Satan's Confusing Conterfeits

 Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

Suppose you had to summarize the entire Bible in just two words.  
What words would you choose?  I have thought about this, and I 
believe sin and salvation might be the most accurate answer.  
After all, Satan entered the picture very early to cause man to 
sin and to steal away his salvation.  Incidentally, that was 
also the turning point for the human family.  You see, God had 
based everything upon obedience.  He had provided all those 
wonderful gifts--life, righteous character, dominion over the 
earth, and a beautiful home in the Garden.  Then He promised 
that those blessings would continue without interruption on one 
condition alone:  Obey and live, disobey and die.
We know, of course, what followed that ultimatum.  Adam and Eve 
yielded to the tempter and sin entered this beautiful planet for 
the first time.  And from that moment the great controversy 
became a raging reality, between Christ and Satan, truth and 
error, obedience and disobedience.  Every book and chapter of 
the Bible is interwoven with God's great plan to bring man back 
to that original position of obedience from which he fell.  
"Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people 
from their sins."  Matthew 1:21.  Sin, of course, is 
disobedience to God's law. 
Sometimes people have asked, "Why be concerned over external 
actions and works of the law?  Isn't God more interested in the 
heart than in the outward conduct?"  Truly, those things cannot 
be separated.  From the very beginning God has made obedience 
the grand test of love and loyalty.  No one can say that God was 
unconcerned over the behavior of our first parents.  Their 
outward actions mirrored a divided heart.  This is also why 
Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15.  
The focus of heaven's program is to save men from breaking God's 
law by instilling an agape love into the hearts of true 
believers.  The very last book of the Bible distills the issue 
down to that same basic question of obedience.  Every soul will 
receive the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  Again the 
test will be over obedience to the law.  The major 
characteristic of the redeemed, according to the book of 
Revelation, is that they keep the commandments of God.  The 
condition that God set up for man to remain in Eden becomes the 
condition for man to return to Paradise.  "Here is the patience 
of the saints:  here are they that keep the commandments of God, 
and the faith of Jesus."  Revelation 14:12.  "And the dragon was 
wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of 
her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the 
testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17.  "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."  
Revelation 22:14.
The bottom line is that God must have a people who can be 
trusted with eternal life.  Have you considered that those who 
are translated at the coming of Jesus will still retain the 
power of choice?  The Bible assures us that affliction will not 
rise up the second time.  There will be no repeat of this 6,000-
year carnage of tragedy and death.  Not because there will be no 
choice, but because God will take no one to heaven who would not 
rather die than sin.  The angels will know heaven is secure 
because of the experience of the saints in this world before 
they are given immortality.  There will be no risk of this 
recurrent nightmare of sin.  This testing experience on planet 
earth will take care of that.
Satan's whole strategy is based on making people sin.  He knows 
that nothing which defiles will enter God's kingdom, and sin is 
the only thing that defiles in God's sight.  I am convinced that 
Satan understood a certain principle long before the apostle 
Paul wrote it down in Romans 6:16.  "Know ye not, that to whom 
ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to 
whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto 
righteousness?"  Please notice that you become a servant of 
whoever you obey.  If you obey God, you are a servant of God; 
and if you cease obeying God, you cease being a servant of God.  
The enemy's plan is to cause you to obey him and become his 
servant.
I cannot emphasize enough that the devil doesn't care why you 
disobey God as long as you do it.  You can even do it in the 
name of religion, and some of the most religious people have 
done it down through history.  In fact, they can think up the 
most religious reasons for disobedience.  Jesus spoke repeatedly 
of those who would be guilty of this paradoxical conduct.  He 
declared, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we 
not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out 
devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then 
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye 
that work iniquity."  Matthew 7:22, 23.
Jesus  carefully identified these boastful claimants as very 
religious individuals.  Everything had been done in the name of 
Jesus, yet they were rejected in the end as unworthy to enter 
heaven.  Why?  What was their problem?  In the previous verse 
the Master spelled it out clearly that even though they talked 
much about Him, they did not do "the will of my Father which is 
in heaven."  Profession was strong, but doing God's will was 
absent.
Jesus was even more specific in Matthew 15:9 when He spoke these 
words to the Pharisees:  "But in vain do they worship me, 
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."  How it must 
have shocked that audience to understand for the first time that 
many who worshiped Him would be lost.  How could it ever be 
wrong to worship God, and why would it be counted vain and 
worthless?  Jesus explained that He could not accept it because 
they had set aside His commandments in favor of the commandments 
of men.  How interesting!  Apparently Christ recognized 
obedience as the highest form of worship, and the most 
acceptable.
Has anyone ever been able to find an acceptable excuse for 
disobeying God?  Certainly men of the past have fabricated some 
that sounded good in their own ears.  I think of Saul whom God 
had approved as Israel's first king.  He was a great and 
wonderful man in many respects.  But do you remember what 
happened when God sent him to fight against the Amalekites?  
Those people had become so depraved that God ordered Saul to 
utterly destroy them. Nothing was to be brought back as 
souvenirs or booty from this campaign.  The command of God was 
clear and specific.
Why, then, did Saul decide to spare some of the finest, sleekest 
cattle?  He gave his explanation to Samuel after being 
confronted by the prophet on the way home from the battle.  
Samuel asked, "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in 
mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?  And Saul 
said, They have brought them from the Amalekites:  for the 
people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice 
unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."  
1 Samuel 15:14, 15.
No matter how logical those words may sound, they are filled 
with devious design and hypocrisy.  In the first place, Saul 
blamed "the people" for sparing the animals, trying to shift the 
responsibility for the act of disobedience.  But Saul was in 
charge, and he had received the orders from God.  Then, he tried 
to make it seem that it was a trifling matter, because "the 
rest" of God's word had been fulfilled.  Only one little 
deviation was made, so why make such a big deal out of it, and 
besides, these animals were not for them; they were to be used 
for worshiping God!
Don't miss the significance of that explanation.  Saul was 
disobeying God in order to worship Him!  Did God accept such an 
argument?  Samuel replied, "Behold, to obey is better than 
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."  Verse 22. 
Again, we see that God looked upon obedience as the highest form 
of worship.  Even though Saul probably had the most persuasive 
religious reason for disobeying, God dramatically rejected it 
and, at the same time, rejected Saul from being the king over 
Israel.
Is the same thing being done today?  Look around you as the 
sacred hours of the Sabbath are introduced week by week to a 
world in need of rest.  In the very heart of His handwritten 
moral law God inscribed the longest and most detailed of all the 
Ten Commandments.  Yet it was so simply expressed that no 
possibility of confusion existed.  "The seventh day is the 
sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work."  
Exodus 20:10.  Even a child can understand those words. Yet, 
when the seventh day begins each week millions are still out 
there in the market place carrying on business as usual and 
violating the clear, specific command of God.  
Who are these millions who dare defy the unmistakable written 
orders of their Creator?  Many of them are religious people who 
will be in church the very next day singing hymns, praying, 
giving offerings, and kneeling to worship the God whose law they 
transgress every week.  Some perhaps do not realize that they 
are honoring a pagan tradition above the commandment of God, but 
large numbers are well aware that they are disobeying one of the 
eternal laws of God.  Of such, Jesus spoke with alarming candor:  
"In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the 
commandments of men."
For years as an evangelist I have listened to the 
rationalization of religious people for breaking the Sabbath.  
Many of them actually sound pious and sincere and profess great 
love for God.  But do they really love Him?  The problem today 
is that there is such a superficial, sentimental definition of 
love.  All of us have seen the popular bumperstickers which 
boldly demand "Smile if you love Jesus," or "Honk if you love 
Jesus," or "Wave if you love Jesus."  But that is not what Jesus 
said!  He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  Now that 
is authentic!  That is real.  The shallow froth of many modern 
religions reflects anything except love.
Two Strategies of Satan

How does Satan orchestrate his program to make even the most 
religious people sin?  Before we look at his two most effective 
strategies, we need to understand that we are dealing with the 
greatest counterfeiter who ever lived.  As the archdeceiver he 
often employs a mixture of good and evil to accomplish his ends.  
He doesn't even mind utilizing the Scriptures if it can serve to 
achieve an ultimate end.  
Satan did not write the Bible, but he was looking over the 
shoulders of the men who did, memorizing every bit of it.  And 
he has often quoted texts, as he did to Jesus in the wilderness 
of temptation.  In that instance he actually quoted the Psalmist 
correctly that angels would protect from even dashing a foot 
against a stone.  But take note that he misapplied the text by 
urging Jesus to presumptuously leap from the pinnacle and trust 
the angels to save Him.
This clever ploy of distorting Scripture forms the basis of the 
two special tricks which Satan uses to make Christians disobey 
God's law.  The first argument goes like this:  Since the Bible 
says "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may 
have right to the tree of life," the most important thing in 
order to be saved is to obey the law. Revelation 22:14.  If we 
can just do that well enough, in every detail, we will qualify 
for eternal life.
Does that sound familiar?  And is there some truth in such an 
argument?  Indeed, it is very important to obey the 
commandments.  But is there also a strong element of error woven 
through that belief?  The fact is that no one can make 
themselves good enough to deserve salvation.  Such a doctrine is 
rank legalism, the very antithesis of God's way of being saved. 
It is the foundation of every non-Christian religion and has 
deceived millions of professed followers of Christ into a fatal 
delusion.
But you may ask how such a doctrine could lead to more breaking 
of God's law.  Wouldn't it actually motivate more people to 
carefully keep the commandments in order to be saved?  In this 
case the answer is no.  You see, Satan knows very well that 
things have changed since the Garden of Eden.  
It was a thousand times easier for Adam to obey than it is for 
us.  He had a pure, unfallen nature that had no inclination 
toward sin, and all of his temptations originated outside of 
himself.  With our inherited fallen nature our greatest 
temptations spring from within.  But Satan has convinced 
millions that they can avoid sin, just like Adam and Eve, by 
trying harder to obey God.  So they manfully struggle to 
exercise more control over their sinful tendencies and fail, and 
fail, in their fleshly efforts.  
Finally, they decide that it is impossible to get the victory 
over sin and that God will not require something that can't be 
done.  The result is more and more breaking of God's law.
Consider this thought for a moment:  Suppose you could keep 
every one of God's commandments from this moment right on 
through the remainder of your life.  In other words, you would 
not make a single mistake or commit another sin for the rest of 
your life.  Would that save you?  Of course not, because you 
have already committed sins before starting this future program 
of perfect obedience.  Therefore, you have come under the death 
sentence by those past transgressions.  No amount of good 
behavior can change the record of your past misconduct.
The truth is that only one man ever came into this world and 
lived an absolutely perfect life without committing a single 
sin.  Jesus had an impeccable record of right-doing.  Our record 
is blotted and blurred by repeated failures to measure up to 
God's standard of total obedience.  Not one of us can stand 
before God on the basis of our past record.  We know God will 
accept nothing but a perfect righteousness, or right-doing, and 
none of us has such a record.  Unless we can somehow get the 
credit for that holy, unblemished life of Jesus and have it 
actually imputed to our account, there is not the least 
possibility for us to be saved. How thankful we ought to be that 
such an arrangement has been made available through the grace of 
our Lord Jesus.
One of the most amazing texts in the Bible is found in Romans 
5:10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God 
by the death of his Son ..."  Let's pause and examine that first 
half of the verse, because it contains the most crucial message 
in all the Bible.  It tells us that we became enemies of God 
when we sinned.  A reconciliation was required if we were to 
have any hope.  In order to remove the sin that separated us 
from God, an at-one-ment, or atonement, needed to be 
accomplished.  Our text says that only the death of Jesus could 
effect such a reconciliation.
How did the cross remove the enmity and restore the relationship 
of God and man?  What did Jesus carry to that cross?  Upon His 
own body He assumed vicariously the guilt of every descendant of 
Adam and Eve.  In fact, Jesus offered to make an exchange with 
each one of us.  He would take our condemnation and death 
sentence, bear it to the cross, and exhaust the penalty of sin 
against us.   At the same time that He bears our punishment, He 
covers over the ugly record of our past transgressions. In fact, 
He accomplished this by imputing credit to us for living His own 
perfect life of obedience.  So what do we yield up, and what do 
we receive from Him?  We give up our death in exchange for His 
life; and as a result, God treats us as if we have never sinned, 
and He treats Jesus on the cross as though He were guilty of all 
our sins.
Now look at the rest of Romans 5:10.  After describing the 
reconciliation effected by the death of Jesus, Paul continues, 
"much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."  
Please notice that we need both the life and the death of Jesus 
to achieve full salvation.  Past sins are covered by the imputed 
benefits of His atoning death, and future victories are assured 
by the imparted benefits of His sinless life in the flesh.  
We cannot change or improve the actions that have already been 
recorded against us.  They can only be canceled by claiming to 
our account the credited record of His perfect obedience.  Any 
of our future actions can be changed by accepting the 
impartation of His victorious experience as He lived it in our 
own fallen nature.  And that brings us to the second strategy 
that Satan uses in making people sin.

The Cheap Grace Trap

In this clever assault, the great counterfeiter pursues a 
different argument.  It goes something like this:  "No one can 
be saved by keeping the law.  We are not justified by works, but 
by grace through faith.  We are not under the law, but under 
grace.  Keeping the commandments is not necessary as long as we 
love Jesus."  Again, we see that there is much truth in what he 
says, but also a terrible strain of error.   Even though we are 
not justified by works, we are not exempt from obedience either.
Countless multitudes have fallen prey to this devious approach.  
I see it all the time in evangelism.  Christians of every stripe 
and denomination will give fervent assent to the first few 
nights of the crusade series, but then we introduce the subject 
of law and grace.  Instantly the reaction begins.  "Brother Joe, 
don't talk to us about that old law.  We're not saved by works.  
We're under grace, and keeping those commandments won't save 
us."  Do you see the problem?  In an extreme reaction against 
legalism, these sincere souls swerve far over to the side of 
cheap grace and almost become antinomian in their views. 
How hard it is to be balanced on this question of faith and 
works!  There are two extremes, and the devil doesn't care which 
end we go off.  It is like rowing a boat with two oars named 
"faith" and "works."  If either oar fails to work, the boat 
simply goes around in a circle.  A lot of people are going 
around in circles, because there is not equal pulling on these 
two essential aspects of salvation.  The fact is that we are 
talking about two ends of the same piece.  This is why there can 
be no conflict in the matter.  True faith always produces the 
good works of obedience.  Genuine justification invariably 
produces sanctification.  The Bible truly declares that "Faith 
without works is dead."  James 2:26.
Our great enemy, the devil, has cunningly counterfeited both 
ends of the beautiful doctrine of righteousness by faith.  He 
has distorted "righteousness" into legalism and "faith" into a 
cheap substitute that does not even produce obedience.  Somebody 
has referred to it as "sloppy agape," because it also denigrates 
love to an ill-defined sentimentalism.
In the Scriptures I find three kinds of faith.  One is a faith 
that even the demons possess, but James makes it very clear that 
this kind does not work at all.  It is merely an intellectual 
assent or mental agreement.  It cannot save a single person.  
The second does work, but for the wrong reason.  It is well-
illustrated by the driver who sees a stop sign at an 
intersection.  He has faith in the sign and his faith works; he 
brings the car to a  stop.  But why did he stop?  For fear he 
would be struck by another vehicle?  Or fear that the police 
might be watching from around the corner to give him a ticket? 
That kind of faith is also unacceptable to God because it is 
based on fear.
Unfortunately, many professed Christians have this kind of fire-
escape religion.  They know there is a fire at the end of the 
road, and they don't want to go into that fire.  So they force 
themselves to do all the good things that they believe good 
people ought to do.  This is just another form of legalism that 
we talked about earlier.
The third kind of faith, and the only kind God will accept, is 
described in Galatians 5:6, "For in Jesus Christ neither 
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith 
which worketh by love."  There it is.  There is the real motive 
for every act of obedient compliance with God's law.  

Sin and the Christian

But before we show how this motivation of love is the very heart 
of all true acceptance before God, let us turn to some of the 
most dogmatic statements recorded by the inspired writers.  Some 
would even classify John's language as positively intemperate, 
but you be the judge as we read the words of that great disciple 
of love.  Please keep in mind that John was the disciple who 
leaned on the bosom of Jesus.  He was, without question, the 
warmest and most 
tender-hearted of the twelve disciples.  He wrote more about 
love than any other writer of the New Testament, yet he probably 
had more to say about the commandments of God than any other 
writer as well.
First, we will read the most simple, succinct definition of sin 
to be found in Holy Writ.  John declared, "Whosoever committeth 
sin transgresseth also the law:  for sin is the transgression of 
the law."  1 John 3:4.  Please fix this verse clearly in your 
thinking, because the rest of the chapter focuses on the nature 
of sin and utilizes this exclusive definition for it. 
The text is very clear, but we need to quantify the word "law" 
in this verse.  What law is being referred to?  Paul answers in 
a parallel discussion about sin in Romans 7:7.  He asks: "What 
shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  God forbid.  Nay, I had not 
known sin, but by the law:  for I had not known lust, except the 
law had said,  Thou shalt not covet."  Here the meaning is 
beyond question.  Paul quotes directly from the Ten Commandments 
and declares unequivocally that sin is the breaking of that law.
So, as we read further in 1 John 3, keep clearly in mind that 
the word sin has been defined in verse 4 as the breaking of the 
moral law of the decalogue.  Verse 5 continues the discussion 
with these words, "And ye know that he was manifested to take 
away our sins."  What was Jesus to take from us?  Our sins.  
What is sin?  Breaking the Ten Commandments.  Therefore, He came 
to save us from transgressing those laws.  He came to keep us 
from sinning.
Then John begins a series of radical statements of truth which 
have confounded many modern Christians. He said, "Whosoever 
abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, 
neither known him." Verse 6.  Powerful.  Some men are known for 
bold preaching, but never have I heard such strong words from 
any living prophet or preacher.  Declares the beloved John, 
"Anyone who keeps walking in disobedience to the Ten 
Commandments has never met Jesus and knows nothing about His 
salvation."  Shocking?  Indeed, it is.  
But wait. There is more, and it gets even stronger. Next verse:  
"Little children, let no man deceive you:  he that doeth 
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.  He that 
committeth sin is of the devil."  Verse 7, 8.  John boldly marks 
out the difference between false professors of truth and the 
genuine.
Incidentally, there is great significance in the words "Let no 
man deceive you."  This alerts us that whatever immediately 
follows will be the subject of great delusion and deception.  In 
Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His 
coming and in verse 4 He replied, "Take heed that no man deceive 
you."  Then He proceeded to spell out the terrible confusion 
that would mark the end-time teaching on the "rapture."  So we 
can expect that similar misunderstanding will attend the 
doctrine of righteousness by faith in the last days.  The sin 
question will be confused.  The doctrine of obedience and the 
law will be confounded and twisted.
John urges us to heed the warning that no righteous person will 
be walking in willful disobedience to the Ten Commandments.  He 
goes so far as to say that such an individual would actually be 
of the devil, and not a Christian at all!  Then he adds the 
words which have been debated for generations by theologians as 
well as laymen, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; 
for his seed remains in him:  And he cannot sin, because he is 
born of God."  Verse 9.  Who is the seed of the woman in the 
Bible?  Jesus is that true seed, and the truly converted child 
of God has Christ abiding in his heart.  And while Jesus is 
there he cannot sin.  In order to sin he will have to put Jesus 
out of his heart.  Christ is not the minister of sin and cannot 
share the heart of one who chooses to deliberately disobey the 
commandments of God. John is not saying that a Christian loses 
his power of choice, but he is emphatically declaring that 
Christ does not remain in the heart of the willful transgressor.
Let's clarify this matter of sinning.  A strange doctrine has 
wormed its way into the Christian church via the teaching of 
Augustine and John Calvin.  This false system of belief holds 
forth the idea that we can be walking in deliberate disobedience 
and still have the assurance of salvation.  It is simply not 
true.  Nevertheless, millions have swallowed the distorted 
concept that justification changes our standing before God but 
does not change our state.
The Calvinistic view is that the covering of justification makes 
us acceptable in God's sight even if we do continue willfully 
sinning.  In the final analysis, we are told that the atonement 
saves us in this life from the results of sin but not from the 
sin itself.  In effect, the message is declaring that the 
atonement does not so much change the nature of the Christian in 
relation to sin as it changes the nature of sin in relation to 
the Christian.  For some reason, after accepting Jesus, sin is 
not the same deadly factor it was before.  By committing sin as 
an unconverted person we are doomed to destruction, but 
committing the same sins after being "saved" cannot send the 
Christian to hell.
Do you see how this doctrine seeks to change the nature of sin 
instead of changing the nature of the sinner?  Is this not 
playing games with religion?  Justification does not ever cover 
sins that we keep on practicing.  Justification provides a 
totally new heart and life called conversion by which we begin 
to show forth a new spiritual lifestyle.  Justification cannot 
be maintained while deliberate sins are being committed.  It is 
not a cloak to cover continued transgression, it is a spiritual 
transformation which removes both the guilt and power of sin.
Mark it down well:  True faith always produces the good works of 
obedience.  Faith without works is dead.  Jesus came to this 
world to save His people from their sins, not in their sins.  
The Bible says a lot about sin, but never anything good. For 
instance, you will never read in the Scriptures that we should 
diminish the amount of sin we commit.  Nowhere are we admonished 
to cut back or reduce our disobedience.  
Sin is absolutely non-negotiable in God's sight. We are to 
utterly reject, abandon, and forsake all practice of known sin.  
Jesus said, "Go and sin no more."  He did not say, "Go and cut 
back on this sin"!  John did not write, "My little children, 
these things write I unto you that ye sin less and less."  He 
said, "I write unto you that ye sin not."
John the Beloved pulled no punches in writing his epistle about 
sin.  No modern preacher ever said it stronger than he did.  He 
declared, "He that committeth sin is of the devil."  1 John 3:8.  
This foolishness about God counting us righteous while we 
willfully keep on choosing to disobey Him is not supported in 
the Bible.  The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and 
that power is able to save us from all sin as well as from some 
sin. Why should we believe that an all powerful God, would 
forgive us and then leave us under the power of continued sin?  
That would make God an accomplice in our sin.

Judged by Our Works

Finally, let us consider the fact that the judgment will take 
place on the basis of our works.  I know this may sound 
legalistic to some, but the Bible is exceedingly clear on this 
point.  John wrote:  "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God; and the books were opened:  and another book was 
opened, which is the book of life:  and the dead were judged out 
of those things which were written in the books, according to 
their works. ... And they were judged every man according to 
their works."  Revelation 20:12, 13.
How do we harmonize these words with what we have discovered 
about God's love and mercy?  Is it not contrary to Bible 
justification for works to be the basis of the judgment?  Not at 
all, if we take into consideration how the works will be judged.  
It is imperative that we understand exactly how God will measure 
and test the actions of each individual.  What determines 
whether they are accepted or rejected?  Is it the amount 
performed?  If we have enough right-doing to our account, will 
we be granted entrance?  And will we be left outside if the 
works are not sufficient?  
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus described a sizable group who 
would seek entrance into the kingdom of God.  We referred to 
this verse earlier.  Jesus said, "Many will say to me in that 
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy 
name have cast out devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful 
works?  And then will I profess unto them,  I never knew you:  
depart from me, ye that work iniquity."  Matthew 7:22, 23.
Carefully weigh the words of those last minute applicants.  
Jesus did not dispute or deny the truthfulness of what they 
said.  They boasted of having done many works.  There was no 
lack in quantity.  The amount was acceptable, but obviously, the 
works were not judged on the basis of quantity--they were denied 
entrance.  But we are more puzzled when we read about the kind 
of works these people had done.  They were "wonderful" as well 
as "many." The quality seems to be good also.  Perhaps one of 
them had donated a million dollars to build a new synagogue; yet 
they were not allowed entrance.  The mystery deepens.  What 
other factor could possibly account for the severe sentence, 
"depart from me, ye that work iniquity"?
The answer is found in the last book of the Bible, and when we 
read it, the entire puzzle suddenly falls into place and pulls 
into focus.  In Revelation 3:15 God says, "I know thy works."  
Of course He does, because He has kept the record and will be 
the final judge.  But let's read on, "I know thy works, that 
thou art neither cold nor hot:  I would thou wert cold or hot.  
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I 
will spue thee out of my mouth."  Revelation 3:15, 16.
There is the secret of the whole matter!  Our works will be 
judged at last, but not by the weight or the height.  They will 
be judged by the heat!  In other words, all of our obedience 
must spring forth from a heart of burning love and devotion to 
God. The motive will be uncovered and examined by the all-seeing 
eye of God.  No amount or kind of human works will carry any 
degree of weight in that day unless they have been produced by a 
fiery love relationship with Jesus.  
Here we come to the paradox of the faith-works issue.  Works are 
either worth everything or they are worth nothing.  They are a 
sweet savor of incense before God or they are an abomination.  
All depends on the motive and who is providing the strength to 
perform the works. Works of the flesh are man's efforts to save 
himself, but works of love rising out of the abiding presence of 
the Holy Spirit are exactly the opposite.  They stand forth as 
the authentic credentials of genuine faith and love.
God has not changed that test since the Garden of Eden.  He 
still requires exactly the same kind of obedience.  The only 
difference is that in Eden our holy unfallen parents had, by 
nature, the power to obey. Unfortunately, as the children of 
post-fall Adam and Eve, we have inherited carnal natures which 
are not subject to the law of God, except by the miracle of 
conversion and "Christ in you."  This is why Jesus declared, 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  
John 3:3.  And to the rich young man who asked, "What shall I do 
to be saved?"  Jesus replied, "Keep the commandments."  Matthew 
19:17.  
There is no contradiction in these two statements of the Master. 
None can be saved without experiencing the new birth, and none 
can be saved who walk in willful disobedience of the 
commandments.  The two things operate as two parts of the same 
salvation experience.
The central truth in all these utterances is that none can obey 
who has not been converted, and none will deliberately refuse to 
obey who has been converted.  Let no one persuade you that works 
are unimportant or unnecessary, or that keeping the commandments 
is legalism. But do examine your heart with great care to 
determine the hidden root of the fruit which adorns your 
Christian  lifestyle.  If conformity to God's law is the 
spontaneous outflow of your joyous, continuous connection with 
Christ, then whoever would charge you as a legalist would be 
exposed as judgmental and self-condemned.  On the other hand, 
your works of love would stand forth as the very antithesis of 
legalism, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should 
walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10.

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