I don’t believe that anything I have taught over these past thirty and more years has been more controversial than the Doctrine which Hebrews calls “the teaching about righteousness” introduced in the following passage:

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV)

 I do not say that I understood these verses very well those many years ago, but I do know that my teaching was always shunned by those who ruled the churches I attended and that my wife and I were always called “legalistic.” But, we were not legalistic… we were simply trying to obey God in the best way we knew how. We were learning to discern good and evil and we believed that obeying Jesus meant that we should learn to discern good and evil and, further, that we were then to choose to do the good. We still believe and practice this.

Remember, John said, “But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12) This implies that one does not automatically become a “son of God” upon initial belief in Jesus. It means that we receive power, i.e. the earnest of the Holy Spirit, when we believe. Then, according to the teaching of the apostles, if we live according to this Spirit rather than according to the desires of our flesh, then we will ultimately become a son of God. This transformation occurs when, at some future time in the blink of an eye, God miraculously changes our mortal bodies into the likeness of his glorious body. The Bible teaches that this “glorification” occurs at the time of the first resurrection, the event which most Christians call the “rapture” these days. Most Christians, however, mistakenly believe that this “rapture” or “glorification” occurs to all Christians who have simply made a “confession of faith.” This is not what the Bible teaches.

The rank lawlessness we see everywhere within Christendom betrays the many problems with this Christian majority teaching. In our day we witness Christian leaders who preach and practice toleration of gross sin throughout the “church,” whether they be radical lesbians touting the joys of abortion and God-forbidden sex like Dean and “Reverend” Katherine Hancock Ragsdale or pedophile priests in the Catholic or other churches. Do not be deceived warns the prophet, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For outside [outside of New Jerusalem, outside of being an overcomer, outside of being a son of God] are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.” (Revelation 22:14-15, KJ2000)

The problem with understanding the teaching about righteousness has to do  with the concepts of faith and obedience. Many Scriptures teach that God declares each of us righteous based solely on our faith. People love to take these verses and create a gospel which ultimately turns God’s grace into lawlessness. “Because you are saved by grace, through faith,” they say, “your physical, carnal actions really have no bearing upon your spiritual standing with God. Do what you want; don’t fight your nature. You live in a body of flesh and you will do carnal, lustful things according to your nature. Don’t feel condemned by that. In fact, rejoice in your sin! God loves you!”

This doctrine, however, in whatever way it becomes expressed, amounts to heresy and the unforgivable sin. This doctrine calls evil “good” and by doing so also pronounces good as evil. This sin is unforgivable because one cannot repent of it. “By grace, through faith” such a one believes he has no sins of which to repent. He has committed the unforgivable sin. He cannot repent in either this or the next age until his mind changes concerning the things of God, until he understands that God really does require and expect holiness in his people.

The writer of Hebrews declares that Jesus “became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” (Hebrews 5:9) This implies that those who do not obey him do not yet possess eternal salvation.   Peter says, “Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto sincere love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.” (1 Peter 1:22) He says we purify our souls through “obeying the truth.” Paul warns us to “not let sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Romans 6:12)

The Book of Romans really serves as our guidebook for coming into the reality of the teaching about righteousness. The teaching culminates with the following:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Earlier in the book Paul teaches us how to do this. In chapter 8 he tells us that in this life we have a choice, we can either live according to the flesh or we can live according to the Spirit. If we live according to the flesh, he says, we will die, but if we live according to the Spirit we will live. He adds meat to this teaching in his book to the Colossians.

But now you also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy talk out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, that is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him. (Colossians 3:8-17)

Paul nor I preach that we do all these things he commands here in the power of our flesh. No, we “put on” the new man in the image of God by faith. Likewise, we “put off” the evil acts of our carnal nature by that same faith. But, we do not condone and excuse our wicked behavior. If we do something wrong, we repent of it, and put it off by faith. We do not call evil “good” and then freely indulge in our fetishes. Instead we renew our minds by washing them in the water of Christ’s word, learning and esteeming those things he says are good. By the renewing of our minds we come into agreement with God that the things he said are good are in fact good and that the things he declares to be evil in fact are evil. This is the first step in living according to the Spirit. The second step is to depend upon our Holy Spirit to empower us to do that which is good!