The Man of God

The Man of God

III

In last year’s November issue of Skjulte Skatter, we pointed out the many deviations from a personal salvation and how we can depart from the fundamental truth of the Bible: the Word manifested in the flesh.

A personal salvation enables me personally to obey God, whereas an impersonal salvation finds other ways of escape which are seemingly more holy and more filled with faith, devotion, and humility.

One of Satan’s great deceptions in our days is the re-arranging of God’s laws for salvation and growth in God. One takes away one thing and adds something else that is apparently more exalted than what God has ordained.

A Substitute Faith

A certain sister among certain “free” believers was reminded by God to put something off that was wrong in her life. This resulted in an inner battle concerning this matter, but God constantly pointed the matter out to her. Then she mentioned her inner battle to some “free” believers, and they immediately told her: “You must not do that. That will only end up in bondage. Everything is finished in Christ. Just leave everything to God. Don’t you believe that God can deal with that? Of course He can. He has done that before.”

So this soul tried to forget the whole matter and leave it in God’s hands. However, the thing that God had pointed out was still there, and so was the judgment in her heart. Again the sister left what God had pointed out as well as the judgment in her heart in God’s hands. “Oh God, I leave it with You; I can’t do anything more than leave everything in Your hands and believe that You can deal with it.”

However, God neither accepted her surrender nor her faith. The end result of that episode was that her life became a nightmare in spite of the “free” preaching about surrender and faith.

When we met this soul, we had to say to her: “When God tells you that you should put something off that is wrong in your life, then you ought to be obedient and do what He says.”

This sister woke up and realized that she had been deceived by false doctrines—the same doctrines by which many of the “free” believers throughout the land have been deceived.

Now this soul had found a way out. She obeyed God; she denied and put off what was wrong, and took up her cross. Her facial expression changed, and she was freed from this dreadful life that had imprisoned her. God’s pleasure came over her life.

It sounds so nice when you hear that you should cast everything on God, simply leaving everything in His hands, for He will be sure to manage it. It sounds like profound faith, humility, and holiness, yet it is nothing but preaching disobedience under an attractive mask, albeit in ignorance.

Faith Cannot Replace Obedience

Jesus says, “You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” Matt. 15:6. In this case, one has also made God’s commandment of no effect and has replaced it with something else. However, God does not permit us to exchange His will for something else. It is the same if a mother asked her child to do something and the child answered, “I leave that in your hands, Mother. I am sure you can manage it.” This is a false teaching of substitution. Jesus bore the punishment in our place. That is reconciliation. But He was not obedient instead of us.

We shall see what such doctrines can lead to. Here is an extreme example. A newly converted soul told me that she had gone to one of the leading “free” preachers with a matter that bothered her. When she was unconverted, she had taken something, and she did not have any rest in the matter. When she spoke of her anxiety in the matter to the leader, he said: “You don’t want to help God with your salvation, do you?” But this person told me, “I did not get any rest before I had returned the thing I had taken.” She had to cleanse herself through obedience.

We know that Christ has atoned for all our sins, also for theft. And when He said: “It is finished,” that pertained to all sin. But when God says that we must give back what we have stolen, we must be obedient. Instead of being obedient, we are now told that we must “only believe” that it is finished. Christ’s death on Calvary was not a substitute for obedience. Faith can never replace or be a substitute for obedience.

This false doctrine that faith does away with obedience is an old trick of Satan’s, which he has implanted in the minds of God’s people from time to time. We don’t know how these false teachings have come to Norway, but we can be certain that they all come from the same source.

Catherine Booth, the mother of the Salvation Army, fought with all her might against this false doctrine in England. We shall quote something of what she says concerning this matter. She calls this doctrine

The “Only Believe” Theory

Example: You are perfect in Him, perfect in Christ! Without having partaken of any virtue, without doing or suffering anything, without this boastful “I believe!” Perfect in Christ with a guilty conscience and a heart that is empty, powerless, and without joy!

Christ as a Substitute

not only with regard to the atonement, which was necessary for our justification, but people now see Him as a substitute for their own obedience and sanctification. In other words, Christ is your purity even though you are impure; Christ is your honesty, even though you are dishonest; Christ is your sincerity, even though you are insincere.

She says further: “The idea of a substitute Christ, received as an external cover or refuge instead of a ‘power of an eternal life’ is a deception of Satan, and it has been the ruin of thousands of people. May I ask you, my readers: What sort of Christ do you have? Do you have a Christ who saves and regenerates your hearts and enables you to live in obedience, or do you expect this imaginary Christ to take care of your obedience for you?”

We would ask those who read this to consider these matters thoroughly, since these false doctrines (even in our days) are sneaking in and spreading all over the land like a spiritual epidemic.

These teachings break those laws which God has given so that life might increase. And these teachings are breaking down God’s word in the Scriptures.

Consider the word in 1 John 3:3: “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Purify yourself? Here this false doctrine would say, “No, don’t even think of anything like that. You don’t think that you can do that yourself, do you? Just leave it up to God. When He does something, He does it thoroughly.” That is the tone and the spirit in their teachings. And so it ends up as in the examples we have mentioned previously. Many other encouraging words and exhortations in the Scriptures are treated in the same way. God is supposed to do it all!

This substitute obedience is necessarily followed by:

A Substitute Victory

A brother from a “free assembly” said, “I am not supposed to have the victory, but Christ must have the victory.” We pointed out to him that we should overcome, and that we are called to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Rom. 8:37. Jesus says frequently to the churches in Asia: “He who overcomes . . . .”

The prerequisite for a personal victory is a personal battle; for wherever there is talk about victory, there must necessarily be talk about fighting a battle. Therefore this doctrine also teaches a substitute battle. All that is left now is “only faith.” “God will be able to deal with it.”

“Run . . . the race that is set before us . . . .” Heb. 12:1. “Fight the good fight of faith . . . .” and many other scriptures become just words of bondage to such people. Christ has fought all the battles for us, so now we can just rest in that. “To fight” is called “unbelief.”

The consequence of a substitute victory is:

Substitute Virtues

Mrs. Booth writes in the above-quoted passage that this false doctrine teaches that “Christ is your purity, even though you are impure; Christ is your honesty, even though you are dishonest.”

It is as a brother also said not too long ago: “If I looked at myself, I would be as black as pitch, but I only look at Jesus.” It is of little avail that Jesus is pure if His purity does not become my personal possession.

In the final analysis, substitute virtues lead to:

A Substitute Perfection

As Catherine Booth says, it is taught that “we are perfect in Christ,” and all this without having become a partaker of any virtues whatsoever. I have often heard a leader in a “free assembly” speak about this “We are perfect in Christ,” despite the fact that this is not written in the Scriptures and despite the fact that one’s life is proof that one is in dire need of putting off a whole lot of wretchedness, and dying to many, many things before one could, if possible, be perfect in Christ.

One is not perfect in Christ by simply believing that one is perfect in Him. This is not an instantaneous work.

Paul exhorted every man, and he taught every man in all wisdom, to present every man perfect in Christ. He says further: “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” Col. 1:28-29.

In Colossians 2:10 we read, “And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” This is a different word from “perfect in Him.” The Greek word for “complete” is later translated as “fully assured.” See Chapter 4:12. This is also in keeping with the context of the rest of this passage of Scripture.

When we consider all these false doctrines that buzz around the country, we must ask ourselves:

What Becomes of God’s Salvation?

Is this the salvation the Bible speaks about? NO!

The Bible speaks of a salvation that enables me personally to be saved, a salvation that enables me personally to obey God, a salvation that enables me personally to fight and conquer in His power, a salvation by which I personally partake of Christ’s virtues, and by which I personally can grow up to the goal: to be made perfect in Him.

The result is a thoroughly personal (subjective) salvation that gives rise to: