THE FALLACY OF EASTER
I check Twitter first thing in the morning as I eat my breakfast. This morning it is Good Friday in America [Easter Saturday here in New Zealand] and several well-meaning folks tweeted something about Jesus. I didn’t even know it was Easter weekend. All weekends are the same to me.
The thing that struck me was the fantasy that Jesus somehow paid the price for all our sins, past, present, and future, so we never have to worry about sin again. Yes, Jesus paid the ultimate price for all sin. But that was as God’s chosen people [the Jews] saw it. For centuries they had to attend services at a temple and offer animals or birds on an alter for a sin offering, so that God would forgive their sins. That was the sacrifice required by the Mosaic Law. That was what we call the ’Old Covenant.’
While Jesus trudged around the dusty roads of Galilee, Judea, and Samaria, He preached about salvation [being ‘saved’]. He told us that we must deny ourselves, we must give up everything we had, we must be set free from sin, we must be perfect as His Father is perfect, we must be afraid of His Father, we must repent, we must do the will of His Father: just as an example of what He told us. At the end of Matthew Jesus gives us what we call the great commission. In there He tells us that to be a disciple of His, we must obey everything He told us. So that, in my humble opinion, makes a mockery of the gospel that has been preached for 150 years. At a home group one night I told the folks that to be a Christian we must give up everything we have. One lady ‘corrected’ me by reminding me that was to be a disciple of Jesus, not a Christian. She read Luke 14:33. I attempted to inform her that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus. One and the same thing. She told me I was wrong. I could not convince her of the truth. However, I am sure she is an exception to popular doctrine. I sure hope so anyway.
One tweeter reminded us that ‘Jesus paid the price to save humanity.’ I had to give that some serious consideration, I must admit. I have been teaching for a long time now that pew-warmers have been taught to fawn over Jesus in a most demonstrative manner for far too long. Sure, He died a terrible death, and His Father actually rejected Him as He took upon Himself all the sins of the universe. He was tortured in a brutal and gruesome manner. But what we must understand is that He did all of that as a final, ultimate, and acceptable sacrifice to His Father for the future sins of all Jews so that they never had to offer animals on altars as sin offerings ever again. He also nailed the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law to the cross with Him, so that was done away with. Paul was told by Jesus that this New Covenant was available to Gentiles as well as Jews, so anyone can become a child of God now by following God’s/Jesus’ commandments.
Preachers have assured us all for 150 years that the price has been paid for all our sins, past, present and future, by Jesus’s blood shed on Calvary’s Mountain. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb etc. There is zero reference to that being true anywhere in God’s inerrant word. In fact, the apostles who wrote most of the New Testament had no knowledge of such a doctrine. Paul asked the believers in Rome: ‘Shall we sin so that grace may abound?’ He answered his own question with, as today’s language would have it, ‘Hell no, we died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?’ He tells us that when he hears that one of his ‘flock had sinned, something burned in his gut.’ He orders us to be ‘imitators of God’ and that there must not be even a hint of sin in us. He told his flock in Corinth to ‘come back to their senses as they ought and stop sinning.’ Also, in his letter to the Corinthians he gave them this truth:
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who have sex with men, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers or swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10
Paul wrote all of His letters well after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, he spent a long time with Jesus [in the Spirit] after Jesus had ascended, being instructed in how he should go about his ministry and what he should teach in the way of doctrine. We never find in any letters written by the apostles or disciples after Jesus had ascended, any reference to being ‘washed in the blood’ or excused for all our sin due to the death of Christ. They all make it abundantly clear that sin results in death/hell.
They teach us that we must get to know God. That was Paul’s greatest goal. Jesus, and the rest of scripture tell us that we must fear God. Fearing God allows us to repent [stop sinning], It is also the way to LIFE. When God speaks of LIFE He means eternal life. The life that He purposed for us at the time of creation. The new creation He promises all those who are His children.
Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of the Lord will be with you to keep you from sinning. Ex. 20:20
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Acts 10:34-35
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 2 Cor. 5:11
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. Prov. 3:7
Through the fear of the LORD evil is avoided. Prov. 16:6
Humility and the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life. Prov. 22:4
The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Prov. 19:23
The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Prov. 15:33
Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Ps. 25:12-14
Clearly you will NEVER learn to fear God if you never know Him. So, as I have said for decades: the greatest thing you can do while you inhabit that shell of clay is to get to know God. Paul knew that. I can testify to the fact that it was not until I learned to fear God that I was able to repent and be rid of a filthy sexual addiction.
Very sadly, preachers have told us for many decades that human beings cannot live sin-free lives, in spite of all that God has told us throughout His life manual. Let me leave you with God’s description of the life of a Christian. This is from the NIV which, like every modern version of the bible I have read, has some words added that were never there in the Greek. The KJV has it right. I have left out those words.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
No one who lives in him sins. No one who sins has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot sin because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.1 Jn. 3:4-10
A book I wrote after spending two decades in the USA researching Christianity proclaims God’s gospel clearly, with many pages of His word copied onto its pages. I wanted to offer the reader God’s word rather than my opinion. A Nation Broken is available from Amazon or B & N. Please get a copy and read it with a hungry heart and an open mind.