I am doing a series of messages called BlackOut - Understanding The End Of The Age and this is Part 9. It’s important to listen to the whole series so you get each message in context. If you have not listened to previous lessons I encourage you to do that before you start Part 9.
I’m calling this series of messages BlackOut and basing it on a scripture in Isaiah chapter 60 verse 2 which says: “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you”. The scripture describes a darkness over the earth and a thick darkness upon its inhabitants. However, in the midst of great darkness we have the promise that the glory of God will be seen upon us.
What I am hoping to do through this series of messages is to help give you a framework for understanding our times in light of the word of God. It’s a view that has helped me navigate some complex topics throughout the years up to the present. Deception has become so widespread that it affects all of us today. It’s what compels me to do this series of messages because this series of messages titled “Blackout” is about deception. In a world of confusion, distortion of facts, extremism and outright falsehood the church is supposed to be a place of sound truth. Paul in I Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 called the church “a pillar and foundation of the truth”.
We just finished the last 2 lessons talking about the varying forms of what I call the gospel of legalism. We specially address the Pharisaical legalism that Paul confronted in the book of Galatians which was causing them to veer away from the word of the cross. We then discussed the mystical legalism Paul addresses in the book of Colossians which Paul said embracing it will cause you to be detached from Christ our head.
In this lesson I want to show you the other side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s what I call the ‘gospel of lawlessness’. It’s the flip side of the tree, but it’s still fed from the same root system. The gospel of lawlessness is one of the two main enemies of the cross of Christ which the apostolic writers confronted, opposed and condemned.
If you look at Jesus' prophetic prediction on the Mount of Olives concerning the end of the age, he makes a statement. The statement is found in Matthew 24:12 where he predicts that: “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” He says it right in the middle of wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution and false prophets.
I want to examine this word lawlessness. The Greek word for lawlessness is anomia and it simply means against law. Paul uses this word when talking about a final figure who appears right before Christ's second coming whom Paul calls: the ‘man of lawlessness’ in II Thessalonians 2:3. It’s the same figure that John refers to as the Antichrist in I John 2:18.
Instead of speculating about who this figure is and from where he will arise on the earth. I want to clearly show you that as John said: ‘so now many antichrists have come.” The Bible may not talk about a Leviathan spirit or a Jezebel spirit, but it does talk about the ‘spirit of the antichrist’ which John says in chapter 4:3 is operating in the world.
It is the spirit of antichrist that operates as an enemy to the cross of Christ because one of its characteristics is denying the true preaching of the cross. 1 John 4:2 says: “by this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” The spirit of antichrist is first and foremost a denial of the word of the cross. It’s a denial of the love of the Father shown and demonstrated to us through the gift of the Son of God.
The Contrast Between Loving the World and Loving God in John's First Epistle
John makes a very profound statement in his first epistle in 2:15 that will give us some insight into understanding more fully what John was expressing through the thought ‘that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh’. He said: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” He then defines what loving the world means in verses 16 - 17: “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” John throughout his epistle makes the contrast between loving the world and loving God making it extremely clear that you can’t do both at the same time.
I do think one mistake we’ve made in the American church is that we have made the gospel into something that is very cheap. What I mean is that it’s been diluted, perverted and changed into something that has no power to bring forth the fruit of repentance. The sacrifice of Christ has been presented as something that cost nothing for us to take possession of when Christ and the apostolic authors all said it cost us our lives. We’ve made it palatable, packaged and able to be sold to the masses. It’s profitable to be in the gospel business or at least it’s profitable to be in the American gospel business.
The Pitfalls of Superficial Christianity in American Culture
It seems that John was addressing this idea that you can say you are a follower of Christ while at the same time you are denying the reality of how Jesus lived in the flesh as our prototype and how we are called to follow in his footsteps. No Jesus did not preach the American dream nor was he a Genie in the bottle. He is not the Jesus at the drive thru window that says you can have it your way.
Americans are great at merchandising, marketing and packaging. Sadly, we have merchandised the gospel and its produced a very shallow superficial Christianity. I’m very concerned that far too many believers' lives have been built upon the sand of superficiality, hype and outright lawlessness.
We are no longer under the law of Moses, but we are not without law which means that we can live without restrictions and live any way we want. Jesus and all the apostolic writers affirm this clearly established position which is you cannot say you are a child of God while you live like a child of the devil. John in his first epistle is trying to help us understand something about the very heart of the Father and what truly walking in the love of God means.
The Believer's Journey: Walking in Faith through the Wilderness of This Present Evil Age
Paul, the author of Hebrews and Peter all likened the believer in Christ; in comparison to the nation of Israel who had been delivered from Pharaoh's power through the sacrificial blood of the Lamb. All of them likened the walk of faith to a walk and a journey through the wilderness of this evil age. All of them taught us that the only way to fulfill our journey would be to turn away from the evils of this age.
Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 uses the whole chapter to explain this reality. In verse 6 - 8 he says: “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did.” He continues giving us example after example of wandering away from the faith.
The author of Hebrews in chapter 3 talks about not letting the hardness of our hearts keep us from pushing forward into faith. Verses 12 - 14 the author prophetically compares Israel in the wilderness to the believer in Christ. Telling us to: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
Peter in the first two chapters of his first epistle uses the example of Israel journeying through the wilderness as to the believers' life journeying through this evil age. In 1 Peter 2:11 - 12 he says: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
All the apostolic writers are saying the same thing. It’s one coherent message and it’s what I call the chorus of the cross. It’s yelling at us throughout the scriptures, but are we listening? It’s in plain sight, but it is offensive to us because it costs. It costs us the passions and desires of our flesh. Like the children of Israel, we are not content with manna. Our souls long for the delicacies of Egypt. The author of Hebrews called it the deceitfulness of sin because we are only thinking of the pleasures of Egypt while we forget the bondage and servitude of sin.
The Cruciform Life: The Heart of the New Covenant
The heart of the New Covenant is about living, abiding and demonstrating the love of the Father through the cruciform life of following the pathway of the blood, water and Spirit of God. It’s living a life intertwined with the life of the Spirit by daily eating the flesh and drinking in the blood of the covenant. It’s taking up our cross and following in the footsteps of our Lord who came as an actual man; in the flesh to show us the cruciform way of living.
It’s taken me a lot of years to come to the conclusion of what was always staring me in the face. It was yelling at me and trying to persuade me away from my own selfish ways. It was love that kept knocking on my door wanting into the deep recesses of my heart. I was afraid to open that door because I had been hurt so many times. It’s what Jesus said: because lawlessness abounds the love of many would grow cold.
Lawlessness has a way of hardening our hearts and giving us calluses where we don’t feel. We just don’t care anymore, and we give up trying to live the cruciform way. We start to go with the flow of our own hearts that have been hardened with our own sinful desires. We give up and give in because we get tired of fighting the good fight of faith. It’s what I talked to you about regarding the struggle we have with the flesh.
Trust me I understand because the struggle is real to live a godly life in this present age. I wish I had the magic wand to make you perfect and without sin, but there isn’t one. We are going to struggle in this age with the flesh and the deceitfulness of sin. The problem is not the struggle, it's giving up and becoming one who practices lawlessness.
It’s what John was saying in 1 John 3:4, “everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” It’s quitting, turning back and giving your lives over to evil deeds. It’s turning your back on the cross and going back to allowing the works of the flesh to dominate your life.
The Power of Love: Insights from John's Epistle
As we progress towards the end of the age hurricane force winds of lawlessness will be sweeping the earth. The solution is not going back to the law of Moses and legalism nor turning to mysticism, but being anchored in the love of God demonstrated to us when Jesus came in the flesh. John in his first epistle uses the word commandment and commandments 13 times. I think he is trying to teach us something important.
One of the most important rules of understanding scripture is to let the scriptures interpret themselves. Don’t try and read into the text but allow the text to explain itself and allow other texts to help give you insight. What is John talking about in keeping the commandments? It seems that John is totally contradicting everything that Paul taught us and everything I’ve said in the last two lessons.
It is the argument that some make in rejecting Paul’s teaching of grace. It’s interesting that John never uses the terminology of grace in explaining the redemptive work of Christ in any of his epistles, but instead he chose to use the terminology of love and truth.
An interesting fact is that the only place John ever uses the word grace is when he opens his gospel expounding on the eternal Son who created all things and took upon himself human flesh. He uses the word grace 4 times in chapter one, and it is the only gospel that uses the word grace. Grace is not found in the Synoptic gospels, but only in John’s. However, John never uses that word in his epistles when speaking about the redemptive work of the cross, but only love and truth.
Let’s look at the opening of John’s gospel. John 1:14 - 17: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ” For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John’s focus is on God becoming man and through the free gift of Christ sacrificial life; the truth that was veiled or hidden under the Mosaic law has come in the person of the Messiah. The interesting thing about John’s usage of the word grace is that he combines it with the word truth, and he is the only New Testament writer to do that.
It’s only John’s gospel that records John the Baptist saying he saw “Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
It’s only John’s gospel that tells the story of Nicodemus and our need to be born from above through the new birth of the Spirit.
It’s only in John’s gospel that the woman at the well in Samaria is recorded where Jesus speaks of true worship of the Father in spirit and truth.
It’s only in John’s gospel that Jesus and the Father are described as one and the same.
It’s only in John’s gospel that the Spirit is spoken of in terms that can only be described as God. A whole chapter is dedicated to understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Godhead is clearly spoken of in the gospel of John as no other book in the entire Bible.
In John’s gospel Jesus describes his followers:
As branches dependent on him the Vine.
As sheep dependent on him the Good Shepherd.
As hungry sojourners walking through the wilderness of this age dependent on him who is the Bread of life.
Jesus describes himself as the true light that shines in the darkness of this world showing us the narrow path of his way. He says that he is the way, the life and the truth which spoke of his body replacing the Temple given through the law of Moses. He spoke of truth found only in him that will set us free from the lies of the antichrist permeating this present world order. He declared himself to be the resurrection who gives us victory over death. He showed and demonstrated himself as the servant that lays down his life for us whom he calls friends.
The Significance of the Passover in John's Gospel
John’s gospel focuses on the Passover in a way the Synoptic gospels don’t. John’s gospel opens showing us the eternal Word, God the Son creating all things. John’s gospel is endeavoring to tell us something concerning the importance of the cross. He whom Jesus knew closer than anyone else seems to focus on the Passover and how Jesus fulfilled it making it central to his entire message.
John is the only author to record Jesus and his disciples attending 3 Passover celebrations in Jerusalem during the time of his earthly ministry. John chapter 2 he opens with his first recorded miracle of changing the water into wine at the wedding feast. It then takes us to Jesus cleansing the Temple at the beginning of his ministry during the feast of Passover. It’s only here that the words of Jesus regarding his body being the new temple and replacing the Jewish Temple after his resurrection are recorded.
In John chapter 6 it was the crowds that were heading to Jerusalem to attend the feast of Passover that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the multitude of people with the boys 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus and his disciples were observant to the law of Moses. Jesus throughout his earthly ministry was not lawless, but being the personification of the law and the prophet’s he was their fulfillment in human flesh. The Pharisees were always accusing him and his disciples of not following one of their rules, but they could never find him breaking the law of Moses.
In John chapter 12 thru the rest of his gospel we see John focuses on the last Passover. John out of all the gospel accounts wanted to sear upon our hearts the centrality of God laying down his life and showing us the love of the Father through his sacrificial death. John chapter 11 records the resurrection of Lazarus making a point to say in verse 5 that: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Chapter 12 opens recording that it was six days before the Passover and we see Mary in verse 3 take: “a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
Mary’s act was an extravagant display of love. It was a sacrificial act prophetically declaring the cross, but it was foolishness to the earthly minded. Judas was offended by this demonstration of a heartburning with obedient love. He was offended because he was filled with greed and a lust for power. He had a veneer of religion, but he was an enemy of the cross because his heart had been hardened by sin, lawlessness and willful disobedience. He was one who operated by the spirit of antichrist.
What has been called Jesus' high priestly prayer was only recorded in John’s gospel in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his crucifixion. It is during this episode that he calls Judas, the son of destruction. Jesus in his prophecy on the Mt of Olives recorded in Matthew chapter 24:15 talks about the abomination of desolation.
We also see Paul use this same terminology when saying in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that: “unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” Apostasy is falling away and turning your back on the cross. It’s willful determination to be disobedient and live in a lawless attitude towards the sacrifice of Christ.
If you read through Jesus' high priestly prayer in John chapter 17 the one thing that occurs over and over is Jesus talking about obedience to the will of the Father and staying true to his word. John’s gospel records this prayer and not the shorter prayer found in the Synoptic gospels where Jesus prayed to the Father, “not my will, but thine be done.”
It was such an intense time of prayer for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that drops of blood perspired from him. It was a complete surrender to the will of the Father, the purpose for which he came into the world which was to be the lamb of God who was slain. It was at this time during his complete surrender that Jesus told his disciples to: “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The Power of Love: Obedience and Sacrifice in the Life of Jesus
Jesus demonstrated his love of the Father through his obedience to the will of the Father. It was Mary’s love for Jesus that moved her to do what she did. Her heart had been so touched by the life of Jesus that she willingly sacrificed. It was love that moved her heart and it’s only love that will give us the courage to be obedient in the face of death itself. Jesus ends his prayer in the garden talking about that kind of love. A love that overcomes this world established in the one sacrifice of the cross.
The word love appears 57 times in John’s gospel more often than all the other three Synoptic gospels together. The word appears 46 times in his first epistle. You know when I was a young man I came to know the Bible very quickly. I have an aptitude for learning, so I consumed Biblical information. I retained a lot of knowledge, but as a result I had a lot of pride. In my quest for truth, I had become in a way blinded by the Bible. I had become a Pharisee, and I didn’t even realize I was one.
Life has a way of breaking us, but more than that I do think God has a way of breaking those who love him. We don’t always know what we need. I find sometimes we make wrong choices that lead us down paths that break us, but the Father will allow things in our lives to humble us and show us our utter need for him.
In the same way that the children of Israel were led in their journey through the wilderness in like manner our journey through this evil age will bring us to the place where we must cry out, not my will, but your will be done Father. It’s the Father’s love that leads us to the cross because it’s in being crucified with Christ that we can only truly know the Father’s heart of love.
It’s a place that understands the flesh is weak. It’s a place where you learn to surrender to the cross which is the only place that true love is found. The Holy Spirit is always prompting us to choose the way of the cross. We don’t always listen, but he never stops pointing us toward the narrow path of following in the footsteps of our master so that our feet are established on the rock of our salvation and tethered to the life of His Spirit.
John was the only disciple that stood below the cross on the day Jesus' blood poured down as he watched with Jesus' mother Mary. He watched the sun darkened for three hours, he heard him cry out that last cry and he witnessed the earthquake. He is the only author to record these words written in John 19:34 - 37: “the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” The whole focus of John’s gospel was to show that Jesus was the God who stepped out of eternity into our humanity becoming the lamb who was slain before the foundations of the earth.
The Central Theme of the New Temple Is The Cross
It is the stumbling stone of the cross that is the very cornerstone of the New Temple. The Old Covenant Temple veil was torn from top to bottom. It is only through the body of our Lord’s crucified flesh and poured out blood that we have direct access to the very heart of the Father. John in his first epistle is preaching the cross to us in the terminology of the love of the Father.
Paul spoke of the grace of God in the same way that John speaks of the love of God, but they are both preaching the central theme of all the Law and the Prophets pointed towards; the consummation of the ages found in the Lamb of God and who is the lion of the tribe of Judah at the same time. It’s the mystery that has been revealed and it’s the one that the enemy continues to try to cover with a refuge of lies.
Just like the Mount of Transfiguration left an imprint upon Peter’s soul and as he wrote his first epistle he reflected upon that experience. The crucifixion left an imprint upon John’s soul. As I’ve spent time reading the book of I John I’m called to a full surrender to the cruciform way of living. I am shown how incapable I am of living this life of faith without fully surrendering to the love of God displayed through the blood, water and Spirit of the cruciform life of faith.
It seems that’s the context of Romans 8:28: “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” In context Paul is describing our frailty and inability to truly change ourselves. We cannot overcome the flesh through our own ability or with Biblical gnosis.
I’ve tried and I’ve tried as hard as I can. I’ve failed over and over and over. The best I could do was be a religious actor, a hypocrite. Paul is showing us that it’s only by the Spirit’s help that we can truly love God and love others. It’s the same message that John is telling us, but it’s just from a different perspective.
The Jewish Perspective in the Epistles of John, James, Peter, and Jude
John along with James, Peter and Jude all write their epistles from a Jewish perspective. James is almost wisdom literature; Peter uses a lot of Jewish typology and Jude’s small epistle quotes Jewish apocalyptic literature from the book of Enoch. If you read John’s first epistle it leaves you with a lot of questions and on the surface, it seems to contradict some of Paul's basic teaching on justification by faith in the same way that the book of James does. One of the main keys to understanding the book of I John is understanding the way he uses love and truth.
It’s only John’s gospel that records the words of Christ saying in John 13:34 - 35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” In his first epistle John mentions keeping this commandment repeatedly and uses it as a test for being a child of the Father.
John doesn’t ever explicitly repeat the words of Christ in his epistle because it must have been something his readers easily understood. It’s a message that they had heard before. John is just reinforcing the message over and over in differing ways to show the importance of staying true to the centrality of the cross.
John uses the word commandment 13 times and if you don’t understand what he is talking about then you would think John is telling us to keep the law of Moses to fight lawlessness. John is not telling us that at all! What John is telling us is that love has been clearly portrayed to us through Christ laying down his life for us and if we have truly been changed by the blood, water and Spirit of the cross then we will follow his example of love.
John’s first epistle like no other epistle in the Bible is the most closely aligned with the words of Christ. It’s almost a reflection of Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 referred to as the high priestly prayer the night before his crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus clearly outlined the new commandment that John repeatedly refers to in his epistle. It’s not the law of Moses, but the law of love which can only be lived out in this body of flesh by the power of the Spirit.
John doesn’t explicitly say it, but it’s clearly implied that to truly follow Christ our lives must become a willing sacrifice of love. If you look at the sum total of his writings, you understand that love is synonymous with sacrifice and it’s out of sacrificial love that obedience to the Father flows like a river of grace and truth.
The Power of Obedience and Sacrificial Love in Following Christ
It’s why the author of Hebrews could say in 10:5 - 9 that: “when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.” (emphasis mind).
The new commandment that John and Jesus talked about was obedience to the Father’s heart demonstrated through surrendering their lives as a sacrifice of love. It’s the same message that Paul is telling us in Romans chapter 12 about presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice so that we can accomplish the will of God and mature into Christ likeness.
It’s only the sacrificial love of God that has the power to keep us from being lawless, walking in darkness and living in the flesh. It’s that Jesus as the sinless lamb of God was the sacrifice that saved us from the wrath of God so therefore, we are compelled to love God with our whole hearts and be obedient children. It’s just what Paul said in Romans 6:17 that we are to be: “obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Sound doctrine produces sound living demonstrated through the love of God.
The gospel that Jesus and his apostle taught was not cheap, selfish and lawless. It was not focused on me, me and me. It was sacrificial and to make it anything other than that is to make yourself an enemy of the cross. It’s what John was talking about when he talked about how many antichrists have gone out into the world. Denying Jesus came in the flesh is to deny the cross. To be antichrist is to be anti-cross. It’s rejecting the cruciform life of faith and following a substitute gospel of legalism or lawlessness.
Overcoming Lawlessness and Embracing the Blood of the Cross: The Key to Victory
John defines sin as being lawless. In 1 John 3: 4 - 6 he says: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”
What John is conveying to us in his first epistle and in his gospel is that if we are washed in the blood, identified with Christ through water baptism and born of the Spirit we are joined to him. He is showing us that being born of the Spirit and being a child of the Father is a complete identification with Christ. He is saying that because of what Christ has done in us then we are going to have a desire to fulfill the commandment. The commandment to love God with all our hearts and to love one another.
If we continue to practice lawlessness with no conviction of the Holy Spirit John is telling us, then we are not confessing Jesus as having come in the flesh to die for our sins. He is saying the same thing that Paul said, which is we make ourselves enemies of the cross. He says exactly what James in his epistle says that when we turn to the flesh and make friends with the world then we make ourselves enemies of God.
Yes, there is a solution, but there is only one solution and it's the one the Holy Spirit continues to try to point us towards which is the blood of the cross. The blood of the cross is not cheap, it costs us, and the price is our fleshly desires. John the author of the book of Revelation says we can only overcome the antichrist by complete surrender to the risen Christ. Revelation 12:11 says: “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
The gospel is that we die so that Christ may live his life through us. It’s life for life and is not without sacrifice. The gospel that Jesus and his apostles taught is the New Covenant of Christ body and blood. It’s about our identification where we no longer live, but our lives are to be a love offering back to him in complete surrender.
The gospel of lawlessness is a message that says you can be a follower of Christ while you reject the cross. It’s one that says you can live however you want to live and obedience to the Father doesn’t matter. It’s one that says you don’t have to live out the cruciform life of faith. It’s anti-cross and John called it antichrist.
John doesn’t speak duplicitously and there are no shadows in his speech. He doesn’t give you the postmodern grayness, but he cut’s deep into the heart of flesh with a sharp knife. If you refuse to turn away from a flesh ruled life of lawlessness and sin through the work of the cross, then you are living under the spirit of the antichrist.
The Contrast Between Walking by the Spirit and Living a Lawless Life
It’s Paul who really defines what a lawless life devoid of the Holy Spirit looks like in Galatians chapter 5. In verses 13 - 21 he tells them: “you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
All the apostolic writers rejected the gospel of lawlessness. The grace message has become extremely popular in America today, but I find that message so many times presented in a way where it is separated from the truth of the gospel of Christ. Understanding grace must be combined with understanding truth or grace becomes a license to reject the cross. The result is believers who feel like they have a license to sin. You cannot separate the message of the cross from the message of grace or it will produce lawlessness.
The Gnostic Concept of Salvation through Gnosis
The Gnostic’s taught a false grace that was based simply on gnosis and required no repentance or change. They denied that Jesus came in the flesh. Yes, Gnostic’s talked about Jesus. However, it wasn't the Jesus who came in the flesh and who died on the cross as the lamb of God demonstrating the love of the Father.
It wasn’t the Jesus calling you to identify with his sacrificial love by laying down your life in covenant with him and turning from sin.
It was a different Jesus who just brought you the gnosis of freedom to become a better you. You just need the secret gnosis to a higher development of self.
It wasn’t a Jesus who put any demands on you to repent, change and to take up your cross to follow him because getting gnosis was enough. To have gnosis was salvation for the Gnostic.
If we dilute the message of the cross so that it does not offend sinful lifestyles, then it’s no longer the message of the cross. I’m afraid that’s what’s happened in far too many churches in America, and we are now seeing the fruit. To be more acceptable we have turned away from the foolishness of the cross, but in so doing we have denied the very power and wisdom that can only be displayed through that message. As Jesus said we have lost our saltiness.
The Crucial Role of Sacrifice in Upholding Truth
How can the church be a pillar of truth when so many in the church no longer understand the sacrifice of the cross? In the desire to be free from the law of Moses many have turned to a ‘gospel lawlessness’. John was telling us in his epistle that the love of the Father demonstrated through Christ becoming a man has tethered us to the demand of his love. The only way to overcome this world and the spirit of antichrist is through following in the footsteps of his lifestyle of sacrifice.
Paul called us living sacrifices. Peter likened us to priests who offer up spiritual sacrifices. The author of Hebrews says we are to offer up sacrifices. No not the sacrificial system of the law of Moses. It’s a new law, it's a new temple and it's a new priesthood established on the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. John is saying the same thing as all the other apostolic writers is that our lives are now joined to his resurrection life. (In Section II of the Foundations Publications School of Discipleship I do an extensive series of lessons taking you though the New Testament sacrifices.)
We demonstrate that our lives have been offered upon the altar of the cross by loving one another. Jesus walked among us and demonstrated the love of the Father in his obedience. As Paul said in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus: “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Grace that is not understood in the work of the cross is not grace. Grace is about sacrifice. Paul, who could safely be called the apostle of grace, goes into a lengthy understanding of original sin, the law of Moses, redemption through the work of the cross and faith towards God in the first 5 chapters of Romans.
He opens chapter 6 saying this: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Paul here in Romans is emphatically saying the exact same thing that John is saying, but instead of using the terminology of love; he is using the terminology of grace. However, they are both preaching the cross and us crucified with Christ. He goes on to say in verses 15 - 16: “Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
The Danger of Gnostic Heresy in Contemporary Christianity
You see a version of the Gnostic heresy taught that since your spirit is saved through gnosis it doesn’t matter what you do with your body. Jesus did not come in the flesh so therefore you don’t have to follow the cruciform life because sin is just wrong thinking. All you must do is adjust your thinking, not your lifestyle. You can have anything you want in life.
The church in America has become much more Gnostic in its thinking than I think most of us have realized. I’ve watched this transformation happen. It’s very concerning because I look at so much of the church and I’m grieved because it’s scripture that is twisted, perverted and packaged into a popular message that can be sold for lots of money because it appeals to the flesh. The following are popular teachings:
You can create your own good life by the power of your words.
You are meant to have ‘the good life’ and all you must do is believe the right things. If you just confess the right faith words over and over, then you will manifest god-likeness.
You have the power within yourself to determine your destiny. You are little anointed ones that can be just like Jesus.
You can be whatever you set your mind and heart to do. Jesus suffered for you, and you don’t have to suffer. Riches, health, power and anything you want can be yours because you are the seed of Abraham.
The only problem is none of the apostles taught the following statements and you must twist scripture to come up with those teachings. You can only teach those things when you take scripture out of its original context and paste them back together making a gospel void of the cruciform life of Christ. It’s one of the many versions of the spirit of antichrist that John said had gone out into the world, but it seems to be America’s most popular version.
The Dangers of Sensuality and False Teachings
Peter said it this way in his second epistle chapter 2:1 - 3: “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”
The word sensuality in this text doesn’t mean sexual per say, but it means with no fear of God. It’s pride which is the original sin. It’s living in a life of excess. It’s living a life without restraint. It’s living in the works of the flesh.
It’s when pride causes you to be lawless and walk away from the cruciform way of living. Did you know greed is idolatry? Paul in Colossians 3:5 tells us to: “put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Let me remind you of the words of Christ when he said in Mark 7:20 - 23: “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” If we don’t put to death what is earthly in us by daily surrendering to the cruciform life of love, then we will find ourselves living in lawlessness.
Could this be what Jesus meant when he said in the context of false prophets in Matthew 7:21 - 23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” What I am hoping to do is ask us all to examine ourselves and make sure that we are living our lives in the humility of the cross.
Speaking the Truth in Love: Understanding Jesus' Message on Judgment
We have become so conditioned in our culture to accept anything and it’s simply unhealthy. It’s funny the one scripture even those in the world know and quote is that Jesus said don’t judge. I find those who live in lawlessness will pull that one out and tell us that we are being legalistic to judge them. It’s based on a misinterpretation of Jesus word’s to judge not in Matthew 7:1-5.
Jesus didn’t say we can’t discern which is what judgment is, but he said we better look at ourselves first. He was saying that our heart should be motivated with love to see the person helped and protect others. It’s making sure that what we are saying is not only accurate, but merciful and motivated by love. We have an obligation to speak the truth, but we need to speak the truth in love; seasoned with grace in the hope of healing, restoration and setting that which is out of order back in its proper place.
False teachers will say that anyone who challenges their false teaching is a Pharisee. Jesus was not telling us to not judge someone’s teaching or prophecy because that would be utter foolishness. He was saying the same thing that Paul was saying regarding partaking of the Lord’s supper which signifies the type of sacrificial life of faith and love we are to demonstrate if we have to judge.
It’s what Paul said that we need to examine ourselves first. We need to take a good long look in the mirror before we ever try to speak the truth and make sure it is done in love which is with a heart to restore. God’s heart of love is redemption, restoration and reconciliation through the cross.
Contending for the Gospel: A Call to Defend the Faith
I’ve struggled writing and speaking on this subject on the ‘gospel of legalism’ and the ‘gospel of lawlessness’ because it’s challenging me. I can imagine as the apostolic fathers wrote they knew they were frail men, but they were compelled by love to speak the truth. Paul said I: “tell you even with tears,” about those who “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” I’ve felt those tears as I’ve written this book and I really take no joy in pointing out these things I’m pointing out other than I hope that it will help someone.
I’ve felt my heart burn. I feel like I am making a defense of the cross and us crucified with him. It’s a message that has burned within me for many years. I’ve not always lived as one who is crucified, but the Holy Spirit always brings me back to this place of surrender. I know that it's only as we learned to abide in this message that we can truly experience victory over the flesh.
I don’t like it, but I feel like Jude who was compelled: “to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
We are living in those days. I wish it wasn’t so, but as I look around at the church in America, I find myself troubled by so much of what I see. The pathway I see ahead for those who follow Christ is a pathway that leads to surrender. It’s only by surrendering to the pathway of suffering and sacrifice that John said we can overcome this world. I take no joy in what I see laying ahead, but I take comfort in the power and wisdom that God will display as we return to the pathway of the cruciform way of following Christ.
Signs of the Times: Lawlessness, Cold Love, and the Danger of False Teachings
One of the signs that Jesus gave us describing the times before his return is that lawlessness would be abounding. He said this lawlessness would cause the love of many to grow cold. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:3 - 4 that the: “time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
John ends his epistle saying this in 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” It’s a very peculiar way to end. To me it’s the summing up of all that he said, which is that if we subject ourselves to the spirit of the antichrist then we are living anti-cross. Our faith is about surrendering to the one sacrifice of Christ.
Idolatry is no longer living in the shadow of the cross, but living in the shadows of whatever we refuse to surrender to him. Having money is not the problem, but money captivating our hearts is idolatry. Whatever we allow to have a hold on our hearts divides our attention and Paul said that's where the serpent causes our hearts to be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. James said it’s when we become a friend of the world that our affections are divided, and we become an enemy of God.
The Gnostic heresy is an attempt to bypass the cross. It’s rejecting the lamb of God as the main story and the centrality of the believers' lives. It’s when we do not give Christ his rightful place in our hearts, and we are denying his lordship over our lives.
It’s why John ended his epistle warning us to keep ourselves from idols. It’s why I am urging you in an age where idolatry is the norm that we cannot let this present evil age quench the love of God in our hearts leading us into a lifestyle of lawlessness. It’s my prayer that we all examine ourselves in the shadow of the cross. It’s my prayer that our lives are being lived through the love of that one holy sacrifice
If you enjoyed this lesson, then please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Foundation Publications, so I can reach more people and you will be notified when I post more videos. Please share this information with your friends on any social media platforms that you may use people and you will be notified when I post more videos.
Comments