In Heb.5 Paul was teaching them about maturity as a believer. He said milk is for babes who have not matured to be able to eat meat. And that strong meat is for those who by reason of use have exercised their senses to be able to discern between good and evil.
But, because these for the time they had been believers in the OT and now the NT should have been able to eat the meat of the word and skillful in it’s use, still had not yet grown to maturity and had need of milk. His reproof being a gentle reminder that like most of us they needed to spend more time in God’s word.
Because it is by doing this that faith, that is our relationship with Jesus, grows. To become people who are mature who can discern between good and evil. So that when reading scriptures, especially those that are more difficult to understand, we will not read into them notions that come from our own thinking. And will read them in context.
We can encounter these things when we read scriptures like 2Tim.3:5-7 where Paul makes a reference to the power of God being denied while still having “a form of godliness”.
In this passage Paul speaks of deliverance from sin. Not power for doing signs and wonders. In the New Covenant signs and wonders in these last days are mostly said to be a guarantee that an attempt is being made to deceive. Not to build anyone’s faith. Because that’s not what signs and wonders ever are for.
So if you see them be sure to listen very carefully to the message that comes with them. Because it is in the message, the words that come from their heart, that we are able to be sure whether they are from God or the devil.
In Mt.24 Jesus told Israel that the discernment that comes by reason of use of the word of God would be necessary for them to be able to tell the difference. Which means that this is how they would be equipped to recognize truth from error.
And the ability to recognize truth from error comes from a good basic knowledge and understanding of the word of God. Because it is only from the word of God that faith is gotten. Not from seeing signs and wonders. Nor are signs and wonders proof that the one doing them is from God.
This is why when Paul uses the word power in this passage it is not to be understood as the kind of power that manifests in signs and wonders. But, the power of God’s deliverance from death to life. And from sin itself.
In Rom.10:17 Paul said “Faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God.” So we know that attaining faith is in the hearing of the word of God. And it is in continuing to hear the word of God that our faith grows.
Because as we hear the word of God we are building in us a greater and greater frame of reference of the truth that comes from God. Truth that we can draw from as we see and hear things as we experience life. And the greater the frame of reference we have the better equipped we are to make sure what we see and hear is understood truthfully and not in error.
This is what Paul was saying when he told us faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And our ability to hear God grows as we continue to hear more and more of God’s word.
This is why as we look again at 2Tim.3:5-7 and the power Paul speaks of here. We know that this is a reference to what happens to a man when he is delivered by God from death to life. Because when this happens every man it happens to is delivered from sin itself.
Now on the negative side, if we are being deceived by false teaching, we will grow in that belief. And it will grow stronger and stronger in us when we continue to hear it. Until it becomes so ingrained in our thinking that we become slaves to it. Just as Paul says believers are slaves to righteousness.
So that everything we hear and read from the word of God is now subject to it for understanding as well. So that our interpretation of all that we experience, hear, and read will also be subject to it.
Now because this channel’s main goal is to help people to be set free from the error of original sin and sin nature, I’m going to use them for our example.
For starters, if you will do a simple search in a KJV concordance for sin nature you will find that these words are never used together anywhere in the Bible. And if you will look at the passages where an NIV or living interpretation of the Bible uses the phrase sin nature you will find that the original Greek does not say that either.
Which means that any belief in sin nature can only come from hearing it taught by someone who has been deceived by it. And sadly just as faith in the truth comes by hearing it, as a man continues to hear sin nature taught, and is convinced that it is true, his belief in it will also grow.
So much so that when he reads the Bible he begins to see sin nature everywhere. Even though neither the phrase nor the concept is even once used by any of the writers of the Bible.
This is made possible by creating the mindset that sin nature is real. By teaching it continually from a text that as I have shown here makes no mention of it. So that people begin to believe it as Hitler said they would saying, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.”
This is the tactic those who teach original sin and sin nature have employed. Because that doctrines from the same devil that controlled Hitler’s thoughts and beliefs.
Believing sin nature then is what causes a person to deny the power of godliness to deliver from sin. By making the believer in this case subject to it still so that he must sin continually. Because to them a man’s sin nature governs his choices even after he has come to faith in Jesus.
This is also why this kind of person misinterprets 1John1:9 as if it means to help cleanse him from this continual sin cycle he is in because of his sin nature. But, as I showed in my last lesson, this interpretation is a direct contradiction to what John writes a little later in his letter in ch.3 saying in vs.8,9,
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
So if we are to have access to this “power” that delivers utterly from sin, and not deny itas those with only “a form of godliness”, we must learn what Paul meant when he said, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
He is telling us that in the last days perilous times come because men will reject God’s power to save those who believe in Jesus completely and utterly from sin. For this and other reasons then we must reject any notion that man has a sin nature. Or that all men choices are governed by what Augustine called necessity.
And in the same vain we must also reject the doctrine of original sin. Because it is totally and completely dependent upon the belief that Adam’s sin was imputed to all men.
When in complete contrast Paul said in Rom.5:13 when speaking of the sin of Adam and the rest of mankind before the law came through Moses, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
To show that the belief in imputed sin and its sister imputed righteousness is an unBiblical concept. Taught by those who as Paul said “have a form of godliness but deny its power.”
In this passage Paul was confirming what Ezekiel said in ch.18 vs.20 when he said, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
This is more evidence that both imputed sin and imputed righteousness is an unBiblical doctrine. And that those who believe such things, “oppose themselves” and have need of “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by the devil at his will.”
To remedy these problems in understanding the word of God Paul says we need to study to show thyself a workman who is approved of God. Who knows how to rightly divide His word. And as we do this we examine ourselves by laying our beliefs along side the scriptures to see if what we have believed is true.
If the scripture says sin is not imputed from Adam to Moses because there was no law. Then we need to believe that before the law no one’s sin was imputed to them. If we do not believe this then our argument will not so much be with each other. As it is with God. Because it is God who inspired Paul to write this.
And if we have a problem with God then it may be that we do not know Him. Or His salvation. And if we do not know God we do not have eternal life. Because Jesus said “This is eternal life. That ye might know him and His Son whom He hath sent.”
But, if you want eternal life and have been deceived by the doctrine of original sin and sin nature all you need to do is repent. Turn from that doctrine to the objective and contextual truth that is in God’s word.
The truth that men do not have a need for Jesus because they are bad or can not keep the law. Men need Jesus because they are not spiritual, but natural. And as natural men we can not perceive the things of the Spirit of God. So that we can not know God for eternal life.
To be made a spiritual being Jesus said “Ye must be born again.” Because what is born of the flesh is only flesh. And what is born of the Spirit is spirit. And it is this 2nd birth that gives us eternal life. Because it is this 2nd birth that makes it possible for us to know Jesus.
Paul said in Rom.10:9,10 that if we will confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in our hearts that He has raised from the dead. We shall be saved. Because with the heart man believes and is righteous. Just as Abraham was. And it is with the mouth that confession is made unto salvation.
If you will do this then you will have eternal life. If you will do this then you will be a child of God and heir to His kingdom. And if you will do this and keep diligently seeking God you will mature to be a mature child of God who can easily discern between good and evil. If you will do this… then I will see you there or in the air!
