THE VEIL OVER EVANGELICAL THINKING
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:5)
I guess I am going to keep on harping on the same old theme. We Christians must start keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. This is what I think the Lord has burdened me to put on the Internet, and I had better be obedient.
Recently a brother showed me a newsletter from a prominent Christian writer. In the newsletter the statement was made that people must keep God’s commandments and if they do not there are penalties. Then he spoiled his whole exhortation by reminding us we are saved by grace, meaning whether or not we keep God’s commandments we will go to Heaven anyway.
Divine grace, which is God in Christ enabling us to serve God, simply is not an alternative to obeying God. This is what drives me nuts! The writer of the newsletter, beyond all question, is devout, intelligent, and well educated, with a good command of the English language.
This tells me that the blindness is spiritual. The illogic is spiritual. For whatever reason, God has permitted a veil to blanket the perception of intelligent Christian leaders so that they cannot see what is stated plainly in the New Testament.
Or maybe it is a case of the emperor’s new clothes. Maybe we are so afraid of one another, we fear to buck the party line. All the editions of the New Testament I have read follow the party line. They chorus with one voice: “You shall not surely die!”
It is no fun to be a maverick and it doesn’t win you many friends. (The few you do have are marvels of faithfulness and integrity.)
Let’s do this. Let’s take a verse or two from the sixth chapter of Romans, a passage from first John, and finish with verses from the fifth chapter of Ephesians.
I have gone through the sixth chapter of Romans in previous essays, and so will only mention a verse or two. But the entire sixth chapter of Romans proves beyond doubt that current Evangelical teaching is 180 degrees off course. Read it and see for yourself.
First John is one long exhortation to Christians to quit sinning, warning them that they are liars if they say they belong to Christ and continue in sin. You know what? My Evangelical edition of the New Testament says that the theme of first John is to give believers assurance of salvation. If American Christians have any more assurance of salvation, the nation will perish. I’m okay, you’re okay, sin is okay, the country is okay, Satan is okay, God is okay. The only problem is, fetuses are being aborted, children are being molested, the youth have little or no (or the wrong kind of) moral training, the adults are drowning in lust, pornography, the amassing of money, sports, entertainment, violence, drunkenness, and witchcraft, and the older people are retiring from life when in the prime of their ability to contribute to society.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire [lust], and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, (Colossians 3:5,6)
Slander, gossip, bitterness, unforgiveness, strife, anger, party loyalties, are found in the Christian churches—perhaps even your church. Right? Other than that, everything is swell. You can ask your Pastor.
And somehow first John, which was written to believers so they would keep God’s commandments, has as its theme “to give the readers assurance of salvation”? Up is down, crooked is straight, square is round.
I became excited when God first spoke to me about this topic. Then I became angry because people did not understand, which did no good at all. Now I sit at the computer. Later I will go to be with the Lord and find out whether I was actually hearing from Him. Back to our topic.
My purpose in writing this essay is to prove to God’s people that:
- We must keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.
- If we do not, we will reap destruction in the Day of Christ.
- We will not be “saved anyway by grace and go to a mansion in Paradise,” at least not according to the Scripture.
I will mention a verse or two from the sixth chapter of Romans, then a passage from first John, and conclude with Paul’s exhortation to the saints in Ephesus.
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:6)
How many can see Romans 6:6 means that “Now that you are a Christian, it does not matter whether you sin because you are saved by grace”? Raise your hand. Yikes! — the whole church.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (Romans 6:12)
How many can see Romans 6:12 means “You don’t have to worry about sin because you are saved by grace, and if Christ wants you to stop sinning, He will do it in you without your help”? Again, the whole church. Mother, you never said it would be like this!
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13)
Many will say, “Romans 6:13 means you are saved by grace through faith apart from any effort on your part. If you try to live righteously, you are a legalist and a Pharisee.”
I’d better leave the sixth chapter of Romans. There is no end to this. Who needs to be logical? I have a friend, Mark Overton, who maintains that a hundred thousand lemmings can’t be wrong, so if you can’t lick ’em why not join ’em?
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)
First John is one long exhortation concerning sin in the Christian life. John does not mince words.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:3,4)
How many can see I John 2:3,4 means… . Not that again! Let’s move on.
And everyone who has this hope [of being like Jesus] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (I John 3:3)
Every believer who hopes to be like Jesus and see Him as He is purifies himself or herself from the love of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and self-will and stubbornness. He doesn’t attempt to purify his neighbor, he doesn’t attempt to purify the government, he doesn’t attempt to purify the unsaved, he purifies himself. He does this by confessing and turning away from the filthiness of his flesh and spirit, calling on Jesus for help.
He purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
Is this what is says? Did I come close to the text? Or does it mean we are saved by grace anyway?
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. (I John 3:4)
John, being a devout Jew, would be referring to the Law of Moses, particularly the Ten Commandments. We Christians do not know that the Law of Moses is a guardian servant that brings us to Christ. The Law is always there ready to judge us if we continue in sin.
Sin is the breaking of the moral law of God. We are free from the Law of Moses provided we count ourselves crucified with Christ and risen with Christ, and act accordingly! The tremendous error of our day is that we can continue in the flesh and by confessing Christ, be relieved from the condemnation imposed by the Law.
It is true rather that the purpose of the Law is to persuade us that we should be married to Christ and bring forth the fruit of Christ’s Nature in our personality.
But let not that individual, whether or not he professes faith in Christ, who continues to walk in the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, suppose for one moment that he is free from the moral law of God as expressed in the writings of Moses. He is not free. God will have no creature continue to live under no law. Judgment will not be long in coming.
Again, did I depart wildly from the verse?
And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (I John 3:5)
Sin was forgiven under the old covenant through means of animal sacrifices. I have heard it taught that the sins were not really forgiven, but the animal sacrifice only looked forward to the atonement made by Christ. I don’t think this is true. The book of Leviticus states several times that the sins were forgiven, and I would rather stick with the Scripture than get into deception from human reasoning.
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:24,25)
The difference between the old and new covenants is not that sins were not actually forgiven under the old and are forgiven under the new.
The difference is that under the old covenant, sins were only forgiven, but under the new covenant, they are both forgiven and then removed. This is why the new covenant is superior — it both forgives and removes sins.
Christ was manifested to take away our sins (I John 3:5), not just to forgive our sins, but to take away our sins, which means we don’t have to sin. There is no sin in Christ, and there is to be no sin in the person who is abiding in Christ.
Regardless of any analysis of the verbs and participles of the Greek language, hypothetical applications, allegorical reasoning, similitudes, or explanations of any other type, the sense of the book of first John is that the purpose of Christ is to take away our sins, and if we are continuing in sin, we have no part in Him.
If we grasp the sense of a book of the Bible, then we won’t get into distortions or misapplications of a given passage, as has happened with Romans 6:23, Hebrews 2:3, and Hebrews 6:4-6 for example.
There is no sin in Christ. If we say we are part of Him, and then do not work with Him in purifying ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, we have not seen Him and we do not know Him. This is what John is saying.
Reread first John and see if our interpretation is sound, and not being forced in any area.
I think you will agree with me that this passage, at least, is not an assurance of salvation. Rather, it is an exhortation and warning concerning how we must live our life in relationship to Christ.
Okay so far?
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. (I John 3:6)
The idea is if we are continuing in sin, we have neither seen Christ nor known Him. We all sin from time to time. The point is how we regard sin and what we do about it.
If we confess our sin, naming it before the Lord, resolve to turn away from it with the Lord’s help, then we are forgiven and cleansed
But if we reason away the necessity for deliverance from sin, then we are outside the Scripture.
The current Evangelical doctrine is that we ought to try to do good, but even if we don’t, we will go to Heaven by grace. This is a lie. This is straight from Satan. The Scripture does not teach that even if you fail to overcome, you will still receive the rewards designated for the overcomer.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (I Corinthians 6:9,10)
“But Brother Thompson, if what you say is true, then most believers in the United States are not in line for the blessing of the Lord at His appearing.” This is precisely what I am saying and intend to keep on saying in order to save as many of the believers as I can from the wrath of an angry Christ.
If there are ten victorious saints in the United States then these ten will receive the rewards assigned to the overcomer. The Word of God will never, never change. No matter how many of us gang up against God and His Word, nothing will change. If you as a Christian live in the appetites of your flesh, you will reap destruction in the Day of Resurrection. If you as a Christian sow to the Spirit of God, you will reap eternal life in the Day of Resurrection.
No amount of reasoning will change the Kingdom principle of sowing and reaping. If things don’t change among Evangelicals, the end is going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
If we continue in sin, we neither have seen nor known Jesus Christ the Lord. Period!
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. (I John 3:7)
If there were no verse in the Bible other than I John 3:7, we would know that we have been deceived. We would know the current Evangelical doctrine is incorrect.
Let no man deceive you. It is not always the devil who deceives us, but often man. It is up to you to not let some person convince you that you can ignore the commandments of Christ and His Apostles and still be accepted by the Lord.
The believer who practices righteous behavior, obeying the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, is righteous just as the Lord Jesus is righteous.
Isn’t this what it says?
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:8)
I John 3:8 does not mean if you commit a sin, you no longer are of Christ but of Satan. In terms of the entire book of first John, it is a warning to the Christian who wants to continue in sin thinking he is being saved “by grace.” It is a reaction against Gnosticism, particularly against antinomianism, which teaches that we are saved by grace apart from works of righteousness.
John is pointing out that we can detect a true Christian by his behavior. If he practices righteousness, he is of Christ. If he is continuing in sin, he is of the devil because whoever continues to sin is following the ways of the devil.
For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;
lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness [immorality] which they have practiced. (II Corinthians 12:20,21)
The Lord Jesus was not revealed in order to forgive the works of the devil, but to destroy the works of the devil in your life and mine.
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. (I John 3:9)
The part of your personality that has not been born of God is sinful. It is up to you to pray to the Lord continually for strength to make your animal body obey the commandments of Christ.
The part of your personality that has been born again of Christ will not sin because it is of the Divine Nature.
Our first, adamic nature must serve and obey God until the new Divine Nature comes to maturity in us. If we do not obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, Christ will not be formed in us and we are facing destruction in the Day of the Lord. This is what the Apostle Paul teaches in several places (Romans 8:13, for example).
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. (I John 3:10)
How do you know a child of God? It is the believer who is keeping the commandments of Christ and who loves his brothers and sisters in the Lord.
How do you know a child of the devil? It is the believer who is not keeping the commandments of Christ, who is filled with slander, gossip, criticism, backbiting, malice, unforgiveness, strife, anger, a divisive spirit.
If you are in a church situation that is causing you to be filled with slander, gossip, criticism, backbiting, malice, unforgiveness, strife, anger, a divisive spirit, and you can’t get victory no matter how hard you try, let me suggest that you go to a church with which you are in agreement. The Holy Spirit cannot work in an assembling divided in this manner.
I don’t think anyone could accuse us of distorting the passage from John we have selected. Our interpretation follows the teaching of the entire text. But you can see readily, if this is the case, what implications this has for current Christian teaching.
John speaks much of the need for us to keep God’s commandments. Some have taught that the only commandment we must obey is to believe in Christ and that the only law is the law of love. This is not true. The New Testament is filled with commandments.
I have chosen the fifth chapter of Ephesians for an example of New Testament commandments. Also in this chapter there is a stern warning concerning the consequences of not keeping the commandments. I could have chosen passages from other epistles just as easily.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)
It is in the area of the stern warning concerning the consequences of not keeping the commandments that the battle is joined. I think most sincere Christians would agree that we should keep the New Testament commandments, the exhortations of Christ and His Apostles. The problem is, today’s teaching is that even if we don’t keep them, we still go to Heaven by grace.
You will soon discover that Ephesians chapter 5 does not agree with the teaching that even if we do not do what the Apostles and Christ have commanded, we still will go to Heaven by grace.
Remember, the famous passage about being saved by grace is also in the book of Ephesians (2:8,9). Is Paul now contradicting himself in chapter 5? Or is it possible that by ignoring Ephesians 2:10 we have misunderstood 2:8,9? I don’t think Paul was so stupid he would contradict himself in the same epistle. Do you?
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; (Ephesians 5:1-3)
Fornication—let it not even be named among you. This is a New Testament commandment. What if we don’t obey it?
All uncleanness—let it not even be named among you. This is a New Testament commandment. What if we don’t obey it? Will Christ be formed in us anyway? Will we go to Heaven anyway by grace?
Covetousness—let it not even be named among you. This is a New Testament commandment. What if we don’t obey it? What if we continue in the greedy amassing of money? Will we go to Heaven anyway by grace?
Numerous Christians in America are destroying their spiritual life because of their interest in laying up quantities of money. The Bible teaches if we have more money than we need, we should assist the brother or sister who is poor. The Bible teaches also that we should lay up treasures in Heaven. But many believers greedily store up money for their old age—much more than is reasonable. Then they die before they use it and their children waste it. Will Christ be formed in them in any case?
What about the Kingdom of God? Will greed affect our entrance into the Kingdom of God?
Let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints. The term “saints” means holy people. What if a believer does not lead a holy life? Is he or she saved anyway?
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:4)
Filthiness—let it not even be named among you. A commandment.
Foolish talking—let it not even be named among you.
Such behavior is not suitable, not fitting for a Christian. It should not be found among us even once!
Give thanks instead. A New Testament commandment.
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. (Revelation 22:11,12)
(We are still referring to Ephesians 5:1-4.)
What if we ignore the commandments of Christ and His Apostles? What if we keep on in moral filthiness and foolish talking (the two go together because lust makes an individual silly, it destroys stern character). Do you hear foolish talking in your assembling? Many Christians have a hard time refraining from foolish talking!
The question is, can we keep on with fornication, all uncleanness, covetousness, moral filthiness, and foolish talking, and still go to Heaven by grace when we die? Will we hear anything negative at the Judgment Seat of Christ because of such behavior?
Well, will we or won’t we? It is time to make up our mind. The coming of the Lord is at hand. How serious was Paul when he wrote these commandments?
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:5)
No fornicator, unclean, covetous (greedy) person has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. What? “But but but…”
A couple of questions arise.
Is Paul talking to Christians? Of course he is. Otherwise he would be implying that if the unsaved ceased their moral filthiness and greediness, they would inherit the Kingdom of God. Of course Paul is speaking to the saints in Ephesus.
Will a believer in Christ be barred from the Kingdom of Christ and God if he or she continues in sin? Of course! This is what the Word of God states, unless Paul was not speaking by the Spirit of God.
If I am barred from the Kingdom of Christ and of God, can I still go to Heaven and live in a mansion?
The New Testament does not talk about living forever in Heaven in a mansion. This is something we made up. The New Testament, beginning with the four Gospels, is speaking of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. The stuff about mansions in Heaven, although traditional, is actually mythology. (When you pick yourself up off the floor you may continue.)
There is a Heaven and there is a Hell. But the New Testament is not about escaping Hell and living in Heaven; it is about passing from spiritual death to spiritual life and entering the Kingdom of God.
Our eternal destiny is to be part of the royal priesthood, to have fellowship with Christ, to rule the saved nations of the earth.
You and I will be barred from eternal life, from the royal priesthood, from fellowship with Christ, and from the thrones that will govern the saved people of the nations of the earth, if we do not become new creatures of righteous behavior.
Perhaps God chose to overlook the foolish, mythologic doctrines of the past. I don’t know. I do know that in spite of the “faith alone” and “dispensation of grace” doctrines, many fine Christians have come forth. But they have done so in spite of the doctrine, not because of it.
What fruit would have been produced during the Church Era if people had obeyed Christ and His Apostles!
The past is past. What has been done has been done.
We are now in the time of the maturing of the wheat and the tares. Christ will come to unprecedented fullness in the righteous. Antichrist will come to unprecedented fullness in the wicked. There will no longer be a place in the middle. The lukewarm will be vomited from the mouth of Christ.
The holy will become exceedingly holy. The filthy will become exceedingly filthy.
The way of the Lord will be made straight. Choose this day whom you will serve.
Either what I have written is true, or it is not. If it is scriptural, it is true, and the Evangelical churches to a great extent have abandoned the New Testament.
You know, the Bible states that:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28,29)
Now, how do we get out of the above passage that God is a great bundle of love, and Christ came to earth because He loves mankind so much He was not happy in Paradise? The truth is, Christ came to earth in obedience to God, not because He was overcome with love for people. Remember that Christ prayed that He would not be required to drink the cup of suffering. Yet He surely knew that His blood and suffering was the only means of redeeming mankind.
It might be partly true that the Father and Christ wipe away tears in Heaven, being overcome with love for the wandering sheep. But the whole truth is, God is building a family for Himself. This is why God created mankind. Everyone has the opportunity to embrace the immortality God is offering. Some respond in faith. But God has stated that some, because their behavior is demonic rather than godly, will be removed from the Book of Life and thrown into the Lake of Fire. God created the Lake of Fire, not Satan.
Imagine the Pastor of a megachurch, having brought thousands of people to “Christ,” standing before the Lord. The Pastor was expecting Jesus to open His arms and treat him like a long-lost relative.
Christ said to him, “Pastor, I know about your megachurch. I also know that you corrupted five young women who did not read their Bibles but trusted your artful eloquence. You did not bring them to Christ. Like the entire congregation, with few exceptions, you brought them to yourself. Your new eternal address is on Hell Street in the Lake of Fire.”
“But what about grace?”, the Pastor questioned arrogantly.
The Lord Jesus responded, “The purpose of God’s grace is to forgive and assist those who sincerely are endeavoring to please God, not to blind God to the behavior of those who purport to be serving Him but in actuality are deliberately sinning.”
What will happen to us if we deliberately sin?
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26,27—NASB)
A concluding one-liner for you:
The blood of Christ does not keep on covering the known sin we keep on practicing.
(“The Veil Over Evangelical Thinking”, 4357, proofed 20230704)