False Assertions About Sin. Part 6.

False Assertions Addressed By John. 

(3.) "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 

1 John 1:10.

This is the third false assertion about sin, which John the apostle dealt with.

I know you must have heard some preachers/christians today teaching that the new creation man does not have a past; that the new creation man is not the man that Christ died for, that the new creation is not the redeemed for he never existed prior to his birth in Christ.

I was once in a service in 2001 when a renown preacher/televangelist, in a bid to demonstrate and pass across this teaching, brought out two men, and put one of them infront and said that is the sinner, that is the man that Christ died for, the man that was redeemed; he can sing: 'Amazing grace...that saved a wretch like me'; he can sing the songs of redemption. 

He then led the second man out and said that is the new creation man, the man who has no past; that is not the man that Christ died for, he was never a sinner so he is not the redeemed but the fruit of redemption.

Now logically, this sounds plausible and appealing to those who, like the Athenians, love to hear some new stuff/thing; but in the light of scriptures we will thoroughly scrutinise and examine this...so stay with me.

This is actually not a new teaching/doctrine in town, it is not a 21st century discovery; it is rather a false assertion which began as early as the days of the apostles/early church.  

John while addressing it says: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us". 

In other words, if we say we have no past life as sinners, if we say we have no history of sins committed, we make God a liar and his word is not in us. In Romans 3 verses 4, 7, 9 & 23, scripture puts across lines which counter this assertion: 

"Let God be true, but every man a liar...But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say?  Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?...For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?...What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin....For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God".

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul teaching on the new creation, clearly states that for the new creation man, old things have passed away and all things have become new. The fact that old things have passed away, does not mean that they never existed; it rather means that they now belong to the past, and have become a history we can look back at and marvel at the wonders of what God has wrought in the present. The testimony is thus that old things are now in the past, that all things are now new in Christ, and not that we never had such a past.

Paul speaking of our past life in sins says: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" Ephesians 2:4-5.  In verse 6 he went ahead to say "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

In the ages to come, God is going to show/display the exceeding riches of his grace as demonstrated in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. The phrase 'exceeding riches of his grace' is contextually comparative, and it is the contrast between the depths of death in sin, from which God raised us, and the heights of his grace in Christ where he placed us. 

The riches of his grace far exceeds the ugly/dark past he picked us from.

Paul also speaking of his past life in 1 Timothy 1:12-13 he said: "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because i did it ignorantly in unbelief."

The same Paul who before was a blasphemer, persecutor and injurious to the faith of Christ, is the one who was now transformed of God to preach the same faith which he sought to destroy in the past. This is the truth/reality of of the gospel of Christ as the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. No matter how ugly our past has been, he is able to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him.

Also the apostle Peter, speaks of our past life in 1 Peter 4:3 "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries".

Earlier in chapter 1 of the same epistle he wrote thus: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." 1 Peter 1:9-10.

The new creation/eternal sons(kings and priests) of God will sing a new song of redemption, when brought to glorious shores in the heavenly courts. The wonders of heights to which God has raised them in Christ, in contrast to the depths of darkness/wretchedness he took them from, will make spontaneous praise erupt in worship of the Lamb. The history thus remains a reference point, for the eternal  appreciation, marvel and wonder of all creation, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Revelation 5:8-10; 1:5-6 and Ephesians 1:5-7.

Where The False New Creation Teaching Meets With The Once Saved Forever Saved Doctrine.

While teaching on the mystery of resurrection, which is the foundation of the christian faith and the new creation reality; Paul clearly explained in agricultural terms, how it is the same seed that is sown/buried in the ground  that springs up in newness of life; the difference being that God gives it a new body, as it buds with new features(constitution/arrangement); so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 1 Corinthians 15:35-43.

The false assertion of the new creation man as an entirely different man who never had a past, or as one who never had a history of being born into this world of sin, is a strong foundation of the once saved forever saved doctrine, which is a virus with different strains.

The new creation, being the fruit of redemption/salvation, who never had a past life of sins, cannot be affected by whatever ill/wrong he does in this world; neither does God hold him accountable for whatever he does. What is reckoned as sin to others, is not sin to the new creation man, for to him sin does not exist or sin has lost it's potency to separate men from God and is thus dead/extinct.

Concerning this erroneous teaching, some might say "It is all about persuasion and personal conviction". 

How can it be all about persuasion and personal conviction, when you can be wrongly persuaded and convinced of a partial truth/error?

Galatians 5:7-9  "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

Paul the apostle, who in Romans 8:38-39 expressed his persuasion that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ; also knew that it will be sheer ignorance, unbridled pride and a delusive wisdom in our own conceits, if we assume the state of infallibility in ourselves. 

He knew that from Christ's end, all that God has wrought for us is irrevocable and he was fully persuaded of that; but he also knew that from our own end, failure to continue in the faith and goodness of God toward us in Christ, will lead to a cutting off, which Jesus himself spoke of in John 15:1-6.

Thus, the same Paul who in Romans 8:38-39 said that he is fully persuaded that nothing in this world or in the world to come can separate us from the love of God in Christ, also warns in Romans 11:19-22, that we should not be high-minded, but we should fear and take heed to ourselves(as gentiles who have been grafted into the faith of Christ); that we should take heed to continue in God's goodness(grace) toward us in Christ, lest we get cut off like the natural branches(Israel).

"Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

Paul's persuasion was thus not in a partial truth/error, contrary to the wholesome words of truth and the doctrine which is according to godliness. His persuasion of infallibility in Christ seamlessly runs into his conviction of the truth of God's severity/judgment on believers who fail to continue in God's goodness/grace. 

Let No Man Deceive You With Vain Words.