Paul Ellis – Page 40

The Religious Origins of Original Sin

August 10, 2022 by Paul Ellis

For 2000 years Augustine’s doctrine of original sin has taught that you were a natural born sinner, stained with Adam’s sin. From the moment you drew your first breath, you were hostile to the things of God and hardwired to sin.

My strong view is that this teaching about original sin is unbiblical and illogical. Like smoking, original sin is harmful to your health.

But if the Bible doesn’t say it, from where did Augustine et al. get the idea that we are tainted by original sin?

They got it from religion.

The Jews believed that all sin could be traced back to Adam’s transgression and that from him we all inherited an evil heart. This belief is captured in the writings of the apocrypha:

For the first Adam, burdened with an evil heart, transgressed and was overcome, as were also all who were descended from him. Thus the disease became permanent; the law was in the hearts of the people along with the evil root; but what was good departed, and the evil remained. (2 Esdras 3:21–22)

In Judaism there is an old belief that says humans are born with a wicked streak called yetzer hara. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the yetzer hara is an “evil inclination or impulse, popularly identified with the lusts of the flesh.”

This evil impulse is unconstrained until the emergence, at age thirteen, of the yetzer hatov, a counter-balancing inclination towards good.

The yetzer hara is 13 years older than the yetzer hatov. While still in the mother’s womb, the yetzer hara begins to develop in a person. If he begins to violate the Sabbath, nothing stops him. If he commits murder, nothing stops him. If he goes off to another sin, nothing stops him. But 13 years later, the yetzer hatov is born. When he violates the Sabbath, it rebukes him… (Source)

You know those cartoons that show a person being guided by a little angel or a little demon? That’s based on the teachings of Judaism. The little angel is the yetzer hatov and the little demon is the yetzer hara.

Apparently we don’t get the angel until we’re 13, but the demon – the yetzer hara – is with us from the womb. It is similar to the inherited inclination we know as original sin. The only difference is the rabbis teach that Adam was created by God with this evil inclination, while the theologians say we acquired it as a result of the Fall.

Assume for the moment that you have a yetzer hara. How do you get rid of it? You can’t, say the rabbis. You have it for life. You can only keep it in check through repentance, resolve, and strict obedience to the law.

The Law is like a plaster to the wound made by the yetzer hara. If the plaster is taken away, an evil ulcer will come forth… The Law will wear away the yetzer hara as water wears away stone. (Source)

Jesus and the Jewish apostles would have been familiar with the rabbis’ teaching, yet none of them mentioned anything that sounds like a yetzer hara.

If someone was going to say something surely it would have been Paul the Pharisee. Yet he said nothing. Evidently he did not believe we were born with a sinful nature. He certainly did not believe that we could manage our sin by keeping the law.

Just about everything you ever heard about original sin grew out of this old idea of the yetzer hara. All Tertullian and Augustine did was repackage this Jewish belief in Christian jargon.

So what? Does original sin even matter?

It matters a great deal.

While writing my book on original sin, I heard from a man called Bevan:

Several ministers have told me that my problems are because God rejected me even before I was born, I am going to hell, and there is nothing I can do about it. Help! This is torment!

Sadly, Bevan’s story is hardly unique. I get messages like this all the time.

Many people are tormented with guilt. They turn to religion looking for relief and what do they get? More guilt.

“You were sinful from the moment you took your first breath. You’re a rebel and God will punish you.”

We all live with a narrative about God and how he relates to us. If your narrative says you and your children are stained by the sins of Adam, and that you have to jump through hoops to avoid eternal condemnation, you need a better narrative.

Religion says you are born bad and God hates you, but the Bible says you are fearfully and wonderfully made and your heavenly Father loves you.

Original sin conveys a message of “sin with us,” but the gospel proclaims a better message of “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).

God is for us and with us, and when we open our hearts to his great love, he will be in us as well.

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Original Sin is Unbiblical

August 2, 2022 by Paul Ellis

The doctrine of original sin is one of the most damaging lies ever inflicted on the human race. Developed by Tertullian and popularized by Augustine, original sin says we all inherited Adam’s fallen nature.

There is no question that sinners have a sinful nature and that we all need to be saved from sin, but Augustine went further. He said we are born corrupt, and that we inherited a rebellious streak from our forefather Adam.

You were born spiritually dead and rebellious at heart. From the moment you drew your first breath, you were inclined towards sin, utterly depraved, and hostile towards God.

What is original sin?

This is how John Calvin (1509–1564) defined original sin:

Original sin may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh.

The key word is hereditary. The doctrine of original sin, as taught by Augustine, Calvin, et al., says you inherited a rebellious streak from your forefather Adam. Adam was a rebel which makes you a rebel. Before you were born, you were inclined to sin and disobey God. You were born bad to the bone and bound for hell.

“Men are born vicious,” said Calvin, as a result of the sin that Adam inflicted on upon his descendants.

The Lutherans agreed saying that all men, “from their mother’s womb, are full of evil desire and inclination, and can have by nature no true fear of God, no true faith in God.”

I disagree.

Like you, I grew up believing I was a natural born sinner inclined to rebel. It was obvious, wasn’t it? Just look at how I struggled with sin.

But around the time my children were born I began to question this teaching. “Is this little treasure really a hell-born brat?!”

After more than 15 years of studying this, I have come to the conviction that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is a manmade and thoroughly unbiblical teaching.

(If you’re interested in how I got here, check out my ebook entitled Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? on Patreon.)

To clarify, the issue is not whether people are depraved, corrupt, and defiled, but whether we are born that way. Were we born corrupt or did we become corrupt? Did we enter the world sinning and rebelling against God, or did we go astray along the way?

Those who preach Augustine’s doctrine of original sin swing for the hereditary answer. Our sinful nature is essentially a sin gene, an inherited disposition towards sin, and we are all born with it.

Again, there is no question that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and there is no doubt that Adam’s transgression had consequences that affect all of us (see Romans 5). My issue is with Augustine’s suggestion that after the Fall humanity was essentially remade or rewired to sin.

Scriptures used to support original sin include Gen. 5:3, 8:1, Ps. 51:5, 58:3, Jer. 17:9, Mark 7:23, Rom. 3:10–12, 5:12, 19, 7:18, and Eph. 2:1 and 3. I address these scriptures in my new book, but today I want to look at some other scriptures.

Scriptures refuting original sin

Original sin says you were shaped by sin in your mother’s womb. You were born defective and rebellious on account of Adam’s bad genes.

The Bible paints a different picture. Many wonderful scriptures show that you were handmade by God. Here’s a taste:

Your hands shaped me and made me. (Job 10:8).

You have been my God from my mother’s womb. (Ps. 22:10)

Your hands made me and formed me… (Ps. 119:73)

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb… (Is. 44:24)

God made you. He shaped you, fashioned you, and knitted you together, and he did a great job:

I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. (Ps. 139:14)

Augustinian tradition says you are defective and broken, but the Scriptures declare you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are a one of a kind special.

Where does the sin gene figure in this? It doesn’t. Adam’s sin affected the ground and everything that comes out of the ground, and this is why death is experienced in our physical bodies.

But your body is merely a home or earthsuit that you wear and which will one day be upgraded. The real you – your spirit and your mental faculties – comes from God (Job 32:8).

For you formed my inward parts. You wove me in my mother’s womb. (Ps. 139:13)

Your outward parts may be aging and broken, but your inward parts are first-rate because God doesn’t do shoddy work. You are not a mistake because God doesn’t make mistakes.

“If original sin is not true, why is the world such a mess?” This verse explains it:

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (Ecc. 7:29, NKJV)

God did a good job making humanity, but we ran after evil schemes and corrupted ourselves. We are not born corrupt but we become corrupted by the deceitful desires of the old self (Eph. 4:22), the pollutions of this world (2 Pet. 2:7, 20), and tradition and religion (1 Pet. 1:18–19). Behind all these sources of corruption we see the influence of the devil (see Eph. 2:1–2).

Original sin is one of those doctrines that sounds biblical but isn’t. It combines words and phrases from the Bible in ways that contradict the Bible.

The key differences between this manmade doctrine and what the scriptures actually say are summarized in the Table below (click on the pic for a bigger version).

Original sin has been around so long it’s hard to imagine an alternative, but the Bible has been around longer and the picture it paints is clear as day.

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Why Does Jesus Hate Divorce?

July 20, 2022 by Paul Ellis

In the modern church we think we treat women well. We tell ourselves that we are enlightened, educated and respectful. But in the very next breath we tell women they can’t preach or teach and it would best if they remain silent in our services.

What’s wrong with that picture?!

God made Eve a queen, yet we don’t treat her daughters like princesses. Just look at the shame we dispense to those who are divorced.

A pastor who goes to prison for manslaughter can be rehabilitated and welcomed back into the pulpit, but a woman who has been abused and divorced has zero chance of leading a church.

“Hold up there, Paul. You’re confusing several issues. There are scriptures forbidding…”

Actually, there are no scriptures forbidding divorced women from doing anything. But there is certainly an ancient prejudice against the daughters of Eve. (I discuss those scriptures you’re thinking of elsewhere.)

For now let’s focus on one question: Why does Jesus hate divorce?

Jesus doesn’t hate divorce because it’s a sin or because it breaks God’s rules. He hates it because it hurts the people he loves.

And in the first century, most of the people hurt by divorce were women.

Divorce in the bad old days

In the patriarchal culture of ancient Israel, there was a law that said a man could send his wife away with a certificate of divorce if she no longer found favor in his eyes.

Yes, that’s actually in the Bible (see Deu. 24:1-4).

Under the law of Moses, if your wife got old and wrinkled, you could trade her in for a younger model. It was allowed because, you know… wrinkles.

By the time of Jesus, the rabbis and sages had added a raft of other reasons for divorcing your wife.

You could divorce her if she spoke with a loud voice, fed you untithed meat, or talked to men in public.

If she didn’t produce children within ten years, you could divorce her for breaking the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

If she went to a friend’s feast when you had told her not to, you could divorce her for that too.

These divorce laws were unfair to women and Jesus hated them.

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:8-9)

In other words, stop kidding yourself. If your partner is faithful and you trade her in for a younger model, you’re the unfaithful one.

Just because it’s lawful and everyone’s doing it, that doesn’t mean God is happy about it.

Yet the situation was even worse because some men were sending away their wives without giving them a certificate of divorce. Maybe they were trying to hold onto dowries or perhaps they were just lazy. In any case, it was an evil practice, for it meant women were being sent out into the cold without any means of support.

Those same men would then carry on like they were single and remarry. It was a national disgrace and Jesus called them out on it.

Whosoever sends away his wife (without a certificate of divorce) and marries another, commits adultery. (Luke 16:18)

Jesus defended women by calling their deadbeat husbands sinners and law-breakers. “You’re breaking the seventh commandment.”

When Jesus laid down the law

Why did Jesus hit these sinners with the law when he gave grace to so many others? Because they were hurting people weaker than themselves and they were doing so under guise of God-fearing religion. They were acting like law-keepers when they were really law-breakers.

This is vintage Jesus. He is not fooled by the silly traditions men invent to cover their poor behavior. He sees through all hypocrisy and cuts right to the heart of the issue.

“You think you are clever with your legal loopholes, but you are going against God’s plan. You are mistreating women.”

I imagine Jesus would say similar things today regarding our habit of discriminating against women in ministry. And he would certainly have something to say about the unkind way we treat women (and men) who are divorced.

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More articles about marriage and divorce.

What to do When You’re Facing Death

July 6, 2022 by Paul Ellis

If you are facing a sentence of death – a bad report, a scary diagnosis, the loss of a business – you would do well to read Christ’s letter to the church at Smyrna. It’s the shortest of the seven Revelation letters, yet death is mentioned three times in four verses.

(Bonus fact: the name Smyrna means myrrh, which is also the name of a spice we associate with death. Myrrh was one of the spices used to prepare Christ’s body for burial (John 19:39), and myrrh mixed with wine was also the last thing Jesus tasted before he died on the cross (Mark 15:23, John 19:30).)

The sentence of death

This letter about death was written by One who calls himself “the first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life” (Rev. 2:8).

Jesus writes because some of the saints in Smyrna are going to be put to death. That’s bad news. But the good news is that Jesus has been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. (Revelation 2:10a)

The Jesus of the Gospels warned his disciples that they would be hauled before the courts for the sake of his Name (Matt. 10:17–18), and it’s the same warning here. The saints in Smyrna were already suffering, but their troubles were about to get worse. “After ten days of prison, some of you will be put to death” (Rev. 2:10).

To those about to die, Jesus says “Do not fear.”

Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Revelation 1:17b–18)

Do not fear?! How is it possible to not fear death? Because the Risen Lord has conquered the grave.

All die, but not all fear death. Death is inevitable, but fear is a choice. When you see Jesus who was dead but has come to life, faith rises and fear diminishes.

Some read “Do not fear” as a command that must be obeyed, but Jesus is dispensing grace. He’s giving a timely word of encouragement. He’s inviting us to walk by faith.

The sentence of life

Jesus wants the saints at Smyrna to know that the coming trouble will last only a short time. Those who get through it will endure on his account, while those who don’t survive will have the joy of meeting him face-to-face.

Smyrna was not the only church where the saints were persecuted for their faith, but no church suffered more. The believers were bullied into poverty, their reputations were besmirched, and some of them were burned at the stake.

They paid the ultimate price.

Jesus forewarned them to prepare them. He wanted them to know that he, not death, has the last word. “After death, life!”

What is Christ’s message for us?

Fear not, for Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

If you have received the sentence of death, perhaps in the form of a bad medical report or a lost opportunity, take heart: Death does not have the final word. The Alpha and Omega is the beginning and the end.

The One who was raised to life is with you in your trial. He will never leave you. And he invites you to see beyond the curtain of the present to the realm of the everlasting.

As a dearly loved child of the Most High, you have nothing to fear for nothing can separate you from his love. No matter how bad it gets, even if your heart stops beating and they bury your body in the ground, there is hope.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:4–6)

Put your trust in Jesus for he will never let you go.

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Introducing The Grace Bible

June 27, 2022 by Paul Ellis

For years, people have been asking me, “Paul, what’s your favorite Bible?” That’s a tough question, like asking me to pick my favorite child.

What people really want to know is, “Which Bible is free from mixture and will help me grow in grace?”

There hasn’t been a good answer to that question… until now.

(Okay, I was aiming for drama, but that came across as a little cocky. Humor me.)

For the past few months I’ve been working on something called “The Grace Bible.” The tagline is, “The Study Bible with Good News on Every Page.” The first instalment will look like this:

What is the Grace Bible?

It is not a law Bible with rules you must follow, nor is it a works Bible that tells you what to do. It is not a judgment Bible to fear, nor a guilt Bible to make you feel bad. It is a grace Bible that reveals the good news found on every page of scripture.

If you have ever asked, “How do I read this scripture through a new covenant lens?” The Grace Bible is for you.

In this study Bible you will find no guilt or condemnation and none of the usual calls for blood, sweat, and tears. My focus will be on Jesus Christ—who he is, what he has done, and what you can do because of what he has done.

There are many good study Bibles out there and I have no wish to reinvent the wheel. So The Grace Bible will have no chain references, lexicons, or anything you can get somewhere else. It is something entirely new – a study Bible that unpacks the treasures of grace.

What about the Grace Commentary?

The Grace Commentary and The Grace Bible go together like a sword and a trowel, and I plan to work on them at the same time. The Grace Commentary is an ever-growing website rich with content, while The Grace Bible is a book of treasures that you can share with friends.

I have just finished the ebook version of The Grace Bible: 1–3 John and to celebrate I am giving away the first 5000 copies. It’s available in three formats (PDF, Mobi and epub) for easy reading on just about any device. Get your free copy now and tell your friends (#thegracebible).

A paperback will follow in due course. If you would like to be kept informed about progress, sign up for notifications at the new book website: www.thegracebible.com

When you get a chance, I would value any feedback you may have on the new Bible, especially if you are a teacher, pastor, or a student. Is The Grace Bible useful? How could it be better? Is it something you would share with others? What formats do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below.

As always, a huge shout out to our supporters who make ventures like this possible.

Grace and peace,

Paul

How Do We Keep the Word of His Perserverance?

June 20, 2022 by Paul Ellis

You know that warning about not adding words to the Bible? I think of it whenever I read passages like this:

You have kept my command to endure patiently… (Revelation 3:10a)

That’s from the NIV translation and it conveys the idea that you have been commanded to endure life’s struggles with fortitute and long-suffering. That is NOT what Jesus is saying here.

Read that passage in a literal translation or a word-for-word translation such as the NASB and it says this:

Because you have kept the word of my perseverance… (Revelation 3:10a)

See the difference? Jesus is not talking about your patience but his perseverance. The Passion translation is hardly a word-for-word translation, but it does an excellent job here:

Because you have passionately kept my message of perseverance… (Rervelation 3:10a)

What is the word or message of his perseverance and how do we keep it?

What is the word of his perseverance?

The word of his perseverance is the good news that Jesus has persevered and overcome the world. It’s the joyful revelation that because Jesus has done it all, you have nothing to prove.

How do we keep the word of his perservance? By continuing to trust in Jesus who persevered.

To keep his word (Rev. 3:8) or keep his deeds (Rev. 2:26) or keep his faith (Rev. 2:13) or keep the word of his perseverance (Rev. 3:10) is to believe in Jesus and his finished work. It’s guarding the truth, continuing in the faith, or continuing in the grace of God, and staying settled on the rock. It is refusing to be tempted into the dead works of religion and unbelief.

Jesus commends the Philadelphians for trusting him. How might they have failed to keep the word of his perseverance? They could have fallen under the law. We need to beware of the same temptation.

The first-century Jews despised the Christians for being lawless. The Christians claimed to follow God yet they did not practice circumcision or live by the Law of Moses (Acts 15:5). Worst of all, they worshipped a dead rabbi as though he was the Son of God. This was unacceptable. The Christians needed to be brought into line.

Such was the mindset that opposed the believers in Philadelphia.

Like the Galatians, the Philadelphians were pressured to accept another gospel, one that emphasized ritual observance of the law. But unlike the Galatians, the Philadelphians didn’t listen. They remained true to Christ and refused to become burdened by a yoke of slavery.

We can be certain this was the flash-point in Philadelphia because of a letter received by the church that came from Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius had been trained by the legendary John, and in his letter he urged the Philadelphians to resist all forms of law.

If anyone preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him… (If any) persons do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are in my judgment but as monuments and sepulchers of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men.

Ignatius seems to have understood that if you live under law you fall from grace. This happens because law-keeping puts the focus on you and your performance while distracting you from Jesus and his.

What is the law? In the first century, law preaching meant preaching the Law of Moses (Acts 15:21). But in the 21st century, just about anything can be turned into a law—even the words of Jesus to the Philadelphians.

Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing. (Revelation 3:10)

A Christian fitness test

Some twist our Savior’s beautiful words into a Christian fitness test. They say you have to persevere and endure to be saved. You have to keep Christ’s commands and maintain an erect and noble bearing under pressure.

Fail to persevere and you risk punishment, even damnation.

This old covenant interpretation even appears in some English Bibles. “Because you have kept my command to endure….”

What command?! There is no command.

Jesus is not even talking about the Philadelphians’ endurance or perseverance; he’s commending them for keeping the word of his perseverance.

“Because you kept my command… I will keep you from the hour of trial.” That’s a terrible translation. That’s putting an old covenant price tag on a new covenant promise.

Bad translations put price tags on the grace of God and turn gifts into wages. But good translations reveal the good news of Jesus.

We are not kept from the hour of testing because we endure; we are kept because Christ has endured.

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Image source: 123rf.com

Some material in this article came from Letters from Jesus.

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Who has Authority in a Marriage?

June 8, 2022 by Paul Ellis

Who has the authority in a marriage, the husband or the wife?

For much of human history, the men were in charge, and their wives were considered little more than property. Strangely, Paul seems to support this archaic arrangement when he tells the Corinthians:

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. (1 Corinthians 7:4a)

In other words, she belongs to him. (Can you see the rabbis and philosophers nodding in agreement?)

But then Paul follows up with this stunner:

And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (1 Corinthians 7:4b)

In other words, he belongs to her.

Wait, what?

Aristotle and the sexist philosophers of Athens would’ve fallen off their stools. Men belong to their wives? Has Paul lost his marbles?

Who has the authority in a marriage? Husbands belong to their wives and wives belong to their husbands, and they both have authority over each other.

God’s original plan

If this sounds radical, it’s because we have forgotten God’s original plan. “Two shall become one” (Gen. 2:24). When two become one, each partner gives up their right to live independently of the other.

Each says, “From now on I belong to you.”

For some, this is going too far.

“I belong to no one. You’ll not tie me to the ol’ ball and chain.”

Some would rather cling to their rights than embrace another person.

But marriage is an all-or-nothing proposition. It has to be if the two are to become one. A marriage where only one partner goes all in is like a plane with only one wing. She won’t fly.

Wisdom from the most quoted woman in the Bible

Do you know which woman has the most lines in the Bible? It’s not Mary or Esther. The most quoted woman in the Bible is the Shulammite woman in the Song of Solomon.

This unnamed but wise woman knew a thing or two about love. She was the one who said:

My beloved is mine and I am his. (Song of Solomon 2:16)

This is the airborne language of love. This woman has been swept off her feet by a man who has fully given himself to her.

A few chapters later she repeats her refrain:

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. (Song of Solomon 6:3)

This woman does not sound like she is chafing under the shackles of wedlock.

Then a third time:

I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. (Song of Solomon 7:10)

Their shared love is so overwhelming, she can’t stop talking about it. “We were two, but now we are one, and I couldn’t be happier.”

When the Shulamite sings, “His desire is for me,” it’s the same word God used when he said to Eve, “Your desire will be for him.” The fall of humanity upset the harmony between the genders, but love rights the scales. “His desire will be for you.”

The Shulamite’s song is nothing like the selfish songs of the flesh. Her song tells us that in a loving relationship between two equals, submission is erotic, exciting, sensational!

Want to know what a godly partnership looks like? Then hear the words of the Shulamite.

He desires me, and I desire him. My beloved is mine and I am his.

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Two Lies About Sin

June 1, 2022 by Paul Ellis

The worst disease to ever afflict the human race is not Covid or cancer, but sin. Sin is not merely breaking the rules or acting immorally. Sin is much more serious than that.

God offers us his divine life but we fall short. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The gap between our broken and bruised lives and his whole and glorious life is called sin.

Now that we have a Biblical definition of sin, we can look at two lies we have been told about sin.

Lie #1: A little sin can’t hurt

You hardly need me to remind you that we have been sold a con. The world tells us that sin brings pleasure, but the truth is that sin comes with a hefty price tag:

For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

God gives life, but sin ministers death. Sin cripples us, diminishes us, and kills us. Sin ruins our lives, our marriages, our families, our world.

When we walk after the flesh, we sow the seeds of destruction and reap a fatal harvest. This fruit is not God’s judgment but sin’s wage. Sin is its own punishment.

You already knew that, right? But what you may not know is that true pleasure – the kind you and I were made for – comes from the Lord.

You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

We were created to enjoy divine and everlasting pleasure, but we traded it all for the fleeting and fatal pleasures of sin.

What a terrible trade! Every disease, heartbreak, and crime that was inflicted on the human race happened because we said no to God and yes to sin.

Lie #2: Sinning makes God mad at you

If the first lie comes from the world, the second lie comes from religion. Religion tell us that sinning is bad because it displeases God and makes him hate us. Not true. God doesn’t hate you. He hates sin!

Why does God hate sin? He hates sin because sin hurts those he loves. God never intended for us to live with the suffering that sin brings.

When Adam turned his back on God, he opened a door to a world of trouble, and so do we whenever we repeat his mistake. When we offer our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, we become slaves of sin (Rom. 6:16).

Jesus broke you out of sin’s prison, but whenever we walk after the flesh it’s like we’re slapping the chains right back on.

Sinning does not mean we will lose our salvation, but we will surely lose our freedom.

For the Christian, this can happen when we put ourselves under law. Paul rebuked the Galatians because they were trying to perfect in their flesh that which was begun by the Spirit (Gal. 3:3). They put on the heavy yoke of law, stopped walking by faith, and lost their liberty (Gal. 3:12, 5:1).

5 truths about sin

Now that we have exposed some of the lies about sin, here are five truths about sin:

We can sin just as easily by doing good things as bad. Whenever we walk after the flesh, we fall short of the glorious life God has for us.
We all sin, from the best of us to the worst of us. Your sin does not make you unique.
God dealt with all your sin – past, present, and future – at the cross. He did this because he loves you and wants you to share his life with him.
When you stumble, God still loves you. His grace is greater than your sin, his best is better than your worst.
God’s grace empowers you to say no to sin and live the godly life he has for you.

Jesus will never condemn you for your sin. Instead, he will empower you to sin no more so that you might enjoy the whole and abundant life God has for you.

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Doers of the Law Will be Justified?

May 18, 2022 by Paul Ellis

Was the Apostle Paul confused when he wrote Romans 2:13? Because this verse doesn’t seem to belong in the Bible:

For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. (Romans 2:13)

Doers of the law will be justified?!

Was Paul having a senior moment? Did he forget to insert the word NOT?

There is an easy explanation for this strange verse, which we’ll get to in a minute. But first, let’s be clear: we are justified by faith alone and NOT by keeping the law.

Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

Justification by faith is one of the great themes of Paul’s writing. Again and again, he reminds us that we are justified or made right with God through faith in his Son (Rom. 3:28, Gal. 3:24).

Since we are justified by faith, and the law is not of faith (Gal. 3:12), no one can ever be justified by keeping the law.

By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in his sight. (Romans 3:20)

And one more time for emphasis:

We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 2:16)

Paul could not be any clearer. We’re justified by faith not law. Try to impress God with your law-keeping, and you’ll fall from grace and cut yourself off from Christ:

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

So with such a clear message (faith, not law), why does Paul say doers of the law will be justified?

Doers of the law

Paul was not saying, “Try and keep the law and you will justify yourself before God,” for that would contradict what he says elsewhere about being justified by faith.

He was saying, “hearing the law is not enough, you have to keep it – and none of you can!”

In context, Paul was speaking to people who knew the law (Rom. 7:1). Like many believers, they had been raised on a diet of rules. They thought if they heard the rules, studied the rules, and hung them on their walls, God would be impressed.

Nope.

Going to church and hearing the rules is not enough.

Teaching the rules and condemning those who break them is not enough.

Lobbying for God’s law to be hung on courthouses is not enough.

You have to keep all the rules and no one can.

It is impossible for imperfect man to deliver a lifetime of perfect performance. Paul is not calling us to attempt the impossible; he’s trying to get us to admit defeat.

Doers of the law will be justified, but you are not and never can be a doer of the law.

There was only one Doer of the law who was made right with God and that Doer offers you his righteousness as a free gift.

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

To be justified means God has judged you righteous and not guilty of sin. To be justified is to be made right with God.

You cannot earn the gift of righteousness and you cannot justify yourself before God. The only thing you can do is receive his righteousness by faith.

Want to get right with God?

Start by thanking him for Jesus who was made sin so that you might be justified and made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).

You are not justified or made right with God because of anything you do, but because of everything he has done.

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Want to learn more about justification, righteousness, and the law? Check out our ever-expanding Grace Glossary.

Read more articles and these frequently-asked questions about the law.

What is the Sin Leading to Death?

May 11, 2022 by Paul Ellis

There are different types of sin, and some more serious than others. Apparently we should pray for those who do the lighter sins, but not waste time praying for those who do the bad ones.

Ever heard that? It comes from this verse:

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. (1 John 5:16)

What is the sin leading to death and why should we not pray for people doing this sin?

Sin unto death

Some say the sin leading to death is the unforgivable sin, which is unbelief. But why wouldn’t we pray for our unbelieving friends and family members? (We can pray that the eyes of their hearts would be opened to the gospel. We can pray that they would hear Jesus knocking on their door.)

I’ve also heard it said that the fatal sin is taking communion unworthily. Or it’s turning away from Jesus. It’s hypocrisy. It’s lying to the Holy Spirit like Ananias and Sapphira.

Or the sin that leads to death is the sin you did knowing full well that it was sin when you did it.

Or it’s the sin you keep doing again and again because you’re an unrepentant rebel.

In short, the fatal sin is so bad and so offensive to heaven that there’s no point asking God to forgive you. You are so far gone that God can’t help you, and you are not worth praying for.

Nope.

Let’s get two things straight: First, Jesus bore all our sins, big and small, and there is no sin greater than God’s grace (Rom. 5:20). No matter what you have done or how often you’ve done it, there is grace for you.

Second, when we see others destroying themselves in sin, we should pray for them. They need help. Why wouldn’t we pray?

“But some are beyond help. Don’t waste your breath praying for those guys.”

Again, nope. There is no sinner beyond the reach of God’s mighty grace. Not one.

The worst sinner in the world

Look at Saul the Pharisee. If anyone was beyond the reach of grace it was the chief of sinners. Do you think the early Christians wasted time praying for him? Of course they did. Didn’t Jesus teach us to love and pray for their enemies (Matt. 5:44)?

And their prayers were answered. Just look at what happened to Saul.

But I digress. Back to John.

When not to pray

There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

John is not talking about different types of sin. He’s telling us when to pray and when to quit praying.

When our brothers and sisters are stumbling in sin, we should not condemn them but pray for them. Pray that God would lead them on to the path of life. “You should pray and God will give them life.”

Someone who is sinning needs life because sinning is destructive. When we sin we are sowing death into our lives, marriages, and families (Rom. 6:23). But the good news is that Jesus gives life.

Imagine you have a friend who is on a destructive path. They are making bad choices and sowing the seeds of death.

They sin.

You pray.

They keep sinning.

You keep praying. It’s not complicated.

But what if the sinning brother or sister makes choices that bring their life to a premature end? What if they drive themselves over the proverbial cliff? If they’re dead there’s no point praying any further. Our responsibility to pray ends at the grave. What happens after that is God’s concern.

Don’t pray for the dead

What is the sin leading to death? It could be just about anything, but once they’re dead you can stop praying for them. Your part is done. Now they are in God’s hands.

This is obvious, right? Only for many it’s not obvious at all.

Some religions and even some Christian denominations pray for the dead or the “faithful departed” even though there is nothing in scripture to support this.

Praying for the dead is a dead work. Start praying for the dead and your prayer lists will only get longer. (How would you know if the prayers were answered?)

Short version: Don’t pray for the dead, but pray for those who have lost their way. Pray that God will lead them in the path of life.

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What Does it Mean to Fall from Grace?

May 4, 2022 by Paul Ellis

“Did you hear about that celebrity pastor and his secretary? What a fall from grace!”

The fall-from-grace phrase is sometimes used to describe famous people who have fallen into sin, but that is not what fall from grace means in the Bible.

When you sin you don’t fall from grace but into grace. It’s not possible to sin yourself beyond the reach of God’s love. His best is better than your worst, and his grace is greater than your sin (see Rom. 5:20).

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

What does it mean to fall from grace? We fall from the high place of grace when we start walking after the flesh. Typically, this happens by accident:

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. (Galatians 5:4, MSG)

Here’s how it happens. You come to Jesus because of grace.

“Thank you, Jesus. I’m saved by grace.”

But then you hear that you need to pray more, give more, serve more to produce fruit or get blessed.

“I’ll do it for you Jesus!”

There is nothing wrong with praying, giving and serving. The problem is in thinking you have to do these things to merit God’s favor.

“I’m gonna give to get. I’m gonna fast and pray until the walls come down. I’m going obey the law because it will please the Lord.”

BAM! You have just traded faith for works and you have fallen from grace.

Paul told the Galatians, “You have been severed from Christ.” This what happens when we stop trusting the Lord and start relying on our own effort. We cut ourselves off from the flow of heavenly favor.

But falling from grace does not mean you have lost your salvation. You may let go of Christ, but he will never let go of you. Even when you are faithless, he remains faithful (2 Tim. 2:13).

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

Fall from grace and you will lose your freedom, but Paul never tells the Galatians, “You are losing your salvation.” Instead, he says, “You are indulging the flesh” (Gal. 5:13).

The Galatians were becoming carnal, biting and devouring one another in vicious arguments. The danger was not that God would destroy them, but that you “will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15).

To fall from grace is just about the worst thing that can happen to a believer. Like a bird that falls from the sky, we end up broken and vulnerable.

Christ will be of no benefit to you. (Galatians 5:2)

Christ did not die to make you religious. He died to set you free. If you bind yourself with obligation, debt, and duty, what was the point?

You who are seeking to be justified by law. (Galatians 5:4)

The strange thing is we know this. We know that no one is justified or made right with God by doing good works or keeping the law (Rom. 3:20). We know that justification is a gift of grace that is received by faith (Rom. 3:28).

But we forget. We miss the telltale signs of living under law.

Some serious preacher comes along preaching practical holiness and or railing against lukewarmness and our religious flesh just gobbles it up.

“Just tell me what to do, Lord, and I’ll do it!”

Before you know it, we’re standing with the Israelites at the foot of Mt Sinai begging God for rules.

It’s like Jesus died for nothing.

How do we resist the temptation to come back under law?

Keep standing firm and DO NOT be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

We have to take a stand. We have to have zero tolerance for mixture. When the law-preachers come looking for fresh meat, we have to make a ruckus.

“Beware the wolves in sheep’s clothing!”

How much noise should we make? Well that depends on how much you value your freedom.

So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (Galatians 5:1, MSG)

Jesus paid a high price for your freedom. Stay free.

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Update: For the past few months I have been working on a book entitled Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? It will be out at the end of this year, but draft chapters are available now on Patreon.

What is the Definition of Sin?

April 28, 2022 by Paul Ellis

What is sin?

Some define sin as transgression of God’s law. “We need to keep the law because ‘sin is lawlessness’” (see 1 John 3:4). Okay, but which law?

“We have to keep all of the commands.”

Including the ones about not wearing poly-blend clothing or eating bacon?

“Well, not those ones. But at least the Ten Commandments. Plus everything Jesus said.”

But the Bible says we are not under law (see Rom. 6:14). Which means we can’t use the law to define sin.

“What…?”

And since the law is not of faith, we might say that trying to live under the law is itself a kind of sin (see Gal. 3:11–12).

“You’re breaking my brain.”

What you misdiagnose, you mistreat. If you define sin as law-breaking, you’ll think the remedy to sin is law-keeping. But to live under the law is to walk after the flesh.

We are supposed to look to the Lord, not the law, which means you cannot use the law as a guide for holy living. In the Holy Spirit you have a better Guide by far.

Which brings me back to my original question.

What is sin in the Bible?

In the Bible, the word sin can be a verb (an action) or a noun (a thing). Let’s talk about sin as a verb. Those with a legal mindset define sin (or sinning) as law-breaking, while moral people tend to define sin as immoral behavior. But this is not how the Bible defines sin.

The original verb for sin (hamartano) means to miss the mark and not share the prize. But what is the mark that we are supposed to hit and what is the prize?

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

What does it mean to sin? To sin is to fall short of the glorious life God has for us (to paraphrase the Message Bible).

God has divine life; we do not. His life is whole, good, and perfect, but our lives are bruised and broken.

Because we fall short, we miss the mark and don’t get to share in the divine life that God wants for us. This falling short is called sin.

All of us are sinners and none of us can live at God’s level. It’s impossible. But the next verse reveals God’s plan for closing the gap:

And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24, NIV)

The sinful life is what we have; the glorious life is what he offers, and this new life comes to us through the grace of Jesus Christ.

TL:DR: We are all sinners, but we are freely justified (made right with God) by grace.

Sin is a fruit

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve turned their back on God and the result was sin and death.

Sin and disobedience are the fruit of distrust. Adam and Eve did not believe God and chose the path of independence. Ever since then, humans have been operating from a baseline of self-trust (what the Bible calls walking after the flesh) and the result is sin.

The remedy for sin is to turn back to God and receive the grace he freely offers. Those who do this hit the bullseye and receive the prize. They are made new and get to share in his divine life (2 Pet. 1:4).

Now that we know what sin is (missing the mark), it will help to identify what sin is not. Sin is not merely doing bad things, because any time we walk after the flesh we miss the mark – even when we are doing good.

Nor is sin merely breaking the rules. The devil does not really mind if you are a reckless law-breaker or a religious law-keeper. As long as you are walking after the flesh you are going to fall short of the life God has for you.

What is the definition of sin? It is not rule breaking or acting immorally as much as it is walking by sight and leaning on your own abilities and understanding. It is trusting in yourself and living without regard for the things of God.

And who is a sinner? A sinner is not merely someone who does bad things. A sinner could just as easily be a churchgoer or charity worker, or a Pharisee and a publican. There are good sinners and bad sinners but they are all sinners alike if they are relying on themselves and living independently of God.

Until we come to Christ and receive by faith the gracious gift of his life, we remain dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

How is sin a noun?

There are two ways that sin is a noun (hamartia). First, if you rake all your sins, trespasses, offenses, and mistakes into a big stinky pile, what you have is a noun: your sin.

Here is the first thing the New Testament says about your sin:

Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people (Matthew 12:31a)

All sinners have a pile of sins, and some piles are bigger than others. But on the cross the Lamb of God bore your sin and my sin and now there are no more piles. Thank you, Jesus!

Because Christ “gave himself for our sins” and “died for our sins”, God is no longer in the business of holding our sins and trespasses against us (1 Cor. 15:3, 2 Cor. 5:19, Gal. 1:4).

You may have sinful regrets, and sin still has consequences – don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise. But the good news is that God chooses to remember our sins and lawless deeds no more (Heb. 10:17). As far as he is concerned, they don’t exist.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Romans 4:7–8)

“But what about the sin that I sinned just this morning?”

God has no record of that sin. Your conscience may keep a record, and the devil may keep a record, but love keeps no record of wrongs.

Sin as a tyrant

There is another way that sin is a noun. In the Bible, sin is sometimes described as a personality with desires, intelligence, and an agenda.

God told Cain that sin was crouching at his door (Gen. 4:7). Paul described sin as a tyrant with lusts and a desire to master you (see Rom. 6:14).

In the book of Romans, the word sin or sins appears 47 times and on all but one occasion it is a noun. Sin wants to enslave you, deceive you and kill you (Rom. 6:6, 17, 20, 7:14, 7:11). Paul was not talking about a sinful nature or some impersonal power. He was describing Satan.

Both sin and Satan seek to devour us (Gen. 4:7, 1 Pet. 5:8) and kill us (Rom 7:11, John 8:44). But the good news is that both sin and Satan have been defeated by Jesus (Heb. 9:26, John 12:31).

In Christ, you have been freed from sin (see Rom. 6:7). You are not freed from sinning but from sin the tyrant. Because there has been a change of government, you are free to sin no more. You don’t have to obey your former master.

From time to time, we all stumble. The difference now is that when you sin, your new master speaks in your defense.

If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 2:1)

When you sin, Jesus speaks to defend you. He does not do it to justify sin, but to justify you and to remind you that you have been freed from sin.

Since you died with Christ, you are a sinner no more. You are a new creature, with a new heart and new desires to please the Lord.

Now go learn to speak the new language of the new covenant and be who you truly are – a saint and a dearly-loved child of God.

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