How Can This Happen In America – Part 2

by Robert Tuttle, III

There are three very important key phrases in these two verses that must be understood. The first is, “confess with your mouth.” This means you fully, unquestioningly, and unhesitatingly verbally agree, with the implication that in verbally agreeing one is also agreeing in their spirit. The second is “Jesus as Lord.” Some translations read, “the Lord Jesus.” Either way it is translated, the meaning is the same, Jesus IS Lord. The meaning is clear. In order to gain salvation, one must verbally agree that Jesus is Lord.

Now, before anyone jumps up and yells “Jesus is Lord!” and think they have salvation, remember that one must also agree in their spirit, their inner person, where truly and sincerely held beliefs are found. And one cannot agree that Jesus is Lord unless they first understand what Lord means. Hint: It doesn’t simply mean “boss of my life” as many people believe it does. The word is translated from the Greek word Kurios (koo'-ree-os), which means “lord,” as in one exercising full and sovereign authority over. It also means “master,” as in one who has complete and absolute ownership rights. Think both sovereign monarch, and also slave owner. Yes, I agree that “slave owner” sounds like a very harsh, cruel, and unloving thing to say about Jesus; however, given that He literally purchased every single person who biblically believes in Him and their redemption with His very blood, it isn’t too much of a stretch to realize that yes, He owns each and every true biblical Christian.

The third key phrase that must be understood is “believe in your heart.” This phrase in the Greek is “pisteusēs en tē kardia” which is literally translated as “believe in the heart.” The word believe, and I want you all to understand this as it is very important to gaining salvation, the word believe is used in the New Testament of “the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher perogative and law of his soul.”1 Therefore, what Romans 10:9 is referring to with this word, is the absolute conviction that what follows in the text (namely the gospel) is completely and unquestioningly true, that God really and truly raised Jesus Christ bodily from the dead.

The word translated as “heart” is “kardia” from which we get our word cardiology as well as a number of heart related terms beginning with the prefix cardi. In English, the term most often refers to the powerful chambered organ in the center of our chest that pumps life sustaining blood throughout our bodies. But not so in the New Testament. Of the some 800 or so times it is used in the New Testament the word kardia never refers to the human organ. Instead it always refers to the center of who we are as a person. That unseen part of us that contains our beliefs, preferences, desires, opinions, ability to make decisions, and so forth. Our mind, our soul if you will. It is who we are beyond the physical body we inhabit. It is therefore absolutely necessary, as in a mandatory, non-negotiable requirement to salvation, that we “pisteusēs en tē kardia,” believe in the heart, our soul, that God raised Jesus Christ bodily from the dead – essentially believe the gospel as absolutely and completely true.

This is a lot to take in! Clearly though, the Bible obviously refutes the commonly held belief among most people that if we say some little pray where we intellectually acknowledge that we are a sinner, and say the words “Jesus forgive me” (or some iteration of that) and ask Him “into your heart” (whatever that means, as it is nowhere in the Bible) then the person will be saved. That is a false gospel that inevitably leads people into believing they say that little “repeat-a-prayer” and then live however they might want to live, in whatever sin they might desire, and still enter heaven. That is the heresy of antinomianism by the way.

No, we must remember the very words of Almighty God, who very plainly and bluntly stated, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the WRATH of God abides on him.” (John 3:36 NASB77, emphasis mine).

Obedience to God, to Jesus, while not necessary to receive salvation, it is the natural and biblically guaranteed result of having salvation from immoral sin and the wrath of God coming upon all immoral sinners. Obedience is the evidence of salvation. As God points out in John 3:36, if there is not obedience to Jesus, then there is no salvation; and, if there is no salvation then those who continue in their sinful immorality have nothing to look forward to other than spending the remainder of eternity in hell, the lake of fire, where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies. A place of eternal torment, of weeping and gnashing teeth, where the unregenerate are punished eternally for their sins against the eternal God. (see Matthew 25:41,46; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 13:24-28; Matthew 13:40-43; Revelation 19:20; 20:10,14,15; and 21:8). I think the absolute horror of it is simply not grasped by a lot of people.

I sincerely applaud you if you have held on to the end of this rather long (and long winded) second half of this two-part “How Can This Happen in America?” article series. I apologize for being long winded, but I wanted to make sure that you, Dear Reader, have a full and complete understanding of this eternally important subject.




1. THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.; Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.; All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

How can this happen in America? IN AMERICA!?!? I mean, I knew things were bad and getting worse. All it takes is ten minutes watching and/or reading the news to tell us that! But Holy Cow! I popped open the news this morning and what do I find? Total and complete insanity! How could this happen? HOW?! Let me share with you the three incidents that slapped me square in the face this morning. I am not going to go into a full blown investigative reporting on each of them, just a brief summary, but as I write about them it is only after several hours (most of the day) confirming that each of them are actually true. That’s how crazy they seem to me. Here we go.

On March 27, 2023 a transgender man (woman to man) entered a private Christian elementary school and began opening fire on the Christians inside the school. When it was all over (are things like this ever really “over”?), three 9-year old little children had been murdered in cold-blood along with 3 adults. The shooter was killed by police. She had also fired on the police as well. A majority of the most vocal among the far-left have been shouting from the roof-tops that while it’s sad children died, the real victim was the transgender shooter, and the transgender community at large.1

On January 6, 2021, a group of people stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to stop legislators from affirming the election (no, I don’t want to argue this here), and the far-left media lost it’s mind. On March 29, 2023, a group of far-left people stormed the Kentucky State Capitol in an attempt to stop legislators from passing a bill, and the far-left media is conspicuously silent. Not one word has been said about it. Not. One. Word.2

In December 2022, a New Jersey mother attended a “Math Night” at her 7-year old daughters elementary school. While there this mother saw several posters, seemingly drawn by small children at the school, that taught and promoted such topics as pansexuality, polysexuality, bisexuality, etc. This mother was shocked that her 7-year old little girl was being taught these things, and subsequently commented about it in her Facebook parent’s group. The post contained nothing threatening, nothing negative about anyone, but simply that she didn’t think such things should be taught and promoted in an elementary school to such young children. Almost immediately the United States military became involved, opening a multi-agency law enforcement investigation into this mother, painting her as a threat. To date, there has been no response from the military regarding the Lt. Colonel who began this investigation which included United States military security forces, state and local law enforcement agencies, other than to confirm that the investigation was being undertaken.3

How can this happen in America? I can only answer, why not in America? As with the larger Western World – i.e. Canada, and the United Kingdom, America has insisted upon, and finally achieved, the almost total elimination of objective morality in our society. And by the way, it’s actually worse in Canada and the U.K. where in both countries you can be arrested and charged for simply reading the Bible out loud4, or even just praying silently in your own mind.5 In America, because we, as a nation, have almost completely eliminated objective morality from the public square (i.e. schools, public areas, government, the home, social media, etc), and replaced with the ever-changing subjective morality of the individual, we have now become a nation, a society of people who reject the concept of thou shalt do no evil, in favor of the concept of “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” This, by the way, was the motto of the satanist Aliester Crowley. Congratulations, America. You have gone from a nation based on Judeo-Christian morality, to an all-in satanic nation.

I guess I can understand why America (and the wider Western World) has abandoned objective morality. It has because it wants, desires, can’t live without the cruelty, wickedness, gossip, slander, lies, and all manner of sexual perversion known to man that it absolutely loves to wrap itself up in, and wallow in. Smearing the filth of it all over themselves like a small toddler with a handful of poop. If you think I am wrong, go back to the beginning of this article and re-read the three incidents mentioned there, and understand that they are less than 1/10 of 1% of similar incidents happening around America and the wider Western World (i.e. Canada and the U.K.).

It has gone on for so long – at least since the beginning of the 19th century and the spawning of liberalism, communism, rationalism, and a re-birth of atheism (at the very end of the 18th century). These movements (for lack of a better term) have from their beginning pushed for the eradication of objective morality in society. Their continual push for what essentially amounts to the destruction of mankind has been long and relentless. From the early 19th century, their forced march through manipulation has taken us all on an incremental journey to the continually degrading chaos we now live in. It has been a kind of “frog-in-a-frying-pan” death that we are now seeing come to fruition.

I am not going to entertain any back and forth on the possible responsibility of any particular political party as I firmly believe both parties are responsible to one degree or another. I believe it is very simply a case of there being a vast number of people in our society, including teachers and professors from kindergarten on up through college and university; politicians, and others right down to the average man and woman who have rejected God in favor of Satan. It’s as simple as that. And because we, as a nation, have rejected God and embraced Satan in a big corporate bear hug we are now suffering the collapse of our nation. In other words, how can this happen in America? Easy. We brought it on ourselves.

Part Two is coming soon, probably tomorrow. Hope to see you there as we learn how to reverse this whole nightmare and hopefully save western civilization!

Sources:

1. The internet is chock full of news and articles concerning the “Nashville School Shooting” and the “Nashville School Shooter” just do an internet search using either term and prepare to be inundated. Fair warning: don’t watch the body cam videos, they are graphic and horrifying. If you decide to look for articles and comments such as I mention, you might try this one: https://notthebee.com/article/trans-activists-are-calling-for-more-blood-after-the-nashville-shooting-heres-how-christians-should-respond

2.https://notthebee.com/article/pro-trans-protestors-in-kentucky-took-over-the-capitol-building-yesterday-weird-how-no-one-is-reporting-it

Also, this just in as I am writing this, it looks as if it is happening in Tennessee as well: https://notthebee.com/article/insurrectionists-are-forcing-their-way-into-the-tennessee-capitol-as-we-speak

3.https://notthebee.com/article/this-mom-is-suing-because-the-military-and-police-got-involved-after-she-objected-to-lgbt-posters-in-her-kids-school

4.https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/first-street-preacher-arrested-and-reported-to-counter-terrorism-for-misgendering-to-appeal-conviction/

5. https://www.foxnews.com/media/uk-woman-arrested-second-time-offense-silently-praying-outside-abortion-clinic

The Doctrine of Imputation
There are three great imputations mentioned in the Bible:
1. Of guilt – Adam’s sin to those Adam represented.
2. Of sin – our sin to Christ Who represented His people.
3. Of righteousness – Christ’s righteousness to all He represented.


Adam's Sin Imputed To Mankind (Original Sin)
Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

Note: Some have objected to the doctrine of original sin due to Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the sin. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." And this is true. The one who is guilty of sin shall pay the penalty for his/her own sin, and not the sin of another. However, note the words of verse 12 of Romans 5 above, "because all sinned." Cross reference this with Romans 3:10-18, there are no righteous people. All have sinned and are guilty of sin. How can this be? Because (as will be seen in the following passages), the sin of Adam has been imputed to all of mankind.


Romans 5:15-19
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 6:23a
23 For the wages of sin is death
1 Corinthians 15:22
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Psalm 58:3
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Psalm 51:5
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
Genesis 6:5
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 8:21
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
Romans 3:10-18
10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”[cf Ps.14; 53; Ecc.7:20]
13 “Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit”;[cf Ps.5] “The poison of asps is under their lips”; [cf Ps.140]
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”[cf Ps.10]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”[cf Is.59:7-8]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[cf Ps.36]


The effect of Adam’s fall is universal. We are all fallen sons and daughters of old Adam. We do not become sinful by sinning; we sin because we are sinful by nature. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.


Believer's Sin Imputed to Christ
Isaiah 53:4-6 [speaking of the Messiah, Jesus Christ]
4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:10-12 [speaking of the Messiah, Jesus Christ]
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Romans 3:25
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
Romans 5:6-8
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Peter 2:24
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
Galatians 3:10-13
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[a] 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”[b] 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”[c] 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”[d]),
[a]Deuteronomy 27:26, 26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
[b]Habakkuk 2:4, 4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
[c]Leviticus 18:5, 5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
[d]Deuteronomy 21:23, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 9:28
28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
1 John 2:2
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.


The doctrine of the sin of the believer imputed to Christ is not specific to the New Testament, as it is explicitly taught in the Old Testament. Throughout all of Leviticus 4 we see the sins of both individuals and the sins of all Israel being imputed (laid upon or transferred to) the sacrificial animals. The blood of the sacrificial animal was shed instead of the person(s). And in Leviticus 16:20-22 we read,
“20 And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
Jesus is our sacrificial lamb, pure and unblemished, and our sins were imputed (laid upon or transferred to) Him for our redemption.

Christ's Righteousness Imputed to Believers
Genesis 15:6
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Psalm 32:2
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Isaiah 45:24
24 He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.
Isaiah 54:17
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 61:10
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Jeremiah 23:6
6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.[a]
[a] Jehovah Tsidkenu
Romans 3:21-22
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Romans 3:24
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,


Romans 3:26
26 *to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus*.
Romans 4:5-8
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”[a]
[a] Psalm 32:1-2
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Romans 4:22-24
22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[a]
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
[a] Genesis 15:6
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Romans 5:15-16
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
Romans 5:18-19
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans 10:3-4
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1 Corinthians 1:30
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Philippians 3:9
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith
1 Peter 2:24
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.
Hebrews 10:10-14
10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.



Our Righteousness is Not Our Own, Nor Produced By Us, But is Only From God. Therefore,
Psalm 130:3
3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Dealing With Sin in the Church

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (ESV)

5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

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Although Paul specifically mentions the sin of sexual immorality at the beginning of this chapter, verse 11 demonstrates the principle that Paul is talking about, and that is unchecked sin being tolerated in the Church. As the Apostle notes, even the merest acceptance of sin within the Body of Christ, soon spreads to infect the entire body, and is especially corrupting to those who are not strong in the Lord, those who do not have a firm grip on sound doctrine. This is also why Paul (and Jesus, and James, and Peter, and John) all warn about allowing false teachers within the Church. They are equally as dangerous, and in some cases even more dangerous, as those who are living in unrepentant sin within the Church.
The danger of allowing or tolerating unrepentant sin within the Church, is that it encourages others to engage in sin as well, and thus serves well the evil intentions of the enemy who wants nothing more than to disable Christians and make their testimony as ineffective as possible. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is an essential part of the salvation of others (Romans 10), and we should feel privileged that our Heavenly Father has chosen to include us in such a way. Yes, people must believe in order to be saved, but as God's Word tells us in Romans 10, before they can believe, they must first hear the gospel, and they cannot hear the gospel if there is no one to preach it.

Equally as important as verbally sharing the gospel is living the gospel. Philippians 1:27 tells us, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” If we are tolerating sin in the lives of others within the Body, or worse, tolerating sin within ourselves, then our witness has become corrupted as we then are not letting our “manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” No one is going to take seriously, someone who is telling them they must repent of their sin when they themselves are known as a drunkard, or a drug addict, or is known to be living in sin with someone other than a spouse. The first word that will come to that unbelieving sinners mind will be “Hypocrite!” And they will have nothing to do with Christ.

So you see, tolerating unrepentant sin within the Church no only harms the one living in that sin, but also others in the Church, and it even harms those outside of the Church.

Tolerating false doctrine and those who spread it within the Church is also harmful to the Body. False doctrine leads us away from Christ, away from the Father, away from the truth of God's Word, and, I am sure, it grieves the Holy Spirit terribly. False doctrine is always contrary to the clear teaching of God's Word. It adds to the Word, it takes away from the Word, and always involves the unsound teaching of carnal individuals.

Only a small amount of sin or false doctrine (leaven) can corrupt the whole Church (batch – verses 6-7 above); so shun it, do not tolerate it. Do not say to yourself, “it is unloving for me to confront someone else's sin, or say that what they believe is not scriptural;” for the fact is, not only is tolerating such things unscriptural, it is unloving to allow yourself and those around to be exposed to such harmful corrupting influences.



All Scripture in this article is from the English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

SIN
by J.C. Ryle

(1816-1900)

"Sin is the transgression of the law"
(1 John 3:4)

He who wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness — must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin. He must dig down very low — if he would build high. A mistake here is most mischievous. Wrong views about holiness — are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption. I make no apology for making some plain statements about sin.

The plain truth is, that a right understanding of SIN lies at the root of all saving Christianity. Without it, such doctrines as justification, conversion, sanctification, are "words and names" which convey no meaning to the mind. The first thing, therefore, that God does when He makes anyone a new creature in Christ, is to send light into his heart and show him that he is a guilty sinner! The material creation in Genesis began with "light," and so also does the spiritual creation. God "shines into our hearts" by the work of the Holy Spirit — and then spiritual life begins (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Dim or indistinct views of sin are the origin of most of the errors, heresies and false doctrines of the present day. If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his soul's disease — you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies. I believe that one of the chief needs of the contemporary church has been, and is — clearer, fuller teaching about sin.

We are all, of course, familiar with the terms "sin" and "sinners." We talk frequently of "sin" being in the world, and of men committing "sins." But what do we mean by these terms and phrases? Do we really know? I fear there is much mental confusion and haziness on this point. Let me try, as briefly as possible, to supply an answer.

"Sin," speaking generally, is, as the Ninth Article of our church declares, "the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that is naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusts always against the spirit; and, therefore, in every person born into the world, it deserves God's wrath and damnation."

Sin is that vast moral disease which affects the whole human race, of every rank and class and name and nation and people and tongue-a disease from which there never was but one born of woman that was free. Need I say, that One was Christ Jesus the Lord?

I say, furthermore, that "a sin," to speak more particularly, consists in doing, saying, thinking or imagining anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. "Sin," in short, as the Scripture says, is "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). The slightest outward or inward departure from absolute mathematical parallelism with God's revealed will and character, constitutes a sin, and at once makes us guilty in God's sight.

Of course, I need not tell anyone who reads his Bible with attention, that a man may break God's law in heart and thought — when there is no overt and visible act of wickedness. Our Lord has settled that point beyond dispute in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:21-28). Even a poet of our own has truly said, "A man may smile and smile — and be a villain."

Again, I need not tell a careful student of the New Testament, that there are sins of omission as well as commission; and that we sin, as our Prayer Book justly reminds us, by "leaving undone the things we ought to do," as really as by "doing the things we ought not to do." The solemn words of our Master in the Gospel of Matthew, place this point also beyond dispute. It is there written: "Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into everlasting fire . . . for I was an hungry — and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty — and you gave Me nothing to drink" (Matthew 25:41, 42).

I do think it necessary in these times, to remind my readers that a man may commit sin and yet be ignorant of it, and imagine himself innocent — when he is guilty. I fail to see any Scriptural warrant for the modern assertion that: "Sin is not sin to us — until we discern it and are conscious of it." On the contrary, in the fourth and fifth chapters of that unduly neglected book, Leviticus, and in the fifteenth of Numbers, I find Israel distinctly taught that there were sins of ignorance which rendered people unclean, and needed atonement (Lev. 4:1-35; 5:14-19; Num. 15:25-29). And I find our Lord expressly teaching that "the servant who knew not his master's will and did it not," was not excused on account of his ignorance, but was "beaten" or punished (Luke 12:48). We will do well to remember that, when we make our own miserably imperfect knowledge and consciousness, the measure of our sinfulness — we are on very dangerous ground. A deeper study of Leviticus might do us much good.

Excerpted and adapted from “Holiness” by J.C. Ryle, the chapter titled “Sin.”
http://www.gracegems.org/Ryle/holiness.htm

The following was written by Ben Stein and others have added to it. All in all, I find it to be not only appropriate, but timely as well.

My confession:

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat...

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school (the same Bible that says do not commit murder; do not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself), and we said OK.

Then Dr. Steven Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about.. And we said okay..

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how when you decide to copy this and send it to others, you will not send it to a lot of people on your address list because you're not really sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it, and you really don't want to offend anyone.

Perhaps you won't send it to anyone. Perhaps you will just ignore this, maybe write it off as the ramblings of just another “Christian wingnut.” But remember, if you ignore what you know to be true, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.