God's Grace & Commandment-Keeping #14

The Sonship of God #2

Fred R. Coulter—August 14, 2010

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services here in Hollister. You hear a lot of talk, even in Protestant churches—a lot of it in Protestant churches—as well in the Churches of God about the New Covenant. But why is it, as we saw in #13, that people can have the Bible and not understand it? The answer is because when they see something that God tells them to do, they don't do it. So therefore, they're blinded.

Let's see an example of this in Isaiah 29 and this tells us exactly what it is concerning the Word of God and why they don't understand it, because they refuse to obey God, they refuse to believe God. In the August/September letter I wrote how the Sabbath is a very part of creation. In order to really change the Sabbath, rather than just shift the day, you have to have the power to change the creation of the sun, and the moon, and the earth, the solar system, and the heavens; it's built into the heavens. And also they know that it is built in magnetically, electronically, and musically—which is very interesting. But we don't want to get detoured on that. But why don't people understand? Because they're unwilling to obey!

Let's come here to Isaiah 29:9: "Be stunned and amazed! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink, for the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; He has covered the prophets and your rulers, and the seers" (vs 9-10).

Just like 2-Thess. 2 says that they are 'given over to a deception.' Why? Because they don't believe the Truth, yet they have it. They have it right there. And as one man, who is still dealing with his ex-Sunday-keeping pastor, his pastor used to tell him from the pulpit, 'Read your Bible, read your Bible.' So he said, 'Well, I read my Bible and guess what I came up with? The Sabbath is the day to keep, so I went back to my pastor. He admitted that it was, but he's not willing to act upon it.' And he said, 'Well, if I preach that, I'd lose my congregation.'

Now here's what happens when that occurs, and if you don't keep the Sabbath then you don't keep the Holy Days, you don't keep the Passover, and you have no basis for understanding the Bible. We're going to see coupled with that, plus some bad translations in the King James. I've got another one at home that Dolores gave me just before we got married and that's falling apart like this one, too. This is a 51-year-old Bible. I have a Bible at home that is 460-years-old, that's all in the Greek of that age—it still says the same thing.

Verse 11: "And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed... [And how many times are you told, 'Well, we can't understand it, it's a mystery.' Well, Jesus said, 'It's given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.' And we know it's because we love God, keep His commandments, and have His Spirit.] ...which they give to one who is learned saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.'" Don't understand it. They don't understand because they don't obey, so their eyes are closed. Then when they read it they say, 'I don't know what that means.'

Verse 12: "And the book is delivered to him, who is not learned, saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I am not learned.... ['What do you expect from me?'] ...And the LORD said, 'Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but their worship of Me is made up of the traditions of men learned by rote... [And that's exactly what everything is. I'm learning from ex-Protestants now—because we're coming into contact with a good number of them—that Protestants are locked into Christmas for the birth of Jesus; Easter for the resurrection of Jesus; and communion. And before a Protestant can begin to understand the Bible, he's got to give those up and come to understand

• it's the Sabbath instead of Sunday;
• it's the Passover instead of communion;

and I didn't know, but I found out that now they take the communion the first Sunday of every month. And where's that in the Bible? I'm unlearned, I can't read it. It's not in the Bible. Mormons take it with bread and water. I asked one Mormon one time I said, 'Are you imprisoned?' He said, 'No, but when I was in the Mormon Church I felt like it.' Anything but what God says, anything but what Jesus says.] ...and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandments of men…. [Rather than God. So they've rejected God.] …Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do again a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the wisdom of their intelligent ones shall vanish'" (vs 12-14). And we all know that's already happened to Washington, D.L.C. [District of Liars and Corruption].

"Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD! And their works are in the dark, and they say, 'Who sees us? And who knows us?'.... [Remember what Jesus said, 'That which is spoken in secret shall be shouted from the housetops.'] ...Surely, you have turned things upside down!…." (vs 15-16). And when people hear about what we preach out of the Bible, or any Church of God preach the things out of the Bible the way that they should, they say the same thing, 'You're turning the world upside down.'

Can you imagine this: they say they believe in Jesus, but He kept the Sabbath and they don't. They say they believe He's the Savior of the world, but they won't keep the Passover the way Jesus said. So they're not in covenant. They fail to keep the Sabbath, they fail to keep the Holy Days, which Jesus and the apostles did. Then they self-righteously pull themselves up to their great height and look at us who follow the Bible and say, 'You are a cult.' When the exact opposite is true! A cult you can summarize in one very small sentence: men's way instead of God's way—very simple. And if you have men's way, then you're under Satan the devil. If you have God's way, you're under God the Father and Jesus Christ. You need to break it down in simple terms.

"Shall the potter be regarded as the potter's clay; for shall the work say of him who made it, 'He did not make me?' Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'He has no understanding?'" (v 16). Well, some of this came in, in the translations of the King James. Now I've been learning since translating the New Testament from the Greek into the Faithful Version, and I was very faithful with the Word, very faithful with the meaning, so that we understand what God is telling us.

But let's come to Romans 8 where we left off last time and let's look at one of those Scriptures that you just cannot understand in the King James the way that it is in the original. Now, we already covered how you have to have the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, be led of that. We've already covered where the whole purpose of the New Covenant so that the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled in us:

• which takes the Spirit of God
• which takes the Word of God
• which takes our application of it
• which takes our living by it, etc.

Now here in Rom. 8, when you read this, you get no sense of the real meaning of it. And why they translated it this way I'm sure is because they didn't have any understanding as to what the Greek really meant. All they knew in 1611, and the years leading up to it to do the King James Version of the Bible, they had 'classical' Greek. 'Classical' Greek is about the same as old English is to modern English. I've got some of those old English Bibles at home, and you look at some of those and you can hardly read them.

Then there was 'attic' Greek, which came after 'classical' Greek and then there was 'koine' Greek. Well until the middle of the 19th Century they did not have very many historical documents written in 'koine' Greek and they found thousands of them. And guess what they discovered? That 'koine' Greek was exactly what the 'koine' means—common. That was the common language of the people, of commerce and of the whole empire. Latin was up in Rome and on into northern Europe, but the rest of it was all in 'koine' Greek.

So we'll give them the benefit of doubt on the Greek. However, they should have known by looking at the word, because the word has the Greek word 'huios' in it as part of the word, and 'huios' means child or son or offspring. This is why the New Covenant requires the Spirit of God.

• we have to keep the commandments of God in the spirit
• we have then written in our hearts and in our minds
• we think with the Word of God
• we live our lives by the Word of God
• we study the Word of God
• we have a relationship with God, because we pray to Him every day

Romans 8:14 (KJV): "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.... [So they had the word right there, 'huios'—plural, sons of God.] ...For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption..." [What does adoption mean to you? Well, in human terms it means this. You adopt a child, you take someone who has nothing to do with your family, has none of your genes, has none of your chromosomes, is not your own physical descendant—that is adoption.] ...the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (vs 14-15).

All right, let's read it in the Faithful Version. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship... [and that comes from the Spirit of God. Now sonship means what? You're the children of God, you are the offspring of God! Not someone else's offspring that has been adopted, because when you receive the Holy Spirit, you are begotten by the Father in the very spirit of your mind. So it's very akin to being begotten again.] ...received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God" (vs 14-16). Now, how did they miss that? I have no idea, but that's exactly what it means.

• v 14—sons of God
• v 15—sonship
• v16—children of God

So this tells us the kind of relationship that we are in. The sonship of the Father! We are going to be the children of God the Father.

Now v 17: "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him." So that makes a big difference, just that one word—sonship, instead of 'adoption.'

Now let's come to Gal. 4 and let's see the same thing. Let's see how he brings this out. Galatians 4:1: "Now then, I say, for as long a time as the heir is a child, he is no different from a servant, although he be lord of all; But he is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed beforehand by the father. In the same way, when we were children... [That means before conversion.] ...we were held in bondage under the elements of the world…. [In other words, we had no direct access to God.] …But when the time for the fulfillment came, God sent forth His own Son, born of a woman, born under law, In order that He might redeem those who are under law, so that we might receive the gift of sonship from God" (vs 1-4).

Let's read this in the King James. Here again there is no clue as to the sonship. And yet, that's the word in the Greek. Verse 5 (KJV): "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption… [of what?] …of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (vs 5-6). So there we go. When it's adoption, and yet it says 'Father,' they don't make the connection of sonship and Father. And so that's the whole difference that is completely missed.

Now let's go to 1-Peter 1; let's see how Peter starts out his epistle; let's see what he says, and it has to do with being begotten when you receive the Holy Spirit. So then you become the direct offspring of God the Father, with the mind of Christ, as we saw going through John 14.

1-Peter 1:1: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia; Who have been chosen according to the predetermined knowledge of God the Father, by sanctification through the Spirit... [Notice how every time it includes the Spirit.] ...unto obedience... [And there's that word that a lot of people don't like.] ...and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (vs 1-3). Notice the difference in the parallel that Peter makes here compared to what Paul wrote in Gal. 4.

"Unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us... [Which will be brought at the return of Christ, and the resurrection, to us. Paul wrote that before we were called we were under the elements of the world, kind of like being safeguarded by guardians. ](But notice what Peter writes here. After we have been begotten again and receive the Spirit of God): ...Who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith... [Now isn't that something? We have the Spirit, and it's called the power of God.] ...are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith, for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (vs 4-5). That's how he explained it.

Let's see what this is going to lead to. What are our lives going to be? How are we going to act and behave with the sonship of God? That's really something, brethren, to really grasp that. And that will help you in your relationship with God in prayer and in study, because your calling is particular, your calling is individual, and God has called you to have fellowship with you directly as His own children. That's something! So that means we have a responsibility. That means we have choices. That means we have things that we need to do.

I got a letter from a person the other day who said, 'Well, since I've been studying what you've been sending out now for about the past eighteen months, I feel as though that I'm finally out of kindergarten.' Because the Churches of God, too many times, in ruling over the brethren do not realize that they are going against God, because they're treating them as their own possessions.

1-Peter 5:1-3 concerning elders. The whole purpose of teaching and elders is to build the Church up and to help them grow in grace and in knowledge and in faith, and in a relationship with God. Not running to the corporate minister saying, 'Minister, minister, minister, what do you think?' And then have them rule over them.

1-Peter 5:1: "The elders who are among you I exhort, even as a fellow elder, and an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that is about to be revealed: Feed the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight not by compulsion, but willingly; not in fondness of dishonest gain, but with an eager attitude. Not as exercising lordship over your possessions; but by being examples to the flock of God" (vs 1-3). When brethren allow themselves to be lorded over by a ministry, and a ministry takes that to themselves, they cut the people off from a real relationship with God that they ought to have. It stunts it. They're not to do that.

Here's what this is to lead to through God's Spirit, 2-Peter 1:1. This is what conversion is all about. This is what sonship is all about: "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours... [the same faith as the apostles] ...by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord... [Now what is this to do for us? How are we to use the Word of God?] ...According as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life... [Again, notice he talks about the power of God. That's what the Holy Spirit is. He gives us the power. Now the Greek word for power is 'dunamis'—which means the power from God, and from 'dunamis' we also get the word dynamite or energy. The 'dunamis' of God, Divine:] ...has given to us all things that pertain to life... [no traditions of men] ...and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue; through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises... [And I don't think that we can emphasize this enough—the greatest and most precious promises!] ...that through these..." (vs 1-4).

Here is what you have to look forward to. So don't worry about getting old and decrepit. That happens to us all. Remember what happened to Peter? What did Jesus tell Peter when Peter said, when he looked at John—after He told Peter to feed the flock three times—and asked Jesus, 'What's going to happen to him?' And He said, 'What is it to you if I desire for him to live until I return?' And He said, 'Peter, when you're old, you're going to be led about where you don't want to go.' So Peter ended up needing someone to lead him about. He got old, he got decrepit and was finally martyred.

"...that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature… [Now stop and think about why, then, we have the laws and commandments of God written in our hearts and engraved upon our minds, and why we have the Holy Spirit of God to do that, because that is the only thing that can give us the Divine nature.] ...having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (v 4). Then he gives the steps on how in this life we can

• develop the divine nature
• think like God
• think like Christ

Come here to Colossians, the first chapter; let's see how he also expressed it and let's understand something. What we are talking about here is knowledge that was not revealed until later in the ministry of the apostles. So when they first started out they had to grow in grace and knowledge to really understand this. Now we've got it all written down and we can understand it because of their writings.

Colossians 1:25, concerning the Church and the body of Christ, and so forth: "Of which I became a servant, according to the administration of God that was given to me for you in order to complete the Word of God." He knew he had to finish writing the Word of God. So did Peter, so did John. And when you really understand the book of Revelation, what are we really dealing with? All dictated by Christ to John. So that is really Christ's epistle to us concerning the events of the last days, but more importantly concerning the seven churches, so that we learn the lessons that we don't go back and repeat Isa. 29, as we read, and bring in the traditions of men. That's why we need to go by the Word of God. That's why we use as the motto for the Church: Recapturing Original Christianity for Today.

Verse 26: "Even the mystery..." That is, the secret, the secret of God! God has entrusted us with His Spirit, with His Word, with the secret of what He is doing, that those who have the Bible and preach from it every Sunday do not know and do not understand. It's a mystery! And Jesus said it's given to us to know the mysteries of God. I suppose if you went up and did a survey after church, one of these big mega churches and say, 'Oh, you had a sermon there. Can you please tell me what's God's purpose in life?' I wonder how many could really answer that,

• that we're going to really be the children of God, His very own offspring
• that we have been begotten again and have received that seed of begettal from the Father

and as we'll see right here in just a minute:

• the very mind of Christ

What could be greater than that? There's nothing greater than that!

"Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints… [Understand what a great fantastic revelation that is. And understand that God has entrusted us with the secret of His plan. So that's something to really grasp!] …to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (vs 26-27). Just like he wrote there in Rom. 8. 'Now if the Spirit of Christ be in you, the Spirit of Him who raised Him from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies.' There are two parts to the Spirit of God:

• from Christ—for the mind of Christ
• from the Father—as the begettal to be His children

So that's tremendous! But He didn't reveal this until later in the ministry of the apostles. That's something—isn't it?

Come back here to Ephesians, the third chapter; let's see this again here. What good does it do to read the great philosophers of Greece and of Rome and of Babylon and of China? What did they know about God? Well, all of their reasonings are those of men cut off from God. They had no knowledge of God. They didn't understand who God was. They worshiped demons, like Paul said when he went into Athens. He came in there and went up on Mars Hill where they had their philosophical debates going back and forth. And they said, 'Well, here's a new man. Tell us something about what is this that you're preaching? How'd you start out?' He started out and said, because he had been overwhelmed by all the idolatry that they had there in Athens, 'As I was coming into a city I saw a devotion to the Unknown God. Him I preach to you. You have great regard for deities, but you don't know the Unknown God. In Him we live and move and have our being.'

Ephesians 3:1:"For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, If indeed you have heard of the ministry of the grace of God that was given to me for you; How He made known to me by revelation... [Now when did He do that? We're not told. Maybe He did this when he was under house arrest in Caesarea for two years. Maybe He did this while he was in prison in Rome where he was there almost three years. But He revealed it to him.] ...(even as I wrote briefly before, so that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ)… [Which then is the secret of Christ.] …which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (vs 1-5).

All of this is spiritually understood! This is why when you're reading and studying the Bible there will be times when you come along and all of a sudden boom! It's like turning on a light. 'Huh! I never saw that before.' or 'Oh, I really understand that.' How does that happen? That's the Spirit of God working in your mind to bring you that understanding.

Now here's the secret: "That the Gentiles... [And, of course, if you read the book on Judaism you find out the Jews really did not care for the Gentiles and to this day still don't. All you have to do is witness the fight that goes on between split Palestine, Jewish side and the Palestinian side, back and forth.] ...That the Gentiles might be joint heirs... [the same] ...and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel" (v 6). That's the sonship, you see. That all comes from the grace of God, with the Spirit of God, and this is why God requires us to do everything in the Spirit of God.

Let's hearken back to where we began in part of this. Let's see how Christ began to give a few clues as to where we would be headed with the new teachings of Christ. Now in the flesh, this cannot be done, but in the Spirit, with the begettal of God the Father and the mind of Christ, this can be done as we are able to escape the corruption of this nature, and be able to put into our minds and hearts the Divine nature, so that at the resurrection we will be wholly spiritual, completely that is, and have a spirit mind and a spirit body. But you can't get that from this verse.

Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect." Is that not a tall order? And what He was actually doing was showing this:

• you can't do it by physical means
• you can't do it by law keeping in the letter
• you can't do it by the traditions of the Jews

"Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect."

(go to the next track)

Let's come to 1-John 5. We're going to see some problems with the translation of the King James Version that cause people not to understand about the sonship of God. Now they couldn't understand about the sonship of God, because it's called in Gal. 4 and Rom. 8 'adoption.' So they really didn't comprehend it.

1-John 5:1 (KJV): "Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God... [Now that should read 'begotten,' as we saw. 'Has been begotten by God.' And we'll see that's what is also taught in chapter three.] ...and every one that loves Him that begat... [the Father] ...loves Him also that is begotten of Him."

Let's go to 1-John 3:5 and let me read it first in the King James Version of the Bible, because here is where they really, really get it wrong. Because they did not understand about begettal, being begotten again by receiving the Spirit; not having the understanding of the Sabbath and the Holy Days of God; not having understanding of the resurrection, though they translated it, because they believe that souls go to heaven or go to hell.
1-John 3:5 (KJV): "And we know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.... [That's fine, there's no problem with that.] ...Whosoever abides in Him sins not..." (vs 5-6). I want you to mark that. Do you sin after you have been converted? Yes, you do! But here it says 'cannot sin.' Huh! "…sins not."

Now let's read 1-John 5:16 (KJV): "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death..."

Well, if he has, 1-John 3:6 (KJV): "Whosoever abides in Him sins not..." Is a brother abiding in Christ?

If he cannot sin, why does John say, 1-John 5:16 (KJV): "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death…" and there is a sin not unto death. So what happens is 1-John 5:1 shows that 1-John 3:6 is a mistranslation.

1-John 1:6 (KJV): "If we say that we have fellowship with Him... [And we'll come back to that a little later.] ...and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the Truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.... ['we'—John is including himself. So John is admitting that he still sins—right? He didn't say 'you'; he said 'we.'] ...If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us" (vs 6-8).

So how can they translate that "…the one who abides in Him sins not…"? (1-John 3:6, KJV). What kind of contradiction is that? And here they translated it and didn't even know what they were doing.

1-John 1:9 (KJV): "If we confess our sins... [You can't confess your sins if you don't sin—right? Why would you have sins to confess if you're abiding in Him and you don't sin? 'You sin not'! Well, that's not what it really means.] ...He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 9-10).

Well, if you read over here in 1-John 3:6 (KJV): "Whosoever abides in Him sins not…" That's a direct contradiction of what he wrote in 1-John 1 & 5—correct? Would you not agree? Yes!

Now back to 1-John 2:1 (KJV): "My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin... [In other words, you go along and you're not sinning, but oh, oh, you sin.] ... we... [John himself] ...have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins... [a continual source of mercy and forgiveness] ...and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (vs 1-2).

All right. Come back here to 1-John 3, let's go on because it gets worse, and these verses end up being the worst translated part of the King James Version of the Bible as it relates to the Greek. 1-John 3:6 (KJV): "Whosoever abides in Him sins not; whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him." If you see a brother sin, not a sin unto death—does a brother know Jesus? Yes!

• Do you see the contradiction?
• How do you resolve this contradiction?

Verse 7 (KJV): "Little children, let no man deceive you. He that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning...." (vs 7-8).

• If you sin, are you of the devil automatically, immediately?
• Does God transfer you from His grace over to Satan the devil because you've sinned?
• Is that true?
• What does 'commits' mean?

"...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.... [v 9 is the worst, the worst, most confusing. Yet Protestantism lays its claim on this verse that's 'once saved, always saved,' once you've had the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, you can no longer sin.] ...Whosever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (vs 8-9 KJV).

So when a person says, 'I accept Jesus.' 'Oh, bless you, son, bless you daughter, you're born again.' You go do anything you want and you're not sinning—is that correct? As I've said before, I asked a woman who was a born-again Baptist. She told me that, says, 'I can't sin.' I said, 'Well, tell me, do you believe in a rapture?' She said, 'Yes.' So I said, 'Now, what if you were committing adultery with a man and the rapture came, would you go?' She said, 'Oh, yes, because I cannot sin.' So I rest my case.

The Catholics are not quite as bad. You confess them to the priest and he says, 'Bless you, go do your laps around the beads and you're okay.' But one man went into the confessional after hearing about all the sins of the priests and pedophilia and it's all in darkness, you know, and the priest is sitting behind and there's a little peek-a-boo speaky thing that they talk through. And he slides it open so his voice will go through and he says, 'My son, how many I help you, are you ready to confess your sins?' And he said, 'Father, let's start with you first.'

Now, here is the correct translation in the Faithful Version. Let's begin in 1-John 3:4, because this is the way that a lot of the New Testament is written. Now the King James says, "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 'Commits" comes from the Greek word 'poieo'—to commit or to do continually. So this should mean 'practice.' And when you understand 'practice,' the whole third chapter of 1-John opens up very wide for you to understand.

1-John 3:4, FV: "Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness... ['anomia'—against law.] ...for sin is lawlessness. And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin" (vs 4-5). In Christ there is no sin. But we are not free of sin—are we? No! So the whole verb topic all the way through is 'practice.' And when you carry that through, you are to supply that where it isn't written in the Greek, because the Greek many times is written with what is called ellipsis. An ellipsis is a form of shorthand, because writing on vellum was very precious, so if you could save room, you state, in this case 'practice,' or 'poieo'—and that runs all the way down through the rest of the discussion here. So this is what it does. "...And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." In Him is no sin, not in you, in Him.

The question was asked: How do they get away with saying the law has been done away when even in the King James Version it says 'whosoever transgresses the law commits iniquity.' That's not a fair question. You're not allowed to ask that. Another point was made: commit gives the implication of a one-time offense. Practice gives repeated, you're living in it. That becomes important to understand as you come down through chapter three here.

Now v 6: "Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin... [Why? Because you have the Spirit of God and your conscience is going to prick you! And what will you do then? What 1-John 1 said, go confess your sins to Christ and you have forgiveness. But if you're practicing sin, that's a different story.] ...anyone who practices sin has not seen Him, nor has known Him. Little children, do not allow anyone to deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.... [Here is where it really clears up]: ...The one who practices sin... [as a way of life] ...is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil…. [If you've got a KJV, lay it out and look at it at the same time.] …Everyone who has been begotten by God... [What did Peter say? We have been begotten again—right? What does it say here in 1-John 5? We have been begotten by the Father—correct? Yes! That's what it's talking about.] ...Everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice... [there it is in the Greek, the verb right there to carry it through to make sure that from v 4 to v 9 it's talking about practicing.] ...does not practice sin because His seed of begettal... [that's what we're talking about] ...is dwelling within him, and he is not able to practice sin because he has been begotten by God" (vs 6-9).

The King James says, "…he cannot sin…" (v 9). There's no man or woman who does not have sin, so this has to be the correct translation. Otherwise, you're stuck with an irreconcilable problem. 'If you see a brother sin a sin not unto death,' and yet it says over here in v 9 in the King James, you "cannot sin"—how does that happen? And with that then you lose the whole thing of 'begotten again,' and the sonship of God. It's lost! But here in the Faithful Version we've recaptured it.

Let's read v 9 again. "Everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice sin because His seed... [from the Father] ...of begettal is dwelling within him... [Does that not also agree with 1-John 5:1? Yes! 'Everyone who believes is the Christ has been begotten by God.' Yes!] ...and he is not able to practice sin because he has been begotten by God." Before you were called and converted, did you do sins and have no conscience of it? Of course! Now that you have the Spirit of God in you, what happens when you sin? Whoop! Your conscience pricks you and you have a guilty conscience, don't you, until you go repent—right? And God takes it away from you.

Verse 10: "By this standard... [Now here's another one you will find all the way through 1-John. 'By this' in the Greek is 'en toutoo' and it means exactly by that, in this or by this. What? And I have that in The Seven General Epistle book going through showing all the places where it is 'en toutoo'; and he has it many times, by this, by this, by this, by this.] ...By this standard are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil.... [The children of God. There it is, the sonship of God!] …and the children of the devil… [the devil has his children—right? Yes! He leads them as the prince of the power of the air.] ...Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God... [has not been begotten of God] ...and neither is the one who does not love his brother."

Let's come back to 1-John 3:1. And when you read the first three verses and you have the proper understanding of the Greek verb 'poieo'—it all makes sense in the sonship of God. 1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…." Not adoption—children! And the Greek word here is 'teknon'—meaning your own begotten children. The other Greek word is 'huios'—which can mean any son, any daughter. But if you receive the begettal of the Father, which you do when you have hands laid on you, receive the Holy Spirit, now you are a child of God, not yet born into the Kingdom of God, which does not occur until Christ returns and the resurrection occurs. That's why we're begotten again.

We're not born again now. We've covered that on born again. What's the one thing concerning born again? You're like the wind; no one can see you. Well, then, why come and tell me you're born again, because I can see you. If you think you're born again, then walk through the wall without doing any damage. Forget the pin test, you can recover from that, but let's have you run, see if you can get through the wall. You're not born again now. Christ was the Firstborn from among the dead—right? The resurrection is your second birth, but in order to be born again what has to happen? Just like with your first birth, you must be begotten first, grow to full term and then voila! you're born!

Likewise spiritually, we are begotten with the Spirit of God and we grow and overcome, are faithful to the end, and most of us are going to have our place of safety in that there grave, six feet below. We'll talk about a place of safety a little later on, because a lot of people fall for that 'hook, line and sinker.' It's interesting that some people years ago in the Church of God, they thought they would flee to Petra. So they were going to be well prepared and a lot of them had 'Petra boxes' in the trunk of their cars. So if the word came down to flee during church services, they'd be ready. 'I've got my box, I've got my Bible. I've got all that in there.' And they forgot what Jesus said, 'Pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath Day.' So people can get carried away and get confused.

We are the 'teknon'of God. Verse 1: "…For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him.... [And all of Christianity today does not know Jesus Christ or God the Father, because they refuse to obey Him. They have another father who is Satan the devil. They have another Jesus who is a fake.] ...Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (vs 1-2). And we're told also that we will see the Father face-to-face.

"And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure" (v 3). So you change, you grow, you overcome. How do you purify yourself? You're not partakers of the world. You live by the Word of God, you are led by the Spirit of God, you are shown your sins so you can repent and change and grow and overcome and you don't live like the world.

2-Corinthians 6:14: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common?.... [Isn't that what we're talking about in 1-John 3, righteousness and lawlessness?] ...And what fellowship does light have with darkness?.... [it doesn't] ...And what union does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols?.... [Now who's the temple of God? We are! We're the temple of God with His Spirit, He's dwelling in us, through the sonship of God.] ...For you are a temple of the living God, exactly as God said: 'I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; and I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty" (vs 14-18).

2-Corinthians 7:1 ties right in with what we read back there in 1-John 3:3, 'Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.' How?

• through prayer
• through study
• through overcoming
• through living
• through having the Word of God written in your heart and in your mind

2-Corinthians 7:1: "Now then, beloved, since we have these promises, we should purge ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God." Isn't that right back where we started, Matt. 5:48, 'Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect'? Yes!

Let's look at just a few more things here and this will help us as we go forward. Let's come back to 1-John 1. Let's see how important fellowship is. That's why we're under the grace of God. That's why we keep the commandments in the Spirit. Here's a very important part; this is where John starts out.

1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves... [And it means, actually the Greek means gawked and gazed upon. In other words when you see something and your eyes are wide open and you're just looking and staring it, kind of like little children. Babies in the arms, when you look at them, they just lock their eyes right on you—don't they? And that's what it means, 'we've observed for ourselves.'] ...and our own hands handled, concerning the Word of life… [And that's Christ. 'In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.'] …(and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us); that which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us... [This is the key important thing as to why prayer is so important every single day on your knees. That's where you get the fellowship with God. That's where His Spirit comes into you in supplying the Spirit.] ...for the fellowship.... [That's interesting.] ...the fellowship... [In other words, this fellowship is so important that it is]: …the fellowship—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own son, Jesus Christ" (vs 1-3).

Direct to God the Father! Direct to Jesus Christ! If the Catholic church understood that, there'd be a whole lot of priests out of work, wouldn't they? Yes, indeed! 'Don't come here and pray to this statue. This dumb statue of Mary doesn't know anything and she isn't in heaven anyway. Why do you come here and pray to that? Throw away your rosary. That doesn't do anything for you. Go home, get on your knees and cry out to the Father directly. He'll hear you!' You do that on a daily basis, that's your fellowship with God. 'With the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.' "These things we are also writing to you, so that your joy may be completely full" (v 4). That's something!

Let's come to John 17 and we'll go to just a couple of more verses to show the sonship of God and what it's going to mean—what are we going to be like. It says as we read there in 1-John 3 that 'we will see Him as He is, because we'll be like Him.' John 17 is the real Lord's prayer, because this is the prayer that Jesus prayed. Now John must have heard this and Jesus must have inspired him to write the exact words which he heard.

John 17:14: "I have given them Your words... [everything that is here of what Jesus taught came from the Father] ...and the world has hated them because they are not of the world... [Now we're coming to a time where we will really begin experiencing that.] ...just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world... [That only happens at the resurrection. As much as we want to get away from all the difficulties, be taken out of the world, like it said in one of the Psalms, 'Oh, that I was like a bird. I could fly off and get away from it all.' You can't do that.] ...but that You would keep them from the evil…. [That's why we are to give the devil no place in our lives.] …They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them..." (vs 14-17). That is, make them Holy. That's through the Spirit of God and that's also through Your Truth. Now what is the Spirit called that we receive? The Spirit of Truth! What did Jesus say that He was? 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life'—correct? Yes!

"…Your Word is the Truth. Even as You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they also may be sanctified in Your Truth. I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word.... [that's us] ...That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me... [through the power of the Holy Spirit] ...and I in You; that they also may be one in Us... [Now where I began in Sonship #1 was in Gen. 1:26, 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness.' Who are the 'Us'? They are identified right here.] ...they also may be one in Us, in order that the world may believe that You did send Me. And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me, in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one... [What is He talking about here? Matt. 5:48, 'Become perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect'—right? Yes!] ...I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one... [That's with the Spirit of God, the mind of Christ.] ...and that the world may know that You did send Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me'" (vs 17-23).

Now let's come to Revelation 21 and we'll see the conclusion of the matter of the sonship of God. Now, there are many more things we can add to it, which I do every year in the sermon on the Last Great Day. Let's see what it's going to be. Now that we will have

• a spirit mind
• a spirit body
• we've ruled for a thousand years with Christ
• many have entered into the Kingdom of God
• the second resurrection has taken place
• all of those who are going to attain salvation through the second resurrection will enter the Kingdom of God
• All of the incorrigible wicked have been burned up in the Lake of Fire
• The Lake of Fire consumes the whole earth in preparation for the new earth, the new heaven

Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.... [That shows that we'll be spirit beings. Listen, the truth is, if we didn't have the oceans that we have on the earth today we wouldn't be living. This shows we'll be spirit beings. We won't need to have the sea.] ...And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.... [And here's the great thing that is going to happen then—the sonship of God will be complete for every one of us, all together] ...And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men... [That is human beings, men and women, sons and daughters, made perfect.] ...and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall not be any more death, or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.' And He Who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life. The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son'" (vs 1-7).

That's the sonship of God. That's the end result of the grace of God. It's not grace or law-keeping, it is the grace of God is the whole relationship that we have with God. And we are under the umbrella of grace, receive the Holy Spirit, change, grow, overcome, all of those things combined together. And then it caps off with the sonship of God. So that's why we have God's grace and commandment keeping as the New Testament shows it.

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter; except where noted

Scriptural References:

• Isaiah 29:9-16
• Romans 8:14-17
• Galatians 4:1-6
• 1 Peter 1:1-5
• 1 Peter 5:1-3
• 2 Peter 1:1-4
• Colossians 1:25-27
• Ephesians 3:1-6
• Matthew 5:48
• 1 John 5:1
• 1 John 3:5-6
• 1 John 5:16
• 1 John 2:6
• 1 John 5:16
• 1-John 1:6-8
• 1 John 3:6
• 1 John 1:9-10
• 1 John 3:6
• 1-John 2:1-2
• 1 John 3:6-9, 4-10, 1-3
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
• 2 Corinthians 7:1
• 1 John 1:1-4
• John 17:14-23
• Revelation 21:1-7

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 2 Thessalonians 2
• John 14
• Genesis 1:26

Also referenced:

Sermon: God's Grace & Commandment Keeping
#s 12-13

Books:

• Judaism: Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal
• The Seven General Epistles by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 8-24-10
Formatted: bo—8-29-10