The truth in

Volume 2, Issue 8 August 2012

Romans 6 In Romans 6 vs. 12 we are told not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. The words there imply that we have a choice to let sin have its way or not, it is up to us. Our enemy, who is out to destroy us, would have us believe that we are just sinners saved by grace The truth is we were sinners and we are saved by grace. We are saved from sin; sin is now dead in our lives. As we read in Romans 6 we either offer ourselves as slaves to sin, which leads to death or we are obedient to God which leads to righteousness (Vs. 16). Most of us know the story of The Little Engine That Could, you remember, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Well there is a lot of truth in that story. If you think you can, you will, if you think you cant, you wont. To think that I am just a sinner is to believe the lie of Satan, and already be defeated and living out the lie, Sin you will and sin you must. You are not a sinner, you were, but now you are saved by grace. You must believe that Jesus died on the cross to sanctify you and that you are holy, that sin is no longer your master and that you can live an overcoming life in Him. Our old way of life was crucified with Christ, our old sin self was done away with; we in Christ are dead to sin (vs. 6). But positive thinking will only carry us so far, we dont just have to think it, we need to know it, we must have our thoughts in line with what we know to be true. As you think is as you are. You are not beaten, the prize is already won, and while the war is won, the battle for our souls wages on. We, each of us, have to decide that I am dead to sin. Think on it, dwell on it as long as it takes to internalize this fact, and then live like it, make it a part of you, take it home and put it to bed, its a done deal, know it in your heart. We are no longer dead in sin, but we are dead to sin and made alive in Christ Jesus. We are baptized into Christ; vs. 3 starts out with Do you not know; therein lies the problem, us not knowing the Truth, that as Christians we, each of us, are Baptized into Christ. We are immersed, surrounded with, and in Christ. That is what baptism symbolizes our being dead to the old ways of life and of our being raised to new life in Christ. We must not let/allow sin to reign in our lives, not just on Sundays or while we are at church or with other Christians. But also when we are at work, or with friends, or when we are by ourselves, that is called integrity. And is not just positive thinking, sure positive thinking can get you on track but it is in and with Christ that temptation can be defeated. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). Every sin can be overcome, dont allow yourself to submit to any exception because that exception will become the hole in your armor. In Romans 13:14 the Holy Spirit says But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (ESV). The Amplified Bible reads But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and make no provision for indulging the flesh put a stop to thinking about your evil cravings of your physical natureto gratify its desires and lusts (emphasis mine). We are not to provide for failure in our thinking, we must provide for victory. There are very real dangers in pretending we are winning the battle against sin, when we are not or in approaching the whole issue from selfeffort, like positive thinking. But these dangers do not outweigh the problem of mentally providing for sin in our lives. The thought process of resigning ourselves to sin, thinking that as long as we are here in this world, that we will sin, must be broken. The rationalization that I am only human wont cut it because it is a lie; you are the temple of the living God, the Holy Spirit lives in you! We are, as vs.14 points out, no longer under the law, but we are under grace. I do not believe that many Christians really understand that and many become legalistic in their approach to a life of holiness and sanctification. The Jewish people under the law had no choice but to be legalistic if you broke the law intentionally or not you suffer the consequences, in fact the 4th chapter of Leviticus is dedi-

Inside this issue: cated to what to do when someone sinned unintenAn Invading Kingdom 2 tionally. We are (Part 2) no longer under Does Everyone Go To 4 the Law; the Law is a list of sins, not Heaven? sin. John Wesley 5 said Sin is a will- Holiness and Mediation ful transgression of the known will The Call to Holiness 6 of God. Cliff Sanders in his book, Making Sense out of Spirituality, says that sin is self-rule, that Sin is a broken relationship and That Broken relationship is caused by our desire for self-rule It can be understood as misdirected loveloving some other thing in place of God or more intensely than God(Emphasis mine). Sin is rebellion against the rule of God in our lives, sin is intentional, and it is not a behavior problem or a list of bad things people do. Sin is rejection of the direction and guidance of God and a refusal to be ruled by a personal God who wants none to perish! We understand grace as Gods unmerited favor, we are under grace, nothing we earned, nothing we deserve, it is His gift to us. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 ESV). Under grace we are only held accountable for what we know, Romans 4:5 tells us that sin is not taken into account where there is no law, if you have no concept of having done wrong then there is no sin. That is Gods grace. As Gods child, in Christ, we are in a relationship with our Savior, God, and King. His presence in our lives both assures us of His grace and empowers us to live a life of Holiness and sanctification. We are made holy and perfected as we choose to follow the will and ways of God receiving strength to overcome as we build our relationship through prayer and obedience to His Word.
You are not just a sinner; you are a Christian who can! Think it, know it, live it!

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Websters Dictionary defines culture as, the social and religious structures and intellectual and artistic manifestations that characterize a society. Every society in all of history has had some type of a culture that defines it. This culture is indicative of their art and music and the ways the people interact with one another. The pervading culture of our day is considered post-modern. It is characterized by a distrust in many things that were considered truth in previous generations. It holds to the belief that truth is different for each person based on their specific circumstances and experiences. Whatever feels good, do it, is the mentality of our modern world and we have even seen this philosophy creep into the church at times. This is a change from the culture of the Enlightenment culture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The culture of that day taught that science and fact could eventually explain everything that we see in the world around us. Even in cultures that hold to a strong believe whether it be in objective fact or relativism there always seems to run some type of counterculture within the larger society. A certain element of people are always willing to go against the popular culture of the time and live in a different way. Really, this is what Jesus was calling His people to do when He came onto the scene 2,000 years ago. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 is the manifesto of this type of counterculture that goes against the values and norms of the society in which the people lived. This is the definition of what it means to be called out of the world, and the beatitudes listed in the first 12 verses define the character that God calls His people to display as they journey through this life. William

Greathouse, in his book, Wholeness In Christ, tells us, "It is not too much to claim that the Sermon on the Mount is the essence of the Christian life." Look at the characteristics of these traits that define life in Gods kingdom. These Are Spiritual Qualities For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). This idea went completely against what the people of Israel expected in the days of Jesus. It goes against what many are expecting today. People have long sought a deliverer who would set up a political kingdom in this world and overcome those who have persecuted and imprisoned Gods people for almost all of their history. When Jesus came into the world we were indeed invaded by a kingdom, but it was not the long expected kingdom. It was a kingdom that turned the values of the world upside down. The things that man pursued were considered of little value in this counterculture established by Jesus Christ. Man looks for riches and possessions and Jesus came to turn the focus from those things and back to the God who will provide all that we really need. God has taken the prideful, self-centered heart and turned it back to Him, and His will through the power and the blood of Jesus Christ. He turned the unapologetic sinfulness of the human heart to mourning for those around us who are lost and dying with each passing day. He turned our human ideas and desires into a meekness in our soul that will listen and submit to the Holy Spirit. Are hunger and thirst are no longer for the evil that the world offers us and that so often consumes us. We now hunger and thirst for the very character of God Himself righteousness. And Jesus promised that we would be blessed for these very things. As the holy character of God begins to define our lives we find that we are more fulfilled that we have ever been by any of the temporal things of the world. When man looked for a political kingdom to be set up by a revolutionary Jesus brought what we really need: a sacrifice that would purify our spirit and make us a proper dwell-

ing place for the Spirit of God. These consuming qualities of the kingdom are not something we struggle through this life to attain. They are a character that is placed in our heart as we surrender to God. His Spirit will instill these values in us and allow us the blessing of God as we submit to the rule of this invading kingdom. We so often try to attain these traits through dogged determination, and when that happens we miss the blessing of seeing God transform us through His work in our hearts. Leonard Ravenhill once wrote, God does not want a partnership, He wants ownership. There is no guarantee that God will give us all the things we want, but Scripture promises us that He will bless us with the character we need. God will bless us and work in us to the extent that we are willing to submit to Him. The only ques-

tion is, how submissive are we willing to be? Francis Chan pointed out in his book, Forgotten God, If all you want is a little Jesus to "spiritualize" your life, a little extra God to keep you out of hell, you are missing out on the fullness of life you were created for.
There can be little doubt that the kingdom God promised us is a spiritual kingdom. It affects our hearts and our minds more than it will affect most of our pocketbooks and bank accounts. God wants to rule over our souls, not simply our possessions though that will be the result as our souls are placed in submission to Him. These Traits Should Be Displayed By All Christians The beatitudes are looked at many times as a list of traits from which we choose. We pick a couple that we feel suit us best and dont spend much time thinking about the rest. When we view these commands this way we could not be more inaccurate in our assessment. It is an assault on the nature of the kingdom and the reign of Christ to convince ourselves that we can pick and choose what Scripture we will follow and what we will not. The kingdom is not about following as many of Gods commands as possible, or even doing

Volume 2, Issue 8 the best I can. The fact is, our best will never be good enough. The kingdom is an issue of righteousness that comes from a heart turned toward God. The culture of the kingdom will never be the result of our half-hearted attempts to fulfill our obligation to God. This counter-culture is brought into being as the gospel of Jesus Christ transforms our lives. It reveals the love of God to us in a way that changes our motives and our desires. It turns us from our determination to accumulate the things of the world and focuses our attention toward the God who created us, who pursued us, saved us, and sanctifies us. This is why the members of Gods kingdom look different from the people of the world. God did not simply want to choose a few people who would acknowledge Him, He desires fellowship with those who have been changed and transformed by His love. Too often we forget about the Scriptural command to be transformed (Romans 12:2). We want the benefits of Gods kingdom but refuse to become a part of the culture. The kingdom is something we acknowledge from a distance but never really experience. A.W. Tozer commented on this situation, "If the gospel does not

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which it works. So if God is blessing us it means that we are being changed and fulfilled. We are being given the joy of the Lord. We no longer need to search the world for something that will fulfill or complete us, Gods blessing and love are at work in our lives and we are fulfilled by His love displayed through Christ in us. As the kingdom invades this world this culture will change our lives. These Are Not Natural Tendencies We must remember as we seek to see this culture work in our lives that there is little we can do to create it ourselves. God is our King, and He will establish the culture that He desires among His people. These characteristics listed in the Beatitudes are produced by the Holy Spirit working in a submissive heart. We may look at some people around us and believe they are poor in spirit or meek, but these traits appear only on the surface to be the character taught by Jesus. They can never all come together in a single life apart from the work of the Spirit. These traits are God overcoming what is natural to the world, and since they are opposite of what is natural they can never be produced by man no matter how determined he may be. While we may be left powerless to effect change in the heart, God can humble the proudest hearts, and make the most wicked of men thirst for righteousness. We are born with the tendency to do what makes us feel good, and our culture promotes this idea. It is natural for us to look at the things around us and let our circumstances dictate the culture we create in our homes and lives. God has provided a culture for us that transcends all the cares of this physical world. He has invaded this earth with a culture that turns our attention from the things we cant control anyway back to a God who loves us enough to provide

change a man, transform him and take the evil out of him, then he does not have the gospel in power. The gospel is a transforming power; otherwise you have a name to live and you are dead." Scripture teaches that if we are truly to be a part of Gods kingdom we will be changed by this culture. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). And to the Galatian church he said, For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a NEW CREATION (Galatians 5:16). In our efforts to be blessed we often forget that the idea of blessing necessitates some type of a change in our lives. To be blessed is to be changed, fulfilled, and brought into the joy of God. To be blessed is to be one on whom Gods blessing has been placed. The verb bless is a transitive verb in the English language. That means it has a changing effect on that

for all our needs and care for all of our hurts and difficulties. As our culture becomes one of faith we begin to see God work in ways we never would have believed possible. It is the kingdom culture that shows us the fullness of the supernatural power of God working among His people as they serve Him. The blessings we receive from living these traits is that we see God move in ways that others will never experienced. Through this we are blessed. We so often convince ourselves that God demands a change because He wants to deprive us of something. Nothing could be further from the truth. God calls us out of the culture of the world to a counter-culture where we can clearly see His power and grace on display through His people. We become vessels that carry this culture into the work place, or school, or to our families as Gods kingdom invades this world. Gods will is always to bless us, and as His culture is firmly established in our homes and in our relationships we will see His work in ways that we never imagined possible. The blessing we experience is based on the establishment of a counter-culture created by God. As we live in this culture of submissiveness Gods work will be done. How willing are we to live in such a culture of dependence on God? Will we allow the Beatitudes taught by Christ to begin to work in our lives? "To each of these saying belongs the message: the old aeon is passing away. Through the proclamation of the gospel and through discipleship you are transferred into the new aeon of God. Do we live in such a transformed culture? When you go home what will the culture be in your household? What will it be in your social gatherings and work places? Jesus established a counter-culture when He invaded this world with Gods Kingdom. This culture is alive and well within the lives of Gods servants today. It this the culture in which you live?

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Ask this question of George Bush, Barak Obama, and Oprah Winfrey, the answer is a simple YES! According to these prominent leaders, all paths and religions lead to heaven. Oprah suggested that God does not truly require you to accept His Son in order to gain salvation. Where do we stand on this topic? Where should we stand? Based on any funeral we attend, everyone seems to get to go to Heaven. Right? Everyone is in a better place once they leave this life and move on to the next. The best thing to do at this point is to look at what the bible says and not leave things up in the air. The questions about Heaven, or Hell, are too vital to leave up to our emotions and assumptions. We need answers! And thankfully, Our God gives us those answers. Dont get me wrong, I would love for everyone one to get to Heaven. We dont want anyone going to hell, right? It would be wonderful for all people to reach the end and somehow get a second chance after death. Does the bible say that all will be saved in the end? Lets look at universalism for a second. Universalism is the belief that God not only wants everyone to be saved, but that all will be saved. Rob Bell, one of the most well-known Universalists of our day, suggests that every single person will eventually embrace Jesus. If not in this life, they will embrace him in the next. There are two big categories of Universalists. The nonChristian group is called Pluralists. They believe that Jesus is only one of many avenues to salvation and eternal life. Bush, Obama, and Winfrey fall under this category. Christianity, in other words, is one of many religions God uses to save people. This idea bleeds into a tragic misconception that God is present in all religions, like Hinduism, Islam, and others. Then, there are the Christian Universalists. They know that Jesus is the only way to salvation, but

God will end up saving everyone through Christ. They do hold fast to the biblical teaching that salvation comes by grace through faith, but they believe that people will have a second chance after death to be saved. How do they get this idea? Look at Philippians 2:9-11. It appears to be exactly what they believe. Every knee will bow in amazement of Jesus Christ in their presence. Not much farther in this book, though, there are verses that will quickly correct the misconception. God is not promoting a universal salvation. He means that there will come a day when Christ returns that everyone will acknowledge this and will no long be able to deny it. Though it appears that all will bow in acknowledgement, scripture never indicates that there are second chances after death. Jesus loved teaching though parables, and he provides a parable dealing with this very issue. Matthew 25 begins with a story of ten virgins waiting on the bridegroom, just as we wait for the return of Jesus, the Bridegroom. Five wise ones, who made the effort to fill their lamps with oil to burn, represent those who choose to accept the Holy Spirit in their heart. But those who were foolish neglect the oil, like many in the world who do not take the Holy Spirit in. Do the foolish get a second chance? Do they eventually get to go into the feast? No, Jesus is very clear that wasted opportunities will not be rewarded with grace after the time He comes. This parable also makes clear that only by the guidance and leadership of bridegroom will any of the virgins be welcomed into the feast. You see that even the wise had to wait for the groom to be allowed in. Jesus, our bridegroom, is that much more necessary for our salvation and entrance into eternal life. Oprah says that Jesus does not have to be the only way, and we can find salvation within ourselves.

Here are verses to reflect on:

Jesus is the Only Way to Salvation John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. John 1:12 - but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Romans 10:13 - For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

No Second Chances After Death Luke 13: 22-30 - The Narrow Door Matthew 25:1-13 - Parable of the Ten Virgins

Church, we must be careful and diligent in reading scripture. I have seen so much confusion as a result of ignorance of Gods truths that he has already provided for us. It is important for us to draw near to God and let him teach us. He calls us to pray for the lost because He knows there is not a second chance after death. We need to be urgent, for you do not know what tomorrow will bring (James 4:14).

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"Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. It will be on Aaron's forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron's forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD (Exod. 28:36-38 NIV).

priest representing God came near to sanctify and bless the people. The priest was the foreshadow of Jesus Christ and the wondrous way that God's holiness would be manifest to mankind. The worshipper without the priest would have his penitence, his faith, his love, his obedience, his very consecration to God all imperfect. God provided through the holiness of the priest the covering for sin and the unholiness of holy things, and the "HOLY CROWN" was God's pledge that the holiness of the High priest rendered the worshipper acceptable. Secondly the priests were representing man to God. In other words they were standing in the gap, so to speak, for man to be able to approach God. The priest was the very nearest that the Israelites could come to God. On the Day of Atonement, once a year, the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. It was proof of how unholy man was and how unfit to abide in God's presence. Conscious of personal unholiness, the worshiper would rejoice in a Mediator, someone that was able to bring them near to God. The priest was the one to fill the gap.

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12 NIV).

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18 NIV).

There is significance in the Levitical priesthood, the duties of the priests and their dress. The 28th chapter of Exodus is dealing with the priestly garments. The reason for the garments is "to give honor and dignity" to God (28:2). The garments are: A breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They were to use gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine linen (Ex. 28:5). Verses 36-38 deal specifically with the turban. The KJV uses the words mitre and the definition is, a tiara, that is, official turban (of a king or high priest): - diadem, mitre. The Scripture says they were to engrave on a plate of pure gold "HOLY TO THE LORD." They were to attach it with blue cord and the engraved plate was to rest on Aaron's forehead.

Through Christ we are made holy, therefore we are brought near to God. And by that will, [will of the New Covenant] we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb. 10:10 NIV).

Jesus is our intercessor, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Rom 8:34 NIV). We can come boldly to His throne, Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16 NIV). We need not ever allow our unworthiness keep us from God or keep us from doubt about what we have in Christ Jesus and what God has done for us. God's holiness starts with a new nature when we are born-again. Do not struggle intellectually with the holiness that comes from God. Just trust God and His precious promises! Don't seek holiness in and of yourself, it only comes from God. He is the One who makes us holy. Holiness is a new nature, a new character, a new demeanor, a renewing of our heart and mind. Bow humbly with an open heart before God and ask Him to reveal to you more and more what it is to be holy in His holiness.

Todays Mediator is Jesus Christ; He is the only mediator the Scripture says we need:

Adam Clarke says, in relation to verse 36, Holiness to the Lord - This we may consider as the grand badge of the sacerdotal office. The priest was to minister in holy things. He was the representative of a holy God. He was to offer sacrifices to make atonement for and to put away Sin. He was to teach the people the way of righteousness and true holiness. As mediator, he was to obtain for them those Divine influences by which they should be made holy, and be prepared to dwell with holy spirits in the kingdom of glory. In the sacerdotal office he was the type of that holy and just One who, in the fullness of time, was to come and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The priests then, had a dual capacity; first, they were representing God to man in that the priest was the embodiment of divine holiness in human form. The The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:1-4 NIV).

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself (Heb. 7:27 NIV).

God bless you as you continue the journey of holiness.

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John was inspired by the Spirit to tell us, Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil (1 John 3:7). Adam Clarke stated, in his introduction to the book of 1 John, that John probably intended not merely to deliver a precept but to oppose the doctrine of those who asserted that a man, though he sinned, might be righteous in respect to his spiritual soul because sin proceeded only from the material body. Clarke went on to explain that verse four, in stating sin is lawlessness, John made an assertion opposed to those Gnostics because they virtually denied the truth. The Gnostics rejected the legal commandments as parts of the Christian religion which were not warranted by the authority of Christ; consequently, they denied that sin was a transgression of the laws. They regarded sins as diseases; for they believed in a metempsychosis and imagined that the souls of men were confined in their present bodies as in a prison and as a punishment for having offended in the region above. "According then to the Gnostics passions like anger and hatred were tortures for the soul; they were diseases, but not punishable transgression of the law (Adam Clarke's Commentary, Vol.6). No wonder the Spirit inspired John to write, Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). John uses the term light as an equivalent to holiness, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). To believe one can sin and it will have no affect on the soul, only the body, is a failure to consider that the Father created us, and His full purpose in sending Jesus. The false idea of the Gnostic comes back around in every age in the form of easy believeism that offers salvation without transformation. Every position people hold that isnt Biblical has a chain reaction on all their beliefs. 1 John 2:23 states that, No one who denies the Son has the Father. The Gnostic believed Jesus was only a man, so what could they really believe about the Father? What could a cult who holds that Jesus is only a man believe about God the Father? Jesus said, Whoever sees me sees him who sent me (John 12:45). He used the word believe in the previous verse. If you believe Jesus, you will believe the Father, the Son comes revealing the Father to us in Himself. Many fail to consider the beliefs they hold and how they affect everything they believe. If you begin with a false belief about Jesus, then everything is wrong.

There was more than one form of Gnosticism. The Cerinthains believed Jesus was a mere man and the Docetes contended him to be a spirit phantom. What we believe is, of course, rooted in the heart. Jesus said, For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person (Mark 7:21-23). We cannot escape the truth that what we believe has a total impact on us and it comes from the heart. What we believe and what we have experienced are important in our walk as believers. The heart has tendencies toward sin and without redemption our hearts have to be filled with many wrong beliefs. R. R. Byrum points out many places the Bible teaches the depravity of the human heart. Jesus clearly recognized this truth of depravity though He doesnt mention the term in the passage we just quoted from Mark (P. 334, Byrums Theology). Byrum went on to state how the Bible affirms that both Jew and Gentile are sinful naturally and need the Special grace of God. Remembering the original intent of 1 John to refute Gnostic heresy, it becomes important that we understand our passage. Chapter two, verse one of 1 John, we read My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. These little children are a different group of people than referred to in chapter one. R. R. Byrum states that the reference to little children is born again Christians while the group of chapter one are all mankind (Byrum P. 428). That means that God, through the Holy Spirit, is calling His People to holiness that is attainable and livable. Sin is powerful in the capacity to hold people captive in its bondage. Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34). The sinner is a slave to sin because of the depravity the sin works in the heart or personality of the sinner (P. 137, Jones Theology of Holiness and Love). Involvement in sin only deepens the very hold of sin on us. But all have this innate proneness to sin known as depravity. Not only does the sin affect the sinner, but the sin of Adam had an effect on all the human race since he was the first man and we are all descended from him. John Wesley spoke of the effect of the original sin of Adam, "That this is imputed to all men , I allow; yea, that by reason there of the whole creation groaneth and traveileth is pain together until now.

The powerful alternative to the human condition is, of course, Holiness. Sin is facing away from God, not towards Him, and sins are acts of disobedience to the will of God. Holiness is in a personal relationship with God! Sin is a huge issue when it comes to our relationship with God. Dr. Kenneth Jones stated, We Wesleyans, then, do not wish to use the word 'sin' for anything but what the Bible implies is sin. It is the willful alienation of the self from God, and sins are those actions performed because of this alienation (P. 131, Theology of Holiness and Love, Jones). Going back to John and his letter penned as the Holy Spirit led him in addressing the Gnostic heresy, we must again consider the words of chapter two, verse one, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The Word of God confronts our beliefs. Here we are confronted with the question, Do you really believe this is the Word of God? The ideas that are out there about the Bible today can turn people away from God as they doubt it is His Word to us. Some accept it as good moral teaching and that is all, but the Bible has more to say about itself than that. The Bible tells us that it is the very word of God. When the Old Testament prophet spoke, he declared this is the Word of the Lord. The New Testament comes to us telling us that all scripture is God Breathed, inspired and trustworthy for life and salvation. So when 1 John 2:1 tells us that this is written so that you dont sin, we then are confronted with this question, are we receiving this as from God speaking into our lives, telling us we need not sin? The verse confirms everything we have found in Scripture concerning sin and points to a place we can live free from sin. The Spirit of God declared this place that all can stand in apart from sin, and initially to the Gnostics who had a distorted view of the Lord and faith. The call is the same to those first generation Gnostics and to everyone today, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin!" Not only is it possible but its the will of God for us even today in the twenty first century. The call to Holiness is to all of us today!

The Truth In HD

-Our intent is to circulate this publication entirely by email. If you would like to receive The TruthIn HD on a monthly basis, please email us at this address: truth_in_hd@yahoo.com -It is our desire to discuss the truth of Scripture openly. If you have any questions or comments, please email us. (Only comments deemed appropriate will be printed.) -PLEASE FEEL FREE to produce as many copies of this publication as you would like. We encourage you to forward this by email, and give copies to your friends. -For further discussion on doctrinal topics, please see: www.holinessreformation.blogspot.com

The Truth In HD Nick Wilson 2479 Mercer Rd. Stoneboro, PA 16153 Phone: 724-376-3075 E-mail: truth_in_hd@yahoo.com

Bringing the Truth Into Focus

Writers may be contacted by email at the following addresses:

Nick Wilson: holinessreformation@yahoo.com Josh Wilson: cogyouth@windstream.net Jon Spencer: Jspencer951@yahoo.com Henry Scoff: henryscoff@yahoo.com Bruce Wilson: pastorbruce53@yahoo.com Josie Davis: surge@windstream.net

The Truth In HD is circulated in an attempt to lift up the truth of Gods Word. Those of us who write the articles contained in this paper are committed to carrying this truth to wherever God will lead us, and offer our help in whatever we can do to aid you in promoting doctrinal truth. If we can offer something to help you to this end please dont hes-

itate to contact us. Some of the writers are available for revival meetings, or other preaching engagements that you might have. We send this paper each month to carry the message of the gospel into the world, and our desire is to walk through any door God may open as we journey on this earth as ambassadors of His Word.