Warning about False Teachers, No. 5
Romans 16:17-20a
RO200-01

Paul's Final Admonitions

Be Like Jesus

The apostle Paul in the Romans 16 gives the Christians in Rome a final admonition for living in Satan's world as he concludes his letter to them. We have seen that the Roman Christians were devoted students of Scripture. They practiced what was preached to them. They obeyed the Bible doctrine that they had learned, and consequently they prospered spiritually, and this was evident to everyone. The Roman Christians had a close walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and they were building spiritual maturity into their souls. Paul wanted these Christians to maintain their good reputation for positive volition to doctrine and to continue their spiritual growth. He admonished these Christians in Rome, therefore, to be well acquainted with all that God says is good in life. And this is the final word that he leaves with them. He says before I put the final period, may I just leave this admonition, this advice, this thought with you: be well advised, well acquainted by experience with everything that God says is good. To know and to practice God's divine viewpoint is indeed to be a wise person. The Christian is to be devoted to imitating Jesus Christ in His humanity. That's basically what Paul was saying: learn everything that's good, in other words, be like Jesus.

Refrain From Evil

Paul also, however, cautioned these same Christians against mixing into their lives, into their life experience, the things that are evil. And what he was talking about was not a thought of evil. Please remember there is a difference between the thought of evil and an evil thought. Paul is not talking about a thought of evil, otherwise we'd all have to get out of this world. We are constantly being faced with factors relative to evil and we have to deal with this. We see the evils of something like abortion. We have to examine it. We have to inform people. We have to alert women to what's involved, the tragedies, the hazards, the enormity of the crime that is being committed. But an evil thought is the other side of the abortion issue; those who accept this evil as an attractive, acceptable practice on their part. There's a difference between an evil thought where we learn about the evils that we are to avoid in Satan's world, and an evil thought which is an indulgent participation in that evil. The apostle Paul is not telling you that you go around with a Pollyanna attitude that everything is rosy in the world, there's no ugliness, there's no sinfulness, and there's no degradation. That is foolish. Your children would laugh in your face. They know better than that. Point is that we walk by a newsstand and we look at the evil of the pornographic magazines and we have a thought about evil as we look at that. We know the evil that's there, but we don't pick it up and make it an evil thought by participating and viewing what's inside the covers. That's the difference that Paul is talking about.

Christians participate in your experience in everything that's good. Christians do not put into your experience the things that God says are evil. So, they were to avoid debasing themselves as Christians and as human beings, because after all, they had been made in the image of God. The whole present agony of the human race and suffering under evil was the result of Adam and Eve choosing to get acquainted with evil by experience. This was the very thing God told them not to do that Paul is reiterating to us. God told them, 'don't ever get acquainted with evil by your own experience.' That was the very thing that they chose to do. So, they brought down on the head of all of us, of all their progeny, the sufferings of the sin nature and the sin in nature itself. So, the world in which we live reflects indeed the evil character of its master, Satan. Therefore, the communication and entertainment media specialize in teaching people about evil practices which are morally degrading and which are enticing to the sin nature. That's one of the reasons Paul says don't acquainted with evil: it is enticing to the sin nature to go too far in being acquainted with the evil practices of which people are capable. Christians don't need to pursue an acquaintance with moral degradation that the sin nature is capable of producing.

Six Things to Dwell On

On the occasion, when Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians, he gave a very brief and effective little summary of the good things that Christians should pursue. He shook them down to 6 basic good things, which, if a Christian pursues, he will be just generally right on target with what Paul is talking about in Romans. Turn to Philippians 4:8. In Philippians 4:8, Paul makes a summary statement as he comes to the end of this book. He says, "Finally, [meaning now in closing, let me summarize] brethren." In the Bible, when Paul uses the word "brethren," he is talking about believers. He is speaking to Christians. So, he is giving advice here to Christians and particularly advice about your mentality, advice about how you use your mind, what you think about. "Finally, brethren, whatever." Paul uses this Greek word "hosos," h o s o s. The word "hosos" is a numerical quantity word. He's indicating that he is going to mention 6 categories. But under those categories, there's all kinds of different variations by which this particular good thing could be done. So, he uses this word to indicate he's not telling us just one thing, but he's giving us a category. Then there are many ways of expressing this particular good.

Whatever Is Truth

Good number one, "whatever is true." He uses the word "alethes," a l e t h e s. The word "alethes" is very simply the very opposite of everything which is false. This is expressed in that way in Ephesians 4:25 where Paul says "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK [the opposite,] TRUTH, EACH ONE of you, WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another." Laying aside falsehood, speak truth. So, he's speaking here about what conforms to reality rather than what is an illusion. He's referring here to what is fact over what is not a fact. He's referring here to, for example, the fact of creation over against the illusion of evolution. Absolute truth is what Bible doctrine is all about. That is God's reality. In the Word of God, we have the truth about the origins of the material universe and all of the life forms. God created it out of nothing. That's truth. You wouldn't know that unless you read it in the Bible because you weren't there to see it. Paul says, 'Once you know that truth, that's what you operate on. You never go into the illusion of saying that it evolved by itself by chance over a vast expanse of time.' We have the facts about what is morally right and wrong. This is based upon the character of God. The New Age theology today says, 'But everybody is a God. You yourself are a God. If you are a God, then you can make your own rules. Who is to tell you that something is wrong or something is right. You tell yourself what is right and what is wrong.' That's illusion. Paul says, 'That's not truth. Stay with the truth. The basic groundwork the Scripture lays out. It is in the Bible that we find the absolute truths about sin and hell, about salvation and heaven. We learn this from God's revelation, not from the majority vote of sinful human beings.' The reality of divine viewpoint is what he's talking about here, rather than the illusions of what people think.

Satan has filled the minds of people with lies, lies by which they live. Satan does this by revealing things to people through certain systems, often religious systems, which have a ground, a basis of truth, so that you know that there is a truth being spoken here and then Satan interjects a lie. People who are psychics like to quote what the spirit world tells them. The spirit world will tell you many things that are the kinds of things Paul says you should concentrate on, truth. But they will also slip in the lie so that the truth is distorted. In John 8:44, Jesus pointed out that Satan is the all-time great liar of the universe. "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies."

So, this is what Paul is talking about. The first good you should concentrate on is truth. The basic truth about life comes from the Bible. Do not be fooled by being deceived by what people think instead of what God has revealed.

Whatever Is Honorable

The second thing he says in Philippians 4:8 is devote yourself to the kind of things that fall under the category of what he describes as being "honorable." This Greek word looks like this, the word "semnos," s e m n o s. This word refers to things that are worthy of respect by others. I don't have to explain that to you. You understand what it is to do something that a person says 'Boy, I don't have any respect for anybody does that. I can't respect that kind of conduct. I can't respect that attitude.' It is tragic when Christians do things that people have to say, 'boy, I have no respect for him.' And it's true, they are doing something that is unconscionable and without dignity. This refers to conduct which cannot be an object of contempt before others. It connotes what is dignified and what will secure for you the esteem of others. Satan has, of course, filled the world with contemptible conduct which people scorn Paul says one of the good things that God wants you to concentrate on is to be an honorable person. Just be the kind of a person that causes people to hold you in esteem, because if they hold you in esteem, they hold our Lord in esteem, because they hold you as a representative of Jesus Christ. What they think of you, they will think of him.

Whatever Is Right

The next thing Paul says is the category of what "is right." This is the Greek word "diakaios," d i k a i o s. This refers to God's standard of moral conduct as revealed in the Bible. The thing that's right is what God says is right to do or wrong to do. It is what is compatible with the very character of God, not what is compatible with the sin nature of man. Whatever laws of man are in conformity to the laws of God, are "dikaios" laws. They are laws that we respect. A Christian's conduct, in other words, is to be governed by the will of God, because the will of God is what is right. Sometimes the will of God is tough bananas. That's when we come to be pressed and say 'There is a sovereign God. Nothing comes into my life that He doesn't give the stamp of approval to permit. Therefore, what comes is what's right. I deal with God on the basis that He treats me in the right way. Therefore, I conduct myself in relationship to Him on the understanding that He is a righteous "dikaios" person.

Satan makes people think that when they come up with all this human good out of their sin nature that they're doing what is right. Politicians need to learn this word. Politicians specialize, they think, in doing what is good. But unless that political person is steeped in doctrine, he doesn't know what's good. He comes up with Old Sin Nature human good, which God says, "I spew out of my mouth in disgust." There's a lot of human good which is being portrayed as good, which is evil with God.

Those of us who know the Word of God have a basis of knowing what is a good thing to do and what is not a good thing to do. God says, "You Christians should do the morally good thing. You should not do the morally wrong thing."

Whatever Is Pure

The next category, he says, is a category that he calls "pure." The Greek word is "agnos" a g n o s. "Agnos" means free from all moral defilement, thinking and conduct which are morally wholesome, no dirty thoughts indulged, no vulgar practices pursued, no foul language spewed forth, just what is pure.

The degradation of a human being is readily seen by just the language that they use. Have you ever been in the presence of somebody who constantly uses a stream of obscenities and curse words? Every now and then I run into somebody that does that, and it is an awesome experience to realize how degraded this person is and how debauched his life is and what a course of self-destruction that individual is on. And it is for what reason? Because he lacks purity.

It is not something to be embarrassed that you are a pure person. It is not something to be distressed because somebody calls you a goody 2 shoe. That's better than being a goody 3 shoe! That would be abnormal! Being goody is good! God says, "That's what I want you to be." Satan makes people think that being dirty is being manly and being vulgar is being strong. Don't you like it when you hear women curse? That's one of the greatest examples, I think, of this purity. There's something about a lady cursing that really curdles something in me. It is really offensive. It's bad enough when men do it. But for a woman to degrade herself, that's a sign of lacking purity in a lot of other areas in her life. The Word of God says 'thinking which is from God is clean thinking. Thinking which is from Satan is corrupt.' James makes that contrast in James 3:17. James 3:17 says "But the wisdom from above [that which comes from God,] is first pure." That's the first characteristic of what comes from God, it is pure. So, thinking from God is pure thinking. The Christian is not to indulge himself in anything sordid, shabby or smutty. Satan has filled the world with filthy things to degrade people.

Whatever Is Lovely

The next category Paul calls the things that are "lovely." This is the word "prosphiles," p r o s p h i l e s. You may have noticed this word "philos," which is the word for love, an emotional expression. What this word refers to is peace and goodwill rather than conflict. This word literally means "love worthy." Christians are to do the things that are love worthy, the things that emotionally create within you a spirit of affection. Christian conduct should be winsome so that people are not repulsed and disgusted. Love worthy acts are acts which do not bring injury to another person's human spirit, to another person's soul, and certainly to another person's body. How many Christians have not learned the category of good known as "prosphiles," love worthy things? How they violate the souls of other people. How they violate the bodies of other people. How they violate the tenderness of the human spirits of other people. A Christian who is sensitive about doing love worthy acts, you see, is going to, in the nature of the case, be a very significant person. Christian conduct should in fact inspire others to do good. What Satan inspires is instead contention and violence among people so that there is nothing lovely, there is no quality of peace.

Whatever Is Of Good Repute

Then the last thing, the sixth he says, is the category of the things that he classifies under "good repute." The word in the Greek Bible is "euphemos," e u p h e m o s. The word "euphemos" refers to what is attractive, commendable. It connotes particularly against speech which ennobles the hearers and builds them up in the image of God. People should not have to stand in the presence of a Christian and cringe by what they hear him say. People should not have to stand in the presence of a Christian and feel degraded. Christians should ennoble people by what they say. High class language characterizes Christians, not lowbrow language. The words of a Christian should always be fit for God himself to hear. And He does. You'd wonder that anybody has to be told to practice good repute in what this word means in speech that is attractive and commendable. It should be fit for God to hear, as indeed He does. Satan promotes gutter language in human society to defile people and to cause them to act like pigs in a mud hole.

So, the apostle Paul, here to the Philippians, gives a little concise summary of practicing, learning, experiencing what is good: the things that are true, not the things that are false, the things that are compatible with the real world, the things that are honorable, worthy of respect by others, the things that are right because they meet the standard of God's righteousness, the things that are pure, because they are free of moral defilement, the things that are lovely because they are acts of love, love worthy acts, and the things that are of good repute because they are commendable and attractive.

Dwell On These Things

And the rest of Philippians 4:8 says, "that if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things." If there is any excellence, and the word "if" there is a first-class condition. He says that there are things of excellence. The word excellence is the Greek word "arete," a r e t e. This refers to something that has a conspicuous advantage or value, things which are intrinsically ennobling, things that refine and elevate a person, things which lift one above an animal level of conduct. Satan teaches that evolution has created mankind and therefore man is just an advanced animal. Paul says that there are certain things that can be classified as excellence. He says if there are any things like that, and there are.

And then he says "if anything worthy of praise." That's the Greek word "epainos," e p a i n o s. This word means praiseworthy, things which God would praise, not things which people would praise. Nothing is more valuable than to have God's commendation for being a good and faithful servant. God does not find evil people in their ways praiseworthy. But Paul says there are things that are worthy of praise. God finds the people of this world pathetic, arrogant, and inconsequential jerks. God says, "What is praiseworthy, that is what I esteem."

Satan exalts the low life and the low life type in human society. Our society covers the low life type with a veneer of culture, a veneer of wealth, and veneer of power. Just let some prominent entertainer die and see how much adulation comes to this person. You look behind the veneer, you look behind the public propaganda, you look behind the money, you look behind the wealth, and you see a scum ball. You see a light that does opposite of all these things; you recoil from it. You're offended. Yet the world is exalting this person, this great individual who's probably out there in Hades agonizing in the flames already, and wishing he could send the message back to the people who are running memorials for him.

The Word of God says, 'If anything is excellent, something that is of conspicuous advantage and value, do that! If anything is praiseworthy, that people can be ennobled by, do that!'

Then he gives the final point of what he's driving at in the end of verse 8: let your mind "dwell on these things." It's the Greek word "logizomai," l o g i z o m a i. "Logizomai" means to "reflect on carefully." This word connotes focusing your attention on something. So, this is to be the lifestyle of the Christian: focus on the things that Paul has described here. And it is a command. This is in the imperative mood. All of us focus our minds, our attention, on something and all of us act accordingly.

A Christians mind is to dwell on all of the things that are the opposite of what the people of Satan's world focus their minds on. See our problem? Everything around us focuses on Satan's thinking, and we Christians have to weed that out. Think on these things. That kind of a life is a pattern which produces happiness and it keeps you happy in all the ups and downs of life. So, that's the other thing about this. When Paul says to do these good things and then summarizes it by saying these things are excellent, these things that are praiseworthy, let your mind dwell on these things, that means that when the tragedy comes into your life, you're going to carry through with happiness. That means when the shock comes into your life, you're going to carry through with happiness because you've been a person who's been operating on the level of good. But when you're down on the level of evil and these come into your life, boy, you're shattered, you are ripped to shreds. Satan has had his field day with you. That's what's important about living the good life. As God labels and rates the good life. If you live the good life by the world's standard, when the crisis comes, you're a pathetic, whimpering, beaten creature.

Our Savior, Satan's Doom

In Romans 16:20. Paul says, "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." In Eden, man forfeited control of the earth to Satan by obeying him. Adam and Eve became sinners by nature. They lost their holy covering. They stood exposed in their moral guilt. Sin separated Adam and Eve from fellowship with God their creator, and doomed then to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire with Satan. Then God tells Satan something, and Adam and Eve overhear. A thrill goes through their being as they realize that God is telling Satan something that He's going to do for Adam and Eve and their posterity that's going to take them out of this doom of spending eternity with Satan. As God pronounced judgment on Adam and Eve, He graciously promised to send a Redeemer to free them from Satan's grasp in which he now held them, and from ultimate doom with him. Genesis 3:15, God says to Satan, addressing the snake, Adam and Eve eavesdropping, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." As God pronounced this judgment, He made it clear that a male child would be born in time from a woman who would deliver a mortal blow to Satan's head while delivering suffering to her seed as He paid for the sins of mankind. So, the angelic warfare which began in Heaven with Satan's rebellion against God was to end with a victory of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, as Satan wounded the heel of Christ with the suffering of the sins of mankind. And Jesus in turn, gave a mortal blow to the head of Satan and won the victory that spelled Satan's doom.

Sometimes Christians wonder 'does Satan know what's ahead for him.' I think he does. I think he's smart enough to know that if Jesus ever walked out of that tomb, all the world would know for sure that the sin of mankind had been covered and the justice of God had been satisfied, so that human sin was no longer an issue with God. God is not talking to you about cleaning up your life and dealing with your sin. Sin is not an issue of God. The only issue with God is will you accept the payment that I made for your sin through My Son on the cross. When Satan saw Christ raised from the dead, he knew the jig was up. He is now on a vengeance binge. He's trying like Hitler to burn everything down with him now that he knows he's doomed and the victory on the cross can never be reversed. Adam and Eve, when they heard God say this to Satan, immediately believed His promise of a future Savior born through the woman and they trusted in this Christ, which was to come to save them. God then confirmed His promise to save them by killing an animal, probably a lamb, using its hide to make clothing to cover their moral nakedness. In time, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Lamb of God, the final Lamb of God would be slain on the cross to pay for the sin of all mankind and to cover its moral guilt before God.

The centuries moved along and God raised up a prophet named Isaiah. To this prophet, He gave further specifications that amplified what God did in a very brief way said in Genesis 3:15 about a male Savior to be born through the line of the woman. We have these in several specific passages. For example, Isaiah 7:14 gave us a little more information. Isaiah 7:14 said "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call His name Immanuel." This is quoted in the New Testament referring to Jesus and the name "Immanuel" means "God with us." So Isaiah said, what God promised to give us in Genesis 3:15 will be a human being who will be virgin born, which means He will not have a sin nature which is given to a child through his father. Isaiah 9:6, God gave this additional information to Isaiah, "For a child will be born to us [humanity, coming through the natural birth process. But notice], a son will be given to us [Ah haa! Someone already in existence, the second member of the Trinity, so that what is going to come as a Savior will be a God-Man, virgin born, two very important additional factors. And furthermore,]; And the government shall rest upon His shoulders and He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." These are clearly the descriptions of deity.

And then the big impact in the great chapter of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53:4-9, the promised Savior would not only be Virgin born, He would not only be a God-Man, but now Isaiah says, 'I can tell you that He is going to experience 2 deaths in paying for the sins of mankind, He will die spiritually and He will die physically.' "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. [You know what that is? That's what we call vicarious atonement: somebody who doesn't deserve to die, who is not guilty, is taking the place of somebody who is guilty and vicariously burying their guilt. Verse 6.] All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? [dying for someone else. Verse 9.] His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death [He was on the cross with two thieves, but He was buried in a rich man's tomb], Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth."

Now notice Isaiah 53:5: something very dramatic. It says, "He was pierced through for transgressions and He was crushed for our iniquities." The Hebrew word "crushed" looks like this, it's the word "Daca," d a c a, the word that means to beat something to pieces. The enormity of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of mankind is beyond human comprehension. Between the Jewish and the Roman authorities, Jesus Christ was brutalized and shattered with pain. This word "daca" describes exactly what happened to Him. He was beaten to pieces for our sins.

Now notice verse 9. In verse 9, this same Hebrew word is used. The same Hebrew word is used in Isaiah 53:9 where he had done no violence. The same word is used to describe the crushing of Jesus Christ. Why was Jesus Christ crushed here? Why was He assigned in this way? Why was He given this kind of treatment? Who gave Him this treatment? It was obviously done by God the Father Himself. He was smitten. Verse 4, "He was smitten of God." In verse 4, the word smitten there is again the same word of crushed. So, who crushed Him? Who beat Him to pieces? Who put Him to this agony? God the Father Himself! What an amazing revelation. Why did Jesus Christ die for the sins of the world? Why did He suffer upon that cross? You and I would say so that we wouldn't have to go and spend eternity in Hell. No, that is a secondary reason. The first reason was that God Himself did this so that He could be free to turn loose His love upon mankind and save sinners from spending eternity with Satan in the Lake of Fire. God in justice could not do that unless that sin had been paid for. Either you pay for your own sins or someone qualified to pay for them does. Christ was qualified. He paid for them. Sin is not an issue between man and God. But you may choose to make it an issue by saying 'I'll do my own suffering, I'll bear my own consequences.' And here in Isaiah 53:4, "smitten of God," crushed by Him.

This is what the apostle Paul was referring to earlier in Romans 3:21, God preparing for Himself a way to give forgiveness to those who eventually would accept Christ as Savior, because God could not just ignore sin without performing a moral guilt Himself. In Romans 3:21 Paul says "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. [There's a righteousness that does not come from human doing: apart from the law.] It has been revealed even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction [There is a righteousness, an absolute righteousness, that will take you into Heaven, which God has provided. And the need for this verse 23 says is] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [God's standard of glory]; being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation [a satisfaction] in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [Whose righteousness? God the Father's righteousness. God has provided justification through Jesus Christ, who is displayed publicly on the cross to satisfy the righteous demands of God's justice, and that God would demonstrate His righteousness.], because in the forbearance of God, He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His [God the Father's] righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Satan is standing on the sideline and saying, 'OK God, you great and wonderful just person. You condemn me and my demons to the Lake of Fire. But look at that foul creature, Adam. You've got him in Heaven. There's no debt to cover his sins. Where does he get off getting there? Sure You're a fair God, what a bunch of baloney. Look at Abraham. He made great promises. That guy's covered with moral guilt. Look at him, he's sitting in Heaven. Who do you think you are telling us that you're going to put us in the Lake of Fire because that's justice? And you got this guy in Heaven with no sins forgiven. Look at David. This guy, adulterer, murderer, and you know what else. He sits in Heaven. You're calling Yourself a god of justice and fairness.' Do you see why it was important for God who had been forgiving sins on credit? That's what He did. He said, 'Abraham, are you going to trust Me to take care of your sin?' 'Yes, Sir.' 'Go to Heaven.' 'I'm not covered.' 'That's alright, on credit.' That's where the credit system begins. Adam did the same thing. He said 'Go to Heaven? We're not covered.' 'You're covered. Here's a credit slip. I'll tell you when it's time to pay the fiddler.' 'David, boy, David you're right. You're really loaded. I don't know, just go on into Heaven, I don't even want to talk to you. I'll take care of you later.' And in they walk with all their moral guilt. You see, all their moral guilt, as denuded as Adam and Eve were in the sight of God, but God said, 'I'm writing out these credit slips and someday the fiddler has to be paid.' The fiddler that had to be paid was God's own justice.

That's why the Bible says in Romans 3 that it was God giving salvation on credit who had the first interest in Christ dying on the cross and who put Him there in which Isaiah described as crushing Him to pieces. The Father Himself did that to the Son in order that God could collect all those IOUs. All those credit slips were now paid in full so that all the great saints of the Old Testament and all those down the history of time would be able to enter into Heaven with all their moral guilt fully paid for.

God's Salvation Plan

You see, there's no question you people are going to Heaven if you trusted in Christ. Everything has been covered. There's no more on credit. It is all a settled issue. This was the fulfillment of a covenant which in eternity past that God had sat down, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they worked out a plan before man ever came on the scene by which man would be saved. And the Father said, My justice has to be satisfied. The Son said, I'll pay the price. You must give Me a human body that's free of a sin nature, which He did through the virgin birth. The Holy Spirit said, I will give You the power in Your humanity to live a sinless life on this earth. You'll start out just like Adam and You will never sin. I will give You all the powers. Remember our study in Isaiah 11:2: those tremendous powers which in Revelation is called the Seven Spirits standing before the throne of God, the same powers that are in the life of a Christian today to keep him operating on track in a life of blessing, walking in purity, free of sin. The result was that the members of the Godhead agreed that this was the plan and then They put it into motion.

The first purpose of that plan of the suffering and the death of Christ under the moral guilt of mankind was to establish the righteousness of God the Father in forgiving sins on credit to believing sinners in centuries past. The human personalities which were involved in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross were in fact carrying out the decree of the Godhead that plan that they had settled upon in eternity past. The triune God was dealing with Himself to save us. You believe that? The triune God was dealing with Himself to save us. That, folks, is free grace salvation.

Satan's Opposition

Satan, of course, is opposed to all this plan. He attempted to frustrate the salvation plan of God. He tried to frustrate it from the moment that he saw what God was doing in the Garden of Eden. When he heard the promise to send the Savior, he created numerous religious false systems of salvation, all of which take their devotees into the Lake of Fire. He introduced the concept of Lordship Salvation so that people would get their eyes on their own human good instead of the good of Jesus Christ.

Mrs. Danish was buying something at the store the other day and the sales lady was talking to people in line before her, and she was telling them about something they were buying. She kept repeating a phrase. She kept saying, "Listen, what I'm telling you about this is true. This is a good product. It'll do this for you. I'm telling you the truth because I want to go to Heaven." Then she told the next person about something, and she says, "It'll do this for you. I'm telling you, the truth because I want to go to Heaven." She did this 3 or 4 times, "I'll tell you the truth, because I want to go to Heaven." Would that all the clerks were like that. But in any case, when Mrs. Danish got up there, she did the same thing. She said, "I'm telling you the truth, lady. I want to go to Heaven." So, Lenora says, "Well you know, going to Heaven is more than telling the truth." She explained the Gospel to her a little bit. "Oh!" she says, "Yes, I'm all for that." Then she indicated "I speak in tongues and I've had the baptism of the Holy Spirit." And bingo, bingo, bingo. Mrs. Danish paid her bill and left. She got the picture. Here is a lady who said all these wonderful things, but she's going to tell you the truth so she can go to Heaven. That's Lordship Salvation. Get your eyes on yourself and off the Lord and you will go down into the Lake of Fire. Get your eyes as a Christian on yourself and off of the Lord and you will go into reversionism like you wouldn't believe. Satan is behind all that.

Satan's anti-Semitism was out to destroy the Savior from ever being born through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He attempted to get the infant child Christ murdered by King Herod. There were unrelenting attacks to this day upon believers who are subject to doctrine to dissuade them from engaging in the angelic warfare by using their spiritual gifts and proclaiming the doctrine of free grace salvation. But the sovereign God always takes what men try to do, and he turns it to His glory, and into His blessing.

Satan's Imminent Defeat

Psalm 76:10 puts it this way, Psalm 76:10 says, "For the wrath of man shall praise Thee." Isn't that great? "For the wrath of man shall praise Thee." Satan's power of the over the earth has been broken. Satan's demons are now mere usurpers hanging on the shreds of power. Satan has been put to public shame by Jesus Christ. He has been humiliated before his own demons by his defeat at the Cross. Yet, believe it or not, people still claim they still follow this loser, crawling in the dirt with his mouth full of dust. Christ arose from the dead and Satan fell into eternal death. Christians can never say, "The devil made me do it." His power is broken. All you can ever say is that I let the devil use me to do it. James 4:7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." All you gotta do is say no to him and he will flee from you. He cannot exercise power over you.

Paul in Romans 16:20 declares the imminent defeat of Satan. Soon, the God who brought us peace through the cross of Jesus Christ will complete the crushing of Satan. The end will come with Satan crushed under the feet of the saints of the Church Age. The question of the Justice of God will then forever be settled. Satan will never be able to accuse God of being unfair. People who would not trust in Christ are going to Hell. People who trusted in Christ are going to Heaven. That's fair. God's justice clearly demonstrated. We Christians, therefore, are assured of eternal life, a victory of our faith, and we are assured of the daily victory of doctrine working in our lives.

The Christian's Victory

Paul cautions the Christians with such a victory not to investigate the things of evil in the world system. In the Old Testament, the Jews were told to destroy everything connected with the pagan cultures. They were not to preserve any instruments of evil that they found. They were not to ask how these things work. They were not to inquire how the pagans did these things. Satan in Eden advised Eve to ignore God's instruction and to get her own acquaintance with evil. She listened. She took her husband down with her into physical death. Eve was on the wrong side here of God's word. Eve was disobedient to God, who was really her friend. Christians, therefore, with good sense, will follow Paul's advice and avoid learning the things of evil while they're absorbed in learning the things of good. They will be under hearers of God's word and thus obedient to Him. Christians who follow Paul's advice will enjoy crushing Satan under their feet. So, believers hang on to doctrine, that's your life. Work by means of the Holy Spirit, that's your power. The Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit and who is under the direction of doctrine can evaluate truthfully all areas of human knowledge, you are nobody's fool. And all areas of experience are not meaningful.

The final crushing of Satan will be under the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ with our assistance in what the Bible calls Operation Footstool. It's described in Psalm 110:1, "The LORD says to my Lord: [This is David speaking. The Lord God the Father says to my Lord Jesus Christ,] 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.'" Satan will be made a footstool. He will have the foot of Jesus Christ on him in conquest. This is expanded by the apostle Paul, this picture in Colossians 2:13-15. Colossians 2:13-15, And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt, [the IOU] consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, [the demonic host,] He made a public display of them having triumphed over them through Him." That is Paul's description of Operation Footstool. So, my admonition to you today is let Satan the serpent eat dust and let we, the royal family of God, stand in victory over him.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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