The Image of a Christian --Dan corner

The Image of a Christian
In Our Present-Day

Dan Corner

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Image of a Christian (mp3)

The image of a Christian has been horrendously smeared and distorted. It is no longer accurately depicted as a holy image, but instead a hypocritical image. A Christian’s image now, in our apostate hour, is that of a powerless, sin-addicted and defeated person who professes salvation, but has only a form of godliness! In our hour, people who wrongly profess salvation act just like the unbelieving godless multitudes in spiritual darkness and death on the road to hell. The world also sees them that way because that is how they behave.

Deceived religious people profess salvation, but are addicted to sin and think all others are too! They think they are God’s children, but know they are not living above sin as an overcomer and see no need to! The devil’s icing on the cake for them is: They are hell bound, yet think they are irrevocably going to heaven in their sins, which they think God can’t see or which have been already forgiven before they were committed! They remain blind to their vital need of repentance as they blend in with those who have no fear of God. In a nutshell, the Biblical image of a Christian in our day has been distorted by the following errors:
● denying Christians are righteous ● denying Christians are good
● denying Christians are obeying God ● Christians sin all the time ● Christians will remain saved in occasional acts of adultery, murder, theft, witchcraft, etc. and that it takes practice of sin before a righteous person will die spiritually. ● professing Christians are sinners
● believing the Rom. 7:14-25 is the normal Christian life and that describes Paul as a Christian

Such statements have produced a grossly disfigured, unholy and dangerous false image of Christianity that bears no resemblance to the genuine. People who believe like that, for the most part, have been seduced away from the Biblical truth and trapped by their sins and ungodly lusts for more, yet think they are Biblical because they are in the majority!

The False Image of
The Apostle Paul

The fabricated Paul taught by the many grace changers has done nightmarish damage to the holy image of a Christian. It is almost universally taught that Rom. 7:14-25 is the Apostle Paul as a Christian and therefore the normal Christian life. Various details found in that passage demolish any such thought, but especially v.19 needs to be mentioned:

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing (Rom 7:19)

Again, almost all Bible teachers over the last century declare that to be part of the self-description of the Apostle Paul. If that was true then Paul: (1) Could not do the good he wanted to do and (2) continued to practice habitually the evil he didn’t want to do. That is the perfect description of a slave to sin or as we generally say in our day an addict. Was that the real Apostle Paul? Was he really addicted to sin—doing evil continuously, or is that a wicked lie from hell?
In the preceding chapter (Romans 6), Paul gives a concise statement about the real Christian, one who has become a new creation We read:

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Rom 6:18)

That is a verse worthy of memorization and shows the radical change in a saved person. Such a person is exactly the opposite of the Rom. 7:19 person, the one erroneously applied to the Apostle Paul by the dangerous and prevalent grace changers! The Rom. 7:19 person is a slave to sin but not to righteousness! Hence, it is impossible for it to describe the Bible-defined Christian.
The true image of the Apostle Paul is best described piece by piece as one reads through the New Testament. The collective findings show the real Paul was consistently holy, spiritual, courageous, zealous and a self-sacrificing follower of Jesus Christ, the opposite of how the Rom. 7:14-25 passage suggests! He was the greatest example of a Christian that has ever existed. Those facts should be more than enough to know the popular interpretation of Romans 7 is demonic and nothing better. As bad as it is to smear Paul, it gets worse since it is also taught that Rom. 7:14-25 applies to the normal Christian life. Hence, both the image of a Christian and Christianity itself have been reduced to a spiritual failure by the very ones who wrongly profess to be part of it! That sadly spells apostasy—loud and clear. Some even think the BTK serial murderer was a Christian at that time, who also has a demon!

Was Paul a Liar

The persona of today’s counterfeit Christian of Rom. 7:14-25 is also refuted by other passages:

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3,4)

If Paul was describing himself as a Christian in Rom. 7:19 (as we are often told), John says he is a liar! Of course, Paul was not doing that and there is perfect harmony between the Lord’s Apostles. The problem is the grace changers and their dangerous Scriptural distortions. The Lord Jesus and Paul also taught showing the person in Rom. 7:14-25 is UNsaved:

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest IF we do not give up. (Gal 6:7-9)

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.... Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Mat 7:21,23)

The man in Rom. 7:14-25 is doing the opposite of what a Christian does, yet is supposed to be saved, according to the grace changers! That shouts out ERROR! The interpretation of Rom. 7:14-25 given by the grace changers is a definite license for immorality and dangerous distortion of the image of a Christian, regardless how well accepted it is.

The Real Image of the Apostle Paul

The real holy image of the Apostle Paul is partly revealed here:

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” (Acts 23:1)

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Cor 9:27)

Hence, just from those verses, Paul maintained a good conscience, took captive every thought to make it obedient to the Lord Jesus and made his body his slave. Consequently, Paul could correctly describe himself:

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. (1 Th 2:10)

That is a far cry from the fabricated Paul, who is the chief of sinners, of the eternal security grace changers!

Was Paul The Worst Sinner
(Of All Time)

If Paul was the worst sinner (or chief of sinners), then there were none worse than he was! Could that be the person God used to write one half of the New Testament? Never! [NOTE: the grace changers want it both ways. They teach Paul was the chief of sinners and at other times he was holy, yet their audience doesn’t seem to notice!] Let’s look at the passage which is distorted to tickle sin-loving ears:

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:15,16)

The grace changers argue that Paul said am (which is present tense), inferring his present spiritual condition. Such blind guides ignore the context of that passage, which refers to his life before regeneration:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 1:12-14).

It should also be noted that Paul also taught the following after he became a Christian:

Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 23:6)

That is also present tense yet he was not like a Pharisee anymore. That is especially clear in his epistle to the Galatians where he opposes various Pharisee practices. (See Deadly Galatianism Reintroduced)

Is A Christian A Good Person

Once saved always saved proponent, Ray Comfort, is primarily guilty of promoting the false concept that even a Christian is not a good person through his evangelistic approach. In contrast to Ray Comfort we read the following from the Lord Jesus, the ultimate authority:

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Mat 5:45)

According to the Lord Jesus, one is either good or evil, which is synonymous to being either righteous or unrighteous. Hence, if one is not a good person, he must be an evil person—one who is unrighteous! Also, don’t forget that Barnabas was a good man (Acts 11:24).
Furthermore, Ray Comfort and his false convert teaching has people neglecting a real possibility when someone backslides that is, he loses his salvation (he dies spiritually). Too bad so many have been affected by his theology of eternal security. There is NO Eternal Security. If a disciple doesn't endure hatred to the end, he won't be saved (Mt. 10:22)!

Are Christians Unrighteous

Another reason why the image of a Christian has been distorted so badly is because people think even Christians are not righteous! Romans 3:10 has been over-emphasized to the destruction of the Biblical image of a Christian:

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Rom 3:10)

Too bad the same people who know about verse 10 aren’t aware of verse 9:

Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin

Again, the immediate context helps show the folly in saying even Christians are not righteous. Jews are just like the Gentiles. Before salvation, they are not righteous either as is evident by their behavior and words. There are none righteous in God’s eyes before salvation.
The overall evidence in the Bible to show there are righteous people is amazing. So are all people unrighteous? NEVER! There are righteous people. If one is unrighteous he is shown in Scripture to be the same as evil, ungodly and wicked, that is, one who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10). Remember, only the righteous will go to eternal life:

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Mat 25:46)

So who are the righteous? Ponder the following:

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil. (1 John 3:7,8)

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)

Also, according to the Scriptures, Noah, Joseph, Simeon, Abel, Zechariah, Lot and Abraham are all clearly cited as being righteous. Without doubt, there are righteous people, but all people before salvation are not righteous. Do NOT be deceived by the grace changers. There is NO Eternal Security.

Do Christians Sin All The Time

The prevalent message with all of this is, a Christian sins all the time and that he is a sinner, but that doesn’t really matter because of grace. Specifically, lust and lying are supposed to be common everyday sins of even Christians! If that was true, then Christians would be adulterers (for lusting) and going to the lake of fire for both the sexual immorality and lying:

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. (Mat 5:28,29)

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Rev 21:8)

All of this prevalent verbiage denies a Christian can:
● OBEY
● resist the devil
● crucify the flesh

NOTE: To believe a Christian sins all the time is to also say a Christian can NOT obey God, which is ludicrous. When truth like that goes forth the grace changers in their darkened understanding of Scripture often retorts with something which demonically equates obedience to legalism or a works salvation! Error upon error continues to proceed from the Calvinists, even the one-point Calvinists.

Christian Martyrs

The Bible shows there have been and will yet be Christian martyrs. Since that is fact, how can all of this present hour nonsense continue? A martyr can't fit into the typical Rom. 7:14-25 explanation. All Christians are called martyrs in Acts 1:8, Greek.
In summary, the image of a Christian now is a sinister, evil and ugly distortion which allows for gross wickedness and salvation too. It is a powerless and unholy image. The once saved always saved lie has been accepted, treasured and defended by people who love a lie.

A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue. (Prov. 17:4)

Such people have also sought out teachers to declare that type of message (2 Tim. 4:3,4). Now it is taught there is no behavorial difference between the vilest person and some so-called carnal Christian described by an eternal security proponent—sad but true! Since they believe Christians sin all the time and teach you can’t distinguish a saved person from a lost person, they have come up with another distortion. To help camouflage their allowance for sin they sometimes say:
● the real Christian fights against sin and feels sorrow when he yields but the false convert doesn’t!
● the real Christian slips into sin while the false convert dives into it. NOTE: According to them, ALL are in sin, even the Christians!
In contrast, 1 John 2:3,4 simply says the person who has salvation (who says I know him) obeys. Yielding to sin is not overcoming or obeying. Yielding to temptation is sinning and the Bible says this about slaves to sin:

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)

God bless you.

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