The Two Calvinist American Civil Wars: Authentic Calvinists, 1; Sanctified Calvinists, 1
Authentic Calvinism dies a social death every 100 to 150 years because of the spiritual tyranny that goes hand in hand with it. In Authentic Calvinism, all reality and knowledge worth knowing is a deeper and deeper knowledge of how evil we are as “set against the holiness of God.” Hence, all tragedy, sin, misfortune, etc., contributes to our knowledge of how worthless we are. Have you been raped by a leader in the church? Awesome! What a wonderful opportunity to show forth the forgiveness of Christ that you have received by forgiving your rapist. What a wonderful opportunity to show forth the importance of tending to your own sin and not the sin of others. And what about “justice”? Justice?! Just be glad you haven’t received the justice that you deserve! Here is what Calvin said about justice:
Those who, as in the presence of God, inquire seriously into the true standard of righteousness, will certainly find that all the works of men, if estimated by their own worth, are nothing but vileness and pollution, that what is commonly deemed justice is with God mere iniquity; what is deemed integrity is pollution; what is deemed glory is ignominy (CI 3.12.4).
Eventually, this logic hits a dead-end with people. Authentic Calvinism dies, and out of the ashes comes an adjusted version with a sounder soteriology. But the nomenclature, “Calvinist” is retained. Unlike the evolutionary cesspool of Authentic Calvinism that yields a Sanctified Calvinism, the latter holds to a measure of enablement on the part of the believer, especially in the category of law-keeping. Then, when Authentic Calvinism rears its ugly head in a societal resurgence, the former and latter go to war.
The First Calvinist Civil War
The first war occurred shortly after the siblings of the Reformation, the Puritans, landed on American soil from Europe. The Bible of choice was the Geneva Bible. An Authentic Calvinist, Anne Hutchinson, started a Bible study in her home. She was a rabid follower of John Cotton, Authentic Calvinist extraordinaire. In fact, when Cotton was forced to leave for America, she followed him here. In her Bible studies, she accused the rest of the Puritan gang of being legalists because they didn’t share John Cotton’s assertion that Jesus keeps the law for us in sanctification (or the Christian life), so that we can stand in the future judgment clothed in the perfect obedience of Christ and not our own. In turn, the other Puritan Calvinists (Sanctified: believe that law informs sanctification without effecting justification) accused her of being an antinomian. This was known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony antinomian controversy of 1637.
The Colony was a theocracy modeled after European Calvinistic Puritanism. Hutchison was brought to trial by the courts as well as her home church. Cotton, while defending Hutchinson, was able to play both sides of the fence and emerge unscathed. Hutchinson was eventually banished from the Colonies and was murdered by Indians five years later.
Sanctified Calvinists: 1.
Authentic Calvinists: 0.
However, not long after, the fallout from the European style Salem witch trials put an end to the Puritan theocracy.
The Second Calvinist Civil War
In 1970, two significant Reformed movements emerged and began having profound effect on American church culture: the biblical counseling movement founded by Sanctified Calvinist Dr. Jay E. Adams, and the beginnings of what is now known as the New Calvinist movement. The New Calvinist movement is the latest revival of Authentic Calvinism. The movement was trampled to death in Calvinistic Baptist circles, but found life in Dr. John Miller’s Sonship Discipleship program. Disciples of Miller infiltrated the biblical counseling movement and went to war with Adams claiming that his counseling construct wasn’t “vertical enough.” Basically, the same grace/works contention between the two Calvinist camps that occurred in 1637. Adams was eventually pushed out of the movement that he founded all together via character assassination and retreated to a small counseling organization of his own.
Authentic Calvinists: 1
Sanctified Calvinists: 1
The series is now tied.
paul
The Curse of the Reformation’s False Gospel
“Calvinism collapses unregeneration into regeneration; hence, Total Depravity (the “T” in TULIP) also refers to believers.”
The fundamental defect of Reformed theology is its view of law and gospel; specifically, Christians remain under the law instead of a transformation to under grace. “Grace” becomes a covering for remaining under the law instead of something totally separate. Those who are under the law will be judged by it at the final judgment, are provoked to sin by it, can’t comprehend it, and are unable to obey it (Romans 8:7,8). Have you ever heard a Calvinist describe Christians in that way? That’s why. Calvinism collapses unregeneration into regeneration; hence, Total Depravity (the “T” in TULIP) also refers to believers. In one respect among many, it is impossible for Christians to be totally depraved because there is no law to judge us as totally depraved. Discussing ways in which this may be true practically are also fruitless because where there is no law, there is no sin (Romans 4:15, 5:13, 7:1,6,).
It’s like this: you are brought into court based on charges that you are unrighteous. You are found innocent for three reasons: you possess the righteous of God; there is no law in which to judge you; and even if there was, Christ has already served your time and paid the penalty.
Note what Paul states in Galatians 3:10-14;
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
In Reformed theology, we are still under the law, but they make the fulfillment of the law part of the atonement. In other words, atonement is not a righteousness revealed “apart from the law” (Romans 3:21). Christ paid the penalty of sin by dying on the cross, but also lived a perfect life on earth to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. The law is therefore still a standard for determining righteousness. It is a standard for justification that must be fulfilled in order for us to be found in the righteousness of God that is imputed to us.
Hence, Christ “lived and died” for our justification. His life lived on earth becomes part of the atonement in that the perfect obedience of Christ is imputed to our sanctification—IF we appropriate the works of Christ by faith alone in sanctification. However, the Scriptures never say that, but rather state that Christ died for our sins and was resurrected for our justification (Romans 4:25). By “one act” of obedience we were justified, not the totality of His obedience while He lived on earth (Romans 5:19, Hebrews 10:10 [“sanctified” used in the sense of being permanently set apart and declared holy]).
Calvin makes it clear in the Calvin Institutes (3.14.9,10,11) that attempts to keep the law as Christians is futile because we are unable to keep it perfectly. This is the same standard that those who are under the law (Romans 6:14) are confronted with. Therefore, obviously, the law is still a standard for justification in the Reformed gospel construct. Calvin’s answer to our dilemma is found in CI: 3.14.11; he states that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us as we revisit the gospel; specifically, he states that our “reconciliation with God” is “perpetual.” No wonder that we must “preach the gospel to ourselves every day.”
Sound familiar?
paul
Moses Indicts Luther and Calvin on the Reformation’s False Gospel
Fundamentally, there is no difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. Both see salvation as linear. In other words, sanctification finishes justification. The Reformers were hell-bent on seeing salvation as linear—probably because of the Romanism that gave birth to them.
Therefore, the Reformers accused Rome of “infusing grace” into the believer which made them, in the linear gospel construct, a participant in building the road from justification to final justification named Sanctification. Rome’s “infusion of grace” (the new birth) “enabled” believers to participate in the finalization of our just state. Gee whiz, that’s not “justification by faith alone.”
So, the Reformers had to come up with something different: Jesus does all the paving of the road named Sanctification as long as we live our Christian life the same way we were saved; by faith alone. Hence, this required an “alien” righteousness that is in heaven, NOT IN US. A Reformed think tank devised the following illustration to demonstrate this idea:
The true gospel sees justification as a finished work and completely separate from sanctification. We are free to aggressively pursue fruit in sanctification because our justification is a settled issue. The infusion of grace within us does not contribute to the finished work of justification, only the progressive work of sanctification. Sanctification is progressive because it involves us—justification is by God alone and not confined to time, mortality, or any kind of weakness. That’s why it was completed before the foundation of the Earth and guarantees glorification. This is a parallel gospel. Our progress in the Christian life and the completed work of justification are separate.
The Reformers believed in an “objective gospel completely outside of us.” Anything inside of us always leads to subjectivism. Supposedly. This wasn’t even true in the Old Testament. This is what Moses preached to the Israelites:
Deuteronomy 30:11- “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Not only did Luther say that keeping the commands is too hard for us to do as believers, he stated that it was impossible. So did Calvin. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’” In fact, that’s exactly what Luther did say: God’s righteousness is an alien righteousness that is in heaven.
And the crux—Moses taught an infused grace: “It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”
Choose ye this day who you will follow, Moses or the Reformed crowd. Moses or Luther? Moses or Calvin? An easy choice for me.
paul
Comment on PPT Articulates Calvin’s False Gospel of Progressive Justification
The Reformed false gospel is a perfect storm of deception because it is works salvation via not working. Folks have a difficult time grasping that because it seems like an oxymoron. But it isn’t. When justification and sanctification are fused together, or said another way: when sanctification finishes justification; EVERYTHING we do in sanctification determines whether or not the links of “the golden chain of salvation” stay together properly. We are Protestants which means that our tradition is based on lay-ignorance and unwarranted trust in Christian academia to begin with; so, this compounds the effectiveness of Reformed deception.
Hence, the most effective means of destroying the Reformation myth and putting a stop to its tyranny is developing power statements that effectively accuse this falsehood in terms people can understand. Then the debate can proceed from there. The Reformation myth and the human carnage it heaps upon history will never be defeated unless it is brought to trial. These power statements reduce the Reformed false gospel to its least common denominator.
A friend of PPT recently communicated a good one:
Well as one of my cousins who got involved with Calvinism a few years back told me (and she was previously “saved”) that now she has to go “deep with her sin” and be saved every day. So she has spent the last few years being “saved” over and over every day going deep with her sin. It has not made her more loving nor has it given her hope. But she is busy contemplating the cross, her sin and being saved over and over.
Where is her hope? Her “new life in Christ”? (Which she used to live, btw)
It is insidious.
Calvin’s gospel, stated in its least common denominator, is a daily re-salvation. No? Well then, why these mantras? “The same gospel that saves you also sanctifies you.” “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” What does the gospel do? Answer: it saves us. So if we need it every day, we must also need what it provides every day. No? Yes.
That’s the debate starter, and the focus of this ministry is to educate Christians on where you take it from there. I close with an additional comment by the reader that really speaks for itself, so I will conclude with it accordingly:
Paul, the worst part is that it made my cousin very unloving on many fronts to other believers. She has shunned some who have dared to question some of her guru’s. In fact, she claims they are violating scripture. And the worst part is that she used to have a real heart for the lost. Now she is busy dealing with her very deep sin and getting saved over and over.
paul
The Potter’s House: January 27, 2013; Romans Chapter 7
Pastor Jake received a phone call from a husband and father who is new in town. “Bob” in his mid-forties, has been visiting churches for purposes of making a decision on church membership for his family. Bob seems a little upset and asks Jake if they can meet for lunch:
“Sure Bob. Twelve o’clock at Bob Evans? ‘That would be great Pastor Jake.’”
Jake secures a table before Bob arrives and watches him as he approaches their table. Bob sits down and is obviously troubled about something:
“Uh, thanks for this Jake. Uh, can I ask you something? ‘Sure Bob, what’s up?’”
Bob: Are some dreams sinful?
Jake: That depends Bob, why don’t you tell me more. When did this dream take place?
Bob: Last night.
Jake: Where?
Bob: At home, last night.
Jake: What was the dream about Bob?
Bob: Uh, well, this is really weird.
Jake: Most dreams are Bob, but you are obviously troubled by this dream and I am hoping that I can help you in some way.
Bob: I was in bed with some young foreign girl, but we were fully clothed. And Jane’s sister [Jane is Bob’s wife] was there watching TV. And I was concerned about what Jane’s sister would think.
Jake: That’s understandable, and it’s never Miss Piggy [the cartoon character who has unrealistic visions of grandeur concerning her own beauty] in the bed.
Bob: [Chuckling uncomfortably] Uh, ya, anyway, she started taking off her clothes.
Jake: I kinda saw that coming.
Bob: But anyway, though she was beautiful, and her figure was exhilarating, I stopped her because of what I believe, and she became very angry.
Jake: [Leaning forward with great interest] Really? Tell me Bob, what is this belief that caused you to stop her?
Bob: Well, I believe lust is just a strong feeling, and if we don’t let it control us, great blessings are the result. Obeying our lust is initially exhilarating, but ends with death. That’s what James said, right? [Jake nodes in agreement]. As I have told you Jake, my job requires me to be on the internet all day. Woe, the way some things are introduced on the internet are very stimulating, but I know that if I let that control me, it will do damage to the wonderful love-life that Jane and I have. I also believe that when I abstain from lust, that makes my marriage more blessed and stronger.
Jake: Bob, I think the counselor just became the counselee. First, you’re right, the world is an expert at enticing us into sin; like I said, it’s never Miss Piggy in the bed, or in the advertisement. You rightly assess, and as you were speaking, several different Scriptures were coming to mind.
Bob: But what about being in bed with that girl? What’s that all about? Isn’t that indicative of sin in my heart? How could I even think something like that?
Jake: Bob, we never just find ourselves in bed with a girl one day. Many bad choices and deaths lead to the big deaths. Like all dreams, yours was especially unrealistic. Because of your Biblical thinking, you are not going to suddenly find yourself in bed with some girl not your wife, and certainly not with her sister in the same house. Bob, did you eat anything before you went to bed?
Bob: Uh, ya, you know, a midnight snack.
Jake: What did you eat?
Bob: Some strawberry custard pie.
Jake: [Trying not to laugh] That will do it Bob. However [regaining his composure on a serious note], I do believe that dreams often reflect our fears, and I think it’s good that you fear sin and failure. There is good reason to fear such. But you have committed no sin, and I cannot point to any biblical text that would instruct us to ask forgiveness for the content of our dreams.
Bob: That’s contrary to what the pastor at the other church we are visiting said.
Jake: Really? What did he say about this?
Bob: He said the dream reflects sin in my heart. Obviously, I have a desire to be with a beautiful foreign woman, and the dream reflects the desire of an adulterous idol in my heart. He said that this is a great opportunity to partake in repentance. He said this would result in the joy of receiving God’s grace in my life.
Jake: Bob, if this dream is bothering your conscience, by all means take it to the Lord in prayer, but let me clarify; he said that the source of our sin is idols in the heart?
Bob: Right.
Jake: So Bob, what’s the game-plan for preventing this idol from returning in the future?
Bob: Well, you really can’t prevent it. He said that our hearts are idol factories that continually produce idols that cause sinful desires. Repentance enables us to experience the joy of grace each time we see them and repent of them. By God’s grace, the idol was revealed in a dream which means I can repent of it before it manifests into the sin of adultery.
Jake: Bob, I see that it is almost time for you to return to work, but I would like to discuss this with you further. Are you in agreement?
Bob: Sure. Let’s get together after Sunday worship.
Bob has a choice. He has two ways of sanctification before him. Our sanctification presents a gospel to our families and the world; much is at stake. This is why the apostle Paul did not want the Romans to be in the dark about the living dynamic of sanctification and how it works in the reality of life.
How does the Christian do battle with sin? This is the next question after the gospel of first importance, “How can I be saved?” God’s full council is not only about how we are saved—it is also about how we “control [our] own body in holiness and honor” (2Thessalonians 4:4). This is the very definition of sanctification; the knowledge of how we control our bodies to God’s glory.
And do we actually change? Can we change? Yes, because as we saw in Romans chapter six, we are now slaves to righteousness through the new birth. Furthermore, Paul states the following in Romans 8:6-8;
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Therefore, it goes without saying that those who are not in the flesh can indeed please God. And in fact, that is our goal as Christians (2Corinthians 5:9). I want to begin by revisiting Romans 6:20-23 before we begin in Romans seven:
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What Christians need more than ever in our day is hope that they can really change. And through Bob’s testimony we learn of a powerful Scriptural concept in making that happen: the choosing of life or death. Even though choosing life is the primary life pattern of the believer, and choosing death is the primary life pattern of the unbeliever, Christians can choose death in this life and often do so through ignorance. Christians must know where our sin comes from, and why it is able to make such a strong appeal to us in regard to choosing death. We must know that choosing life strengthens us spiritually and makes future obedience easier. We must know that obedience leads to spiritual wellbeing. We must know that death leads to more death, and ends with eternal death, while the life of the believer is life upon life ending with eternal life. In regard to assurance of salvation, where death is experienced, death as an end will be feared, and rightfully so. Where life is experienced, and experienced with increase, eternal life will be the expected end. Hence, the devaluing of obedience has crippled innumerable Christians in our day. I believe it is a crisis.
Note Romans 6:22 once again. As Christians, we strive to “get” fruit. We strive for God’s will—our sanctification. We strive for spiritual wellbeing in increase. Paul was saying very little different than what Moses said:
Deuteronomy 30:9 – The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
It is clear that as we pursue the fruits of the Spirit as Paul instructed Timothy to do in 1Timothy 6:11 that these fruits are increased:
2Peter 1:5 – For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at one more before we begin in Romans chapter 7:
Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul prayed that we would be “strengthened” in the inner man (Ephesians 3:14-21) and would be “renewed” in our minds. But how does all of this work? It all starts by being set free from the law. That may seem strange, but that’s step one, and goes hand in hand with being saved. Paul will explain:
7:1 – Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
From Paul’s opening statement we might conclude that there was a large number of Christians at Rome who didn’t have an abundance of Scriptural knowledge, so Paul refers to those who know the law (Old Testament Scriptures); specifically, those laws pertaining to marriage. The woman was bound to the marriage law as long as her husband lived, but if he died, she was no longer bound to the law of marriage and free to remarry. Likewise, we are now free from the law as believers. But key is the fact that we also died, and are no longer in bondage to the reaction of the former self to the law. This makes it possible for us to bear fruit for God because when we lived as unbelievers, there was a natural adverse reaction to the law; specifically, it provoked us to sin leading to death. So we are now free from the law.
Paul then vindicates the law. It is not the law that caused us to sin when we were unbelievers, but our former sinful nature’s reaction to the law:
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
Now that the former unbeliever that we were died with Christ, we are no longer in bondage to this kind of reaction to the law. We are now free to bear fruit for God. However, we are still captive in our mortal bodies (what Paul later refers to as a body of death) which still bear a remnant of the former, and tempts us to sin. Mortality’s appeal to sin is primarily executed through our emotions, or desires. This conduit (desires) has not changed from our former selves, but we are now able to say no in all respects. Before, we were enslaved to our sinful desires which were provoked by the law.
In fact, the law was death to us, but now it is life. Life? Yes. Remember, Paul said the law that promises life was death to the former self (Romans 7:10). Also, the former reaction to the law constantly showed us our need for salvation—the need to be free from enslavement to the former self’s reaction to law and the threat of being judged by it in the end. Being judged by the law is the unbelievers worst nightmare. Christ paid the penalty of death that the law demands, God imputed His righteousness to our life account apart from the law, and the law is now our guide for bearing fruit for God. All of this creates a certain life experience, or warfare, that Paul explains:
Romans 7:15 – For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Remember, all of this is being explained by Paul in human terms. If God showed us the actual schematic, for certain, we wouldn’t understand it. We don’t know how our mortal bodies continue to live though the soul of it is dead. Nevertheless, Paul describes the warfare and locates the source of our sin: “in my flesh.” In Romans 6:12, Paul describes the same location as our “mortal bodies.” Mortality is opposed to our love for God and His truth. Somehow, it is alive in a big way, but its ultimate power over us is broken. In fact, it is tenacious enough to even wage war against the indwelling Holy Spirit!
Galatians 5:16 – But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
If you are not, “under the law” you do not have to gratify the desires of the flesh. And the part about being “led by the Spirit” will be discussed by Paul in Romans chapter eight. We are to consider the strong dichotomy here between the old us which is dead, and the new us—to the degree that Paul says it is not we who are sinning, that is, the new us, but sin that dwells in us. There is an inner self that is redeemed, and has to fight this mortal body that we temporarily dwell in. Hence:
Romans 7:21 – So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The same principle applies: our flesh is still provoked by “the law of sin” (law: nomos), but no longer possesses the power to make us obey its desires. There is obviously a redeemed part of us that delights in the law (also nomos), and is at war with sin “that dwells in my members.” Paul calls the renovated or new part of us “the law of my mind.” This is the part of us, the mind, is sometimes referred to in Scriptures as “the heart.” It is the part of us that is to be “renewed.”
Ephesians 4:17 – Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
When supplementing our understanding here with Ephesians 4:17-24, we can deduct that “the flesh” affects all parts of our being, especially the mind. It takes intellect to “wage war” against not only the “law of our minds,” but the indwelling Holy Spirit. But let us remember that our new creaturehood also resides in the whole being and presents our “members” to God’s service:
Romans 6:19 – I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
In Romans 7:24, the word, “wretched” is a very interesting word. Paul wasn’t calling himself “wretched” as in wretched sinner. The word is talaiporos (tal-ah’ee-po-ros) which means “misery in enduring a trial.” Paul is saying that he is persevering in his fight against sin and longs to be delivered from his body of death. In other words, if we are partaking in the warfare, we long to be delivered from it. We long for His appearing—something to think about.
Let me also reemphasize that Paul said this transformation results in us being “obedient from the heart” (Romans 6:17). Let’s now revisit what the other pastor taught Bob. In this critical treatise by Paul regarding how sin is conceived in our lives, where is there any discussion at all about idols of the heart? From this chapter, can we conclude that our transformed hearts are “idol factories?” To begin with, is the sin in our heart, or in our flesh? A layman by the name of Brian Jonson once did an extensive biblical word study on the location of sin in the believer. He was not able to find one instance where the Bible states that the heart of a believer is sinful, or the heart being the location of sin in the believer. I have included a copy of his study with your notes. See layman Jonson’s study here.
To the contrary, one of God’s purposes of salvation is so that the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled “in us” (Romans 8:4). Furthermore, the paramount necessity that justification and sanctification be separate is demonstrated in Romans 8:7,8;
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
We please God in sanctification by obeying His law. Our minds were hostile to God before our conversion, unable to obey His law, and in danger of being judged by it. Our good works due to the works of the law written on every heart and being created in His image notwithstanding.
Now that we are saved, we have full pardon from sin because of Christ’s death, and are new creatures because of His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Also, we have the full righteousness of God credited to our account apart from the law. Our sin in sanctification will not be judged by the law against our justification because our justification is apart from the law, the penalty required of the law has been paid in full before the foundation of the world, the offender is dead and no longer under the jurisdiction of the law, and the new creature is not the one sinning in the eyes of justification. Hence:
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
We may sin in sanctification, but who can bring charges against us? It’s God who justified. Who can pass a sentence against us? Christ paid the penalty. We lay aside fear of a future judgment, and pursue fruit leading to more and more life. This gives assurance of eternal life while putting to death the deeds of our old life that died with Christ. The new us is strengthened, the old us is diminished. And to God be the glory.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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