WASHED IN THE BLOOD
I was brought up in a home that professed to be ‘Christian.’ Us kids had no choice but to attend Sunday School every weekend, and the morning service, and as we got a little older, the evening service as well. We were all assured that if we believed in Jesus, trusted Him, had faith in Him, and accepted Him as Lord and Savior we would be born again, all our sins would be washed away, we would be sanctified, justified, and made anew, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to give us power to tell old hairy legs where to go etc. I sincerely prayed every night, as a child, that Jesus would come into my heart and be my Savior. I confessed my sins and asked His forgiveness. I was as green as grass when it came to worldly matters. Never saw a movie [they all came from that sin hole, Hollywood]. Had no sisters, so had no idea that girls were different to boys in any way. I am sure you get the picture.
My father sent me to boarding school when I was just fourteen and it was a matter of ‘joining the lads’ or being beat up, bullied and abused in every way they could devise. I had an awful lot to learn, and I learned it very quickly, both in bed with other lads, and meeting girls at the beach. I was evicted for bringing a dozen bottles of beer into our dorm one night for a party. The next morning, I was on a bus, in agony, as I sat on that seat after receiving four of the house-master’s best, in my pj’s, with his cane, around midnight.
At age eighteen I left home [a little rural town] and moved to a large city. I was addicted sexually, and my life became focused on the goal to enjoy sex as much as I could. I joined a motor-cycle gang and partied my life away for several years. Then I took an ocean liner ‘across the ditch’ to Australia, where the plan was to work in the mines up north and make a heap of money. I took a job with a company in Perth and they sent me to the very southern coast to work on a new port facility. Needless to say, I gate-crashed a party one Saturday night. I met a gal, and ended up marrying her. I still had no money, and now a wife and her two kids from a previous marriage. But deep down somewhere I had the memory of what I had read of God’s word as a youngster. He promises a life of blessing and peace and contentment etc to those who obey Him. So, I took my new family to a Baptist church near our apartment and tried my hardest to be a father that I could be proud of, and my wife and kids would be pleased with. I put into ‘practice’ everything I had learned as a child. The gospel that was guaranteed to bring me happiness, a great marriage, and contentment in my soul.
For several years I appeared [to others] to be a spiritually mature man of God, and was elected or placed into leadership positions in several churches. We moved a lot due to my business. I learned all that was necessary to be accepted as a respected and even admired leader. But in my soul, I literally despised myself, because I could never beat the sexual lust addiction no matter how hard I fought it and prayed about it. I was well aware that ‘Christianity’ was definitely NOT working for me. I really hated being a hypocrite, and was aware of the fact that those I got to know well in churches were also hypocrites.
This most assuredly did not bring me contentment or peace. It also did not bring me a happy marriage. So, I began a search for truth, because deep down I just knew that God’s promises were absolute, and I desperately wanted to experience them. As I studied several versions of the bible, from cover to cover, I found out that my parents and Sunday-school teachers had not taught me what was found all through God’s life instruction manual.
It was obvious that if Jesus was Lord of someone’s life, then when Jesus said; ‘jump,’ the only response would be to ask, ‘how high sir?’ A Lord is in total charge of his subjects, and they always do what he says without question or hesitation. The bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation that one either obeys God and lives, or does not, and does not. It struck me as strange that all the teaching about what Jesus had done for me on that cross, washing away all my sins, sanctifying and redeeming me, and making me whole and righteous in God’s eyes was so incredibly amazing and mind-blowing, that I ought to be exceptionally grateful for that. Being such, I would obviously show that by doing what He tells me….right? In fact, if He was my Lord, it was obvioous that I obeyed everything He told me. So, I was confused, to say the least, because Jesus commanded me to be afraid of God [Mat. 10:28], to be perfect as God is perfect [Mat. 5:48], to stop sinning [Jn 8:34-36], to give away everything I owned, [Lk. 14:33], and in the end, He told me that I could not be His disciple if I did not obey everything He had told me. [Mat. 28:19-20] He also told me that eternal life was attained by getting to know God and Himself [Jn. 17:3], and doing God’s will. [Mat. 7:21] I had to forget everything I had ever been taught regarding ‘God’s gospel.’ All of that stuff about Jesus, and what He did on the cross was simply empty words, even if they were partly true, and for me to actually expect those words to change me, then they were just semantics, and nothing better than voodooism or hypnosis.
The even more interesting thing I learned was that the rest of God’s life manual taught the exact same message that Jesus gave us. Know God, obey Him, learn to fear Him, be perfect, repent [stop sinning] and deny myself, allowing the Holy Spirit to be in control of my thoughts, words, actions and attitudes. Ezek. 36:26-27. That was once He came and took up residence in me after I had repented. [Acts 2:38] From that time on, I could live the life God purposed for me, pleasing Him and glorifying Him. I could actually ‘remain in the vine’ which Jesus commanded us to do [Jn 15] and enjoy that life as John describes it in his first letter:
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
Please note that what I gave you is what the original Greek gave us. Man has sadly added several words like ‘continue to’, ‘keeps on’ and ‘practice’ to that scripture, allowing Satan to fool man into believing that we can still sin, as long as we are not addicted to it, or don’t do so continuously, or actually ‘practice sinning.’ Many church leaders and highly respected ‘biblical teachers,’ and self-professing bible scholars have argued this with me, with zero shame for their sin.
I would encourage you to find out how many times God has repeated the message regarding fearing Him. You will be surprised, and actually see how important, and necessary it is for us to fear Him. This verse from Acts tells us a lot for starters.
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
When you meditate on all the other verses where ‘fear of God’ is mentioned, you will learn an awful lot about salvation, and right living. To get to know God, He tells us to seek Him with ALL our hearts. [Jer. 29:11-14] Doing so, He will reveal Himself to us, inform us of His purpose for our lives, so that we can be who He wants us to be, resulting in abundant life.
I wrote a book explaining all of this, and relating it to the ‘American story.’ The true gospel became compromised when the Holiness Movement petered out in the mid-eighteen-hundreds. I attended dozens of churches of all denominations and break-away groups across America, and heard from them that we are all sinners, including the preacher, and it is impossible for any human to be perfect, or to cease sinning. One pastor even refused to believe me when I assured him that I never experienced despair, depression, stress, or anxiety. And yet be believes that the bible is the inerrant, Holy Spirit inspired word of God, in which God commands us to never be anxious. To believe something is impossible, when God demands it of His kids, is actually calling Him a liar! Please NEVER go there.
Get ‘A Nation Broken’ from Amazon or B & N and read it with an open heart and mind, expecting God to speak to you. I believe there are more of His words in my book, than mine. I wanted it to be that way, rather than a book filled with my opinions. America can be transformed if a massive reformation takes place in churches across the country. God’s true gospel message must be believed, and embraced, then experienced by millions, so that the true Church is established again, the Body of Christ resurrected, and the radiant bride, without stain, wrinkle or any other blemish exists, shining the light of Christ into the darkness, dispelling that darkness and exposing evil. All the time pew-warmers and preachers sin, they live in darkness, and are evil in God’s eyes. God’s words, not mine. In fact, they are the words of Jesus. Jn. 8:12
One would think, if one used the logic that God has given each of us, that if Jesus was so essential to one’s salvation, one would find out what He said to us: what He taught: what He actually commanded us. That was probably what the person who decided to put all of His words in red in the bible thought as well. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people fanatically believe that they are sanctified, righteous, and filled with the Holy Spirit while they sin every day and feel no shame for that. Of course, what they believe is totally impossible, because God cannot cohabit with sin. In fact, He hates all sinners!
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;
you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest. Ps. 5:4-6
I know this will seem impossible to you, but it is not. It is perfectly in keeping with the rest of scripture. Yes, God loves everybody but that is an active love, 'AGAPE,' which is not an emotional love. He agape's us by making an active choice with His will to choose for the highest good of us, regardless of personal cost. He displayed that agape by sending Jesus to make it possible for Gentiles to be His kids as well as Jews, by getting to know Him well enough to fear Him, then repenting to receive the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of sins. Acts 2:38
The blood He shed was simply what had always been necessary for a sin offering to allow forgiveness. His sacrifice was the final and ultimate sacrifice for sins from that time on. But it did NOT forgive any sins, or wash them away. It was what God required for forgiveness, but there has NEVER been any forgiveness in the absence of repentance. 2 Chron. 7:14, Ezek. 33:11-20, Mk. 1:4, Lk. 3:3, 24:46-47, Acts 2:38, 3:19
When one gets to know God well, one learns to fear Him, which allows that one to repent of their sins. The saints of old who knew God well, were so incredibly disgusted with themselves, and totally ashamed if they sinned, that they stripped, put on sackcloth, sat on dung heaps, throwing dung dust and ashes over themselves for days, refusing to eat or drink. That’s how serious and emotional repentance is for anyone who loves God. James offers us a ‘New Covenant version’ of repentance in the fourth chapter of his letter, verses seven through ten. Once you search for God with all your heart you will learn to both love and fear Him, guaranteed. Can you imagine any of those saints sinning again after going through that ordeal? I can’t. Repentance is a singular event when God actually applies the blood of Christ’s sacrifice to one’s sins. Then one lives in Christ where there is NO sin. 1 Jn. 3:5-6
Moses said to the people, do not be afraid: God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to stop you from sinning. Ex. 20:20
Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from sin. Prov. 14:26-27
The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Prov. 19:23
Through the fear of the LORD evil is avoided. Prov. 16:6
Please check out my article REPENTANCE on FB, Abundant Life, or on Substack