Seems like an odd statement for Jesus to make doesn’t it? I mean who has ever lived that has not sinned? Doesn’t Paul say in Rom.3:23 that “all have sinned”?
But, here Jesus is telling these Jews that if He had not told them they would have no sin. And with a title like this I am tempted to go straight to Luke1:5,6. And just to be thorough I think I will spend just a little while on it using this passage before we look more fully at what Jesus said in John15.
Because in Luke1:5,6 we find what would be a contradiction to Paul’s teaching in Rom.3:23, that is if we misunderstand what Paul was really saying there. Because when he says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, he is referring to what he quoted from Psalm14 and 53.
And in these Psalms, like so many passages that are quoted by those with ulterior motives, the first verse gives us the context through which we can correctly interpret what the writer is teaching. And the first verse tells us the sub group being referenced here are those who “say in their heart there is no God.”
This is crucial for understanding what Paul said in Rom.3. Because in Rom.3 we find him quoting Ps.14 and 53 saying things like “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
But, remember who are the “they” here. “They” are those who say in their heart there is no God. “They” are those whose “throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
So these are not every man that has ever been born into this world. These are a sub group of people who say in their heart there is no God. So this certainly does not apply to those who have trusted in God and believed on the name of Jesus. Right?
So why do people interpret that Rom.3:23 is referring to every man that has ever lived? Because they have believed the gnostic lie popularized in the church by the false teachings of Augustine that teach that the flesh is evil. And having believed that lie they take every scripture they possibly can including passages found in Rom.7, Psalm51, and elsewhere and try to make them say that the flesh is evil.
But, like I said earlier by choosing to believe the gnostic lies they must contradict themselves when reading what Luke wrote regarding Zachariah and Elisabeth in ch.1:5,6. Because Luke says here that “5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
This being true then what sin could these 2 people have possibly committed? Luke says they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. For this to be true they must not have ever violated even one of the commandments and ordinances. Because James said in ch.2 vs.10, “10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
So right here with this one verse we find the truth that exposes the error of the gnostic teaching of Rom.3:23 to mean all men who have ever lived have sinned. Because clearly these2 were an exception. And if these 2 were then we know there have been others. In fact, I contend that this was the norm for the Jews under the law. And not the exception.
This is why we must understand what Paul said in Rom.3:23 to mean that only those who say in their heart there is no God are the “all have sinned” he is talking about. And not every man that has ever been born into this world.
And when we do this we are making our first steps away from the gnostic heresy that considers the flesh to be evil. And it’s drive toward a false understanding of who God is, who Jesus is, and what the atonement was really for.
So that we don’t wind up worshipping a false god. A god who could not have come in the same flesh all men have. A belief that John says is of the spirit of antichrist. The very spirit that will reign when the man of sin plucks up 3 of the 10 kings by the roots and comes to power. Causing all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to take his mark in their right hand or forehead.
To the truth the word of God contains that tells us that we need Jesus because only He has conquered our mortality. By coming as a man in the same flesh all men have. Tempted in all points just as we are yet without sin. And that by trusting in Him and His resurrection we will be born of God to have eternal life now. And immortality at the resurrection.
Eternal life and immortality made possible only through faith in Jesus. Just as He was telling the Jews in John15 when He said, 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.”
And in John16 where He told them what the Holy Spirit would do when He comes saying,
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;…” John16:8,9
Think about what I have just read to you. Jesus said if a person didn’t know it was sin then their sin isn’t counted against them. Or something to that effect. But, most people when they think of sin don’t apply this sort of rational toward the one committing it.
They will say it doesn’t matter whether you know it is sin. Sin is still sin. And it must be punished because God is holy. But, that isn’t what Jesus said here, is it? So they must be getting these beliefs from somewhere else.
And why didn’t He? We can find out by looking at what James and Paul taught. James wrote in his epistle “to him who knows the good he aught to do and does not do it to him it is sin.” Sounds a lot like what Jesus said here in John15 doesn’t it? Because knowing the sin when a man does it comes from being told before hand that it is sin. And Jesus was saying to them that only when he knows it is sin can he be held accountable for it.
This is also what Paul meant when he wrote in Rom.5:13 about the sin of Adam and all those who lived from Adam until Moses. He wrote, “For until the law sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
This should clear up what Jesus told them in John15. That it was because He had come to them and told them as the law told all of Israel of the sin they are now accountable for, and that sin was that they would not believe in Him, that their sin remained. That sin is unbelief. The only sin that has ever been able to keep a man from going to heaven. Yes, even under the law.
So because they were Jews their sins they may have committed under the law. And now the sin of unbelief because they would not believe Jesus is their messiah, was the sin that remained. This is where what Jesus told them in John16:8,9 comes in.
Because here Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come to reprove the world, not believers, of sin. And that sin was unbelief. The only sin that has ever kept a man from going to heaven.
This is Paul’s intent in 2Cor.5:19 when he taught “that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” This speaks specifically to the sins Israel committed while under the law.
So after Jesus died those sins Israel committed while under the law were forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. So that now if they will trust in Him and His resurrection they will have eternal life. They will be born again as Jesus told Nicodemus he must be to see the kingdom of God.
But, if they would not then their sins remain just as Jesus told them. And those sins will testify of their unbelief at the judgment. Because rather than trust in Jesus they chose to remain under the law where no man will find life. For there was never a law given that could give life. Gel.3:21
This is also why in Mt.7:23 Jesus told them that He would say to those who He sent away from Him at the judgment, “…I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” So it’s “I never knew you”, caused by their “work of iniquity” that was their belief that their works could save them.
So to keep sin from reigning in our life our focus must be on Jesus. On our relationship with Him. And not on works of the law as those in Mt.7 did. Because when we focus on Jesus we will be led by the Holy Spirit who leads and guides us in the truth.
The truth that forgiveness was for those who were under the law. And repentance, from the law for Israel(Rom.7:1-6), and from idols for the rest of us(1Thes.1:9), is what joins us to Jesus and eternal life.
This salvation is for all men. Even for those who have never sinned by breaking any of the commandments like Zachariah and Elisabeth. Because man’s need for salvation is not because he may have done bad things. Man’s need is life. And that life is only had by those who trust in Jesus and His resurrection. Because He said He came that we might have life abundantly.
When we trust in Him God creates a spirit in us that was never there before(1Cor.15:45,46). A spirit that joins us to Him as a Father is joined to His child. Making us God’s children and therefore heirs to His kingdom. Having eternal life now and immortality at the resurrection.
This is why if you will trust in Jesus you will have eternal life. And if you will do this then your eternal home will be heaven where there is love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. If you will do this… then I will see you there or in the air!
