| by Robert Schmid (Westminster, California) |
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| Please open your Bibles to the gospel of John, the 14th chapter. John 14 and verse 15. Jesus Christ – God – is speaking to His disciples, that is, He is speaking to you and me, and He says: “IF, IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS”. In other words, those who do not keep all of Christ’s commandments do not love Him! Now we know that there are many people who claim to love Christ, claim to love God, but do all of them keep all of His commandments? How do we know? How can we tell if someone, or for that matter, you, and I, keep all of Christ’s commandments and thereby prove that we really love Him? The purpose of my Sermonette is to show you that we can know if we really love Christ, or if our love for Christ is just an empty profession, unacceptable to Jesus Christ? In the 15th chapter of John in verse 10, Jesus Christ repeats Himself and He said: “IF YOU KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YOU WILL ABIDE IN MY LOVE, JUST AS I HAVE KEPT MY FATHERS COMMANDMENTS AND ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.” In other words, Christ is our example in the correct and acceptable expression of our love for Him, and He, Christ expressed acceptable love to God by keeping all of His Fathers commandments. What about us? Can we keep all of the Fathers commandments and thereby express our love to God, as did Jesus Christ our example? Well, the answer is both Yes and No. Let me explain. The answer is an obvious NO, we cannot keep the Fathers commandments as did Christ, because we have all sinned and will continue to sin and fall short in our ability to keep the commandments, no matter how hard we try. “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT”, says Paul in his letter to the Romans. So, if we all have sinned, and we have, and if we all continue to sin and we will, how then can we express that we love Jesus Christ with commandment keeping? In the 7th chapter of Romans where Paul continues to develop an understanding of sin and how to deal with it, he gives us the answer of how we can love Jesus Christ even though we continue to fall short in keeping God’s commandments. In Rom. 7 we find what is known as the Christian Struggle and Paul says in verse 18: “FOR I KNOW THAT NOTHING GOOD DWELLS WITHIN ME, THAT IS, IN MY FLESH”. That’s what we have just established: We have sinned, and we will continue to sin. Paul knew it, and we know it. Continue in verse 18: “I CAN WILL WHAT IS RIGHT, BUT I CAN NOT DO IT”. Did you catch that? Here is the YES answer to our question. Paul says, he can will to do what is right, but he cannot do it. In other words, if we will, in our mind, in our spirit, to do that which is right, that is acceptable to God. Listen to verse 19: “FOR I DO NOT DO THE GOOD I WANT, BUT THE EVIL I DO NOT WANT IS WHAT I DO.” Paul doesn’t want to do evil. You and I, if we are converted, do not want to do evil. When we do evil it isn’t us that does evil, it is sin that is in us that causes us to do evil. Read it for yourself in verse 20 of Rom 7: “NOW IF I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT, IT IS NO LONGER I THAT DOES IT, BUT SIN WHICH DWELLS WITHIN ME.” In other words, it is our inward desire not to sin that counts, not our lack of, or our superior law-keeping. Can you see now why the answer to our original question is both YES and NO. But someone might say, that sounds like double talk. I mean anybody can say: “I really wanted to do what is right, but sin – the devil made me do it.” In fact, someone might use this line of reasoning without even knowing what the will of God is, without knowing what His commandments are. Well, because of that, or to avoid that, God gave us a test commandment, a test commandment that establishes if you knowingly and with understanding willed to do that which is right or not. A test which shows, both God and our fellow man, if you really love God or not. That commandment is the 4th commandment, the Sabbath commandment and I dare say that if you know the Sabbath commandment, that is the weekly and the annual Sabbaths you will know most of the rest of God’s commandments, his statues, and His ordinances. Think about it! The world, that is the society we live in, can teach us, and require of us that it is wrong to lie, steal and murder, but would our desire not to do those things prove that we love God? No, not at all! There are lots of people who keep these laws without acknowledging, in fact without even knowing God. No, that wouldn’t prove anything. But, when someone keeps the Sabbath holy, well, why would someone do it? Is there any government, any society in this world that requires of its citizens to keep the Sabbath holy? No, not a one, except of course the Jews and they don’t accept and acknowledge Jesus Christ. So, anybody who knows about and keeps the Sabbath holy received such knowledge from God, through His Word the Bible. Let’s face it, humanly speaking; the 4th commandment makes no sense at all. Most human governments and religions will acknowledge that man should rest one day out of the week, but primarily for health or recreational reasons, not because God said so. But to insist that it has to be the 7th day from sunset to sunset is not only not required, but rejected, and ridiculed and condemned as working for your own salvation. In other words, you are called and labeled a Judaizer, and what could be worse than that! And so, the 4th commandment does indeed become our test commandment. With the Sabbath commandment God has given us the ability to discern if someone keeps certain laws because man said so, or because Jesus Christ said so. God has not left us without a clear sign to identify those who love Him, identify those with who we are to fellowship, identify those who constitute the true Church of God. In the 31st chapter of Exodus verse 13 Jesus Christ said: “SAY TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, (in other words, ‘SAY TO MY PEOPLE’), YOU SHALL KEEP MY SABBATHS, FOR THIS IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS, THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT I, THE LORD, SANCTIFY YOU”. Today Christ says: “IF, IF YOU KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS”, But someday soon He will say: “BECAUSE, BECAUSE YOU HAVE KEPT MY COMMANDMENTS, COME NOW AND ABIDE IN MY LOVE AND THE FATHERS LOVE FOREVERMORE”. Praise God for His love, His mercy and forgiveness, and for His Sabbaths. Brethren, I appeal to you, hold fast what you have and what you know, so that no one, no man, will take your crown. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: The Test Commandment Article by Robert Schmid Comments by Alfio La Spina (Victoria British Columbia) |
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| He makes this statement in his article which is absolutely false, it is completely against what the scriptures teach. Too many follow these false teachers who lead brethren to destruction! I did not read the whole article, what I did read was enough to make me furious! (Begin quote) What about us? Can we keep all of the Fathers commandments and thereby express our love to God, as did Jesus Christ our example? Well, the answer is both Yes and No. Let me explain. The answer is an obvious NO, we cannot keep the Fathers commandments as did Christ, because we have all sinned and will continue to sin and fall short in our ability to keep the commandments, no matter how hard we try. (End quote) 1 John 3:6-10 (ESV) 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. There is much proof in scripture that shows we need to be without sin. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: The Test Commandment Article by Robert Schmid Comments by Darwin & Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| In the future, we would advise reading the entire article before you comment on it. The article “The Test Commandment” is not telling people it is okay to practice sin. It is talking about how the 4th commandment in regard to keeping a Saturday Sabbath is a test commandment for a sign between God and His people. We have dealt with people through the newsletter all around the world and we have found many Sunday Keepers who know and understand the Bible better than many Saturday Sabbath Keepers who came through The Worldwide Church of God. We have also encountered many who keep a Saturday Sabbath who think it is okay to go to the store and do their shopping on Saturday and who at the same time do not believe they need to keep the Holy Days. The major problem is that all people who are being called at this time are in different stages of working toward perfection. We believe as you do Alfio that all of God’s people should be striving for perfection, but we do not believe the author of this article was promoting intentional sin. We think it is more of a matter, that a lot of times in trying to be perfect we do fail and that process of trying and failing will take place all our lives until we die. Now at what point do we reach that goal of a sin free and perfect life? Everyone knows that when a baby is conceived it spends a period of time in the mother’s womb before it is born. A human baby starts as a glob of cells with no particular form. As the baby is nourished by the mother, the baby grows forming all the parts needed to become a person. It grows arms, legs, and inner organs. Once everything is formed and the baby can leave the mother’s womb and live separate from the mother, it is born (approximately 9 months after conception). So, with that in mind, what does it mean to be born again? We can know what that means because of the questions that Nicodemus asked Christ. For us to enter the Kingdom we must first be born again. So, we really need to know what that means. Once we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually conceived but not yet born again. We start out as grown people with only a small amount of God’s Holy Spirit. We can choose not to do anything with what we have been given at which point we might just die in the spiritual womb, or we can choose to grow in grace and knowledge. We grow in grace and knowledge by learning what God wants of us and then by doing it. This is a lifetime process. We are not sin free and perfect until we are born again. In human flesh form we are still in the womb being formed into a new man or woman. That formation takes place by being fed by God’s spirit through His word, and the church (the mother of us all). We help you grow spiritually. You help us grow spiritually as in being fed. Once totally mature, perfect, you are now ready to be “born again”! Just as a baby is mature/perfect (baring a birth defect), it becomes ready to be born. The above is an analogy that can be backed up by Scripture. John 3:3 (KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:5 (KJV) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This is the beginning of the second birth process. Acts 2:38 (KJV) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Spirit). John 3:6 (KJV) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:7 (KJV) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. V. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Notice in verse 5 Jesus uses born in context of born of water and born of Spirit. In verse 8 He only speaks of born of the Spirit to enter The Kingdom of God, a literal birth (born again). Change, birth, born again, takes place when? 1 Corinthians 15:52 (KJV) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:50-51 (KJV) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Verse 5 is the beginning of a new birth as a baby has a beginning in a new birth at conception and is literally born at birth, leaving its mother’s womb. So, to, the second birth has a beginning at baptism with water and the Spirt but only completed in full at the time of change from flesh to spirit essence. 1 John 3:9 (KJV) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. When we are born again, we are like the wind, invisible. At the point of being born again we have spirit bodies and not flesh and blood bodies. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So, being sin free and perfect is not something we will attain while we are yet flesh and blood, but once we are born again as spirit beings, we will be sin free and perfect. If one sins, then he or she is not born of God yet. And if you are now born again, We are not able to see you! Hat pin test please. So here is the problem, the false doctrine is when we teach people, they can attain a sin free and perfect life while they are yet flesh and blood. People in flesh and blood form can only strive to be sin free and perfect, they cannot attain a sin free or perfect life until they are born again as spirit beings. 1 John 1:8 (KJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Consider this scenario, you are baptized you grow in grace and in knowledge, tried and tested, become mature/perfect, (you think). You were 25 years old when baptized/called by God, 30 years of working towards perfection, you are absolutely convinced you have reached perfection, now all you must do is stay vigilant. Let’s say you live another 30 years, you are then 85 years old and must remain sinless those 30 years or guess what, if you even sin once in those 30 years, if you don’t maintain that “sinless state”, you now just proved you are indeed not BORN AGAIN! Scripture is clear, if one sins, that person is not born again. And one sin is all it would take to prove you are not born again! Answers To Difficult Bible Texts by Joe Crewa Copyright © 1988, 1995 1 John3:9 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The key to understanding this text lies in the meaning of the word “seed.” There is perfect assurance that the “seed” will provide total victory over sin. Who is this “seed” whose presence in the life can guarantee strength to obey? We find the answer in Revelation 12:17: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The seed of the woman was the man child of verse 5 “who was to rule all nations” and “was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Here it is firmly established that Christ is the seed. Further evidence is found in Galatians 3:16, where God said to Abraham, “And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Now we can grasp the beautiful truth in the Scripture before us. Those who are truly born of God do not willfully sin, because Christ is enthroned in their hearts. The only way they can choose to sin is by separating from Christ. In other words, the abiding presence of Christ and the willful commission of sin do not operate simultaneously in the same heart at the same time. Deliberate sin always separates us from Christ, and the Holy Spirit does not become a minister of sin. Contrariwise, those who are genuinely converted and have the indwelling of the Spirit will be able to overcome sin in all its forms and approaches. This text does not mean that Christians are incapable of committing wrong acts (or else there would be no virtue in their being without sin); rather, their love for Christ constrains them from walking contrary to His will. The word “sin” here is in a Greek form that indicates a continuing process. In other words, even if they stumble into a sin, they will not continue such a course; but rather, will repent sincerely, repudiating any willful violation of God’s revealed will. |
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