Prayer Day Conference

Elias Aslaksen:

1 John 1:7-8. It is like this with all of us: If we are willing to be led by God and are making progress, then everything can be condensed to a few main points. There are two points that are of particular interest to me personally. We can detail them, but it is condensed to two main points. The one is to commit sin; the other point is to have sin. We can say, “What shall we do with the rest of the scriptures?” There is no rest, because everything concerns either having sin or committing sin. There is much to say about this. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light . . . .” V. 7. There are many ways in which we can view something. For the most part people view it imperfectly. If you want to be perfect, then you have to do it like this, but if you do not want to be perfect, then you do it differently.

Now you may think that we have unusually good fellowship among us. However, just the fact that you are here does not give you fellowship. Here you receive light and knowledge, but only after you follow the light and judge yourself inwardly will you have fellowship. It is up to the individual. If you stand up and testify about a wonderful fellowship, someone else can sit there in all simplicity, thinking it isn’t that perfect at all! Perhaps they had heard about something going on somewhere. But when you think that, be assured that it is just a misunderstanding. We sing, “Hear of a precious vineyard.” Then one can think, “Well, it isn’t really like that . . . .” There is no mischief brewing in this vineyard; it is on the outside. All of us can end up outside because the seed is in danger until the harvest. However, if we end up outside for a while, we can only thank ourselves for that.

If we walk in the light, then we have fellowship—not because we have become part of this assembly. We ought to have it by being here, but the condition is to walk in the light as He is in the light. If not, fellowship is broken. We are tempted to wonder if there isn’t some factionalism as well because the conscience told you that there was surely something wrong somewhere. However, you must not believe that the person sitting beside you has broken fellowship because you have. It is often said among us that there has never been a division. True enough, but then the thought may arise that maybe there was a little bit of it anyway. But be careful now! Among us there has never been a division. Who are the “us”? We who walk in the light. To tell the truth, there has never been a division among us, and we are the only ones that count. So there are those among whom there has never been a division. We can state this very plainly. If there is no division between brother Smith and me, we can say, “We two,” and so we can invite the entire world to the two of us. We cannot blame the doctrine for souls among us who have broken fellowship. It can be said to the boundless praise of the assembly and because of godliness that there have been few divisions. The Word cannot be invalidated. If we walk a little bit in the light, we have a little bit of fellowship; if we walk much in the light, we have much fellowship; and if we walk perfectly in the light, we have perfect fellowship.

“If we say that we have no sin . . . .” Whatever we have of sin is everything that is not according to the light of the Father. He dwells in unapproachable light. The Scriptures do not calI it sin if we lack light concerning the things that are pleasing to God. I transgress the laws of wisdom to a much deeper degree than I am aware of. For example, I cannot be ashamed of not following a law that I do not know. “Sin” is to commit sin. When people hear the word “sin,” they become flustered. The very sound of the word undermines people’s ability to comprehend what the apostles meant. It would almost be prudent for us to change the expression; but we shall not change the Scriptures. We shall not go to them; they shall come to us. Having sin is something totally different from what people mean by sin. Having sin is everything that we do differently than God would have done it in our place. Little by little we get to see that the difference between God’s light and our light is like the Atlantic Ocean. We will, for all practical purposes, not be able to turn around before we discover the difference between God and us. People cannot comprehend what we mean by Jesus having “sin.” Then they are totally lost; they are confused. Then they think we say that Jesus was a slave of sin. What is meant by Jesus having sin? It is just the same as us having sin. Christ was aware of the difference between His life and the Father’s life. He depended on His Father. He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; He made Himself of no reputation. It is written that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor. The fact that He had increased in wisdom one day compared to the day before is evidence that He lacked something. Why did He not possess fullness of wisdom? Because He renounced it in order to instruct us in it. He increased in obedience. In other words, the degree of His obedience was deeper each month as time went by. Was there any obedience that the Father did not possess? Of course not! But the Son had to learn that obedience. He was in the Father. Why did He not want to say anything on His own authority? Because He did not want anything less than what the Father wanted. It is written in Deuteronomy that God will raise up a Prophet like me from among your brethren—and brethren are alike. We are His brethren in truth. He is the firstborn among many brethren.

When they say that we teach that Christ had sin, it is insane. It is completely wrong to say that Jesus Christ had sin. From their point of view, the way they see it, it is correct as they say that. First we have to know the meaning they put into it. Heb. 9:27-28. He will appear a second time without sin. In other words, the first time He appeared with sin. He appeared with sin, but not sinful. He appeared as the One who had renounced being like God, beginning with God’s kingdom within Himself like a mustard seed; and little by little He received it back until all of God’s wisdom and God’s fullness dwelt in Him, and then He ascended into heaven. Hallelujah!

A man interpreted this recently to mean that Jesus went straight through the world and suddenly, on Calvary, something mystical came over Him. But we have this verse: “Behold the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world.” Did it suddenly come falling down on Him on Calvary? On the contrary, He bore it from the beginning of His life, long before He came to Calvary.

Was He not the perfected Savior before He came to Calvary? No! We had to have a High Priest who was holy, innocent, and pure. The work was finished when He was made perfect!

In the Danish Bible translation it says, “Tested in all points as we are, yet without sinning.” “Yet without sin” is unclear.

If Jesus had been like the Father at the time the woman was caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), He could have answered immediately. However, because He did not have all the wisdom and righteousness He needed, He bowed down and wrote on the ground. This is precisely what we must do. Why did He not have the answer right away? Because there was a difference between Him and the Father. He was waiting for an answer from the Father. We should always wait for an answer from the Father when we are confronted by people and not answer like a waterfall. The one topic was: Committing sin. The other topic was: To be tested and tempted with everything imaginable, without falling, and then going through it all triumphantly. The entire salvation would have come to nothing if Jesus had committed a single sin. Then He would have had to die for His own sin, and we for ours; and then we would have been lost. So it was absolutely in His own interest that He overcame. When He had overcome everything, He had consecrated the way of salvation. Woe unto us if we know God’s will and do not perform it. Then the bonds are cut and fellowship is utterly broken. There is an abysmal difference between having sin and committing sin. It is vital to fight against sin in every possible way. Then we understand each other, and we understand God.