The Sin Nature

Dr. Couch, do we still have the tug of the sin nature in the Christian life?

ANSWER: There is a lot of confusion on this issue. While POSITIONALLY the old man was crucified with Christ we still wrestle with sin in the life. Romans 7:14, 17, 20, 21 are good verses that tell us we have a struggle even as Christians with sin. Paul writes: "I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin" and "sin which indwells in me," "sin which dwells in me" and "evil is present in me." This is not about our past position, it is about the present Christian and spiritual walk.

We read in Romans 6:6 that the "old self (old man) was crucified with Him." This is positionally truth. But then Paul adds that in our walk we should "no longer be slaves to sin" (6:6). Positionally, "we died with Christ (v. 8) and we now are "to live to God" (v. 10).

Therefore, in the walk we are "to consider, reckon" ourselves "alive to God in Christ Jesus" (v. 11). With a Present Imperative we are to "not allow sin to reign, rule in our mortal body that we should obey its lusts," again, in the walk. "We are not to be presenting the members of our body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but (instead) be presenting ourselves to God as those alive from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousness to God" (v. 13).

Those who have problems with the differences between POSITIONAL and EXPERIENTIAL truth get all of this confused. It really is very simply. For example, Paul says we are now "in the heavenlies" ("heavenly places") in God's viewpoint, that is, POSITIONALLY, we are there, in glory! (Because God is not bound by time!) But in our time-walk, in the daily experience, we are still living out the Christian life on earth.

May this help in our understanding in the struggle in the Christian life.

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch (9/11)

Memory of All of our Sins

Dr. Couch, I heard my pastor say that we will be reminded in heaven of all of our sins. We will see in glory the sins that Christ forgave us. Is this right?

ANSWER There are two things we need to consider when talking about our sins of the past. Positionally, God has forgiven us all our sins at the cross of Christ. We are justified and there are no charges against us. But in the Christian walk we sinned and we shall receive rewards for our good deeds and we will be reminded of the sins we committed as we walked through the Christian Experience in this life. Concerning the Bema Seat judgment we read:

"We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he had done, where GOOD or BAD" (2 Cor. 5:10). BAD is the Greek word "kakos" which is often translated as "Evil." So it is clear that we will be reminded of those sins we committed during our Christian life. The "recompense" is the reward or "demerit" that we shall receive at the Bema! This will not be pleasant but it does not take away our salvation. It will be a reminder of what we did in the Christian walk.

The Bible does not speak of demerits so I am stepping out on a limb when I say this. But we will be recompensed by the "deeds done in the body," whatever that will be proven to be! Thus, we "know the fear of the Lord" when we stand before Him at this judgment. Our Walk will be "made manifest to God" (v. 11) in our conscience as we appear before the Lord in heaven. The fear is not about the loss of salvation. Our salvation is secure in Christ, and indeed, all of our sins were Positionally forgiven at the cross. These verses have to do with the judgment of what we did while believers here on earth, but loss of salvation is not an issue.

Most Bible teachers have not handled this subject, and it is only recently that I began to look at what Paul was saying about the Christian life and the sins that we commit as believers. But to review: all our sins are forgiven and taken care of at the cross, there is no doubt about this.

A final reminder: "Why do you judge your brother? Why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. … For every knee shall bow to Me, ..." (Rom. 14:10-11). "So then, each one of us shall give account of himself to God" (v. 12).

James adds: "The coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing right at the door (to take us home in the rapture) for the Bema judgment (James 5:9). If He came right now we will go into the judgment of the Bema and some of that judgment will not be pleasant!

To live our lives right now is a serious matter. We are to be responsible in the Christian Experience!

Thanks for asking.
—Dr. Mal Couch (3/11)

Redeemed in the Old Testament

Dr. Couch, what does it mean in the OT to be redeemed? ANSWER:  Great question! The word in Hebrew is ga'al and it means to buy back as a field or a farm that had been sold. This is well illustrated in Leviticus 25:25. In redeeming an individual blood is always required. The OT gives us pictures of the redemption that Christ would accomplish for us when He went to the cross.    The NT word is "lutroo." It can be translated "ransom" or "redeem," with the idea of purchasing a slave out of the market place. Or, out of the market place of sin. Jesus gave His life "as a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). Christ "having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).    Titus 2:14 is a great passage on the subject: Christ "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession." The question: is this a positional or experiential redemption? It is a positional redemption in that we now have a new position with Him because of what He did for us. We in our daily experiences can still sin and do wrong, but we are thoroughly and eternally redeemed positionally before Him.    "Redeem" ("lutroo") is the word that refers to giving a ransom, especially for the release of prisoners of war, slaves, and debtors. Lutroo is the price of release for the liberation of a prisoner. Generally, the release is determined by law or the "right of the sovereign." Jesus actually gave Himself as the ransom price. He was willing to pay the debt of our sins before the sovereign God.    Christ made it clear to His disciples that "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a "ransom" for many (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). Peter also alludes to Isaiah 53 and adds that the Lord's "redemption" of us was not "with perishable things like silver or gold … but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).    The writer of Hebrews concludes that Christ "entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption … who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God" (9:12-14). Redemption is one of the greatest doctrines that secures our eternal salvation. Without it, there is no eternal life with Christ.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (11/10)

Can Christians Lose Their Salvation?

Dr. Couch, 1 John 3:7, 8, and 9 sounds like a Christian can lose his salvation. I believe in eternal security but what about these verses? How do you answer? ANSWER:  The verses read: "The one who 'practices' righteousness is righteous, just as [Christ] is righteous" (v. 7), and, "The one who 'practices' sin is of the devil" (v. 8), and finally, "No one who is born of God 'practices' sin" (v. 9).    The key is the grammatical construction of the Greek word "practice" which is "poieo." The word means "to do, practice, work." In verses 7, 8 "poieo" is in the Present Participle form, and in verse 9, it is simply a Present Indicative. The idea is that the one who is continually, daily, going about sinning, and even bragging or flaunting his sin, doing it with boldness every day, is not born again. Nor has he ever been! With the Present Participle, the verb is united with the noun, meaning "The one who is going about each day boldly practicing (maybe a specific sin) and continually enjoying doing so, this one is not born again."    For an example, let's take the sin of homosexuality. This person is saying by his actions, attitudes, and proclamation, "I'm going to continue to practice daily my sin, I am not going to repent, nor am I ashamed, and I am not planning to drop that sin or to give it to Christ for forgiveness!" "It is mine and I am proud of it and have no plans to walk away from it."    I think it works this way: A gross sinner comes to Christ and says 'I accept Him as my Savior,' except in reference to the sin that I am continually practicing, that I love, and plan to keep! I give Him all my sins except this one that I relish and I am not repentant of it. So, Christ died for my sins except this one that I plan to keep and to practice daily!"    In my opinion that is what John the apostle has in mind. Most people understand when they come to the Lord as their Savior that they are confessing all their sins. That is the essence of being born again. Being born again implies that Christ died for all of our sins, not just a few of them! We cannot be selective, otherwise, we are playing games with Christ's sacrifice on the cross!    A person who is born again cannot lose his salvation. He is in heaven already in God's mind. On this see Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1:3-14. and 2:6. This last verse reads: "[God has] raised us with Him, and seated us with Him in THE HEAVENLIES in Christ Jesus." We are already in heaven and we cannot be jerked out of glory. We are there forever!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Mar., 10)

Parable on the Branches Abiding in Christ

Dr. Couch, is John 15:1-9 about loss of salvation? It's the parable about the branches abiding in Christ. What do you say? ANSWER:  First of all, the issue here is about fruit bearing not about one's Position in salvation. Christ prunes the branches of the vine in order to make them bear more fruit. To prune is painful to the branch. But it brings forth more fruit in the process.    Notice that the individual connected with Christ, the vine, is "already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (v. 3). That is a Positional statement about salvation. So the issue here is fruit bearing, or a relationship that produces fruit. Salvation is not the point. That is a settled issue.    The main idea is "abiding" or to put it in the vernacular, about "sticking" with Christ, "staying with Him in fellowship, which is so necessary for the daily Christian walk. Verse 5 makes the main point, "apart from Me you can do nothing." Again, this is not a salvation issue but a fruit production issue, the "doing something for the cause of Christ."    Some think the "casting away into the fire, and they are burned" is alluding to the loss of salvation and the fires of eternal, spiritual judgment (v. 6). But who is doing the "casting away"? It is the "they." Or, men who are doing the judging, not God! "They gather them" is a Present Active Indicative, Third Person Plural, meaning "they," or "men" gather the branches and cast them into the fire. The "Men" or probably even the lost, who are doing the judging against Christians, that is those believers who are hypocrites because the world does not see any good coming out of these believers in their walk. The Christians are walking like the world, like the lost! And, there is no fruit bearing.    The issue of fruit bearing also has to do with glorifying the Father, and by this, we prove that we are Christ's disciples, and that has to do with our following and walking with Him, not an issue about our salvation (v. 8). Finally, "fellowship love" is the issue as stated in verse 9. We are to be abiding, "sticking" with Christ in His relationship love, as stated in this verse. Most of the time in this passage when Christ says "abide" or "stay with" Me, He uses the Present Tense in Greek. "Be daily and continually staying with Me" in fellowship ..." How we are walking is what this passage is all about, not about our Position in our salvation.    Thanks for asking. I hope this helps.    Dr. Mal Couch (Dec., 09)