01/11/22 IT REQUIRES GOING, NOT SIMPLY KNOWING

01/11/22 IT REQUIRES GOING, NOT SIMPLY KNOWING

The Bible teaches that we walk in truth by trusting the Lord, calling on the Lord, following the Lord. The sinner is saved by grace, through faith. The believer is also purified (entirely sanctified) by God's grace through faith. This is because clean hands and pure hearts are the works of God's salvation.

Psalms 24:3-5
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

James 4:8-10
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

MacArthur and other sin preachers scoff at the idea of Christians being purified from all sin by God, and they mock the idea of Entire Sanctification, which God clearly addresses.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Yet MacArthur teaches that knowing the right doctrine actually sanctifies the believer. While it is true that knowing the truth sets us free, it is a "knowing" that is beyond intellectual comprehension. It is spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding, spiritual wisdom, which comes from the Holy Spirit to those in a right relationship with God, through Christ. But even if we know the truth spiritually, we must then believe, call on, trust and follow Jesus into the reality and the life of holiness. It must be an act of faith or it is an act of the flesh.

However, to say that knowing the right doctrine sanctifies the believer, without seeking God for the reality of that doctrine is contrary to the revelation of God and the salvation of God. It is not simply knowing about the truth of deliverance that sanctifies us (purifies us, makes us holy, makes us righteous), Otherwise the person who hears the gospel would be saved without believing, without repenting, without confessing and without following Jesus (which is the false message that sin preachers preach). Knowledge without faith does not save or sanctify anyone. Such a salvation would be salvation by personal accomplishment (works of the flesh, works of the law) rather than salvation by grace through faith.