On Scripture

Okay, just a few words today on the gospel of light, and that other gospel too, the gospel of darkness. Don't think there's a gospel of darkness? Just hold on for a couple minutes here, and see what the scriptures tell us. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (Jn. 1:4,5). Now this word "comprehended" comes from the Greek word "Katalambano," which means "to lay hold on, to seize, or to overtake." So the evident connotation here is that when the light of God shines, darkness flees because it cannot overcome it. And we know from the natural world that this is a fact, because light always overtakes darkness, and never vice-versa. In other words, whenever light and darkness meet, light ALWAYS chases darkness off the scene. So from our text scripture we see that the life that was and is in Jesus, is that light which is spoken of afterward. So then what is that life, and that light? I'm going to give you a scripture here that tells the entire story in one sentence, but we'll go on from there for just a little more detail and confirmation on the subject: "For the law of the SPIRIT of LIFE in Christ Jesus hath made me FREE from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). So it is the Spirit of God that is that life that was in Christ, and that Spirit when received sets one free from the "law of sin and death." And the "law of sin" is actually the inborn nature of sin that we were all born with, thanks to Adam (Rom. 5:12; I Cor. 15:22). The apostle confirms what I'm saying here in Romans 7:23 where he says, "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Just a note here without elaborating, but the apostle Paul was describing his spiritual condition BEFORE he was in Christ, when he was under the old covenant law, in Romans 7). And further proof of that statement is the one I have quoted above from Romans 8:2, where he clearly said that God's Spirit made him FREE from the law, or nature of sin. That is the heartbeat of what I am talking about here altogether, and in fact that spiritual reality is the very heartbeat of the gospel of Christ. And these things go hand in hand with the fact that John the Baptist said that the reason for Jesus coming to earth was to make a way for him to baptize with the holy Ghost, and also that Jesus said he came to give us "life more abundantly" (Mk. 1:7,8; Jn. 10:10). And another very powerful verse from II Corinthians tells us the same story: "Now the Lord IS that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY" (II Cor. 3:17). It really is that simple; the holy Spirit of God IS holy, and when it comes into a person through faith in Jesus, it makes THEM holy. Not figuratively, but literally. In other words God's Spirit REALLY DOES wash the soul from sin, just like the Bible says (I Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5).

So let's go back to the light and darkness aspect here and look at another scripture where the same apostle speaks of these things pointedly: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). The life and the light of God was first shined into the hearts of men when Jesus went back to heaven and began baptizing with the holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. He himself said that the Spirit could not be given until he went back to heaven (Jn. 16:7). So when the light of God shines into ANYONE'S heart through the same holy Ghost baptism from Jesus, it ALWAYS chases darkness away. Darkness simply CANNOT abide the presence of light! And what is the darkness? Sin, of course. Jesus said, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever BELIEVETH ON ME should not abide in darkness" (Jn. 12:46). And this is true because he also stated, "He that BELIEVETH ON ME, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (Jn. 7:38,39). So again, the holy Ghost is that light and life that God has made available to man through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And again we see that the Spirit could not be received until Jesus went back to heaven and was glorified with immortality. And John again added to the reality that spiritual darkness and spiritual light cannot coexist: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" (I Jn. 1:6). So the evident spiritual and scriptural truth is that when one truly believes on Jesus, he will be baptized with the holy Ghost, and the light and life of God's Spirit will chase sin out of the believer literally. Otherwise the gospel and the scriptures we have seen here become a fairy tale. And what that means is that the Christian gospel that boldly states that believers actually remain sinners, but are nonetheless "saved by grace," IS a fairy tale, and a lie. According to what we have seen here irrefutably by the scriptures, receiving and walking in the light of God's Spirit means that we CANNOT retain sin in our lives. Otherwise we make a lie of the gospel of Christ, of which the Bible says the light of God "hath shined in our hearts." Any way you want to call it, Christianity is a gospel that allows for sin, and in so doing, actually PROMOTES sin. You are far too late to convince me otherwise. I've been in this for thirty one years now, and I've seen it up close and personal, ESPECIALLY among those who HAVE received the Spirit. Christianity is a gospel of darkness my friend, and for those who would "save [themselves] from this untoward generation," there is only one admonition left: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Acts 2:40; Rom. 13:12). Amen.