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"But in fact it is no longer I that do it,
but sin that dwells within me."
Romans 7:17 NRSV
(sin transferred)
The LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth,
and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5 (Tanakh)
The epigraph (Gen. 6:5 T) shows that sin and guilt are immovably fixed in the heart of the sinner. And it highlights just how wrong Paul is in transferring sin from himself to 'sin' (caption, above). The implications are serious, for it confirms the extent of Paul's error, incompetence, and his total lack of command of the subject matter. Paul, in teaching such drivel (Rom. 7:17), is not doing the Lord's work; rather he is doing the work of his master the lord Satan. Doubtless, many will find this unpalatable; nevertheless, in view of Jesus' words (Mat. 16: 21-23; Rev. 2:9; and Rev. 3:9), Paul's wrongdoing must be shown for the evil that it is, and for its origins with the lord Satan.
Dr Paul Tournier writes:
It is natural for man to project his guilt upon other people and upon God. But he does not thereby get rid of it, and the rebellion against others and against God which results becomes in its turn a source of fresh impulsions to evil, and therefore of more guilt. (Guilt and Grace)
Dr Tournier mentions the projection of guilt onto another person or even onto God Himself. But what if there is no convenient person? Is it still possible to project the guilt away from oneself?
If the new-covenant church are to be believed, then Paul has accomplished the impossible by attributing sin to 'sin':
[14] We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. [15] I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. [16] And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. [17] As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. [18] For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do---this I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:14-20 NIV)
But is Paul's doctrine on transference of guilt true? Or is it all smoke and mirrors guiding the new-covenant church to [Spiritual] Death?
Romans 7:14-20 may be summarised thus:
‡ There would appear to be a close correlation with Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector:
[9] To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
[10] "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men---robbers, evildoers, adulterers---or even like this tax collector. [12] I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
[13] "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
[14] "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14 NIV)
Needless to say, Paul's transference of guilt is far more sophisticated than the words of the Pharisee in the parable†. Yet they are essentially saying much the same thing: "I'm not guilty." However, the only person to return home justified was the tax collector.
[† There might even be a [forward looking] play on words here, insofar as Paul was a trained Pharisee!]
[7] What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."
[8] But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. [9] Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. [10] I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. [11] For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:7-11 NIV)
The three stages of error:
Paul uses the mass-noun definition of sin in an attempt to set 'sin' up as an existential uncountable entity which he can then personify.
This, however, is totally wrong. It is a deceit which will lead all who trust in his doctrine into sin and error ... and eventual Death. Paul's competence will ultimately be mapped to: spiritual blindness; academic bankruptcy; incompetentence; negligencence; [inclusive] or sheer recklessness.
Paul's claims to being an 'expert', an apostle:
[10] By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. (1 Corinthians 3:10 NIV)
[13] I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry (Romans 11:13 NIV)
[1] Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, (1 Corinthians 1:1 NIV)
[9] For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. (1 Corinthians 4:9 NIV)
[28] And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:28 NIV)
[1] Paul, an apostle---sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead--- (Galatians 1:1 NIV)
In view of the seriousness of Paul's omissions and errors, those claims - made by Paul himself - will not hold up. Paul's commission was to take Jesus' name to the whole world in the context of the Messianically amended Covenant. Implied, was the need for Paul to retrain for the Kingdom of Heaven: after explaining about the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus said to His disciples:
[51] "Have you understood all this?"
They answered, "Yes."
[52] And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (Matthew 13:51-52 NRSV)
But Paul - on his own admission - avoided contact with the disciples, and therefore never retrained for the Kingdom of Heaven. Had Paul retrained, he would never have overlooked such an important qualification!
Only the soul who sins will die:
[4] For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son---both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:4 NIV)
In other words, 'sin' is an attribute belonging to some existential act. But while the act is not in question, opinions may differ as to whether the act was sinful or not. A case in point is the current perversion of some who feed the concept of gender identity to children, give them 'gender-changing' drugs, and then subject them to the 'gender-changing' scalpel. Cross-dressing is abhorrent to the Lord God (Deut. 22:5 T) - which puts the sin of those pedalling and encouraging gender change, directly into the category of Blacklistable sin. The Most High - who finds cross-dressing abhorrent - is the implacable enemy of those who encourage and advocate gender fluency and change. What is amazing is that supposedly educated people actually subscribe to and participate in this perversion.
[Dissertation: To what extent is Paul's doctrine that the law is summed up as a single commandment - 'For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 NRSV)' - implicated in the notion and practise of 'gender fluidity'?]
Paul sets up a straw-man to carry the guilt. 'Wrongdoing' wouldn't work, so he puts his money on 'sin'. The narrative clearly shows that Paul personifies sin, endowing it with life and intentions and an agenda of its own.
This ensures separation of the person, Paul, from the person called 'sin'. This decoupling will later allow the 'successful' transfer of guilt away from self.
The picture Paul builds is actually a perversion of the encounter Jesus had with the devil (Luke 4:1-13).
A perversion, because Paul - in the absence of the Law - sees himself as being without guilt. Then, when the Law came along, Sin used the Law to attack and kill him.
At this point, it is worth noting that Jesus made use of the Law in order to defy and resist the bandishments of the devil. This is the opposite to Paul's fanciful notions - a contradiction which totally destroys Paul's 'doctrine', if you can call it that.
Such action entails a total lack of understanding of sin and human nature, not to mention redemption!
The classification of sin is such that 'unforgivable sin' renders forgiveness impossible. 'Unintentional sin' within the Covenant Framework can be forgiven, without expulsion from God's People. As for 'defiant sin' this will result in exclusion from the Covenant and God's presence.
[5] For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. (Romans 7:5 NIV)
'The sinful passions aroused by the law'! I think not (Gen. 6:5)! What is evident from Paul's words, however, is that his blindness and incompetence know no bounds. But to then go and attribute his folly to the power and the authority of the Lord Spirit, is to court enrolment in the Blacklist. Once one's name appears in the Blacklist, there is no going back (Mat. 12:32).
Paul, having annulled the Covenant, resorts to using the concept of 'original sin' in order to make mankind guilty and in need of redemption (eg, 1 Cor. 15:22). Original sin is a concept angrily banned by the Lord (Eze. 18:1-3). In resurrecting original sin, Paul has disobeyed the Lord. Once again, Paul's words betray his ignorance of the Scriptures, his spiritual blindness, his incompetence, his arrogance, and his rashness.
The reintroduction of original sin allows Paul to incorporate Sin, now personified, into his being: after the manner of a parasite which will bring about the destruction of the host. This can then be passed off as the 'sinful nature'.
Paul can now divide himself in two: his natural self who seeks to do what is right; and the sinful nature, who becomes an unwelcome parasite dwelling within him.
[Dissertation: Paul's false doctrine of a 'split personality'.]
But diabolical as all this is, there is worse to come!
3-4 And even though I am far away from you in body, still I am there with you in spirit; and as though I were there with you, I have in the name of our Lord Jesus already passed judgment on the man who has done this terrible thing. As you meet together, and I meet with you in my spirit, by the power of our Lord Jesus present with us, 5 you are to hand this man over to Satan for his body to be destroyed, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:3-5 GNT)
In 1 Corinthians 5:3-5 GNT, Paul separates the physical body from the soul. He goes further, to associate sin with the body and righteousness with the soul. But would the lord Satan be content with the physical body?
Paul imagines that the lord Satan will destroy the physical body, leaving the soul untouched to then find salvation. This is an interesting theory which Paul teaches! As if the lord Satan would help either the sinner or the Lord God Almighty in this way! The lord Satan knows full well that the body will die and return to the dust from which it was made; hence the body is only of limited use in the long-term. What the lord Satan wants is the person's soul, for it is the soul which will carry over into Eternity. The lord Satan wishes to consume the sinner entirely, body, mind, and soul. Necessarily, therefore, since the lord Satan will not assist in a sinner's redemption, Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 5:5 is a lie born of ignorance and incompetence and negligence.
Don't, however, confuse Paul's 'doctrine' with Jesus lifting the protection of the disciples:
[31] "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, (Luke 22:31 NRSV)
This exposure to the lord Satan's attacks will:
Not only a failure to understand 'sin' and its classification into unintentional, defiant, and blacklistable; but also a failure to understand how sin is dealt with in the Covenant.
Although contracts were understood when Paul was alive, Paul does not recognise the contractual nature of the Covenant when it stares at him from out of the pages of Scripture. At the time of Ruth8C, for example, the legalizing of transactions required the exchange of a sandal:
[7] (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel. (Ruth 4:7 NIV))
Paul's blindness at the educational level will have fatal consequencies at the Spiritual Level. Sad to say, that blindness is still present today. He divides the then secular knowledge from spiritual knowledge, and goes on to separate spiritual language from secular language:
[13] This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:13 NIV)
If Paul is to be beieved, then it becomes necessary to learn this new language of his! But compare that with Jesus, who explained deep truths in everyday language which people could understand.
Paul's setting up of a spiritual language only capable of being understood by the Spirit is very much at odds with his words to the Corinthians:
[19] But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:19 NIV)
How Paul expects children/converts to understand such a specialised language before they've even reached the Age of Discretion, is a mystery! Compare Paul's approach to that of Scripture, in which the concept is explained in level of detail which increases as the levels of understanding and general knowledge increase. With Scripture, there is no special technical language, only a conceptual approach which can be instantiated at whatever educational level a person is at; and as the person grows in knowledge, understanding, and experience, then the level of teaching can be ramped up. This state of education is so commonplace today (eg, as in the case of science), that the need to reiterate here is an insult to people's intelligence! But such is the church...
[Essay: The problem is not one of language, but of a refusal to listen. cf:
4 Then He said to me, “Mortal, go to the House of Israel and repeat My very words to them. 5 For you are sent, not to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the House of Israel—6 not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose talk you cannot understand. If I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7 But the House of Israel will refuse to listen to you, for they refuse to listen to Me; for the whole House of Israel are brazen of forehead and stubborn of heart. (Ezekiel 3:4-7 (Tanakh))
]
This defiance, this refusal to listen, is so much in evidence when examining Paul's profile.
Defiant sin will automatically result in exclusion from the Covenant and from God's dwelling place. Herein lies the danger of acceptance of Paul's doctrine.
The House of Desolation had defiled the Covenant. Then along came Paul and the new-covenant church, who assumed the moral high ground with their new covenant. But Paul's doctrine was more evil than that of the House of Desolation, because Paul et al attributed their sin and error to the authority, power, and direction of the Lord Spirit. And with that - together with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple - David's Tent was razed to the ground.
In attributing Paul's false doctrine to the authority, guidance, and power of the Lord Spirit, the new-covenant church are doing that which demands their enrolment in the Blacklist, and for which there can be no forgiveness, either in this life or the next.
The Lord has drawn the line. Thus far; and no further.
At the same time, however, the Lord is pushing ahead with the rebuilding of David's Fallen Tent!
Romans 11 reveals Paul's errors concerning redemption.
[Dissertation: Romans 11.]
Understanding redemption is predicated on a knowledge and understanding of sin and guilt. Since Paul doesn't understand the reasons for guilt, he cannot understand how to find forgiveness. The evidence for Pau's blindness is clearly stated in Romans, chapter 11.
[13] I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry [14] in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. (Romans 11:13-14 NIV)
Paul is hoping to arouse jealousy in the Jews. Firstly, this necessarily entails Paul's abandmont of them, his failure to correct their defiled view of the Covenant. Secondly, Paul's view of the Covenant was the same as that of the Jews; so here is hard evidence of Paul's failure to correct his own defiled view of the Covenant.
Paul is happy to abandon the Jews to their false view of the Covenant, and to rely on 'envy' in order to save some of them!
Paul's failure to teach, guide, and direct the Jews, necessarily entails his incompetence and negligence. And these extend to the Gentiles as well. It follows, then, that Paul was one of those false shepherds that needed to be replaced by a shepherd after God's own heart:
[14] "Return, faithless people," declares the Lord, "for I am your husband. I will choose you---one from a town and two from a clan---and bring you to Zion.
[15] Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. (Jeremiah 3:14-15 NIV)
Implied, is the fact that the Gentiles be brought into the Covenant and become integrated into the Jewish people:
6 As for the foreigners
Who attach themselves to the LORD,
To minister to Him,
And to love the name of the LORD,
To be His servants—
All who keep the sabbath and do not profane it,
And who hold fast to My covenant—
7 I will bring them to My sacred mount
And let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
Shall be welcome on My altar;
For My House shall be called
A house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:6-7 (Tanakh))
[28] As far as the gospel is concerned, they [the Jews] are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, [29] for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
[30] Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, [31] so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. (Romans 11:28-31 NIV)
Romans 11:28-31 confirms Paul's division of the church into Jews and Gentiles.
This lie is brought into the light by Isaiah 56:6-7 (Tanakh).
Paul wrongly asserts that the disobedience of one party resulted in the Lord showing mercy to the other party.
Note that Paul's assertion fails to take into account the fate of those who lived before the Jewish nation came into existence. Paul fails to account for the forgiveness received by such people as Noah and Job - but something which is covered by a knowledge and understanding of the Covenant and its history.
[32] For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. (Romans 11:32 NRSV)
Paul understands neither the Covenant nor the mind nor the character of the Most High. And so Romans 11:32 is just another of his reckless lies.
The Prime Axioms and the Primary Contract clearly explain God's deep desire and methodology to help mankind avoid falling into sin. God's Covenant always was and always will be preventative in nature.
Jesus - the context:
[18] Jesus drew near and said to them, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. [19] Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, [20] and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 GNT)
The context of Jesus' words is necessarily the Messianically Amended Covenant. Necessarily included will be Jesus' instruction to learn and to understand the Mosaic Covenant as Moses understood, for only then will people be able to understand His words:
[46] "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. [47] But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" (John 5:46-47 NIV)
Paul on baptism:
[3] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
[4] Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
[5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For whoever has died is freed from sin. [8] But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Romans 6:3-8 NRSV)
[11] In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self.
[12] For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death.
[13] You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ.
God forgave us all our sins; [14] he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. [15] And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession. (Colossians 2:11-15 GNT)
Thayer on Christian baptism:
In Rom 6:3, Paul states we are "baptised unto death" meaning that we are not only dead to our former ways, but they are buried. To return to them is as unthinkable for a Christian as for one to dig up a dead corpse! (Thayer: Christian baptism KJVS)
Paul's doctrine on baptism is wrong - completely wrong!
Quite simply, the Covenant is a contract which must be signed if one is to obtain its benefits. When there is a significant amendment - as was the case with the Messianic Update - then it is necessary to append a signature, saying that one understands, accepts, and wishes to continue to be bound by the newly amended contract.
If one sins unintentionally, then redemption is possible within the Covenant Framework. If, on the other hand, the sin is defiant, then there is automatic exclusion from the Covenant and God's presence. Note that the Lord isn't required to notify those who have been thus excluded.
Paul is presumptuous with his claim to immediate forgiveness. The matter will not be decided until the Day of Judgement. As David said (Psalm 51:3), "my sin is ever before me." And so it is, because our sins are recorded in the Books of Record which will be opened on the Day of Judgement:
[12] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12 NIV)
Not only will the Books of Record be opened, but the Book of Life will also be opened. And if the sinner's name was not found in the Book of Life, then everything ended in tears:
[15] If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 NIV)
One cannot escape one's accountability by attempting to put the wrongdoing and guilt onto someone else.
For sure, one can deny one's wrongdoing by attempting to shift it onto another person, but that only serves to make forgiveness impossible. One must confess one's wrongdoing before seeking forgiveness within the Rescue Contract of the Covenant.
Were the wrongdoing unintentional, then denial will shift it to 'defiant sin', where the outcome will be automatic exclusion from the Lord's presence and Covenant, or even consignment to the Blacklist with its guarantee of Death.
[Analysis: Romans 7:17.]
Version: 2024-07-15