Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr19/contrfit.zip/CONTRFIT.TXT

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Satan's Confusing Conterfeits

 Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

Suppose you had to summarize the entire Bible in just two words.
What words would you choose?  I have thought about this, and I
believe sin and salvation might be the most accurate answer.
After all, Satan entered the picture very early to cause man to
sin and to steal away his salvation.  Incidentally, that was
also the turning point for the human family.  You see, God had
based everything upon obedience.  He had provided all those
wonderful gifts--life, righteous character, dominion over the
earth, and a beautiful home in the Garden.  Then He promised
that those blessings would continue without interruption on one
condition alone:  Obey and live, disobey and die.
We know, of course, what followed that ultimatum.  Adam and Eve
yielded to the tempter and sin entered this beautiful planet for
the first time.  And from that moment the great controversy
became a raging reality, between Christ and Satan, truth and
error, obedience and disobedience.  Every book and chapter of
the Bible is interwoven with God's great plan to bring man back
to that original position of obedience from which he fell.
"Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people
from their sins."  Matthew 1:21.  Sin, of course, is
disobedience to God's law.
Sometimes people have asked, "Why be concerned over external
actions and works of the law?  Isn't God more interested in the
heart than in the outward conduct?"  Truly, those things cannot
be separated.  From the very beginning God has made obedience
the grand test of love and loyalty.  No one can say that God was
unconcerned over the behavior of our first parents.  Their
outward actions mirrored a divided heart.  This is also why
Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15.
The focus of heaven's program is to save men from breaking God's
law by instilling an agape love into the hearts of true
believers.  The very last book of the Bible distills the issue
down to that same basic question of obedience.  Every soul will
receive the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  Again the
test will be over obedience to the law.  The major
characteristic of the redeemed, according to the book of
Revelation, is that they keep the commandments of God.  The
condition that God set up for man to remain in Eden becomes the
condition for man to return to Paradise.  "Here is the patience
of the saints:  here are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus."  Revelation 14:12.  "And the dragon was
wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of
her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17.  "Blessed are they
that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:14.
The bottom line is that God must have a people who can be
trusted with eternal life.  Have you considered that those who
are translated at the coming of Jesus will still retain the
power of choice?  The Bible assures us that affliction will not
rise up the second time.  There will be no repeat of this 6,000-
year carnage of tragedy and death.  Not because there will be no
choice, but because God will take no one to heaven who would not
rather die than sin.  The angels will know heaven is secure
because of the experience of the saints in this world before
they are given immortality.  There will be no risk of this
recurrent nightmare of sin.  This testing experience on planet
earth will take care of that.
Satan's whole strategy is based on making people sin.  He knows
that nothing which defiles will enter God's kingdom, and sin is
the only thing that defiles in God's sight.  I am convinced that
Satan understood a certain principle long before the apostle
Paul wrote it down in Romans 6:16.  "Know ye not, that to whom
ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?"  Please notice that you become a servant of
whoever you obey.  If you obey God, you are a servant of God;
and if you cease obeying God, you cease being a servant of God.
The enemy's plan is to cause you to obey him and become his
servant.
I cannot emphasize enough that the devil doesn't care why you
disobey God as long as you do it.  You can even do it in the
name of religion, and some of the most religious people have
done it down through history.  In fact, they can think up the
most religious reasons for disobedience.  Jesus spoke repeatedly
of those who would be guilty of this paradoxical conduct.  He
declared, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out
devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity."  Matthew 7:22, 23.
Jesus  carefully identified these boastful claimants as very
religious individuals.  Everything had been done in the name of
Jesus, yet they were rejected in the end as unworthy to enter
heaven.  Why?  What was their problem?  In the previous verse
the Master spelled it out clearly that even though they talked
much about Him, they did not do "the will of my Father which is
in heaven."  Profession was strong, but doing God's will was
absent.
Jesus was even more specific in Matthew 15:9 when He spoke these
words to the Pharisees:  "But in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."  How it must
have shocked that audience to understand for the first time that
many who worshiped Him would be lost.  How could it ever be
wrong to worship God, and why would it be counted vain and
worthless?  Jesus explained that He could not accept it because
they had set aside His commandments in favor of the commandments
of men.  How interesting!  Apparently Christ recognized
obedience as the highest form of worship, and the most
acceptable.
Has anyone ever been able to find an acceptable excuse for
disobeying God?  Certainly men of the past have fabricated some
that sounded good in their own ears.  I think of Saul whom God
had approved as Israel's first king.  He was a great and
wonderful man in many respects.  But do you remember what
happened when God sent him to fight against the Amalekites?
Those people had become so depraved that God ordered Saul to
utterly destroy them. Nothing was to be brought back as
souvenirs or booty from this campaign.  The command of God was
clear and specific.
Why, then, did Saul decide to spare some of the finest, sleekest
cattle?  He gave his explanation to Samuel after being
confronted by the prophet on the way home from the battle.
Samuel asked, "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in
mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?  And Saul
said, They have brought them from the Amalekites:  for the
people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice
unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
1 Samuel 15:14, 15.
No matter how logical those words may sound, they are filled
with devious design and hypocrisy.  In the first place, Saul
blamed "the people" for sparing the animals, trying to shift the
responsibility for the act of disobedience.  But Saul was in
charge, and he had received the orders from God.  Then, he tried
to make it seem that it was a trifling matter, because "the
rest" of God's word had been fulfilled.  Only one little
deviation was made, so why make such a big deal out of it, and
besides, these animals were not for them; they were to be used
for worshiping God!
Don't miss the significance of that explanation.  Saul was
disobeying God in order to worship Him!  Did God accept such an
argument?  Samuel replied, "Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."  Verse 22.
Again, we see that God looked upon obedience as the highest form
of worship.  Even though Saul probably had the most persuasive
religious reason for disobeying, God dramatically rejected it
and, at the same time, rejected Saul from being the king over
Israel.
Is the same thing being done today?  Look around you as the
sacred hours of the Sabbath are introduced week by week to a
world in need of rest.  In the very heart of His handwritten
moral law God inscribed the longest and most detailed of all the
Ten Commandments.  Yet it was so simply expressed that no
possibility of confusion existed.  "The seventh day is the
sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work."
Exodus 20:10.  Even a child can understand those words. Yet,
when the seventh day begins each week millions are still out
there in the market place carrying on business as usual and
violating the clear, specific command of God.
Who are these millions who dare defy the unmistakable written
orders of their Creator?  Many of them are religious people who
will be in church the very next day singing hymns, praying,
giving offerings, and kneeling to worship the God whose law they
transgress every week.  Some perhaps do not realize that they
are honoring a pagan tradition above the commandment of God, but
large numbers are well aware that they are disobeying one of the
eternal laws of God.  Of such, Jesus spoke with alarming candor:
"In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men."
For years as an evangelist I have listened to the
rationalization of religious people for breaking the Sabbath.
Many of them actually sound pious and sincere and profess great
love for God.  But do they really love Him?  The problem today
is that there is such a superficial, sentimental definition of
love.  All of us have seen the popular bumperstickers which
boldly demand "Smile if you love Jesus," or "Honk if you love
Jesus," or "Wave if you love Jesus."  But that is not what Jesus
said!  He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  Now that
is authentic!  That is real.  The shallow froth of many modern
religions reflects anything except love.
Two Strategies of Satan

How does Satan orchestrate his program to make even the most
religious people sin?  Before we look at his two most effective
strategies, we need to understand that we are dealing with the
greatest counterfeiter who ever lived.  As the archdeceiver he
often employs a mixture of good and evil to accomplish his ends.
He doesn't even mind utilizing the Scriptures if it can serve to
achieve an ultimate end.
Satan did not write the Bible, but he was looking over the
shoulders of the men who did, memorizing every bit of it.  And
he has often quoted texts, as he did to Jesus in the wilderness
of temptation.  In that instance he actually quoted the Psalmist
correctly that angels would protect from even dashing a foot
against a stone.  But take note that he misapplied the text by
urging Jesus to presumptuously leap from the pinnacle and trust
the angels to save Him.
This clever ploy of distorting Scripture forms the basis of the
two special tricks which Satan uses to make Christians disobey
God's law.  The first argument goes like this:  Since the Bible
says "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life," the most important thing in
order to be saved is to obey the law. Revelation 22:14.  If we
can just do that well enough, in every detail, we will qualify
for eternal life.
Does that sound familiar?  And is there some truth in such an
argument?  Indeed, it is very important to obey the
commandments.  But is there also a strong element of error woven
through that belief?  The fact is that no one can make
themselves good enough to deserve salvation.  Such a doctrine is
rank legalism, the very antithesis of God's way of being saved.
It is the foundation of every non-Christian religion and has
deceived millions of professed followers of Christ into a fatal
delusion.
But you may ask how such a doctrine could lead to more breaking
of God's law.  Wouldn't it actually motivate more people to
carefully keep the commandments in order to be saved?  In this
case the answer is no.  You see, Satan knows very well that
things have changed since the Garden of Eden.
It was a thousand times easier for Adam to obey than it is for
us.  He had a pure, unfallen nature that had no inclination
toward sin, and all of his temptations originated outside of
himself.  With our inherited fallen nature our greatest
temptations spring from within.  But Satan has convinced
millions that they can avoid sin, just like Adam and Eve, by
trying harder to obey God.  So they manfully struggle to
exercise more control over their sinful tendencies and fail, and
fail, in their fleshly efforts.
Finally, they decide that it is impossible to get the victory
over sin and that God will not require something that can't be
done.  The result is more and more breaking of God's law.
Consider this thought for a moment:  Suppose you could keep
every one of God's commandments from this moment right on
through the remainder of your life.  In other words, you would
not make a single mistake or commit another sin for the rest of
your life.  Would that save you?  Of course not, because you
have already committed sins before starting this future program
of perfect obedience.  Therefore, you have come under the death
sentence by those past transgressions.  No amount of good
behavior can change the record of your past misconduct.
The truth is that only one man ever came into this world and
lived an absolutely perfect life without committing a single
sin.  Jesus had an impeccable record of right-doing.  Our record
is blotted and blurred by repeated failures to measure up to
God's standard of total obedience.  Not one of us can stand
before God on the basis of our past record.  We know God will
accept nothing but a perfect righteousness, or right-doing, and
none of us has such a record.  Unless we can somehow get the
credit for that holy, unblemished life of Jesus and have it
actually imputed to our account, there is not the least
possibility for us to be saved. How thankful we ought to be that
such an arrangement has been made available through the grace of
our Lord Jesus.
One of the most amazing texts in the Bible is found in Romans
5:10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son ..."  Let's pause and examine that first
half of the verse, because it contains the most crucial message
in all the Bible.  It tells us that we became enemies of God
when we sinned.  A reconciliation was required if we were to
have any hope.  In order to remove the sin that separated us
from God, an at-one-ment, or atonement, needed to be
accomplished.  Our text says that only the death of Jesus could
effect such a reconciliation.
How did the cross remove the enmity and restore the relationship
of God and man?  What did Jesus carry to that cross?  Upon His
own body He assumed vicariously the guilt of every descendant of
Adam and Eve.  In fact, Jesus offered to make an exchange with
each one of us.  He would take our condemnation and death
sentence, bear it to the cross, and exhaust the penalty of sin
against us.   At the same time that He bears our punishment, He
covers over the ugly record of our past transgressions. In fact,
He accomplished this by imputing credit to us for living His own
perfect life of obedience.  So what do we yield up, and what do
we receive from Him?  We give up our death in exchange for His
life; and as a result, God treats us as if we have never sinned,
and He treats Jesus on the cross as though He were guilty of all
our sins.
Now look at the rest of Romans 5:10.  After describing the
reconciliation effected by the death of Jesus, Paul continues,
"much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
Please notice that we need both the life and the death of Jesus
to achieve full salvation.  Past sins are covered by the imputed
benefits of His atoning death, and future victories are assured
by the imparted benefits of His sinless life in the flesh.
We cannot change or improve the actions that have already been
recorded against us.  They can only be canceled by claiming to
our account the credited record of His perfect obedience.  Any
of our future actions can be changed by accepting the
impartation of His victorious experience as He lived it in our
own fallen nature.  And that brings us to the second strategy
that Satan uses in making people sin.

The Cheap Grace Trap

In this clever assault, the great counterfeiter pursues a
different argument.  It goes something like this:  "No one can
be saved by keeping the law.  We are not justified by works, but
by grace through faith.  We are not under the law, but under
grace.  Keeping the commandments is not necessary as long as we
love Jesus."  Again, we see that there is much truth in what he
says, but also a terrible strain of error.   Even though we are
not justified by works, we are not exempt from obedience either.
Countless multitudes have fallen prey to this devious approach.
I see it all the time in evangelism.  Christians of every stripe
and denomination will give fervent assent to the first few
nights of the crusade series, but then we introduce the subject
of law and grace.  Instantly the reaction begins.  "Brother Joe,
don't talk to us about that old law.  We're not saved by works.
We're under grace, and keeping those commandments won't save
us."  Do you see the problem?  In an extreme reaction against
legalism, these sincere souls swerve far over to the side of
cheap grace and almost become antinomian in their views.
How hard it is to be balanced on this question of faith and
works!  There are two extremes, and the devil doesn't care which
end we go off.  It is like rowing a boat with two oars named
"faith" and "works."  If either oar fails to work, the boat
simply goes around in a circle.  A lot of people are going
around in circles, because there is not equal pulling on these
two essential aspects of salvation.  The fact is that we are
talking about two ends of the same piece.  This is why there can
be no conflict in the matter.  True faith always produces the
good works of obedience.  Genuine justification invariably
produces sanctification.  The Bible truly declares that "Faith
without works is dead."  James 2:26.
Our great enemy, the devil, has cunningly counterfeited both
ends of the beautiful doctrine of righteousness by faith.  He
has distorted "righteousness" into legalism and "faith" into a
cheap substitute that does not even produce obedience.  Somebody
has referred to it as "sloppy agape," because it also denigrates
love to an ill-defined sentimentalism.
In the Scriptures I find three kinds of faith.  One is a faith
that even the demons possess, but James makes it very clear that
this kind does not work at all.  It is merely an intellectual
assent or mental agreement.  It cannot save a single person.
The second does work, but for the wrong reason.  It is well-
illustrated by the driver who sees a stop sign at an
intersection.  He has faith in the sign and his faith works; he
brings the car to a  stop.  But why did he stop?  For fear he
would be struck by another vehicle?  Or fear that the police
might be watching from around the corner to give him a ticket?
That kind of faith is also unacceptable to God because it is
based on fear.
Unfortunately, many professed Christians have this kind of fire-
escape religion.  They know there is a fire at the end of the
road, and they don't want to go into that fire.  So they force
themselves to do all the good things that they believe good
people ought to do.  This is just another form of legalism that
we talked about earlier.
The third kind of faith, and the only kind God will accept, is
described in Galatians 5:6, "For in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh by love."  There it is.  There is the real motive
for every act of obedient compliance with God's law.

Sin and the Christian

But before we show how this motivation of love is the very heart
of all true acceptance before God, let us turn to some of the
most dogmatic statements recorded by the inspired writers.  Some
would even classify John's language as positively intemperate,
but you be the judge as we read the words of that great disciple
of love.  Please keep in mind that John was the disciple who
leaned on the bosom of Jesus.  He was, without question, the
warmest and most
tender-hearted of the twelve disciples.  He wrote more about
love than any other writer of the New Testament, yet he probably
had more to say about the commandments of God than any other
writer as well.
First, we will read the most simple, succinct definition of sin
to be found in Holy Writ.  John declared, "Whosoever committeth
sin transgresseth also the law:  for sin is the transgression of
the law."  1 John 3:4.  Please fix this verse clearly in your
thinking, because the rest of the chapter focuses on the nature
of sin and utilizes this exclusive definition for it.
The text is very clear, but we need to quantify the word "law"
in this verse.  What law is being referred to?  Paul answers in
a parallel discussion about sin in Romans 7:7.  He asks: "What
shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  God forbid.  Nay, I had not
known sin, but by the law:  for I had not known lust, except the
law had said,  Thou shalt not covet."  Here the meaning is
beyond question.  Paul quotes directly from the Ten Commandments
and declares unequivocally that sin is the breaking of that law.
So, as we read further in 1 John 3, keep clearly in mind that
the word sin has been defined in verse 4 as the breaking of the
moral law of the decalogue.  Verse 5 continues the discussion
with these words, "And ye know that he was manifested to take
away our sins."  What was Jesus to take from us?  Our sins.
What is sin?  Breaking the Ten Commandments.  Therefore, He came
to save us from transgressing those laws.  He came to keep us
from sinning.
Then John begins a series of radical statements of truth which
have confounded many modern Christians. He said, "Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him,
neither known him." Verse 6.  Powerful.  Some men are known for
bold preaching, but never have I heard such strong words from
any living prophet or preacher.  Declares the beloved John,
"Anyone who keeps walking in disobedience to the Ten
Commandments has never met Jesus and knows nothing about His
salvation."  Shocking?  Indeed, it is.
But wait. There is more, and it gets even stronger. Next verse:
"Little children, let no man deceive you:  he that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.  He that
committeth sin is of the devil."  Verse 7, 8.  John boldly marks
out the difference between false professors of truth and the
genuine.
Incidentally, there is great significance in the words "Let no
man deceive you."  This alerts us that whatever immediately
follows will be the subject of great delusion and deception.  In
Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His
coming and in verse 4 He replied, "Take heed that no man deceive
you."  Then He proceeded to spell out the terrible confusion
that would mark the end-time teaching on the "rapture."  So we
can expect that similar misunderstanding will attend the
doctrine of righteousness by faith in the last days.  The sin
question will be confused.  The doctrine of obedience and the
law will be confounded and twisted.
John urges us to heed the warning that no righteous person will
be walking in willful disobedience to the Ten Commandments.  He
goes so far as to say that such an individual would actually be
of the devil, and not a Christian at all!  Then he adds the
words which have been debated for generations by theologians as
well as laymen, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
for his seed remains in him:  And he cannot sin, because he is
born of God."  Verse 9.  Who is the seed of the woman in the
Bible?  Jesus is that true seed, and the truly converted child
of God has Christ abiding in his heart.  And while Jesus is
there he cannot sin.  In order to sin he will have to put Jesus
out of his heart.  Christ is not the minister of sin and cannot
share the heart of one who chooses to deliberately disobey the
commandments of God. John is not saying that a Christian loses
his power of choice, but he is emphatically declaring that
Christ does not remain in the heart of the willful transgressor.
Let's clarify this matter of sinning.  A strange doctrine has
wormed its way into the Christian church via the teaching of
Augustine and John Calvin.  This false system of belief holds
forth the idea that we can be walking in deliberate disobedience
and still have the assurance of salvation.  It is simply not
true.  Nevertheless, millions have swallowed the distorted
concept that justification changes our standing before God but
does not change our state.
The Calvinistic view is that the covering of justification makes
us acceptable in God's sight even if we do continue willfully
sinning.  In the final analysis, we are told that the atonement
saves us in this life from the results of sin but not from the
sin itself.  In effect, the message is declaring that the
atonement does not so much change the nature of the Christian in
relation to sin as it changes the nature of sin in relation to
the Christian.  For some reason, after accepting Jesus, sin is
not the same deadly factor it was before.  By committing sin as
an unconverted person we are doomed to destruction, but
committing the same sins after being "saved" cannot send the
Christian to hell.
Do you see how this doctrine seeks to change the nature of sin
instead of changing the nature of the sinner?  Is this not
playing games with religion?  Justification does not ever cover
sins that we keep on practicing.  Justification provides a
totally new heart and life called conversion by which we begin
to show forth a new spiritual lifestyle.  Justification cannot
be maintained while deliberate sins are being committed.  It is
not a cloak to cover continued transgression, it is a spiritual
transformation which removes both the guilt and power of sin.
Mark it down well:  True faith always produces the good works of
obedience.  Faith without works is dead.  Jesus came to this
world to save His people from their sins, not in their sins.
The Bible says a lot about sin, but never anything good. For
instance, you will never read in the Scriptures that we should
diminish the amount of sin we commit.  Nowhere are we admonished
to cut back or reduce our disobedience.
Sin is absolutely non-negotiable in God's sight. We are to
utterly reject, abandon, and forsake all practice of known sin.
Jesus said, "Go and sin no more."  He did not say, "Go and cut
back on this sin"!  John did not write, "My little children,
these things write I unto you that ye sin less and less."  He
said, "I write unto you that ye sin not."
John the Beloved pulled no punches in writing his epistle about
sin.  No modern preacher ever said it stronger than he did.  He
declared, "He that committeth sin is of the devil."  1 John 3:8.
This foolishness about God counting us righteous while we
willfully keep on choosing to disobey Him is not supported in
the Bible.  The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and
that power is able to save us from all sin as well as from some
sin. Why should we believe that an all powerful God, would
forgive us and then leave us under the power of continued sin?
That would make God an accomplice in our sin.

Judged by Our Works

Finally, let us consider the fact that the judgment will take
place on the basis of our works.  I know this may sound
legalistic to some, but the Bible is exceedingly clear on this
point.  John wrote:  "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened:  and another book was
opened, which is the book of life:  and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to
their works. ... And they were judged every man according to
their works."  Revelation 20:12, 13.
How do we harmonize these words with what we have discovered
about God's love and mercy?  Is it not contrary to Bible
justification for works to be the basis of the judgment?  Not at
all, if we take into consideration how the works will be judged.
It is imperative that we understand exactly how God will measure
and test the actions of each individual.  What determines
whether they are accepted or rejected?  Is it the amount
performed?  If we have enough right-doing to our account, will
we be granted entrance?  And will we be left outside if the
works are not sufficient?
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus described a sizable group who
would seek entrance into the kingdom of God.  We referred to
this verse earlier.  Jesus said, "Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy
name have cast out devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful
works?  And then will I profess unto them,  I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity."  Matthew 7:22, 23.
Carefully weigh the words of those last minute applicants.
Jesus did not dispute or deny the truthfulness of what they
said.  They boasted of having done many works.  There was no
lack in quantity.  The amount was acceptable, but obviously, the
works were not judged on the basis of quantity--they were denied
entrance.  But we are more puzzled when we read about the kind
of works these people had done.  They were "wonderful" as well
as "many." The quality seems to be good also.  Perhaps one of
them had donated a million dollars to build a new synagogue; yet
they were not allowed entrance.  The mystery deepens.  What
other factor could possibly account for the severe sentence,
"depart from me, ye that work iniquity"?
The answer is found in the last book of the Bible, and when we
read it, the entire puzzle suddenly falls into place and pulls
into focus.  In Revelation 3:15 God says, "I know thy works."
Of course He does, because He has kept the record and will be
the final judge.  But let's read on, "I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot:  I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I
will spue thee out of my mouth."  Revelation 3:15, 16.
There is the secret of the whole matter!  Our works will be
judged at last, but not by the weight or the height.  They will
be judged by the heat!  In other words, all of our obedience
must spring forth from a heart of burning love and devotion to
God. The motive will be uncovered and examined by the all-seeing
eye of God.  No amount or kind of human works will carry any
degree of weight in that day unless they have been produced by a
fiery love relationship with Jesus.
Here we come to the paradox of the faith-works issue.  Works are
either worth everything or they are worth nothing.  They are a
sweet savor of incense before God or they are an abomination.
All depends on the motive and who is providing the strength to
perform the works. Works of the flesh are man's efforts to save
himself, but works of love rising out of the abiding presence of
the Holy Spirit are exactly the opposite.  They stand forth as
the authentic credentials of genuine faith and love.
God has not changed that test since the Garden of Eden.  He
still requires exactly the same kind of obedience.  The only
difference is that in Eden our holy unfallen parents had, by
nature, the power to obey. Unfortunately, as the children of
post-fall Adam and Eve, we have inherited carnal natures which
are not subject to the law of God, except by the miracle of
conversion and "Christ in you."  This is why Jesus declared,
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
John 3:3.  And to the rich young man who asked, "What shall I do
to be saved?"  Jesus replied, "Keep the commandments."  Matthew
19:17.
There is no contradiction in these two statements of the Master.
None can be saved without experiencing the new birth, and none
can be saved who walk in willful disobedience of the
commandments.  The two things operate as two parts of the same
salvation experience.
The central truth in all these utterances is that none can obey
who has not been converted, and none will deliberately refuse to
obey who has been converted.  Let no one persuade you that works
are unimportant or unnecessary, or that keeping the commandments
is legalism. But do examine your heart with great care to
determine the hidden root of the fruit which adorns your
Christian  lifestyle.  If conformity to God's law is the
spontaneous outflow of your joyous, continuous connection with
Christ, then whoever would charge you as a legalist would be
exposed as judgmental and self-condemned.  On the other hand,
your works of love would stand forth as the very antithesis of
legalism, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10.

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