In our last lesson
In this lesson, we examine the six steps on that path that leads from from being "dead in sin" to being "dead to sin". None of these steps
However in this lesson we will also observe, as we examine each step, that it involves something that we should have done, and would have done, had we walked the perfect path. These steps are are essential in the corrective path simply because they are part of
One who has not yet sinned cannot say, "I have no need of these steps".That would be like saying that you can get to heaven in your own right without God's grace and without going through Jesus Christ. "By grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any one should boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them"
An illustration
The path from obesity to a normal body mass consists of the same elements of right eating and proper exercise as one would pracice who never became obese. Sometimes obese people are recommended to eat a very strange diet and do very strange things quite unlike the diet and exercise of people who maintain proper body fitness. Strange and abnormal procedures do not lead an obese person to the right body mass. They just confuse the person's body and if continued lead the body to more ruin. An obese person should simply begin to practice right eating and proper exercise. If you want to regain the right body shape, then do the same things that people with correct body mass do
In the same way, the
We are taught quite clearly in
Peter refers to the gospel as "things into which angels long to look"
Without faith it is impossible to please God
We are born with spiritual life, but we are not born with faith, although God brought us into the world for the very purpose that we should have faith. He is pleased enough with us when we are first brought into the world, just as he was pleased enough with all things he brought into the world, whether bird, fish, tree, beast, or insect. He saw that everything was "very good"
When by God's grace we grow old enough to understand God's word and believe, then God expects and encourages us to do so. Jesus attributed a faith in him even to little children
Just as it is not long before we grow old enough to hear and believe, so it is not long thereafter before we grow old enough to sin. One cannot resist sin on one's own, but only through trusting in Christ, for he said, "Without me you can do nothing"
What is the point of having faith in one's heart and refusing to confess it with one's mouth? Confession of faith, letting everybody know you believe, is just as necessary as faith itself
Timothy made "the good confession"
What Jesus said above applies of course to all believers, including those who have never sinned, because refusal to confess Christ is a
What is the point of confessing a faith in Christ if you are not going to change your attitude toward sin and
Peter told sinners to "Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out"
The commands to repent quoted above were to people who had sinned. One cannot be forgiven of a sin that one is not sorry for and that one still wants to do. Until we recognise the wrong we have done, and make up our minds to get rid of that wrong,through Jesus, we cannot take
Is repentance applicable only to those who have sinned? You might say yes, because one cannot be sorry for sins one has not committed. Repentance, however, is not just feeling sorry. The word means a change of mind. Now when is the best time to change your mind about sin? After you have committed it, while you are being tempted to commit it, or before you
An illustration
Suppose you were thinking that you might walk past the orchard today, and you were also thinking that as you walk by, you might steal an apple? Which would
Surely the first is not the best. If you did one of the others, would that not also be a change of mind? Would it not be the same attitude as repentance and distinguishable from it only by splitting hairs? Surely the attitude of repentance is best exercised before we sin rather than afterward. We might consider committing a sin and change our heart before we commit it. We have not sinned. We have rejected sin. But I put it to you that we have certainly repented, and repented in the best possible way. For if we had always repented in this manner, we would never
Thus we see that repentance is not a
Baptism is different to the other steps, in that baptism is not something everyone ought to do every day, but something ideally which needs to be done only once. The New Testament commands baptism and shows that in baptism a person dies to sin and is buried and raised with Christ to become spiritually reborn and forgiven of sin
We take it for granted that the proper candidate for baptism is an unconverted sinner. Peter told people to "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins..."
In good Christian homes, young children are taught the gospel
Take note that the above matter hinges on the issue of whether baptism is a step in the perfect path, or whether it is only for the corrective path of conversion. I mention the above matter to show that the issue is not a purely
The key question is this: If a person is walking the perfect path, and therefore has not yet sinned, does there ever come a day in that person's life when he or she should request baptism? To answer that question, let us look at the great example of Jesus who did walk the perfect path and never needed to take
Jesus came to John and sought to be baptized by John. Now John proclaimed "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins"
We see, therefore, that along the perfect path, there comes a time when one should request to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness. The person on the perfect path is not exempt from baptism just because he is righteous and has not yet sinned. Rather he considers himself in need of baptism to fulfill all righteousness and thus
After baptism what? The answer to that is faithfulness. The path of the faithful convert is not to fall back into spiritual death, but to grow upward from rebirth into a mature righteousness. After baptism sin no longer has dominion. "I urge you brethren by the mercies of God, to present your boddies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect"
Faithfulness after baptism makes no room for sin. Certainly, a way of dealing with sin is provided for, so that if sin occurs it can be forgiven and corrected
Which is better?
God's will is that we don't sin, and he makes his will possible for us to fulfill. Sin is not to be regarded as a normal part of being born again in Christ. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!"
Of course, "that which is good and acceptable and perfect"