Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: GDC

Clanking Chains		06-12-05.CC02-690 /

The Sin Nature: Area of Strength, Isa 40:6b; 64:6, Trend toward Legalism, 2 Cor 11:4, 13-15; Trend toward Lasciviousness, 1 Cor 6:9; “Aselgeia” in New Testament

2.	An area of strength called human good which is the production of dead works—efforts at doing good outside the filling of the Holy Spirit and motivated by emotion—and executed under the energy of the flesh:
Isaiah 40:6b -	[NASB] All flesh [ rc*B* basar: mankind ] is grass [ ryx!j* chasir: the fleeting nature of man ], and all its loveliness [ ds#j# cheseth: good works ] is like the flower [ Jyx! sis: the transitoriness of man and his weakness compared to divine power ] of the field.
v. 8 -		The grass withers [ men die ], the flower fades [ their human good is not permanent ], but the word of our God stands forever [ sovereign, immutable, & eternal ].  
Isaiah 40:6b -	[Paraphrase]  The longevity of man is no more than that of grass and all his human good lasts no longer than the flower of the field.
v. 8 -		Men die, their human good fades away, but the word of God stands forever.
Isaiah 64:6 -	[NET]  We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight.  We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.  
	One of the great satanic strategies in the Invisible War is involving believers in “doing good” with “good” being the execution of human-viewpoint schemes of improving a fallen world through energy of the flesh to the exclusion of biblical guidance.  Here is an instructive comment on this from:
Thieme, R. B., Jr.  Divine Good vs. Human Good.  (Houston: Berachah Tapes and Publications, 1970), 37:
The great conflict between God and Satan is not only good versus evil, but good versus good.  Satanic doctrine is promoted through such agencies as the social gospel, socialism, world peace, internationalism, economic panaceas, doing good in the name of good, and other man-made plans which seek to improve human environment without providing man an eternal relationship with God.
Satan is trying to bring order out of chaos; he is trying to create a perfect environment.  Satan would like to establish a millennial reign, with himself as ruler.  To do this, Satan must get the world straightened out.  Consequently, a tremendous area of good deeds, social action, and many similar panaceas and solutions to man’s problems are Satanic in nature.
3.	A trend toward legalism is associated with self-righteous arrogance which eventually moves into moral degeneracy.  The Corinthians rejected the strong rebuke Paul gave them in his first epistle and in rebellion began to listen to the false teachings of the Judaizers.  Paul, an apostle, was the right pastor—or right man—for the Corinthian congregation—illustrative of the right woman.  The members’ committed spiritual adultery by listening to the teachings of the Judaizers, their “wrong man.”  Their negative volition and the false teachers’ heresy are addressed by Paul in:
2 Corinthians 11:4 -	If and it’s true that one comes [ a Judaizer ] and teaches another Jesus [ truly Man but not God, crucified but not risen; they use His reputation to teach legalism ] whom we have not preached, or if you receive another and different kind of disposition [ one of fear rather then grace ] which you have not received from us, or a different gospel which you did not previously accept, you endure his doctrines without question.
v. 13 -	For these [ Judaizers ] are false teachers, deceitful workers, masquerading themselves as apostles of Christ.
v. 14 -	No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
v. 15 -	Consequently, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their human good production.
4.	A trend toward lasciviousness, or antinomianism, is associated with immoral degeneracy.  This propensity is the problem Paul attacked in his first epistle to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 6:9 -	Do you not know that those who do not have the imputation of divine righteousness [ ¥dikoj, adikos: “unrighteous” (NASB): lacking imputed righteousness (d…kaioj, dikaios) therefore unbelievers ]   that occurs at salvation will not receive the inheritance of the eternal state and thus not possess an escrow account.  Do not allow yourselves to be deceived by others to the point of engaging in the behavior of the unbeliever reversionist!  The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals who are submissive sodomites, homosexuals who are assertive sodomites,
v. 10 -	thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the eternal state.
v. 11 -	Some of you believers once lived this way.  But you were washed [ ¢poloÚw, apolouō: forgiven of pre-salvation sins at salvation ], you were sanctified [ ¡gi£zw, hagiazō: baptized by the Holy Spirit into union with Christ and positional sanctification ], you are justified [ dikaiÒw, dikaioō: imputed divine righteousness at salvation ] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.
5.	The word lascivious describes the immoral degeneracy that is common to the unbeliever and often adopted by believers whose trend is toward immoral degeneracy.
6.	The King James Version uses the word “lasciviousness” to translate the Greek ¢sšlgeia, aselgeia in Mark 7:22, 2 Corinthians 12:21, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 4:19, 1 Peter 4:3, and Jude 4.  The NASB uses the word “sensuality” in all but the Jude passage where the word “licentiousness” is chosen.  
7.	English dictionaries define “lascivious” as a person who is characterized by lust; lewd; lecherous.  The word’s origin is the Latin lascivus, “wanton.”
8.	A person who is wanton is immoral, unchaste, lewd, or licentious.
9.	The Greek aselgeia is used nine times in the New Testament and usually placed among several sinful activities that define the behavior of the unbeliever or the believer in reversionism:
1.	In Mark 7:22, the Lord describes sins that find their origin in the soul due to volitional consent to temptations of the body’s lust patterns among which is lasciviousness (aselgeia: “sensuality” in the NASB).
2.	In Romans 13:13 Paul mentions several sins including lasciviousness (sensuality) that the believer is to avoid in the light of the fact he is baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ and  thus should reject the lusts of the flesh.
3.	In 2 Corinthians 12:21 Paul is concerned that the believers at Corinth have ignored his prohibitions against certain sins and have not changed their minds about the lustful behaviors they indulge, namely the idolatrous exercises practiced at the heathen temples, among which is lasciviousness (sensuality).
4.	In Galatians 5:19 Paul lists lasciviousness (sensuality) among his examples of the “deeds of the flesh.”
5.	In Ephesians 4:19 Paul admonishes the believers at Ephesus not to walk as do the unbelievers who, with calloused souls, have, among other things, “given themselves over to sensuality” (lasciviousness).

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