Jesus' Humanity.

 Do we fully comprehend the lineage of Jesus Christ? We tend to gloss over His human side as if it really isn't all that important other than the fact it is God in that human flesh.  

Human flesh.  

Why couldn't God with God, simply appear as human without actually taking on human flesh, and save mankind?  Because man failed and deserved total annihilation and in order to keep mankind from that annihilation, God had to prove beyond any doubt whatsoever that there was something in mankind worth redemption. To prove this, God divested Himself of his Spirit form and entered into life as the male seed merging with the woman's egg. That woman's egg held ALL the heredity of many generations of human beings. That egg which was supplied with the DNA from the Holy Spirit to form Jesus as a tiny fetus, all the way to a newborn and beyond, was humanity- sinful humanity. That egg contained all the tendency towards sin that every human being in the world possesses.  If God did not want to take on this sinful human flesh, He did NOT have to be born of a woman at all, there would be no purpose to do so. The purpose was for Him to meet mankind where they are, to overcome where they failed to overcome, to be touched with the feeling of our infirmities- in all points. God knows the human creature He created - inside and out. Yet, God needed to take on our human flesh the very flesh He created in order to save humanity. He didn't take on flesh created in innocence, in newness, in purity, He took on the sin-stained flesh.

It's so important that we comprehend this truth, because there are many who would have us believe that Jesus' mother, who was blessed by God, was somehow free of all sin herself- an impossibility- just look at her lineage which was preserved by God just so we could know the history of our Savior's flesh. 

Read the following excerpt (part one of it) which goes into more detail…

May God bless us with full truth, His truth, and all the understanding, all the wisdom we need to be wholly His! All through our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever! Amen.

(Excerpt)

January 22, 1901

“The Faith of Jesus. The Nature of Christ” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 4, p. 56.

“AND the Word was made flesh.” 

“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” Galatians 4:4. 

“And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. 

We have seen that, in His being made of a woman, Christ reached sin at the very fountain head of its entrance into this world; and that He must be made of a woman to do this. 

And thus all the sin of this world, from its origin in the world to the end of it in the world, was laid upon Him; both sin as it is in itself and sin as it is when committed by us; sin in its tendency, and sin in the act; sin as it is hereditary in us, uncommitted by us, and sin as it is committed by us. 

Only thus could it be that there should be laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Only by His subjecting himself to the law of heredity could He reach beyond the generation living in the world while He was here. Without this there could be laid upon Him our sins which have been actually committed, with the guilt and condemnation that belong to them. But, beyond this, there is in each person, in many ways, the liability, to sin, inherited from generations back, which has not yet culminated in the act of sinning, but which is ever ready, when occasion offers, but which is ever ready, when occasion offers, to blaze forth in the actual committing of sin. David’s great sin is an illustration of this. Psalm 51:3; 2 Samuel 11:2. 

In delivering us from sin, it is not enough that we shall be saved from the sins that we have actually committed; we must be saved from committing other sins. And that this may be so, there must be met and subdued this hereditary liability to sin: we must become possessed of power to keep us from sinning—a power to conquer this liability, this hereditary tendency that is in us, to sin. 

All our sins which we have actually committed were laid upon Him, were imputed to Him, so that His righteousness may be laid upon us, may be imputed to us. And also our liability to sin was laid upon Him, in His being made flesh, in His being born of a woman, of the same flesh and blood as we are. 

Thus He met sin in the flesh which He took, and triumphed over it, as it is written: “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin IN THE FLESH.” And again: “He is our peace.... having abolished in His flesh the enmity.” 

And thus it is that for the sins which we have actually committed, for the sins that are past, His righteousness, is imputed to us, as our sins are imputed to Him. And to keep us from sinning, His righteousness is imparted to us in our flesh, as our flesh, with its liability to sin, was imparted to Him. 

Thus He is the complete Saviour: He saves from all the sins that we have actually committed, and saves equally from all the sins that we might commit, dwelling apart from Him. 

If He took not the same flesh and blood that the children of men have, with its liability to sin, then where could there be any philosophy or reason of any kind whatever in His genealogy as given in the Scriptures? He was descended from David; He was descended from Abraham; He was descended from Adam; and, by being made of a woman, He reached even back of Adam, to the beginning of sin in the world. 

In that genealogy there are Jehoiakim, who for his wickedness was “buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth, beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19); Manasseh, who caused Judah to do “worse than the heathen;” Ahaz, who “made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord;” Rehoboam, who was born of Solomon, who was born of David and Bathsheba; there are also Ruth the Moabitess, and Rahab; as well as Abraham, Isaac, Jesse, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah; the worst equally with the best. And the evil deeds of even the best are recorded equally with the good. And there is hardly one whose life is written upon at all of whom there is not some wrong act recorded. 

Now it was at the end of such a genealogy as that that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” It was at the end of such a genealogy as that that he was “made of a woman.” It was in such a line of descent as that that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” And such a descent, such a genealogy, meant something to Him, as it does to every other man, under the great law that the iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the children, to the third and fourth generations. It meant everything to Him in the terrible temptations in the wilderness of temptation, as well as all the way through His life in the flesh. 

Thus, both by heredity and by imputation, He was “laden with the sins of the world.” And, thus laden, at this immense disadvantage, He passed over the ground where, at no shadow of any disadvantage whatever, the first pair failed. 

Satan Appears As An Angel of Light.

 Do you believe in Jesus?  If you answered yes, then you have to answer yes to the next question. Do you believe in Satan? Remember, you have to answer yes if you said you believe in Jesus. There is no other way about it, if you believe in one you have to believe in the other. Oh, sure, you could be contrary and simply declare you don't believe in Satan, but Christ believed in Satan, it's factual. Satan came face to face with Christ in the wilderness tempting Him. Satan was around every corner in the evil being wrought by those who had no real love for God at all. Who do you think instigated the trial and death sentence of Jesus? Satan.

Do you believe Jesus is just as real today as He was back then before His crucifixion?  If you do, then you have to believe that Satan is just as real today as he was back then. We have the truth of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. Nowhere are we told that Satan was no longer in power upon earth, that his evil rule was over. In fact we were told the devil is like a roaring lion seeking to devour people. 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

We are also told this…

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Satan HIMSELF is transformed….. Into and ANGEL OF LIGHT….

When you hear the words, 'angel of light', you do not put Satan's perceived evil image with those words. Angel of light makes one think of hope and joy, happiness and goodness. Angel of light sounds like the good guys come to the rescue, not evil. Yet, Satan is transformed so that he appears to be all things that are considered good and righteous. Satan is wearing a perfect disguise enabling him to wreck all kinds of havoc completely unsuspectingly. Satan appears to be perfectly good!  And you know what the word of God tells us more…

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Satan does GREAT WONDERS. Satan DECEIVES those that dwell on the earth by MEANS OF THOSE MIRACLES.

Most assuredly Satan will have the majority of people deceived beyond any doubt at all. It's not going to be a vast population believing the truth, it's going to be a tiny population. It's not going to be half the population believing truth, it's going to be a miniscule part of the population. The few that find that narrow path are going to be out of step with the majority of the world, they aren't going to find like-minded people believing as they do. Satan is going to have people so caught up in their lives and he's going to use every side of the political spectrum that exists to ensnare as many people as he can. It won't matter a bit to him if you vote one way or another, the corruption found throughout all government is rampant and he's controlling it all- regardless of what either party or more have to say. He is the puppet master and he appears as an angel of light. 

The majority are going to be deceived… if you stand arm in arm with any large group of people, be wary of who is truly behind the cause you may be touting as righteous… Satan has most deceived- not by outright, plain to see evil, but by what people believe is righteousness. 

Our Flesh, Not Special Flesh.

 Gods speaks-

1Jn_4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Jesus had flesh we all agree on this point. Jesus was born of a woman and He emerged as all human babies- in flesh. He had flesh and bones and blood, He was a human being by all appearances. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Yes. And if it were that simple wouldn't the majority of people agree on this point? Will there be someone who claims that Jesus did not have flesh? Did you picture that? No flesh…. How did you actually picture that? Jesus as simply spirit without flesh? As anyone you know claimed that Jesus came without flesh? Christian history starts out with Jesus being born with flesh, right? So it's really ludicrous to imagine Christianity without Jesus being born in that manger. Every Christian would clearly deny Jesus being here without flesh. That He was born, lived, and was crucified with flesh, in flesh, as a human being is undeniable but all Christians. So, are only those who don't believe in Jesus at all filled with the spirit of antichrist- against Christ, opposed to Christ? Or, is there more to this? 

What kind of flesh did Jesus have?  No, that's not a trick question. I'm asking because some people believe that Jesus was born with special flesh, different flesh, holy flesh, sinless flesh.  What? Did I really say that? Of course he was born with sinless flesh, right? He didn't sin. Ah, but He was MADE sin.  

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him

He had NO sin, He NEVER sinned. There was NO SIN found in Him. Yet…

Heb_4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

TEMPTED IN ALL POINTS- LIKE WE ARE.

It would be IMPOSSIBLE for Jesus to be tempted like we are if He didn't have the possibility of letting that temptation become sin. Tempted… it means He felt the PULL of sin. Do you say a new born babe is tempted to sin? Uhm, no. That newborn has no ability to sin, no one does until they know right from wrong and have to make a choice to follow one or the other. Being tempted is having to make a knowledgeable choice one way or another. If you do not choose sin, then you have resisted the opportunity presented to you.  When Satan tempted Christ after His baptism, he did so when Christ was at His physical weakest. The first recorded temptation after His baptism was to make bread of stone… to eat. Jesus had been fasting for forty days, such a perfect temptation to confront Him with. Did Jesus want to eat? Was Jesus hungry? Yes, and yes. 

Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him

Angels came to minister to Jesus!  Jesus needed ministering because He was in such a state that it necessitated angels helping Him.

Jesus was tempted but He did NOT let that temptation turn into sin in anyway, not even by thought! He did not have any special flesh nature that protected Him from sin's pull, if He did then HE WAS NOT TEMPTED LIKE WE ARE!

So many would have us believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, was impervious to all temptation, that it was IMPOSSIBLE for Him to sin. If that's the case, His temptations were pointless and He proved nothing at all. 

Jesus came in the flesh- OUR FLESH- not flesh created special for Him. If we don't believe this then we don't believe Jesus came in the flesh and we are against Christ and all He represents, all He truly is!  Believing otherwise means believing in a Christ, but the Christ people are believing in is the Devil disguised as an angel of light. 

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

God help us all to believe in Jesus Christ, born with our flesh, tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin! Amen!

(Excerpt)

January 15, 1901

“The Faith of Jesus” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 3, pp. 40, 41.

“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7. 

“And the Word was made flesh.” 

How was it that He was made flesh? How did He partake of human nature?—Exactly as do all of us, all of the children of men. For it is written: “As the children [of the man] are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” 

Likewise signifies “in the like way,” “then,” “in the same way.” So He partook of “the same” flesh and blood that men have, in the same way that men partake of it. Men partake of it by birth. So “likewise” did He. Accordingly, it is written, “Unto us a Child is born.” 

Accordingly, it is further written: “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.” Galatians 4:4. He, being made of a woman in this world, in the nature of things He was made of the only kind of a woman that this world knows. 

But why must He be made of a woman? why not of a man?—For the simple reason that to be made of a man would not bring Him close enough to mankind as mankind is, under sin. He was made of a woman in order that He might come, in the very woman in order that He might come, in the very uttermost, to where human nature is in its sinning. 

In order to do this He must be made of a woman; because the woman, not the man, was first, and originally, in the transgression. For “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Timothy 2:14. 

He was thus made of a woman in order that He might meet the great world of sin at its very fountain head of entrance into this world. To have been made otherwise than of a woman would have been to come short of this, and so would have been only to miss the redemption of men completely from sin. 

It was “the Seed of the woman” that was to bruise the serpent’s head; and it was only as “the seed of the woman,” and “made of a woman,” that He could meet the serpent on his own ground, at the very point of the entrance of sin into this world. 

To have been made only of the descent of man, would have been to come short of the full breadth of the field of sin; because the woman had sinned, and sin was thus in the world, before the man sinned. 

It was the woman who, in this world, was originally in the transgression. It was the woman by whom sin originally entered. Therefore, in the redemption of the children of men from sin, He who would be the Redeemer must go back of the man, to meet the sin that was in the world before the man sinned. 

This is why He who came to redeem was “made of a woman.” By being made of a woman, He could trace sin to the very fountain head of its original entry into the world by the woman. And thus, in finding sin in the world, and uprooting it from the world, from its original entrance into the world till the last vestige of it shall be swept from the world, in the very nature of things He must partake of human nature as it is since sin entered. 

Otherwise, there was no kind of need whatever that He should be “made of a woman.” If He were not to come into closest contact with sin as it is in the world, as it is in human nature; if He were to be removed one single degree from it as it is in human nature,—then He need not have been “made of a woman.” 

But as He was made of a woman—not of a man; as he was made of the one by whom sin entered in its very origin in the world, and not made of the man, who entered into the sin after the sin had entered into the world,—this demonstrates beyond all possibility of fair question that between Christ and sin in this world, and between Christ and human nature as it is under sin in the world, there is no kind of separation, even to the shadow of a single degree. He was made flesh; He was made to be sin. He was made flesh as flesh is, and only as flesh is in this world. 

And this must He do to redeem lost mankind. For Him to be separated in a single degree, or a shadow of a single degree, in any sense, from the nature of those whom He came to redeem, would be only to miss everything. 

Precisely as He must be “made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law;” and must be “made a curse,” to redeem them that are under the curse; and must be made “to be sin,” to redeem them that are “sold under sin,” so He must be made of a woman, to reach sin at its very root in this world, and must be made flesh, to redeem them that are flesh. 

And precisely as He was made “under the law,” because they are under the law whom He would redeem; and as He was made a curse, because they are under the curse whom He would redeem; and as He was made sin, because they are sinners; “sold under sin,” whom He would redeem,—so He must be made flesh, and “the same” flesh and blood, because they are flesh and blood whom He would redeem; and must be made of a woman, because sin was in the world first by and in the woman. 

Consequently, it is true, without any sort of exception, that “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18. 

If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem, then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all. more than this: since the only flesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem, is just the poor, lost, human flesh that all mankind have; if this is not the flesh that all mankind have; then He never really came to the world which needs to be redeemed. For if He came in a human nature different from that which human nature in this world actually is, then even though He were in the world, yet, for any practical purpose in reaching man and helping him, He was as far from him as if He had never come; for, in that case, in His human nature He was just as far from man and just as much of another world, as if He had never come into this world. 

It is thoroughly understood that in His birth Christ did partake of the nature of Mary. But the carnal mind is not willing to allow that God in His perfection of holiness could endure to come to men where they are in their sinfulness. Therefore endeavor has been made to escape the consequences of this glorious truth, which is the emptying of self, by inventing a theory that the nature of the virgin Mary was different from the nature of the rest of mankind; that her flesh was not exactly such flesh as is that of all mankind. This invention sets up that, by some special means, Mary was made different from the rest of human beings especially in order that Christ might be becomingly born of her. 

This invention has culminated in what is known as the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Many Protestants, if not the vast majority of them, as well as other non-Catholics, think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus by the virgin Mary. But this is altogether a mistake. It refers not at all to the conception of Christ by Mary; but to the conception of Mary herself by her mother. 

The official and “infallible” doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as solemnly defined as an article of faith, by Pope Pius IX, speaking ex cathedra, on the 8th of December, 1854, is as follows:— 

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we declare, pronounce, and define, that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of HER conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and, therefore, is to be firmly and steadfastly believed by all the faithful. 

Wherefore, if any shall presume, which may God avert, to think in their heart otherwise than has been defined by us, let them know, and moreover understand, that they are condemned by their own judgment, that they have made shipwreck as regards the faith, and have fallen away from the unity of the Church.—“Catholic Belief,” page 214. 

This conception is defined by Catholic writers thus:— 

The ancient writer, “De Nativitate Christi,” found in St. Cyprian’s works, says: Because (Mary) being “very different from the rest of mankind, human nature, but not sin, communicated itself to her.” 

Theodore, patriarch of Jerusalem, said in the second council of Nice, that Mary “is truly the mother of God, and virgin before and after childbirth; and she was created in a condition more sublime and glorious than that of all natures, whether intellectual or corporeal.”—Id., pages 216, 217. 

This plainly puts the nature of Mary entirely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind or human nature as it is. Having this clearly in mind, let us follow this invention in its next step. Thus it is, as given in the words of Cardinal Gibbons:— 

We affirm that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His divine nature is, from all eternity, begotten of the Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fullness of time again begotten, by being born of the virgin, thus taking to himself from her maternal womb a human nature of the same substance with hers. 

As far as the sublime mystery of the incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the blessed Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance with her own, is thereby really and truly His mother.”—“Faith of Our Fathers,” pages 198, 199. 

Now put these two things together. First, we have the nature of Mary defined as being not only “very different from the rest of mankind,” but “more sublime and glorious than all natures;” thus putting her infinitely beyond any real likeness or relationship to mankind as we really are. 

Next, we have Jesus described as taking from her a human nature of the same substance as hers. 

From this theory it therefore follows as certainly as two and two make four, that in His human nature the Lord Jesus is “very different” from mankind; indeed, His nature is not human nature at all, but divine. 

That is the Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the human nature of Christ. But Catholic faith is not the faith of Christ; it is the faith of Antichrist. 

The Catholic doctrine of the human nature of Christ is simply that that nature is not human nature at all, but divine. It is that in His human nature Christ was so far separated from mankind as to be utterly unlike—a nature in which He could have no sort of fellow-feeling with—mankind. 

But such is not the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is that “as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” 

The faith of Jesus is that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” 

The faith of Jesus is that “in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” 

The faith of Jesus is that He “himself took our infirmities,” and was touched “with the feeling of our infirmities,” being tempted in all points like as we are. If He was not like we are, He could not possibly be tempted “like as we are.” But He was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Therefore He was “in all points” “like as we are.” 

In the quotations of Catholic faith which in this article we have cited, we have presented the faith of Rome as to the human nature of Christ and of Mary. In the second chapter of Hebrews and kindred texts of Scripture, there is presented, and in these studies we have endeavored to reproduce as there presented, the faith of Jesus as to the human nature of Christ. 

In former studies in these columns we considered the commandments of God; and in that connection we found that the commandments of Rome have been substituted for the commandments of God. In these latter studies we have considered the faith of Jesus; and in this connection we find that the faith of Rome has been substituted for the faith of Jesus. 

But the scripture in God’s last message of mercy to the world, the Third Angel’s Message, calls to all mankind: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” 

Which way do you take—the commandments of God or the commandments of Rome? the faith of Jesus or the faith of Rome? 

Faith Of Jesus.

 January 8, 1901

“The Faith of Jesus” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 2, p. 24.

“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7.

Christ was like God in the sense of being of the nature, in very substance, of God. He was made in the likeness of men, in the sense of being like men, in the nature and very substance of men. 

Christ was God. He became man. And when He became man, He was man as really as He was God. 

He became man in order that He might redeem man. He came to where man is, to bring man to where He was. And in order to redeem man from what man is, He was made what man is. 

Man is flesh. Genesis 6:3; John 3:6. “And the Word was made flesh.” John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14. 

Man is under the law. Romans 3:19. Christ was “made under the law.” Galatians 4:4. 

Man is under the curse. Galatians 3:10; Zechariah 5:1-4. “Christ was made a curse.” Galatians 3:13. 

Man is sold under sin (Romans 7:14), and laden with iniquity. Isaiah 1:4. And “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. 8

Man is “a body of sin.” Romans 6:6. And God “hath made Him to be sin.” 2 Corinthians 5:21. 

Thus all things that man is, Christ was made. And all this He was as really as all this the man is. And Christ became all this in order that the man might become what Christ was. 

Christ was the Son of God. He became the Son of man that the sons of men might become the sons of God. Galatians 4:4; 1 John 3:1. 

Christ was Spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45. He became flesh in order that man, who is flesh, might become Spirit. John 3:6; Romans 8:8-10. 

Christ was the righteousness of God. He was made to be sin, in order that man, who is sin, “might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21. 

Thus, literally, “in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” Whatsoever man is in the flesh, that Christ became in the flesh. Man is “sinful.” Isaiah 1:4. Christ, who knew no sin, was made as sinful as man is sinful. For God sent His “Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”—in flesh that is like, in the sense of being like in nature, in substance. Romans 8:3. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” Christ, who was the very righteousness of God, was made the very sinfulness of men. 

Yet, bear in mind that none of this was He of himself, in His own right. But all of it He “was made.” 

Christ was made what, before, He was not, in order that the man might be made now and forever what he is not. 

Christ, who knew no sin, was made to be sin, even the sinfulness of man, in order that we, who knew no righteousness, might be made righteousness, even the righteousness of God. 

And as the righteousness of God, which, in Christ, the man is made, is real righteousness, so the sin of men, which Christ was made in the flesh, was real sin. 

As certainly as our sins, when upon us, are real sins to us, so certainly, when these sins were laid upon Him, they became real sins to Him. 

As certainly as guilt attaches to these sins, and to us because of them, when they are upon us, so certainly this guilt attached to these same sins of ours, and to Him because of them, when they were laid upon Him. 

As the sense of condemnation and discouragement of these sins was real to us, when these sins of ours were upon us, so certainly this same sense of condemnation and discouragement, because of the guilt of these sins, was realized by Him when these sins of ours were laid upon Him. 

So that the guilt, the condemnation, the discouragement, of the knowledge of sin were His—were a fact in His conscious experience—as really as they were ever such in the life of any sinner that was ever on earth.

And therein lies the fullness of our salvation from sin. He has gone the way of sin, in the very knowledge of it, to its very depths. It was all laid upon Him, and He was “touched with the feeling” of it. 

And He did it all in order that we, sinful men, might be made the very righteousness of God, and so be delivered unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

He who knew the height of the righteousness of God acquired also the knowledge of the depth of the sins of men. He knows the awfulness of the depths of the sins of men, as well as He knows the glory of the heights of the righteousness of God. 

And so He became, and forever is, the author of eternal salvation to all who will receive Him; able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. 

And blessed be His glorious name forever and ever!

Living Spirit In Us.

 

Christ in us is our only hope. He is love in us. He brings His power and uses it in us. We don't use our power- we have none. Satan would have us believe that we must use our own power, that's the way he gets us to fail. We are always going to fail if we try to live for God under our own power, Satan knows this and uses this. We must feel the weight of our sins, and we must seek forgiveness daily, recognizing always our eternal need of Christ in us. 

Told to mortify the deeds of our bodies there is only one way for us to do this, through our Savior, allowing Him to do it in us. 

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

We are to LIVE through the Spirit and that Spirit is the Comforter that our Savior gives to us. The Spirit is God in us. The Spirit is one in agreement with our Savior. Christ is our hope, Christ in us, being likeminded with Christ this is how we live in Christ- knowing He lives in us through the Comforter He gives to dwell in us. Allowing the Comforter, allowing the Spirit to work in us, using His power- we have to let the Spirit live in us- truly live in us, actively live in us. The power of Christ our Savior will save us, it will.

 

Sin is the transgression of the law.

Sin is against love.

Love can't sin.

 October 2, 1900 Excerpt (A.T. Jones)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;  against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another,  envying one another."

We have seen somewhat of the essential evil and deceitfulness of the works of the flesh. But, thank the Lord,  there is a better picture.

The Spirit of God, which, in His fullness, is freely given to every believer, lusteth against the flesh, so that in Him who is led by the Spirit of God the flesh cannot do the things that it would. In such the Spirit of God rules, and causes to appear in the life "the fruit of the Spirit," instead of "the works of the flesh."

And though it be true "that they which do such things" as are described in the list of the works of the flesh,  "shall not inherit the kingdom of God," yet in the gift of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Christ, God has made full provision by which every soul, in spite of all the passions, lusts, desires, and inclinations of the flesh,  can "inherit the kingdom of God."

In Christ the battle has been fought on every point, and the victory has been made complete. He was made flesh itself--the same flesh and blood as those whom He came to redeem. He was made in all points like these; He was "in all points tempted like as we are." If in any "point" he had not been "like as we are," then, on that point he could not possibly have been tempted "like as we are."

He was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," because He "was in all points tempted like as we are." When He was tempted, he felt the desires and the inclinations of the flesh, precisely as we feel them when we are tempted. For "every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts [his own desires and inclinations of the flesh] and enticed." James 1:14. All this Jesus could experience without sin, because to be tempted is not sin.  It is only "when lust hath conceived," when the desire is cherished, when the inclination is sanctioned--only then it is that "it bringeth forth sin." And Jesus never even in a thought cherished a desire or sanctioned an inclination of the flesh. Thus in such flesh as ours He was tempted in all points as we are and yet without a taint of sin.

And thus, by the divine power that he received through faith in God, He, in our flesh, utterly quenched every inclination of that flesh and effectually killed at its root every desire of the flesh and so "condemned sin in the flesh." And in so doing He brought complete victory and divine power to maintain it to every soul in the world.  All this He did "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."

This victory in its fullness is free to every soul in Christ Jesus. 

It is received by faith in Jesus.

It is accomplished and maintained by "the faith of Jesus," which He has wrought out in perfection and has given to every believer in Him. For "this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith."

He "abolished in His flesh the enmity" that separated mankind from God. Eph. 2:15. In order to do this, He took the flesh and must take the flesh in which that enmity existed. And he abolished in his flesh the enmity," "for to make," in order to make, "in himself of twain," God and the estranged man, "one new man, so making peace."

He "abolished in his flesh the enmity," in order "that he might reconcile both" Jew and Gentile--all mankind who are subject to the enmity--"unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in himself." Eph. 2:16,  margin. "The enmity" was "in himself" by being "in his flesh." And there "in his flesh" He slew it and abolished it. And He could do this only by its being indeed "in his flesh."

Thus Jesus took upon Him the curse in all its fullness, precisely as that curse is upon mankind. This He did by "being made a curse for us." but "the curse causeless shall not come" and never came. The cause of the curse is sin. He was made a curse for us, because of our sins. And to meet the curse as it is upon us, He must meet sin as it is in us. Accordingly, God "hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." and this "that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM." 2 Cor. 5:21.

And though He thus placed Himself entirely at the same great disadvantage as are all mankind--made in all points like us and so "in all points tempted like as we are"--yet not a single tendency or inclination of the flesh was ever allowed the slightest recognition, even in thought; but every one of them was effectually killed at the root by the power of God, which, through divine faith, He brought to humanity.

And thus, "as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb.  2:14-18.

And this victory which Christ wrought out in human flesh is brought by the Holy Spirit to the rescue of everyone in human flesh who today believes in Jesus. For by the Holy Spirit the very presence of Christ Himself comes to the believer, for it is His constant desire to "grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye,  being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length,  and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:16-19.

Thus the deliverance from the guilt of sin and from the power of sin which holds the believer in triumph over all the desires, the tendencies and inclinations of his sinful flesh, through the power of the Spirit of God--this is wrought today by the personal presence of Christ Jesus in human flesh in the believer, precisely as it was wrought by the personal presence of Christ in human flesh eighteen hundred and seventy years ago.

Christ is ever the same--"the same yesterday and today and forever." The gospel of Christ is ever the same--the same yesterday and today and forever. The gospel of Christ today is the same that it was eighteen hundred and seventy years ago. Then it was "God manifest in the flesh," and today it is the same--"God manifest in the" same flesh, the flesh of sinful men, human flesh, just as human nature is.

 

That gospel is "Christ in you, the hope of glory,"--Christ in you just as you are, sins, sinfulness, and all; for He gave Himself for our sins and for our sinfulness. And you, just as you are, Christ has bought and God "hath made accepted" in Him. He has received you just as you are and the gospel, "Christ in you, the hope of glory,"  brings you under the reign of the grace of God and through the Spirit of God makes you so subject to the power of Christ and of God that "the fruit of the Spirit" appears in you instead of "the works of the flesh."

And the fruit of the Spirit is--

LOVE-the love of God which is shed abroad in the heart by the Spirit of God. And instead of hatred or any of its kin ever being allowed, even in thought, no man can possibly do anything to you that can cause you to do anything but love him. For this love, being the love of God, is "the same yesterday and today and forever" and loves not for reward but for the mere sake of loving; it loves simply because it is love and being only that, it cannot do anything else.

JOY is "ardent happiness arising from present or expected good." But in this case, the alternative "or" is excluded, for this joy is ardent happiness arising from present AND expected good, for the cause of it is eternal.  Accordingly, it is everlastingly present and is everlastingly to be expected. And therefore it is "exultant satisfaction."

PEACE--perfect peace that rules in the heart--"the peace of God which passeth all understanding," and which "keeps the heart and mind"' of him who has it.

LONGSUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH--This faith-- pistis, Greek--is "firm persuasion; the conviction which is based upon trust, NOT upon knowledge [the faith of "the heart," not of the head; the faith of Christ, not of the creed]; a firmly relying confidence cherished by conviction and bidding defiance to opposing contradictions."

MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE--Temperance is self-control. Thus, the Spirit of God delivers the man from subject to his passions, lusts and habits, and makes him a free man, master of himself.

"Against such there is no law." The law of God is against nothing but sin. In human lives the law of God is against everything that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God. Therefore it is certain that everything in human life that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God is sin. And this is but stating, in another way, the eternal truth that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

Therefore "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." And because we do live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, "let us not"--yea, we shall not; yea, we cannot "be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another,  envying one another."

Walk In The Spirit

 

 September 18, 1900 (Excerpt A.T. Jones)

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."

"If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law," because "as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." As sons of God, these have the mind of the Spirit, the mind of Christ, and so with the mind they "serve the law of God." Accordingly, whosoever is led of the Spirit of God and thus has the mind of Christ fulfills the law, because by that Spirit there is shed abroad in the heart the love of God, which in itself is the fulfilling of the law, in whomsoever has it.

On the other hand, whosoever is led of the flesh and so has the mind of the flesh does the works of the flesh and so serves the law of sin.

And the two ways, the way of the Spirit and the way of the flesh are always open before every man. As certainly as the flesh is there, it "lusteth against the Spirit" and as certainly as the Spirit is there it "lusteth against the flesh." 

Whosoever is led of the flesh cannot do the good that he would. 

He serves the law of sin and so is under the law. But whosoever is "led of the Spirit is not under the law."

And every man is always free to choose which shall be his way-- the way of the Spirit or the way of the flesh. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."  Rom. 8:13.

Note that, in the text of Galatians now under consideration and its kindred texts in Romans and also in Colossians, it is stated in words and constantly held in view that the flesh, in its true fleshly sinful nature, is still present with him who has the Spirit of God and that this flesh is warring against the Spirit.

That is, when a man is converted and is thus brought under the power of the Spirit of God, he is not so delivered from the flesh that he is actually separated from it with its tendencies and desires so that by the flesh he is no more tempted and that with it he has no more contest.

No, that same degenerate, sinful flesh is there with its same tendencies and desires. But the individual is no longer subject to these. He is delivered from subjection to the flesh with its tendencies and desires and is now subject to the Spirit. 

He is now subject to a power that conquers, brings under, crucifies, and keeps under, the flesh, sinful as it is, with all its affections and lusts.  Therefore, it is written that "ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body."

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5. 

Note that all these things are there in the flesh and would live and reign if the flesh were to rule. But since the flesh itself is brought into subjection to the power of God, through the Spirit, all these evil things are killed at the root and thus prevented from appearing in the life.

 

This contrast between the rule of the flesh and the rule of the Spirit is clearly shown in Rom. 7:14-24 and in 1 Cor.  9:26, 27. In the seventh of Romans is pictured the man who is under the power of the flesh, "carnal, sold under sin," who longs to do good and wills to do good but is subject to a power in the flesh that will not let him do the good that he would. "For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" That describes the man who is subject to the flesh, "to the law of sin" that is in the members. And when he would break away from the power of the flesh and would do good, that power still brings him into captivity and holds him under the dominion of the flesh, the law of sin, which is in his members.

But there is deliverance from that power. Therefore, when he cries out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" there is given instantly the answer: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

There is the way of deliverance, for Christ alone is the Deliverer.

And now this man, though he is thus delivered, is not delivered from a contest; he is not put into a condition where he has no fighting to do with the flesh. There is a fight still to be carried on and it is not a make-believe fight. It is not the fighting of a phantom. Here is the man of 1 Cor. 9:26, 27: "So fight I, not as one that beateth the air." What does he fight? What does he beat? Read: 

"But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Thus, in the battle that the Christian fights is his body, is the flesh with its affections and lusts. The body is to be, by the Christian, kept under and brought into subjection by the new power of the Spirit of God to which he is now subject and to which he became subject when delivered from the power of the flesh and the law of sin.

This is made yet more expressive by the fuller rendering of the Greek word translated "keep under," in 1 Cor. 9:27:  "I keep under my body." It means, literally, "to strike under the eyes, hit and beat the face black and blue."  Accordingly, Conybeare and Howson translate this passage thus: "I fight not as the pugilist who strikes out against the air, but I bruise my body and force it into bondage."

Thus the seventh of Romans shows the man subject to the power of the flesh and the law of sin that is in the members, but longing for deliverance. the ninth of first Corinthians shows the flesh subject to the man through the new power of the Spirit of God. In the seventh of Romans, the flesh is ruling and the man is under. In the ninth chapter of first Corinthians, the man is ruling and the flesh is under.

And this blessed reversal of things is wrought in conversion. By conversion the man is put in possession of the power of God and under the dominion of the Spirit of God so that by that power he is made ruler over the flesh with all its affections and lusts and through the Spirit he crucifies the flesh with the affections and lusts in his fighting "the good fight of faith."

Men are not saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh but by receiving power to conquer and rule over all the evil tendencies and the desires of the flesh. Men do not develop character (in fact, they never could) by being delivered into a realm of no temptation, but by receiving power in the field of temptation exactly where they are to conquer all the temptation.

If men were to be saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh just as it is, then Jesus need never have come to the world. If men were to be saved by being delivered from all temptation and set in a realm of no temptation,  then Jesus need not have come into the world. But never, by any such deliverance as that, could man have developed character. Therefore, instead of trying to save men by delivering them utterly from the flesh just where they were, Jesus came to the world and put himself IN THE FLESH just where men are and met that flesh JUST AS IT IS, with all its tendencies and desires, and by the divine power which he brought by faith, He "condemned sin in the flesh" and thus brought to all mankind that divine faith which brings the divine power to man to deliver him from the power of the flesh and the law of sin, just where he is, and to give him assured dominion over the flesh, just as it is.

Instead of Jesus' trying to save men in a way in which they would be limp and characterless by setting them in a realm of no temptation, He came to man just where man is in the midst of all his temptations. Jesus came in the very flesh such as man has and in that flesh He met all the temptations known to that flesh and conquered every one of them, and by that conquest brought victory to every soul in the world. Bless His name.

And every soul can have in its fullness that victory, who will receive and keep "the faith of Jesus." For "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

Debtors

 Debtors.

(Excerpt A.T. Jones)  

 August 21, 1900

"For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."

 

"Debtor to do the whole law." It is curious that many, in considering this statement, have made it mark a distinction between two laws and have made it exclude the law of God from the subject under consideration by allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

They know, by the scripture, that it is the whole duty of man to fear God and keep His commandments. They know that there cannot be any other scripture to contradict that. They know that every man is under obligation to keep the whole law of God, whether he is circumcised or uncircumcised. And, allowing that this term implies only obligation--that if he is circumcised, he is under obligation to do the whole law, they conclude that this must exclude the law of God; they conclude that it must be some law that no person is under any obligation to do unless he be circumcised and that therefore the "whole law" here under consideration must be only the whole ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings.

On the other hand, there are those who hold themselves under no obligation whatever to keep the law of God,  who bring in this text to support them in their disobedience and opposition. They will have it that only those who are circumcised are under any obligation to keep the law of God, and that it is only by being circumcised that the obligation comes, and they know that they are not under any obligation to be circumcised. From this they argue that they are under no obligation to keep the ten commandments.

But both of these are wrong; both of them fail to see the thought that is in this verse. And the cause of this failure is in their allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

It is true that the word signifies "obligation." But in this place and in every other place in its connection with men's moral obligations, the word has a meaning so much broader and deeper than that of mere obligation that the sense of mere obligation becomes really secondary.

The word "debtor" in this verse--Gal. 5:3--signifies not only that a person is in debt and under obligation to pay but that, beyond this, he is overwhelmingly in debt, with nothing at all wherewith to pay. If a man is debtor and so under obligation to pay one thousand dollars and yet has abundance or even only the ability to pay the one thousand dollars that is easy enough. But if a man is debtor and so under obligation to pay fourteen millions of dollars ($14,000,000) and has not a single cent wherewith to pay and is in prison besides and has no ability whatever to make a cent wherewith to pay his debt to that man the word "debtor" signifies a great deal more than mere "obligation to pay."

And that is precisely the case here. That is the thought in this verse. That is the meaning embodied here in the word "debtor." This because the word "debtor," when used in connection with morals, implies and can imply only sin, that the man is a sinner.

This word "debtor" in Gal. 5:3 is precisely the word that is used in Luke 13:4. "Those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?"--where the word "sinners" in the text is "debtors" in the margin.

It is the word used in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:12), "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," and which in Luke's version of the prayer plainly expresses the thought of sin in the words: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." Luke 11:4.

It is the same word also that is used by the Saviour in Luke 7:41, 42: "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And when they had nothing [ with which] to pay,  he frankly forgave them both."

It is the same word also that is used in the parable in Matt. 18:23-35. Indeed, from the verse, Luke 13:4, where the word "sinners" is used in the text and "debtors" in the margin, the reference is direct to this parable in Matthew 18. That is the parable in which it is said that when a certain king "had begun to reckon" with his servants, "one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents"--about fourteen million four hundred thousand dollars--and he had nothing with which to pay. Then the Lord "forgave him the debt." But when the servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him about fifteen dollars, he would not forgive him the debt but cast him into prison until he should pay the fifteen dollars. Then the king called up his debtor "and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matt. 18:23-35.

That thought of delivering the debtor to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to his lord belongs with the word, for "the use of the word involves the idea that the debtor is one that must expiate his guilt." And "sin is called 'opheilema,' because it involves expiation and the payment of it as a debt, by punishment and satisfaction."

From these scriptures the attentive reader can begin to see that in the words of Gal. 5:3--"he is debtor to do the whole law"--there is far more suggested than that he is merely under obligation to accept the claims of the law upon him and do his best to meet them. All this shows that he is not only under obligation to recognize the binding claims of the law of God but that he is actually debtor to render to that law all the claims that it has upon him. And in this it is further shown that, of himself, he must everlastingly be debtor, because he has absolutely nothing wherewith to pay, and of himself has no means of acquiring anything with which to pay.  And this indebtedness lies not only in his obligation to do the law from this time forward; it also lies in obligation to make satisfaction for all that is past--for all the accumulations of the past up to the present time.

Accordingly, of himself, every man is everlastingly as debtor in all that is implied in this thought in Gal. 5:3 and the kindred texts that we have here cited, because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And whosoever would be circumcised in order to be saved and thus seek to be saved by works of self-righteousness,  thereby takes upon himself the obligation to pay to the law of God his whole debt from the beginning of his life unto the end of it. And in that he also takes upon himself the obligation to expiate all the guilt attaching to his transgressions and accumulated thereby.

That is what it is to be "debtor to do the whole law." That is what is stated in the words, "I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law." He is not only debtor but by that transaction he himself voluntarily assumes of himself to discharge all that is involved in his indebtedness.

Now it is true that every man in the world is, of himself, that kind of a debtor. It is also true that any man today who seeks justification by his own works, even in the doing of the ten commandments or of anything else that the Lord has commanded does thereby assume and bind himself to pay all that is involved in the indebtedness.  But he cannot pay. There is not with him the first element of any possibility, in himself, to pay any of the debt.  He is overwhelmed and lost.

But thanks be to God, whosoever has the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, whosoever depends only on the Lord Jesus and that which Jesus has done, though he be of himself debtor just like any other man, yet, in Christ, he has wherewith abundantly to pay all the indebtedness. Christ has expiated by punishment and satisfaction all the guilt of every soul and by the righteousness of God which he brings, Christ supplies abundance of righteousness to pay all the demands that the law may ever make in the life of him who believes in Jesus.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, believe it! Oh, receive it!  Poor, overwhelmed, lost "debtor," "buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed." "Yea, come, buy . . . without money and without price."