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Who and what are we? What is the real you? We may lose our hair, an arm or a leg; but the character and personality of man is still there.
Our bodies are only temporary dwellings which grow old, decay and pass away. Yet we are told that God placed a high value upon man.
David asked:
Psalm 8
4 What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
It cannot be that God was concerned with the body; but with the indwelling spirit and character of man, which can be made in the image and likeness of God.
1 Corinthians 3
16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Here we see that our bodies are to be temples for the Spirit of God to dwell in. In the incarnation, Jesus came to us as a man to be our example in all things. The incarnation of Christ means that He came to dwell in the fallen, mortal, sinful flesh of a common human being.
Hebrews 2
14 Forasmuch then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood; He also Himself took part of the same.
16 For verily, He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.
The Earthly Sanctuary
God gave us an object lesson of what He intended each of us to be when He gave instructions to Moses to build a sanctuary. The sanctuary was to be a lesson book to help us understand the wonder of the incarnation of Christ.
Exodus 25
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
The sanctuary was only to be temporary. It would become old and decay, and yet within that dwelling was the presence of God Himself. Here is the picture of One who is eternal, sinless, pre-existent and self-existent, dwelling in that which was temporary, sinful and of human origin.
God did not make the sanctuary Himself. It was made by man according to God’s instructions. The building was constructed from the materials of earth, the dust on which the curse of sin rested. It was not formed from the pure dust in the Garden of Eden, of which the bodies of Adam and Eve were made, but from the earth which had the curse of sin on it.
The human body is the product of man by reproduction. We are not directly created as Adam was. Our bodies are temporary, sinful and of human origin. They become old and will in due time pass away.
Even after we have been born again into the Kingdom of God, we retain the same flesh which is prone to evil. Yet within this earthly tent or tabernacle, God is to dwell; just as He did in the wilderness tabernacle.
1 Corinthians 3
16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
This makes plain that the temple of God is the human body, which, as we have seen, is made as was the sanctuary of old.
Within that body temple is to be the presence of God, even as God dwelt in the building made by human hands in the past.
Unfortunately, all too many are unable to see the distinction between the fallen sinful flesh and the nature that dwells in that flesh. When it is taught that Christ tabernacled in sinful flesh, many conclude this to mean that He was unholy and a sinner.
The sanctuary of old exposes the falsity of this reasoning.
There God came and dwelt in a building made by human, sinful hands, but this did not make God unholy or a sinner. On the contrary, by God’s presence, the sanctuary became a sanctified place. The combination of the heavenly with the earthly resulted in a building entirely devoted to the service of God.
Christ’s Humanity
Likewise, Christ did not become unholy or sinful by dwelling in sinful flesh. The combination of divinity with humanity produced a life entirely and perfectly devoted to the service of God.
Every one of us is born into the world with the human heredity from sinful, fallen man and the spiritual heredity from Satan: but for those who have been “born again” into the kingdom of God, there is the removal of the Satanic and its replacement by the life of Christ, or the divine nature.
We can either have the presence of God in our lives or the presence of Satan. With the presence of either, the building (or the body) does not change. The same building or body is either a tabernacle for God or for Satan. The condition of whether it is holy or sinful is determined by who is dwelling in that building.
The presence of Satan in the life has a corrupting effect upon the body. In the change from the life devoted to the service of Satan to the Christian life, there is no change in the flesh. The change is in the power which resides in that flesh.
In the case of Jesus Christ, at no time was Satan ever His father.
John 14
30 …the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me.
He, the only begotten Son of God, came down to tabernacle in a body which was the product of human reproduction. He came to the earth as a new-born babe, the Son of God by spiritual reproduction and the son of man by human reproduction.
Satan finds in human hearts weak spots where he can gain a foothold, but he could find nothing in Christ. He did not consent to sin, not even by a thought. He took our flesh, but not our mind. It is in the realm of the mind or the thoughts where the law of God is served.
The Human and the Carnal Mind or Heart
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was to take away from us the old carnal mind or heart at the beginning of our Christian experience.
Romans 6
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God.
11 Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Before our conversion, we all know how naturally we did the wrong things. We never had to decide to lose our tempers. It was a strong force in us and it just happened as a regular thing in spite of ourselves. Our natures can be changed only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only then, can we find victory over these besetments.
Jesus used illustrations from the natural world to depict the spiritual. For example, to make clear that the carnal mind, the “old man” of Romans 7, the “man of sin”, had to be eradicated from our natures, He used the illustration of the thorn bush.
Luke 6
43 For a good tree brings not forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Let us take the example of the thorn. Just imagine a farmer going out each morning and placing his foot on the thorn bush in an attempt to subdue it. When his foot is removed, it springs up again as strong as ever. No farmer in his right mind would do such a thing. The only way to get rid of that bush is to pluck it up by the roots and burn it up, and in its place plant a good seed.
Many people believe that we retain the “old man”, or mind until Jesus comes; the Bible clearly teaches its eradication, and that we must become new creatures in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5
17 Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This is a wonderful promise of victory over our besetting sins.
We will retain our human natures until Christ comes—our flesh and blood bodies—we must eat, sleep and live as human beings.
We must learn to distinguish between the human and the carnal natures. Paul recognized a power in his members, or in his body that was uncontrollable.
Romans 7
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 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.
Man was to bear God’s image in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is the express image of the Father, but man was formed in the likeness of God. Christ’s nature was in harmony with the will of God.
Adam and Eve were created perfect, and they did not have the carnal mind, but they did have to keep their appetites, passions and affections under the control of reason and of the Holy Spirit.
Man was created with the power of choice, a free moral agent. Satan knew this, and he used that which in itself was good, appetite and Adam’s love for his wife, Eve, to overthrow the human race. Appetite is necessary to sustain life, but it can become perverted, and lead to sin if abused, as can any other emotion.
Through fear of losing Eve, all the blessings of God were lost sight of by Adam.
1 Timothy 2
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
As we can see, the beginning of the Christian life is by no means the end of temptation. If Adam and Eve in the full strength of their spiritual, intellectual and physical power could be tempted and did fall; then how much more certainly will we suffer temptation. But there is power to enable us to fully overcome, in Christ.
It is important to understand where the difference is between the human and the carnal natures. Both are called natures, but we need to know where each applies.
Christ did not have the carnal nature or mind, but as part of the fallen human race, we were born with the carnal, or selfish mind of Satan. It is this that Christ came to cleanse us from, and with its eradication, the new birth begins, at which time all past sins are forgiven. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit we receive the power to live a holy life.
Ezekiel 11
19 …and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh;
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
This initial conversion is the gift of God and without this act of being made righteous or of being justified, no one can do any works of righteousness at all.
Below is a comparison of the two natures:
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The Human Nature Appetite These must be controlled, If these were eradicated, If these are abused, |
The Carnal Nature Hatred These must eradicated and For example, |
The Two Justifications
Often two things are called by the same name in the Bible, and yet they are different. There is the human nature, and the carnal nature, as we have seen. There is the justification at the outset of our Christian walk, and the justification at the end of our lives, in the judgment.
For example, the Jews could not distinguish between the first and second comings of Christ. They placed all the prophecies pertaining to the second coming to the first, and when He came as a Babe in Bethlehem, they rejected Him.
Today, we have no such difficulty. We know that the events described in these two verses are different, and that Christ could not come as a Babe and as a King at the same time:
Isaiah 9
6 Unto us a child is born…
Matthew 25
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory…
But the Jews could not or would not make a distinction between the two comings, which resulted in the loss of their eternal life.
I think the most common misapplication in our day is regarding the two justifications. Some cannot see that there are two, even though one is clearly imputed and the other imparted.
One is conversion at the beginning of our experience as a Christian, and the other is at the end of life in the judgment.
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Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law This is salvation from Here we are justified by faith |
Romans 2:13 “For not the hearers of the law This is salvation from Here only the doers of the law |
We are justified in the new birth experience by faith without the deeds of the law, but we are justified to keep the deeds of the law.
James 2
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone…
18 I will show my faith by my works…
The judgment is concerned only with those who have been saved from sin by faith. The judgment will look for the evidence of that justification, which is righteousness or good works.
Romans 2
13 …not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
This truth is also taught in Matthew 22, which is a description of the Judgment. Before the marriage takes place, the King comes in to examine each guest personally to see if he has the wedding garment on. The King represents God who has provided a wedding garment (or righteousness), for each guest. Anyone found without the wedding garment is cast out. What is the wedding garment?
Revelation 19
8 …the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
It is a gift from God. It is not loaned but given to the saints and it becomes their very own possession.
1 John 3
6 Whosoever abides in him sins not…
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.
In view of the fact that God has clearly stated and proved that His holy law can be kept by all created beings, even by those in weakened, sinful flesh; then He is not asking the impossible when He expects to find us in the wedding garment of perfect righteousness. The law can be obeyed to perfection. It is the one and only standard in the judgment.
The danger of most of the professed Christian world today is that they stop at the first justification, or by faith alone; but conversion or the new birth experience is only the beginning of the Christian walk.
It is very common to hear people say that they are saved by grace or faith alone. Just as the Jews brought all the texts concerning the second coming of Christ to the first, just so the professed Christian world bring all the texts pertaining to the judgment or second justification to the first (or conversion), and they believe they have nothing further to do to gain eternal life.
We must take the great gift of salvation as new-born babes and grow up into Christ. This work of sanctification is the work of a lifetime whether it be long or short; and the final judgment or justification determines how we have applied the gift which God has given us, and whether we have brought forth the fruit of righteousness.
Christ stands for us in the first justification, and gives us the forgiveness of all our past sins; and the power of the Holy Spirit to live a sinless life.
Christ Our Example
Christ kept the law to perfection; and he came to prove that man, even when handicapped by the limitations of a degenerate humanity, and surrounded by an environment that is degenerate, can obey every one of the commandments of God.
Christ did not come to this world to show what God could do; He came as a man to obey God’s law as our example. The majority of the religious world are convinced that Satan’s arguments are right in that the law of God cannot be kept, thus robbing Christ of the power of the demonstration given by Him.
Hebrews 2
14 Forasmuch then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same…
16 For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.
Here we see that Christ did not come in the perfect, sinless, flesh of Adam before the fall, or the angels who did not fall; but it says He took on Him the seed of Abraham, which is the same flesh as we have.
Satan can point to the unnumbered hosts of this world who do not obey God’s law, as sure proof that his claim is right. He can also point to the professed people of God who likewise fall short; but they are all a deceived majority.
God has done far more than make a declaration. He has given a demonstration of perfect obedience in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He came to live a life of perfect obedience in the same flesh and blood as we have; and the question as to whether it can be done is eternally settled, and our salvation is made possible.
If the devil is able to prove his point that the law cannot be kept, the kingdom of God is destroyed and there will be no salvation for anyone. Jesus came to unveil the deceptions of Satan.
Hebrews 2
17 In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto his brethren.
Hebrews 4
15 He was in all points tempted like as we are, and yet without sin.
Christ endured every trial to which we are subject. He exercised no power in His own behalf that is not freely offered to us. As man He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God. He is “God with us”; that is, one of us.
So conclusive and perfect was His demonstration that the devil and his hosts could find no fault in Him. Satan and his angels, Adam and Eve, and the Jews had all broken the law; but this does not prove that they could not have obeyed every precept of the law to perfection.
Proof had to be given that the law could be kept, not only by angels and unfallen man, but by fallen man. It was left for Christ to prove by demonstration what the others had so dismally failed to do. Had Christ failed, the cause of God would have been lost forever.
Christ did not fail, but even though the final proof has been given, the devil does not surrender. He cannot argue that Jesus did not keep the law; instead he seeks to dismiss this demonstration as invalid. He does this by arguing that Christ did not do it on the same level and under the same conditions as we must.
Satan argues that inasmuch as Christ did not dare to descend to the level of sinful flesh to keep the law, this is proof that it cannot be kept by man in that condition.
Satan declares that God is a liar when He says that man can keep the law; and is unjust in calling upon man to keep it, with the threat of destruction if he does not keep it.
Falsity of Satan’s Arguments
The majority of the religious world agree with Satan’s charges. But let us consider. For God to refuse to permit Christ to give the demonstration under the handicap of the same, fallen sinful flesh as we have, would be an admission on God’s part that it could not be done. Such an admission would have fearful and far-reaching implications. It would mean that God was declaring Himself to be a liar, which would be to admit that Satan was stating truth.
I will give a popular illustration of the problem. Imagine a man standing at the foot of a high mountain, so difficult to climb, especially carrying a heavy burden on his back, that he does not think he can do it. Along comes another man, burdenless, and equipped with the best climbing gear. He tells the first man that the mountain can certainly be climbed, and offers to demonstrate.
He is about to start off with his sophisticated climbing equipment, free from any encumbrance, when the first man protests that to climb the mountain under conditions superior to his own would not constitute any proof. He tells him to divest himself of the advantages, and take on an equal load. If the second man willingly and confidently does this, it will be clear proof he has faith that it can be done under those conditions. If not, it is an admission that it cannot be done.
In the illustration, the man who stands at the foot of the mountain represents us. The mountain is the symbol of the heights of the righteousness that the Lord directs us to reach. But as we stand there we are handicapped by the burden of our sinful, fallen humanity.
The Lord not only declares that the law is not too hard for us to keep the mountain can be climbed—but makes it clear that He expects us to keep it.
Deuteronomy 30 [RSV]
11 For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
14 But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.
16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
Should Christ decline to accept the full load we have to bear and appropriates some power not available to us, this would be an admission on His part that it could not be done. To have done so would have been to uphold Satan’s lie.
This is precisely what the teachers in Babylon do. They say that Jesus came with flesh and blood different from any of us, and vastly superior; a human nature so pure and holy that it was like Adam’s in the Garden of Eden.
Christ has exposed Satan as a murderous liar by demonstrating that the law of God can be kept, by sanctified (born again) human nature; and any who do not hold this truth are anti–Christ in the Scriptures.
1 John 4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Jesus came in the same flesh and blood as the children. Every spirit that confesses not that Christ is come in the flesh and blood as the children is not of God.
Satan knows this, and he seeks to make it appear that his agents actually do teach that Christ did come in the flesh.
Let us examine for example the “Immaculate Conception”. On the surface, it appears that this teaches that Christ came in the same flesh as we have, but note the following:
The Faith of Millions, by J.A. O’Brien, p. 509:Not only was she [Mary] free from the slightest stain of actual sin, but by a singular miracle of Divine Grace she was free also from original sin, with which all other children of Adam are born into this world. It was imminently fitting that she who was destined to be the mother of Christ, who was to give Him flesh of her flesh, and blood of her blood, should be undefiled by that slight shadow of Adam’s fall. To her alone, among all the members of the race was granted that singular immunity.
Notice how distinctly this teaches that Mary was different from every other human being that ever lived so far as her flesh and blood is concerned. This teaches that Mary had superior or holy flesh. If Mary was different, then Jesus must also have been different, because Mary could only, and did only impart to Him that which she herself was. The Catholic book continues:
It is to be noted that the Immaculate Conception does not refer to the miraculous conception of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mother without the intervention of a human father, as many non-Catholics imagine, but to the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother, without the stain of original sin.
There is good reason for the claim that it was Mary, not Jesus who was born contrary to the laws of nature. This reason recognized that like produces like. It is impossible for a human parent to give his offspring what he, himself, does not have. She would have to transmit to Jesus the same flesh and blood that she had.
Catholic Belief, p. 217:Disbelief in the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin Mary would imply belief in the following revolting consequences; namely that He who is holiness itself, and has an infinite horror of sin, took human nature from a corrupt human source.
So here we see the error in the doctrine of the “Immaculate Conception”. The Bible teaches that those who hold this belief are anti-Christ.
God admonishes us to test every doctrine by the Word.
Isaiah 8
20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light, in them.
We have seen how Babylon, the Mother, is denying the doctrine of Christ, and bears the identifying mark of anti-Christ. It is well known that the daughters of Babylon do not arrive at the same conclusion by believing in the immaculate conception through Mary. They give Christ the immaculate conception directly.
Our Hope Magazine, by Dr. E. Schuyler English (Spokesman for the Protestant Evangelical Churches):He [Christ] was perfect in His humanity but He was none the less God, and His conception in His incarnation was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit so that He did not partake of the fallen, sinful nature of other men.
We see that those who deny Christ had the same flesh as the children are anti-Christ, no matter what their profession or past calling might be.
2 John
7 For many deceivers are entered…who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Controversy Over The Law
The controversy is over the law, which Satan maintains cannot be kept by man. Christ was a real man who came to stand at the head of the human race to share their experiences from childhood to manhood. He came to this earth and lived a life of perfect obedience to prove that man, connected with the Father and the Son, could obey all the divine commandments
Let us look at the list of some in the Bible who have attained to perfection. Hebrews chapter 11 gives names such as Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Moses, and a host of others.
Job was referred to as perfect and upright. The book of Job has misled many because of Job’s three lying friends who came to visit him in his infirmity.
After Satan stripped Job of everything, these three friends came to harass him, but God was not pleased with the inferences they made to Job.
In Job 42:7, God said that these men did not speak the truth, or that which was right, so it they did not speak truth, they must have been liars. The experience of Job was a good illustration of what Satan would do to us if it were not for the protection of God.
I will give a few Bible texts which admonish us to be perfect:
2 Corinthians 13
11 Be perfect, be of good comfort…
Matthew 5
48 Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
There are many such texts commanding us to be perfect.
Holiness is the entire surrender of the heart and life to the indwelling spirit of the principles of heaven. Those who do not aim for perfection of character, rob God of His glory in the work of saving them wholly and entirely from all sin.
No repentance is genuine which does not work reformation.
The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life to transform the character and control the conduct.
Divinity Of Christ
Christ is eternally the pre-existent, and everlasting God. He who was God became man. He came down and took our human nature. It is not merely that Christ is God OR man, but that He is God AND man. Christ had a dual nature.
The devil fears no teaching that presents the fullness of one or the other, provided that the two are not linked together. In the days when Christ was on earth, the issue was over his divinity.
They could all see that He was truly a man, with the same flesh and blood they had, but they could not see that He was the divine Son of God.
Now the issue has swung the other way. It is plainly recognized by Christendom today that Christ is truly and eternally God. What they do not see is that pure, spotless, divinity, could actually dwell in fallen humanity, even though it is plainly taught in the Scriptures.
We must know Him as He is. It is vital that Christ is understood to be truly God, eternal, powerful; the Creator, distinct from all of His creatures in the universe. He possesses within Himself the power to life, for He has in Himself “life original, unborrowed, underived.” The whole work of sin has been to separate man from God, but it is Christ’s mission to bridge the gulf. He became God and man, so making peace between God and man.
Ephesians 2
12 That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Jesus laid aside His divine creative power and refused to use anything not freely available to us. His lot and demonstration was actually more difficult, as the temptation was ever before Him to lay hold on this divine power, which is something we know nothing about.
Christ made Himself completely dependent on God, the Father. He said:
John 5
30 I can of mine own self do nothing…
He trusted in the Father’s might in faith, just as we must learn to do. He exercised no powers which man may not have through faith in Him.
The Desire of Ages by E. G. White, p. 311:God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” This command is a promise.
The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan….He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul to keep him from sinning.
The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. As the Son of man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in their life. Jesus was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh even as we are…He shared the lot of man; yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was God in the flesh. His character is to be ours.
The Desire of Ages, p. 664:His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may be in possession of, if they will be in subjection to God as He was.
The last great conflict between Christ and Satan, is but the final struggle over the law of God.
The Law And The Gospel
We cannot separate the law from the gospel. The very purpose and intent of the gospel is to produce perfect obedience to the law of God; and its work begins with the assumption that the law can be kept by human beings who have been transformed by the creative power of God, and who depend on the sustaining power of God to keep them.
Christ came to prove that if fallen humanity can keep the law, there was no excuse for Adam’s sin. Adam was perfect in his humanity.
If we take away the complete humanity of Christ, we deny His power to save to the uttermost.
Romans 1
16 The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
Fearful indeed, are the consequences and the issues involved in the matter of the teaching and understanding of the nature of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in His humanity. We have seen that the Bible exposes the claims of Satan, and we have seen that the law can indeed be kept, and that we can be perfect.
Even more, when I faced the tempter as a lost soul needing basic salvation, I faced him with the discouragement of my own sin upon me. That is bad enough; but when we think of Christ, He had not only the weight of my sins, but your sins, and the sins of the whole world upon Him.
And if that was not enough, He bore that weight with the weakness of my humanity. This was a position of disadvantage and burden of sin far greater than I could ever possibly have, and bearing a burden far beyond what I will ever be called upon to bear, He overcame and lived a whole lifetime, without sinning at all.
Death Knell To Satan
What a complete and conclusive death knell this is to Satan’s argument. How our mouths are stopped in shame at the least temptation to excuse the smallest or most common sin in ourselves.
Christ is our example. The victory is won. The bands of sin are broken, and Jesus bids the captives go free.
The Desire of Ages, p. 490:The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul. Not one that in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy’s power…With Him there can be no such thing as failure, loss, impossibility, or defeat; we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
Satan is exposed and seen forever as a liar and a murderer.
Christ is ever revealed for what He is, the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Revelation 22
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
