon him. Jesus had not yet drained sin of its power so Satan was able to bring sickness to people because of their sin. We know he could do this because he was able to in Job 2:7. Satan "steals, kills, & destroys" because sin gives him an opportunity to do so. So Jesus told this man this so he would stay well.

This was one of the purposes of the law also. Before Christ provided His life & His Spirit from the resurrection obedience to the law was a way to protect yourself from Satan's power. In Leviticus 18:5 God says, "Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them." Literally "live by them," as in, if you refuse to keep them you are in greater danger of Satan ending your life because as Hebrews 2:14 says "Satan holds the power of death."

Today people can be spiritually born of God which makes them one with God in Spirit. So 1 John 5:18 says, "the evil one cannot touch someone who is born of God." Jesus would not tell a Christian to "sin no more" today because Satan is powerless to use sin against a Christian (though he can still deceive you). Note that this is the only time Jesus told someone to "sin no more." And it wasn't for "heaven's sake" it was for health's sake.

Mankind is no longer under the law thus God does not relate to us based on sin or lack of sin. Christians need not be conscious of sin because Jesus has cleansed them. Romans 6:14 says, "sin has no power over you." Now that God offers His Spirit & His Life to save & protect mankind sin is exclusively a relational issue between humans. Of course Jesus doesn't want you to go around hurting yourself & others. Jesus keeps us safe & His love walks us out of the problems our flesh has without ever charging us with sin or having to command us to "sin no more."

God offers us freedom from sin consciousness because the very concept of sin is self-centered. Labeling your actions as sin & keeping a tally of your sins makes you focus on yourself & your faults rather than empathizing or reconciling with those you have done harm to. If you don't believe this is true I guarantee you haven't tried living without counting sins against yourself. You don't have to be sin conscious to be love conscious. Jesus never told anyone else, including His disciples to "sin no more." And He certainly didn't tell them to pass that on as an essential effort for all Christians to continually make. It is for freedom from sin that Christ set us free from sin. If I was a prisoner of war & was set free but still focused my mind on my time as a prisoner I would not be free in my mind. Your Spirit & identity has been made free from sin already. Free your mind from the consciousness of sin & you'll experience the victory over sin that you've always dreamed of.

Seeing Mixed Covenant Teaching

Perhaps the reasons why churches teach mixed covenant, law & grace is because Jesus taught law & grace at the end of the old covenant. While we can benefit from them we must understand that Jesus' teachings were for a very specific 3 year period in history. Jesus was preparing Jews who were under the law for grace. The key words are "preparing" & "under the law." Grace has been here as long as we've been alive & we've never been under the law.

I dare say most churches teach Jesus like atheists would teach Jesus, as a wise historical teacher. The only difference is that Christians have "made Jesus lord" (something scripture never says to do) so they must obey Him & they think obeying Him means keeping commands He gave that scripture records. But those commands were to a very specific group of people (Jews under the law), at an even more specific time (3 year period before the resurrection), with a specific reason (to get people past sin, past the enemy, & past bad leadership to the resurrection so that they might be saved).

To teach law & grace mixed together today creates a non-reality where people work hard to receive gifts from God. That is not how gifts work! The most grace most mixed law & grace teachings give is "you get a free ticket to heaven." The truth is that people under this mixed teaching see grace as a bonus for work or an incentive to work. You get saved so you can serve God/the church.

Here's a list of things you will never see in scripture that churches teach you about salvation:
You give your life to God
You make Him Lord
You surrender to Him
You make a commitment to Him
You ask God to use you

I won't go into specific reasons why those aren't true but I will ask, "How many of those are grace?" All of them are about what you do for God. NONE, I say NONE of them are about what God did for you. Grace & the gospel are about what God did for you. All of those are works based salvation. They say YOU do the giving so God will rule over you so you can work for Him some more. 'nuff said!

Comparing The Law to Jesus

• The law makes people guilty to where they owe God.
  Jesus paid everyone's debt & offers to remove everyone's guilt.
  
• The law does not justify even with complete obedience.
  Jesus justifies regardless of our deeds.
• The Law brings the knowledge of sin.
  Jesus takes away the consciousness of sin.
• The Law brings wrath.
  Jesus brings peace.
• The law charges people with sin.
  Jesus does not charge people with sin.
• The law increases transgressions.
  Jesus turns people from their wicked ways.
• The law makes sin your master.
  Jesus is your master through the loving-favor of His grace.
• The law arouses our bodies to bear fruit for death.
  Jesus bears good fruit for God & others through us.
• The law binds.
  Jesus frees.
• The law brings sin to life & sin kills us.
  Jesus kills sin & brings us to life.
• The law is too great a burden for any person to bear including the apostles, prophets, & Moses.
  Jesus' burden is so light you'll hardly notice it because His "burden" is His arm around you.
• The law could not condemn or weaken sin in our flesh.
  God condemned sin in His flesh for us all removing its power over us.
• The law empowers sin.
  Jesus condemned sin & broke its power over us.
• The law cannot give you the Spirit of God.
  Jesus sends His Spirit into our hearts.
• The law cannot produce miracles even if we obey it as hard as we can.
  Jesus is able to perform miracles when we trust Him.
• The law curses you for not obeying every bit of it.
  Jesus became a curse for you so that you would never be cursed.
• The law is not based on God's promises to us.
  Jesus has given us His very great and precious promises which allow us to participate in His divine nature.
• The law was temporary.
  Jesus & His love for us is eternal.
• The law cannot give life even if you keep all of it all of the time.
  Jesus gives eternal life freely to those who come to Him.
• Law keeping blinds you to Christ & His grace toward you.
  Jesus illuminates your righteousness through Him & His loving-favor toward you.
• Adherence to the law prevents you from being led by the Spirit.
  Jesus is the life giving Spirit who leads you.
• Keeping the law is a reason to boast in the flesh.
  Knowing Jesus is a reason to boast in the Spirit of our Lord.
• The law separated Jew & Gentile.
  Jesus abolished the law to make Jews & Gentiles into one new man.
• The law charges us with guilt for our actions.
  Jesus sets us free from the guilt our actions may cause us to have.
• The law only has power through the obedience of physical requirements.
  Jesus has the power of indestructible life.
• The Law made nothing perfect.
  Jesus makes God perfectly satisfied & God's children perfect in Spirit.
• The law appointed weak & mortal humans as high priests.
  The perfect Son of God Jesus is appointed as high priest forever.
• The law's sacrifices & offerings were not desired by God, He took no pleasure in them.
  Jesus' sacrifice was God's desire before the world was made, it pleased God & pleases us too.
• The law makes someone who keeps all but one law as guilty as someone who keeps only one law.
  Jesus removes our guilt & never charges us with guilt.
• The law is based on human works.
  We know Jesus by trusting Him.
• The law was a shadow of good things yet to come, not the things themselves
  Jesus is the reality of good things right now.
• The law cannot free us.
  Jesus frees us from all things.

Galatians 5 Paraphrased for us Gentiles

Christ Jesus set us free from laws. Laws are burdensome obligations that have punishments for not keeping them. Jesus set us free so that we could stay free. Stand firm, don't let anyone convince you to burden yourself by laws which shackle you & make you a slave. If you put yourself under laws the amazing experience of knowing Christ will be nullified. That's right, because even if you only try to keep one law you'll eventually feel compelled to keep as many as you can think of or as many as people tell you that you should. If you think you can make yourself approved in the eyes of God or make yourself feel righteous by keeping laws you've just about completely lost sight of Jesus & His love for you.

We trust Jesus through our spirits. The flesh, by itself, is valueless to God & us. The only thing of value is trust in God expressing itself through love. While the flesh is good for manifesting that love, the source of that love & trust is the spirit. Even thinking there are a few mandatory laws can mess up your whole life concerning your view of yourself & your view of God. You live in the true reality of knowing God when you walk by the spirit instead of by laws & fleshly desires. God will never persuade you to put yourself under laws. Someone doing that type of thing isn't doing it because God told them to. What happened on the cross is only offensive to those who tell you that you should keep laws. Christ nailed God's old law to the cross & left it there & He's not making any new laws.


Brothers and sisters, you were called to be free. But don't use your freedom to give the flesh the opportunity to control you; instead, serve one another humbly in love. While it is true that God's entire old covenant law is fulfilled by keeping the one command to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” remember, by the flesh no one could keep that law. So instead of being under laws & trying to keep the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” walk by the spirit. When you do that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, one of which is to keep an external set of laws to make yourself feel better. The flesh & the spirit don't desire the same things. If you try to walk by both they will start a war inside you keeping you from doing anything you would want to do. If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law & you aren't led by permanent universal rules that weigh you down. The flesh has a much harder time gaining ground when the law is not involved.

You are heirs to God's kingdom because you belong to Christ Jesus. He has separated your identity from the flesh & its deeds, passions, & desires. Instead you are in the spirit which bears the fruit of love. Love consists of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. Love is so good no one can make laws against it. Love is unstoppable. The fruit of the spirit is love so if you want to love your neighbor forget about laws & rules. Instead walk by the spirit & watch God's love flow into your heart & back out of your heart into the world.

The Good News

"If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law." (Galatians 3:21)
People say that the reason people aren't saved is because they aren't acceptable to God because they fall short of God's standard of holiness, referring to the law. But this tells us that even if you kept all of the law all of the time your whole life you still would die because obedience to the law could never give life. You see mankind's problem is the condition of sin, not the actions of sin. The disease of sin leads to death. Mankind got infected by sin.

God only held people's actions against them under the law to help people become aware of their disease so it would not kill them sooner. God didn't hide from Adam & Eve when they sinned, Adam & Eve hid from God. Sin was never about you being "unworthy" in God's eyes to approach God. Sin was about you being too shame-filled to see God & too sick to make it in the next life & dying forever as a result. The God of life wasn't sitting in heaven too stubborn to forgive impure people. He was doing everything He could to preserve them. It was never about God holding our actions against us. How do we know that? Because Jesus doesn't hold anything against us when offering us the cure for sin.

In the New Testament to "be saved" means to "be cured." Jesus took our disease (sin) on the cross & became the cure. He was injected with our sin to bring about the antidote because He was the only one who had immunity to it. We've been taught that "our sin killed Jesus" & that we should feel really bad about that. But neither is true. Jesus said He would willingly lay down His life. We saw this happen on the cross when Jesus willingly announced the giving up of His Spirit from His body & breathed His last. Jesus defeated sin on the cross. Jesus did not die because sin had the power to kill Him. He died so that He could raise again to life to defeat death. He broke the power of sin & death, sin on the cross, death while coming out of the grave.

If the reason we face death is because God holds our actions against us why would Jesus suffer so intensely & die? If God was just saving us from Himself, instead of suffering He could have just saved Himself the trouble & changed His mind to choose to forgive us. The word forgive in the bible is a poor translation. The word in the bible does not mean "stop being offended" as the English word forgive does. It actually means "to take away." So in today's sense of the word forgive, God never forgave a single person living today. We were all born after the law ended & after the cure had been introduced. God has never counted a single sin against us, blamed us, or been mad at us. God took away our sins on the cross meaning He took away the spiritual barrier that sin created between mankind & God. He also took away the law which charged us with sin. Only by trusting in Him do we take the cure. Taking the cure of Christ makes God able to take away our burden of sin (guilt/shame) & the condition of sin from our spirit which cleanses us from all unrighteousness by giving us a new eternally living spirit that is united with God.


Related Posts
Lifted Up to His Glory:  Talks about how "falling short of God's glory" doesn't picture falling short of some kind of standard.

Judges in the Assembly Part 1: Why Romans 13 is not about Secular Government

Now that an election is upon us I've decided to present the truth behind Romans 13. In my journey with God He first freed me from man-made law before freeing me from His law. I used to fear that breaking "the law of the land," as churches called it, meant I was sinning. Having any copyrighted material that I didn't purchase on my hard drive, using any non-public domain image on my website, & even going 1mph over the speed limit would send me into a spiral of shame, fear, guilt, and the desire to not engage God. I somehow came across this webpage, (which most of the post below borrows from), which showed me how Romans 13 & 1 Peter 2 had been mistranslated. Its truth gave me great freedom & broke the illusion of so many things I thought stood between me & God. Roughly two years later I still have found no one else who has seen the truth which that author & I have seen regarding these scriptures. My second post on this blog addressed 1 Peter 2 in this light & does address how Christians are to relate to secular government.

I've kept this one under wraps for over 2 years because most will probably think this interpretation is an "excuse to sin" or be rebellious towards government but I don't care. What people should really be looking for in their own lives are "excuses to feel shame" & "excuses to burden themselves." People are much more likely to feel the wrong things & believe the wrong things than they are to do the wrong things. Feeling wrong & believing wrong is 98% as miserable as doing wrong. I think one reason why religious people get so mad at the idea of sinning & are always speaking against it is because inside they really want to do the things the free or uninhibited people are doing but their rules & fear won't let them. Thus they decide to attack the people who get to do the "fun" things they aren't allowed to do. Romans 13 is one of those scriptures that people's hearts tell them is not true because the translations & doctrines formed from it aren't true. My heart has always known that it wasn't true as translated & presented & it doesn't take much brain-power to see how this straight reads like non-sense...

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.” (Romans 12:21-13:5, NIV 1984)

There is No Authority Except FROM God?
Most translations of Romans 13:1 say, "There is no authority except FROM God." The Greek word translated as "from" is "upo". This word means "under" rather than "from." This is a subtle but important difference. Saying that all visible authority is FROM God implies that he sanctions all authority. It can also imply that He created it, but has given it to someone else. It has gone from him to the political authorities. This is a distortion of the truth. Authority under God has not gone anywhere. Paul is saying that there is no legitimate authority except UNDER God. True authority can only be exercised by those who move "under" God. Any authority which is not under God is illegitimate.

Jesus said that all authority has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). He has not handed any authority over to the secular state. He has not even handed authority over to a Christian state who pay lip service to his authority.  Unless governments are totally submitted to God (& they pretty much can't be), they are operating with fleshly authority that is not sanctioned by God. Paul was actually warning that they are rebels and usurpers. The truth is exactly opposite of the traditional interpretation.

The traditional interpretation of this scripture is to submit to governments regardless of how ungodly they are because God set up, even the most wicked governments. This interpretation by necessity says that the Nazi's were "God's servants" for "the people's good" simply because they were in charge. Think about that. Most people will teach you, based on this scripture, that someone is automatically God's servant by the mere fact that they are in charge! This teaching could only come from the lips of the deceived or the oppressors themselves! It says, "Because I'm in charge that means God put me in charge & you have to do whatever I say."

Nowhere else in scripture do we find the idea that unsaved, ungodly people, who have never even known God are His servants. This scripture isn't saying that either. Paul had warned at the end of chapter 12 that Christians should not be “overcome by evil”. It is unlikely that he would follow this warning with a message of comfort to support rulers and authorities who do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Psalm 103:6 says, "The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed." Are we to believe He does this by putting oppressors in authority?

Most Christians assume that we must submit to all political powers. This cannot be true. If Paul believed that all authorities are from God, he would have used the word “all”, but he did not. He used the Greek word “all” (pasa) when saying that “all people should submit”, but he did not use it when saying which authorities to submit to.

Submit to Governing Authorities?
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established." (NIV)
This translation is quite misleading. The word often translated as “governing” is “huperecho”. It can mean “superior in rank”, but it also has a strong sense of “excellence”. Paul used the same word in Phil 3:8, when speaking of the “surpassing greatness” of knowing Christ. Paul is actually saying that we should only submit to those who are excellent. He is giving us a choice when submitting. We only submit to those who have demonstrated excellence.

Submission is never obligatory. It does not have the same meaning as obedience. Christians are never required to submit & certainly not to blindly submit. Our freedom means that submission is always voluntary. The word submit means "voluntary cooperation." We should use our freedom to submit wisely, never out of obligation & never simply because someone is in a position of man-made authority.

Rulers?
"For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong."
The word usually translated as “ruler” is “arkon.”  English translations of Romans always choose the strongest possible translation, but this Greek word can also be translated as “judge” or “magistrate”. It is translated as judge in Luke 12:58. The context confirms that Paul is writing about submission to judges. We will see who these judges are in Part 2.

Not a Terror?
Paul says that good people do not need to fear rulers. "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you" (Romans 13:3). If Paul were speaking about all political authorities, this statement would be nonsense. Sadly a mainstream method of biblical interpretation is to take what you interpret as non-sense & turn it into obligation. Instead of discovering its true meaning you just shut-up & obey. Instead of questioning what you've been told, regardless of if it makes sense, Christians are just supposed to keep any imperative statement in the bible as a law out of fear of sinning.

All over the world and throughout history, good people have had terrible harm done to them by rulers. Kings and armies have pillaged and burned houses and farms without discrimination. In the Soviet Union, millions of people were sent into exile and many were killed. Millions of innocent people were slaughtered in Communist China. Political powers have always been a source of terror for good people. The bible is obviously wrong here to anyone with an ounce of historical knowledge if it were meaning to say that "all governing authorities are instituted by God," "everyone in them serves Him," & no government causes terror for those who do right." People will try to excuse it by saying, "Well it means unless they are sinning or tell you to sin." But Paul makes no such statements here. Paul cannot be speaking about all political power, when he says that they hold no terror for those who do right. In fact, the opposite is true. Political authorities throughout history have had so much power that they have been terrors to good people.

These so-called authorities are in rebellion against God. Unfortunately, Christians have failed to understand this message and have twisted the scriptures to give a justification to kings and governments who have set themselves up in opposition to God. Psalm 2:2 says, "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together AGAINST the LORD and against his Anointed One (Christ)." Are we to believe that it is God's will for people to oppose Him? That is non-sense.

Does God Override the Freewill of Governing Leaders?
Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."
Who wrote this? Solomon. Who was Solomon? The King of Israel. Notice King Solomon says, "The king's heart," not "all kings hearts." He was speaking of himself and his relationship with God. In this verse Solomon is "the king." This is not a claim that God overrides the freewill of all governing leaders. Solomon didn't dam up the channels of his heart. He was saying that his heart was open to God's turning.

People like to take comfort in the idea that whatever happens is God's will but that is not true. Countless places in scripture people don't do what God wants. God didn't even want Israel to have a human king in the first place. God never wanted anyone to sin. God is not in control of mankind! God has a hand in everything and in the end He will accomplish what He desires but GOD DOES NOT CONTROL A SINGLE HUMAN BEING ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. HE NEVER HAS AND HE NEVER WILL.

Summary
Not all authority is from God. That is a mistranslation. The only legitimate authorities are under God & work under His authority.
Submit does not mean to obey but to voluntarily cooperate.
Paul wasn't writing about "governing authorities," he was writing about "excellent authorities."
Rulers is a mistranslation. The word should be "judges."
Governments do terrible things to good people & have throughout history.
You will almost never get commended for doing right by the government.
People who have never known God are not God's "servants."

Romans 13 has been badly translated into English. Almost every English version has been translated in a way that gives the greatest possible power to political leaders. These translations make Paul out to be an idiot, a liar, or a stooge. In reality Paul was in trouble with the political authorities throughout his life. The assumption that Paul is commanding us to submit to every political authority including dictators and tyrants is absurd and needs to be deported from our minds. Romans 13 is not written about secular government/authority. As we've seen there are so many reasons why the idea that it would be is utterly absurd. In part 2 we will look at what Romans 13 is really about.

“Do not envy the oppressor & choose none of his ways.” (Proverbs 3:31)    

Go to Judges in the Assembly Part 2

Related Posts

Submission to Whom?:  Much of this post comes from this page & it gives additional details.
The Letter of the Law, The Life of Love -1 Peter 2:11-17:  Focuses on scripture that does address how Christians relate to secular government.

Is the law sin?

"Whatever is not from trust is sin" (Romans 14:23). "The law is not from trust" (Galatians 3:12). "Is the law sin? Certainly not!" (Romans 7:7)

Most take Romans 14:23 to mean, "Whatever is not from trust is counted as a sin" but it actually is saying "whatever is not FROM trust is FROM sin." A person cannot operate by trust & by law at the same time. Galatians 3:12 is saying, "Obedience to the law does not come from trust in Christ because Christ has freed you from the law & He will not put you under it." The law itself is not sin & the law does not come from sin but from God. However obedience to the law is not based on trust thus sin is who convinces a person to keep the law.

From sin's point of view "Rules are made to be broken." From God's point of view "Rules were made to show you that you are broken." Trust in Christ fixes you permanently. Sin seeks to make you feel broken by convincing you to put yourself under the law. Under the law sin uses the law to produce evil desires in your flesh.

The law came from God. You cannot adhere to the law & trust in Christ because He has ended the law & you have been released from it. If you feel as though you must keep the law it is not Christ giving you that feeling but sin itself seeking to deceive you & produce evil desires in your flesh that will hurt you.

Thoughts on Portions of Romans

• The Good News of Christ is the power of God for salvation for everyone who trusts. In it is revealed God’s righteousness from trust to trust. (Romans 1:16-17)
• The gospel is the revelation of God's righteousness. God's righteousness is Jesus Christ & His body (2 Corinthians 5:21). We become a part of His body & thus righteous by trusting in Jesus. This means the Gospel contains God's eternal purpose which is to bring people into the union & relationship that the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit share.
• The righteousness of God is revealed to us who trust in His trustworthiness.
• His righteousness begins & ends with trust.
• Because people chose to worship & serve false Gods, because they refused to have God in their knowledge, God respected their free will & let them wallow in their lusts & ungodly mental states. Once they gave up on the idea of acknowledging God & His goodness there was no reason for God to force them into morality so He let them do all the devastating things they wanted to do. (on Romans 1:22-32)
• Their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. (Romans 1:26-27)
• Even in Old Testament times God did not wipe out homosexuality. Paul says God let them "receive in themselves the due penalty of their error." They suffered the physical, emotional, & mental consequences of their choices. This further shows the absurdity of those who say God will "judge" a nation because of how they handle homosexuals. We live in an age after the law. "Sin is not charged when there is no law" (Romans 5:13). God will not pour out wrath in this age on anyone. He doesn't count any one's sins against them in this age (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). All wrath is reserved/stored up for the day of wrath & judgment (Romans 2:5) exclusively for those who reject Christ.
• If you trust in Christ all of your sins are taken away forever (Psalm 103:12) & God will never have any wrath for you. So while a homosexual lifestyle is more destructive than most of us realize, Christ has put away all sin. He is not especially mad at anyone. He does not look at mankind based on sins. To apply your hatred or offense to God misrepresents Him to the uttermost & shows that you are clueless about the reasons why Christ came to die for us.
• You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who proclaim that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal? You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God? (Romans 2:21-23)
• Paul's point here is not to get the Jews to straighten up & stop acting hypocritical. He is making a point to them that no one can keep the law even if they firmly support & promote the law. "For you who judge practice the same things" (Romans 2:2). The law virtually requires you to judge others. Paul is establishing his point that the law is powerless to bring righteousness because no one can keep it. Those who uphold the law as a means of righteousness "despise the riches of God's goodness."
• Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. (Romans 3:31)
• Paul & his co-workers in Christ established the true purpose of the law which was to "shut every mouth and make it so the whole world has to answer to God." So to establish the law was not to put themselves under the yoke of bondage of obedience to its commands but to make the need for a savior evident to the Jews.
• "The law is good, if a man use it lawfully" (1 Timothy 1:8). The only lawful way to use the law is to point people who have a need to the Savior. The Law is God's way of revealing to people their need. It is powerless to make provision for that need. It is the Gospel that provides the power to produce salvation.
• Once the need of righteousness & salvation has been fulfilled the law is no longer needed thus "the law is not made for a righteous man" (1 Timothy 1:9).
• Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin. (Romans 4:8)
• The strongest possible language is used here in the Greek, "by no means." Those who trust Christ will never have sins held against them, more so they will never be charged with sin.
• Notice he didn't just say "did not" or "does not" but "will not," implying that even future-tense sins have been dealt with through the sacrificial offering of Jesus, once for all (Hebrews 10:10,14).
• All our sins--past, present, and future--were forgiven (removed from us) through the one offering of Jesus.
• If God can't forgive future-tense sins, then none of us can be saved, because Jesus only died once, nearly 2,000 years ago, before we had committed any sins. All our sins have been forgiven, they have all been taken away from us.
• While we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:10)
• "God gave us the good work of reconciliation. This work is to tell people that 'God was in Christ on the cross reconciling the world to Himself and He is not charging anyone with sin because of it.' He has given us this word of reconciliation. We beg you on behalf of Christ, 'Be reconciled to God.'" (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
• We can see that God has reconciled everyone to himself but that reconciliation does not mean everyone is saved. To be "saved by His life" one must "be reconciled to God."
• Jesus said in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, to intimately know God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." Salvation is the entrance into an eternal relationship with God.
• Mutual reconciliation is required for salvation. Both parties must agree to be in relationship. God is already extending relationship to all mankind. He is giving out kindness to all in the hopes that they will respond positively.
• We died with Christ. Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. For the death that He died, he died to sin one time. Remember this, you have likewise died to sin one time. You are permanently freed from sin & you do not need to "die" again. Now we live with Him in spirit & one day face to face. Death has no power over Christ. The life he lives, He lives to God. Remember this, you are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You have an unbreakable bond because you are now one spirit with Him. (Romans 6:8-11, Paraphrase)
• You Jews were married to the law, obligated to keep its commandments for life. But you have died. You were made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you would be married to another, to Jesus the Messiah who was raised from the dead. Thus you are not under the burden of the law anymore but instead are joyfully joined to Christ Jesus our loving Lord. (Romans 7:4, Paraphrase)
• Whatever is not from trust is sin (Romans 14:23). The law is not from trust (Galatians 3:12). Is the law sin? Certainly not! (Romans 7:7)
• Most take Romans 14:23 to mean, "Whatever is not from trust is counted as a sin" but it actually is saying "whatever is not FROM trust is FROM sin." A person cannot operate by trust & by law at the same time. Galatians 3:12 is saying, "Obedience to the law does not come from trust in Christ because Christ has freed you from the law & He will not put you under it." The law itself is not sin & the law does not come from sin but from God. However obedience to the law is not based on trust thus sin is who convinces a person to keep the law.
• From sin's point of view "Rules are made to be broken." From God's point of view "Rules were made to show you that you are broken." Trust in Christ fixes you permanently. Sin seeks to make you feel broken by convincing you to put yourself under the law. Under the law sin uses the law to produce evil desires in your flesh.
• The law came from God. You cannot adhere to the law & trust in Christ because He has ended the law & you have been released from it. If you feel as though you must keep the law it is not Christ giving you that feeling but sin itself seeking to deceive you & produce evil desires in your flesh that will hurt you.
• Why didn't Israel arrive at righteousness? Because they didn’t seek it by trust, but by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who trusts in him will be disappointed.” (Romans 9:32-33)
• Those who seek to become righteous or even just feel righteous by their own works stumble over Jesus & are offended at Him.

God's law is over, ok?

• Romans 4:15
• The Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
• For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) -NLT
   
• Now before trust came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming trust would be revealed. Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by trust. But now that trust has come, we are no longer under a guardian (the law). (Galatians 3:23-25)
• For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who trusts. (Romans 10:4)
• For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him. (Rom 10:4, AMP)
• Sin is not charged when there is no law (Romans 5:13).
   
• He has made us competent as servants of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:6-11,17-18)
• The Ten Commandments are called the ministry of death and condemnation. The word ministry means service. That means the Ten Commandments serve up death and condemnation. That is what they give you. But thanks be to God who through Christ brought a surpassingly glorious ministry that serves up freedom, transformation, and everlasting righteousness!
   
• Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified (made right with God, made righteous) in His sight. Now the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the Law (Romans 3:19-20).
• We are not under the law. The law doesn't speak to us.
• The law is good but it is not intended for those who receive the righteous nature of Jesus Christ (see 1 Timothy 1:8-11).
   
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)
• Praise God for His redemption but may we also be aware that the law curses and to put ourselves under it is bondage.
   
• On the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:18-19)
• I would much rather draw near to God than try to keep laws. Drawing near to God means we experience His love and thus we become more loving to others which ultimately fulfills the law anyway.
• I don't live to keep commands. I live by trust in Christ. If our perspective is even "I must love" or "I must keep the law written on my heart" (which most assume to be the old testament law) I ignore God who lives in me and I serve death rather than life. We don't relate to law (as love or on our hearts), we relate to Christ & one another. Law is a thing. Christ is a person. If I try to serve a thing in order to serve a person I no longer serve that person, in practice I put something between us. It is drawing near to God to experience His love that is good for us, not putting up boundaries (laws) to make it harder to draw near to Him.

Salvation: Grace, Forgiveness, & Life

Saved by Grace
"It is by grace you have been saved, through trust and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God. You are not saved by works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace implies graciousness which implies giving which implies gifts. Grace literally means "favor." I like to define favor as "God's disposition of loving-kindness."

Because God was predisposed to loving you and being kind to you, in His graciousness, He gave the gift of His Son. When you trust Him by receiving His gift, His Son, you are saved. You are not saved by works. You are not saved by turning from sin (a work). You are not saved by asking forgiveness (a work). You are saved by trusting Jesus. You change your mind from disbelief and doubt to trust, that is biblical repentance.

Forgiveness
"He has forgave us all our sins” (Colossians 2:13).
If someone accused me of something I hadn’t done and I forgave them, they would be forgiven. Forgiveness is all my side. Because of the cross, you are forgiven. You were not forgiven in accordance with anything you do, but in accordance with the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). Forgiveness is all on God's side. It is something you receive as a gift. Gifts are already paid for. Forgiveness as a gift is something you receive by trust when you become aware of it. It is not something you have to ask for. When you trust the forgiveness Jesus bought at the cross you are saved. You cannot enjoy the benefit of the gift if you refuse to receive it. A gift refused is still a gift purchased & offered.

 

Changing Our Mind About Dead Works
Hebrews 6:1 calls one foundation of salvation "repentance from dead works." Repentance means "a change of mind." All works are dead if not done by Christ or through Christ. Repentance from dead works means you change your mind about dead works working. Hebrews 6:1 calls another foundation of salvation "trust in God." You change your mind about your works bringing life and realize, from hearing the good news, that only the work of Christ brings life so you choose to trust Jesus.

 

There is no law that can give life. (Galatians 3:21)
Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!" (John 5:39)
Jesus said, "It is the Spirit that gives life. Human effort accomplishes nothing." (John 6:63)
Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, He who trusts in me has eternal life." (John 6:47)
Jesus said, "This is eternal life, to know You Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3)

The Law is Over (In 100 Words)

Colossians 2:14 & Ephesians 2:15 say "the Law of commandments contained in written ordinances" were "against us" and "stood opposed to us." Those also say that Jesus "abolished" the laws, that He "took them away and nailed them to the cross"

2 Corinthians 3 says the law brings condemnation (including the 10 commandments) and is of no comparison with the glorious righteousness brought by Christ.

We are to walk by the spirit not by the law. Burdening yourself with law just leads to self-condemnation. We don't need a to do list or a don't do list when we have a loving Father to walk with.

Thoughts on The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

Just finished going through the book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible By A. J. Jacobs. I'm a Christian. I'm relational & non-institutional. I know of our freedom from the law and that Christ ended it on the cross which also ended Him charging us with sin. Here are my main take aways and thoughts from the book:

Keeping the law doesn't result in knowing in God.
After over a year of trying to keep all of the biblical commands literally Jacobs still did not believe in God. Truly you can't know God through the law but only through trusting Jesus. After a life time of being an agnostic & a non-practicing Jew to 8 months of being a practicing Jew Jacobs began his quest to keep the New Testament commands. One reason he said that he did not keep the command to believe in Jesus was that he felt it would betray his Jewish heritage, very interesting considering all of the Jews who have and do reject Jesus. Some laws did improve his character. After all one of the purposes of the law was to help people know how to love others.

No one can keep the whole law and certainly not all the time.
After hearing about the multitude of laws Jacobs tried to keep along with the many Jews who try to do the same it is absurd for any Christian to claim that we should keep the old testament laws. No christian comes galactically close to keep the laws that many strict Jews do and even the strictest Jews don't recognize or keep everything. The worst screaming from the pulpit legalists still only hold most biblical commands' importance in the abstract (only mentally, impractically).
   
Everyone does picking and choosing when it comes to the bible and its commands.
Continuing from the above, most Christians think that we still are bound to the 10 commandments (which we aren't, see 2 Corinthians 3:6-18) but I've never seen one try to keep the real sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday). Absolutely nothing in scripture says that the sabbath became Sunday and Julian calendar Sunday at that! I don't understand this type of pointless hypocrisy. Why claim to hold something so important and push it on others when in practicality you don't ever feel like you need to keep 1-2 of the commandments. Again I know people aren't to be burdened by having to keeps laws anymore so I'm not saying they should try. But 10 commandment pushers are as perplexing to me as someone who says, "I use all of the ingredients of mac & cheese" and never uses the cheese. The emperor has no clothes! Why pretend?

Literally vs. literally to me
The old testament laws were written to the Israelites. Some of what Jesus said clarified those laws. When Jesus died those laws ended. The bible says they were nailed to the cross with Jesus. The new testament letters were written much like an advice column or a letter from a parent to a child who lives away from home. The advice and commands given to the recipients of those letters don't apply to every Christian for all time. It may be beneficial advice especially if you have similar issues as they did but you are not bound to take the advice. It is still good advice but it was not advice for you. The general information presented can still be taken as universal truths without assuming that the commands apply to everyone.
   
Sadly most Christians seem to approach the bible as a rule book, "find the rules and obey them or you're in trouble with God." This approach is like reading a history book and seeing George Washington telling his troops to attack the British and thinking, "If I'm going to be a good American I need to go attack the British too" and then feeling guilty whenever you are not attacking the British.

Jesus used figurative language
This was a point I have never had emphasized to me before. In John 3 Jesus says to Nicodemus that "a man must be born again to see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus takes this literally and asks Jesus "How can an old man be born? He can't reenter his mother's womb." Jesus then goes on to talk about it referring to being born of the spirit. This story is a solid example showing that Jesus did in fact use figurative language even outside of parables. Thus statements such as "this bread is my body" can have symbolic or deeper meanings. Since Jesus is God that would suggest God would have used such language in the Old Testament too. It is usually pretty obvious but John 3 makes it undoubtful that God talks like this.
   
Freedom from the law is joyous
At the end of the book Jacobs no longer had to keep the law, his experiment was over. He said he felt free. He was astonished at the freedom of choice and lack of burden. He also said as time went on the guilt of not keeping the law faded away. As a christian who once felt obligated to & tried to keep commands I had a similar experience. Even though Jacobs didn't find the ultimate freedom of knowing Christ he did find the freedom from the law that Jesus earned on the cross for all mankind. No one is bound to keep the law anymore and only Jews were before Christ. Those to try to keep it now only pick up a burden to carry or have others encourage them to pick it up. Thank God for His freedom! Knowing Him is the greatest joy in life!   

The red marks of Jesus
Here is something the author didn't address but the symbolism sprung to life when I heard it. Jacobs was keeping the law that said to bind God's words to your forehead and at the same time the law that says to bind money to your hand. He said at the end of the day when he took them off they "left red marks on my head and hands." Wow! What a symbol of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and having nails put through His hands.

Jesus said the scriptures point to Him and Hebrews says that the old covenant practices contained foreshadows to Jesus. So the strange things like this reasonably can somehow show us Jesus. Here the law is worn on your head. Jesus took the full judgments and curses of the law on His head. The law had money being bound to your hand. Jesus paid our debt for sin and that payment was paid in part with nails through the hands. Amazing!


The book is entertaining and exposes you to the multitude of commands and types people that are out there. So read it if you want to. You're not obligated by law nor do you have to be fearful of sin. And A.J., if you are still obsessively Googling yourself thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment telling me how many laws I broke in this post.