14For it is like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them. 

15And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his own ability, and he went on a journey immediately. 

16The one who had received the five talents went out and traded with them and gained five more. 

17In the same way the one who had the two gained two more. 

18But the one who had received the one went away and dug up the ground and hid his master’s money. 

19Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 

20And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!’ 

21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 

22And the one who had the two talents also came up and said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!’ 

23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 

24And the one who had received the one talent came up also and said, ‘Master, because I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter seed. 

25And because I was afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!’ 

26 But his master answered and said to him, ‘Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed. 

27Then you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I returned I would have gotten back what was mine with interest! 

28Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 

29For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 

30And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness—in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 

You probably heard that the parable of the talents is about doing good works, or using your God-given gifts and callings, and as a result, receiving rewards or judgment, to the extent of even losing your salvation. Indeed, if we read this story in isolation, there are a few apparent reasons why we might adopt this view. First, the three people who received the talents from the man going on a journey were all servants or slaves of the man, which could imply that they were already in the kingdom, saved, and born again. The throwing away of the third servant into the outer darkness from verse 30 as a result of his not using and multiplying what the master has given him can mean loss of eternal salvation. Second, the master gave each servant a different number of talents, expecting them to put it to work, steward it well, and multiply it. This can easily prompt us to think about the gifts, skills, and callings that God has given to each believer, which can be taken away if they are not used properly.

Question: Is the third servant a genuine believer from the start, who didn’t do enough good works and lost his salvation as a result? Let’s suppose that this is the case and read Romans 4:4-5,

Romans 4:4-5 (LEB)

4   Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited according to grace, but according to his due. 

5   But to the one who does not work, but who believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness,

As you can see, we have a problem elevating the ‘parable of talents’ as ‘works’ in light of what Paul taught in these verses: we have a salvation by works and not by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice alone. And what about what Jesus said in John 6:28-29 regarding works? In these verses, Jesus was asked about the kind of works we need to do to please God. I want you to notice that Jesus tells them what pleases God. It wasn’t works (plural), but only one work, and that work was to BELIEVE:

John 6:28-29 (LEB)

28 So they said to him, “What shall we do that we can accomplish the works of God?” 

29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom that one sent.”

Even Jesus refused to elevate works. Yes, we ARE made for good works. It’s who we are. However, the notion that our salvation depends on them and is a reward is not biblical.

Now, let’s assume that the servant is a born-again believer who didn’t use his gifts as much as he should, and he didn’t fulfill his God-given calling on this earth. Does that mean God will take away those gifts or salvation from him? Romans 11:29 teaches us that „the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” We can conclude this parable is not talking about gifts and callings either.

Is it then possible that this servant was someone who never knew the master in the first place? Is it possible that he may have had a resemblance of genuine saving faith, but without corresponding works? In other words, he had a faith that was dead, similar to what James discusses. Let’s look at a few hints in the text that this is so:

1.       In verse 26, the master calls him „evil and lazy slave.” Has Jesus or God ever called His children slaves, evil, or lazy? No.

2.       This servant lives in the fear of judgment. 1 John 4:18 tells us that “perfect love casts out fear,” and believers are not supposed to fear judgment.

3.       He misunderstands the master. This servant describes the master as a “hard man,” but that’s not how the master is presented in the parable. The other servants rejoice in his kindness and generosity. Clearly, this third servant didn’t really know the master, similar to the foolish virgins to whom the bridegroom tells, “I never knew you.”

Next, let’s analyze the context of the parable of the talents. The whole discussion theme of Matthew 24 and 25 (the arrival of the Son of Man as a thief in the night, the abomination of desolation, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, the judgment of the sheep and goats) is the end of times, judgment, and separation. What exactly will be the determining factor or the criteria that will separate the righteous from the unrighteous at the end of times? It will be faith in the truth of the gospel that has accompanying works. Faith without works is dead, meaning that it was never there in the first place. The talents given to those three servants (in the context of the ten virgins) must then refer to the truth of the gospel given to all people in different measures of faith and understanding.

The Parable of the Talents is not about believers being cast into hell for not doing enough good works or not walking in holiness enough. Instead, it’s about those who have been given the revelation of the Kingdom (referring to all people or, more specifically, to the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day) and have rejected it. They are the ones who receive judgment, not faithful Christians. The third servant represents those who have received the Word of God but have not accepted it with faith. They bury it by postponing it, denying it, or neglecting...

Suicide
Many Christians have wondered at least once in their lives: Is suicide an unpardonable sin? Do believers who commit suicide lose their salvation and go straight to hell? Most people, even believers, answer “yes” to this question because suicide leaves no room for repentance; a person enters eternity with unconfessed and, therefore, unforgiven sin. Such a conclusion is based on the assumption that believers’ sins are forgiven in time, depending on their confession of, and that their salvation fluctuates and is not final until they die with all their sins confessed. However, the Bible teaches all sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven and erased through faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One’s eternal destiny is sealed and set at the time of justifying faith, it has already, and forever, been determined at the time of salvation. Moreover, numerous instances of sudden death may bring Christians into eternity before they have the opportunity to confess and repent. As theologian Robert N. Wennberg puts it, “What about the heart-attack victim who dies while brutalizing his wife or amid an adulterous liaison? Does his failure to repent in this life forever remove the possibility of forgiveness in the next? And must we not pass from this life with unconfessed and unrepented sin lest we never find forgiveness and reconciliation with God in the next?” Common sense reveals that many, if not most of us, will die with sins we have not asked for forgiveness of. Repentance itself does not seal us into the Heavenly Kingdom—the Holy Spirit is such a seal (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). For a more in-depth study about future sins and confession of sins, I recommend reading another book, written by me, entitled The Glory of Righteousness.

People’s perspective on suicide and salvation is probably also significantly influenced by the mortal sin position found in the Roman Catholic Church, which views suicide as a lethal sin, maintaining a distinction between unpardonable and pardonable sins. The former separate a person from God’s grace, while the latter, equally serious, do not. Mortal sin is considered a severe offense that merits eternal damnation if not repented and forgiven before death. This creates a system of major or minor offenses within Catholicism. It also creates a framework where living in a state of grace is like a moving target for the believer, like a daily struggle to stay in God’s good graces. Complete and total forgiveness is conditional and requires strict repentance. The Roman Catholic position affirms that taking your own life deliberately and without remorse incurs eternal damnation.

Is suicide considered a sin in the Bible? The most basic definition of suicide is that a person intends to die or acts on the desire to die. This person pursues a course of action for the express purpose of ending their life. In this definition, suicide is a sin because it is murder and comes against one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Although we don’t instinctively think of murder in this way, unlawfully taking one’s own life does not differ morally from taking another’s. However, we should also keep the following important aspects in mind. Suicide is mentioned only six times in the whole Bible. In none of these cases is an explicit moral evaluation or judgment rendered as to whether it is right or wrong: the case of Abimelech in Judges 9:50–57; Samson in Judges 16:28–30 (although some are not convinced this is suicide in the strict sense of the term); King Saul and his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 31:1–6 (2 Sam. 1:1–15; 1 Chronicles 10:1–13); Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri in 1 Kings 16:18–19; and Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5.

There are also cases of apparent suicide, that are morally permissible. For example, the soldier who fights the enemy in a time of war, knowing he most likely will die, is not guilty of committing suicide. As Wennberg puts it, he is not choosing this act as a means to his death “but rather is accepting a foreseen, yet unwelcome, consequence of what he is doing.” In a sense, then, the soldier is engaging in a suicidal act but is not committing suicide. What about the case of a soldier who falls on a live grenade to save his friend’s life, or when a destitute mother stops eating what little food remains so her child may live? What about a Christian in the third century who was given a choice: either deny Jesus or be thrown to the lions? By refusing to give up on Jesus publicly, the believer chose a course of action he knew would result in his death (even though it was not his conscious intent to die), but that would not be considered suicide because the death he chose was an unintended side effect of his fidelity to Christ. What about Jesus, the Messiah, Who willingly fully chose to allow Himself to be killed? Can He be accused of taking His own life? Of course not!

Is suicide a sin? Yes, in many instances, this is a serious sin that violates God’s expressed will concerning the sanctity of life. However, even in this case, there is no evidence in the Bible to conclude that it is beyond the reach of the forgiveness obtained for us at the cross of Christ. In other words, suicide is not an unpardonable sin or one that forfeits someone’s eternal salvation. Family and friends of a believer who has committed suicide should never worry about whether their loved one is still saved. Finally, Romans 8:38–39 says nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, not even death:

Conclusion

The teaching about the eternal security of believers in Christ usually generates two types of responses and places people in two categories based on them. The first consists of people who become offended and angry with this teaching. These are the religious and self-righteous ones who behave like the older son from the parable of the prodigal son, not knowing the love of the Father. Although they might be born again as well, their image of God is more of a One Who is harsh and judging than a loving Father, and because of that perspective, they treat other fellow believers in the same way they perceive divinity. They become harsh critics or pride themselves on the good deeds they do. They think God loves people and bears with their sins only until they become born again, but after that, they are supposed to be perfectly holy in their actions. Otherwise, He will punish them or cancel their sa...

Divorce and Remarriage – Introduction
Divorce has long been a complex and controversial topic in the church. In our culture today, many people are affected by it in one way or another. We all know someone, whether a family member or close friend, who has experienced the pain of a broken marriage. Or maybe you have gone through or are going through a divorce right now. If so, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how painful and devastating it can be for both the adults and children involved in the situation. Moreover, as a child of God, I am sure you may have asked yourself more than once: “Will God still forgive me if I get a divorce or remarry? Will I remain saved, or will I lose my salvation forever?” Those are all good and pertinent questions, especially for believers who have already been through it or are planning to. First, we need to find out from the Bible which cases of divorce or remarriage are sins. Second, for those situations where separation from the marriage partner is a sin, we must determine, again with the help of Scripture, whether that kind of sin is unforgivable and may cause believers to forfeit their eternal salvation.

Sexual Immorality & the Unbelieving Spouse

There are two definite instances in which divorce is allowed by God and not considered a sin in Scripture. The first admissible reason, depicted by Jesus in Matthew 5:31–32 and Matthew 19:9, is unfaithfulness through sexual immorality, which applies to both spouses:

Some spiritual leaders in the body of Christ today contend that, based on these two passages, only sexual immorality is a valid reason for dissolving a marriage. If that’s the case, then the apostle Paul contradicted Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, he adds a second situation in which divorce is not a sin, that of an unbelieving spouse wanting to separate:

Later, we will see that when Jesus says in Matthew 5:31–32, Matthew 19:9, and Mark 10:2–12 that a man should not separate from his wife for any other reason except sexual immorality, he is addressing a specific hot debate of His day on this topic that was based on Deuteronomy 24:1–2.

Physical & Emotional Abuse

You may ask: “What about physical abuse, emotional abuse, or the neglect of a spouse? Are any of these acceptable reasons for divorce? What does the Bible say about this?” There is no easy answer because the Bible doesn’t have a clear-cut, black-and-white answer to this dilemma. Here is where things get complicated and into the gray area; that’s why we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us revelation and understanding of His heart. If we look carefully at Scripture with an open and sincere heart, we will discover that it has a solution to this challenging issue.

First, through a few examples, I invite you to observe that, as a general principle, God’s love and mercy are always greater than His justice.

Without diminishing His righteousness and punishment for sin in any way, He is always in the business of encouraging, building up, and restoring people’s lives despite their mistakes and failures. He always rejoices to see His children happy and well. Even in Old Testament times, during the Law of Moses, when God seemed very cruel and harsh in His punishments for people’s acts of disobedience, He still did everything out of care for them and because there was no other way to accomplish what He needed to accomplish for humanity. When we become parents, we can understand and experience a glimpse of God’s heart for His children. No matter how bad children can be and what evil things they might do normal fathers and mothers will never give up on them, and they will always do everything in their power to see them well and happy. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God could have left them to die forever according to His justice and never redeem them. However, because of His great love, He found a way, though painful, tedious, and costly, to save humanity from eternal destruction without lessening His righteousness. In Matthew 12:1–8, Jesus’s disciples plucked off heads of grain and ate them on the Sabbath because they were hungry, and the Pharisees accused them of doing something unlawful on the day of rest. Let’s see what Jesus’s response was:

Jesus first reminds them from the Old Testament of the occasion when King ...

What about the cases recorded in Scripture as actual apostasy in the faith? Among such examples are Lot, King Saul, Solomon, Judas Iscariot—Jesus’s disciple—Ananias, Hymenaeus and Philetus, Demas, etc. First, let’s deal with the Old Testament individuals who lived before Jesus’s death and resurrection. About some of the more prominent figures of the Old Testament, like Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other prophets, we know for sure that after Jesus’s death on the cross, they became saved. However, on what basis? Moreover, what about all the other less-known people whose names were not mentioned in the Bible but who were still part of God’s people? Were they saved after the cross? If yes, how? On what basis? If not, why? How did redemption touch the lives of Ruth and Rahab? These are essential questions. Personal salvation by grace, through faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, may not have been as clear at the time of Noah as it is to us today. The Lamb of God, Who takes away the world’s sins, came to the nation of Israel approximately four hundred years after the Old Testament canon was closed. How, then, could there be a clear object of faith?

A common misconception about the Old Testament way of salvation is that Jews were saved by keeping the Law. But we know from Scripture that this is not true. Galatians 3:11 says:

Some might say this verse applies only to the New Testament, but Paul is quoting from Habakkuk 2:4, where it says,

Salvation by faith, apart from the Law, was an Old Testament principle. Paul taught the purpose of the Law was to serve as a “tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). Also, in Romans 3:20, Paul made the point that keeping the Law didn’t save Old Testament or New Testament Jews because no one can be declared righteous in His sight by observing the Law. The Law was never intended to save someone; the purpose of the Law was to make us conscious of sin. If people’s salvation in the Old Testament was not through the keeping of the Law, then what was it through? The answer to that question is found in Scripture, so there can be no doubt regarding this issue. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul clarifies that salvation in the Old Testament was the same as in the New Testament, which is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. To prove this, Paul points us to Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish people, who was saved by faith and not by works: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Abraham could not have been saved by keeping the Law because he lived over four hundred years before it was given! Also, circumcision was not introduced to Abraham and his descendants until Genesis 17, that is more than ten years later. Romans 4:13-16 says this:

Here, we see that the promise of becoming heirs of the world, or the promise of salvation, was not made only to Abraham but also to his descendants who came through Isaac. And this didn’t come through the Law, but through the faith of Abraham. All his descendants, from Isaac to Christ, received salvation after the cross federally because of Abraham’s faith and covenant with God, even though some of them did not fully walk with Him. Abraham was the federal head of their salvation through faith. To prove that God fulfills the promises made to a federal head in the descendants’ lives even though they are not always pleasing to God, I will provide a few examples. First, Noah was saved from the flood’s destruction with all his family (wife, sons, and daughters-in-law) although the Bible doesn’t say anything about their relationship or devotion to God. They were saved because of Noah. Second, in 2 Kings 10:30-31, God makes a powerful promise to King Jehu that his sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation without adding any conditions or disclaimers:

After God gave that promise, even King Jehu, himself, to whom the promise was given, didn’t walk according to the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. Did God revoke His promise to him or his sons because of his sins? Absolutely not! Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, reigned seventeen years over Israel in Samaria, although he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 13:1-2). Then, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and the second generation descendant of Jehu, reigned for sixteen years over Israel in Samaria, although he did what was evil in the eyes of God as well (2 Kings 13:10-11). Moving forward, in 2 Kings 14:23-24, we see the third generation of Jehu, Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, beginning to reign in Samaria, and he does it for forty-one years although he also did evil in the eyes of God and caused Israel to sin. Lastly, in 2 Kings 15:8-9, the Bible says that Zechariah the son of Jeroaboam (the fourth generation of Jehu) reigned over Israel in Samaria for six months....

License to Sin 

Another objection to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (or eternal security) is that it tends to lead believers to indolence and license to sin. However, this is a perversion of the doctrine, possible only to the unregenerate people since the certainty of success is the most powerful incentive to walk in holiness to the born-again believers. The fact that God ensures true believers they will not lose salvation until the end doesn’t cancel the need for good works and sanctification on the believers’ part. The apostle Paul exhorts believers in Philippians 2:12 “to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.” This doesn’t mean good works represent the means to keep their salvation until the end, but these are the effect and the proof of true conversion. Again, I bring this illustration to your attention, with King Solomon, because it’s a very good one. What did he look for when he decided to kill the living baby and share it between the two women who came to judgment? Did he look for a deed on the part of the women that would deserve or win the baby? Did he want to create a new relationship between the women and the baby that didn’t exist before? Of course not! Instead, he was looking for a deed that would prove what was already true, an action that would show who that baby’s birth mother was. True believers will always be in active striving to live in holiness until the end, and the certainty of success in this journey is the best possible stimulus. 

Paul says in Romans 6:2: “How can we who died to sin continue to live in it?” Why would you think to do evil when you repented and came on God’s side? Why would you want to sin when you no longer have a sinful nature, and you can live an abundant life of absolute joy, peace, health, and prosperity? Can God do whatever He wants? Yes, of course! Does that give Him license to sin? Never, because His freedom and free will have boundaries; they are informed and determined by His nature. God wants believers to walk in holiness because they want to and love to, not out of fear and constraints. We need to trust the powerful and tangible transformation God does in believers through the Holy Spirit and not try to control people through fear. 

The Confusion Regarding Human Free Will 

This objection sounds like this: “If genuine believers cannot lose their salvation and don’t have the actual option of rejecting Christ if they wanted to, after they got saved, then they don’t really have free will anymore.” Such an objection is based on the false assumption that human free will is not influenced by anything, is not bound to neither depends on the inherent nature of the person in any way, which can be either sinful from the first Adam, or righteous from the last Adam, Jesus Christ. 

God Himself has complete free will. However, He will never choose to embrace evil or Satan’s ways. He will never even want to do such a thing, His free will is completely bound to His righteous nature. That is how genuine believers are after salvation as well. God does such a powerful change in their nature through the Holy Spirit that they will never want to choose with their free will to reject God and lose their salvation. The only reason believers’ free will doesn’t seem bound entirely yet to the new holy nature of their spirit here on earth is that their mind is not yet wholly renewed. 

The free will of the first Adam was not utterly dependent on his nature before the fall. Why? It’s because even though he had a holy nature inside, he was still capable of committing a sin that could change his nature into darkness: eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Even the free will of lost people before salvation is not entirely dependent on their sinful nature. Why? Because under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and at the hearing of the Gospel message, they can make a decision that will completely recreate them spiritually. However, after salvation, born-again believers become one spirit with the Trinity (1 Corinthians 6:17). Their will is still free but now dependent on the holy nature inside them in regard to eternal salvation. 

I heard some believers saying that the reason we have the Holy Spirit in us now is to help us sanctify ourselves so that we can maintain our salvation to the end, and that we should employ His help using our free will, the same way we used our free will to accept salvation and be born again. While it is true that we need the Holy Spirit’s help for sanctification and that our will is involved in this process, it is not true that maintaining our salvation relies entirely on our choice to use the Holy Spirit’s help. Let’s read Romans 4:1-8, 

Romans 4:1–8 (NKJV) 

1   What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 

2   For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 

3   For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 

4   Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 

5   But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 

6   just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 

7   “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 

8   Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” 

Abraham lived in a time when the Law of Moses had not been given yet and the Holy Spirit was not living in him to help him do works of holiness. He did not have any other way of maintaining his salvation or righteousness, except through faith according to the passage above. Moreover, at Verse 6, King David described the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from his works (separated and independent of our good works) and he was referring to the future new creations in Christ. Were Abraham and King David in a better position than us, the believers in Christ? I am asking this because their lives seem to have been much simpler than ours by not having to maintain their righteousness by works. They only had faith and that was enough, and Abraham is the father of the seed of Christ, to whom all believers belong to. So, even though we use our free will to employ the Holy Spirit’s help and strength in doing works of holiness which we need to pursue, these have no value in maintaining our righteousness. They are only a means of releasing more and more God’s inheritance that resides in us, on the outside, and manifesting the gift of righteousness in us in increasing measure. These works will also receive reward in the future life. 

Renouncing Salvation by Free Will 

There is a teaching in the body of Christ that, based on Hebrews 6:4–6 (a text which was already covered), there is a slight possibility of genuine believers to lose their salvation through their own free choice. This teaching says you can’t sin your salvation away, but you can renounce it. Rejecting your faith isn’t quickly done, but it is possible. Befo...

When we read this passage, some of us sincere believers might get the impression at first glance that Jude was warning and “threatening” authentic believers that if they didn’t keep the faith by behaving morally until the end of their lives and if they let themselves be influenced by those ungodly people infiltrated among them, they would lose their salvation and suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude even provides two examples that imply this kind of thinking. The first example is about those people in Israel who were saved by the Lord out of Egypt at one time and then were destroyed due to their unbelief. The second example describes the angels who were once holy angels but then rebelled against God’s authority by deserting the realm God had established for them to abide in. They ended up in everlasting chains under darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. These are thought to be the sons of God from Genesis 6:1–4 who came down to earth and married the daughters of men, giving birth to giants. Let’s see if this interpretation of Jude 1:1–7 is valid.

We Christians often have a significant disadvantage in interpreting accurately difficult passages because we have to rely only on what is written and even translated from other languages like Greek and Hebrew. Plus, the audience the Bible addressed belonged to cultures with certain customs, assumptions, and issues, many of which are foreign to us today. The fact that we were not present there to hear the tone and the attitude with which some things were said, as well as the cultural context and what was going on that required certain things to be said, should make us even more diligent and careful in our interpretation. When it comes to assurance of salvation, the epistle of Jude falls into this category of passages that require revelation from the Holy Spirit and increased attention to detail.

Jude says in Verse 3 that while he wanted to share with them things about the common salvation and about the blessings of salvation, he felt compelled to encourage them, to exhort and inspire them to contend for faith. Jude’s purpose was to encourage these believers and give them hope, not discourage them with threats and fear. As a general principle of interpretation, any Holy Spirit-inspired Word of Scripture will never bring fear to the heart of the believer, but faith, hope, and comfort. Romans 10:17 says hearing of the Word of God produces faith, and 1 Corinthians 14:3 tells us any word of prophecy, which is like the Word of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit, brings edification, exhortation, and comfort to men. If the reading of this passage from Jude left us with more fear than faith and hope, if it created fear of losing our salvation, something must not be entirely right with our interpretation. This is one clue that Jude might not have referred here to the possibility of genuine believers losing their eternal salvation.

Coming back to Verse 3, let’s notice that Jude doesn’t encourage believers to keep the faith or to watch in it in the sense of holy living, or even of the good fight of faith. Instead, he uses a different expression: to contend earnestly for the faith. Which faith? The one that was once and for all delivered to the saints. Here we have a hint that Jude doesn’t refer to holy living or trust in God, but specifically, to the body of faith, the accurate doctrines of it and of grace that were initially spoken to them by the apostles. Jude wants to encourage believers to contend for their Gospel beliefs and convictions and guard them from ungodly people and any other possible heresies, but not “contend” with themselves to not lose their faith. Why did Jude need to encourage them in this area? Because certain ungodly people crept into the church unnoticed, and they were changing the grace into licentiousness. They were denying Jesus Christ as God. From Jude’s description, these people were unbelievers who consciously joined the church, trying to convince believers through arguments that maybe Jesus was not the only way to salvation, that perhaps they should be more tolerant with all people since God loves them, and that physical lusts are normal and cannot be denied.

The book of Jude seems a very appropriate book for the times we live in as well, and it’s probably not by coincidence that is it located at the end of the Bible before Revelation. If we read it carefully, we cannot but notice that it describes in detail what is happening right now in the world with the LGBTQ propaganda, with science and technological development rising above God and trying to exclude Him altogether, and with an increasing number of influential people advocating that Jesus is not the only way of salvation and that salvation can be found in any religion of the world. For example, I don’t know if you have ever heard of it, but there is a book called The Secret which talks about getting whatever you want in life through the Law of Attraction and places all religions in the same category. This book calls God one immense energy field, one supreme mind, one consciousness, or one creative source of which all people are part, and every religion has its own name for it. Oprah Winfrey, a very influential person in the United States of America, who is supposedly a Christian, said publicly she didn’t think Jesus Christ was the only way to salvation. She even presented seemingly solid arguments for the hearts and minds that are not anchored in the Word of God. Moreover, most of the movies done by Hollywood or Netflix lately promote the LGBTQ agenda in one way or another, in the name of love and tolerance. Not only that, but many of the movies intentionally put Christians in a bad light in contrast with science, as if these are very narrow, short-sighted, and always denying science. And this is not true. Influential people, and even church pastors, are beginning to promote the idea that adultery, homosexual...

Romans 11:16-24 (The Severity of God)

Whenever I tell people about God’s goodness and love, there is almost always someone calling for balance and saying I should also preach on His severity. Then they quote Verse 22 from Romans 11: “You see, God is kind, good, but He’s also severe, so watch yourself! He has given you a chance to repent, but now you must prove you were worth it by getting your life in order, otherwise it’s the end for you!” And we wonder why unbelievers don’t get excited about this so-called Gospel! This passage, especially Verse 22, raises these questions: Who is the apostle Paul addressing? What does it mean to be “cut off”? What is the significance of the condition “if you continue in His goodness”? Many believers contend Paul is talking here to individual Christians who can be cut off from their salvation if they do not continue to live faithfully. However, let’s see together why this is not true!

First, if we look at the context, the passage itself may, at first glance, appear to be contradictory. For how could the apostle Paul write of branches being cut off in Verse 22 and then, in the same breath, turn around and say that the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable in Verse 29? Which of the statements is real? Is Paul telling us a Christian can lose his salvation, or is he talking about something else? Second, who are the “they” that were broken off, and who are the “you” that were grafted in? Paul is not speaking about individuals, and he is not speaking about the church as a whole either. He is talking about two groups of people—Jews and Gentiles:

The nation of Israel, as a community, was ”cut off,” and the Gentiles, as a group, were grafted in. The Jews had been shown favor from the Lord, but they did not accept it (although certain individual Jews had, such as Paul himself and the apostles of Jesus). God reached out to the Jews in love, but they gave Him the cold shoulder, and now His favor is extended to the Gentiles. God desires to bless everyone, but not everyone receives His blessing. The reason for “being cut off” or for “the severity of God” being manifested toward them, was not their low level of holiness and good deeds but their unbelief in Jesus. The Jews tried to earn His favor as a group and were cut off. That sounds like divine judgment, as though God were rejecting them. But look at what Paul says:

The condemnation of unbelief is self-inflicted, refusing His blessings you will not be blessed, but cursed. This is why Paul warns the Gentiles to “continue in God’s kindness.” Moreover, it’s worth mentioning that the people of Israel were “cut off” as a nation BEFORE they ever believed in Christ, not after they believed in Christ. As a nation, and not as individuals, they rejected grace by faith without works because the people of Israel were very focused on the Law and righteousness by works. Here is the wrong way to interpret the severity passage: “I need to work hard for God and keep 100% of His commands to avoid getting cut off.” That’s what the Jews thought, and it led to their downfall. By betting on their performance, they rejected God’s grace.

Third, the “cutting off” of the people of Israel is temporary, not eternal. It refers to temporary blindness toward the Gospel as a nation. What does that mean more specifically? It means God intentionally reduced His activity of revealing the Gospel to a nation “en masse” because of their unbelief. In other words, He did not do something purposeful against them to punish them, but temporarily withdrew His enlightenment toward the Gospel because most Jews rejected God’s offer of grace through faith. That does not mean individual Jews cannot be saved. Similarly, the fact that the Gentiles have favor does not mean all Gentile individuals receive Christ. Sometimes, God reduces His enlightenment activity in nations where most individuals reject Him, and redirects His efforts to more cooperating nations. This is why Paul commends the Gentiles and exhorts them to continue in God’s goodness. Romans 11 is a warning for those who, like the Jews, stubbornly refuse the grace and goodness of God. They disconnect themselves from the source of blessing and salvation.

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 (Holding Fast)

To many people, this passage seems to show God gives salvation, so that He can take it away afterwards. A simple reading implies the fact that the Gospel saved us but does not continue to save us unless we hold fast to it. Some use this passage to say believers can lose their salvation. Others say that it shows that those wh...

Another even stronger biblical text along the same lines is the following one from Matthew 6:14–15:

The objection brought by some believers based on these two passages is that if you, as a child of God, fail to forgive others as you have been forgiven, your original sin debt will be reinstated, and you will lose your eternal salvation. At first glance, these passages seem to tell us God’s forgiveness, our salvation, is conditional upon how much we forgive others, and if we don’t do that, God will reinstate our sins, even after we have been forgiven initially.

We must note that what Matthew 18:21–35 conveys is in the context of the Jewish Law. At that point in time, when Jesus gave the parable, He had not died yet on the cross and nobody from His audience was yet born again. Because of this, we need to realize that Jesus, during His life before the cross, made the transition from the Law of Moses to the Gospel. Most of the things He said were in the context of the Old Covenant because that is what His audience was familiar with, while a few things were looking forward and speaking about the future New Covenant. The conditional nature of His saying in this parable sounds very much like the Law of Moses. Jesus, throughout His ministry on earth, took the Law of Moses and raised it to the strictest of standards. He talked about its spirit, about intentions, and motivations of the heart, not just outward works. By showing the extremes of the Law, Jesus was preparing them for what was coming: the New Covenant of the grace of God through Christ. Jesus used the apostle Paul to teach that grace to the Gentiles. The sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–6) amplifies the Law of Moses, and this parable is along the same lines. So, it doesn’t say God can revoke salvation for those who are saved and whose sins were forgiven through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That would go against the many scriptures that show we are secure in Christ from the moment of our salvation. That would even contradict many of the words of Jesus Himself. Let’s take a closer look at this parable.

First, Jesus is not saying anything about those unforgiving people being thrown into hell. Second, the way the servant asks the king for mercy and the request to give him more time to pay back the debt shows this individual doesn’t grasp the reality of the situation. He thinks he can pay back the debt of sin through self-effort, but no one can do that. Only Christ accomplished this payment for people’s sins on the cross. Third, notice that nobody paid for the servant’s debt in this parable, but it was forgiven, meaning his debt was overlooked. As a child of God, you need to understand you are not just forgiven, but you are justified as well! When a husband and wife argue, they might often bring up things from the past. While the husband may have forgiven his wife (or the other way around), the moment he brings back into discussion the conflict from the past, he proves he hasn’t justified her. God is entirely different. He says, “I remember your sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Justification means you never sinned, and you will never be blamed for sin. You are unblameable and this is a fundamental theological concept.

God didn’t only forgive you in the sense of overlooking your sins,  He didn’t only provide an atonement or a covering for your sins. These are Old Covenant concepts. Someone paid with innocent blood for your sins and for the whole world’s sins. Hebrews 10 says, “Jesus took away your sins” once and for all. Forgiveness means overlooking the mistakes without making any payment for them and God forgave us only in the sense that we were not the ones who made the payment for sins. However, we were justified, which is beyond forgiveness, because sin was also paid for in full, not just overlooked by God.

All our sins have been taken away by Christ. That is why before the cross, we had to forgive before we were forgiven but after His work, we are first and foremost forgiven completely and permanently. Yes, we should still forgive, but not as a condition of salvation.

Believers in Christ are no longer under the Law of Moses, and neither salvation is under the condition of obedience.

Unforgiveness is a sin like any other. The apostle Paul writes the following words about forgiveness:

This passage is often used to teach that Christians can lose their salvation. It’s easy to see why they would think that way, especially when you look at verses 2 and 6: “Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away”; “anyone who doesn’t abide in Me, he is thrown into the fire, and burned.” In particular, the phrase “in Me,” which is used twice, apparently suggests a loss of salvation. The branches that don’t bear fruit—the signs of salvation—are gathered and “thrown into the fire,” a clear symbol of eternal judgment. The question is though, since these hell-bound branches were initially “in” Jesus, does that mean they represented true believers who lost their salvation? Is being “in” the vine in this parable the same thing with being saved? I would suggest the answer is no and I feel this is the correct conclusion for a few reasons. First, the Greek word translated into the verb “takes away” in Verse 2 is airo, which actually means “to lift from the ground” or “to lift with a view of carrying.” The Passion Translation (TPT) of the Bible seems to provide a more accurate rendering of that word in the first two verses of John 15:

The same Greek word airo is used in John 5:8 for the verb “take up” when Jesus tells the lame man from the pool of Bethesda to take up his bed and walk. Then, in Matthew 16:24, when Jesus says, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” the airo is used for the verb “take up” again. As a matter of fact, every other instance of this Gr. word airo in the New Testament is translated as “lift up” or “take up” except in John 15:2, where it is interpreted as “cut off” or “remove,” and I have an explanation for why. The theological “lenses” of the translators really matters. All of us wear certain “lenses” of interpretation when we read the Scripture, whether we are aware of it or not. I hear sometimes believers saying, “I only obey what the Word says” when in fact they obey whatever they think the Word says most of the times. And what they say the Word says is filtered through the “glasses” they use. Blessed are those who know what kind of glasses they use! So, I believe the translators chose to render airo as “cut off” or “take away” because of their theological understanding, but it should have been translated as “lift up.” Why? Because the vine is a creeper or a crawling plant. You often see a vinedresser picking up the branches from the ground and tying them up with strings to the pillars of the vine. If the branches sit on the ground in the dust, they don’t bear fruit. In this passage, Jesus is saying the Father lifts up every fruitless branch to help it bear fruit. He is not waiting for a given opportunity to cut people off, but to make them bear fruit. That is the Father’s job. Jesus is the vine and the Father God is the vinedresser Who is making sure we bear fruit.

Furthermore, Verse 2 of this passage says God, the Father, prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. When God prunes, He always does it with the purpose of life in mind. Even His so-called discipline is life-giving. Jesus seems to have understood our potential and capacity to misinterpret scripture here. So, immediately in the next verse He tells us what He uses to prune. “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). The Greek word for “to prune” or “to clean or cleanse” is the same: kataros. The instrument God uses to prune us is His Word and not a cancer or a life-changing car accident in which you lose one of your limbs. Moreover, the dust talks about serpent mentality. In the garden of Eden, God cursed the serpent, saying: “From now on, dust shall be your food.” Whenever the branch is in the dust, it does not bear fruit. Whenever we feed with what the serpent feeds itself, when the serpent’s food becomes the atmosphere of our living, we do not bear fruit. If we keep feeding on the lies of the enemy, we will not bear fruit. That is why God lifts us up and cleanses us by His Word—to bear fruit. Just because a couple has a legal marriage certificate does not necessarily mean they have a great marriage. The certificate validates the union, but life in the union is purely relational. A certificate does not give birth to babies. It is not the legal union that brings fruit, but the relational intimate union. Likewise, in our walk with Christ, it is our relational intimate union with Him that brings fruit and life.

The second reason I believe John 15 is not a passage about the possibility of believers losing their salvation is because metaphors are only meant to go so far. Jesus here is speaking in a parable. He uses an illustration to make a point. As with any picture or parable, one can take it too far. In His wisdom, Jesus uses an everyday image—especially for ancient Easterners—to make a spiritual point, that is, our continual spiritual fruition and growth here on earth. The picture of vines, branches, and gardening was a reference the commoner could understand. The whole thrust of John 15 is to prove Jesus is the source of all spiritual life. This is clear since the punch line is that bearing fruit comes only from staying in Jesus. Just as a branch separated from the vine will wither and die, so will people who are separated from Christ. In this context of fruitfulness, separation from the vine or Christ, as well as withering or death does not refer to being without God and unsaved, but to having certain parts of the whole body of truth, which is fully revealed in Scripture, “turned off” in our lives about what Christ has accomplished for us, what we have a right to, who we really are in Christ, and what our lives should look like. And this may be due to lack of knowledge, revelation and understanding because of wrong teachings or due to failure to keep the faith fresh and stro...

The most common interpretation of this parable is that those ten virgins represent born-again believers belonging to the Kingdom of God who were all saved at one time. Then some of them lost their salvation due to their lack of watchfulness in morality and good works.

Let’s analyze first what we know for sure about this parable. First, the parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven, about a bridegroom who is king Jesus, and about ten virgins who represent the visible church of Christ. Second, the action in this parable occurs between the first and second coming of Jesus. Third, the harshness of the bridegroom’s answer in Verse 12—“I don’t know you” or “I never knew you”—makes very clear this parable is about an eternal matter of life and death, respectively the matter of eternal salvation into the Kingdom of God or of eternal damnation. Fourth, it’s also obvious that when the bridegroom came, alluding to the second coming of Jesus, some of those virgins, representing some Christians, participated in the wedding of the Lamb. That means they entered heaven while the rest were rejected and went to hell. Only three things are left to elucidate: (1) First, what do the oil in the lamps and the extra oil in the jars represent? (2) Second, were the people rejected genuinely born again in the first place or not? (3) Third, what does watchfulness mean?

The oil in the Old Testament was used to anoint kings and priests. It was a picture of anointing to work for God:

In the New Testament, believers are anointed with the Holy Spirit, as we see in these passages:

Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and believers are also anointed with the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. 1 John 2:27 says the anointing the believers received from Him abides in them and teaches them all things. According to John 14:16, 14:26, and 16:13, the Holy Spirit is the Helper given to believers to be with them forever, teach them all things, and lead them into all truth. So, the oil in the parable of the virgins is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The light of the lamps represents good works, morality, fruits of the Spirit, or different divine acts of the Spirit like healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead.

Now, what is the difference between the oil already in the lamps and the oil in the extra jars? On one hand, based on John 14:16 and 1 John 2:27, we know once the Holy Spirit comes into believers, He abides in them forever. He no longer comes and leaves like He used to do in the Old Testament with the people of God. Moreover, Ephesians 1:13–14 strengthens this eternal presence of the Holy Spirit in believers by asserting that He is a seal of salvation, a guarantee of believers’ inheritance until they acquire full possession of it:

The Greek word translated as “guarantee” in this passage (gr. arrabon) is a legal and commercial term that means first installment, deposit, down payment, or pledge. It represents a payment that obligates the contracting party to make further payments. When God gave believers the Holy Spirit, He committed Himself to give them all the consequent blessings of eternal life, as well as a great reward in heaven with Him. So, the five virgins for whom lamps ceased to burn cannot represent genuinely born-again believers who once had the Holy Spirit in them as a seal and then lost Him.

On the other hand, a closer look into Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, will reveal that the Holy Spirit can come over people just for a while, for them to fulfill some divine tasks or even to do good works. However, it is not necessary for the Holy Spirit to remain inside them in a saving way. In other words, the Holy Spirit comes upon them, but not in them. A few examples from the ...

The first two verses of the above text state that in the last times some people will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, not realizing it of course, and out of hypocrisy they will speak lies, their conscience being marked with a hot iron. Many Christians believe that the apostasy in these verses refers to the loss of eternal salvation, because they interpret deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons as immoral sins that will eventually cause some genuine Christians to lose their salvation. However, I invite you to take things one at a time and see first what these wrong teachings consist of and then who are those “some” who will fall away from the faith, what kind of faith they are referring to, and what this distancing means.

Verses 3 and 4 describe some of the things and doctrines these people promote, namely: the prohibition of marriage and abstinence from certain foods. The things related here are not immoral sins and carnal pleasures in which people usually like to indulge in, but rather “other apparently good ways” and ascetic ways of attaining righteousness. They are teachings and doctrines, but not sins.

These teachings are clothed in an appearance of holiness which makes them very subtle and deceptive. Judging by their nature, it seems that those who propagated them were trying to be holy by works instead of faith. They believed that holiness came from strict adherence to a set of rules. These doctrines seem to resemble very much the Law of Moses and to be Jewish in nature. Who can these people be? Since the passage speaks of a falling away from faith it means that those people had contact at some point with the pure teaching of salvation by faith alone in Christ. They were either so convinced that they were also born again, or they only joined the church for a while, but they could not fully renounce the Law of Moses and were never born again. Paul calls them hypocrites and liars because they preached one thing to others, but they did the exact opposite in their private lives, and their consciences became numb because of their constant living in that lifestyle. They no longer saw the seriousness of the contradiction in their lives from the desire to appear before men as religious and holy. Just as the area where an animal is marked with a hot iron becomes numb and insensitive to pain, so the conscience of these people had become desensitized. Because of this, the apostle Paul describes their conscience as being marked with a hot iron.

It is very possible that those “some” influenced by the teachings of the Jews were even leaders (pastors and teachers) of the church of Christ in Ephesus, since the heresies had to do with doctrines that are usually preached from the front. Moreover, in 1 Timothy 1:7, they are described as wanting to be teachers of the Law. If they were born again, they probably loved God, were eternally saved by grace, but from time to time were “bitten” by the self-righteousness propagated by the followers of the Law of Moses, and focused mainly on their good works in order to please God here on earth, and this was because of a lack of understanding and revelation. They were not yet fully established in Christ and believing the truth in all areas. This does not mean that they had lost their eternal salvation, but that in their daily lives, they relied more on their self-righteousness to attract God’s favor, instead of applying the same simple faith that they had at the moment of salvation. Therefore, their departure from the faith was not an irreversible fall from the faith, but a temporary distancing or limited to only some aspects of their faith life. The same is happening today with many genuine Christians in the body of Christ who slip from time to time into self-righteousness or do not have full faith in the truth in all areas of their lives. Paul did not have in mind here the loss of eternal salvation. Lots of born-again Christians who are still legalistic and self-righteous will still go to heaven because they put their faith in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.

From this passage we can also draw some general principles of faith. For example, the devil’s lie will always result in a works-based salvation. This is appealing because a religion oriented toward good works seems impressive, holy, and righteous for others. We can examine religion by religion and we will see that they are all based on what you do or don’t do. It is believed that thus God is tempered in His demands, or, in other words, good human works temper Him, they appease God. However, all these teachings are satanic and demonically fueled. True Christianity is not based at all on human works, but only on the grace of God. False religions teach that we must work for salvation, but true Christianity teaches that God has done everything in Christ. This is one way to identify falsehoods in teachings. Satan’s lies always refer to the same thing: spirituality achieved through human effort and not based on Christ alone.

Revelation 3:1–5 (The Book of Life)

These verses seem to focus on good works, on the idea of being watchful, not defiling our garments, and overcoming. Verse 5 specifically says that only those who overcome will be clothed in white, their names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life or the book of the saved, and Jesus will confess their names before His Father and before His angels. One of the most common interpretations of this verse in the Christian world is that some born-again people will not be watchful enough, will not overcome, and eventually their names will be blotted out of t...

Some preachers use this passage to threaten Christians that, if they habitually practice the works of the flesh described in the text, they can lose their salvation at any time without knowing. First, as we demonstrated in the previous section, inheriting the Kingdom is tantamount to being saved. Second, Paul doesn’t say that those people who practice fleshly works will be disinherited from a state of heirs, but that they will not inherit anything in the first place. Third, he doesn’t specify a clear timeline or a number of times after which those who practice the works of the flesh will lose their salvation.

Fourth, if we look carefully at the context (a few verses before and a few verses after our passage), we can quickly discover that the apostle Paul is portraying a stark contrast between the flesh and the Spirit and between the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16–17). He merely puts them side by side for comparison and godly instruction to believers. After enumerating all the works of the flesh, he begins Verse 22 with the preposition “BUT,” which commences the enumeration of the fruits of the Spirit. He concludes in Verse 24 that those who are Christ’s (who are different from those who practice the works of the flesh and will not inherit the Kingdom) have already crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. So, he encourages believers to live according to the truth about their already changed nature. In fact, in Verse 25, he says this: if you are in the Spirit, live in Him, and belong to God, then also walk, and behave in the Spirit or according to Him. The theme is clearly the renewal of the minds of believers in Christ and not their loss of salvation.

Ephesians 5:5–6 (The Sons of Disobedience Part 1)

This text, which is often used as an objection to eternal salvation, is very similar to two other scriptures from previous sections with a new addition: “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” The implication is that believers in Christ, who are sons of God and disobey Him by doing any of the shameful things enumerated, will come under the wrath of God after a certain point. However, what kind of disobedience is Paul talking about here? It’s disobedience of faith, not disobedience to the Law. He also says in Romans 1:5 that through Jesus, we received the grace and apostleship to bring about “the obedience of faith” among all nations. Sons of obedience are those who put their faith in Christ while the sons of disobedience are those without Christ.

Again, here the main argument to this objection is that the apostle Paul describes the behavior of those who will never inherit the Kingdom of God and are under His wrath with the purpose of teaching believers how not to live. He begins in Ephesians 4:17 by saying, “you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk,” and he continues with this contrast throughout Chapters 4 and 5. In Ephesians 5:1, Paul encourages believers in the church of Ephesus to become imitators of God, as beloved children, and in Verse 7 of the same chapter, he instructs them not to be partakers with the sons of disobedience. In Verse 8, Paul clarifies even more that they were once darkness, but now they are light in the Lord, so they should walk according to that light from inside of them. So, they are not those who will be disinherited if they persist long enough in sinful behaviors. The phrase “wrath of God” is meant to emphasize the gravity of sin. Although Jesus Christ has removed all sin and condemnation at the time of salvation, that doesn’t mean God became softer on sin and we can be relaxed about it. We should strive to differentiate ourselves from darkness and live according to the Kingdom standards we inherited.

Colossians 3:5–11 (The Sons of Disobedience Part 2)

This passage is identical to Ephesians 5:5–6, which we already explained. Still, I wanted to include it separately for repetition and to cover all possible objections people might bring to the eternal salvation of the new creation. Based on the context of the passage, we can quickly notice again the contrast Paul clearly makes between the unsaved (the sons of disobedience) and the saved who might still do sinful things. That is precisely the reason for such a comparison because Christians usually still do sinful things in the process of mind renewal and sanctification. Verse 5 begins with the preposition “therefore,” which introduces the result of what has already happened. Because you died with Christ (Colossians 3:3) and were raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1), therefore put to death the earthly things like fornication, uncleanness, evil desires, etc. Verse 7 continues in the past tense: “in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.” Finally, Verse 8 says, BUT NOW, put aside all these things: anger, wrath, malice, etc.

So, Paul doesn’t ...

Hebrews 3:12–14 (Falling Away from God)

Some Christians interpret “falls away from the living God” in this passage as the loss of salvation. However, here we have the same explanation as before. Falling away from God or departing from the living God means beginning to profess faith in Christ but still leaning back to the old system of the Law that God has abolished and not believing fully in Christ (i.e., having an evil heart of unbelief). The “deceitfulness of sin” referred to here is the deceit of the sin of unbelief in Christ. That is the context. The following verse talks about holding fast the beginning of our assurance in Christ and not sliding back into unbelief. Also notice that in Verse 14, holding fast to the beginning of your assurance, firm until the end, is not a condition to remain in a relationship with Christ, but a result of having already become a partaker of Him. The verse doesn’t say you remain this way as long as you hold fast, but it says you know those who really have become partakers of Christ (past tense) by seeing them hold firm to their conviction of salvation until the end. The same idea is expressed in Hebrews 3:5–6:

Some preachers render from this passage that believers remain the house of God as long as they hold fast and firm to the end the confidence and the rejoicing in hope. However, the verse doesn’t say that. It instead says believers already are the house of God, and the proof lies in the fact that they will hold fast the confidence to the end as a result of their faith. In other words, you know your house is connected to the electric grid if the lights stay on. You don’t keep the lights on to make sure you remain connected to the power grid.

Hebrews 12:14 (The Pursuit of Sanctification)

Many Christians take Hebrews 12:14 out of context and conclude that genuine born-again believers need to pursue practical sanctification (i.e., performing good works and omitting evil deeds) while they live on earth, to maintain their salvation. Otherwise, they will not get to see the Lord, meaning they can lose their salvation any moment. I admit this is a difficult verse to interpret in the right way by itself or isolated from its context, and I will explain why is so.

The sanctification referred to in Hebrews 12:14 can be only one of two types. The first type is behavioral and practical sanctification at the level of body and soul. This is progressive and consists of a process of transformation that begins after the new birth and can last a lifetime. The second type is the sanctification or righteousness given by Jesus at the time of being born again at the spirit level. This is no longer progressive but given once and for all. It is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:11 where Paul tells the Corinthians in the past tense that they were sanctified. As a general rule, there is much confusion in the Christian community about the work already finished in us and about what is still in the process of completion, precisely because the authors of the books of the Bible alternate the discourse of the body and soul with that of the spirit without announcing the audience. And then it falls on to us and to the Holy Spirit to make this distinction, which is not always simple. But if we have a sincere heart and desire to get to the root of pure truth, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will succeed.

Let’s suppose Hebrews 12:14 refers to the progressive sanctification of behavior. Seeking such sanctification is a good and desirable thing and it is a process in which we must be constantly involved as Christians, because God is holy and we know that He very much wants us to be holy in our conduct as well, as the apostle Peter mentions in 1 Peter 1:15–16. The fact that the text exhorts us to pursue this sanctification may be an indication that here it is not about justification received only once at the time of salvation. And if the verse had stopped there, perhaps this would have been the best interpretation that would have instilled in us an even greater desire to sanctify ourselves. But when the verse ends with the fact that no one will see the Lord without this sanctification, there can no longer be a question of practical sanctification. Why? Because God is perfect and He only demands perfection, according to Matthew 5:48. He doesn’t accept half measures or progressive quests. Are we ever perfect, after salvation, in all our conduct? Of course not. This means that progressive sanctification, which is always imperfect, cannot be a factor in determining whether we see the face of God or not. In this situation, no one will even see His face. I can guarantee it. With God, it is not as if there is a threshold of holiness that only He knows in His mind and keeps it secret, which may be 60% or 90%, and if your effort exceeds that threshold, you will succeed in seeing His face, otherwise, you won’t. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far, practically too many Christians believe this without, perhaps, even being aware of it. Generally, the conclusion the audience is left with, after a sermon on

Principles of Interpretation

Whenever we approach a biblical passage that apparently contradicts believers’ eternal security of salvation, we can utilize several principles or tools to help us understand the correct and intended meaning of that text. First, we need to look at the historical and cultural context of the book to which the passage belongs and search for answers to questions like the following: Who is the author of the book? In what period was the book written? What is the theme of the book? To whom was it addressed? What issues of the day was the author trying to address? What was the author’s tone and the atmosphere created by him? When doing this research, we might find important clues about the interpretation of our initial text. Second, we need to read the passage in its immediate context, meaning a few verses before it and a few verses after it, to see what the author was really talking about. Third, it is recommended to read the same passage in multiple translations of the Bible and in different languages, if it’s possible, like English and Greek. Some languages are much richer in words and meanings than others. The Greek language is one of the most comprehensive and richest on earth. That is probably why God ordained things so that the New Testament was written during a period when Greek was prevalent. For instance, the Greek language has six different words for “love,” three different words for “knowledge,” and three different words for “wisdom.” Moreover, the word “salvation” comes from the Greek word soteria, translated as restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health, and well-being as well as rescue, deliverance, and preservation from danger or destruction. However, as Christians, when we read the word “salvation” in the Bible in our native language, we think it refers only to salvation from hell and from the lake of fire. If we read these difficult passages in only one translation of the Bible and in only our native language, we can miss much of the text’s initial intended meaning.

The fourth key to an authentic interpretation of complex texts on the security of salvation is to understand that salvation is a holistic and complete package, including salvation from hell, as well as physical health, material prosperity, and deliverance from sinful habits and addictions here on earth. Along the same lines, the fifth principle is that salvation includes our spirit, as well as our soul, and body. The salvation of the spirit is instant and eternal, while the salvation of the soul and body is progressive and happening here on earth. Sometimes, even as Christians, we might forfeit our lives here on earth earlier than God had planned and not reap the full benefits of the Gospel, primarily because of a lack of knowledge and understanding. We might even have periods of backsliding or apostasy. However, that does not mean we also forfeit our eternal salvation.

The sixth principle of interpretation is that salvation includes two parts: a minor part and a significant part. The secondary part has to do with atonement for our past sins, which grants us eternal entrance into the Kingdom and escape from hell, while the significant part has to do with the New Covenant of blessings, holiness, peace, joy, health, and prosperity here on earth. The salvation Jesus Christ brought was not a salvation from hell primarily, but a salvation from sin and all the effects that entered the world with it. Salvation from hell is a by-product of salvation from sin. For example, let’s look at the journey of the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. Their coming out of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea is a symbol of our escape from sin and hell, of being born again and baptized in water. However, we all know that was not God’s primary purpose—just to get them out of slavery, help them cross the Red Sea, and then let them live on their own in the desert.

 Deuteronomy 6:22–23 says God brought them OUT of Egypt to take them INTO the promised land of Canaan. Getting them out of Egypt was only a secondary and necessary step for God to take them into the promised land. Many Christians think the promised land for us believers is heaven after physical death, but that is not so. Why? Because in heaven there will no longer be giants with whom to fight the fight of faith, like the giants the Israelites fought in Canaan. The giants of disease, poverty, curse, demonic influences, sinful habits, and addictions are here on earth, not in heaven. Canaan is the supernatural manifestation of the freedom of the New Covenant here on earth. Unfortunately, many believers think only of getting into heaven and escaping hell, and these are already granted to them anyway. They die in the “wilderness” without ever getting to live in the Canaan of the Gospel here on earth. We are called to heal the sick, cast out evil spirits, and raise the dead (Matthew 10:8). How many of these benefits of the Gospel happen regularly in Christian churches? They are almost nonexistent. However, we worry about hell! Why do so many believers still indulge in the world’s sinful pleasures? Because, like the people of Israel in the desert, if they haven’t tasted Canaan yet, they will always think back to Egypt’s “meat and garlic” when they were in bondage. Many Christians received Jesus just to have their sins blotted out. They crossed the Red Sea spiritually and then stopped there, waiting to die physically and go to heaven. And that’s why they tend to desire “Egypt” so much. Moreover, the people of Israel who died in the desert and never reached Canaan because of their unbelief were punished by God in different ways—primarily by physical death—but He never sent them back to Egypt.

The seventh and last principle that will help us interpret difficult passages is that “contending for the faith,” “continuing in faith,” “watching in faith,” or “doing good works” are all effects of genuine salvation and not conditions of maintaining salvation. Otherwise, salvation would not be by faith alone anymore, and we would have works to boast of before God.

Hebrews 6:4–6 (Renewal Impossibility)

Perfect World versus Fallen World

Let’s see another proof of the security of salvation. Lucifer himself and the first Adam fell away into sin in a perfect world and from a position of perfect holiness. Even more so, in a world full of evil, temptations, and of all the appetites and bad habits working against you as a believer, the probability of you falling from salvation is a million to one unless God keeps you and maintains your salvation intact by the power of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:7–9 that not ourselves, but our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who will sustain us guiltless to the end because God is faithful:

Then, Jude says those who are called are sanctified by God the Father and preserved by Him in Jesus Christ:

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 conveys the same idea that the God of peace will Himself sanctify us and preserve us blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ because He who called us is faithful, and He is the One who will also do it:

Finally, Jude says God is able to keep us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of His glory:

The Everlasting Covenant

Let’s read a compelling passage from Jeremiah 32:37–40 about the New Covenant and its effects on the believer:

In this passage, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel specifically, but about the New Covenant in Christ extended later to the Gentiles as well. In Verse 37, God tells the people of Israel something pertaining only to them as a nation, namely that one day He will gather them out of all countries and bring them back to Jerusalem. But then, from Verse 38 to Verse 40, God begins to tell them things about the New Covenant that apply to all believers in Christ today. How do we know that? First, God promises them they shall be His people. This is a recurring theme in both the Old and New Testaments. God has always been looking for a chosen race and a Kingdom of priests that will be His temple to dwell in. We see in Exodus 19:5–6 a promise to the people of Israel that if they obey the Law, they will be that people:

Then, in the New Testament, in 1 Peter 2:9, after the Crucifixion of Jesus, God tells all people who are in Christ (both Jews and Gentiles), in the present tense, that they are that chosen generation, His own special people, because Christ has fulfilled all the Law and conditions:

The second proof that the text from Jeremiah applies to the new creation is the promise of God that He will give this people one heart, a new heart, and one way, that they may fear Him forever. Who is the way, the only way to God? Jesus Christ. He says this in John 14:6:

Now, after we have established that Jeremiah 32:38–40 applies to believers in Christ, let’s notice what God says about that New Covenant, respectively about salvation. First, in Verse 39, God says He will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Him FOREVER. In other words, this new heart guarantees that they, by their own free choice, will fear God FOREVER, not just temporarily. Second, in Verse 40, God says He will make with these believers an EVERLASTING COVENANT. A covenant between two parties ends only when one of the parties dies. We know God never dies, but we also know believers can never die either since they have eternal life in their new spirits at the time of salvation. Moreover, an EVERLASTING covenant means that covenant will NEVER end, suggesting believers, even by their free choice, will never want to come out of that covenant. Third, in the second...

Am I still saved? Was I ever saved in the first place? Have you ever had these kinds of questions come to your mind as a born-again believer? I know I had them eating away at me many times, although I thought I was a genuine believer in Christ, born again, baptized in water, and saved. Why? Because I was still sinning as a Christian and sometimes repeatedly in the same area. When that happened, I was feeling ashamed and sorry, and I was wondering: “Will I ever see any real progress in holiness in my Christian life so that I don’t have to worry or be afraid of losing my salvation? Will I ever overcome, completely and permanently, sinful behaviors that keep reoccurring again and again, although I have confessed them and decided to change so many times?” I didn’t know what to do because I wanted so much to be pleasing to the Lord, but I felt hopeless. My conscience kept weighing me down with condemnation for years until I began to fear the accumulation of these sins had undone or would undo my eternal salvation somewhere in the near future, although I confessed them and I was genuinely sorry. I used to ask myself: “How much will God bear with me until He gives up on me completely?” Whenever I boarded a plane, I would cry before God and make sure I confessed all my sins, so I would not be eternally lost if the plane crashed. With these questions constantly bothering me, I became disheartened in my Christian walk. Instead of rejoicing in my salvation, loving God more and more, and pursuing Him with an unburdened heart, I was always feeling unworthy, even when I may not have had a specific sin in mind. I was finding it difficult to pray or read the Bible at times. Even more problematic was the fact that I was regularly involved in public ministry in the church. I was leading worship every week, preaching the Word, and praying for people. Slowly, I lost all confidence in ministering to God and people. I became so self-focused I lost sight of Christ and all He has done for me. Despite my best efforts and good intentions, I kept sinning. My unresolved sins continued to pile up, burdening my conscience and making me feel spiritually hopeless and paralyzed. I began to think I could never live a holy life and I would always be in condemnation, guilt, and depression. Mind you, I wasn’t living in grave sins like adultery, drugs, drinking, smoking, stealing, or lying. I was a pastor’s kid, born and raised in a Christian family. But I still had some issues I had to deal with. One day after the church meeting, I seriously decided to give up on following the Lord because I was tired of fighting and pretending I was well. I was also convinced my Christian life had suffered irreparable damage and I was already lost. So, I thought to myself: “What’s the use? I’ve already lost my salvation. Why try anymore?” If you’ve ever experienced something similar, this teaching series is for you. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit had mercy on me and didn’t leave me there. He slowly began revealing to me deeper truths about what really happened at the cross and about salvation.

Can true believers, who are born again and justified by faith in Christ, ever lose their salvation by sinning? I soon realized this question has been a source of controversy for a long time among Christians. This is indeed an issue of considerable importance in practical Christian living. On one hand, if there is no guarantee that salvation is permanent, believers may experience a great deal of anxiety and insecurity like I did, undermining the effectiveness and the power of the Gospel in their Christian lives. On the other hand, if salvation is secure and believers are preserved saved independently of their lives and actions, the result might be lassitude or indifference to the moral and spiritual demands of the Gospel, something called libertinism. Therefore, clarifying and establishing the scriptural teaching concerning the security of the believer is essential for a victorious life.

There have been two predominant perspectives to this controversy on eternal security: one in which our perseverance in faith and sanctification conditions the keeping of salvation, and the other in which salvation is secured by God eternally, independent of our sanctification. In this teaching series, I will advocate that genuine salvation is preserved by God forever, with sanctification a result of this salvation and not a condition to maintain it. I will accomplish this by first unfolding the biblical proofs according to which genuine believers in Christ can never lose their salvation. Then I will tackle the most common biblical objections to the eternal security of salvation for true born-again believers and attempt to answer them.

This teaching series describes another application or implication (besides confession of sins and the Lord’s Supper) of the reality that believers have become free of condemnation forever, and their future sins have been eradicated as well.

A Free and Irrevocable Gift

Let’s read two passages that illustrate the very nature of salvation and eternal life:

The first proof that you, as a born-again believer, can never lose your salvation is the fact that salvation and eternal life are free gifts from God. Even the expression “free gift” is a pleonasm because any gift is free by the very definition of the word “gift,” but I used it to make sure we understand it’s free. A gift means no strings attached, no conditions, no work, or good deeds needed to earn or keep it. Knowing this gift doesn’t come from a human being but from Almighty God, who is ever faithful and reliable, never changing, and gives only good and perfect gifts to people (James 1:17), gives us even more confidence and trust.

Moreover, eternal justification of your sins is received by faith alone and independent of the works of the Law. That means you did not receive your salvation based on your good works, it is not maintained by your good works done after the time of salvation, and it is not lost by your evil works. What are the works of the Law? They are good and holy deeds done for the Lord, but they are done through human effort and with the wrong purpose of keeping yourself right with God and be pleasing to Him. Since your salvation is independent of your works, it is secure and eternal. Romans 3:28 shows this clearly:

Salvation is also an irrevocable gift. How do we know that? The very nature of God illustrated in Romans 11:29 reveals to us this fact:

Although the context of this ve...

God promises Abraham 700 years in advance that the people of his seed will go through slavery in Egypt, but then will be brought out and taken to the promised land. And then God sends Moses to the people in captivity to bring them this good news, to preach the gospel to them about a promised land flowing with milk and honey into which they will go and enter. They will live in houses they did not build and eat from vines they did not plant. Great news! It sounded too good to be true.

What happened? They came out of Egypt’s captivity and in how many days did they reach Kadesh-Barnea? In 11 days (Deuteronomy 1:2). After 400 years of slavery, God wanted them in the promised land in 11 days. So, these spies go and inspect the land and then they come back and rebel against God saying they will not enter the land. And here in Hebrews 3, God says that “your parents tested me for 40 years. I did not test them, but they tested Me. For 40 years I tried to get these people to a country where they didn’t have to work hard for a living, but they didn’t want to come in.” And then God says that “I have sworn that they shall not enter into My rest.” Interesting! He did not say “you shall not enter Canaan, but you shall not enter My rest.”

Then the passage says that Joshua led the people into the land of Canaan in the end. But if this land was God’s rest (v. 4:8), then why would God have spoken to David later in Psalms 95:7-8 about another day, that is today, in which we should not harden our hearts? Therefore it is and still remains a rest for God’s people, that is, for us who are born again, into which we are invited to enter.

I think we know a lot about faith, how it comes, how it works, what faith does, how faith catapults you into God’s power, how faith leads you into God’s promises, and how you need faith to receive all that God has given you. But before faith does all these things in your life, before faith produces results in your life, there is one thing that faith will do first: faith will first lead you into God’s rest.

What Is God’s Rest?
God’s rest is a place, a dimension, or a realm that we enter.

On the seventh day we see God creating a realm of rest into which He also invites man after creating him at the end of the sixth day. In the Garden of Eden was God’s rest and man had work, but it was not hard sweaty work. Everything he did or worked, he did from a place and a realm of rest.

In God’s Sabbath, in God’s rest, work and marriage were not done out of or under pressure, but out of pleasure. When man sinned, he destroyed that day of rest, or rather, stepped out of it. The realm of rest remained intact, but man came out of it and entered into hard work. Married life has become work. Why? Because they were no longer in that place ...

In the past, God spoke through prophets to the fathers of the people of Israel, but now in these last times from the birth of Jesus onward, He has spoken to us through His Son. Matthew 5:17 tells us that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the prophets (that is, all the prophecies of the Old Testament), and Luke 16:16 tells us that the Law and the prophets continued until John.

So, we will have to re-evaluate the so-called references to the end times that we find in the books of the prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel because they cannot be referring to the end times since they were all fulfilled in Jesus. The prophets spoke to the people of Israel about Jesus and His first coming, not about the end times and the second coming of Jesus.

Jesus is the last revelation, and the Law, the prophets, and all the Old Testament must be interpreted through the lens of Jesus because He is the imprint of the Father’s person. The Law and all the apparent severity of God in the Old Testament must be seen within the nature of the person of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all the Law and yet His message was one of “extravagant” love and restoration. For example, when He was confronted by the Pharisees with the woman caught in adultery, according to the Law she had to be stoned to death, but Jesus, because of His love, found a way to save her from death without breaking the Law. Then Adam and Eve could have been left to die eternally after eating from the forbidden tree because that’s just what God said would happen. But God, because of His infinite love, found a way (although it was a very costly way) to save mankind from eternal death without breaking His own Word. Moreover, the fact that little children were drawn to Jesus and loved to be in His presence speaks volumes about the kind of person Jesus was, Who represented the very nature of the Father Himself. Children intuitively sense when a person is full of love toward them.

When did Jesus usually get angry or upset during His life? Only when He came in contact with the Pharisees and Sadducees, those who preached a God harsh with sin, those who always preached sin and sanctification. This does not mean that Jesus downplayed the seriousness of sin and the need for sanctification, but He simply prioritized love for the person and their restoration instead of punishment.

When we want to discuss something more delicate with a person (especially correction), don’t we prefer to talk face to face rather than in writing? Why? Because we want that person to feel from our voice the attitude with which we say those words, the emotions emanating, etc. In writing, the person can interpret what I said according to their state of mind at the time and through analogies with other, usually negative, experiences they had in the past. In writing, the person reading may have all sorts of unfounded suspicions, doubts, or preconceptions. In the same way, God first sent the Law in writing to His chosen people. Through it, the people of Israel developed in their minds and hearts an image of God as a harsh and strict God in relation to humankind. But then God sent His Son, Jesus, to correct the distorted view people had of God because of the Law of Moses. But most people have never corrected it or find it very difficult to do so.

Usually, we as humans are quick to forget the good things that happen to us and what God has done and is doing for us. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they used to quickly forget all that God had done for them when they were dealing with God’s discipline. We also tend to focus on God’s curses in Deuteronomy chapter 28 for example, but we don’t see God’s blessing in the same chapter. We get fixated on God’s so-called harshness and lose sight of His goodness and love. Have you ever thought that maybe God had no right to step in and remove the curses? From the way He loves people that He gave absolutely everything for them, I believe that if He could, He would have never included any curse on man. He was not the One who cursed, but automatically if the people did not choose life, they came out from under His protection.

The natural human tendency is always towards Law, harshness,  and asceticism because of man’s need to do something to be righteous. There is an almost irresistible attraction to self-righteousness. But we will never be in the wrong if we “exaggerate” in the direction of love, acceptance, and restoration when it comes to people as persons and not necessarily to their way of living which can be more or less divine.

Many Christians seem to fear too much grace. They feel that if they give people too much grace, they will live in sin even more. But it is exactly the opposite. Most Christians don’t realize how hard it really is to live in super-grace, or hyper-grace, if I may say so. You just need to seriously try to see if and how long you can maintain a mental attitude in which you always see yourself loved by God and as being His favorite even when you sin? You won’t be able to because of the conscience that God has put in us to warn us when we are wrong, but which no longer tells us that our sins have already been erased. The conscience and the devil are part of a very loyal and faithful accusing police force, always on duty, especially when you are preparing to do a ministry for God.

A sin repeated for years will not soften your conscience until you feel nothing. If by any chance your conscience no longer feels anything, the devil will take care to fill the void and continue with accusations and condemnation because you are a child of God. We feel good when we are legalistic as if we are taking God’s side, and we think that He will perhaps be more merciful to us and our weaknesses if we preach sin and repentance loudly to others.

Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory (the pinnacle of the Father’s nature) and the imprint of His person. The word “imprint” comes from the Greek charakter which means engraving or carving tool, imprint or print. Everything Jesus said after His baptism in the Jordan was EXACTLY what God the Father meant. Can we say the same about the Old Testament prophets who were not even born again? Not. Perhaps Samuel came the closest to Jesus because none of his words, the Bible says, fell to the ground, but were fulfilled. But Samuel was not exactly God, the Father. Similarly, the prophet Elijah came very close, but then we see him complaining and lament...

There was a king of the Moabites named Balak and the children of Israel had just defeated the Amorites and were on their way to Moab. And the Moabites were afraid. So, Balak, the king of Moab calls Balaam, a man who had contact with the spirit world, to curse Israel. But Balaam could not curse them even though he tried several times and from different places.

What did God speak through the Balaam’s mouth? That God is not like man to ever lie. Sometimes we humans lie, either on purpose to get out of a situation, or by mistake because we thought it was the truth. But God does not lie even by mistake. He doesn’t say, “Hey, I’ve been here for so long that it slipped my mind when I said that.” Not so with God at all.

A very polished way of preaching, but very subtle and false, is this: “No matter what happens, we know that God is faithful.” Please, allow me tell you what is encapsulated in this statement, something that is not explicitly said, but is implicitly intended: “Whether God will do what He has promised or not, He remains faithful.”

All Christians claim that God is faithful until it comes down to something specific where they need proof that it works. As long as it is spoken in general, all agree that the Word of God is true. But when we need something specific from the Word to be fulfilled in our lives, we shy away with statements like: “Well, you can never really know anything for sure.” We say He is faithful because the Bible says so, and there is no way we can be born-again Christians unless we affirm it as the Bible does. But we find out if we really believe that He is faithful when we are faced with something that He has said and has not yet manifested in our lives.

Outside the church, we know exactly what the words mean. But in the church of Christ, it’s as if “the smoke and the glory of God overshadow us to such an extent” that words no longer mean anything. I hope you get the irony. For example, if someone outside the church takes a loan from the bank and, at some point, he stops paying the installments, he will be considered “unfaithful” by the bank, no matter how the economy and situations change. Why? Because that someone promised and signed a loan agreement with the bank that he would return the money regardless of changes in the country’s economy and world’s economy or in his financial situation.

When it comes to God, we think completely differently without realizing it: “Well, God is God, even if He doesn’t do exactly what He said, He is still faithful. He doesn’t have to do everything he said, but He’s still faithful.” And so, we shroud everything in a cloud of ungodly mystery and ambiguity, even demonic I might say. And we bring into the scheme all the pompous theological words to gain more credibility in our unbiblical claims, such as: “Well, God in His sovereignty may have decided to do something different in a certain situation than what He said in the Word.” And then the common people will tend to say: “I don’t really understand anything this man wants to say, but he certainly knows more than I do because he went to the seminary. So, I’ll believe what he says. ”

The Definition of Faithfulness

“God is always faithful” means that He will always do what He said He would do and He has already done what He said He would do.

A simple definition of faithfulness would be this: “When you speak and promise something, you also do it.” God is always true to His Word. Faithfulness is not something like: you say one thing, and then if another idea comes to you, you do something else and still remain faithful. No, that’s a lie. Verse 20 of the passage above says that once God has blessed something or someone, that blessing cannot be reversed. The blessing is irreversible.

God’s Faithfulness in Salvation

God said in Psalms 103:2-3,

Did God say that? Will He do that? Yes, of course.

Has He forgiven all our sins even if we have done some very bad things or are still doing them? Yeah, sure. He has forgiven all our past, present, and future sins. How do we know this? Because He said so. Did He heal all our physical ailments? Yes, of course. How do we know this? Because He just said so in the passage above. But many Christians hold back when it comes to healing.

As long as you don’t have to see something tangible (like for example in the area of ​​forgiveness of sins), God is faithful. But when it comes to something visible (like physical healing), He is no longer faithful. We take no chances, because if nothing happens, then all eyes are on us. We are afraid.

If someone receives Jesus in his heart, we lead him in the prayer of repentance. And if after a week that person comes and tells us: “I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I feel like I’m no longer saved” we probably ask him: “Well, why do you feel that way?” To which the person responds, “I just don’t feel like God has forgiven me.” What do we usually respond as Christians at that time? “Well, I don’t know what to say, maybe He hasn’t forgiven you, who knows?” NO, not at all. But we will tell him: “You don’t have to live by feelings. The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10 that if we make Him Lord, we will be saved. We live by faith and not by sight or feeling. We all have these feelings from time to time, but you don’t have to dwell on them. These feelings must be ignored.”

But what do we do when we get to financial blessing or healing, and we don’t feel healed? Instead of saying: “I don’t go by what I feel, but by what the Word of God says” – we say something like: “I trust God. He knows better what is good for me.” Now we are saying something different from what God said.

In Luke 5:17-26, we see Jesus again as in Psalms 103:2-3, putting the forgiveness of sins on a par with physical healing:

The Three Realms

There are 3 realms in which believers are involved:

1. The physical, visible, and earthly realm (or the first heaven) – world governments, political structures, all systems and cultures belong to this realm.
2. The spiritual, invisible, and demonic realm (or the second heaven) – here we have demonic spiritual authorities that are behind the authority structures, cultures and systems of the earth. They have authority over and influence the physical realm. This does not mean that we have to become super aware of the devil and believe that there is a demon under every rock.
3. The spiritual, invisible, and godly realm (or the third heaven) – here is the throne of God along with all the angels and the angelic hierarchy structures.

The Right Approach to Spiritual Warfare
When talking about spiritual warfare and spiritual authority, many Christians say that we need to know the spiritual principalities we are dealing with and the ranks in the demonic world (demons of lesser power and authority, demons of greater authority, etc.). They say you must know your enemy well before engaging in spiritual warfare. And we all probably have examples of people making strange intercessions for cities involving all kinds of material symbols. These people start their teaching from the premise of “knowing your adversary” and focus heavily on the demonic world. But this is the wrong approach for born-again Christians. Yes, you should know your enemy, but before that, you need to know 3 things:

1. Who you really are in Christ
2. To Whom you belong
3. What you possess or what you have

The true spiritual battle of the believer is fought between the two ears (that is, in the mind), not directly with demonic spiritual forces. Yes, you must know your opponent, but only in relation to those 3 things you must know and assimilate as your normal reality deep in your heart. Any teaching about authority and spiritual warfare must begin with these 3 concepts and their assimilation at the level of the subconscious mind. Let’s read Ephesians 6:12:

Here the apostle Paul speaks in detail about the demonic principalities and hierarchies. But let us notice in which chapter of the book of Ephesians this verse is found. It’s in chapter 6 of the book which is the last chapter of Ephesians. In verse 10 of the same chapter, Paul uses the expression: “Finally, brothers…” or “Furthermore, brothers…” or “Finally, brothers… ” This is not the first thing Paul teaches the Ephesians about spiritual warfare. Let’s also read Ephesians 1:19-23 to see where Paul begins his discussion of authority and spiritual warfare:

As you see, Paul begins in Ephesians chapter 1 by talking about the boundless greatness of God’s power that raised Christ and placed Him at the right hand of God’s power, giving him a rank of authority far above any other spiritual authority in the heavenly places. Paul then continues the discussion of spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter 2, stating that ALL that Christ has (that is, his sphere of authority) we believers also have:

Another extraordinary thing we can see in Ephesians 1:22 is that ALL things are under the feet of Christ FOR THE CHURCH. Christ is made up of Jesus (the Head) and the Church (His body). It is an indestructible and indivisible unitary whole. Ephesians 5:30 tells us that we are bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. If all things are under the feet of Christ, and the Church is His body, what does this mean for us believers? It means that all things are also under our feet.

So, Paul begins in Ephesians chapters 1 and 2 to describe the authority and power of Christ and us, the Church, and then in chapter 3 verse 10, he describes the purpose of this conferment of authority, that of ruling over the second realm:

Likewise, 1 John 3:8 describes the purpose of Christ’s manifestation in us, that of destroying the works of the evil one:

Only at the end of the book of Ephesians does Paul introduce the believers to the subject of spiritual warfare. So, what we need to know is: who we are, who we belong to, and what we have. Only when you know these things and live permanently with this awareness (when you don’t struggle to convince yourself) can you start talking about spiritual warfare.

What Are the Heavenly Places?

What are these heavenly places in terms of location? Notice that it is not the heavenly place (or God’s heaven), but the heavenly places. We have already seen in Ephesians 6:12 that demonic spirits are also in heavenly places. But now these spirits along with the devil were cast down to earth (Ezekiel 28:17; Isaiah 14:2; Luke 10:18). If the devil is also on earth and in the heavenly places and in the second invisible realm, this means that the earth together with the second invisible realm are part of the heavenly places. Then in Ephesians 2:6 we<...

Today, I would like to talk about a very exciting topic and of much interest among Christians and that is, how to hear God’s voice. In spite of an abundance of Christian materials and sermons available today, many believers still struggle to hear God’s voice and have a genuine desire to know how God speaks to His people in the New Testament. In our discussion today, I will try to provide answers to 5 questions: „Why Do We Need to Hear God? Does God speak today to all born-again believers or only to certain people who are more holy or chosen by Him? How does God speak? How can we discern God’s voice from all the other voices and What can we do to learn faster to hear God’s voice?”

Why Do We Need to Hear God?
Some believers may wonder why they should ever hear God’s voice in their lives. How would it help them? Is hearing God’s voice something of vital importance that deserves our attention, time, and effort, or is it just a good skill to have in any event? Well, there are many great benefits to hearing God’s voice. First, it will protect you from many harmful decisions, situations, people, or things that might try to come into your life. Second, it will help you see many opportunities and open doors for you to be blessed and be a blessing for other people. Third, it will direct your steps to your destiny and calling on this earth, so that you will fulfill as much as possible of what God has planned for you and your life. Fourth, it will encourage you and strengthen you in your spirit and your faith in those moments when you will feel weak or discouraged. Hearing God is vital to a life of continuous glory, victory, success, peace, joy, health, well-being, and prosperity here on earth.

To Whom Does God Speak?

In the New Testament, God wants to speak and speaks to all born-again believers. This is different from the Old Testament, where God spoke only to certain people chosen by Him. You may ask, Why is that? Things are this way because in the Old Testament all people were under the authority of darkness. Jesus had not died yet on the cross and the Holy Spirit was not yet dwelling in human beings in a permanent way. The Holy Spirit was given from time to time to certain people for specific and temporary tasks and in partial measures. In other words, the Holy Spirit would come and go. However, in the New Testament, the Spirit of God has been sent on the inside of believers to be in them and with them forever. We see this in John 14:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 6:19:

God always speaks to all believers in Christ and that is something normal. That should be a daily normality for Christians and not something abnormal happening from time to time in some very special anointed moments. Every believer in Christ has the ability to hear God. God wants to speak to us much more than we are ready to hear Him. In fact, He speaks much more than we hear. Look at what John 10:27, John 14:26, John 16:13 tell us about hearing God’s voice:

Christ’s sheep hear and recognize His voice. The Holy Spirit in us will teach us all things, guide us in all truth, and announce to us certain things from the future. These are not all stipulated in the Bible, but the Holy Spirit will speak them directly to us.

Moving forward, another important thing is that it’s not enough to know God speaks and that it is normal for believers to hear Him. We must also search to hear His voice, be preoccupied for it, and we must tune our minds to the right spiritual frequency, the same way we search for a radio channel until we find the right frequency. As long as you can live without hearing God’s voice, you will continue to do so. But it will not be to your advantage. In Jeremiah 29:11-13, God speaks to His people through the prophet Jeremiah the following:

We need to take time to quiet our minds and reduce the volume of all the other voices to a minimum so that we can hear that still small voice of Him. We need to disconnect frequently from the daily noise and meditate on who we are in Christ, where we are going, what we are doing, how we are doing things and why we are doing them and so on. We need to make a habit of meditating on God’s Word. I was once test-driving a new car and, while we were driving, I could hear the noise of the wind quite loud from outside,  even with the windows closed. And that was one of the things that I was looking for in the next new car: to hear as less noise as possible from outside. I asked the lady who was doing the test-drive with us why we could hear the noise from outside, since this was a new car. She replied with a very serious face, “Well, you know, if you turn on the music louder, you will not hear any wind noise from outside.” I couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious when she said that. I didn’t even know how to react to such reply. The point is that, as long we have other louder voices in our lives, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to hear God’s voice. And in our day and age, the voices have multiplied exponentially: the internet and social media, smart phones, digital media entertainment, and all kinds of gadgets. And as believers, we now have to be even more intentional in hearing God’s voice th...

Introduction

Let’s first read the famous passage on the Lord’s Supper from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34:

1 Corinthians 11:17–34 (NKJV) 

17 Now in giving these instructions I don’t praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 

18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 

19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 

20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it’s not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 

21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 

22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I don’t praise you. 

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 

29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 

30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 

32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 

33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 

34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come. 

Many Christians interpret the passage above in the following way: “Before I take the Lord’s Supper, I need to examine myself very carefully, check for any unconfessed sins in my life and confess them all. Then I can partake of the Lord’s Supper. This is the worthy manner of taking the Lord’s Supper. Otherwise, if I take it with any unconfessed sin, I might lose my salvation, I might lose the blessings of God, or God might punish me with sickness or even death. And I will not be able to come to God and ask Him to heal me, because I did it with my own hands. So, if I feel too unworthy on occasions, it’s better not to partake of the Lord’s Supper in order not to be punished by God.” This is how many believers read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and they treat the Lord’s Supper as something very sacred and dreadful, that can be partaken of only if they have been completely honest about their lives with God and made sure they confessed every sin they know before Him. Otherwise, God will strike them with sickness and curse. Because of the fear of punishment, many believers refrain from partaking of the Lord’s Supper for long periods of time. Overall, most believers consider the Lord’s Supper to be something similar to the bitter water from Numbers 5:16-28, that women suspected of adultery had to drink to prove their innocence. If those women were dishonest and guilty and drank that water, their bellies would swell, their thighs would rot, and they would become a curse among their people. This is the mentality with which most Christians approach the Communion. However, this interpretation and practice of the Lord’s Supper are far from the truth and rob believers of its precious benefits that Jesus intended when He initiated it.

The Necessity of Innocent Blood

Let’s analyze the passage carefully in its context. First, the expression “unworthy manner” from verses 27 and 29 doesn’t refer to the worthiness of the person taking the Lord’s Supper, but to the worthiness of the manner in which the person partakes, the worthiness of the way, or the method. We can never become worthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper through something that we do, no matter what we do, not even through confession of sins, because the only thing that could pay for our sins and could make us worthy is  innocent blood, as seen in Hebrews 9:22:

Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV) 

22 And according to the Law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. 

Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins, and not without confession of sins. Our blood is guilty and tainted by Adam’s sin that was transmitted to us when we were physically born on this earth. The only person that had innocent blood was Jesus Christ, the last Adam, because He didn’t have an earthly father. The Holy Spirit conceived Him, Jesus had blameless blood, and He kept His blood innocent throughout His life by fulfilling all the Law of Moses and by not sinning even once. He was without spot when He reached the moment of the cross:

1 Peter 1:18–19 (NKJV) 

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 

Why could only innocent blood remove sins? Because the soul of a human being is in the blood. That is what Leviticus 17:11 tells us:

Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV) 

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it’s the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

The word “life” in the expression “the life of the flesh is in the blood” is the Hebrew “Nephesh,” which translates into “soul, living being, self, or person.” So, you have been made worthy once and for all by Christ’s blood and sacrifice, and nothing else. Period! You are always worthy to partake of the Communion  because of Jesus’ innocent blood and not because of your confession. Your righteousness and worthiness are Christ. However, there is also a proper and worthy manner of partaking of...

Some might say, “But what about what Isaiah said in chapter 59 verse 2 that our sins put a separation wall between us and God, that they hide His face from us and that He will not hear us? Doesn’t that mean that we come out of fellowship with God and that we need to confess our sins to Him in order for Him to hear us again?” No, it doesn’t. Isaiah lived before the cross, Jesus had not paid for his sins yet, and Isaiah was not a new creation in Christ. Indeed, during his time and during the Old Covenant period, people’s sins created a separation wall between them and God, and God didn’t hear them until they humbled themselves before God, and brought the animal sacrifices for atonement. However, Christ is our eternal sacrifice that has cleansed us from all sin once and for all. So, in the New Testament, our sinful deeds don’t put a separation wall between us and God anymore. God doesn’t hide His face from us, and He always hears us, no matter what we did wrong. 

”But what about Proverbs 28:13, where King Solomon says:

Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV) 

13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”?

The same explanation given for Isaiah’s case is relevant here as well. King Solomon needed the mercy of God and his prosperity depended on his obedience to the Law, because he was walking in darkness. His sins had not been removed yet. All the people of the Old Testament relied on the mercy of God for their blessing and prosperity. Until Christ would come, God overlooked temporarily their sins when they obeyed the Law or brought the animal sacrifices. However, in the New Testament, the new creation has become prosperity (2 Corinthians 8:9) without any qualification, because of Christ’s righteousness, and believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). Believers in Christ don’t have sins to cover or confess anymore, because they were all taken away at the cross. 

“But what about King David when he lamented in Psalm 32:1-5 and Psalm 38:18 about his sins and confessed them? Shouldn’t we follow his example?” Let’s read those passages. 

Psalm 32:1–5 (NKJV) 

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 

2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord doesn’t impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 

3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. 

4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. 

5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I haven’t hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. 

Psalm 38:18 (NASB95) 

18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin. 

If we look carefully at the first two verses of Psalm 32, we will notice that King David prophesied by the Spirit about the time when people’s transgressions will be forgiven and the Lord will not impute iniquity to them anymore. He rejoiced looking ahead at the days we are living now. However, in his time, he had to confess his sins to the Lord to receive mercy and he probably confessed more in the hope of saving his son from the death punishment. And even though King David confessed his sins many times and asked for forgiveness from God, his confession and tears were not the ones which atoned for his sin. David still had to bring sacrifices to atone for his sins according to the Law. 

Finally, “what about the Lord’s prayer from Luke 11:2-4 or Matthew 6:9-13, where Jesus tells us to ask the Father to forgive our sins? Isn’t He telling us to confess our sins to God?” Let’s read the Lord’s prayer passage in Luke:

Luke 11:2–4 (NKJV) 

2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 

4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” 

If we take a close look at the Lord’s prayer in the light of the Gospel, we will quickly notice that the Lord’s prayer is an Old Testament prayer and not a New Testament one. First, we need to realize that the disciples who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray were Jews, accustomed with the Law and the Torah. Second, Jesus hadn’t died yet on the cross in order to establish a prayer model according to the new creation era and He couldn’t disclose yet the plan God had through the cross, otherwise the devil would have never crucified Him. At that moment in time, Jesus was still in the Old Testament period. The transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant had not been made yet. For example, He said in verse 2 to pray that God’s Kingdom would come on earth. That was the longing and the prayer of all Old Testament prophets, that the Kingdom of God would come. This was supposed to happen when Messiah would come. At that point in time, this kind of prayer made sense because the Kingdom had not come yet. However, we see later in Romans 14:17, as well as in other places, that Jesus brought the Kingdom on earth, especially after the cross, although not in its full visible manifestation yet: 

Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV) 

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” 

Luke 17:20–21 (NKJV) 

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 

21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” 

Romans 14:17 (NKJV) 

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

Then in Luke 11:3, Jesus told His disciples to ask the Father for the daily bread. However, we see later in Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3 that God has already blessed believers with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places and everything pertaining to life and godliness. At the end of the prayer, Jesus instructs the disciples to ask the Father to deliver them from the evil one. That made sense before the cross, because all people were in the domain of darkness and under the authority of the devil and they needed God to intervene and help them. However, later, Colossians 1:13 says that believers have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of H...

1 John 1:5–2:1 (NKJV) 

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and don’t practice the truth. 

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

10 If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 

1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 

The question we should ask ourselves about 1 John 1:9 is this: Is this verse addressing believers or unbelievers? In the context of everything we have seen so far, this passage cannot be addressed to believers in Christ because, it it refers to believers, then it undermines the whole Gospel. If all our past, present, and future sins have been forgiven, there is nothing else to forgive. If we became righteous at the moment of salvation, then there is no more unrighteousness to be cleansed of. We cannot say that we have been cleansed of all sin and that we are still being cleansed, both in the same time. When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, He said to Peter in John 13:10:

John 13:10 (NKJV) 

10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 

Based on this verse, many Christians wrongly conclude that, as born-again believers, they are completely washed and clean in a sense, but they still need to wash “their feet” by asking for forgiveness for the sins they do. Such a conclusion is inconsistent with what Jesus did on the cross, and it has nothing to do with the context of the washing of feet, which was about servanthood to each other. 

Coming back to 1 John 1:9, this Scripture was written to a congregation of believers, but it was meant for unbelievers, and we will see why. We see this kind of address in the epistle of Romans as well, which was written mainly to believers. However, we find Romans 10:9-10 addressing the unbelievers who might have been in the church among believers, and tells them how to be saved. Moreover, in our churches today, preachers usually use the expression “brothers and sisters” to address a congregation, but not all in the congregation may be true brothers and sisters. Some can be just nominal Christians while others can be  unbelievers altogether. In the same way, especially the first chapter of 1 John was written to the church as a whole, but it addresses a certain context and a certain issue of the day, that was happening in the church, and that was Gnosticism. 

Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis,” which means knowledge or insight. We know from church history that near the end of the first century, and in the early second century, proto-Gnosticism, specifically Docetism, arose within the church. Docetism was the doctrine that Jesus Christ didn’t come in the flesh, that He didn’t have a physical body, and that therefore His sufferings were only apparent. In later years, this developed into a theological system known as Gnosticism. By the middle of the second century, this philosophy blossomed into full expression and its advocates were producing their own gospels and epistles, of which the Gospel of Thomas and Gospel of Judas are some examples. John appears to have anticipated Gnosticism’s development and threat to the health of the church and he wrote 1 John to counteract its influence. 

Gnosticism blended Greek dualism with Eastern mysticism. It adopted the dualistic view that only the nonmaterial, or the spiritual, was good while anything material was evil. Along with this, came Eastern mysticism’s focus on a secret spiritual knowledge reserved only for the chosen few. The Gnostics were trying to fellowship with believers in the church and that’s how their ideas and thoughts infiltrated Christianity. They were saying things like the following: “It’s great that you are a Christian, it’s great that you are acquainted with Jesus Christ, but now let me lead you into a deeper knowledge of some deep spiritual truths that will secretly unlock more meaning and purpose for you.” As I already mentioned briefly, two primary beliefs marked the Gnostics concerning Christ and Christianity and these were what John was concerned about. First, Gnostics didn’t believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh or having a physical body. Second, they didn’t believe that sin was real at the spiritual level, so they were ultimately sin deniers or deniers of the sin nature transmitted from Adam to all people at the spirit level. Here is why they reasoned that sin was not real in the human spirit. Gnostics believed that any sort of sins or appetites, be it sexual sins or other addictions, occurred only in the physical world. However, they thought they were living at a spiritual level, and not a physical one, because of the secret deeper knowledge they thought they possessed. As such, anything that happened in the physical realm was less important and it was even considered a fabrication of reality, an illusion, because reality happened at the spiritual level where sin didn’t exist. That is why Gnostics believed Jesus didn’t have a physical body. It would have been too low, too base for Jesus to be tight to a physical body, so Jesus had to be purely spiritual according to Gnostics. 

Therefore, the uncharacteristic opening of the first chapter of 1 John shows clearly that the initial address was not meant for believers but for Gnostics, who didn’t believe that Jesus came in the flesh. There was no greeting to believers, unlike what we find in John’s second and third epistles. Instead, the apostle John opens up his first epistle with a direct address to the serious heresy of Gnostics:

1 John 1:1 (NKJV) 

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. 

Later in chapter 4, John mentions that anyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God and has the spirit of Antichrist, again counteracting the Gnostic heresy:

1 John 4:1-3 (NKJV)

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 

3 and every spi...

Romans 8:1 says this:

Romans 8:1 (NKJV) 

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

Many Christians read the above passage and again they add in their mind, without even realizing, the following: “Yes, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus [as long as they don’t have any unconfessed sins in their lives].” However, that is not true. As we will see from the Bible, confession of sins doesn’t constitute the basis, or the condition of MAINTAINING salvation. Once believers are justified by faith, they have peace with God forever:

Romans 5:1 (NKJV) 

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

If maintaining justification or salvation depends on believers’ confession of sins (either of all sins or even only the known sins), then the most loving thing that God, the Father, can do for believers is to take them to heaven immediately after they are saved. This way believers are not in danger of ever losing their salvation by missing even one unconfessed sin. When believers confess their sins, can they be sure they confessed everything? Do they have enough time to confess everything? 

For Martin Luther, confession of sins was a daily discipline. Sometimes, he confessed for as long as six hours at a time! He took it to the highest extreme. Luther was asked on one occasion, “Do you love God?” to which he answered, “Do I love God? Sometimes I hate Him.” How could someone say such a thing? Only  someone tormented by his sin could come to such a conclusion. Luther confessed for hours. He would review regularly the Ten Commandments and the seven deadly sins and the greatest Scriptural fear he had was breaking the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). He would also review often the Sermon on the Mount and question whether he could faithfully live according to its principles. The scenes of judgment in the Book of Revelation haunted him as well. R.C. Sproul explains with more details what used to happen in those times in this way, “Confession was a regular part of the monastic life. The other brothers came regularly to their confessors and said, ‘Father, I have sinned. Last night I stayed up after ‘lights out’ and read my Bible with a candle’ or, ‘Yesterday at lunchtime I coveted Brother Philip’s potato salad.’ (How much trouble can a monk get into in a monastery?) The father Confessor would hear the confession, grant priestly absolution, and then assign a small penance to be performed. That was it! The whole process took only a few minutes. Not so with Brother Luther. He was not satisfied with a brief recitation of his sins. He wanted to make sure that no sin in his life was left unconfessed. He entered the confessional and stayed up for hours every day.” Luther’s reason for confession was his fright about God’s judgment. He thought God was offended by his sins, but God was not offended because of Christ’s sacrifice. Luther lived in daily fear of the immediate judgment of God on his life. He said on one occasion, “If I could believe that God was not angry with me, I would stand on my head for joy.” That’s how much he became distressed with the enormity of his own sins and his inability to satisfy a righteous God. 

Luther confessed every sin. He hated his sin. In fact, because of his obsession with confession, Luther was even deemed crazy. Some monks believed he had deep sexual struggles, because only that kind of sins would bother a monk so much that he would confess as much as he did. The monks thought Luther was on the verge of a psychotic episode or breakdown. His heavy doses of confession caused even physical pain and suffering to him. He developed digestive difficulties (e.g., kidney stones and gallstones) due to the anxiety caused by his battle with sin. No particular sins distressed him. It was his overall corrupt nature –“What can I do to win a gracious God? Oh my sin, my sin, what shall I do with my sin?”

Today, maybe Christians don’t take confession of sins to such extremes like Luther, although they should, if they were really serious about it. However, they still go through a similar relative torment like Luther and always feel unworthy before God. The Israelites in the Old Testament had a Day of Atonement once a year when they would confess their sins and put them all on a goat - a scapegoat called Azazel - and then they would send that goat in the wilderness. Can anyone imagine a few million Jews taking the time to confess all their sins from that past year to the priests? The whole process would have taken a few years to end and the priests would be exhausted or die of exhaustion. Did the people confess their sins like believers do today? Of course not. Whenever people brought animals for sin offerings, would the priests examine the people of their sins, or the animal for sacrifice, which had to be spotless and without any defect? The animal, of course. The priest would examine the sacrifice and not the person bringing it, because the whole reason for why anyone would bring a sin offering was that they sinned. No need for further examination. 

Similarly, when John the Baptist baptized people in water at the river Jordan, the Bible says that people would come to him and confess their sins. They would not start confessing every little sin to John in the water. In both of these two described cases, confession of sins meant acknowledging that they had sinned before God, and believing that He forgave or covered all their sins. This is what born-again believers do, once and for all, at the moment of their salvation. Think about the criminal on the cross, who had a multitude of sins, which he didn’t confess. He just asked Jesus to remember him when He would go into His kingdom and Jesus promised him that He would take him to heaven. Why would God be interested in hearing about every dirty and filthy sin of ours? He knows and sees plenty of it, everything is open in His sight, He already knows everything, and He already paid for all sins through Jesus’ sacrifice. 

The truth is that, even if we think that we have a sincere and pertinent reason for confessing our sins, we actually do it because we cannot forgive ourselves and because of our self-righteousness. We are trying to show God that we are not that bad, that we can do something to fix the wrong and become again worthy before Him to receive His blessings, and to have Him move with power in our lives. Does confession of sins really help us in not sinning anymore? As you probably noticed in your own practice, most of the times, it doesn’t. You confess the sin and then you do it again most of the times, because that confession in itself keeps you in the cycle of sinning, by making you focus on the sin and on your inability to overcome it, and not on Jesus. 

Now, let’s look at confession of sins from a different angle. When people do something wrong to us, should we expect them to ask for forgiveness first in order to forgive them? According to the Bible, no, not at all. We should forgive people no matter what they do, and even about 490 times a day. If God requires that of us, wouldn’t He much more treat us the same way? Yes, He would. He has already removed all our sins, ...

1 John 3:9 (NKJV) 

9 Whoever has been born of God doesn’t sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 

Many people struggle to understand this passage because its context clearly shows that Christians still sin:

1 John 1:8 (NKJV) 

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

1 John 1:10 (NKJV) 

10 If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 

1 John 2:1 (NKJV) 

1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. 

These are three instances from the same letter where the writer, the apostle John, talks about sinning. The first two passages communicate that, “If you say you haven’t sinned, you are a liar.” Then, in the third passage, John adds this, “I am writing to you so that you will not sin (future tense). But if you do sin, you have an Advocate with the Father.” Then, in 1 John 3:9 he declares, “If you are born of God, you cannot sin.” That sounds very contradictory, isn’t it? Both Scripture and experience reveal that Christians can sin and still sin. Even the entire context of the book of 1 John shows that it’s possible for a born-again believer to do something that is sin. Yet, 1 John 3:9 clearly says that if you are born of God, you cannot sin. How can this be?

Some people take 1 John 3:9 to mean you cannot “habitually” sin. Several Bible translations now even render it this way. People who think along this line preach something like this: “If you were a drunk before you were saved, you might get drunk once or twice, but if you are truly saved, you will not habitually sin. Eventually, you will see victory in that area, or you were not truly born again.” However, in order to embrace this view, you have to categorize sin – which God doesn’t. To Him, there are no “big” sins and “little” sins. By His definition, we all habitually sin. We all habitually fail to study God’s Word as much as we should. We all habitually fail to love others the way we should. We all habitually fail to be as considerate as we should. We habitually get into self-centeredness, and God has to habitually deal with us about it.  Sometimes, we also pass over things that God calls sins. For instance, God views gluttony the same as drunkenness, adultery, and murder (see Deuteronomy 21:20). Gluttony is a sin that can only happen habitually. You cannot become overweight by eating just one large meal. Even if you gorged yourself one meal, it would only make a pound or two of difference. However, in order to gain an extra fifty to a hundred pounds, you would have to do it repeatedly. Being overweight is a habitual sin. I don’t say that to condemn anyone, because I know there are overweight people who are not that way necessarily because of food. But I want to put things into perspective. 

If you interpret 1 John 3:9 to mean that you cannot habitually sin if you are truly born of God, then nobody would qualify, because we all habitually sin. The only way this can be preached is to say, “Well, you cannot habitually do the big sins, but the little sins, yes, you can habitually do them.” However, this is not what this verse is saying. 

I believe that the apparent contradiction and confusion created by the book of 1 John concerning the new creation and sin flows from the frequent and subtle alternation between sinning at the level of the body and soul and sinning at the level of the new spirit. If you understand the human composition of spirit, soul, and body and that God deals with the born-again believers in the spirit or at the spirit level, then a better interpretation of this passage would be the following. The only part of you that is born of God is your spirit. Your soul is not born of God and your body is not born of God. They have been purchased, but they are not redeemed yet. Your soul and mind are being renewed, and your body will be glorified at the end. But the only part of you that is changed right now in an instant is your spirit and your spirit cannot sin. That spirit was created in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Once you believed, your spirit was sealed (Ephesians 1:13), preserved and encased in the Holy Spirit in such a way that sins that you commit in your actions and in your thoughts don’t penetrate it. Since the recreated spirit cannot sin by itself, it retains its purity and its holiness. You don’t lose your spirit’s holiness based on your performance. This understanding is pivotal to having a relationship with God and fellowship with Him. 

Based on Hebrews 9 and 10 and on what we’ve discussed so far about future sins, we can also interpret 1 John 3:9 in the following way: if all past, present, and future sins of born-again believers have already been removed by Jesus’ sacrifice once and for all, then there is no sin that a believer could do that would fall outside of what the sacrifice of Jesus has already dealt with. As such, a Christian cannot commit sin anymore. 

Next, let’s see how and what does the Holy Spirit convicts the world and believers of, because most of the time the condemnation coming from our conscience is confused with the Holy Spirit’s conviction. 

THE CONVICTION OF SIN AND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

In the night before His crucifixion, in John 16:7-11, Jesus gave His disciples some instructions, telling them the following: 

John 16:7–11 (NKJV) 

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It’s to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 

9 of sin, because they don’t believe in Me; 

10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 

11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 

In verse 8, we can see the three-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit: to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. It’s amazing how religion in general has twisted this verse to make it sound condemning, when it’s in fact the exact opposite. The Lord Jesus seems to have known that this passage will be misinterpreted, or that it could be misinterpreted, so He went on in the following verses explaining in detail exactly what He meant. In verse 9, it says “of sin” (singular) and not “sins” (plural). The Holy Spirit convicts the world and not believers, of only one sin: the sin of not believing in Jesus. He doesn’t convict the world of all their individual immoral sins, because the conscience already does that. The Holy Spirit doesn’t convict people that are not born again about whether they are drinking, lying, or stealing; that is the conscience’s job. The primary reason for which people will be going to hell ...

Another way your conscience is cleansed of the consciousness of sins is by realizing and acknowledging in your mind and heart that, even when you sinned, you still remain free of condemnation. Let’s read the most famous passage on freedom of condemnation found in Romans 8:1-2:

Romans 8:1–2 (NKJV) 

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 

Who is Paul referring to in the above passage? He addresses those who are in Christ, meaning the invisible church (which is the true church), and not the visible one. Now, what does it mean for you to be in Christ? It means that you are a born-again believer and a new creation. It means also that you are saved, justified, that you have eternal life, and have the Holy Spirit in you. These are all equivalent phrases about being in Christ. So, this passage is addressed to believers that still commit sinful actions.

In the physical and natural realm, when can a court of law condemn you? You are condemned when you break the law of the country you live in. In the spiritual realm, being condemned before God means that you are a sinner. What does “no condemnation” mean before God? It means justification, or having the “justified” legal status declared by God on you as a believer; it’s right standing with God. That means you are “unblammable,” as if you’ve never sinned. Justification is more than forgiveness of sins. In our inter-human relationships, forgiveness means that the wrong done to someone remains still unpaid, but the wronged party chooses to overlook it or forget about it. The phrase “forgiveness of sins” in relation to God can be used only in the sense that believers didn’t pay themselves directly for their sins because of His mercy. But Someone paid. Christ is the One Who paid for them and in their stead, and they paid in Him. God didn’t just overlook or forget their sins without any payment. Christ paid for them. Justification means that believers paid in full for their sins in Christ, and that they have been reborn into a new justified creation that has never sinned. If you received Jesus Christ into your heart as your Savior, then you became justified, you paid in full for all your sins through Christ, and you have been reborn into a new justified creation that has never sinned and will never actually sin ever again. I will explain that in detail later. As a believer in Christ, all your sins - past, present, and future - have been completely and permanently removed, not just forgiven. 

In the story of Daniel, after he was thrown into the lions’ den and God saved his life, if someone came to king Darius and told him that Daniel broke the law, it would have been unjust for the king to punish Daniel again for the same law break. Daniel had already been thrown once into the lions’ den. In the same way, God’s justice today demands our acquittal because of Christ’s sacrifice. We are not justified based on mercy, but based on justice and righteousness, because our sins were paid in full in Christ. In the night of the Passover, when the people of Israel were getting ready to leave Egypt, God told them: “When I will pass through your door and see the blood (not your good works or your good name), I will pass over” (Exodus 12:13). Blood means that there has already been a death. Jesus died for us and that’s why God’s righteousness is on our side.

Many Christians read Romans 8:1-2 and, unconsciously, add to it in their mind the following phrase:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus [as long as they don’t do sinful deeds].” However, Paul addresses born-again believers in this verse, who still have sinful deeds in their lives. If they didn’t have any sinful deeds at all, there would not be a reason for them to feel condemned in the first place, and the verse would be irrelevant. The apostle Paul has in mind exactly those people who were regenerated, who were made righteous, but still have sinful deeds in their lives, like you and me. It’s exactly those deeds that have the tendency to make you, as a believer, feel condemned, although you are not condemned anymore.

Another way some Christians read the above verse is the following: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus [as long as they do works of righteousness and walk according to the Spirit].” However, at the moment of salvation you have received an eternal redemption and justification, completely apart from works and independent of your good or bad works:

Ephesians 2:8–9 (NKJV) 

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it’s the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

Romans 3:28 (NKJV) 

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law. 

Salvation came by grace through faith and not through good works, which are the deeds of the Law. Faith is the only condition of receiving eternal justification. Good works are not a condition, but a natural effect, and a normal result of a genuine saving faith. Faith alone justifies, but not the faith that is alone. James seems to paint a slightly different picture than apostle Paul in James 2:14-26, by affirming both faith and good works as conditions for salvation, apparently contradicting Paul. I said “apparently” because James is not actually contradicting Paul and we will see why. Let’s read the passage from James 2:14-26:

James 2:14–26 (NKJV) 

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but doesn’t have works? Can faith save him? 

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 

16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you don’t give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it doesn’t have works, is dead. 

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 

20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 

22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 

24 You see then that

2 Corinthians 5:21 says the following:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) 

21 For He (God, the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) Who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

Question: In what way was Jesus Christ made sin on the cross? Was He made sin only legally OR was He made sin vitally in His nature as well, meaning in His spirit? Then, in what way were believers made righteousness? We have already seen and proved earlier that believers had to be made righteousness both legally and vitally in their nature. Here we will focus on how was Jesus made sin on the cross and on what kind of death He experienced as a result of being made sin. Did His spirit experience spiritual death and complete separation from God together with His physical death? These are very important and complex questions that we will attempt to answer. When I talk about nature throughout this section, I will refer to the spirit of a human being, respectively to the spirit of Jesus Christ. 

There are two prevalent perspectives concerning the answer to the above questions. The first perspective is that Jesus was not made sin vitally in His nature, but sin was only legally or judicially imputed to Him. By the same token, born-again believers remain sinners in their nature and righteousness is imputed to them just legally as well. The second perspective is that Jesus was made sin both legally and vitally in His nature, and He took on the nature of Satan on the cross. By the same token, born-again believers become righteousness both legally and vitally in their nature. Both these perspectives have difficulties. The problem with the first perspective is that it makes believers in Christ only legally righteous. The issue with the second perspective is that Jesus takes on the nature of Satan. The viewpoint that I will present and explain in this book is a third alternative: that born-again believers were made righteousness both legally and vitally as I have already proved earlier, but Jesus was made sin only legally, and not vitally in His spirit as well. Moreover, I will advocate that Jesus experienced only soulish death and physical death, but not spiritual death in His spirit.

Why do I believe that sin was only imputed legally to Jesus? There are about four reasons for that. First, it’s because whenever the people of Israel brought animals for their sin and guilt sacrifices in the Old Testament, and laid their hands on the animals for the transfer of guilt, those animals never became sin in their nature. It was just a legal transfer. The same happened with the azazel scapegoat that was sent in the wilderness in the yearly Day of Atonement, caring legally all the sins of the congregation. The scapegoat didn’t became sin in its nature. Second, we see that God credited righteousness to Abraham and the other people of God in the Old Testament only legally and in advance, before Christ came to die on the cross. In the same way, sin was imputed to Jesus Christ just legally, but in His case, it was both retroactively (in order to include Abraham as well) as well as for all time. Third, if Jesus had been made sin in His nature, meaning in His spirit, then He would not have been anymore the perfect, blameless sacrifice for humankind’s sins. Let’s read two passages that illustrate how the Passover Lamb of the Old Testament (Exodus 12:21) was a “typology” of Christ and how Jesus Christ, Himself, was going to become the Lamb of God (John 1:29):

Exodus 12:21 (NKJV) 

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 

John 1:29 (NKJV) 

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

If we continue with this parallel, we can notice that the sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament had to be “unblemished.” At the time of sacrifice, a hand would be laid on the unblemished sacrificial animal to symbolize the transfer of guilt. We can see that in many passages like Exodus 12:5, Leviticus 4:3-4, Leviticus 23-24, Leviticus 32-33, and Leviticus 22:20, but let’s read just two of those passages:

Leviticus 22:20 (NKJV) 

20 Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. 

Leviticus 4:3–4 (NKJV) 

3 If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering. 

4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord. 

The sacrificial lamb didn’t actually become sinful in nature, but rather sin was imputed to the animal legally and the animal acted as a sacrificial substitute. In like manner, Christ, the Lamb of God was utterly unblemished, as we can see in 1 Peter 1:19, and humanity’s sin was imputed judicially to Him. He was humanity’s sacrificial substitute on the cross of Calvary. The transfer of sin on Him was just legal and not vital. Let’s read 1 Peter 1:18-19:

1 Peter 1:18–19 (NKJV) 

18 Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 

The whole world is currently in sin and separated from God from birth, because of the sin nature transmitted from Adam, and not because of their own sinful actions. Likewise, Jesus becoming sin in His nature would have meant He would have been separated from God and blemished, defiled, even if He had never sinned through His actions during His lifetime.

The fourth reason for why I believe that sin was only imputed judicially to Jesus is because Jesus would not have had the right to resurrection if He was made sin in His nature. Let’s read Romans 6:23 to see why:

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) 

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

This passage says that the wages of sin is death. If Jesus had become sin in His nature, He would not have come back from the dead and He would not have defeated death. The only people on whom death cannot reign over are righteous people. Therefore, Jesus had to remain righteous in His nature and spirit in order to have the power and legal right to come back from the dead.

Now, why do I believe that Jesus experienced pain and death only in His soul and body, but not spiritual death in His spirit? First, it’s because Adam and Eve sinned with their soul and physical body before their spirit became dead. In the same way, Jesus had to experience death only in His physical body and so...

Now that we defined righteousness, we are in a better position to define sin, by comparison with righteousness, in a more holistic way. We said earlier that righteousness is the nature of God that defines His character and His ways of doing all things. 2 Peter 1:2-4 says that those who are in Christ have also become partakers of God’s divine nature and righteousness:

2 Peter 1:2–4 (NKJV) 

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

Just by looking at the definition of righteousness, we can deduct two things about sin. First, sin is also a nature the same way righteousness is a nature. In fact, the Bible shows that all human beings are born on this earth with a sin nature in their spirit, that was inherited from the first man, Adam. Second, sin is  everything that God is not. Sin is the complete opposite to righteousness, to God’s character, and to His ways of doing things. We can see this contrast illustrated in many passages of the Bible. Let’s read just a few of them:

Romans 6:18 (NKJV) 

18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 

Romans 6:20 (NKJV) 

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) 

21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

Similar to righteousness, there is positional sin and practical sin or, better said, inherited sin and manifested sin. Inherited sin or inherited righteousness decide your eternal destiny and have to do mainly with eternal damnation and eternal salvation respectively, while manifested sin and manifested righteousness have to do with the quality of your life here on earth, as well as with eternal rewards after this life. People who remain with a sin nature by not accepting the sacrifice of Jesus, will go to eternal damnation in the lake of fire after physical death, no matter how many good and righteous deeds they did while living on earth. By contrast, those who change their sin nature into a righteousness nature and are transferred from death to life by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus for their sins (John 5:24), will go to eternal salvation in the presence of God after physical death, even though they still did sinful deeds in their lives on earth. Their eternal salvation is secured by their righteous nature received by faith as a free gift and not by their righteous deeds or manifested righteousness. 

How should we define “manifested sin” that accompanies the sinful nature or is still present sometimes even in people with a righteous nature? In the eyes of most believers, manifested sin amounts only to immoral and wicked deeds, which have first been revealed by the human conscience when the first man fell, then by the Law of Moses as transgressions of the Ten Commandments, and later on by Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, where He expanded the moral law to the level of thoughts and intentions of the heart (Matthew 5-7). Finally, apostle Paul described in detail in his epistles this kind of manifestations of sin, in passages like Ephesians 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:10-21, and Colossians 3:5-9. These are: sexual immorality, adultery, homosexuality, impurity, lust, uncleanness of any kind, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, slander, abusive language, gossip, idolatry, theft, lying, drunkenness, abuse, sorcery, hate, envy, jealousy, strife, anger, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, murder, evil desires, and wickedness. These sinful deeds and attitudes are all sins of commission, mostly external, and they are the most obvious among all sinful behaviors. Then, there are sins of omission like when believers can do some good and yet don’t do it (James 4:17), or when they don’t love God with all their heart, and their neighbor as Jesus loved them. 

However, there are also some other sinful deeds of omission that are less obvious, yet still sinful in God’s eyes. If you remember, I mentioned somewhere in the beginning of this book that righteousness does not consist only of morality, although morality is included in it. Righteousness is much more than that; it consists of God’s nature, character, and ways of doing things. Righteousness includes removal of all sin through Jesus’ sacrifice, as well as healing, prosperity, blessing, victory, peace, joy, wisdom, and eternal life. Since sin is the opposite of righteousness and the opposite of God’s nature, then allowing in our lives sickness, disease, poverty, financial lack, debt, lack of peace and joy, worry, sadness, melancholy, depression, stress, failure or fear of any kind, insecurity, overeating, etc. is also sin. Yes, you read that well: allowing sickness in your body is sin. Accommodating lack, poverty, and debt in your life is sin. Being stressed and worried is sin. I am aware that what I’ve just said may come as a shock to many, because we might have never thought of sin in that way. Before you turn away and discard this teaching, allow me to give you biblical support for why I believe sin includes all those things. 

Can you ever picture God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus as being stressed out, worried, fearful, sick, poor, sad, insecure, or depressed? No, of course not, these attributes cannot even be mentioned in connection to God. Were any of these facets of death present in creation in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of man? As we know from the Bible, God didn’t include them in His creation of the world and man. When did these sinful states of being enter the world? They all came in when man disobeyed God and sin entered the world. They are all manifestations of sin and death. Do you think by any chance that any of these effects of death will be present in heaven in the future life? No, of course not, even now they don’t exist in God’s presence or anywhere in the third heaven. Moreover, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19 that the born-again believers in Christ have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Let’s read them:

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV) 

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NKJV) 

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 

If we go back to the Old Testament and think about the Tabernacle or the physical temples of God, was there any defilement or uncleanness allowed in them? No, there was none permitted. Since our bodies have become the temple of the Holy Spir...

We’ve been talking so much about righteousness and about the fact that our new spirit has become the righteousness of God in Christ. But what is righteousness really? You may or may not have asked yourself that question before. Righteousness is that nature of God that defines His character and His ways of doing all things. It’s the character of God to always be right and perfect in everything. It’s about who He is. How He thinks is always right. What He says is always right. What He does is always right, because He is God. We can also call it the quality of rightness. It’s the rightness of God. He is never wrong. He is always right no matter what any other being might say. He could never be wrong. When it comes to the things of this world, if God says to a flower “You’re a tree,” that flower will have no choice but turn into a tree, because God can never lie and He has to be always right. When God said in Genesis: “Light be!,” light came into existence. When Jesus cursed the fig tree in Mark 11 and decreed over it: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again,” the fig tree had no choice but to comply and wither away. That is power. He creates and curses with His words. He imposes His reality into things and circumstances. However, when it comes to people, God’s righteous words will never infringe people’s free will and authority. God’s words referring to people need to be first freely accepted by them through faith before they come to pass in their lives. In other words, people have the choice and they decide whether a righteous word from God will come to pass in their lives or not. When God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:5 “I have made you a father of many nations” and He even changed his name from Abram to Abraham to reflect that reality, what God said eventually came to pass, but not without Abraham’s cooperation of faith. When God said to believers in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that they have become His righteousness in Christ when they received Christ into their lives by faith, what God said came into being. When God said to believers in 1 Peter 2:24 that they were healed, that righteous word comes to pass in their lives, only when they freely choose to accept it by faith.

When this righteousness of God is imparted into our spirit at the new birth, it gives us right standing with God, because there is a legal side to righteousness as well. However, first and foremost, righteousness is a nature the same way sin is a nature. When we were born physically in this world, we were born sinners before we did anything bad, because of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam. That sinful nature carried along with it the legal guilty standing before God as well. Likewise, when we were born again from the Spirit, we received a new nature of righteousness by faith, before doing anything good. Our good deeds didn’t make us righteousness the same way our sinful deeds didn’t make us sinners. But our righteousness nature prompts us to good works while our sinner nature makes us do sinful deeds. Our actions are vastly influenced by our nature.

When Adam entered spiritual death, he became sin both legally and vitally. His spirit’s nature was altered, he entered death, and his legal standing with God became that of a condemned person. Because of him, the whole human race died in its nature as well. However, the Bible tells us in Romans 5:15-19 that Christ, who is the last Adam, not only canceled what the first Adam did, by reconciling us back to God legally, but did much more. He gave us the free gift of righteousness as a nature. Let’s read this whole passage together:

Romans 5:15–19 (NKJV) 

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 

16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 

18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 

Christ should have accomplished at least what Adam did, right? Otherwise, He would have been less powerful than Adam. Of course, what Christ did was towards spiritual life, and not to spiritual death. But Christ had to perform an alteration in both the legal status and the vital state of believers and put them back in the position of righteousness in which Adam was, right? The interesting part is that Christ did something much better than what Adam did. The position and nature of Adam before the Fall was one of positive righteousness maintained by and conditioned on Adam’s obedience to God’s command. It was not a fixed, eternal, and unconditional righteousness independent of his deeds. If Jesus Christ were to just undo what Adam did, that meant that people who were going to believe in Him, would have only been brought back from minus to zero, having a clean slate and a temporary conditional righteousness. People in that position would have had to earn unconditional and fixed righteousness on their own by their obedience to God’s laws and commands. But Jesus didn’t leave believers in that position. He has undone what Adam did, but He also earned unconditional eternal righteousness by His obedience to the Law during His life, and then gave it as a gift to believers. That is amazing!!! 

Romans 5:19 says that, since through Adam, humans were made sinners both legally and in their nature, through Christ, the born again Christians were also made righteous both legally and in their spirit’s nature. That’s reciprocity. If they were not made righteous in nature as well as legally, Christ would have been less powerful than Adam and that is not biblical. Since sin (or spiritual death) was not just imputed legally to Adam and to the rest of the human race, now righteousness (or spiritual life) is not just imputed legally to Christians. However, Christ did much more than that. He freely gave believers God’s unconditional eternal righteousness that He earned on earth by His irreproachable obedience to the Law. The quality of His righteousness is superior to the one Adam had initially. Jesus didn’t let believers earn it on their own by their obedience as Adam was supposed to do before the Fall. That is amazing! Jesus obeyed and fulfilled all the commands and conditions of God from Deuteronomy 28 and gave that obedience to believers as a gift. It’s exactly this righteousness of Jesus Christ present in the reborn spirit of the new creation that gives Christians the legal right to health and prosperity on this earth. That is why they are no longer subject to the law of sin and death, but live by the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2). They are immune to sickness, disease, and lack, if they start believing that they have Jesus’ righteousness. That is why sin, with all its negative effects, no longer has dominion over believers (Romans 6:14). And it doesn’t h...

Let’s read James 1:21-25:

James 1:21–25 (NKJV) 

21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. 

22 But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 

24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 

25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty (namely the Gospel) and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

Most Christians read this passage and interpret the mirror as being the moral Law of God, in which you have to look continually to see your flaws and sins. In other words, you see what you need to change and then go try changing it, without forgetting the moral flaws that you saw in the mirror, until those issues are removed out of your life. Only THEN will you be blessed in what you do. 

There are multiple problems with this interpretation. First, the mirror is the perfect law of liberty, and not the moral Law or the Ten Commandments. What is the perfect law of liberty? The perfect law of liberty is the Gospel or the Word of His grace. The perfect law of liberty is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). That law stipulates that we are dead to sin (Romans 6:11) and no longer under sin’s dominion (Romans 6:14), that God loves us (John 16:27), that we are joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), that all possible blessings are already established and granted to us in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), that even when we sin we are not condemned anymore (Romans 8:1), that we have power to live in holiness (1 Corinthians 10:13, Philippians 4:13), that we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24), that we are a success (Psalm 1:3), that we are prosperous (2 Corinthians 8:9), victorious (Romans 8:37), above failure, and protected. This is the Gospel and the perfect law of liberty that we need to be doers of, meaning believing these things and walking in them. 

In the New Testament, the act of doing the Word is believing the Word about you and acting accordingly. The act of doing the Word is not obeying a set of moral rules like in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, you will not be blessed BECAUSE you obey the moral Law. Obedience is no longer a condition for God to bless you, like in the Old Testament. You are blessed regardless of your level of obedience. The more you believe the Word of grace about the perfect being that you have become in your spirit, the more grace is released in your life, and the more blessings manifest themselves from the inside out into the material world. When you come to realize how blessed you are, then the blessing begins to flow in everything you do. You are blessed even before you believe it, once you have come in Christ. But when you believe that you have been blessed, that blessing starts manifesting in your life physically and emotionally.

Notice that verse 21 says that the Word is already implanted in you and able to save your soul. What does that mean? It means that your new spirit is the Word Itself, because it has been born of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23), and consequently, you have become the Word of God in your spirit. That Word is just locked inside of you and blocked by your mind. When you look in the mirror of the Word, you see yourself, the Word. When your mind receives the revelation of who you really are inside, and accepts it by believing it, that’s when you begin putting “flesh” to the Word inside, the same way Jesus was the incarnated Word. That is the moment when you bring the Word out and manifest it to make your soul immune to the works of darkness on this earth. The works of darkness are: sickness, depression, confusion, lack of peace and joy, failure, anger, lack of wisdom, etc. This is how your soul is saved by the implanted Word of God in you. The salvation of your soul in this context does not refer to the salvation from hell in the future life, but to the salvation of your whole being here in earth from sin and from all its effects that entered the world together with it. 

Renewal of the mind is not refreshing your mind with the moral Law of God, or the Ten Commandments. The moral Law of God has already been written into your conscience since you were born on this earth. We know good and evil because of the Fall. We don’t need to refresh that knowledge because it’s already in us and in all people. That’s why you have moral people that have never been born again, and neither heard or tried to keep the Ten Commandments, yet behave at the highest moral standards and sometimes better than some born-again believers. That is why you have Greek Orthodox and Catholic people, that are mostly not born again, going regularly to confess their sins to the priests. The conscience is always working in everyone, either we like it or not, and it doesn’t need our help. Renewal of the mind means to renew your thinking about your new identity and nature, to focus and meditate on that, and be aware of that. The new identity is not something obvious to the eyes, but something that you need to behold with the eyes of the Spirit, and refresh your mind with it constantly. Your new nature is what you should not forget about and be a doer of. Then your soul (mind, will, conscience, and emotions) and body will be transformed into, and align to, the same image of Christ, in which your spirit has already been reborn.

In the mirror, you don’t see your old self, the sinner, or your sinful deeds. Instead, you see Christ, Who is glory, Who is the Word of God incarnated, and that’s who you are as well in Him. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 is also a passage about the mirror that goes along here and it says:

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 (NKJV) 

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

The way to be transformed into the image of the Lord is to behold the glory of the Lord, that is, to focus on who Christ is in you and who you are in Christ. You do this by reading and meditating on the Word of God and by listening to sermons and biblical teachings. This is how you look into the perfect law of liberty and see who you are and who you have become – the very glory of the Lord. The new creation is no longer fallen short of the glory of God as Romans 3:23 says. That is the state of unbelievers. The new creation in Christ is the fullness of the glory of God here on earth (John 1:16; John 17:22).

Most of the times, believers read the Bible with an Old Testament perspective, instead of reading it with a New Testament mindset. They read the New Testament in the light and through the lens of the Old Testament, rather than reading the Old Testament in the light and th...

In Romans 12:1-2, it says:

Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) 

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

2 And don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

Verse 2 says not to be conformed to the world. The word “conformed” means “to be poured into a mold.” In other words, there will always be pressure from the world, from the devil, from unbelievers and from circumstances to make you conform to them. You cannot go through life without being pressured and melted one way or another, but you can choose what mold to fit in. You don’t have to be bitter like the world, and you don’t have to experience the defeat this world offers you either. Don’t be conformed and poured into the mold of this world, but be transformed. The word “transformed” in Greek is metamorphoo, from where we have the word “metamorphosis,” which is the transformation of a worm from a cocoon into a butterfly. If you want that kind of transformation where you are changed in your physical and emotional realm from a bitter and hurtful person into a loving and joyful one, from a sick person into a healed one, from a defeated person into the victorious person God wants you to be, then you need to renew your mind. Your spirit is perfect. The body just goes with the flow and it goes along for the ride. But what you think with your mind determines whether you experience the life of God or death and defeat in the natural realm. The renewing of your mind changes all that. The renewing of your mind produces your transformation and that transformation approves and confirms the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God in your life. How does this happen? The good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God for you—revealed in the Gospel— is that you would have life in abundance, peace, joy, health, prosperity, and victory over sin. All these things, that represent the will of God for you, are already present in your born-again spirit. The moment you begin to be transformed outwardly and when what is inside of you becomes visible on the outside, you prove to the world that what God said about you and what God has put in your spirit is true and real. Your transformation certifies and confirms what God has already accomplished in you. 

The verb ”prove” in Romans 12:2 comes from the Greek word dokimazo, which means ”to approve something or someone, to examine or test something or someone and prove him or it reliable and trustworthy, to determine, to certify, or to confirm” (The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Lexicon by Kittle and Friedrich Gerhard and Geoffrey William Bromiley). The exact same Greek word is used in 1 Corinthians 16:3 as well, where apostle Paul says:

1 Corinthians 16:3 (NKJV) 

3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. 

Paul says that he will send the Corinthians’ gifts to Jerusalem through people that have been tested by the church in Corinth and approved as reliable to carry such gifts. Now, returning to Romans 12:1-2, some more interpretive translations of the Bible (ESV, NRSV) have rendered the Greek word dokimazo as “discern.” The verb “to discern” in the English language is defined as “to find out, to distinguish, to detect, or to perceive” creating the following connotation in your mind when reading Romans 12:2: “that by renewing your mind with the moral laws of God from the Bible regularly, you will learn to discern good and evil or what God likes and dislikes, which actually represents the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Is this interpretation correct? As we have already learned, our mind doesn’t need additional refreshes of the moral laws of God (namely the Ten Commandments), because our conscience already knows good and evil very well and it reminds them to us on a regular basis, either we like it or not. Also, as I will explain later in more details, the renewing of the mind does not consist in looking continually in the moral Law of Moses to see our flaws and sins and then try to improve ourselves morally. Therefore, the translation of the Greek verb dokimazo as “prove” in the literal translations of the Bible (KJV, NKJV, NASB, LEB) is more accurate, because it correctly portrays the mind renewal process as an assimilation of a new identity, and not as a merely moral improvement of your old person. By the transformation that results from your identity replacement with Christ’s identity, you can confirm the will of God, which is not only morality, but righteousness, life, and power in all aspects of your life.

How do you renew your mind? It’s through the Word of God which tells you what is spiritually true and  gives you a new mindset. You then have to conform yourself to what God’s Word has to say about you. 

Acts 20:32 (NKJV) 

32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 

Apostle Paul says that the Word of His grace is able to build you up and give you an inheritance; it helps you enter in the possession of it. The Word of God or the Word of His grace is the instruction manual for the new creation. The New Testament contains most of those instructions and principles pertaining to the new creation and to the righteousness of God, but the Old Testament contains such instructions as well, because the Law and the Prophets greeted from a far the grace that was going to come to us. Allow me to share with you some other Scriptures that will bring even more clarity to what has happened in you. They will illustrate the truths about the change that took place in your spirit. In Ephesians 4:17 it says:

Ephesians 4:17 (NKJV) 

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.

The word “Gentiles” here refers to non-Jews. In that context, Paul was referring to people that were not in covenant with God. The way he would probably express the same thing today would be something like the following: “Don’t walk like lost people and like people that don’t have a relationship with God.” In other words, don’t just let your mind be controlled and dominated by carnal physical things. If you don’t begin to think spiritually and be spiritually-minded instead of carnally-minded, then you will shut off the flow of the life of God through you. A Scripture that reflects this well is Romans 8:6, where it says:

Romans 8:6 (NKJV) 

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

Carnal mindedness doesn’t mean sinful mindedness necessarily. Yes, it’s true that all sin is carnal, but not all carnality is sin. The word “car...

Who Are You in the Spirit?

The diagram of three rings in a row like a chain also illustrates the lack of a direct link between the spirit and the body. That’s why everything that comes out from your spirit into your body must go through your mental-emotional part. 

With the pipes diagram below, one side of the pipe represents your spirit and the other your body. Your soul acts as a valve in between the two. When you open the valve, what’s in your spirit can flow through your soul to your body. Depending upon how open it is, the flow of life can be just a trickle, a small stream, or rivers (John 7:38). When the valve is closed, the flow from spirit to body shuts off. That’s a great illustration of how a born-again believer functions!

The spirit is encapsulated inside the soul and it doesn’t have direct access to the physical body. It has to go through the soul. Romans 8:11 says that the same Spirit and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead already indwells every born-again believer. But if your mind is closed to this truth and it doesn’t embrace it, that resurrection life cannot flow through you. If what you see in the spiritual mirror doesn’t become more real to your mind than what you see in the physical realm, then it’s possible for this resurrection life that is in your spirit to be completely shut off and made of no effect, just like you would shut the valve to a pipe. You can get to a point where you are totally dominated by what you feel and you say: “But I feel sick, my body hurts. The doctor says I am dying. Here is my medical record.” And if those things dominate you, then even though you have the raising-from-the-dead life of God in your spirit, your soul can shut off that power, so that not one drop of God’s life-giving power ever touches your physical body. And you can die sick having the resurrection life of God on the inside of you. It would be like dying of thirst while leaning against a well full of life-giving water! And of course you can apply that to every area of your life. You can have depression, you can have anger and bitterness in you when the whole time in your spirit there is love, joy, and peace. So the critical part in releasing the resurrection life is your soul. 

Your spirit is always for God, always like God, and it has everything in it that God has. Your body is really  neither good nor bad; it’s not moral or immoral; it’s amoral. Your body doesn’t really dictate or control anything. Your soul is the one controlling what happens to your body. Your spirit is always for God, while your body is going to go with the flow. If the soul doesn’t influence it, then your body is going to go by just what it sees, tastes, hears, smells, or feels. On one hand, if you get your soul in agreement with your spirit, then it’s two entities fighting alongside against the physical one and the life of God that is in your spirit will manifest itself in your physical body much quicker and easier. It will produce healing, deliverance, victory, and power. On the other hand, if your soul gets in agreement with what your physical body senses to the point that you cannot believe anything that you cannot perceive with your five senses, then you will shut off the life of God that is in your spirit. It’s sad to say this, but this is where a large number of Christians are. And the major reason for this state of things is because most Christians don’t have a functional working revelation of spirit, soul, and body. They really don’t understand that a radical change has already happened in their spirit and they are not fully aware of who they are in Christ, thinking that if they cannot see, taste, hear, smell, or feel something, then it’s not real. Their intention is not to be liars or hypocrites by ignoring their senses; they are just trying to be real and honest. They search their physical and emotional realms and if they cannot perceive in some way the power of God with their five senses, then they think: “Well, it’s not here.” But the truth is that if you have made Jesus your Lord, there was a change that took place inside of you. You became a brand new you. Old things passed away, all things have become new. And this is the beginning place of victory in your relationship with the Lord. I cannot overstate enough how important this understanding is. What this did for me is that it transformed my life and my thinking, because I have also experienced from time to time the power of God at my physical and emotional levels like you probably did too. But after the emotion of that power wore off, I thought that it was gone. I knew that God was real and all the things that He promised were real, but I didn’t think that they were in me. And because of that, I went through periods of frustration, desperation, and discouragement, not because of sin, but because of the desire to live for God and experience His best. I felt like I could not get there. This happens a lot with many Christians that experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit at one time, they receive the power, and then because they don’t feel anything in their bodies anymore, they believe it’s gone, or that they have to wait and pray again for it, or that they have to sanctify themselves and fast to get it. But all the while, the power is there, it just needs to be stirred up and activated, by mind renewal, worship, and praying in tongues. 

In your born-again spirit, you already have all the power of God. It’s just a matter of releasing what you have, not going and trying to get something from God. This concept revolutionized my life and I hope it will do the same for your life. Once you are born again, the Christian life is not a process of getting things from God, but rather a process of renewing the mind to where you just learn to release what you have already received. It’s so much easier to release something that you already have received rather than trying to get something that you don’t have. The process of attempting to get something that you don’t have and it’s not a reality for you, it already has an element of doubt in it. In other words, you believe it’s possible, but you don’t believe that it’s already a done-deal reality. Your perspective is one of trying to head towards it, to start believing God for healing, for joy, for victory, for power, for prosperity, and for holiness. This perspective has already an element of doubt. You believe it’s possible, but you don’t believe it’s already done for you and in you. But once you believe it’s already done, how can you doubt that you are going to get something that you already have? In practice, you don’t doubt that you will get a car if you already have it, right? Likewise, a job or a house, right? And I know that some of you are thinking: “Well, of course you don’t doubt. Why would you doubt that you are going to get something that you already have?” Well, that’s the point that I’m making. I’m trying to make an illustration here. In the natural, we don’t do that. If you already got it, you don’t doubt that you will get it. But if you say: “I’m believing God for healing” and then you start struggling and saying: “I cast down that thought of doubt. I believe that I am going to receive. God is going to heal me. I will receive my miracle from God,” you are in the same situation. One of the reasons why you doubt is that you don’t believe you’ve already got the healing. You believe you can get it, but you don’t believe you do have it already. 

This is exactly what happened at the moment of salvation, which will further emphasize my point: when I confessed Jesus as my Lord, I was instantly changed and my spirit became totally brand new. My spirit is not in the proce...

As I mentioned briefly earlier, the conscience can be cleansed or it can remain clean by not violating it in the first place. However, when you sin and violate it, the conscience can be cleansed of the guilt of that sin by remembering, meditating, believing, and even speaking out loud four things: 

(1) you were made righteous in your spirit’s nature forever at the moment of your salvation; 

(2) you are free of condemnation forever even when you still do sinful deeds; 

(3) your past, present, and future sins have been completely removed at the moment of your salvation; 

(4) in the reality of the spirit, if you were truly born again, you cannot even commit another sin ever again.

Spirit, Soul, and Body

A good understanding about the spirit, soul, and body of the human being, and about their particular roles,  is of vital importance in the process of cleansing our conscience, and in growing spiritually. This teaching has revolutionized my personal life and eliminated some of the frustrations and confusion that I experienced when I read and studied the Word of God. It provided a firm foundation for everything else that the Lord revealed to me along the years about righteousness, conscience, confession of sins, eternal security of salvation, and sanctification. It also helped me get rid of a lot of wrong thinking in my life. I pray that it will do the same for you while reading this book. 

I would like to begin this section by reading 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that clearly illustrates the three parts of a human being. People are spirits that have a soul and live in a body. There are many Scriptures that reveal the trichotomy of the human being, but 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is the most clear passage in that direction that doesn’t need any other proof:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) 

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

This is so obvious that I don’t think there can be any credible argument against the fact that we, humans, are made up of a spirit, soul, and body. This is very important because there are some theologies that actually believe man is only made up of two parts, which is body and soul. That is probably not a dominant theological position, but as far as practice goes, as far as people in their day-to-day living goes, very few people understand the concepts of spirit, soul, and body. Most people confuse soul and spirit as being the same thing and acknowledge only two parts of them: a physical part and a mental-emotional inner part that most people refer to as their personality. As a matter of fact, if you will take a look in the Strong’s Concordance, which is one of the main concordances that people use to look up Greek words in the New Testament, it even defines the word “spirit” (“pneuma” in Greek) as being ”the immortal soul” and it doesn’t make a distinction between those two. My study of the Word of God has revealed that there is a very distinct difference between spirit and soul, so I cannot agree with that Greek definition of what the word “pneuma” means. It means more than the immortal soul; it’s talking about the spirit man, the inner part of us. 

There are three distinct parts: spirit, soul, and body. Now the body is obvious. If you go look in a mirror, that is the part you see immediately. If you were talking to me face to face right now, you would be looking at my body, but you would be speaking to my soul, which is my mental and emotional part. Some people define the soul as being made of mind, will, and emotions and I think that is certainly true. However, I don’t think that is all inclusive, there is more to it. I believe that our conscience is also a part of our soul. The soul is basically the personality of a human being. If I were to touch your physical body, you can feel that. But I can also touch you by words. For instance, through this book, without me touching you physically at all, I am speaking to your soul and it can touch your emotions. It can either make you glad, sad, or angry. You can also say words and hurt people without physically touching them. Every person is in touch with their soulish part as they are with their body part. It’s easy for you to search and check how you feel, whether you are happy or depressed. 

The body and the soul are two areas that everyone is in touch with constantly and we really don’t need a lot of explanation on that. But the spirit part is a totally different matter. In John 3:1-8, when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, one of the rulers of the synagogue who came to Him by night, Jesus told him that he had to be born again. Nicodemus responded: “How can this be? How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb?” In the process of explaining this to him, Jesus said: “That which is born of the flesh, is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” And what He was saying was that spirit is spirit and flesh is flesh, and there is no direct connection between the two. They are inter-related and I am going to explain some of that in just a moment, but spirit is spirit, and flesh is flesh.

You cannot feel your spirit in a physical and natural way. Again, if you want to know how your body is, all you have to do is just think and your body instantly tells you if it’s tired, or pumped up and your adrenaline is flowing, or if you are excited and ready to go for a run. You can pull an inventory instantly and find out exactly how your body is. You don’t even have to think about it, you are constantly being fed that information. You can also pull an inventory on your soulish realm and you can know whether you are glad or sad, whether depression is your problem or fear, or if you are worn-out mentally and need to take a rest. You are instantly in touch with all that. But you cannot contact your spirit through your emotions or through any physical way. The spirit cannot be accessed in any natural way and herein lies one of the great problems in the Christian life: the spirit is the part of us that was radically changed at the moment of salvation. The spirit is the part of us that God communicates with and the spirit is the part of us that all the life and power of God flows through. You cannot just feel and discern spiritual reality and truths through your normal senses. And if you don’t understand that, then when the Scripture says that you have the same power in you that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), or that you can do the same works that Jesus did (John 14:12), or that you are a completely brand new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), then you will search your physical body and your mental-emotional personality part, and if you cannot see, taste, hear, smell, or feel what the Bible says about you, then immediately you will perceive it as a contradiction and feel conflicted. You will start thinking that the Bible is so hard to understand, you will see the disparity between your experience and what God’s Word says, and you might want to throw up your hands in the air and conclude that it’s just not true what the Bible says. 

One of the greatest keys to walking with the Lord for me has been to understand this reality of spirit, soul, and body, and that the spirit realm cannot be seen or felt. The only way to discern and define spiritual truths is through the Bib...

Now that we have come to the Lord and we were born again, God doesn’t want us to have an evil conscience anymore, but a good and perfect conscience. He doesn’t want us to be conscience-ruled. He wants us to purge and cleanse ourselves from an evil conscience. There is a better way to relate to the Lord. 

Now, let’s see how our conscience in conjunction with our behavior can generate two types of consciousness that are both detrimental to us: a consciousness of dead works and a consciousness of sin. As we already know, our conscience announces us when we did something wrong. When the conscience is quiet for a longer period of time because maybe we do some good works, we are moral, or maybe we don’t violate most of God’s commands, we may begin to think and feel, without even realizing, that we have become worthy of God’s favor and entitled to His blessings and power because of our works. In that moment, we have formed a consciousness or an awareness of our good works. The Bible calls that the consciousness of dead works and I will explain better in a moment what dead works are. Likewise, when the conscience tells us repeatedly for a longer period of time (and we allow it to do so) that we did wrong, that we sinned before God, and that we failed, it makes us feel condemned and unworthy of God’s favor, blessings, and power. In that moment, we have formed a consciousness and an awareness of sin, a mentality that we are still sinners. Neither of these two types of consciousness are good. A perfect conscience is a conscience that we don’t allow it to rely on good works for approval before God, neither to condemn us because of sin. The book of Hebrews covers both of these cases in chapters 9 and 10. Let’s read first the passage in chapter 9:

Hebrews 9:9–14 (NKJV) 

9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 

10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. 

11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 

12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 

13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 

14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

If we put together verses 9 and 14, we can notice that to be made perfect in regard to conscience is to have our conscience cleansed of dead works. The Old Testament Law of sacrifices could not do that. What are dead works? Dead works are either good works done with a wrong motive, or good works that we rely on as righteousness before God. For example, the Pharisees and the Sadducees didn’t see themselves as sinners, but as righteous, because they obeyed the external Law, they focused on the exterior, and in their minds they didn’t violate their conscience. They were moral and good people in their eyes. Their conscience didn’t accuse them, but boosted their self-confidence. They didn’t have a consciousness of sins, but a consciousness of dead works. In other words, they were more conscious of their good works than the multitude of their sins.

When believers in Christ think that because they fasted and prayed much, or because they didn’t do immoral things, or because they did some work of service for God, God should bless them or work with power through them, then their conscience is evil and full of dead works that needs to be cleansed of. Believers need to have the consciousness of Christ’s righteousness, and be aware of the fact that their approval before God, the favor of God, and the blessings of God are based only on Christ’s righteousness and not on their good works or spiritual disciplines. Not being conscious of our good works doesn’t mean that there is no absolute good in the world; it doesn’t mean that we should be oblivious to any good work or deny that good exists. Good works are good, God loves them and we should pursue them in greater measures. In fact, God is the One that has already prepared many good works in advance for us in Christ, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10), for which He will also reward us at the end. However, not being conscious of our good works means to not rely on those good works in our mind as a basis for receiving something from God. The same is with spiritual disciplines like fasting, praying, worshipping, or meditating on the Word. They are all very good and need to be done, because they change us and our mind to release greater faith in our lives, which will materialize more blessings for us into the natural world. However, these disciplines don’t change God, neither make Him do anything for us. He has already done everything for us and given us everything. The disciplines just help us to acquire faster and in a greater measure what God has already given us. Now let’s read about the other case of consciousness in Hebrews 10:

Hebrews 10:1–4 (NKJV) 

1 For the Law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 

3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 

4 For it’s not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 

This passage talks about not having a consciousness of sins anymore. That has been accomplished in Christ, but it could not have been accomplished during the Law. Atonement in the Old Testament just covered the sins temporarily. The blood of Jesus didn’t just cover our sins when it made atonement for us, but cleansed us from all our sins forever. Our sins – both past and present as well as future ones - have all been removed and taken away once and for all. That is why we should no longer be conscious of our sins. We shouldn’t see ourselves as sinners anymore, even when we still sin, because our future sins have been removed as well. Not being conscious of our sins doesn’t mean that sin is not sin anymore, that evil doesn’t exist, or that God has became softer with sin; it rather means not to focus on our sinful deeds, but on Christ’s righteousness. It means that on a continuous basis, when our conscience condemns us of something that we did wrong, we don’t dwell on our conscience’s condemnation, but come quickly in agreement with what the Word of God says about us, that we are still righteous through Christ, because the blood of Jesus has already removed that sinful deed.

I heard some preachers saying that in the New Covenant, not having a consciousness of sins means that there is no real good or evil anymore in the face of God, but only the Holy Spirit is now the One d...

Here we arrive to a major point that can change your relationship with God in a significant way if you understand this concept properly. The reason why God gave the Law was to bring your conscience back to a proper place, to the way that God intended it to function; back to the standard of God. The Law was an attempt to ”reset” and recalibrate the conscience. This was the purpose of the Law, namely The Ten Commandments. However, religion has missed the point and has propagated the idea that the reason God said “you shall not do this and that,” was because He wanted you to fulfill and obey all these commands, in order for you to be right with Him. But nobody can keep the Law. Nobody has ever kept the Law. That might be a radical statement to many people. Some of you may still think that God gave the Law to people so that they would keep it. It’s not true. You can never keep the Law. The Law was not given for you to keep. The Law was given to show you God’s standard of morality and perfection. If you yield to it, instantly it will cause your conscience to start functioning right, it would calibrate and tune your “internal moral monitoring system.” 

Imagine yourself for a moment as standing in quicksand and sinking and having everybody else around you in the same quicksand. If everybody is sinking at the same rate, most of those people will not notice it and the sinking rate will be relative, because everybody compares themselves with the others. However, if you have a pillar on solid ground with markers on it, even though everybody is sinking at the same rate, you can look at that pole and realize: “I am sinking, this is getting serious.” In this case, you have a fixed and immovable reference point. In the same way, the Law with the Ten Commandments was God’s immovable standard of right and wrong, and the reason God gave it was to re-activate your conscience and bring you back to where you would not have a dull, evil, and defiled conscience anymore, or a conscience that has been skewed by comparing yourself with other people. 

The Law was given to show you right and wrong, and to condemn you. The Law was not given to set you free, but to condemn you. 

2 Corinthians 3:7–9 (NKJV) 

7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 

8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 

9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 

The Ten Commandments were the only ones written and engraved in stones as this is mentioned in verse 7. Those Ten Commandments are called the ministry of death in verse 7 and the ministry of condemnation in verse 9. In the New Testament, Jesus came to give us life and Satan came to give us death:

John 10:10 (NKJV) 

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 

In the New Testament, Jesus made you free of condemnation, but the devil and your conscience continue to condemn you. The conscience is like a robot that knows only good and evil. The conscience knows only when you sinned, but it doesn’t know about the higher wisdom and righteousness of God in Christ that have already removed those sins that the conscience is condemning you with:

Romans 8:1 (NKJV) 

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

Jesus, Who fulfilled all the Law, and Whose life was in complete unison with the Law, is not condemning you when you sin; yet the Law condemns you and it has always been a ministry of condemnation. Jesus is not the One condemning you when you sin, but your conscience fueled by the Law.

1 Corinthians 15:56 (NKJV) 

56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. 

This passage tells us that sin produces death and that the strength of sin is the Law. Before I talk about sin and the Law, I would like to explain a little about what does sting of death mean. I personally didn’t understand this expression for years and I am sure that there are other Christians in the same situation. How does death sting people, including believers, through sin and what does that mean practically? When people sin, death itself stings them. It is similar to a scorpion sting or to an injection with a venom dose into their being. Once the sting happens, death begins to affect their personality, mind, thoughts, feelings, moods, and their physical body without them even realizing it, because death’s effects might not manifest immediately. How does death manifest in their lives? They will not lose their salvation if they are true believers, but death will affect the quality of their life here on earth. Sin brings condemnation and guilt that paralyze believers’ ability to serve God and people with full joy and peace, because their conscience is tainted by sin. They might begin to feel confused, depressed, discouraged, overwhelmed, or hopeless with no reason, and they will wonder why those things happened to them. Also, they will lose their peace, joy, and become weak in faith when it comes to facing various life situations. One reason for that is that death infiltrated their being through their sinful deeds and it began to affect them negatively. Similarly, the physical body is slowly affected by death. Those believers might experience certain sicknesses all of a sudden, age faster, and even die prematurely. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were stung by death, and from that moment onward, death started to work in them. Although not all the effects of death were seen immediately, slowly every part of their being was affected by it, until they finally died even physically. The rate of your sinning accelerates or slows down the manifestations of death in your life. That is one reason why we, as believers in Christ, are interested in walking in holiness, so that we would live longer, healthier, happier, and richer lives and fulfill the calling and the destiny that God has planned for us.

Now, let’s come back to the second part of the verse that we read earlier, where it talked about sin and the Law. The Law didn’t strengthen you in your battle against sin; it rather strengthened sin in its battle against you. How? Well, on one hand the Law raised the standard of right and wrong, and increased the sensitivity of your conscience. On the other hand, because of your spirit’s sinful nature inherited from Adam, when your dead spirit came in contact with a perfect and holy Law, it caused you to fail every time. As a result, it created in you the consciousness of a failing sinner in need of God. That is how the Law strengthened sin: it gave you both the conscience back, as well as a sinner-consciousness. Consciousness is a little different from conscience. Consciousness is a mindset, a w...

The Purpose and the Effects of Conscience

In Romans 1:18-20, we are shown that every person has a conscience. It’s impossible for you not to have a conscience. 

Romans 1:18–20 (NKJV) 

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 

19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them (not to them), for God has shown it to them. 

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen (not vague), being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Some people believe that there are human beings that don’t have a conscience, don’t have any conviction over sin, and that it’s only religion that imposed this knowledge of right and wrong upon people. Some say that all things would be so much better if there weren’t any religious people telling everybody what is right and what is wrong. However, this passage indicates that this knowledge is placed by God in everybody. It’s like a homing device telling you constantly that you are failing. Even though this is painful and none of us like it, it’s necessary for us. In order to receive salvation, you must first be aware of your need for salvation. 

A question might arise here in some people’s minds concerning Jesus and the conscience. Since Adam received the conscience after he sinned, and Jesus was born without sin, did Jesus have a conscience? Did He need one, since He never sinned? Of course, He had a conscience. First, He had a conscience because He had to retain all the attributes of humanity, except the sin nature. He had to be a man in all aspects, so that His sacrifice would be meaningful, and that humanity would be able to identify with Him in His death, as a payment for its sins. Second, having a conscience does not make one sinful. The conscience is holy, because it reflects God’s nature and moral standard. Jesus had a conscience because He was human, but He never violated it. 

The inquiring minds might go further with the questions and this is a very good thing. I always encourage questions from the Word of God. The next possible question is this: “Since Jesus had a conscience and He was also God, doesn’t that mean that God, the Father, or the Holy Spirit had a conscience too? After all, Genesis 3:22 shows us that the whole Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – had the knowledge of good and evil. In that passage, God said: ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.’ If God, the Father, knew good and evil, doesn’t that mean that He had a conscience too?”  Well, not really. Ask yourself this question: “Does God, the Father, really need a conscience?” I believe that God, the Father, has never had a conscience and that is why He didn’t create man with a conscience in the first place. At this point, you might really get alarmed: “What? Isn’t that heresy?” Well, I encourage you to be calm for a moment and think a little deeper about this together with me. God is righteous. He exists in righteousness and His very nature is righteousness. He does not have a moral compass that governs Him. By His very nature, God is right all the time. Everything God says and does is right and just. 

The concept of good and evil is so deeply ingrained in us, as human beings, that it is difficult to understand a perspective where good and evil do not exist. It is a human perspective to see God as the ultimate symbol of moral goodness. However, God is much more than that. He is righteousness. There is a difference between the two, and I will explain why. For instance, if you see God as simply moral, then His laws are open for moral debate. Moral standards change over time.  What is immoral for one culture is acceptable in another. You can debate morality forever, and never come to a point of agreement. This is particularly evident in the issue of same-sex marriage. God defined marriage only between a man and a woman. It is not open for discussion, but people have made it a moral and ethical argument. “How can two people who love each other not be allowed to marry? Who cares that they are same sex gendered?” Although I understand the logic behind this argument, it doesn’t matter, because God’s law is not ethical or moral – it is righteous. Therefore, God is right and there is no discussion. Simply the fact that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was that an immoral thing? No, not at all according to moral standards. What is so bad in eating the fruit of a tree? However, it was a capital sin and something immoral because God said so. Was something immoral the fact that Moses hit the rock the second time instead of speaking to it? No, it wasn’t a sinful thing in itself. However, it was a serious sin for which Moses was harshly punished by God, because God had told him to speak to the rock, and not hit it. Do you see the difference between a moral compass and righteousness? 

Now, let’s try to define evil based on what we’ve said so far. Because God is righteous, there are only two possible responses from humans to what God says. Obey God and live. Rebel against God and die. Anything that leads to death, distress, or judgment is what the Bible defines as evil. Evil is not an objective entity that is opposite to God. Evil is anything that leads to death, distress, or judgment, because it is rebellion against God. For man, this is a matter of moral choice: obey God, which is good, and live; reject God, which is evil, and die. However, for God, it’s a matter of truth. God said the wages of sin is death, thus when you sin you will surely die. God knows good and evil, not through a conscience, and neither because He experienced evil Himself, but because evil is anything that God isn’t. Evil is anything contrary to God’s nature, and contrary to His decrees which are truth. 

As I mentioned briefly earlier, when man ate from the forbidden tree, two things happened. First, man’s spirit died and became separated from God’s righteousness. Second, he received the conscience to distinguish between good and evil. Man’s spirit didn’t die because of the fruit in itself in the sense that the fruit imparted death to him. Man died simply because He disobeyed God’s command to not eat from that tree. When man violated God’s command, he became evil and knew evil, just because he came against the righteous command that God had given him. If the tree of knowledge of good and evil had imparted death and evil to man, then it should have been called the tree of death, or the tree of evil. After all, the other important tree was called the tree of life because it would have imparted eternal life to Adam’s body. However, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil imparted something to man - the conscience. Think about this for a moment. This is amazing! God is so smart. When God gave man the command to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God actually gave man the option to rebel against Him, and become evil, so that man would have freedom of choice. However, in the same time, God embedded the conscience in the very fruit of the forbidden tree. Conscience is the ability to distinguish between good and evil; it is a footprint of God’s righteousness, which reveals a little bit of God’s own nature. Man needed the conscience so that he would know immediately that he rebelled against God...

Do believers in Christ need to confess their sins? If yes, how should it be done and what is the importance of it? If they don’t need to confess their sins, why not? Can genuine born-again believers ever lose their salvation? In this series, we will have an extended discussion about the practice of confession of sins, conscience, righteousness, eternal security, and about overcoming temptations and living in holiness. Now, I have to admit and provide a little warning to my listeners that some of the things that I am going to share here are usually challenging and difficult to accept for a vast majority of Christians. However, I still encourage you to listen to the end and as you listen, put aside the things that you don’t understand temporarily, or things that you are not ready to accept yet. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things (John 14:26), He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13), and He will give you peace. The challenges of these topics don’t derive from the fact that I am looking to share something new, out of the ordinary, and shocking. The challenges come from the fact that these topics are quite different from the way they have been approached and practiced by the mainstream Christianity in general, especially when it comes to confession of sins, righteousness, and eternal security. However, they are things that I was convinced of by the Holy Spirit from the Word of God, and about which I cannot stay silent. 

What is presented in this book is what  the Holy Spirit has revealed directly to my wife and I, ‘precept upon precept,’ over a period of about thirteen years. These revelations were also shaped, refined, and confirmed by the teachings of various pastors and teachers from the body of Christ like Joseph Prince, Chris Oyakhilome, Curry Blake, Andrew Wommack, and Ryan Rufus. I am eternally grateful and thankful for these people through which God has worked so mightily in our lives and brought so much revelation, freedom, and peace. I want to give God and them the credit they so much deserve, as well as to attempt to pass on to others this powerful message of grace and righteousness to the best of my ability.

As a general principle, a lie does not become truth just because it has been propagated for hundreds of years throughout history, or because the majority of people has accepted it as truth. From time to time, people of God need to re-evaluate some of the existing doctrines in Christendom to see if they are really in line with the Word of God. 

A good friend of mine shared with me a funny story from his family when he got married and used to go to his wife’s family for different holiday dinners. He noticed that while this family was preparing to do some roasted pork legs they would always cut and throw away a good part of the pork legs. My friend started asking the ladies who were cooking why did they do that. The answer that he got was that they always did it that way, because that’s what the recipe called for. So he began a little investigation on his own in his wife’s family to find out why they did it that way and threw away such good meat. He asked his wife, his sisters-in-law, and his mother-in-law, until he found out the reason behind it: his wife’s great-grandmother first cut that part of the pork legs because they didn’t fit in her cooking tray. Wow! That is quite a reason, isn’t it? It’s hilarious, I know, how a silly habit can be passed down from generation to generation without ever being questioned. But it’s true, it happens a lot of times and in many areas of our lives. I am sure you have your own examples of the kind. 

Some of the beliefs that you hold today as a Christian might have been simply taken from your parents, pastors, friends, and teachers without ever being challenged or questioned in a constructive way. You’re probably not even aware of this. You don’t need to believe everything I say here or take my word for it, but consider this time while you read, a season of re-evaluation of some of your beliefs, and check again for yourself from the Scripture and with an open mind if what I am saying is according to the Scripture or not. 

I would like to begin creating the context for the discussion about confession of sins and righteousness by first talking about the human conscience and its purpose.

The Human Conscience

The Origin of Conscience

Genesis 2:15–17 (NKJV) 

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 

God gives here a command to Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that he would eat, he would surely die. Then Satan comes and tempts Eve with deception, by bringing doubt about the word of God that was spoken to them. As we all know, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree and something interesting happened to them when they did, besides the fact that their spirit died instantly and was separated from God. Let’s read it in Genesis 3:6-7:

Genesis 3:6–7 (NKJV) 

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 

This passage tells us that the moment they ate from the fruit, their eyes were opened. What eyes? Didn’t they see before? Of course, they have been seeing perfectly before, but they have been walking and seeing by faith. They were dominated more by the spiritual world in their inner vision and perception. The spiritual things were more real to them than the physical things. However, when they ate of that fruit, their perception of spiritual things diminished, and their perception of the physical things became dominant. We consider it to be normal today the way you and I see, feel, and think right now, but it’s actually abnormal compared to the way God created us initially. And through the new birth, we receive a new spirit inside of us that is capable again to walk by faith and not by sight. Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, 17 the following:

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

We are called to walk by faith in what the Word says about our new identity and not walk by what we see with our physical eyes. We can behold and perceive that all things have become new for us through the eyes of the new spirit. We, as New Testament believers, should go back to the way Adam and Eve were intended to be. The spiritual realm together with what the new spirit holds inside of us should be more real to us than anything else. That has to become more real to us than this natural, physical...