Knowing that obedience to every one of God’s Ten Commandments is essential for salvation, Satan set out early on to convince the New Covenant Church that God’s Law had been done away with, and that she had entered an era of total grace. He convinced her that to obey the Law amounted to legalism, which would cause her to “fall from grace” (of which I have been accused). The result is the church’s powerful “Law-nailed-to-the-cross” doctrine that is one of the foundational grains of sand upon which she is built. The Lord warned those who would be His to beware of deceivers. Those who ignore His warnings will feel the full extent of His wrath. God never wreaks vengeance without prior warning. For many of you, particularly ministers, this is your warning.

In Jude 2-5 the apostle warns the church about the deception that was already working its way through the ranks. “Beloved, I gave all diligence to write unto you of the COMMON SALVATION. It was necessary for me to … exhort you to EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE (ONE AND ONLY) FAITH ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS.” Paul was warning about false prophets who were telling the people that the Law had been replaced by grace. These men were “… turning the grace of our Lord into LASCIVIOUSNESS (a license to sin-break the Law), (and in so doing were) denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” God rules His church by His Law. To do away with the Law is to reject His Lordship. Those who reject His Law, thereby denying both Father and Son, comprise the Counterfeit Church (Catholicism/Protestantism).

“Grace” in the Greek language (the language of the New Testament) means to dignify by an act of unearned favor. Having by grace erased one’s PAST sins at conversion, does that grace then allow the convert to continue to sin (break the Law)? Paul responds in Romans 3:24,25: “Being justified freely by His grace through … Jesus Christ, … to declare His righteousness for the remission (forgiveness) sins of the PAST ….” Note that Jesus’ death provided justification and cleansing of all PAST sins. False prophets in the church were proclaiming (and still proclaim) that God’s grace nullified the Law, that they can now break that Law (sin) with impunity, create their own definition of sin, then grant themselves a license to break it. God calls this “lasciviousness.”

Paul asks in Romans 6:1,2 if, because of His grace, God allows converts to CONTINUE TO SIN (break the Law-1 Jn. 3:4). “GOD FORBID” is God’s answer through the apostle. “How shall we who are DEAD TO SIN LIVE ANY LONGER THEREIN?” When we break the Law (sin-1 Jn. 3:4) we earn the wages of sin (death-Rom. 6:23). Note that Paul was writing TO the church ABOUT the church.

Paul says in Galatians 5:18 that “If ye are led by the (Holy) Spirit ye are not under (the penalty of) the Law.” The Law is for sinners (including church sinners), to reveal to them their sins (1 Tim. 1:9) and its consequences (Rom. 6:23). The speed law was not implemented for those who drive responsibly, but for those who do not. The law against theft is not for the honest person, but for the thief. However, BOTH MUST OBEY THE LAW AND ARE UNDER ITS PENALTY SHOULD THEY BREAK IT. Paul is saying that if we are led by the Holy Spirit we do not need the Ten Commandments in that we obey God by choice, not because of the threat of punishment. The written code (Law) is for those who break it (sinners-1 Tim. 1:9). The righteous will not be judged by the Law in that they continually judge themselves by living in obedience to it. For example, they judge themselves innocent of the Law against Sabbath-breaking because they observe God’s commanded Sabbath. “Judge yourselves that you be not judged” (1 Cor 11:31). In so doing you “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). (Note that the church is to continually determine what to do then do it in order to affect salvation. If she already has eternal life there is nothing to work out). One can find neither fear nor trembling in the Institutional Church because Satan has convinced her that she is already saved and needs neither the Law nor self-examination. Those who would be saved at Jesus’ second advent must “work out” their salvation–obey the Law–in order to receive eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ. Their obedience will cause the world, namely the worldly church, to hate them. But Jesus promises that “He who endures (in obedience) to the END shall (then) be saved”(Mat. 10:22). The Law is the light by which God illuminates His narrow path. The saint follows that path (judges himself to make sure he is following it), thereby precluding any need to be judged.

A good example of the Law being the light that reveals one’s standing with God is brought out by the one whom the profess- ing church most often quotes in defense of Lawlessness (iniquity)–the Apostle Paul. However, Paul turns the tables on Law breakers in Romans 3:20 where he says that the Law identifies sin, that without the Law we would have no way to identify sin. In Romans 7:7,9 he says that he would not have known that he was a sinner if he had not read the Law (Ten Command- ments). He then asks, “What shall we say then, is the Law sin? God forbid! To the contrary, I would not have known what sin is except through the Law. I was alive (“saved”) once (he obeyed the Talmud, sacrificial law, etc. to perfection) without the Law, but when the Law came (alive to him) I died” (realized that he was spiritually dead–separated from God). He went on in verse 12 to say that “The Law is holy, just and good.” Paul was a Pharisee; Pharisees were known for their knowledge of the Talmud, to which they added many rules and regulations which Jesus called “heavy burdens.” In his zeal Paul had surpassed all his contemporaries in obedience to “… the traditions (rules) of the (Pharisaical) fathers” (Gal. 1:14), not the Ten Commandment Law. It was only after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus that he became aware of the Law, at which time he “died” (realized that he was dead due to having broken it). One who breaks any one of the Ten Command- ments is dead as was Paul. Like him, they are religiously “alive” and therefore do not realize that they are spiritually “dead.” Read God’s Words to the Church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-17 for a description of today’s Counterfeit Church.

Note also that Jesus said that He did not come for the righteous (Law keepers), but for sinners–to bring them to repentance (for breaking the Ten Commandments) (Mat. 9:13). If all church members are sinners, as we are told, then who are the righteous that He did not need to come for? These are the sons of God who obey His Law. And if one should happen to sin, Jesus is at God’s right hand to intercede for him. The Holy Spirit leads no one to sin. Therefore the supposed “sinner saved by grace” is not being led by God’s Spirit, meaning that he is not a son of God as we are told in Romans 8:11-14. Here Paul tells the church then and now that if God’s Spirit abides in us we will live by God’s leadership (11). To live otherwise brings death (13). To live one must put sin out of one’s life (13). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (14). Through His Holy Spirit the Lord leads no one to break His life-directing, salvation-producing Ten Command- ment Law. To be continued. Have questions or comments? Contact me at LPJ4142@gmail.com or P.O. Box 2352 Athens, TX 75751 U.S.A. or (903) 677-5642. English only.