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 hen
can you say that you obey him? That you know him? Is it six months or a
year after you were saved? No. If you exercised genuine faith and
repentance you became righteous when you put your faith in him, and you
became obedient when you repented. Repentance is not merely turning from
sin, it is turning to obedience. It's turning from the kingdom of darkness
to light. A heart of unbelief turns to faith; a heart of rebellion
surrenders to obedience. The root of conversion is a change of heart,
which springs forth in a change of conduct. The heart change takes but a
moment. A moment that begins a process of growth in wisdom, knowledge,
love, and grace.
The Great Divide
 Before you became a Christian there was a great divide
between you and the Father. Now the divide should stand between your old
life and your new. When someone becomes a Christian,
they start with a clean slate. They are clean, forgiven, and free. And
if you really love him you will make it your goal to stay clean, our Lord
deserves no less. If you do sin and allow any unrighteousness into your
life confess it, he has promised to forgive you and cleanse you from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
The sinner is morally depraved: He lives for himself
while the saint lives for God. Every sinner is guided by his sinful nature,
that is, his passions and desires. The Christian however, has crucified
the sinful nature ( Gal. 5:24) and is guided by the light of the world.
At the point of conversion the new believer is a babe but he has a clean
and righteous heart. Such people will be lead by the spirit and when the
truth is presented to them they will respond.
A failure to respond resulting in continued sin would be conclusive evidence
that they never did repent and receive Christ.
The
same faith that receives Christ's righteousness becomes the wellspring
of the believers life. Often people will assume that it is impossible
to go in one moment from being morally depraved to being righteous. They say
that there are always still rooms of your heart that need to be cleaned
out. The idea sounds plausible but the promise of the New Covenant is
not a slow renovation of our old wicked heart, it is a new heart. To
suppose otherwise
is to confuse conversion with Growth. Conversion involves turning wholly
from sin and wholly to God. One involves the attitude of the heart or will
the other involves growth in knowledge and ability. God well settle for
and even delight in the weak as well as the strong, but he will not not
settle for half a heart and part of a mind. New believers should be taught
that they are to live completely and consistently for God. Growth should
be seen, not as waffling back and forth between good and evil, but as an
ever increasing awareness of how to Love God and our neighbor.
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness
faith Love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a
pure heart"
(2 Timothy 2:22)
Righteousness, Works, and the Gospel
Some would accuse me of mixing works with the gospel.
However the basis for this accusation lies in a misunderstanding. Those
who do this confuse the grounds for our salvation with a condition for
receiving it. Faith is the condition for receiving salvation, and real
faith works by love, purifies the heart, and produces obedience (Gal.
5:6, Acts 5:6, Rom. 1:5). This is why it could be said that "faith without
works is dead" (James 2). A call for obedience is not necessarily antagonistic
to grace, because true faith goes hand in hand with repentance and produces
obedience (Rom. 1:5).
Paul concludes Romans by saying that the Gospel has been
revealed by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might
believe and obey him. Despite all accusations this is not preaching works of the law.
Let us leave it at this: there is a difference between works produced
by faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3)...and "works of the law" (Gal. 2:16).
Problem often arise when people take a true statement
and draw a false conclusion from it. In this case they will say that our
obedience (IE. our works) cannot merit right standing with God (a true
statement); thus,
obedience is not necessary (a false conclusion). While it is true that
righteousness is not given on account of merit earned by personal works
part of the gift involves making us Holy. They are right in saying that
works done by sinners will not merit salvation but they are wrong for
failing to mention that salvation merits holiness. In other words we are
called to live a life worthy of the gospel (Php 1:27, Eph 4:1). God not only gives us righteousness, he redeems us so that we
can serve the living God.
"We know that we have come to know him if we obey
his commands. The man who say's 'I know him' yet does not obey his commands
is a liar and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:3-4
Righteousness and Responsibility
According to Hanegraaff, God makes us obey Him; it's
completely Gods responsibility. But that is not all, we also have to
remember that God has forsaken his responsibility. He at
the same time believes obedience to be a impossibility. Not only is the
idea confusing, but it transfers the blame to the wrong person. In this
scenario the blame for disobedience ends up being thrown upon God. Observe Hanegraaff's counsel to a woman who has some knowledge of the truth that
she's suppressing. The question is who gets the blame? She has confessed
that her sins are black before her face, and acknowledged that she's doing
some things that the scripture says excludes her from the kingdom of God.
She says:
"I do believe we have to cooperate with God, we have
to let him work in our lives. We have to continually submit ourselves
to him. We can't just sit back and say Oh well, God, you did it all."
Hanegraaff responds:
"Oh yes, you can. As a matter of fact, that's what
we say so that we can't boast. The fact of the matter is you don't clean
yourself up before you get in the shower, you get in the shower and
the shower cleans you up. You have no basis for boasting whatsoever
because you're doing such a great job at maintaining the faith. It is
he who is doing it from first to last." (1)
On a practical level this is a crucial issue. On the
issue of sanctification, do we have to cooperate with God - that is, do
we have to let him work in our lives so the work can be accomplished?
Hank's response is no, as he stated: "he started the work in you and will
finish it for you." Here he is overlooking some very clear teaching. There
are usually two or three agents in sanctification: God, man, and often
pastors or other Christians. Hanegraaff only acknowledges God's activity.
Let's examine his analogy of the cleansing shower.
If I would use the same logic and only tell someone one
side of the issue, you could just as easily prove the opposite point and
say that it's not God's responsibility to cleanse you; rather, it's yours
by quoting James 4:8, "wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts
you double minded." I could say that it's completely your responsibility,
but I wouldn't, because I recognize that there is a sense in which it
is your duty to wash your hands and purify your heart, yet nothing but
the blood of Jesus can wash your sin stained hands and no one but God
can purify your heart. Sometimes the bible talks about sanctification
from God's perspective, sometimes from man's, as in James, and sometimes
from both. Unfortunately, Hank has missed this point and thus gives destructive
counsel.
Romans six brings both sides together, proclaiming God's
provision and our responsibility: "our old self was crucified with him
so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless." God has provided
in Christ's crucifixion for your crucifixion. You've been "freed from
sin" (v.7), but it does not end here you still have a responsibility.
Verse 11 clearly spells out your responsibility: "Count yourselves dead
to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." So we do have to let God work
in our lives, but can we just say "Oh God, you've done it all" and do nothing?
I answer with a resounding NO! God has done his part, now it's
up to you to do yours. If you were just a puppet, if it was only up to
God, apart from your own agency as some seem to imply, none of us would
ever sin again. The fact that this is not the case, that sin continues,
demonstrates that some agency apart from God's is at work in the world.
Fortunately God still allows freedom, unfortunately people abuse that
freedom. The reason people still sin is because they forsake their
responsibility, ignore God's provision and cling to the darkness. The
apostle Paul said it best:
"We have an obligation- but it is not to the sinful
nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful
nature you well die; but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds
of the body you well live, because those who are lead by the spirit
of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:12-14 ).
The Sword is in your Hand
This should not be hard to understand God works
and provides for your sanctification, and you respond to his working in
your heart. Fellow believer's are told to come along side and encourage
you to respond to God and reprove you if you don't. The bible pronounces
you dead in Christ, you are dead to sin that is something Christ has provided
for you through your union with him on the cross. But it is up to you
to count yourself dead to sin. It is up to you to "put to death the misdeeds
of the body." that's something you are told to do, God will not make you
do it he's put the sword in your hand.
The woman
from the earlier conversation was confessing her sin. She was confessing
that she was aware of her obligation and had abandoned it. Hanegraaff
forsook his as well, he should have told her the truth and rebuked her
(2 Timothy 4:2). Instead he told her that it was not really her fault.
Instead of working with the Holy spirit and exposing the sin in her heart
he placed the blamed on God, how did he do that? He did it by denying her responsibility,
and implying that it belonged solely to God? This is a horrible situation, here
we have a woman who is under conviction the father is reaching out to
her offering restoration and forgiveness. Then Hank steps in and Instead
of turning this sinner from the error of her way (James 5:20). Instead
of bringing her face to face with reality, with the lord he gave her an
excuse so as to ease her sin stained conscience.
If our own agency wasn't involved at all, if it was only
God in the sense Hank seems to imply, not only would God be responsible
for our obedience he would also get the blame when we are disobedient.
This would naturally be implied because if we are only obedient when he
makes us obedient then when we are not it was due to him not choosing
to make us obedient. This is truly shifting the blame and I would say
is blasphemous, because in an insidious manner it is accusing God of sin.
You can not say, "I sinned but it is not my fault," I'm in the shower
but God hasn't cleansed me yet, that is not confession that's denial.
We need to get in the shower and stay there. God will
not force you into the shower. Even in the shower analogy there are at
least two factors. You the water, and perhaps some friendly person who
said you need a shower.
I would hope that I am misunderstanding Hank, but I'm
afraid that I haven't. I want to hear him telling people that they
are dead to sin. I want to hear him say that if you know something is a sin
you don't have to do it. In the course of the conversation I could only
think of God's word to Jeremiah;
"They dress the wounds of my people
as though it were not serious."
Jeremiah 8:11
The Providence of Man The Providence
of God
Most of life belongs to the providence of God but some
belong to man. Obedience is an issue that falls into both. There are certain
consequences that naturally result from our obedience or disobedience.
I have a wife and two children who are both greatly effected by my conduct.
How I treat them, and live in all the practical affairs of life effects
their well-being and happiness. Their response to my actions also effects
me. This is in the providence of man.
In the providence of God, He gives me strength as well
as guidelines and examples in the bible and holds me accountable for how
I treat them. He can forgive me if I break his law and could erase consequences,
but most often we will experience the natural consequences of our actions.
Salvation
is a gift that excludes all room for boasting but who is this given to? Is
it given to the one who is committed to a life as a sinner who needs cop
out excuses for their sins? No. God knows your name salvation is given to
you if you will forsake your sins and put your faith in him. Does that
mean you have reason to boast? Absolutely not. This is why the author of
Hebrews could say Christ is the source of eternal salvation to all who
obey him (Heb 5:9). This isn't preaching works this isn't giving room for
boasting, this is the gospel decreed by God and revealed in Christ.
"You have been set free from sin from sin and
have become slaves to righteousness." Rom. 6:18
Faith, Love and Obedience
The apposing system makes obedience a confusing idea.
In this system, Jesus lived a righteous life in our place so that we don't
have to live righteously ourselves. Thus, our obedience becomes an abstract
theological concept, leaving sin as the only reality. It is at this point
that the theory breaks down and becomes practically confusing. It becomes
confusing because people such as Hank Hanegraaff still assert that a true believer will be obedient.
Unfortunately, he doesn't see this as inconsistent with claiming we have
to sin. In the end people are left wondering how many sins they have to
commit, what kinds they have to commit, and how much is to much.
Only a heart full of faith and love for God can inspire
real obedience, the kind that will keep family's strong, motivate the
shepherds and impact the world. "Faith works by Love." This love is what
fueled the fire in the apostles hearts. This is what caused the Corinthians
to repent in Godly sorrow (and filled them with zeal). Respond to God
and his word in faith and trust.
Notes
1. Hank Hanegraaff, Live program,
(San Juan Capistrano, CA: The Bible Answer man
Broadcast), 13 December 95.
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"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will
live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those
who believe and are saved."
Heb 10:36-39
"If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special
note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother."
2 Thess 3:14-15
"Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have
not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore,
what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not
wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time
I will come to you."
Revelations 3:2-4
"Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with
the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness."
Eph 4:20-24
"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the
sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the
sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the
Spirit of God are sons of God."
Rom 8:12-15
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean
the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and
self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and
dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
Matt 23:25-26
No Response Needed
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In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living
and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you
this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season;
correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction."
2 Tim 4:1-3
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone
who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him."
Heb 11:6
"Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the
LORD, They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to
the full with their own fancies."
Prov 1:29-31
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