Keeping the Old man Alive!

With Repentance Wrong, EVERYTHING is in Reverse! The Entire concept of Redemption is out of sync with the Bible. In Scripture Converts are brought from Darkness to Light, from the Power of Satan to God! Saved from a Corrupted and perverse generation to become SHINING Lights in the midst of a crooked and degraded world! WORKING out their Salvation with Fear and trembling before a HOLY God.

Remaining attached to their heathen culture and traditions was FAR removed from their thinking. They were BORN AGAIN, Made New in the Spirit of their minds! Made PURE by faith working by Love. To them being Crucified with Christ meant DEATH to the Old man in a Literal sense. There was NOTHING Positional or imputed in their world. The Passions and Desires of the flesh were utterly put to death and deprived of their power to continue in sin!

But today the system has been Reversed. The old man is Kept alive, brought into the Kingdom, in his sins, and told that God will Clean him up later. As a result sin is no longer an issue in Salvation but merely ‘Receiving’ Jesus as Savior. God is NOT Concerned about your behavior but only having a relationship with you through His Son! The sin that was to be Put to Death in Repentance remains in the heart while the so-called convert awaits for the magic Sanctification process to begin.

But the Flesh being what it is (enmity to God) rules the soul. Reform NEVER actually takes place and the heart grows ever more callas, nurtured by a Doctrine that carters to the lust. As the Apostle has said of this kind of Teaching, ‘They are WORSE off than before!’ 2Pet2:18-20, ‘Wallowing like PIGS in the Mire of their own Corruption!’ The Old man supposedly ‘Dies’ by Process, Gradually over time and that’s God’s Plan of Redemption for a sick, sinful race, addicted to its sin.

Here is a Summery of What is Being taught in the Present Day Churches:

How is the Old Man Kept Alive?

1)       Brought into Kingdom, in his sins, told clean up later

2)       Made Positional Righteous by Imputation

3)       Gradually Sanctified by this ‘inward’ cleaning of Spirit 

4)       Saved IN your sin, not OUT of them!

What Does this Imply to a Professing Christian?

1)       Since Desires gradually change by degree, the sin is not a serious matter, but Nature.

2)       Admonishment or Rebuke is OUT of question because God is Working on them

3)       The WHOLE System is aimed at Reforming the Carnal (Old) man.

4)       The Work is NEVER Complete until final Redemption, because no one is Perfect & God Doesn’t expect the sin to ever Stop in this life.

5)       Thus a HUGE Gray area exists where sin remains ‘unaccountable’, because you were Born a sinner and its God’s Task to Cleanse it out of you.

Therefore, Instead of Repentance (Godly Sorrow for sin & Clearing)

1)       Try to Reform their conduct with counseling

2)       Offer Self Help Books, tapes, Courses, Ethics studies, Discussion groups, ect

3)       Preach flowery Sermons about ‘Doing Right thing’ & Being a good person, with the WARNINGS removed of course.  (always cushion it, soften the message)

This System is in place Unanimously, without exception. And it’s the reason for the Massive degradation and moral decay in our churches and society at large. The Church leaders are Blinded to it and WILL NOT even consider correcting their error. They are Wholly CONVINCED they are Preaching the Gospel of Christ and bringing people to Salvation! But the Bondage to Sin Remains and the Corruption is getting worse. This dilemma Explains a great deal however about the conditions among professing Christians today.

Because they have the Gospel in Reverse:

1)       Sinful behavior cannot be admonished or even brought to the attention of the church

2)       The Warnings in Scripture against sin are avoided and played down

3)       It’s assumed that everyone, including the pastor, sins all the time and can’t help doing it

4)       Doing the Right thing is ‘WORKS’ and anathema to all!

5)       Repentance has NOTHING to do with Actually Stopping the sin

6)       And the Old man is Crucified in Stages, Gradually dying to the world.

WHEN is the Old Man Crucified? (In Stages or in the Process of Repentance?)

Let’s see what the Bible REALLY has to say:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal 2:20

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal5:24

Is Paul Speaking of a PAST Action or Something that Happens by Degree?

‘Have Crucified’   (here is the Greek Translation:)

5777 Tense - Aorist

The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations. 

The events described by the aorist tense are classified into a number of categories by grammarians. The most common of these include a view of the action as having begun from a certain
point ("inceptive aorist"), of having ended at a certain point ("cumulative aorist"), or merely existing at a certain point ("punctiliar aorist"). The categorization of other cases can be found in Greek reference grammars.
The English reader need not concern himself with most of these finer points concerning the aorist tense, since in most cases they cannot be rendered accurately in English translation, being fine points of Greek exegesis only. The common practice of rendering an aorist by a simple English past tense should suffice in most cases.

It’s A DONE DEAL! Paul is CLEARLY Speaking about something that happened in a Precise and Particular timeframe, in Reference to PUTTING to Death the Old Man with his Passions and Desires,

(Outlined in Gal5:19-21) Contrasted with the Fruit of the Spirit, (Gal 5:22-23) that Came about BECAUSE THOSE WHO BELONG (in Christ) have ALREADY Crucified the Old man.

More Proof!  ‘I AM Crucified with Christ’ (Greek Translation)

5778 Tense - Perfect
 
The perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the perfect tense in English, and describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be
repeated.

Therefore it is NOT On-Going, A Process, Something that happens by Degree or Gradually.

Rom 6 Also Bears this out.

1)       ‘Is Crucified with Him’ Verse 6,      ‘Already Done’

2)       Body of Sin Destroyed, V: 6   ‘Already Done’

3)       United or Planted together with Him through Baptism unto Death, V: 5  ‘Already Done’

4)       Buried with Him through Baptism unto Death, V: 4   ‘Already Done’

WITHOUT A DOUBT Rom6 is Speaking of Initial Salvation, no Dispute. Thus the Death of the Old man is TAKING Place in REPENTANCE. (The Baptism of repentance, (Mk1:4, Lk3:3, Acts 13:24, 19:24)

It all Happens in the Baptism of Repentance! The Regeneration, (New Birth!) the Washing, (Clearing of wrong doing, removal of guilt) Renewing of Mind and Heart by Spirit, (The Newness of life!) 

IN CHRIST you become a NEW Man, BABE, Teachable, Easily Molded into New Image. THEN you can GROW, Mature, Overcome. But NOT WITHOUT This Firm Foundation at Beginning.