“The BIG Lie”
March 6, 2011
1 John 3:4-10
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
Adam and Eve lived in paradise. The temperature was mild. Food was abundant, nutritious and so tasty. Water was fresh and pure. They lived in a state of perpetual joy and love. They were created that way. They never knew anything else. They felt so loved by each other. They felt so loved by their Creator. Adam and Eve were innocent about everything. Everything was pure with them. Life was a pleasure - filled with wonderful and exciting things.
One day, up slithered Satan dressed as the most beautiful and crafty creature in the place. He approached Eve in her innocence and says,
“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked...”
Genesis 3:1-7
Can you see Eve, so beautiful, so innocent, so pure – just happily enjoying what God had created for them. And then this creature speaks to her, which must not have been that unusual because she apparently wasn’t shocked by it. And the serpent, for the first time in her life, creates doubt. She wasn’t used to deceit and deception and exaggeration and false accusations. She had only known truth and honesty. She listened when he said the “Big Lie”. “You will not die if you sin.” He was saying so much more – God is a liar; God can not be trusted. God withholds good from us. There is wisdom to be gained apart from God.” And Eve had a choice. She could walk away – or she could listen. She listened. She bought in on the ‘Big Lie’. She chose to believe God lied and this creature told the truth. We have been suffering for it ever since – and we continue to buy into the lie.
Paul was mentoring a young pastor by the name of Timothy. We know of two letters he wrote to him. There may have been more. The wise old saint wrote Timothy and said,
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4
A time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Why? They want a doctrine to accommodate their own fallen desires. They will invite, and cal,l pastors and teachers who will say what their itching ears want to hear. What do they want to hear? They want to hear the ‘Big Lie” – “you can do your own thing and not die. You can sin and not die.”
He is accepted by most religious academics of our day as the most important scholar in the ancient western church. Born in North Africa, his mother was a Christian but his father remained a pagan until late in life. At the age of nineteen, he read some writings by the philosopher Cicero that led him into his fascination with philosophical questions and methods. That influence would remain with him throughout his life. After a few years in the Gnostic cult, as a Manichean, he became attracted to and influenced by the more skeptical positions of the Academic philosophers. He was tempted in the direction of Christianity when he arrived at Milan in 383, but he rejected it. He turned first to a metaphysical way of philosophy called Neo-Platonism. Later he met the great saint, Ambrose, who was a reluctant godly bishop. It was he who is credited with leading him to Christ and conversion and who baptized him in 387.
Who was this young philosopher? His name was Augustine and he was to become one of the most influential people of the modern church. He wrote many of the doctrines on which the church if founded.
Augustine returned to his homeland soon after his conversion, he was ordained a presbyter in 391, taking the position as bishop of Hippo in 396, a position which he held until his death.
So he converted to Christianity in 387, four years later was ordained a presbyter, and then was appointed as a bishop in the Catholic Church less than 10 years as a convert from paganism to Christianity. As bishop he was like the head of a seminary and his students spread wide his philosophies and doctrines.
Augustine had a brilliant mind. He came from an influential family and consequently rapidly climbed the ecclesiastical rungs of the church. He was put in a position where he merged paganism and Christian thought and created doctrines that influences Christianity even today. Such doctrines as the damnation of unbaptized infants, purgatory, prayers for the dead, the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church, and antinomianism or what we call - eternal security. Since Augustine was a Catholic Bishop and teacher, these became the doctrines of the church and were widely accepted until Martin Luther rejected some of them.
Those churches who protested these doctrines of the Catholic Church became know as “protestant” churches – or ‘protestors’. Most of the doctrines Augustine created or taught were pretty much rejected by all Protestants. One gained attention and was revived with John Calvin – that was antinomianism - or being eternal secure in your salvation. Calvin taught once you were saved – you were good for eternity. Once saved –always saved.
The problem with that doctrine is that it is not biblical or logical. Biblically our Scripture says, “Don’t let anyone lead you astray…” Logically if the Bible warns us to not be led astray – obviously we CAN be led astray. Otherwise the Bible wouldn’t warn us against it. It’s like warning someone of falling when they are lying down. If it’s not possible – you don’t warn them against it. And understand – the Bible is written for believers – not the world. The warning are for Christians.
John writes in our Scripture, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.” In another place he says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” (1 John 2:1). It doesn’t make sense to warn us not to do something if we can’t do it.
Jesus healed a blind man – then, the Scripture says,
“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14)
What kind of horrible person would say such a thing to someone that was incapable of doing it? That’s like telling a child you will punish him if he doesn’t pick up the refrigerator. You don’t tell someone something bad is going to happen to them if they don’t do the impossible. That would be cruel and evil.
We don’t serve a cruel and evil God. We serve a kind and loving and compassionate God. The Scripture says,
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
2 Peter 1:3
So if God asks us to do something, you can be confident that He will give you everything you need to succeed at it. If God asks you not to sin – with HIS help and might – you can succeed in living a holy and godly life.
One of the primary problems with understanding anything is to agree of definitions. Calvin defined sin as “a deviation from the perfect will of God.” You can find Scriptures that seems to make a case for that definition.
Wesley defined sin as “a willful rebelling against a KNOWN law of God.” I think the weight of the Scripture indicates this is the true definition. If sin is a deviation from God’s will – you must conclude that Jesus sinned. He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Clearly Christ’s desires were not the same as the Father’s – but His heart was. He was yielded to the will of the Father – so there was no willful rebellion in Him. No sin with Wesley’s definition of sin.
Today, protestant churches are primarily divided into two camps Calvinists and Arminians. John Wesley, one of the great thinkers and pastors to influence our denomination explained the Arminius theology like this:
“The rise of the word was this: JAMES HARMENS, in Latin, Jacobes Arminius, was first one of the Ministers of Amsterdam, and afterwards Professor of Divinity at Leyden. He was educated at Geneva; but in the year 1591 began to doubt the principles which he had till then received. (He was being taught the ‘Big Lie”) And being more and more convinced that they were wrong, when he was vested with the Professorship, he publicly taught what he believed the truth, till, in the year 1609, when he died in peace.
Wesley says, “…there is an undeniable difference between the Calvinists and Arminians, with regard to three questions. Here they divide; the former believe absolute, the latter only conditional, predestination. The Calvinists hold, (1.) God has absolutely decreed, from all eternity, to save such and such persons, and no others; and that Christ died for these, and none else. The Arminians hold, God has decreed, from all eternity, touching all that have the written word, "He that believeth shall be saved: He that believeth not, shall be condemned." (We have free will to choose our destiny.)
The Calvinists hold, Secondly, that the saving grace of God is absolutely irresistible; that no man is any more able to resist it, than to resist the stroke of lightning. The Arminians hold, that although there may be some moments wherein the grace of God acts irresistibly, yet, in general, any man may resist grace, (free to resist God’s grace) and that to his eternal ruin, whereby it was the will of God he should have been eternally saved.
The Calvinists hold, Thirdly, that a true believer in Christ cannot possibly fall from grace. The Arminians hold, that a true believer may "make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience;" that he may fall… and so as to perish for ever.
Indeed, the two latter points, irresistible grace and infallible perseverance, are the natural consequence of the former, of the unconditional decree. For if God has eternally and absolutely decreed to save such and such persons, it follows, both that they cannot resist his saving grace, (else they might miss of salvation,) and that they cannot finally fall from that grace which they cannot resist. So that, in effect, the three questions come into one, "Is predestination absolute or conditional?" The Arminians believe it is conditional (upon our will); the Calvinists, that it is absolute.”
I think, on one hand, that the disagreement is unsolvable. God is outside of our time and space. As he looks at a life – He sees it from beginning to end. He may see one person starting out strong – but when trials come his way, he rejects his faith. Jesus said that person never really knew God. The Calvinist would say he was never saved, which is evidenced by his actions. The Arminians would say that he was saved once – but then backslid.
I have friends and family who would (and do) argue passionately for one view or the other. I love them all. But I have concluded for myself that the weight of Scripture and personal experience is with Wesley and Arminius. I believe we have to work our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Paul wrote that to Christians. If ‘once saved – always saved’ it would have been stupid or ignorant of him to say that. I believe the Bible is the Word of God. I believe the Bible is Truth. We better know it and grow in the knowledge of it – so we don’t swallow the Big Lie.
I want to conclude by saying that there are good godly people in both camps. They are not knowingly teaching false doctrine. They simply have swallowed the lie. They think you can sin and not die. Don’t believe it. The wages of sin is STILL death. Willful rebellion against God is always sin and death.
Paul concludes his second letter to the immature Corinthian church by encouraging them to “Examine themselves” (13:5) praying for their perfection of heart (v13:9) and exhorting them to “Aim for perfection” (v. 11).
I want to encourage you to do the same. Examine your heart. Is it fully surrendered to God? Pray that God would give you a perfect, pure heart. That, tho you may fall short of the ideal, your desire and intent is perfection. Let’s strive to have the heart Jesus had when he prayed, “Not MY will – but YOURS be done.” That’s a perfect heart. May we obtain it and live in that state of holiness.
“Create in Me a Clean Heart”
Dear Jesus,
Thank you so much for your love of me. Thank you for being jealous of me. You fight for me, and I thank you so much for that. You desire to conform me into Your own image. Forgive me for resisting you and falling for the Big Lie.
Forgive me for my sin. Please purify my heart and cleanse me from all that is not right in my life, and in my thinking. I want to know you better. Guide me into Christlikeness.
