Alienation
“...
Being
alienated from the life of God ...” (Ephesians 4:18) To
be alienated from the life of God is to be estranged from all that is
decent,
honest, and good. It is to be in a state of utter spiritual ignorance,
a state wherein all that is pure has been debauched, and a state
wherein
desperate wickedness prevails and where there is a quench less hatred
of
God (Romans 1 and 3).
Sin
has so ruined the natural man that there is not “ONE” good thing in him
(Romans 7:18), his mind is enmity against God, his every
thought only evil continually, and his will is utterly perverse (Romans
8:7; Genesis 6:5; John 5:40).
The
Origination Of Man’s Alienation From God
“Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
As to the origin of evil, man is not the proto sinner. That infamous
distinction
belongs to the devil. But in the fall of Adam all of his posterity
became
as depraved as the devil, for there are no degrees in depravity; it is
of the same extent in fallen angels and men.
There are no degrees in death, be it
spiritual
or physical. Both are, absolute and final apart from the quickening
grace
of God. In and by the sin of ancestral and federal Adam a malignant
force
was unleashed which brought an immediate cessation of spiritual life in
Adam, and reduced him to a mere mortal wherein his every step brought
him
closer and closer to the dust from which he was created (Genesis 2:7,
3:19, 5:5). However, let it be carefully noted in
quantifying
the offense of Adam against God, Paul says: “all have sinned” (Romans
5:12). “Sinned”, antecedent to their corporeal being, but
federally
and spiritually every man was equally a constituent unit in the Edenic
covenant, and that without residual innocence, for all men were as yet
in the loins of Adam, and with him and in him “all have sinned.”
In the strict and judicial sense man is
not alienated from the life of God because of the sin of ancestor Adam,
for it unavoidably follows that all having partaken of the consequences
of sin, must not have only had a character which was susceptible to
sin,
but were in collusion with Adam in originating mankind’s alienation
from
the life of God. No person suffers the consequences of Adam’s sin
without
being involved in and with equal degree of guilt as that of Adam, for
the
penalty is universal in scope and sameness; i.e., “Death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Man’s
corrupted character and his physical deterioration is owing to his
seminal
and federal union with rebellious Adam, and Adam’s sin was no more
personal
than it was corporate; for by it all men sinned and were alienated from
their Creator. Adam’s spiritual demise was precisely that of all of his
progeny, and from the standpoint of human nature there is no variation
in man’s alienation from God, for all merited the same condemnation and
the same measure of wages was contractually measured to every man (Romans
3:23, 6:23).
“But
I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give
an account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36 )
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself unto God”
(Romans 14:12).
The antinomian retorts: “But we are not
under the law, but grace.” I fear the person who makes this statement
is
under the law apart from reconciling grace, and is yet a spiritual
anarchist,
doing despite to the economy of God. He needs to learn that God’s law
is
not graceless, and that God’s grace is not lawless. Grace and law are
not
antithetical, but complementary in their particular design and
accomplishment.
The purpose of the law was to reveal man’s responsibility unto God and
his total inability to respond, even infinitesimally unto God’s law,
and
to point him to Christ in Whom dwells all sufficiency (Romans 3:20;
Galatians 3:24; II Corinthians 12:9).
The incumbency of preaching the law is
not less today than when it was first given to Israel. Nay, on the
contrary,
it is superimposed; for the church now has the plenary revelation of
God,
and is thereby made aware that it is the preaching of the law that
brings
conviction to the hearts of God’s elect, without which, there is no
salvation
from sin. It is in the light of the law that sin becomes exceeding
sinful
(Romans 7:13).The law of the Lord is perfect as far as it goes (Psalms
19:7),
but the law in and of itself never made any thing perfect (Hebrews
7:19).The preaching of the holiness, goodness, and justice of the
law
(Romans 7:12), apart from the gospel of Christ cannot in
the least prosper those who hear it, for men are justified by faith in
the Christ of the gospel without the deeds of the law (Romans 1:16,
3:28).
God’s
elect are as sure to go to heaven, as Christ Himself is in heaven (John
6:37, 17:24), but I hear the Antinomian say: “A-men,
and seeing we are forever saved, it does not matter how we live in this
world.” But Paul rebukes the Antinomian, saying: “What then? Shall
we
sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid”
(Romans 6:15). The Arminian goes to the other extreme,
and
says: “Man is saved by the work or exercise of his freewill, and that
destiny
determining decision is the basis or root of his incessant good works.”
It was in Adam that human freewill brought alienation to the family of
mankind, and robbed man of all his power of spiritual discernment (I
Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 1:21).
It
is true, fallen man has a free-will, but it is in its every exercise
restricted
to the carnal, and is utterly impotent to will the first thing pleasing
unto God. The natural man can will to do the greater or lesser evil,
but
never to do good; “...There is none that doeth good, no, not one”
(Romans 3:12). The person who claims human free-will is
essential
to salvation, bluntly asserts that his will has a creative power
greater
than that of God, for salvation is referred to as a new creation (II
Corinthians 5:17), and this new creation is the glorious product of
the infinite agony which Christ suffered for his people under the curse
of the law (Isaiah 53:6; II Corinthians 5:21;
Galatians
3:13).
Reconciliation
An Awesome Audit
“And
you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked
works, yet now hath He reconciled.” (Colossians 1:21)
Man owes to God a life of perfect
righteousness,
but at his best state, he is altogether worthless (Psalms 39:5),
his debt is infinite, and he has not the least farthing to pay
toward
his account. However, this does not disturb him in the least, for his
foolish
heart is blinded, and he soothes his frayed conscience by telling
himself,
“there is no God” (Psalms 14:1; Romans 1:21;
Ephesians
4:18).Yet, his Divine Creditor MUST, and will be satisfied, for He
hath appointed a day wherein all accounts of the irreconciled will be
infallibly
audited, and every deficit duly recompensed (Acts 17:31;
Revelation
20:12).
Reconciliation
Reflected
“But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then
made
free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans
6:17, 18)
Being made free from the condemnation of
the law does not make the holiness of God less exacting, nor does the
reconciling
grace of God allow any room for licentiousness, for liberty without
rule
is anarchy. While the regenerate is no longer under a killing letter,
he
is subject to the authority, and law of Christ (Galatians. 6:2).
Paul said, He was dead to the law of sin, but alive unto God
through
Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:11), and Peter says
obedience
unto Christ purifies the soul (I Peter 1:22).
Knowing
that Christ paid the full penalty of the law for all whom the Father
gave
Him in the covenant of reconciliation, and knowing that God will not
demand
payment at the hand of Christ, and then again at the hand of those for
whom He died; does not give the redeemed person any ground for
complacency
or lukewarmness toward sin, but should cause him to have an insatiable
hatred of sin and never any satisfaction with it.
In
the reconciling experience the old nature remains unchanged, and
vehemently
asserts itself against all that is holy and good. That is why Paul
said:
“O wretched man that I am! ...” (Romans 7:24),and it is
why
the Publican said: “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke
18:13).
Both Paul and the Publican knew, being made free from the
condemnation
of the law does not make the holiness and justice of God less exacting.
However, both men knew, while they were not beyond the reach of sins
contamination,
that Christ on their behalf had eternally nullified sins power of
damnation.
The
law is a spiritual mirror reflecting the corruption of human nature. It
has no life giving element in it, and is referred to by Paul, as the “Ministration
of death and condemnation” (II Corinthians 3:7, 9).
However, the good news is, there is a ministration that is
antithetical
to the ministration of death. It is a new and living way, wherein the
reconciled
sinner reflects the glory of Christ (II Corinthians 5:18;
Hebrews
10:20). God’s reconciling grace never stops with
regeneration,
for if regeneration was the sum of God’s reconciling work, then the
Antinomian
would have the truth, and we the lie; but Paul unveils the heresy of
antinomianism
by saying: “Christ liveth in me,” and by praying Christ would be
formed in the Galatians (Galatians 2:20, 4:19). No mortal
man reflected the life of Christ more than Paul, but he knew he had not
attained unto the perfect image of Christ, so he pressed on toward that
glorious and consummate end (Philippians 3:14).
Conclusion
Reconciliation
is an inclusive term, wherein is found propitiation, and the terminus
of
sins condemnation. But let us not read into this divine superlative,
the
irresponsibility of God’s elect, for both angels and men are forever
answerable
unto God’s decree of holiness. While God has never been at enmity with
His elect, His reconciling of them did not in any sense diminish His
anger
against sin. Notwithstanding, God’s anger against their sins committed
in violation of His holy law was judicially atoned for in the person of
Christ, and in so doing, the throne of His advocacy was established;
whereby
the post regenerative sins of His people may be mediated (I Timothy
2:5; I John 2:1).
Howbeit,
let it be clearly understood, forgiveness of sins cannot be merited by
the elect before nor after their regeneration, for all remission of sin
has a singular ground, and that is the shed blood of Christ (Hebrews
9:22). The atoning power of the blood of Christ did not
stop
at Calvary with the redemption of God’s elect, but perpetually and
effectually
runs in it cleansing stream to the heart of every penitent saint (IJohn
1:7), and causes him to more perfectly manifest his
heavenly
sonship (Romans 12:1, 2; Hebrews 4:16).
(Baptist Herald - March, 1992)