Exegesis on the Book of Romans (I)

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This Book Is Dedicated to All Souls The righteousness of God is transparent. God’s righteousness cannot be substituted by anything. That is because His righteousness is different from the righteousness of man. We need to know what God’s righteousness is, and we need to believe in it. God’s righteousness is fundamentally different from human righteousness. The righteousness of mankind is like a filthy rag, but the righteousness of God is like a brilliant pearl shining forever. God’s righteousness is the Truth that is absolutely needed by every sinner, transcending all ages. Our faith in the righteousness of God must be one that can be verified in the Word of Truth. Do you believe in the righteousness of God that is absolutely indispensable in these end times when the Lord’s return is imminent? Do you want to believe in the perfect righteousness of God within the Word of Truth and meet the Lord? Have you ever met God’s righteousness? You need to realize that God’s righteousness is found in Jesus who worked in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must meet Jesus, who has become God’s perfect righteousness, and you must believe in Him.

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Exegesis on The Book of ROMANS (I)

Exegesis on The Book of ROMANS( I ) Copyright © 2006 by The New Life Mission All rights reserved.

PAUL C. JONG

Hephzibah Publishing House

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the copyright owner. Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. ISBN 89-8314-394-0

A Ministry of THE NEW LIFE MISSION SEOUL, KOREA

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Table of Contents Preface ----------------------------------------------- 7 Paul, a Missionary to the Gentiles (Romans 1:1-32) ------------------------------- 10

Together with God (Romans 5:1-21) ----------------------------- 257 We Can No Longer Continue in Sin (Romans 6:1-23) ----------------------------- 298

To Those Who Band Together to Stand against God (Romans 2:1-29) ---------------- 55

The Law That Has Dominion over Man (Romans 7:1-25) ----------------------------- 353

In What Respect Are Jews Better Than Gentiles? (Romans 3:1-31) ----------------------------- 105

People to Whom There Is No Condemnation (Romans 8:1-39) ----------------------------- 381

The Righteousness of Man Is Nothing to Be Proud of (Romans 4:1-25) ----------------------------- 217

Where Does the Apostle Paul’s Anguish Come from? (Romans 9:1-33) ----------------------------- 415

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7 Preface

Preface The Book of Romans in the Bible is the Word of the Truth that integrates both the New and Old Testaments completely and systematically. All Christians think that they know the Book of Romans very well. But it dawned upon me that many of them have in fact misunderstood it on far too many issues. So I began to write this book for the purpose of enabling everyone to know the Truth easily and clearly, providing exegesis for each verse, and sometimes sermons. My hope for you, the reader, is to discern the righteousness of God from the righteousness of man as revealed in the Bible. My purpose here is to make this difference clear to you. Through this sermon book on Romans, I would also like to clarify that God’s righteousness is different from what most of you have known. My desire is to

clearly testify the majesty of the righteousness of God and the salvation that is brought to those who believe in His righteousness, so that anyone can reach the correct understanding of them and have the right faith in God. Most Christians think that they know the Book of Romans at least to some degree, if not thoroughly. So they are prone to think that anyone who knows the so-called Five Points of Calvinism knows God fairly well. However, few Christians truly understand how the righteousness of man and the righteousness of God are different from each other. They all profess to believe in Jesus as their Savior, but I am not sure that every one of them indeed knows and believes in God’s righteousness properly. The entire Scriptures speak about God’s righteousness through everything. The problem is however, that far too many people mistakenly consider their own righteousness as God’s ◄

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8 Preface

righteousness and believe so. It’s true that there are only a few people on this planet who actually know the righteousness of God properly, believe in it and preach it correctly. But what is sadder than this is that even Christians are unable to speak out on this issue. Therefore, we may very well say that they are like a watchdog that can’t even bark. This book’s contents are composed of commentaries and sermons on the Book of Romans, and they are all about God’s righteousness that is testified in detail. We need to realize here that the kind of faith confessed by many Christians today is a dogmatic faith mixed up with man’s own righteousness and religious righteousness; and that such Christians are all living saturated in their own fallacious beliefs. As such, I have tried even harder to let Christians know that God’s righteousness is fundamentally different from man’s righteousness. I hope you

would all realize my sincere effort in this book. Let me make a bold claim here that this book is absolutely indispensable to make God’s righteousness known to all the Christians of this world. If this one book can “deliver God’s righteousness” to your faith, I have no other wants or desires. Until now, traditional teachings on the Book of Romans have been placed as the foundation of Christian doctrines. However, it is not doctrines or dogmas that testify what God’s righteousness is. Many people have interpreted the Book of Romans based on either their own thoughts or their own sectarian creeds. They have fabricated their own Christian doctrines, and they have foolishly fit God’s Word into these doctrines of their own making. So many people have been busy using the Bible only as a secondary textbook only for the purpose of validating such doctrines fabricated with their own thoughts. ◄

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9 Preface

This is akin to the original script being treated as a copy. Far too many Christians have used the Bible as a study aid to their own Christian doctrines. I couldn’t resist writing this book, because I couldn’t bear such a travesty that renders the Truth of the Bible into man-made doctrines. However, when the righteousness of God is properly testified throughout the whole world, people will no longer commit the foolish act of trying to fit the scriptural Word to their own thoughts. It is my hope and prayer that all those who profess to believe in God would from now on stop considering the Bible merely as a study aid to Christian doctrines, and return to the righteousness of God, to the faith that believes in this righteousness. I pray that from this moment, they would all realize that only the righteousness of God is the foundation of true faith.

God’s righteousness will set you free from all imperfections, and it will enable you to have God’s perfect faith just like Abraham. May the Spirit of Truth be with you always.

Paul C. Jong

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Exegesis Chapter 1

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11 Paul, a Missionary to the Gentiles

Paul, a Missionary to the Gentiles “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as ◄

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much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts,

and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man— and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to ◄

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retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evilmindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.”

Paul was chosen for God’s gospel. Who could be chosen to preach God’s gospel? If anyone thinks that he was chosen as a servant of God without knowing the gospel of God’s righteousness, he is only fooling himself. If you do not know this gospel of God’s righteousness, and yet you believe you were called by God, this is a delusion. One is called by God only after he comes to know His righteousness and believes in it. How could one ever be called His servant if he is completely ignorant of the gospel of the righteousness of God? No one can be called like this. In spite of this, countless pastors all over the world have turned themselves into God’s servant all on their own, without understanding the gospel Word of God’s righteousness. One of their common characteristics is that they are hypnotized by their own emotion. Another characteristic is that they have become God’s ◄

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servants all on their own, as they have made a vow to God, and they feel they are bound by this promise. Could such people really be called as God’s servants? Some pastors are hypnotized by their own congregations. They received recognition from many people and heard them saying, “You can become God’s servant.” Hypnotized by what people around them say, they are made ministers by others. If they do not know what God’s righteousness is, there is clear evidence of their incapacity to do God’s work. In other words, God does not call someone who is ignorant of His righteousness to be His servant and He does not use such people. Who then, does God call to be His servant? Those who are called by God are those who know and believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God. Those who become God’s servants are called to His service only after they first receive the remission of their sins by

believing in the Word. Then God gives them the power to preach the gospel of His righteousness. Of course, there are servants who are called and used as ornamental knobs for the spreading of the gospel. There were seven bowls made like almond blossoms on top of each branch of the golden lamp in the Tabernacle. Each bowl was supported with an ornamental knob so that the lamp gave light brightly inside the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-39). In fact, Jesus is the Light and we are the ornamental knobs that support the preaching of the gospel of the righteousness of God. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles. He was God’s servant who testified the righteousness of God clearly and systematically. Had Paul preached man’s righteousness instead of God’s righteousness, he would not have been a servant of Christ. He was, however, an apostle sent by God who preached His righteousness. This is ◄

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why he is greatly respected in Christian communities. If Christians do not believe in the righteousness of God that Paul preached, it would seriously undermine the Christian faith. By believing in Paul’s written testimony of the righteousness of God, Christians have been passing their faith from generation to generation. Through the righteousness of God revealed in the Book of Romans, we can come to understand the righteousness of God and believe in it.

Paul Was Sent by God What does the word Apostle mean? It means one who is sent by God. An apostle is one who is sent by God to testify the works of Jesus Christ who has saved mankind from sin and to bear witness of His salvation. Why is apostleship so special? We can find the answer to this question

if we examine the duties performed by the apostles who were sent by the Lord. They did not see themselves as mere witnesses of the gospel. They knew that they were God’s special ambassadors. Because they were apostles, God spoke through their authoritative words, and therefore the words they spoke had power that came from God. In the Book of Romans, Paul wrote the letter introducing himself as an apostle. Paul reminded the saints in Rome of this, but this also pertains to us. It tells us how we should interpret the Book of Romans for our benefit. We must accept it as the Word of God that preaches His righteousness to us. God does not speak to us directly, but through the Pauline Epistles we can still hear of God’s righteousness. Therefore, we must obey what God is teaching us through the Apostle Paul. This is why the apostle’s words are so important. The words of the apostles are the ◄

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words that reveal God’s will and righteousness, and they have His authority.

His

The Historic Gospel Where God’s Righteousness Is Manifested “Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,” The gospel of the righteousness of God must be able to be proven in the Old Testament. A gospel claiming to be the gospel of God’s righteousness, and not having the support of the Word prophesied in the Pentateuch and the Books of the prophets in the Old Testament cannot be called the gospel of the righteousness of God. The true gospel cannot be completed on its own without the Word of the Old Testament. Then what is the gospel of the righteousness of God? It is a gospel that is founded on the

Word of promise prophesied in the Old Testament. In speaking about the gospel of the righteousness of God, the Apostle Paul said, “Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Just as this passage says, the gospel of God’s righteousness can be found in the sacrificial system that was practiced in the Tabernacle. This sacrificial system practiced in the Tabernacle prophesied about how and by what method Jesus Christ would take upon Himself the sins of mankind. The laying on of hands included in the Tabernacle’s sacrificial system refers to Jesus’ baptism in the New Testament. The most important word in the opening of the Book of Romans is the “gospel” where God’s righteousness is manifested. This word is critical because it is the very subject of the Book of Romans. The Book of Romans was written to ◄

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explain God’s great righteousness. In verse 1, Paul mentioned “the gospel,” and he stated that it was “the gospel of God.” It was for this gospel that he was called and separated. In verse 2, he explains in more detail where this gospel began. He found its beginning in the promise of the Old Testament, “which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” In other words, it is a gospel that is founded on the prophecies of Jesus Christ. In verse 9, Paul once again underscores the majesty of the gospel, calling it the “gospel of His Son.”

To Understand the Gospel as the Good News We take the meaning of the “gospel” (euaggelion in Greek) as “good news.” However,

many people stop at this definition of the gospel as the good news, and are unable to grasp that it actually means God’s righteousness. For us to understand why the gospel is the good news, we need to begin by first understanding how flawless God’s righteousness is. In the religions of this world, the standard of good and evil is relative. However, in Christianity, the righteousness of God is absolute; it is something unique that cannot be compared to any human being’s righteousness. Paul said that God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel (Romans 1:17). Therefore, the gospel of the righteousness of God is the gospel of salvation for all sinners. If anyone believes in the gospel that contains the righteousness of God, all his sins will disappear and he will become a sinless person. This is the very purpose for which God has given us the gospel where His righteousness is revealed. ◄

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Before Paul came to know the righteousness of God, he followed the Law. The Law demanded good deeds and high moral standards. However, this Law could not bring any peace to him, nor could it enable him to receive the true righteousness of God. Paul, like all of us, was incapable of keeping the Law, and he confessed that in the Law, he was an utterly “wretched” man (Roman 7:24). Even the atheists, if they turn around, hear what the good news of the righteousness of God is and believe in it, then they too will be saved from their sins and receive eternal life. This is the most precious blessing coming from the righteousness of God. It is not the righteousness of man. The gospel that God has given to mankind is good, because His righteousness is in it. Also, it is good because God has saved us from our sins through the works of Jesus Christ. Because of our sins, we could not come before

God. Our sins had separated us from God. The righteousness of God opened a bridge to enable us to go to God because Jesus Christ took upon all our sins and blotted them all out. Even though we had longed to do so, we couldn’t find God because we did not know God’s righteousness. Now we are praising the Lord who has come to us as the righteousness of God.

Jesus Christ Is God for the Believers “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,” This passage tells us that Jesus Christ was born in the household of Judah. From the very beginning, Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the King of kings. According to Old Testament’s prophecies, He was born of the seed of David, in ◄

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the household of Judah, and became the High Priest of Heaven. Only the Levites could become priests of the people of Israel. No one could become a priest unless he was from this tribe. However, Jesus Christ is not an earthly priest, but the heavenly Priest. He came to this earth, and to remit away all the sins of this world through His baptism and His shed blood on the Cross, He has blotted out the sins of the world. The duty of the heavenly Priest lay in the baptism He received and the blood He shed on the Cross. Christ is the center of Christianity and the incarnation of God’s righteousness. Everything else plays only a supplementary role. Jesus Christ is God Himself, and the Savior for all those who believe in Him. Jesus not only had divine attributes, but for mankind, He has become their Savior. There is no human being who is like Him. Only Jesus Christ is the

everlasting God and the Savior of sinners. For us, only Jesus Christ and He alone is our God. This does not mean that we do not recognize God the Father and the Holy Spirit as God.

For the Entire Mankind, the Lord Is the Everlasting Creator and the Eternal Savior “And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” In essence, Jesus Christ is the sinless, holy Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Holy God by nature, but He came to this earth incarnated in the flesh, took upon Himself the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, was crucified and shed His blood on the

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Cross, rose from the dead again, thereby becoming the Savior of all who believe in God’s righteousness. Because Jesus Christ is our Creator, even death and darkness could not hold Him back. He is the Son of God the Father, the Lord who lacks nothing to be recognized as the Savior of sinners. Although Jesus Christ is omnipotent, He has saved sinners from their sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His shed blood. He has thereby completed His work to move them to the Kingdom of God. What did Jesus do when He came to this earth? By being baptized by John the Baptist, dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, He has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to all those who believe in the righteousness of God. This is why Jesus Christ is the Savior who has saved sinners from their sins by receiving His baptism on His body for sinners, dying by being nailed to the Cross,

and rising from the dead again. He has become the God of all His believers, because He has fulfilled His promise truthfully. “Jesus is the Son of the living God and the Savior of sinners.” This statement was the basic element of the Christian faith during the Early Church era. However, such faith has been substituted by the “Apostles’ Creed” in terms of formalism. Since 313 AD, when Constantine the Great proclaimed the Edict of Milan that granted Romans religious freedom, the Apostles’ Creed has been used as the standard bearer for baptizing people as a sign of being Christians. To call Jesus as the Lord entails two meanings: First, it means Jesus is God; second, it means Jesus is the Savior of sinners. These two meanings show us why the Early Church Christians did not want to use the name “Lord” for anyone else. If they had used this name for someone else, it would have been tantamount to ◄

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not believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Lord is the everlasting Creator for all mankind and the eternal Savior. Jesus Christ is the everlasting righteousness of God. “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,” Those who have been remitted from all their sins and become the servants of the righteousness of God by believing in the God-given righteousness are the ones who have become Jesus Christ’s people and obey Him. Because of this, they only preach the righteousness of God achieved by Jesus Christ, and they have no reason to spread their own carnal wisdom, knowledge, or pride. If anyone claims to be God’s servant and yet boasts of his knowledge, wisdom, or good deeds of the flesh, then he is not a servant of Jesus Christ. Those who have

truly become Jesus Christ’s servants preach and spread only the righteousness of God throughout their entire lifetime. To testify the righteousness of God, His servants may use examples in their sermons, but through such examples they just want to exalt God’s righteousness even more. God’s servants are those who live only for the works that manifest the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God has made such servants of righteousness spread His righteousness to everyone throughout the world. By hearing the Word of salvation preached to them by the servants of Jesus Christ, countless people living on earth are being remitted from all their sins and becoming God’s children. “Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;” All the saints in Rome were Gentiles at first. We, too, were not God’s people at first, but ◄

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Gentiles. However, by realizing the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit containing God’s righteousness, and by believing in this gospel Word, we have come to belong to Jesus Christ. We are the followers of Jesus Christ called by God. We now belong to Christ. This is such a great blessing and wonderful honor. How could something like this have happened to us? By nature, we could not avoid being born as slaves to sin from our very birth, and yet through the gospel of the righteousness of God, we have now become the followers of Christ. We can only thank God for the gospel of truly amazing power. “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Those of us who believe in the righteousness of God desire everyone to have the God-given

grace of the remission of sin and peace in their hearts. That is why we want to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we, the righteous, did not have this desire, then we would not be devoting our hearts to other souls. However, in the hearts of all those who have attained the righteousness of God by faith, the Holy Spirit dwells in them, and they have the yearning for everyone to receive the remission of sin. As such, to all those who still do not know the righteousness of God and still have all their sins intact, we want to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the God-given gift of the remission of sin, and we want them to believe in this gospel. It is my heart’s desire for all of you to believe in God’s righteousness, and for your hearts to have peace flowing like a river.

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Paul Gave Thanks to God Due to the Faith of the Righteous “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” Paul, who believed in God’s righteousness, always rejoiced whenever the gospel containing the righteousness of God was preached all over the world. Like him, the righteous are thankful for their faith in God’s righteousness and His will. The righteous are rejoicing because the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is now being spread vigorously throughout the entire world. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel of Truth that the Lord spoke of in John 3. In John 3:5, the Lord said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” The water mentioned here

refers to the baptism that Jesus received from John (1 Peter 3:21). The Spirit here implies that Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself, and that by believing in the baptism that Jesus received when He came to this earth to blot out our sins, in the death He suffered on the Cross and in His resurrection, we can become God’s people and enter and live in the Kingdom of God. Why did the Apostle Paul say that he was thankful to God for the saints in Rome? There were two reasons for this. First, because the saints in Rome believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and by believing in this righteousness of God, they were saved form their sins. Second, it was because of the saints in Rome that the gospel was being preached throughout the whole world. To preach the gospel in the Book of Romans, Paul often quotes from the Old Testament prophecies. He defines the righteousness of God ◄

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as one “which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,” and he concludes that his calling is to make the Gentiles among all nations obey God by faith. After saying this, he praises God for the Christians in Rome. He does this because their fundamental faith was the very faith placed in the righteousness of God, and because they preached God’s righteousness to others as well. The reason why the faith of the Roman Christians was pure is because they had defended their faith in God’s righteousness even in Rome. Rome was a place filled with pagan religions, and this is why Paul thanked God for the faith of the Christians living in Rome. This does not mean, however, that Paul began his epistle by exalting them for their devotion. Rather, Paul just gave glory to God for their faith. Christians in Rome were all born again by believing in the righteousness of God. Like this, the result of our

faith in God’s righteousness makes us to be born again. Had the Christians in Rome fronted their own righteousness of man rather than God’s righteousness, Paul would have rebuked them. It was to the Christians in Rome who believed in the righteousness of God that Paul wrote his letter of fellowship. “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,” The Apostle Paul loved the brothers and sisters in Rome. He thanked God very much for the believers in Rome. Why? The fact that there were God’s people in Rome made Paul’s heart so happy. And because through Rome, he yearned to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which the righteousness of God was manifested throughout the whole world. So, Paul prayed ◄

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constantly for the gospel, and for the people of God in Rome so that the gospel containing the righteousness of God would be preached throughout the whole world. In the end, Paul’s desire would be fulfilled. “Making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.” A missionary who spreads the righteousness of God always prays and looks for the door of the gospel. And rather than working by himself, he wants to work united with others. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles and a true spiritual father to them. As the saints in Rome once again came to learn and know what the righteousness of God was through Paul, they came to cast aside the righteousness of man. Today, the entire world is also coming to believe in the righteousness of

God manifested in the gospel preached by Paul through the Book of Romans. Through Paul, God made the gospel of the baptism of Jesus, His death on the Cross and His resurrection known to and heard by not only the Romans in Paul’s days, but people all over the world. Now as then, anyone who believes in God’s righteousness lacks nothing to become one of God’s people. “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—” To establish the faith of everyone who believed in Jesus even more firmly, Paul wanted to share the gospel Word, the spiritual gift that contains the righteousness of God. It is when we believe in the God-given gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that our faith is made even more solid; unshakable by any doubts. The reason for this is because in this true gospel, ◄

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the righteousness of God is revealed. When Paul saw the faith of the saints in Rome, he saw at least some need to strengthen it more. This is why he said that he wanted to impart “some spiritual gift” to them. What, then, is this spiritual gift before God? It refers to the gospel of the water and the Spirit containing the righteousness of God, with which God has blotted out the sins of mankind. This God-given Word of the water and the Spirit fortifies Christians’ faith and enables them to be born again. If one believes in the gospel holding God’s righteousness and preached by Paul, an instable faith is changed into a stable faith. Do you not also want to change your imperfect faith into perfect faith?

The gospel of Truth preached by Paul and containing God’s righteousness brings peace and comfort to the minds of all who believe in it. That’s because the gospel preached by Paul is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The saints in Rome needed to be comforted by the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Paul’s heart, too, could always be comforted by the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that he preached. Is the gospel that you believe in is a gospel that comforts your hearts? The Truth that can really bring peace and comfort to mankind is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel is the gospel that both Peter and Paul, along with all the Apostles believed in (1 Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:27; and 1 John 5:6).

“that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.” ◄

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Prayers That Are Answered “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.” Paul wanted the gospel to bear fruit. He had covered very large areas as his mission field, preaching the gospel containing the righteousness of God in many different regions. And every time he did so, he had abundant spiritual fruit; that is, he had many people receive the perfect remission of their sins and become God’s sinless children by believing in God’s righteousness. The gospel preached by Paul was different from the gospel preached by today’s religious people. The gospel that the Apostle Paul preached contained God’s righteousness. But in

the gospel that is preached by today’s Christians, this righteousness of God is missing. The gospel of Truth that holds God’s righteousness is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and any gospel that does not include the righteousness of God is an imperfect gospel. In the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit, the baptism that Jesus received from John, His death on the Cross and His resurrection are all contained. However, in the gospel preached by today’s Christians, only His death on the Cross and His resurrection are found. The Apostle Paul wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel containing the righteousness of God. But his way was blocked. Although the Apostle Paul longed to go to Rome, his prayers were not answered so easily. Like this, there are times when it seems as though God doesn’t answer the prayers of His saints and servants so easily, but God never fails to hear to them. God’s ◄

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answer to Paul’s prayer may seem to have been somewhat reluctant, but it was just to make the situation in Rome ripe for Paul’s evangelical ministry, and to prepare his heart. God wants wholehearted prayers. What, then, is a prayer that asks for truly spiritual things? It is a selfless prayer that’s offered for the preaching of the righteousness of God. There is no reason for such a prayer to go unanswered. All prayers that are given according to the righteousness of God are answered without fail. You may be disappointed when your prayers are not answered for a long time, but if you pray according to God’s righteousness, then your prayers will be answered right away. As such, if we have truly come into the faith that knows the righteousness of God, then our prayers will also be answered. Paul, too, entered Rome as his prayers were answered, and he preached the gospel containing God’s righteousness to people

all over the world.

The Gospel Is Always for Everyone Who Is Poor in Spirit “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.” Through his faith, Paul explains the gospel in which the righteousness of God is manifested. “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” Such a heart is one that can be had only by those who know the righteousness of God. As someone who had faith in the righteousness of God, Paul had the duty to preach the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to everyone ◄

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throughout the whole world. This responsibility weighed down his heart. That’s why he called himself a debtor. Even now, the believers in God’s righteousness desire to preach the gospel to people all over the world. The gospel where God’s righteousness is manifested is always for all those who are poor in heart. Jesus Christ taught the gospel not only to the likes of Nicodemus, the privileged few who were born into good families and were well educated, but He also taught the gospel to “tax collectors and sinners.” In John 4, Jesus taught the gospel of the righteousness of God to a Samaritan woman. Later on, during the Apostolic Age, God told Peter that the gospel was given not only to those who are ritualistically “clean,” like the Jewish people, but also to the Gentiles like Cornelius. To this, Peter declared the following statement and made this fact clear: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But

in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:3435). “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” In Paul’s eyes, even among the Christians in Rome who were professing to believe in Jesus, there weren’t enough believers who actually understood God’s righteousness properly. So Paul also wanted to preach the gospel that he believed in to the Romans who already had faith in Jesus. You and I must be able to understand Paul’s heart. Can you understand why Paul wanted to preach the gospel even to those who already believed in Jesus? To understand Paul, we must first approach the gospel that he believed in. This gospel that Paul believed in contained God’s ◄

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righteousness. The overwhelming majority of today’s Christians believe in a different version of the gospel that does not contain the righteousness of God instead of the gospel that holds God’s righteousness. Paul wanted to preach the true gospel that holds the righteousness of God.

The Gospel Where God’s Righteousness Is Revealed “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” The gospel preached by Paul was a gospel that enabled anyone to be saved from his sins, if only he would believe in it. Today, in contrast, there are many people who are preaching other gospels,

and many Christians also believe in such false gospels. What, then, is the gospel that has “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”? This gospel is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God. Few, however, know this. While many people talk about the power of the true gospel that Paul talked about, they do so only with their lips. There is only an extremely small number of people who have actually experienced what this power of the true gospel is like by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What about you? Have you really experienced the gospel power of the water and the Spirit that Jesus spoke of? If you had really believed and really experienced it, then no doubt you would have become wholly sinless, and you would have witnessed to people all over the world to proclaim the gospel power of the water and the Spirit and make it known. ◄

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This passage is the subject of the whole Book of Romans, and it is the key principle of Christianity and the core of faith. The reason for this is this verse explains to us how we can encounter the righteousness of God. The fact that we are incapable of reconciling ourselves to God on our own is the very Truth taught by God’s righteousness. Because we had rebelled against God, without a peace offering it’s impossible for us to be reconciled to God—on the contrary, we must be condemned by Him. Moreover, we have been polluted by the sins of our forefathers. Just as someone who is very sick and emits a repugnant odor looks unclean to others, in God’s eyes, we are not only unclean, but if we stand before God in that state, we will be destroyed forever. How, then, should mankind solve the problem of their sins? On our own, there is nothing that we can do to remove our sins. However, God has

given us His righteousness that has blotted out our sins. It is by simply believing in this righteousness of God that we can receive the remission of our sins. God’s righteousness given to us is contained in the Word of the water and the Spirit (John 3:4-5; Matthew 3:13-17; and 1 Peter 3:21).

The Righteousness That Came from God As Paul summarized in this passage, the righteousness of God refers to the fact that Jesus Christ has saved mankind from their grave and hopeless sins. God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the glorious Truth. The reason why “God’s righteousness” was thus revealed to mankind is because everyone is a sinner and cannot reach ◄

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the righteousness of God by himself. So, we must find God’s righteousness on the assumption that mankind is totally depraved and incapable of reaching God’s righteousness from its origin. The righteousness hidden in the gospel is the righteousness of God. This righteousness of God comes “by faith in Jesus Christ.” When we look at what the Apostle Paul said in the beginning of this epistle, we can see that the righteousness of God is none other than the righteousness of Christ that God has given to us. So Paul says, “God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel.” And the gospel is related to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:2-3). Therefore, He who fulfilled God’s righteousness is Christ, and it is by believing in this righteousness of God fulfilled by Christ that we are saved. Paul explains God’s righteousness in two parts, and both of them are indispensable. First, from the very beginning, Jesus has been righteous. Put

differently, because Jesus is God, He is absolutely holy and completely sinless. This is why when He was in the flesh, He could say, “I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29), and asked His opponents, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46) Second, by obeying the Law of God, Jesus fulfilled the perfect righteousness of God. When Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize Him, John said to Him, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” Jesus then said to John, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:1415). Paul said that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, meaning that God’s righteousness can be found in the baptism that Jesus received from John. This shows us how we can attain the righteousness of God that we all need. It also tells us that God’s righteousness can ◄

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be attained only by faith.

What Is the True Righteousness of God? “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” We can see that the gospel spoken of by the Apostle Paul is different from the imperfect gospels preached by today’s Christians. That’s because in the gospel that Paul spoke of, the righteousness of God is revealed. What, then, does this gospel where God’s righteousness is manifested refer? It refers to the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus spoke of (John 3:5). What exactly is the gospel of the water and the Spirit then? It consists of the baptism that Jesus

received from John the Baptist and the blood that He shed on the Cross. Why, then, was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist? He was baptized to fulfill all the righteousness of God (Matthew 3:15). What did Jesus achieve by being baptized? By receiving His baptism, He accepted all the sins of the world once for all. Where is the evidence for this? The words “for thus” in Matthew 3:15 are the evidence. The words “for thus” are “οϋτως γάρ” in Greek, which mean “just in this way,” “most fitting,” or “there is no other way besides this.” In other words, by being baptized by John, Jesus accepted all the sins of the world once for all, and in doing so He fulfilled everything that God the Father sought to do. Having shouldered the sins of the world through His baptism, Jesus Christ went to the Cross and was crucified. He then rose from the dead again, and has washed away all the sins of mankind, just as the Father ◄

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desired. This is the righteousness of God. Paul says that it is by believing in God’s righteousness that we can join the ranks of the born-again believers. Indeed, the righteousness of God is found in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and all those who believe in this gospel become sinless and God’s own people. In contrast, unbelievers cannot reach God’s righteousness, for they do not believe in the righteousness of God that has come to them by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Paul goes on to say, “The just shall live by faith.” This means that even if one has received the everlasting remission of sins once for all by believing in the righteousness of God, he should still continue to lead his life of faith by believing in God’s righteousness to the end. Those who believe in God’s righteousness will live; but those who do not believe will die. The gospel that the Apostle Paul is speaking of is the gospel

in which God’s righteousness is revealed, just as he said, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed.” Do you believe in this gospel where God’s righteousness is revealed? You can live only if you believe. “The gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed” is written in Matthew 3:13-15. Through Mary, Jesus was born unto this earth incarnated in the flesh of man. It is written, “She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Here in this passage, the name Jesus means “Savior,” that is, Jesus is the One who will save all mankind from their sins. When Jesus came to this earth, He had led a private life serving His family until 29, but when He turned 30, He went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist according to the will of God the Father. This was the beginning of His ◄

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public life. At that time, John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River. The baptism that John gave to the people was a baptism that demanded their repentance, but the baptism that He gave to Jesus was the baptism that put all the sins of everyone in this world on Him. We must be very careful here and not confuse these two different types of baptism; that is, the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist gave to ordinary people, and the baptism of Jesus through which John passed all sins to Him. It was to take upon all the sins of the world that Jesus was baptized by John. Jesus had ordered John, “You shall baptize Me,” but John asked Him, “When I should be baptized by You, why are You telling me to baptize You?” However, Jesus answered and said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” and John could do nothing but

obey Him. What meaning is hidden in this passage? As I told you just before, the words “for thus” in Matthew 3:15 are in Greek “οϋτως γάρ”, which mean “just in this way,” “most fitting,” or “there is no other way besides this.” The meaning of the word “thus” refers to the process through which Jesus had to take upon the sins of the world by receiving, without fail, the baptism that was given by John the Baptist. This was the reason why Jesus had to be baptized by John the Baptist. By being baptized by John, Jesus shouldered all the sins of the world. The gospel of the water and the Spirit testifies the righteousness of God. When Jesus was crucified, as He bled to death on the Cross, right before taking His last breath, He said, “It is finished.” These last words meant that by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood, Jesus has now saved everyone from all the sins of the world. ◄

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The baptism and blood of Jesus constitute the gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed. Jesus had to take upon all the sins of this world until its end by being baptized, He had to shed His blood and die on the Cross, and He had to rise from the dead again. This gospel, where God’s righteousness is manifested, can save all the sinners of this world from their sins. This and nothing else is the righteousness of God that is revealed in the true gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord. This very gospel is the greatest and most joyful news brought to all sinners. Are your acts perfect, or are they insufficient? Do you believe in the righteousness of Jesus? Do you believe in the significance of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross? It is the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross that constitute the gospel in which the righteousness of God,

which has blotted out all the sins of this world, is revealed. You must all believe in this gospel with all your hearts, that Jesus has washed away all the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist. When those of you who are single get married, most of you will have children of your own. True faith, then, is to believe that even these children’s sins were included in the sins of the world and were all passed onto Jesus through His baptism. If we assume here that a brother among us will live for 82 years before passing away, then we must believe that all the sins of his entire lifetime, all 82 years, were also passed onto Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus is telling us that each and every sin that was, is, and will ever be committed until the end of this world are all included in the sins of the world, and that to take upon all these sins, He was baptized by John the Baptist. He went to the Cross and shed ◄

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His blood. The baptism here that Jesus received from John was the perfect baptism that was more than sufficient to wash all of mankind from all the sins of the world. Romans 1:17 says, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” This gospel is none other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed.

True Faith Is to Believe Like Abraham Abraham had no child even as he was a hundred years old. One day, God appeared before him when he was still named “Abram” and called him, “Abram, Abram.” “Come out and look at the sky. Do you see the countless stars?” “Yes, there are so many stars.” “I will give you as many descendants as those stars in

the sky.” “Yes!” Although this seemed impossible in Abraham’s thoughts, he still believed in it, because it was God’s Word. Like this, because Abraham believed in God’s Word, his faith was approved by God. Abraham believed that mankind, who was incapable of keeping the Law of God and all its 613 commandments, would receive God’s righteousness by believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood. Since Sarah,’ Abraham’s wife, was already past menopause, realistically speaking, it was impossible for her to give birth to a child. Yet despite this, Abraham still believed God’s Word, and because of this faith he was able to attain Isaac. This kind of faith is the faith in the righteousness of God. It is with such faith that we believe in God’s righteousness and are saved from all our sins. Just as Abraham was approved by God ◄

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because he believed that there was nothing God could not do, and that He would keep His promise without fail, our faith, too, is approved by God when we believe in His Word. He who believes in God’s Word has received the gift that is obtained by believing in His righteousness. He who believes in the righteousness of God receives the remission of his sins and the gift of Holy Spirit. If you believe in God’s righteousness bestowed on mankind, you will be blessed to have this righteousness of God. God brings salvation into the arms of those who believe in His righteousness manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What kind of faith does God demand from us? If God had said that we would be saved from our sins through our own righteous acts, no one would be able to be saved from sin. However, it is to those who believe in God’s righteousness that He has given them salvation from sin. God does not take

on the attributes of man. Did God really give the Law to mankind so that people would keep it? Didn’t He give His Law to them so that they would realize their sins and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? That’s right. Today’s Christians must realize just how gravely erroneous it is to believe in God without knowing His righteousness. It is to teach mankind that everyone has sin, which binds all to hell, that God gave the Law (Romans 3:20). Romans 1:17 says, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” We human beings have no righteousness of our own before God. From our very birth, we were all born with twelve different sins by nature (Mark 7:21-25). When we commit all kinds of evil, arrogant, murderous and adulterous sin throughout our lives, how could we not need God’s righteousness? Our God made Jesus bear ◄

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the condemnation of our sins through His baptism and blood, and in doing so, He has saved from all our sins by believing in this righteousness of God. It is by believing in the gospel of the baptism and blood of Jesus that we have obtained righteousness from God. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and profess the following will receive the Holy Spirit from God: “Through the righteousness of our own acts, we cannot attain the righteousness of God. That’s why it is only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can receive God’s righteousness. When it comes to our human righteousness, there is nothing that we can boast of. We believe that the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross compose the righteousness of God.” By faith, we have become the ones who have received all the blessings that God has promised. Do you have this perfect faith placed in the righteousness of

God? God’s righteousness is in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he shouted out to people, referring to Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) By being baptized, Jesus took upon the sins of the world. All the sins of us mankind were passed onto Jesus. Therefore, all the sins of mankind are washed away by believing in this gospel that Jesus has blotted out all those sins with His baptism and blood. If anyone still has his sins remaining intact in his heart, that’s because his heart does not have the righteousness of God, and therefore he has not been able to be washed from his sins. It is through the testimony that John passed the sins of the world to Jesus by baptizing Him and Jesus took them all away, that we are washed from our sins. Your sins were also all passed onto Jesus ◄

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through His baptism, and Jesus shouldered all the sins of the world once for all, went to the Cross, was crucified, shed His blood, and thereby completed the righteousness of God. Let us turn to John 19:28-30. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” Now then, to whom were the sins of this world passed? And where were they condemned? As Jesus was baptized by John, all the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus’ head. By being baptized and shedding His blood, Jesus has blotted out this world’s sins entirely. Yet despite this, some people claim, “Jesus took away

original sin, but not personal sins, and therefore one must be remitted from his personal sins by asking for God’s forgiveness everyday through prayers of repentance.” This kind of faith is not the faith that is placed in the righteousness of God. The Bible clearly states that Jesus has saved sinners from their sins by being baptized and shedding His blood. That is indeed the case. Anyone who believes in Jesus properly must have no sin in his heart. Once human beings are born, for them to be saved from their sins, they must receive the remission of their sins by believing in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who are born again by their faith in the righteousness of God can overcome the world and live a life that is completely free from the sins of the world. This is also followed by their newly attained rights as God’s children. Before we believed in Jesus as ◄

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the Savior, “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:3). But once we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed, we become the righteous. The very moment we believe in this Truth, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). That is why we must all believe that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross are God’s righteousness. This is the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which the righteousness of God is revealed. I beseech all of you to also return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and to accept the gospel of the righteousness of God! All the sins in your hearts will then be cleansed away as white as snow, and you will receive the fullness of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

If We Are Vigilant Christians “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” The wrath of God is brought upon those who stand against the gospel of His righteousness with their unrighteous thoughts and judgments. Who, then, are such people? They are the ones who do not believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God. In other words, among Christians, there are those who believe in God’s righteousness and are thankful for it, but at the same time, there also are those who stand against it and blaspheme it. So for such people, God’s fearful wrath awaits them in the last days. Since they are ungodly before God, they have no desire to study the Word of God any further. Because they do not ◄

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fear Him, they ignore God’s righteousness and do not believe in it. God will punish such people with the judgment of fire and brimstone brought down from the sky. Hell is a place that is prepared for those who do not believe in God’s righteousness. The righteousness of God is the love with which He loved us. To those who have rejected God’s love, only the fearful wrath and punishment of God await them. It is written in Song of Solomon 8:6, “For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.” God the Father gave us His Son, passed our sins onto the Son, put Him to death on the Cross, and raised Him from the dead again. By doing so, God has saved all sinners so that they may all received the remission of their sins. This is God’s love. To anyone who does not believe in the salvation that has come through this love and rejects it, His love will change and

descend on them as cruel punishments. The reason for this is because they are standing against God as Satan’s servants. Song of Solomon 8:7 also states, “Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.” Far from believing in the righteousness of God, many Christians who claim to believe in Jesus are instead volunteering and devoting themselves to other causes in His name. Although they may labor hard to give more offerings and evangelize, all that awaits them is to bear God’s despise and wrath. You must realize that the wrath of God will descend on all those who do not believe in His righteousness. Sermons in today’s churches are too lacking in testifying the righteousness of God. However, the wrath of God and His righteousness are the ◄

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main teachings of the Bible, and when it comes to preaching the Lord’s Word, the gospel that reveals the righteousness of God must not be overlooked. Yet despite this, when we examine today’s Christian denominations according to the Word, most of them tend to leave out God’s righteousness and His wrath, and instead just tell people to believe in Jesus somehow. That’s because today’s Christianity has turned into a worldly religion. If anyone is a vigilant Christian, he must of course believe in both the righteousness of God and His wrath.

The Righteousness of God Is an Indispensable Element for Evangelization When today’s Christians preach the gospel to

other people, what do most of them preach first? Most of them begin with the blessings of the flesh when they “evangelize.” They take the blessings of the flesh that their listeners can easily agree as the starting point of their evangelizing effort. The reason why they do this is because they try to satisfy the desires of their listeners. However, when it comes to believing in God, the most fundamental problem that must be solved first is the problem of sin. Before God, one must focus on the issue of how he can solve the problem of his sins, and decide whether or not he would have faith in God. But when many Christian actually go about trying to evangelize others, do they actually address mankind’s sins and God’s righteousness? No, they don’t really address these issues. On the contrary, they are incapable of addressing them, so they actually try to avoid them. That’s because they do not know the righteousness of God. ◄

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Paul said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers” (2 Timothy 4:3). The “itching ears” here refer to one’s pursuit of his own desires. In this passage, Paul is warning that an evangelist must not try to evangelize sinners by fulfilling their human desires. The Apostle Paul did not preach the gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed to satisfy such “necessities.” However, today’s preachers are promising carnal blessings to their listeners. In other words, they are preaching the gospel by emphasizing that the listeners would receive abundant rewards only if they accept Jesus. The most commonly used strategy to preach the gospel is to emphasize that Jesus has blessed us in the flesh. And for this reason, Christians are also encouraged to preach the gospel to others.

However, Paul did not use such tactics as his evangelizing method. On the contrary, Paul said, “The reason why I want to go to Rome and preach the gospel to you is because I want to tell you about the righteousness of God that I have received, so that you may also have the same faith. You can have this faith if you want it, and God’s righteousness is all ready for you.” Yet many people still do not believe in the righteousness of God, and therefore they are still under His wrath and at the risk of being forever condemned by His hands. “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” To those who stand against the righteousness of God and do not believe in it, what may be known of God has already been given in two ways: One is the conscience that God has given ◄

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them, and the other is the Natural Revelation of creation. By manifesting these things, God has made those who stand against Him know His existence as well as the fact that He is the God of love who has bestowed the grace of salvation on them. However, because most of them do not accept God’s love to the end even when they know this, they all deserve to bear the punishment of curse from God for their sins.

Even If One Were to Come up with Excuses “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” Those who are to bear the wrath of God will

claim that they did not know about His existence. However, God has already manifested His existence to everyone through His creation. Therefore, those who do not believe in God, nor believe in the love of God’s righteousness even as they heard it from His evangelists, will not be able to excuse their sins. It’s His law of justice for God to apply the principle that “the wages of sin is death,” and cast sinners into their destruction. Whoever escapes from God’s law of love will be judged by God with His law of wrath, that is, His law of justice. Toward the latter part Romans 1, Paul spoke about what will happen in the last days, saying that men and women will stand before God in silence. They will not be able to excuse their unbelief in God’s righteousness even if they were to try, and that the whole world will be under God’s judgment. We are now living in the age of God’s grace. ◄

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However, His wrath is still accumulating. We see the wrath piling up as a flood. My fellow believers, do not wait until you are buried in this wrath. Do not give excuses. Admit that you won’t be able to give any excuses for not believing in His righteousness before God, and escape from His wrath by holding onto His righteousness. To be saved from God’s wrath, there is no other way but to believe in His righteousness. You should remember that God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit even to you, who do not know His righteousness, so that you, too, may be clothed in the righteousness of God.

This Passage Applies to Today’s Christians Also “because, although they

knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Who will bear the wrath of God? They are the Christian sinners who, while believing in God, have nonetheless not been delivered from their sins, for they do not believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has glorified God and become His righteousness. Most Christians today are such sinners. In other words, while they do believe in God and in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they do not believe with their hearts the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, through which God has remitted away every sinner’s iniquities. This kind of faith is erroneous. Anyone who has this kind of faith stands against the love of God’s righteousness, even as such people profess to believe in Jesus. That’s why God said that He would make sure to bring His wrath upon such people. ◄

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This passage is fulfilled to today’s people also as written in the Bible. Because they do not know the righteousness of God, even as they claim to know Him, they do not thank Him, nor do they glorify Him, but their thoughts are filled with only futile thoughts. That’s why Paul explained the fearful state in which those who are exposed to the wrath of the Almighty God are placed, and what made them come under God’s wrath. The reason why they have become the objects of God’s wrath is because they have rejected the knowledge of the righteousness of God. This knowledge is the Truth that God has manifested Himself comprehensively through the nature and all things created in it, and has made us His children through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By showing the wretched consequences that stems from rejecting the knowledge of God, the Apostle Paul sought to describe the future of

mankind in more detail. The human heart is darkened by sin. When the righteousness of God is shown by the revelation of nature and written in the Word of the Bible, not to believe in it even as one sees it is to ask for God’s wrath on his own. Who, then, can “glorify” God? He who has the proper knowledge of the righteousness of God can glorify Him. Only those who know that God is the Lord, holy, omniscient, unchanging, full of love, and righteous can glorify God. The reason for man’s existence is to glorify God. But people do not like God because of His sovereignty over them. They dislike Him because His sovereignty negates their independence. They dislike Him because He is holy. God’s holiness points out their sins and condemns them, and because God is omniscient, people do not like Him. God’s omniscience makes them fearful, because they are afraid that their sins might be ◄

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exposed. People do not like God also because God is unchanging. That God is unchanging means that His attributes are always the same without changing. Human beings do not like such truths. So they try to suppress these truths and to deny their existence. However, what is clear is that because of such human characteristics, people do not praise God. Nonetheless, through the righteousness of God, people can obtain His mercy and come to glorify God. But that is possible only if one believes in the righteousness of God.

Foolish People “Professing to be wise, they became fools,” Who are the fools? They are the ones who do not believe in the Word of God, and instead

believe in themselves, thinking themselves to be wise. Since such people believe they are smart on their own, they don’t dwell too much on what the righteousness of God is and what their souls need, so they feel no need to believe in God. God described people like these as beasts that perish (Psalm 49:20). What about you? Do you not consider yourself a good Christian, even as you do not know the righteousness of God? If so, then you must turn around from your foolish thoughts and believe in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. You will then receive the wisdom and salvation of God. Sinners substitute God with material things. That’s why they’ve become fools. Fools act foolishly. They commit the foolish act of turning God into an image of a creature. This is why God’s servants must preach His righteousness to them. Unless they do so, mankind cannot hear ◄

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God’s righteousness, and people will be destroyed as fools. However, God’s mercy is such that His righteousness is preached sufficiently even to the foolish people. “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” Those who are foolish before God give up their souls to Satan and idols, when they should partake in the glory of God instead. They will therefore suffer with the world when it’s destroyed, and be forever accursed. Everyone needs the kind of faith that knows God properly and glorifies God properly. Anyone who worships God’s creatures as his god is a fool.

Many People Say to God, “Please Leave Me Alone!” “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,” Those who are to be cursed by God are the ones who betray the Truth of His righteousness, disbelieve it and reject it. Such people live in this world according to the wishes of the lusts of their flesh. God leaves them alone to go on to commit their sins, and the reason why He does so is for them to fill the amount of their sins, so that they would surely be destroyed on the last day. That’s because God has mercy on whom He has mercy and condemns those whom He cannot help but condemn. Ungodly people commit sin according to their lustful desires. The ultimate embodiment of ◄

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carnal lusts is homosexuality. But, you should realize that the wrath of God is revealed “from heaven” against such sinners. Human beings, unaware of this wrath of God, insist to Him, “God, please leave me alone. Don’t try to reign over me; just leave me alone so that I can live my life as I wish.” People do not even wish to know the righteousness of God. This is a great sin. That’s why God leaves them alone under His wrath. However, like the father of the prodigal son, God is still waiting for the rebellious children of wrath to return. He is waiting for them to know His righteousness and come back to Him. We must return to God. Our own wish, too, is to return to God, but the problem is that we cannot return to God through our own efforts. On the contrary, our own efforts can only bring the opposite results, making us depart from God and stand against Him.

In our flesh we think that God has taken away everything that can make us happy. We think that if we run away far from God, we would be happy and free. However, what we discover more and more as we run away further and further is not happiness, but misery. It’s not freedom that we see, but only our helpless weaknesses of the flesh. Therefore, we must give up our preposterous ideas, and obey God’s Word to receive His love of salvation freely. God does not just leave mankind in futility, but He hands them over to His judgment. However, mankind can still overcome the judgment through their faith in the righteousness of God. By believing in God’s righteousness, they no longer have to be actually condemned for their sins; on the contrary, they will receive far better splendor. “who exchanged the truth of ◄

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God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” God is to be forever praised by all of us. Far from praising God, however, there are those who disobey His will, exalting and worshiping human sexuality above the will of God. Homosexuals are at the extreme of such people. Even so, God’s righteousness is such that for even these people, if they believe in the gospel of His righteousness, their sins can be washed away as white as snow, and they, too, can become God’s children. “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the

penalty of their error which was due.” There are many people dying from AIDS on this planet. At this very moment, this disease continues to bring untold sufferings. It has been reported that AIDS is more infectious for homosexuals than heterosexuals. God abhors the sins and acts committed by homosexuals. Yet because human beings are weak, many still continue to commit these sins. They will however eventually come to bear the costs of their sins with their own bodies. But still, through the gospel of His righteousness, God has washed away all the sins that are in their souls. Even if you have fallen into this sin, if you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which God’s righteous is manifested, then you, too, can be delivered from all your sins. God loves your soul. That’s why Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist to accept the sins of the world. He died on the Cross, rose from the ◄

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dead again, and has thereby become your Savior. For you to escape from the curses of disease and eternal death, there is no other way but to believe in the righteousness of God. If you believe in God’s righteousness, this righteousness of God will become yours. It’s my sincerest desire for you to have God’s blessings. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;” What consequences are brought about to those who do not wish to retain God in their hearts? Their hearts are injured. As a result, they end up committing all kinds of sins, and because of these sins, their souls are ultimately destroyed. They turn into truly wretched souls. It breaks our hearts to see that there are so many such souls on this planet. All of us believe that the gospel

Word containing the righteousness of God is absolutely needed by them. That’s because they, too, can be saved from all their sins if they believe in God’s righteousness. “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,” These sins are most prevalent among the Christians who believe in Jesus but have not been born again yet. Their sins are usually manifested in these forms, and the first of these is that their thoughts are evil. For those who do not believe in the righteousness of God, their hearts are ruled by Satan, and they commit countless sins that stem from their evil thoughts. Their hearts and acts are ugly and wicked. The hearts of sinners are filled with all kinds of greed, ◄

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and full of desire to do evil. They like to talk about others behind their backs. God described such people as “a brood of evildoers” (Isaiah 1:4). However, these people, too, can still be washed from all their sins if they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and return to God. I pray that the righteousness of our God’s mercy is with you all. “backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,” These are the list of sins committed by those who stand against the righteousness of God and do not believe in it. The hearts of sinners, which do not have the Holy Spirit, are filled with such sinful desires so much that their hearts are overflowing with them. First, they are prone to criticize others and have no mercy for anyone else. Second, they hate God. They torment and

hate God’s people. Because their hearts are proud, they spend all their time boasting of their own righteousness. Third, they scheme to do evil. Such people disobey their own parents of the flesh and cause them heartache. However, even if they have lived this kind of life and committed all these sins until now, if they believe in the gospel where the righteousness of God is revealed, then they, too, can be freed from all their sins and receive everlasting life as sinless and righteous people. Therefore, all such people must also believe in Jesus as their Savior. Jesus, as their Savior, will then bestow the grace of the remission of sin on them and clothe them in the glory of Heaven. “undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;” Because sinners’ minds are blinded, they are ◄

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incapable of discovering the real Truth on their own. They betray their promises. They do cruel things that no human being should do. If their interests seem to be threatened, they resort to merciless acts to protect their interests. Because of such sins, they will face death and be cast into hell To them also, however, God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the grace of salvation, and has thus granted them the opportunity to be saved. I thank the Lord. “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Everyone knows and believes that he would be sent to hell if he has sin. Yet despite this, sinners not only practice their sins, but they also

like to provoke their fellow sinners to commit the same sins. They do this because they are seeds of evildoers. Therefore they will not be able to avoid the punishment for their sins. However, if they acknowledge before God that they are seeds of evildoers and return to the righteous salvation of God and believe in it, then they, too, will be remitted from all such sins. The Lord has promised us all, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I admonish all of you to believe in this Word of the Lord, and to return to the faith that is placed in the gospel Word, the righteousness of God. Although all human beings are seeds of evildoers, if they believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, they can all be saved from their sins.

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Exegesis Chapter 2

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56 To Those Who Band Together to Stand against God

To Those Who Band Together to Stand against God < Romans 2:1-29 > “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in

accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the ◄

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doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that

a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written. For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew ◄

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who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” This is what the Apostle Paul said to the legalists among the Jews. Before God, those who judge others are bound in their own sins, because they have not received the remission of their sins. Such people try to become righteous by not committing sin. Because their hearts are bound by sin, they judge and condemn other sinners as if they were God’s delegates. To them, the Apostle Paul said that when seen

from the righteousness of God, for a sinner to judge another sinner is akin to condemning himself for his own sins. How can anyone judge others when he is committing the same sins? Sinners condemn others because they, too, have sin. This is no different from condemning oneself as sinful. However, a sinner who does not know the righteousness of God has no right to judge other people as sinful. That’s because the others’ sins are the same as his sins. Therefore, all sinners must believe in the righteousness of God. Despite this, today’s Christians who have not been born again even though they believe in Jesus have banded together to stand against God. There are many people like this in today’s Christian communities, and they teach their congregations that although Jesus has blotted out the sins of the world and made them righteous, it’s still true that the human heart has sin. So not only do they stand against the righteousness of ◄

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God, but they also make others reject God’s true love. In contrast, the born-again believe in and follow the righteousness of God. Denominations are not what can send you to Heaven. Have you ever seen a denomination sending someone to Heaven? It is when we personally believe in the righteousness of God that we are saved from our sins to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The qualification for a sinner to enter Heaven is attained only when he believes that Jesus has remitted away everyone’s sins through His baptism and blood, that is, when he believes in this righteousness of God. The gospel where God’s righteousness is revealed is fair to everyone. God looks at whether or not one believes in His righteousness with his heart. Everyone must therefore believe that Jesus has solved the problem of all the sins of this world through His baptism and blood. Chapter 2 of the Book of Romans is spoken to

those who ignore God’s righteousness. The legalists believe themselves to be honoring God quite well. When it comes to their legalistic faith, they based their faith on their own acts. Such people are prone to judge others. Even in these days, those who profess to believe in Jesus without even knowing the righteousness of God are like this. The legalists have no interest in God’s righteousness. However, through a legalistic faith that values one’s acts above everything else, it is impossible to attain God’s righteousness. The position of legalistic faith not only stands against God’s righteousness, but it also refuses to break the righteousness of man before the righteousness of God. This is why they are under the wrath of God. In this world, there are many leaders who have legalistic faith standing against the righteousness of God. Because they do not know God’s righteousness, they only teach and ◄

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compel their congregation to pursue the acts of the Law. For example, those who are ignorant of the righteousness of God and practice legalistic faith teach and believe that they must never buy or sell anything on Sunday. But the leaders themselves do not actually abide by their own teachings. The Jewish people were like this. Based on the Law, they had judged the Gentiles’ faith and acts. They likened the Gentiles to dogs, as someone who did not know God and worshipped idols. However, they themselves also broke the Law just as the Gentiles did, and yet they did not accept the righteousness of God. It was none other than the Jews who judged the Gentiles with the Law. Today, even if people believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, if they do not believe in the righteousness of God—that is, in the baptism Jesus Christ received and the blood He shed on the Cross—then they are like these Jews.

“But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.” A sinner may position himself to judge another man’s sin, but because he himself has sin, he cannot ultimately escape from the just judgment of God. Therefore, no sinner should be a teacher of the Law. On the contrary, all sinners must know and believe in the righteousness of God, and they must thereby receive the Godgiven remission of sin and spread His righteousness. God’s righteous judgment will be justly rendered on sinners. “And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” Sinners are found not only among all the religions of this world, but they are also found among Christians. And in every religion, there ◄

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are many sinners who are in a position to teach and judge others. In other words, among sinners there are many teachers of the Law who judge others. Long ago, among the Jews, there were many who became teachers of the Law, and they could not escape from the righteous judgment of God. Like this, there are many people who judge others’ acts among sinners. However, God said that He will render His just judgment on the teachers of the Law, and therefore they will not escape from His fearful judgment.

The Goodness of God Is the Righteousness of God “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

Those who know and believe in the gospel power of the righteousness of God can be described as someone who has experienced the goodness of God and the abundant grace of His righteousness and the remission of sin. In contrast, those who, not knowing the righteousness of God, have legalistic faith trying to establish their own righteousness are someone who has despised God’s love. Among the sins of this world, the sin of despising the righteousness of God is a demonic sin that directly stands against God. So we need to realize and believe that God’s fearful wrath will be rendered on those who despise His righteousness and mercy manifested as the baptism and blood of Jesus. The righteousness of God refers to the gospel that has blotted out all the sins of this world through the baptism of Jesus and His blood which was shed on the Cross. Everyone must ◄

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know and believe in the righteousness of God without fail. Without knowing God’s righteousness, it is impossible to believe in Jesus properly, and even the belief in Jesus as one’s Savior is also futile. Yet today, when it comes to believing in God, only a few actually believe in Him with the knowledge of the gospel where God’s righteousness is manifested. In the hearts of the people of the world, there is a tendency to consider God only as the “greatest” or the “most virtuous” of all in the universe. But they must know that God is good. Nature also shows us the goodness of God. The world around us reveals the true goodness of God. Every moment we breathe in the wonderful air and see the nature, we can really feel just how much our lives rely on God’s goodness. Every time we use the resources of the world to build houses, make clothes, and plant crops, we can grasp that God is indeed good to us.

The righteousness and goodness of God are manifested not only in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but also in our lives. However, God’s righteousness is not revealed in the nature. The righteousness of God is revealed gloriously as the Truth among the many transgressions of mankind. Depending on whether one knows and believes in the righteousness of God determines whether he is someone who despises God’s goodness or not. The righteousness of God revealed in the gospel is too great. Therefore, as Paul said, we must not be stubborn before God. That’s because it is the righteousness of God that brings freedom and peace from sin to all believers.

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God’s Forbearance Is His Righteousness In verse 4, the righteousness of God is His forbearance. It is absurd that people think and say that they believe in Jesus, and yet they do not even understand God’s righteousness. They mistakenly think that God’s goodness means He is being patient with their sins for a while. However, the righteousness of God does not tolerate sin, but it has blotted out the sins of mankind through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The fact that you can still receive the remission of your sins is because God’s righteousness is being preached in this world to its fullness. To spread His righteousness throughout the whole world, God has not yet brought the punishment that sinners deserve. That’s because the gospel of the water and the

Spirit, where the righteousness of God is contained, is still being proclaimed in this world. If you have learned the righteousness of God or discovered it, then you should cast aside your old faith and have new faith. When people believe in God’s righteousness, they discover that God’s forbearance is great. Then what is His forbearance? His forbearance is that God has given His righteousness to sinners, and He has called them to be saved from their sins by faith. There are three attributes to God: The first is God’s goodwill of salvation bestowed on sinners by revealing His righteousness. The second is His patience of longsuffering, and the third is His forbearance that does not render His judgment of sin too soon. When these three attributes are defined in God’s righteousness, the first is the righteousness of God that bestows grace concretely to remit away mankind’s sins, the ◄

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second is His long patience for these sins of mankind, and the third is His good forbearance that waits until His gift is spread to everyone. Here “longsuffering” means that God has long endured mankind’s sins for their remission. How amazing is it that God has put up with the world in patience to this day? Today’s people of the world have no fear God and are at the forefront of sinning. The Law of God is trampled, and even His name is regularly insulted. Yet despite this, God does not immediately punish those who are brazenly insulting Him like this. That is because He has bestowed the gospel of His righteousness on this earth. The gospel of the righteousness of God is truly amazing. The religionists are committing all kinds of sin under the holy name of Christ. Why does God then leave them alone? Why does He not bring down His righteous wrath from Heaven and dispose of such abominable people? There is

only one reason for this. That’s because God has decided to blot out all their sins by revealing His righteousness to everyone in this world.

Believe in the Righteousness of God Manifested in the Gospel For all lives, there are two paths before them. One is the path of salvation that leads them to be saved from their sins by believing in the righteousness of God manifested in the gospel, and the other is the path of rebellion that trounces God’s goodness. Which path will you embark on? Will you take the path that leads to your salvation from sin by believing in the gospel of the righteousness of God, or will you take the path of rebellion, instead of the gospel of the righteousness of God? You may rebel against God, and you may ◄

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front your own righteousness and stand against God’s righteousness. But why must you do this? You are refusing to acknowledge the righteousness of God because you do not want to be remitted from your sins. Why, then, do people not believe in God’s righteousness? That’s because they want to establish their own righteousness. God is good. He created mankind. And He is the One who paid for and has bestowed the gospel of His righteousness on mankind. As such, when people believe in God with the knowledge of His righteousness, then they are saved from all their sins.

Salvation from the Accumulated Wrath of God “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are

treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” The righteousness of God was revealed as the following: Jesus Christ the Son of God came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, took upon the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist at the age of 30, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby blotted out all our sins and saved us once for all. Verse 5 here tells us that those who, despite this revelation of God’s righteousness, impertinently refuse to believe in this Truth are actually treasuring up for themselves the wrath that will be poured upon them on the day the righteous judgment of God is revealed. Sinners will bear the wrath of God despite believing in Jesus as their Savior because of their stubborn refusal to believe in the righteousness of God. ◄

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In 1 John 5:3-7, the Bible describes Jesus as “He who came by water and blood.” You must therefore realize why Jesus came to this earth by water and blood, and believe in it. In other words, you must know the reason why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross, and you must believe in it. You need to know exactly what this Truth is saying about the righteousness of God. Everyone can escape from his sins and be free by believing in the righteousness of God. Yet this despite, Christians who remain as sinners are abusing themselves with the sins they have committed out of their insufficiencies. Those who do not know the righteousness of God are condemning themselves for their sins and are imprisoned by them. To solve the problem of sin by themselves, they rely on their own efforts such as fasting, doing penance, serving others, or dedicating themselves to some good cause.

However, in this world there are too many Christians who still have sin in their hearts despite believing in Jesus. Such people must invariably believe in the Word of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus, and they must be saved from their sins first. You must know without fail exactly what the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Bible speaks of means. When priests gave sacrifices in the Tabernacle, they had to wash their hands and feet at the bronze laver. If they had approached God without washing their hands and feet at the laver, they would have been put to death. So the laver of bronze was critically important to the priests. That’s because the priests could wash away their uncleanness with the water in the laver. For today’s people also, when it comes to believing in Jesus, they must believe in Him with the knowledge of the gospel that contains the righteousness of God. Jesus obeyed the will of ◄

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God, which was to wash away all people’s sins of the world through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist. Jesus carried the sins of the world to the Cross. In the Bible, the two indispensable elements that are absolutely necessary to manifest the righteousness of God are the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross.

The Gospel of Truth That Can Overcome the Sins of the World It is written in 1 John 5:5-6, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ.” Do you have the belief that Jesus is the Son of God? Jesus came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man. Jesus was baptized by John and crucified by

Roman soldiers, and has thereby become the Savior of all sinners. Jesus came to sinners by water and blood. He came not only by blood, but by water and blood. He came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man to deliver sinners from their sins. And by being baptized by John the Baptist, He accepted all the sins of every sinner onto His own body. Why was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist? He was baptized to make all the sins of the world pass onto His body. It is because Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist that He had to be crucified and shed His blood to die on the Cross. It is because Jesus had taken upon the sins of mankind that He shed His blood and died on the Cross to end the judgment of sin. By taking upon all the sins of mankind on His own body and sacrificing Himself, Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. Through the baptism of Jesus and His blood ◄

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on the Cross, the salvation of mankind was completed. God has thus saved all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior from all the sins of the world. Jesus has not saved us with just the blood of the Cross alone. Jesus was crucified after accepting the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. The baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross were more than sufficient to blot out all the sins of this world and to bring the remission of sin to every believer. Therefore, you must believe in both Jesus’ baptism that washed all the sins of the world and the blood that He shed on the Cross. This is the way of Truth that came from God and that saves mankind from all its sins. The Bible says that there are three witnesses testifying that God has saved us from our sins: “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and

these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son” (1 John 5:7-9). Therefore, if one believes only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross, then he can never say, “I have no sin.” You need to realize the Word of Truth that whatever is bound on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever is loosened on earth will be loosened in Heaven. In the Book of Hebrews, God said, “To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). This means that the Lord will reveal Himself to the saints who eagerly wait Him. The word ‘saint’ here is used to refer to a holy person who has no sin and who is dwelt by the Holy Spirit. God the Father is with the Holy Spirit and He allows the ◄

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indwelling of the Holy Spirit to the saints. When Jesus was baptized and shed His blood on this earth, the gates of Heaven were opened (Matthew 3:16). Yet because people do not know that Jesus has completed everything to blot out the sins of the world, the gates of Heaven still remain closed in their hearts. God the Father has completed the salvation of sinners from their sins through the baptism His Son received and the blood He shed on the Cross. You must believe in the gospel of the baptism and blood of Jesus, and of the Spirit. Why? These constitute the righteousness of God. If you believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God, you, too, will become His child.

sins as white as snow. However, God’s justice will condemn everyone who does not believe in His righteousness. Just the thought that our God is truly just is enough to make us tremble in fear. God brings justice to the whole earth. The only way for us to escape from the judgment of the righteous wrath of God is to believe in the gospel that has remitted away mankind’s sins through the water and the Spirit. God made it clear that He would bring down His wrath on everyone who does not obey His righteousness in his or her disrespect. All human beings must therefore look for the gospel of the righteousness of God and find it. They must believe in it with their hearts. That’s because the gospel of the righteousness of God is the most faithful gospel.

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From the Fearful Wrath Where must a sinner find his salvation from sin? If we all deserve the wrath of God, if this wrath is poured on us according to the amount of our sins, and if the consequences of the sins committed in this life are revealed as His wrath, then how can we, who cannot help but commit sin throughout our lifetime, ever escape from this wrath? The only way of escape is the faith placed in the baptism of Christ and His blood on the Cross, which accepted all the wrath of God in its entirety. This is the righteousness of God. How can anyone escape from the wrath of God without believing in His righteousness? No sinner can ever escape from God’s wrath, and the result of not believing in God’s righteousness is to treasure up His fearful wrath on one’s own head. Every sinner must believe in the

righteousness of God and be saved from all his sins. The righteousness of God will then become his righteousness. The Truth that makes it possible for sinners to be saved from the fearful wrath of God is the righteousness of God.

You Can Attain Eternal Life by Believing in God’s Righteousness “Who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’:” God is merciful, but He is also strict to sinners. To all those who live by legalism, do not believe in His righteousness and stand against it, God will render His retribution for their sin. However, even though this sin is a sin that stands directly against God, people do not realize just what a grave sin it is to not believe in God’s righteousness and instead insist on their legalistic ◄

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faith before God. But our God will render His judgment to each one according to his faith. All sinners must realize that they will be condemned for their sin. There is no exception. The Bible speaks about two ways that are open to everyone: One is the way to receive the remission of sin and eternal life by believing in the righteousness of God, and the other is the way to be accursed by standing against God’s righteousness with one’s own human righteousness. Here in verse 7, “those who by patient continuance in doing good” refers to those who believe with their hearts that the righteousness of God has remitted away all their sins. God considers it as goodness when people believe in His righteousness. On the other hand, He considers it evil when people do not believe in His righteousness with their hearts. To which side do you belong? Do you believe that God’s righteousness has saved you? If not, then you are

on the path that stands against God’s righteousness in order to front your own righteousness of man. The choice is now yours. Which of these two paths will you choose? Depending on which road you choose, from the paths of believing in God’s righteousness or standing against it, you will either receive the blessing of everlasting life or be accursed forever. The Bible states, “Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29). Even if you are standing on the way that stands against the righteousness of God, some of you may have the mistaken hope that this path would somehow continue on to eventually reach the Kingdom of Heaven that you all desire to enter. There is no such a result, however. Those who maintain this kind of faith cannot have faith in the righteousness of God. They are rejecting to ◄

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rely on the righteousness of God by pursuing their own virtues instead. They believe that their own merits will somehow bring happiness, fulfillment, and even salvation to them in this life. But they cannot put even a step into Heaven. You must recognize the fact that if you are walking on the fallacious way to front your own righteousness of man, then the end of this path is your destruction. Strangely, even though some travelers admit that they are on the wrong road, instead of giving up and embarking on the right road, they erroneously hope that they would somehow reach their destination if they take a byway down the road. In the realm of the physical world, this sometimes happens. But in the spiritual realm, such things cannot happen. The righteousness of man that pursues one’s own virtue always makes the righteousness of God move further apart. This is the truth spoken in the Book of Romans.

God’s righteousness is attained only by faith, not by acts. “Repentance,” metanoia in Greek, means to change one’s thoughts and consequently change one’s faith. True repentance literally means “to turn around.” The right repentance is for everyone to cast aside his own human virtue that he has been storing up and instead believe in God’s righteousness. Everyone absolutely needs to throw away his human virtue that he had been accumulating and pursue the righteousness of God. God’s perfect will is to make us His children by giving us His righteousness. Faith begins by agreeing with the righteousness of God. The moment one discovers and believes in the righteousness of God, he has already become someone who believes in Jesus as his Savior. Therefore, faith is to believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood. Jesus clothes such people in God’s righteousness and is always with them. As ◄

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such, the more we know the righteousness of God, the more we realize that all our sins were already blotted out, and we are filled only with the glory of God, instead of the judgment of wrath. This is the right faith that believes in the righteousness of God. “Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;” It is because Christians believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God that they can endure and last through all persecutions. It is only by believing in God’s righteousness that one receives the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whether or not one believes in the gospel of the righteousness of God while on this earth is what determines whether or not he would receive all the blessings of God. If you, as someone who believes in Jesus,

know the gospel of the righteousness of God and believe in it, then the blessings of Romans 2:7 will be yours. Those who do not believe in the gospel containing God’s righteousness, however, will be forever accursed. It is to those who believe in His righteousness and spreads the gospel that God brings glory, honor, and the great blessing of immortality. Therefore, anyone who wants to receive every blessing from God must engrave in the tablet of his heart the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit in which God’s righteousness is revealed, and everyone must believe in this true gospel. If you believe in the righteousness of God, all His blessings will be yours. “But to those who are selfseeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,” Among Christians who profess to believe in ◄

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Jesus, God said that He would bring His wrath and anger to all those who band together selfishly to stand against the gospel of the righteousness of God instead of believing in it. In today’s Christianity, those who profess to believe in Jesus often band together and stand against the gospel Truth that holds the righteousness of God rather than believing in it. Such people do not believe in the righteousness of God because they have more respect for the virtuous forerunners in their own denomination than for God’s righteousness revealed through Jesus. So they have come to stand against the righteousness of God. Such believers and the individuals who belong to such denominations are committing great sins against God. They will not escape from the punishment of hell. This is what God is saying. “Tribulation and anguish, on

every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;” What is human wickedness before God? The greatest human wickedness before God is not believing in His righteousness. That’s because it is in God’s righteousness that mankind’s remission of sin, the love of God, was fulfilled. Thanks to the righteousness of God, human beings can now live with God forever. In other words, because it is in His righteousness that God has permitted all the blessings given to mankind. To not believe in this righteousness of God is man’s greatest evil. The Apostle Paul said that because the Jews did not believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus that constitute God’s righteousness as the remission of their sins, tribulation and anguish were on them. For all the Gentiles in this world now, if they do not believe in God’s righteousness, then they will also be subjected to ◄

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God’s wrath just like the Jews. As such, from now on, everyone must believe in the gospel Word of the righteousness of God and be freed from this fearful wrath, whether one is a Jew or a Gentile. “But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What does it means by the words “everyone who works what is good” before God? There is no greater goodness before God than to believe in the gospel of His righteousness. Why? Because to believe in God’s righteousness is to accept into our hearts the remission of sin that God has given to us out of His love for us. All those who believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God will become His children and receive the glory, honor, and peace of living in the Kingdom of Heaven. You, too, must also

believe in the righteousness of God and receive glory, honor, and everlasting life. “For there is no partiality with God.” God looks at the center of the human heart. Are you holding onto the Word of the righteousness of God in your heart? If so, then you have been clothed with the love of God’s righteousness. However, if you do not believe in the gospel that has become the righteousness of God with your heart, even as you go to church and claim to believe in God, then you will be hated by Him. In other words, if you know the remission of sin achieved through the baptism and blood of Jesus and yet still do not believe in it, then it is only a matter of fact that you would be abhorred by God. There is no partiality with God and He does not judge by external appearance. Everyone must have faith in His ◄

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righteousness.

Those Who Commit Sin in Their Consciences “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” Those who perish before God are destroyed because they do not believe in God’s righteousness. No one can hide his heart from God no matter how hard he might try. If a person devotes himself to know and keep the Law of God only, and has no interest in the righteousness of God nor believes in it, then he will be forever put under the wrath of God for this sin of not believing in His righteousness. Even if you have lived without the knowledge of God’s Word of the Law, if you had no interest in His righteousness nor believed in it, then you,

too, will be subjected to the judgment of the wrath of God. For anyone who does not accept the love of the righteousness of God into his heart and only tries to establish his own righteousness, God demolishes and tramples on his faith mercilessly. Human beings are judged according to the social norms when they commit wrongdoings in their respective societies. For example, the positive law is one of the concrete social norms. A judge passes judgment on a case according to the positive law of the society. In a court of law, the judge demands that all witnesses tell the truth and nothing but the truth. However, man’s judgment is reached based on partial truths at most, and if witnesses distort their testimony or testify falsely, a wrong judgment is reached irrespective of the real truth. On this account, God’s judgment is infinitely superior to man’s judgment. The righteous judgment of God is ◄

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reached according to the sufficient knowledge and complete truth that are based on His righteousness. As such, no one can lie before God’s righteousness. The Gentiles who do not have the Law come to recognize their sins from their consciences. They try to defend themselves based on the argument that unlike the Jews, they did not receive the Law, and they even agree with the justice of God that condemns the Jews. Through the Law, God had told the Jews how they should live, but they did not obey this Word. Even worse, they actually took a hypocritical stance on this Word. The Jews sinned under the Law. But the Gentiles did not have the Law of God. How, then, could the Gentiles be condemned by the Law? How could they even be accused of sinning? Despite this, Paul stated, “As many as have sinned without law will also perish without law” (verse 12). God has given conscience to

every human heart to function as His delegate. Therefore, for even those without the Law of God, their consciences play the role of the Law of God. Paul said the following about the human conscience: First, the Gentiles do not have the Law that God had given to the Jews, but they still have the Law “written in their hearts.” Second, because the Gentiles have a conscience, this conscience tells them to obey the Law, and when they do not obey, it condemns them. This is critically important. It means that everyone is under the Law of God, irrespective of whether one believes in God or not. Therefore, there is no one in this world who can say that there is no God, or claim not to know His Law. “for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;” ◄

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This passage tells us that human beings cannot become sinless by keeping the Law of God. For the salvation of human souls, God has given us His righteousness apart from the Law. This righteousness of God is contained in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. By receiving the baptism given by John, Jesus accepted all the sins of the world, He died on the Cross, and He rose from the dead again, thereby fulfilling all the righteousness of God. It was to deliver His believers from their sins that Jesus was baptized and died on the Cross. This is the righteousness of God and His love. It is by believing in this Truth that we can become sinless. The remission of our sins is attained neither by keeping the Law nor by practicing it; but only by believing in the righteousness of God. “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the

law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,” In this world, there are far too many people who have no interest in God, nor even try to know Him, but only trust in their own consciences. But the Bible makes it clear here that there is no one who can claim not to know the Law of God and not to have received it. By giving conscience to the hearts of mankind, He has given them the ability to discern and distinguish good from evil. No doubt some people will say, “Since I am a Gentile, and since I did not receive the Law of God, I didn’t know what sin was. So I should be given another chance to believe in Jesus.” However, even if people claim not to know the Law of God, it is still clear that their consciences took up the role of the Law of God instead, and therefore they cannot protest to God and demand Him to give them another chance to receive the remission of ◄

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their sins. “Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them” The Law that God has given us is the basis upon which sin, good and evil are discerned, and each person’s conscience also constitutes this basis. The conscience of a man reveals what is right and wrong in his heart. Of course, it is not a perfect barometer of good and evil. So when the time comes for those who are ignorant of God’s Law to be subjected to the righteous judgment of God for their sins, they cannot excuse themselves claiming that they had not sinned and therefore this judgment is a wrong judgment. As such, everyone must believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has become the righteousness of God.

The Righteousness of God Has Made Us without Shame “In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” Every sinner is to be condemned by God under His wrath because he does not believe that the remission of sin coming by the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross, which constitutes the righteousness of God, is actually His love for him. Christians and non-Christians alike, God the Father carefully judges them all for their sins according to whether or not they believe in the righteousness of God, and whether there is sin their hearts or not. Even now, God gives out rewards and punishments based on the gospel of His righteousness. The writer of the Book of ◄

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Hebrews declared, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). God discerns everything that’s in a person’s heart, and He judges according to His righteousness. The question, in other words, is whether or not there is God’s righteousness in our hearts, and whether or not we really believe in this righteousness of God. To those who believe in God’s righteousness, He gives rewards, but to those who do not believe in His righteousness, He brings condemnation. The Apostle Paul called the righteousness of God “my gospel.” That is so true. Anyone who believes in God’s righteousness with his heart does indeed have the gospel Word; the very righteousness of God, in his heart. This is why Paul called it “my gospel.” Whoever does not have this gospel as “his gospel” in his heart does

not believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God. God knows all about whether we really believe in the gospel of His righteousness or not, and He remembers it. When the last day comes, He will dig it all out and judge accordingly. This is “the day when God will judge the secrets of men” that Paul spoke of here in verse 16. Adam and Eve had nothing to be ashamed of. Before their fall, there was no sin, and their relationship with God was completely open as well. Whenever God came to the Garden of Eden to visit them, they rejoiced and talked with God freely. After the fall, human beings could no longer do this, and the reason for this was because of sin. The sin of mankind makes them hide from God. Just as Adam and Eve, after they sinned, tried to hide from God when He came looking for them, sin makes us hide ourselves from God. However, once the righteousness of ◄

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God was fulfilled on this earth, human beings no longer have to hide from God because of sin. Before Adam and Eve knew sin, they were not only free of shame before God, but they had no shame before each other, nor did they lie to one another. They did not blame each other with lies as they would try to shift their sin to each other later on. Nor did they harm one another. So there was nothing that they had to hide from each other. Today, in contrast, complete openness is impossible in human relationships. Everyone has something to hide from others, even from his own spouse and closest friends. That’s because everyone is ashamed of himself, and everyone fears that the others would no longer love him or respect him if his flaws are exposed. But once the righteousness of God came to this world, there is no longer any need for us to be fearful before God for our sins. That’s because we now have the gospel of the water and the Spirit given

to us.

God Has Made and Given Us the Garment of Righteousness What would the fig leaves have meant for Adam and Eve? It signified the goodness of man. It meant that while the goodness of man can last only for a few days at most, the righteousness of God is forever. This is why we long for the righteousness of God far more than the righteousness of man. Everyone must invariably believe in God’s righteousness. No one can escape from the judgment of his sins. The judgment of sin is inevitable and it is well evidenced. We all want to deny this, but we cannot deceive our hearts that are stained by our everyday lives. Human beings cover up their sins with their own goodness, trying to hide from the sight of others with their calculated behaviors. Such attempts ◄

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only prove that compared to the righteousness of man, the righteousness of God is absolutely far more virtuous. However, the gospel of the righteousness of God declares that He will infallibly judge the sins of mankind. God does not just tolerate or forgive sin without any cost. On the contrary, He achieved the condemnation of sin in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the righteousness of God by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and crucified (Matthew 3:1317; John 19:28-30). The baptism and blood of Jesus Christ, and the righteousness of God, have already taken care of mankind’s punishment for its sins. Now, you must believe in this righteousness of God with your heart, and you must thereby put on the garment of God’s righteousness. Do not just wait for the day when God will reveal all your secrets and judge you. Believe in God’s righteousness now, and receive

the remission of your sins.

You Who Call Yourself a Jew “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,” Jews and Christians took pride in the fact that they believed only in God. And they thought in their own way that it was proper for them to live according to the Law and rely on their faith of the Law. However, God said that those who do not believe in His righteousness and therefore still remain as sinners will all be subjected to the judgment of wrath because of their sins. Therefore, although these people claimed to believe in Jesus as their Savior, they had nothing to be proud of. In other words, even if you say that you believe in Jesus, if you believe without the knowledge of the righteousness of God, then you have nothing to boast of. However, if you ◄

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believe in Jesus with the proper knowledge of God’s righteousness, then you can be proud of this faith before God. A faith that knows and believes in the righteousness of God is a faith that you can take pride in. If you have this faith, that is, if you know and believe in the righteousness of God, then you are qualified to be proud of God’s righteousness before God. If, in contrast, you do not believe in God’s righteousness, then you have nothing but your own righteousness to boast. Anyone who boasts of his own righteousness before God will suffer because of his righteousness. In the days of Paul, it was the Jewish people who were standing against God’s righteousness. That’s why Paul began this verse saying, “Indeed you are called a Jew.” Today, the people who belong to this category may include passionate Christians, fervent Catholics, and other “religious fanatics” of various religions.

Let’s imagine here what someone who does not believe in God’s righteousness might be thinking. Paul, hearing how the Jews were criticizing the morals of the Gentiles, rebuked them harshly. In doing so, Paul told the Jews to also believe in the righteousness of God just like the Gentiles. Why did Paul tell the Jews to believe in God’s righteousness when they all believed in God after all? That’s because God does not want any religionists who do not know His righteousness, but He wants the justified that have faith in the real Truth. Before God, whether one’s heart has faith in His righteousness is far more important than whether he has become a Christian outwardly.

“Circumcision Is That of the Heart”

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It is written, “For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Romans 2:25-29). Here, Paul made it clear that “circumcision is that of the heart.” We have become God’s sinless children by believing in the Word of the baptism and blood of Jesus, not by trying on our own

through our own lawful works. It is by believing in the Word of God that we have become His children. Do you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with your heart? Have you received the spiritual circumcision that cuts off all your sins from your heart and remits them all away forever? Does your heart have faith in the Word? Not just your acts seen by the eye, but do you really have this faith, that Jesus was baptized, died on the Cross, and rose from the dead again all for you? Based on what Word have you received the remission of your sins? It is not just by attending church that one becomes a truly righteous person before God. It is by believing in the gospel Word where the righteousness of God is revealed. One receives the remission of his sins only by wholeheartedly believing in the written Word of the righteousness of God. Not only does the Book of ◄

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Romans testify this, but the entire Scriptures of both the New and Old Testaments testify that one becomes righteous only by believing in the Word of the righteousness of God. As far as righteousness is concerned, it doesn’t matter to God whether people try not to commit sin or not; all are unrighteous no matter how hard they try to be righteous through their own effort. For us, there exists only the righteousness of God, and it is only this righteousness that is exalted. If one really believes in the Word of God and receives the remission of sins, then he is saved from all his sins. The Bible says that God searches the heart and tests the mind. This means that when God looks at us, He looks at whether our hearts are right or not. In other words, God looks at the faith that is in our hearts. When God looks at our hearts, He looks at whether or not we believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ as our salvation. What about you then?

Have you really been remitted from all your sins by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus with all your hearts? All of you must receive the remission of your sins into the heart and thereby be spiritually circumcised. What did the Lord do to blot out all of our sins? Do you realize that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River? Did He not take upon all your sins through this baptism? Indeed, it was for you and me that Jesus was baptized and died on the Cross. It is Jesus who shouldered all our iniquities (Matthew 3:15; Isaiah 53:6). Through His baptism, Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world, whether committed outwardly or inwardly; that is, with our acts or thoughts. He bore all the iniquities committed by each and every human being. As a result of this, our souls as those who believe in this Truth have been brought back to life, and we are now able to follow the will of the Lord in joy ◄

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because we believe in the Lord. Speaking on the salvation of mankind, the Bible says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). Even when someone receives the remission of his sins by believing in the Lord’s Word, there are many times when his acts are revealed as far too insufficient. Our sins of the world have not been all revealed yet; on the contrary, they will be exposed even more later on. However, because Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized in the Jordan River, and because He bore all our condemnation of sin on the Cross, we are sinless until the end, all thanks to our faith. If you believe in the righteousness of God, you, too, will be saved from all the sins of the world. The beginning of your faith in the righteousness of God is initiated when you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners. It is this faith that

the Lord sees, and it is for this faith that He dwells in our hearts and leads us. As it is written, “Circumcision is that of the heart,” it is by believing in the baptism of Jesus with the heart that one is saved from all his sins. The salvation granted by the Lord has nothing to do with our own acts. When one receives the remission of his sins into the heart, his mind is truly at peace. Because his faith has been approved by God, joy and happiness spring up in his rejoicing heart. When it comes to receiving this salvation, the remission of sin given by the Lord, it is absolutely necessary to believe in the Truth with the heart. I hope and pray that you would also believe with all your heart in the baptism and blood of Jesus, the righteousness of God, and thus receive your salvation. “And know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being ◄

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instructed out of the law,” This verse tells us that even those who profess to believe in God are prone to take the teachings of the Law as their own righteousness and brag about it. If human beings take the God-given Law as the standard of their virtue and actually practice it, then there would be no other moral statute in this world that is more perfect than this. That’s why hypocrites do not even try to believe in the righteousness of God, and instead occupy themselves trying to practice the Law of God only. They do not feel any need for God’s righteousness in their lives. “And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,” This tells us that when one believes in the God-given Law, he can actually end up leading others into the gathering of Satan. Those who

have legalistic faith, who believe in God’s Law and practice it, do shine in this world as a light, living as leaders who guide ordinary people to a religious life. However, their lives are like that of a firefly that shines light only for a while and disappears. Their own righteousness prevents them from believing in the righteousness of God. “An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.” The legalists believe themselves to be great teachers to this world. They believe on their own that they are quite virtuous people, teaching the people of the world properly. However, such people are fools who do not realize that they themselves are bound to hell before God. “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who ◄

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preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?” Those who have the faith of the Law can be identified as Satan’s servants who, even as they themselves are incapable of being freed from sin, are hypocritically teaching others to escape from sin. Satan draws people with moral virtues and makes them disinterested in finding the righteousness of God. No matter how diligently one might believe in Jesus, if he does not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and has not become sinless, then he has no spiritual qualification to teach others. “You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” Those who have legalistic faith teach others with their practice of the Law, but they themselves are committing sin bound by their

iniquities. Even as they are buried in sin, and even as they themselves will be punished for their sins, they do not realize that they are hypocrites. How on earth, then, could they possibly teach others to get away from sin? The reason why the Bible thus rebukes such people for their legalistic faith is so that they may also believe in the righteousness of God and return to the right path to God. “You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?” The legalistic believers not only are ignorant of the righteousness of God, but their faith is also incapable of glorifying God. It is not the Law of God that one should be proud of, but it is the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit containing the righteousness of God that one should believe in and be proud of. It is this kind ◄

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of faith that gives glory to God and brings peace to mankind. “For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written.” Just as God was being thoroughly insulted by the faith of the Jews professing to believe in Him, He is also insulted by today’s legalistic Christians who claim to believe in Jesus faithfully. God was being blasphemed by the very people who claimed to believe in Him and yet had legalistic faith. That’s because those with legalistic faith did not believe in the righteousness of God. God was blasphemed because they were bragging to the people of the world how they were all good believers in God. “For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a

breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” The faith of the Jews at that time and the faith of today’s Christians who do not know righteousness of God are both equally trapped in legalism. The Jews were Abraham’s descendants and were circumcised in the flesh marking them as God’s people. But the faith that they boasted of was a superficial faith based on their own acts. That’s why God said here that as soon as they break the Law, their faith dies also. “Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?” The pride of the Jews at that time was that God had given His Law only to them and to no other nations. As the chosen people who kept the Law, they considered themselves fundamentally ◄

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different from the Gentiles, and they believed that their nation was worthy of pride. If, however, today’s Gentiles can keep the Word of the Law which even the Jews could not keep, then they are more like the Jews. In the same way, if the Jews could not keep the Law of God, then they were more like the Gentiles who did not believe in God. In the end, because the faith of the Jews in those days was premised on their acts of the Law, they believed that whether they were God’s people or not was determined by whether they were able to keep the Law or not. “And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?” The faith of the Jews of that time was all about trying to keep the God-given Word of the Law. So here Paul is asking rhetorically, if the Gentiles

kept the requirements of the Law by believing in the righteousness of God, then wouldn’t the Jews be judged by the Gentiles? “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;” Who are the spiritually circumcised people? Just because one’s outward appearance looks like a Jew does not mean that he is a real Jew. In other words, just because someone attends church well, it does not mean that he is a faithful Christian who believes in God properly. It is only those who believe in the righteousness of God that are the truly circumcised saints of God. Whether one believes in God properly or not is determined by whether or not he believes in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed. Therefore, we cannot call some people as God’s own people ◄

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just because they believe in God somehow and attend church regularly. Those who have really become God’s people are only those who have received the remission of their sins into their hearts by believing in the righteousness of God.

“Circumcision Is That of the Heart” “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Who are those whose faith is approved by God? They are the ones who have washed away all their sins by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God. The people of faith whom God approves are the believers in His righteousness. Just because someone attends

church regularly and does virtuous deeds outwardly, he cannot be described as someone who is approved by God. Only when one obtains the righteousness of God by believing in the baptism of Jesus, His blood, His death and His resurrection, where God’s righteousness is contained, is this person someone who has the right faith that enables him to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as it is written, “Circumcision is that of the heart,” salvation must be reached in the heart by believing with the heart. The Bible says that circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. It also says that its praise is not from men but from God. When it comes to receiving the remission of our sins, we must receive it into our hearts. If we do not receive it into our hearts, then our sins are not remitted. Everyone has outer and inner sides, and it is his inner self that must be remitted from his sins. ◄

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Speaking to the Jews, Paul said that “circumcision is that of the heart.” Where, then, were Jews circumcised? They were circumcised in a certain body part. Yet despite this, the Apostle Paul told the Jews that “circumcision is that of the heart.” This means that the Jews were circumcised only outwardly. Therefore, just as the Apostle Paul told them that they should be circumcised in the heart, only when we are circumcised in the heart do we become God’s people. The Apostle Paul is saying that we must receive the remission of our sins into our hearts, not by being circumcised outwardly, but by being circumcised in our hearts. In Romans 3 Paul says, “What if some did not believe?” and this means, “What if some did not believe inside with the heart?” The Apostle Paul did not talk about what is outside. Because he said that circumcision is that of the heart, we need to

reconsider our own faith here from this passage. We need to examine ourselves once again to ascertain through what Word we have received the remission of our sins, and if in fact it is in our hearts that we have been remitted from our sins. The Apostle Paul asked in Romans 3:3, “What if some did not believe?” By this, he was asking, “What if the Jews, the children and descendants of Abraham, did not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior? Will it make the faithfulness of God without effect?” In other words, would the Jews’ unbelief invalidate the perfect salvation by God, the salvation of the remission of sin that has blotted out all the sins of the descendants of Abraham as well as all the sins of the Gentiles? No, that is not the case. The Apostle Paul said that the Jews and the descendants of Abraham can also be saved if they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and as their Savior who has blotted out all their ◄

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sins by taking these sins upon Himself through His baptism and dying on the Cross in their place. This means that the grace of God, the salvation of the remission of sin through Jesus Christ, is not nullified. Paul said in Romans 3:4, “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.’” In saving mankind through His baptism and the blood, the Lord has fulfilled the salvation promised with His Word, and He has justified those of us who believe in this Word. Moreover, while He judges those who do not believe according to His Word, He enables us to overcome with His Word when those of us who have received the remission of sin are judged. Romans 3:5 says, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?” The Apostle Paul said that his

outer self was not clean, but it was filthy and bound to sin until his death. Not only the Apostle Paul, but everyone in this world commits filthy sins. Like this, our outward selves commit sin until the day we die. But if God says that He has still saved such human beings, then we have indeed been perfectly saved by faith. Since God has saved us even though our outer selves are so insufficient, doesn’t this mean that He is truly righteous? “Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?” In other words, the Apostle Paul himself was not saved because his outward man was clean. My fellow believers, for you and me alike, each of us has an outer self and an inner self. So when the Apostle Paul said, “Circumcision is that of the heart,” and “What if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?” he was addressing the ◄

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heart, telling us that we all have outward selves and inward selves. Our outer selves commit sin and fall into weaknesses under different circumstances. If our faith makes us righteous or sinful depending on the acts of this outward self—that is, if we base our faith on the acts of the outward self—then this kind of faith is not the true faith. The Apostle Paul placed no expectations on his outer self. Those who have received the remission of their sins also have the outward self and the inward self, and when we look at our outward selves, we can only be disappointed. Sometimes our outer selves seem upright for a while, but other times we discover just how thoroughly weak our outward selves are. Therefore, the Bible says that our outer selves were crucified with Jesus Christ by being baptized into Him (Romans 6:3). In other words, our outer selves have died. Jesus Christ told us

that He has blotted out all the sins committed by our outward selves. Even for us, the righteous who have been saved, when we look at our outward selves, more often than not we are disappointed by what we see. Yet even so, we still place many expectations on our outer selves far too often. When our outward selves are running well, there seems to be a certain hope, but when this is not the case, when our outer selves do not go according to what our hearts desire and instead run toward the opposition direction, then we stare at our outward selves and are thoroughly disappointed. Some righteous people even stumble because of this. They are disappointed by what they see from their outward selves, and think that their lives of faith are now over. But this is not right. Our outer selves were already crucified and died with Christ. Even for us, who have received ◄

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the remission of our sins, our outward selves’ still commit sin while living in this world. Is this sin then not a sin? No, a sin is a sin. What kind of sin is this sin then? It is a dead sin. It is a sin that was already crucified to death with the Lord, all thanks to Him. The problem is not that our outward selves commit sin while living in this world, but it arises when our hearts go astray. That our flesh is insufficient is not a problem before the salvation of our Lord. Once we receive the remission of our sins, our insufficiencies are revealed even more. If we were to base our salvation on this—that is, the belief that we are justified if our outward selves do not sin and we revert back to being sinners if we sin—then this can only mean that our salvation is imperfect. If we were to base our salvation, the remission of our sins, on the deeds committed by our outward selves, then our hearts would deviate far into a completely different

dimension from the kind of faith that Abraham had in God. As the Apostle Paul said, “Circumcision is that of the heart,” it is by believing in Jesus Christ with the heart that we have been justified and become righteous people. Whether our outward selves can live according to the will of God or not does not determine whether we are righteous or sinful. However, since we human beings are living with both the outer and inner selves, the problem is that our hearts can change depending on which of these two our minds emphasize while living in this world. Too often we place emphasis on our outward selves. We become bold when our outer selves are upright, and when they are insufficient, we are disappointed and our hearts sink. The Apostle Paul made it clear that such kind of faith is not the proper faith. If “circumcision is that of the heart,” then ◄

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where is our true faith? In other words, how can we know the Lord and believe in Him with the heart? Jesus once asked the Apostle Peter, “Simon, who do you believe I am? Who do you think I am?” Peter then answered by saying, “Lord, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter believed this with all his heart. When Peter confessed his faith to Jesus, Jesus said to him, “You are right. He who has made it known to you is not you, but the Father.” In other words, Jesus approved Peter’s faith as the right faith. Abraham had no legitimate child. God had led Abraham with His Word, and He had promised Abraham that He would give him a son. God had also blessed Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations, promising that He would be Abraham’s God and the God of his descendants for generations to come. He said to Abraham, “Therefore, you and your family, and

all your descendants, shall be circumcised. The scars on their foreskin are the marks of the promise that I have become your God.” Abraham accepted all the Word of promise by faith. Abraham believed in God Himself, and he believed in His Word of promise. As a result, all these blessings did indeed accrue to Abraham. This is also the case for us. Didn’t we also become righteous as a result of believing with our hearts that God is our God and our Savior? You, too, should believe this. It’s not because of anything else that we have been saved. We have become righteous by believing with our hearts that God is our God, and that He has blotted out our sins for us on His own according to His method. My fellow believers, it is by believing with the heart that we have been saved. This is why the Bible says, “With the heart one believes unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10). What you should think about carefully here is ◄

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this: If you believe that people can become God’s children through their own virtuous deeds, or if you believe that God has blotted out their sins, but they can become God’s children only if their flesh does not commit too many sins—if, in other words, you were to attach any condition whatsoever to the outward self for your salvation—then no one can ever become God’s child. Isn’t this so obvious? It is only by believing with the heart that we have become righteous. If God had attached any condition at all to the acts of our outward selves, even by 0.1 percent, then how could we ever become righteous? It’s impossible! My fellow believers, because we are always insufficient in our flesh and in our outer selves, we can never reach the righteousness of God on our own. However, because our God has promised us that He would save those who believe with the heart, we have been justified

before God by believing in the gospel of the Truth with our hearts. Seeing that we know and believe in His works with the heart—that is, we know and believe that Jesus took upon all our sins through His baptism and blotted them all out—our God has approved us as righteous and correct, as His people and His children, and He has saved us as promised. God sees the faith that is in our hearts and then decides whether we are His people or not. Can you grasp this? We must clearly discern this by the Word of Truth. You must clearly separate your outward self from the inward self. Even after being born again, if you were to look at your outer self and judge whether your faith is strong or weak, or if you were to look at what your outer self does and decide whether you have received the remission of your sins or not—if, in short, you were to base your salvation on your outward self—then you can never receive the ◄

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remission of your sins. However, as it is written, “Circumcision is that of the heart,” you can be saved if you believe in Jesus Christ with your heart. Do you understand this? As the Bible says, “With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The Apostle Paul thus clearly distinguished the outward self from the inward self. Our outer selves are completely worthless. Everyone’s outer self is simply appalling. There is no need to mention Abraham here. Just look at our own outward selves. We are atrocious. Our flesh schemes with all kinds of tricks in our thoughts. Our inner selves, our flesh, are so selfish that we constantly ask ourselves, “How can I ensure my interest? How can I win? How can I be exalted? How can I fill my belly?” If we were to judge and condemn everything our flesh does with our thoughts, then we would have to

condemn ourselves a dozen times in just a day. Such a judgment, however, is a rebellion before God. Before, when traitors were caught, they were executed for sedition. But our God, who knows all about our nature, both inside and outside, looks over our outside and sees only our hearts’ faith. The Father asks us, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior with all your heart?” It is by looking at this faith of the heart that God has saved us. Let us examine your thoughts here. You can believe in God with your thoughts. In other words, you can believe in Jesus with your thoughts of the flesh. You may think, “Oh, so this is how God has saved me.” However, you cannot be saved with your thoughts. Our thoughts are always wicked and constantly changing. Isn’t that the case? We may think this way or that way, and our thoughts are always ◄

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liable to change from being realistic to unrealistic. Let’s try to summarize the fact that Jesus took upon our sins in the Jordan River with our thoughts. Sometimes we think, “Oh! So that’s what happened. Jesus took upon all my sins in the Jordan River,” and we believe it. But other times, when we see our flesh that is constantly sinning, we think, “Am I really without any sin?” Because human beings cannot trust their own wavering thoughts, they are incapable of accepting the Word of God into their hearts. As long as they rely on their own thoughts, they are unable to believe with the heart how God has saved them. When they think about it, they cannot actually find any conviction. Therefore, those who live their lives of faith with their thoughts are not founded on the Word of God. It is written, “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged” (Romans 3:4). We must base our

salvation on the Word of God. The Word of God was incarnated and came amidst us. Fundamentally, God Himself is the Word, Jesus Christ is the Word, and the Word came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man. That’s how He saved us and then ascended to Heaven. This Word was spoken to the servants of the Old Testament. God had it written, and according to this Word, Jesus Christ, God Himself, came to this earth and fulfilled the Word. By having this Word written as well, God now reveals Himself through the Word and saves us through the Word. In spite of all this, human beings are still unable to rely on and believe in the Word of God. Sometimes they think they are saved, and other times they can’t comprehend with their thoughts and therefore are unable to believe. With our thoughts, it’s impossible for us to receive this perfect salvation. Because our own thoughts are constantly changing, and because our thoughts ◄

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are not the truth, we cannot be saved by relying on our own thoughts. That’s why the Apostle Paul said in the Bible that this circumcision is that of the heart, meaning that it is by believing in the Truth with the heart that we are saved. What about your heart then? The heart can believe because the Word of God testifies the Truth clearly. God made it unmistakably clear with His Word how He promised to save us in the Old Testament and how He has now saved us in the New Testament. Because this Word is the Word of God, if one believes in it with the heart, then he will be saved. It is by believing with the heart that one is saved and turned into a child of God. Because God acknowledges the heart’s faith, if only one would believe in Him properly, he will be saved. However, God does not acknowledge our faith based on our thoughts. The faith of thoughts is a faith that is built on

sand. It is by believing with our hearts that we have become God’s children, not because our outward selves tried hard with our own acts. Also, what is clear even in our logic is that we have become God’s people and His children by believing in His Word with the heart. What about you then? Do you also believe with the heart? Have you circumcised your heart? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior with your heart? Is the imprint of what Jesus Christ has done for you found in your heart? Not the imprint seen by the eye; but is this Word, that Jesus has saved you perfectly, really engraved in the tablet of your heart? In other words, based on what Word have you received the remission of your sins, and is this Word in your heart? None other than this is to be saved by faith. My fellow believers, it is without a doubt by believing in the Word of God that we have ◄

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received the remission of our sins. Yet because our outward selves are insufficient, we see these insufficiencies and are disappointed by them. Not only do we just end at this disappointment, but we base our faith on our outer selves, judging for ourselves whether our faith is great or small. This is a serious misunderstanding of the Truth. We must not place the standard of salvation on the acts of the outward self. The core message of not only the Book of Romans but of the whole Word written in the Old and New Testaments is that we are justified by believing in the Word of God with the heart. The Apostle Paul said, “Regardless of how your acts are and whether you sin or not, what glory would God receive from this; and even if you do not sin, how is this any relevant to God?” Whether our outward selves commit sin or not, what does this have anything to do with God, and how does this add or lessen to the glory of God?

Therefore, our true faith and our perfect salvation are received only by believing in the Word of God with the heart. However, when our hearts are misplaced, our faith is flawed, On the other hand, when our hearts are upright, our faith is the right faith. If one’s faith is upright, his acts are also upright. But because human beings are insufficient, it is still possible for flawed acts to arise. What God is telling us here is that He looks at the center of our hearts. Our God searches the heart and its center. He looks at whether our hearts’ faith is upright or not. When God looks at us, He looks at whether we truly believe with the heart or not. Can you grasp this? When God looks at our hearts, He looks at whether or not we believe in Jesus Christ with the heart. My fellow believers, do your hearts really have faith in Jesus Christ? When God looks at you, He looks at whether or not you believe in His righteousness with the ◄

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heart. He then looks at whether the center of your heart is upright or not. We need to reflect upon and examine our hearts before God. Just as God said “circumcision is that of the heart,” it is our hearts that God looks at. God looks at whether or not you know what is right before God with your heart, and whether or not you seek to follow what is right. God looks at whether or not you have faith in your heart, whether or not you seek to follow God with your heart, and whether or not you really believe in His Word with your heart. For you to have the proper faith that is approved by God, it is indispensable for you to clearly know what Jesus Christ has done for you and believe in His works with the heart. There is a certain denomination that has recently claimed that the brothers and sisters in our Church are not saved. These people argue that the Word of God should not be interpreted as it is. They asked one

of our brothers when exactly he was born again, and he gave them a ballpark figure, saying that he heard the Word sometime in late summer last year, believed in it, and was then born again. They then insisted to our brother that if he could not remember the exact hour, day, and month when he was born again, then he was not born again at all. This so-called “the Salvation Sect” in Korea purports to explain everything scientifically, including how one is born again and on what day the Lord would return. Of course, if we were to trace back the exact date when we were born again in the heart, this is all eminently possible. We can tell them the exact hour, day, month and year. However, even if we could not remember this, if you and I now believe in the Lord with the heart, then you and I are truly saved. Our Lord took upon Himself all our sins by being baptized in the Jordan River. He was then ◄

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condemned by dying in our place. Wasn’t He wounded for our transgressions, and wasn’t He bruised for our iniquities? Didn’t He take upon all the iniquities that our outward selves commit? Sure He did! He took upon all the sins that our inner selves commit also. This is how our souls have been brought to life again, and we can now follow the will of God wholeheartedly by believing in this Truth. This is something that only the saved can do. What does the Bible say? It says that our acts are terribly insufficient at all times, even after we received the remission of sins. Even now, these insufficiencies have not been all exposed yet. There is more to be exposed down the road. However, if you believe with the heart that God is your God, and believe that Jesus, God Himself, took upon all your sins in the Jordan River through His baptism and bore all the condemnation of these sins on the Cross; and if

you believe in what Jesus has done for you with your heart, then you are indeed saved. Those who talk about and believe in all this nonsense about the time and date of salvation, who claim that they believe in the Word because it is scientifically proven, and that it is only when one believes in this way that he has the perfect faith—these people are not saved. God made it clear that it is with the heart that one believes unto righteousness. Like this, you and I must believe with the heart that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Do you believe so? Amen! It is from this that faith begins, and it is from this that the Lord guides our hearts. And He approves this faith as upright and righteous, saying, “You are righteous. You are My people. I am your God.” From then on, God blesses our hearts, and He wants us to follow Him with this faith of the heart that believes in Him. And when we do indeed follow the Lord our God with this ◄

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heart of faith trusting in Him, our God leads us personally and blesses us. It is written, “Circumcision is that of the heart.” It is by believing with the heart that we have attained our salvation. Countless people on this planet profess to believe in Jesus and claim to have been saved, and yet they still bind their hearts with the acts of their outer selves. They ask themselves, “Are the acts of my inward self upright?” When this is not the case, they then ask, “Did I give prayers of repentance properly?” Relying on such things, they try to reach their salvation by mixing the faith of acts and the faith of the heart. This, however, is not salvation. They may firmly believe that this is their salvation, but it is not. Our unmistakable salvation is to reach righteousness with the pure, truly unadulterated heart that is completely set apart. It is to become righteous people. It has absolutely nothing to do

with our own acts; not even by a shred. When your heart receives the remission of sins, you will become so joyous and thankful that you will want to do good deeds without any prompting. You will want to serve the Lord, to bear witness, and to do what is truly good and beautiful. It’s because you believe with the heart and your heart is approved by God, that your heart will become beautiful filled with joy and happiness. That’s because God would have approved your heart, and this is why it’s so important to believe with the heart.

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Exegesis Chapter 3

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106 In What Respect Are Jews Better Than Gentiles?

In What Respect Are Jews Better Than Gentiles? < Romans 3:1-31 > “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.’ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God

judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘The poison of asps is under their lips’; ◄

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‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly ◄

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not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

“What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?” The Jews, the descendants of Abraham, had a big advantage over the other nations. The Jews were the people who had received a lot of spiritual teaching from God and their parents’ lives and they also grew up watching God’s work personally. They were people who had received the circumcision of the flesh as the sign of the covenant and as God’s people. As such, they were people who had received a lot of blessing from God because they were God’s people who received the covenant through the Word. But the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 3 that the Jews and the Gentiles both receive salvation from sin just by believing the righteousness of God. In what ways are the Jews

better than the Gentiles then? It’s that they have the Word entrusted to them. They heard God’s Word since the early days of their ancestors. The Jews were considered better than the Gentiles because God’s Word was passed down through them. But the Jews were cast away before the presence of God because they did not believe that Jesus Christ was God’s Son. Among Christians today, there are people that have such faith. They recognize Jesus as their Savior and go to church but they are sinners. They are sinners even after they believed in Jesus just as they were sinners before they believed, and there is no benefit to their faith even though they believe in Jesus because they have never attained the righteousness of God after believing in Jesus. There are many religious people like this even today. “Much in every way! Chiefly ◄

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because to them were committed the oracles of God.” God’s Priests were the people entrusted with the job of delivering God’s Word. God entrusted God’s Word to His servants to deliver it to the people. Therefore the Jews have received the great blessing. God spoke to their ancestors and chose His servants from among those people and made them listen to His Word. Now even the Gentiles have the blessing of listening to God’s Word through their ancestors.

Because They Do Not Believe in the Righteousness of God “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?” The Jews are responsible for God’s Word and

they share it with their people. But what benefit is it for them if they themselves don’t believe it? This Word was also spoken to those who have believed in Jesus and become leaders in today’s Christianity. There are many Christian leaders who do not believe in the Word of the water and the Spirit that manifests the righteousness of God. Then what is the benefit to them? Would the truthfulness of the righteousness of God disappear just because they do not believe in the Word of God’s righteousness? No, it would not. The righteousness of God exists forever. The Apostle Paul was the servant of God who had preached the gospel that contained the righteousness of God to the Jews and the Gentiles. But the Jews did not believe the righteousness of God that the Apostle Paul preached nor recognized and believed that Jesus Christ was the Savior. That doesn’t mean that God’s righteousness that God the Father fulfilled ◄

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through Jesus Christ can be nullified. Would the righteousness of God disappear just because humans do not believe in the righteousness of God? Could the righteousness of God be nullified just because of the unbelievers in the righteousness of God? God’s righteousness does not disappear just because people do not believe in it. In other words, the righteousness of God does not become nullified just because we humans do not believe in the righteousness of God. How could the righteousness of God be nullified just because people do not believe in it? The Gentiles will believe in the righteousness of God if the Jews do not believe in it. It’s because whosoever believes in the righteousness of God in his heart receives the salvation from all sins. As such, the Jews had a big advantage over the other nations but the Jews were cast away because they did not believe in the righteousness of God.

As neither the Jews nor the Gentiles can receive the salvation from their sin through human morality or good deeds, the Jews cannot receive the salvation from their sins even though they say they are better. Therefore, neither the Jews nor the Gentiles can receive the salvation from sin without believing in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the righteousness of God as their Savior. God gave the same righteousness to both the Jews and the Gentiles. Therefore God cast away the Jews who turned their backs on the righteousness of God and gave the same opportunity to the Gentiles to believe in the righteousness of God.

Righteousness by Faith The message of the Apostle Paul can be stated more specifically as follows. It is saying that God ◄

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gave His righteousness, the salvation from the sin, as a gift to all the people. It is saying that we must believe that the gospel is the Word of promise in the Old Testament that was fulfilled in the New Testament through the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross and that the gospel has removed all of our sins. But there are some who do not believe this even though the gospel of God’s righteousness was manifested clearly through Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. But God has given the grace of becoming children of God to those who believe in the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness does not disappear and it is not nullified just because many people do not believe in the grace of God. Anyone can receive the righteousness of God if they listen to the gospel that contains the righteousness of God and just believe it in their hearts. That’s why those who say they believe in

God without believing in God’s righteousness are mocking God to be a liar and therefore are sinning against God. As a result, they stand on the side of the one who are against God and therefore will receive destruction due to that sin. God fulfilled all of the righteousness to save the sinners from their sin. But there were many who did not believe this during that time just as there are in our days. But the righteousness of God is not nullified just because people do not believe. That’s why the Apostle Paul said, “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?” God planned the gift of salvation, the righteousness of God, for all humanity. And He fulfilled this plan through the baptism and the blood of His Son Jesus. This is the righteousness of God. Therefore the righteousness of God brings glory and nobility to those who believe. What is the greatest gift that God has given to ◄

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humanity? It’s the righteousness of God. What is the righteousness of God? God sent His Son to this world and liberated all the sinners and gave them the right to become the children of God by paying for the sins with His Son’s blood. God has given us the blessing of becoming the children of God from the beginning, that is, from Creation. However, many people are still imprisoned within their sins because they do not believe in the righteousness of God. Would the righteousness of God disappear just because they do not believe in the righteousness of God? That’s definitely not the case. The righteousness of God exists forever as the eternal power. The righteousness of God that saves the sinners will not disappear forever. Whosoever accepts the righteousness of God receives the blessing of the remission of sin and everlasting life. But, those who do not believe in it will go to hell on the last

day. Therefore the Scriptures say, “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged” (Romans 3:4, Psalm 51:4). God promised in advance that He will give the righteousness of God to humanity and the Lord fulfilled that promise completely. Therefore, God blesses those who deserve to be blessed and curses those that deserve to be cursed. So the Scriptures say, “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.” God’s Word came to us in the flesh of man and saved us from sin. That’s why Paul said, “That You may be justified in Your words,” The Lord went up to Heaven because He had fulfilled all of the righteousness of God. The Lord is faithful to the end. We know that the Lord is faithful before Satan the Devil, before all creation, and before Himself. But we humans are not faithful. Humans change even the promise they have made if it is unfavorable for them. But ◄

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God did not break any Word of promise He made to humanity and fulfilled them all because He is faithful. Therefore, we must place our foundation of faith on the Word of God’s righteousness.

What If Our Unrighteousness Demonstrates the Righteousness of God? “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?” Romans 3:5 states, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?” This Word shows how great God’s righteousness is. Man is

deceitful, but the Lord is truthful. Do you know the righteousness of God? Do you know that your weakness demonstrates the righteousness of God even more? God is really faithful and righteous. God is the Lord of our salvation. God is the true God who promised to us and has fulfilled all the promises. We cannot help but sin because we humans are evil from birth. But such evilness of ours demonstrates God’s righteousness even more. It says that the righteousness of God is demonstrated even more because people are evil, and you may have some questions about what this is saying. Actually, the righteousness of God manifested as the Savior came to this world and received baptism from John the Baptist because people cannot help but sin until they die. We can discover this Truth clearly in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given to us. All humans have sinned in the past and they will ◄

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continue to sin in the future also. Therefore, our Lord fulfilled the righteousness of God and has blotted out all the sins of all human beings in this world from beginning until end all at once. God does not save the virtuous people who do not sin. Then who does God save from sin? He saves the sinners that are destined for hell from all their sins. This is the perfect love of God that is fulfilled through the righteousness of God. There is nothing lovable in us humans when we look at our behavior before God. So God sent His only begotten Son and saved us humans from the hands of the Devil when we had no choice but to go to hell for the sins we commit. This is why the Scriptures say, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say” (Romans 3:5). The more human beings sin the more the righteousness of God manifests. This is the gospel that the Apostle Paul is talking about.

But that doesn’t mean you should lead an unrighteous life. It means that human beings cannot live righteously before God no matter how hard they try. Human beings who are the descendants of Adam do not have the power to live righteously even if they want to. Therefore people must believe the righteousness of God. People must get rid of hypocrisy in order to believe in the righteousness of God. Anyone who tries to live virtuously instead of accepting the righteousness of God will fall into fallacious and hypocritical faith because he is incapable of doing so. People who could live virtuously before God are the only people who have the righteousness of God. There is no one who could live virtuously without knowing and believing the righteousness of God because people do not have righteousness. Then how can people who can’t help but sin in this manner receive the salvation ◄

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from all sins? They need the righteousness of God and the righteousness of God illuminates the light as a result. Therefore people need to change the notion of trying to build their righteousness to be saved. The Apostle Paul says that He himself received the salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God. But what do the people who have not been born again understand about the salvation from sin? They think and claim that they must believe in Jesus and also live righteously to receive the salvation from sin. That’s why they cannot escape from their sins. Those who have truly been saved from all the sins of their entire life are the people who believe in the righteousness of God. These people exalt and praise the righteousness of God. They are only boastful of the righteousness of God and they cast away the righteousness of their flesh. In short, we have received the salvation from sin by faith not

through the addition of the human righteousness. “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say” (Romans 3:5). Human evilness only proves the preciousness of the righteousness and love of God. The Scriptures say, “For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” The Scriptures say those who do not believe in the righteousness of God and goes against God’s righteousness with human thinking will receive the judgment and go to hell. It says that their names are recorded in the Books of the Judgment because they did not believe in the righteousness of God. These people must surely turn from evil and repent and receive the salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God. The ◄

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Apostle Paul said, “Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not!” It is saying that people go to hell because they do not believe in the Truth that manifests the righteousness of God, not because they have committed sins. Is the salvation of God, that has saved all humans from sin through His righteousness, wrong? No, it’s not.

Those Who Do Not Know the Righteousness of God “For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?” This Word speaks from the fact that human beings sin instinctively because they have been born with sin from their birth. Paul is saying, “What if the righteousness of God demonstrates

even more due to such sinful human beings?” In other words, He is saying that the glory would be added to God because God sent Jesus Christ to this world and had Him take all the sins of the world through His baptism and shed His blood on the Cross to blot out all those sins. He has remitted all the sins that people commit during their lifetime after being born as a mass of sin. The people at the time argued against Paul and said, “Then it’s okay even if we don’t practice any righteous work. If you say that you have been saved from sin just by faith, then would you sin even more now because you don’t have sin?” But we must understand this: We humans do not sin because we want to sin. We sin because we are human beings who cannot help but sin. People sin throughout their lifetime because they have been born as a sinner. As it is totally proper for the apple tree to bear apples, it is totally proper for the sinner to sin after being born as ◄

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sinners to this world. Through His righteousness, God has saved those who can only display sin and bear all kinds of fruit of sin. The Scriptures say that people do not commit sins even more to add to God’s grace, and that sinners who cannot be saved from their sins for themselves receive salvation from sin just by believing in the righteousness of God.

The Refutation of the Argument That Goes, “Let Us Do Evil Intentionally” “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” This Word points to those who did not believe

in the righteousness of God and insisted on their own thinking because they were deceived by the liars of that time. Even today, those who have been deceived by the liars though they believe in Jesus say the same things. The Book of Romans was written about 2000 years ago, but the people in our times claim like the people of that time did, saying, “If all the sins have been blotted out through Jesus then all the people who believe in this may intentionally sin even more!” These people claim this with the judgment from their own fleshly thinking. Jesus has remitted all the sins of the people regardless of what their deeds are. But people are not able to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that reveals the righteousness of God because of the bondage of their thinking that they cannot receive salvation if they continue to sin. Therefore they are not able to come into the Truth of salvation from sin that God has given to them. ◄

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Both the people who have received the remission of sin and the people who have not been born again continue to sin. But all these continuing sins are removed clearly by the righteousness of God. Therefore, all people can receive the salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God. You cannot help but sin even after you have received the remission of sin because your flesh is still insufficient. But there is some limitation to sinning after you have received the remission of sin. People sin even more before receiving the remission of sin because they do not recognize a sin as a sin even while sinning. But the righteous who have received the remission of sin do not sin intentionally because they know what sin really is. Some people refuted against the Apostle Paul in regards to the righteousness of God, saying, “Let us do evil that good may come.” But Paul

said, “As we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” It is right for them to receive the judgment for their sin because they do not believe in the righteousness of God. Why? It’s because they do not dwell in the faith of believing in the righteousness of God and they are busy refuting against the righteousness of God as they dwell in their own thinking of flesh and their deeds of hypocrisy. The Lord saving us from all our sins has nothing to do with our own righteousness. But there is a huge difference between the people who believe in the righteousness of God and those who don’t. The people who believe this receive the salvation according to the Truth and those who do not believe go to hell because they cannot receive the salvation according to the Truth. That’s why God said that Jesus is the stumbling stone. A person becomes righteous and receives eternal life if he believes in the ◄

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righteousness of God no matter how great a sin the person has committed. And a person receives God’s judgment as the price for his sins and receives eternal destruction if he does not believe in the righteousness of God no matter how many virtuous deeds he has done. Therefore, Jesus becomes the stumbling block for the people who seek human hypocrisy. Can there be a righteous person who has sin? No, there cannot. Then is there a righteous person who does commit sin? Yes, there is. Some people are worried that they cannot become righteous because they will continue to sin in the future even though they believe in the righteousness of God. But we must definitely understand that we have become the righteous just by believing in the righteousness of God and not by our virtuous deeds. The righteousness of God has taken away all the sins we commit in this world even after believing in this gospel. We

have become the righteous by believing that Jesus took all the sins of the world through His baptism at the Jordan River. The Scriptures say, “There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). There is a righteous person who sins, but there is none who has become a sinner even after believing the righteousness of God. Is one in debt even after paying off all that he owed? Jesus blotting out all our sins is the same as the notion that a son of a certain father is not in debt to a store no matter how much he buys on credit from a store if his wealthy father already paid enough to the store for the son to buy all that he wants from the store until he dies. Man cannot become righteous by not sinning. A human body is not a perfect body that could refrain from sinning. People have to eat whenever they are hungry and they have to sin because there are all kinds of desires and greed in ◄

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them. That is the fate of every human being. Therefore, people must get rid of the fleshly thinking that they become righteous by not sinning after they have come to believe in Jesus. There is no human being that does not sin. But people receive the salvation from sin just by believing in the righteousness of God. Those who have not been born again only follow their own fleshly thinking. The Scriptures say, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). We humans cannot make someone who continues to sin in their whole lifetime without sin, but the righteousness of God has the power to make a sinner who commits sin all through his or her lifetime sinless. It is God who can cleanse all the sins of human beings so that they may be called righteous even conscientiously. God has blessed us so that we who commit sin may be called the righteous and also have the privilege to

call out to God as our Father. God has the power to give the freedom from sins of the world to those who believe in the Word of the Truth that records the righteousness of God. Believing this is the true faith, and you cannot become righteous through your own hypocritical faith. Those who have not been born again are always imprisoned to their own thinking. That’s why sinners can’t ever escape from their own thinking. Even though they profess to believe in Jesus, they never understand the fact that the righteousness of God has perfectly saved those who believe in Jesus. Therefore, you need to listen to God’s Word of the righteousness and believe it if you want to be born again from sin. The righteousness of God witnessed by the righteous makes the sinners who listen to it become born again because the Holy Spirit dwells within the righteous who are born again. You must remember that you must meet the born ◄

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again if you want to truly become born again. People become sinless by believing in the righteousness of God that manifested through Jesus Christ. “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.’” We humans are essentially liars. But God is the Truth itself. God promised in the Word from the Old Testament to send the Savior who will save us from sin. And He sent us the Messiah. Jesus Christ the Messiah came to this world in human flesh and received baptism from John the Baptist, died on the Cross in the state that took over all the sins of the world, and was resurrected from death and delivered the sinners out from sin to make those who believe this Truth become God’s people. God won the victory

against Satan according to the Truth that He had spoken. No one can say that God is a liar. “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?” Just as God said, “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written,” we don’t have anything truthful and rather we are deceitful and full of sin. But the righteousness of God is truthful and it does not change. That’s why the Apostle Paul said the righteousness of God is increased because of the sin people continue to commit. The Word shows how perfect the righteousness of God is and how unrighteous and weak human beings are. Therefore, one can obtain God’s established law of salvation just by believing in the righteousness of God. ◄

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God has established the Truth of salvation that liberates human beings from all sins only within the righteousness of God. Therefore, the wrath God brings down on the people who do not believe in the righteousness of God is an appropriate and just wrath. God brings down the wrath of judgment upon those who became sinners because they did not believe in the righteousness of God. Is God’s rod of wrath upon those who do not believe in the righteousness of God wrong? No, it’s not. God is a God of love, but He is a God who brings down wrath to those who deserve His wrath and bestows mercy upon those who deserve His mercy.

What Shall We Say If Our Unrighteousness Demonstrates the Righteousness of God “For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?” Apostle Paul continues to say, pondering on the Word of the Lord, “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.” Paul himself came to understand that the righteousness of God became more abundant through his weakness when he lied and sinned because of his weakness. Therefore, Paul asks whether he would receive judgment for his weakness like a sinner who does not believe, when even though he believed in the righteousness of God. A person who has received the remission of sin certainly does not receive the judgment of God due to his weakness.

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This is the righteousness of God and the Truth. How come a sinner does not receive the judgment of God? It’s because Jesus resolved all the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross. That’s why Paul asked rhetorically how he could receive God’s judgment like a sinner when he had faith and believed in the righteousness of God. He confessed the true faith that rather, his weakness manifested the righteousness of God even more. The Jews are better than the Gentiles in that they are the descendants of Abraham. God promised to give the Law to the descendants of Abraham along with the sacrificial system and that He would also send the Savior to them. The Jews, the descendants of Abraham, became the people who were committed to God’s Word through their forefathers of faith. Romans 2:17 talks about how the Jews are

better than the Gentiles. The Jews are better than the Gentiles in that the Jews were circumcised. The circumcision was God’s promise that He would be God of Abraham and his descendants. This circumcision is pulling the foreskin of a man and cutting it off, and spiritually it means a person cutting off the sin and receiving salvation from sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But the Jews had not received the spiritual circumcision even though they were circumcised physically. Even though the Jews were physically the descendants of Abraham who were entrusted with God’s Word, they did not have anything better than the Gentiles spiritually because they did not believe in Jesus and they did not receive the remission of sin through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In what ways then are Christians better than people who follow other religions today? Those who believe in ◄

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Christianity do not have anything better than those who believe in Gentile religions if they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit the Lord has given. Believing in Christianity means believing in Jesus as one’s Savior and this means believing in Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. There are many religions in the world: Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity and many other religions. Among them, Islam, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism are major religions. However, is there any religion that has the Truth of remitting the sins of human beings? There isn’t. There isn’t any religion that blots out the sins of a human being. As the Scriptures say, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name [except Jesus Christ] under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). But in what ways is Christianity better than other

religions when there is sin in the hearts of the person who believes in Buddhism just the same as the person who believes in Jesus. Those who believe in Buddhism give a lot of money and utter “Um-mani-padme-hum” when they sin and the people who believe in Jesus come to church and attain comfort in their hearts by offering a lot of money and doing a lot of service for the church. Therefore, Christianity is not beneficial because it does not have anything better than other religions. It is written that one can enter and see the Kingdom of God only if he is born again through the water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5). But today’s Christians do not have an advantage of believing in Jesus because they do not know the meaning of becoming born again of water and the Spirit. Actually, the Word the Apostle Paul is talking about here is a very challenging Word to every Christian believer. ◄

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All of Us Must Come Back to the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit These days, many people go to church not knowing how to be born again, but these Christians sinners must also come back before the presence of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We can see that these Christians try hard to lead others to Christianity, but they can only bring them to their respective churches and they cannot teach them about the righteousness of God. It’s no wonder that they can’t teach it because they do not know the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, all the Christian believers must receive the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God the Father has given to us through Jesus Christ and receive the righteousness of God in their hearts and come back to God.

The Book of Romans is not written for the Jews only. It also says to those who have not been born again these days, that they must also come back to the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All Christians must look back to their faith and see “Do I believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit or not?” and return to the correct faith if they believe erroneously. As it is written, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9), the gospel of the water and the Spirit is spreading abundantly throughout the world. People in my country, Korea, also cannot say that they do not know this gospel of the water and the Spirit, because we have been preaching this gospel since 1991. But what things is Christianity doing these days? When Christians get married, they have the wedding ceremony in a Christian manner and they are also given a funeral according to the Christian ◄

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tradition. And they are given a dedication service instead of performing the ancestral rites after they die, and the rites may be different from other religions but they are actually not different from other religions in its contents because they are also sinners who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, all Christians must return to the faith of believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They should hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit by meeting the born again who understand and believe in the true righteousness of God. Then they can obtain the gospel of the remission of sin in God’s plan written in the Scriptures. There are some people who hear this gospel and throw it away, but we, the born again, are truly thankful before the presence of God. Before I was born again, I really did not know the reason why Jesus received baptism. Therefore, I asked a lot of questions, but there

wasn’t even one person who knew the answer correctly even among those who supposedly knew the Bible well and had great faith. But God gave me the understanding of the Truth. We can know this Truth through the Word in Matthew 3:15. The Truth is that Jesus Christ took all the sins upon Himself through His baptism which is the antitype of our salvation and by which He has fulfilled the righteousness of God. God has met with me through His righteousness and also removed all my sins once and for all. And He made me become an evangelist sharing the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the world. I was able to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit in God’s Church so far through the grace of God. But if the gospel is not preached in this manner, people’s souls will die and they will lose faith and be forever apart from God. That’s why this gospel must be preached to all the people, ◄

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not only in our gathering, but all the churches in the world should be filled with faith that believes the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Anyone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains God’s righteousness has received the remission of sin and became a person who has attained the righteousness of God. Those who have believed in the righteousness of God have already received the remission of sin from all their sins. Those who have already received the righteousness of God by believing in such a way became the ones who live for the righteousness of God. Those who believe in the righteousness of God receive the sacred blessings of Heaven.

What Is the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit That Constitutes the Righteousness of God? Has God really saved all of us from the sins of the world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Yes, He has saved us all. The righteousness of God is manifested and witnessed within the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The gospel of the water and the Spirit contains the Truth that saves all humanity in the world from sin. Then, what is the gospel of the water and Spirit? God sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world to save all the sinners of the world from all their sins. After Jesus was born and when He became 30 years old, Jesus went to the Jordan River and received the baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of all humanity, and

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took all the sins of humanity upon Him. When we look at Matthew 3:15-16, we can see that Jesus took all the sins of the world upon Himself through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. And He received judgment for those sins through the blood He shed on the Cross He was nailed to. This is the very gospel of the water and the Spirit. The baptism and the blood on the Cross shed by Jesus represents the gospel of the water and the Spirit that has washed all the sins from sinners, and that’s how God saved us. The work Jesus came and performed truthfully and realistically in this world was this gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel is neither a religious doctrine nor a fabrication and it is the work that has actually saved the sinners from sin. The Scriptures say, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His

Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). God the Father sent His only begotten Son to this world in order to save you and me, who are people of this world from such huge sin. God sent His only Son Jesus to this world because He so loved us that live in this world destined to hell. Jesus came to this world and received the baptism from John the Baptist and removed all the sins of the world to fulfill that love, the righteousness of God. God the Father did not love us just with His lips, but He sent Jesus, whom He was pleased with and loved and had Him take over all the sins of the world upon His body. The gospel of the water and the Spirit removed all the sins of the world. Jesus Christ came to this world as the Son of God and took all the sins of humanity upon Himself by being baptized by John the Baptist, dying on the Cross, ◄

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and being resurrected from the death. He thus blessed us so that we can receive remission from all the sins of the world if we just believe in this Truth. We actually receive salvation by believing in the baptism and the blood of Jesus because this salvation from sin is the true salvation that is given by the righteousness of God. The true love of God does not perish. That’s why those who believe in Jesus are saved from sin and those who do not believe receive the penalty as the price for their sin due to the sins they have committed. God’s Word and the remission of sin that God has given to us do not vanish just because we do not believe the baptism and the blood that the Lord has performed to blot out all our sins out of His love toward us. The righteousness of God that has given the remission of sins to us does not vanish even though this universe may disappear. Let’s then think about the benefit of the faith

that you and I now possess. What is beneficial, believing or not believing? God so loved us that He removed all our sins unilaterally without even asking us. It means that God has saved us from the sins of the world through the righteousness of God from His side. And God gives us the eternal remission of sins and the eternal life if we just believe in the baptism and the blood on the Cross Jesus performed from our side. But He destroyed the unbelievers due to their sins. Therefore, our benefit lies in our faith in this Truth. God has made even the most hideous sin committed by a person be passed over to Jesus through the baptism of Jesus. God has removed all the sins the people in this world commit in their whole lifetime including the sins committed by average citizens in their life and the great swindling and hideous sins committed by a brutal criminal. Jesus has remitted all the sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist ◄

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and His blood on the Cross. Therefore, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit attain the benefit of receiving the remission of sin, but those who do not are excluded from that blessing. Could the faith of the deceitful nullify the faithfulness of God? No, it cannot. But those who have the false faith do not believe in the remission of sin that was fulfilled through the baptism Jesus received and the blood on the Cross He shed. But the righteousness of God will never disappear even if they do not believe in this Truth. There is sin in their hearts even if they believe that they can receive the remission of sin even with the blood of the Cross alone. People cannot receive the salvation from all their sins through the blood of the Cross alone. Did Jesus come to this world and only shed blood on the Cross to remove the sins of the sinners? No, that’s not true.

Jesus was born to this world and then He received the baptism from John the Baptist at the age of thirty and took all the sins of the world upon His body. It means that Jesus first took the sins upon Himself through His baptism in order to receive the judgment on the Cross later. That’s why Jesus had to be nailed to death on the Cross and resurrected from death. Could Jesus shed blood on the Cross and die even if He didn’t take over the sins through His baptism? No, that could not happen. If the Lord did not take all the sins upon Him through the baptism and die on the Cross, then His death does not have anything to do with us. That’s why Jesus first received the baptism from John the Baptist and then died on the Cross afterwards. Jesus was able to go to the Cross because He received the baptism from John the Baptist. Jesus took all the sins upon Him all at once by receiving the baptism. That’s why there is the effect of salvation only to those ◄

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who believe in the baptism of Jesus and His death on the Cross. The Scriptures say, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus died on the Cross because He had already taken all our sins upon Himself through baptism. Jesus could never have been wounded on the Cross if He had not taken all our sins upon Him through the baptism. Really, He was wounded for our transgressions and He was bruised for our iniquities. But then why don’t people believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood together? Why don’t people believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit? That’s because the people do not know the reason for the great blessing of baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. Some say that the baptism Jesus received from John the

Baptist is not important. They say the baptism Jesus received is symbolic and it just shows His humility. They ask, “If the baptism Jesus received is so important in regard to our remission of sins, why does the Bible emphasize the blood on the Cross only?” But God spoke countless times about the importance of the baptism Jesus received through the laying of hands on the head of the sacrificial animals in the Old Testament. Jesus received the baptism at the Jordan River and the act of removing all the sins of humanity was performed there. The Jordan River was the place where the sins of the world were completely terminated in the New Testament through the righteousness of God and this is connected to some events that happened at the Jordan River in the Old Testament. For example, the Jordan River stopped flowing when the priests stepped into the river to cross with the Ark on their shoulders ◄

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(Joshua 3:11-17). Also, Naaman was healed from his sickness when he dipped himself into the Jordan River seven times (2 Kings 5:14). There are countless examples in the Old Testament regarding the Jordan River. We also can find countless examples of “the laying on of hands” in the Old Testament. In one example, a sinner had to bring in a sacrificial animal into the Tabernacle to receive the remission of sin. Then he laid hands over the head of the animal to transfer his sins over to the animal (Leviticus 4:1-32). In such manner, Jesus came to this world and received the baptism according to the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle and shed blood and blotted out all the sins of the world. However, most Christians do not know the reason why Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist and they just believe that Jesus took care of all their sins on the Cross. But such faith comes

from one’s own thinking. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus took all the sins upon Him on the Cross. Rather, in many places in the Scriptures, we can find the Word that says Jesus fulfilled all the righteousness of God through the baptism He received from John the Baptist at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17; Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21). Jesus died on the Cross because Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist and took all the sins upon Himself. Jesus was able to resolve the sins of the world with His own blood because He had received the baptism as our Savior. There has to be a process in order to have a result. Therefore, those who can explain the process clearly are the people who understand the result perfectly. That’s why we can preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God, only if we understand it thoroughly. The Scriptures say that we can enter ◄

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and see the Kingdom of God only if we are born again through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore people cannot enter or see the Kingdom of God if they just believe in the blood of the Cross alone. Just believing in Jesus’ blood on the Cross in this manner is to believe in Him with understanding half of the Truth and it is not a perfect faith. The core of the Scriptures spoken countless times is the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. The remission of sin that the Bible is talking about is the act of Jesus saving us from sin by receiving baptism and dying on the Cross. All the Christians must believe in the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They must definitely believe it because they will go to hell if they don’t. They receive the remission of sin and step into the path to Heaven if they believe in the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

But the righteousness of God does not disappear even if all Christians do not believe in the baptism Jesus received. Not all Christians are born again just because they believe in Jesus. If people profess to believe in Jesus but do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit the Lord has given, then they are following the path of Judas the Iscariot to be accursed for the price of their sins, and the true believers are rescued from all their sin if they truly believe in the significance of the baptism Jesus received and believe in the effect of the Cross. The righteousness of God exists forever and we must believe in it because the Word of the water and the Spirit is the work God has unilaterally planned and fulfilled regardless of whether we believe it with our hearts or not. The righteousness of God the Father fulfilled through His only begotten Son to save us from sin exists eternally. ◄

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Peter and Judas sinned before God in the same manner but there is a clear difference in their faith. Peter denied Jesus three times and even cursed Him, but he returned to the Lord after he understood who his Savior was and received the salvation by believing in Jesus who has blotted out all his sins. What about Judas? Judas sold Jesus for 30 silver coins and he tried to resolve his own sin and hung himself afterward, depressed by his sense of guilt as if he could take responsibility for his act as his conscience penetrated his heart. True repentance is receiving the remission of sin and becoming children of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus has given to us even if we have committed the most treacherous sin like Peter had. But false repentance is taking responsibility of one’s own sin like Judas. You must return to the faithfulness of God. The method of returning to God is to have faith.

God has saved us with the gospel of the water and the Spirit because He sincerely loves us who have fallen into sin. We must believe this. We must return to the faith of believing in this gospel that Jesus truly saved us from our sins. All those who don’t believe will go to hell. God does not want any soul to go to hell. He is waiting for all the people in the world to come into Heaven by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Do not make God wait too long.

People Are Deceitful, but God Is Truthful Romans 3:4 states, “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.’” He said here, “let God be true but every man a liar” ◄

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because the Lord came to this world as God promised and saved us perfectly from sin. That’s why the Bible says God is true but humans are liars. Humans are always dishonest and evil. But God is always honest and true. Where does God’s truthfulness appear? God’s truthfulness appears in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, the only way to be rescued from that lie is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has spoken and fulfilled for humanity. The gospel of the water and the Spirit defeats every lie and sin and lifts us out from all the unrighteousness. How does God evaluate and judge the sins of human beings? God judges people’s sin based on whether there is sin in people’s hearts, that is, whether they believe or not in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with their hearts. The faith of believing in the Word makes people go to

Heaven when they go before the presence of God and those who do not believe in His Word receive the punishment according to the Word before the presence of God. Consequently, we defeat the sin and the lie through the faith of believing in God’s Word. David offers up a prayer of repentance in Psalm 51:4 and we can see, “That you may be found just when the Lord says that you are just, and you are righteous if the Lord judges you to be righteous, and you have sin if He says you have sin.” David committed the sin of adultery. He not only committed adultery, but also killed the woman’s husband, like it was not enough to take another man’s wife. Even though David did not kill the man directly, David killed the man indirectly by sending the man to the worst battlefield. That was David. Lust, adultery, murder, and worshipping idols before the presence of God were all sins and violations of ◄

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God’s Law. There was a prophet named Nathan. Nathan told David about a person who had only a sheep. “There is a person who is raising only one sheep. And there is a wealthy man who raises many sheep. Then one day a guest came to visit the wealthy person’s home and the wealthy man took the only sheep from the poor person who had only one sheep and served the guest a meal.” When David heard this, he became angry and said, “What an evil person he is! Who is that person? Such a person should be cursed by God.” Then the Prophet Nathan said to David, “That wealthy man is none other than you.” Then David had nothing else to say. And David confessed before the presence of God, “I am just when the Lord judges me to be just, and I am unrighteous if the Lord judges me to be unrighteous. Judge me according to Your judgment not according to mine. Lord, I have

wronged, if You say I have wronged, and I am without sin if You say You have remitted all my sins.” David thus completely put himself under God’s judgment and remission of the sin. Those who believe in Jesus are also like that before the presence of God. When we are facing a certain situation, whether we are right or wrong depends on how God brings down His judgment on that matter. It is okay if God says it is okay and it is not okay if God says it is not. So, the Scriptures say. “As it is written: That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.” God said that He would send the Savior to save us and in fact has sent the Savior to us. God the Father sent Jesus Christ and made Him receive the baptism, shed blood on the Cross, and resurrect Him from the dead to save us. Jesus came to this world and did everything according to God’s Word and fulfilled all the promises. We ◄

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receive salvation from judgment and sin, if we believe in the Word that gives us the remission of sin because Jesus has completed God’s promise wholly according to the Word. But we will be cursed in the midst of sin if we do not believe God’s Word exactly as it is. God was victorious against the enemies because He truthfully fulfilled the promise He made. God’s Word became the Truth and therefore the Word of the Truth defeats all lies. God has never lied even once and has never done even a little evil. The righteousness of God is perfect. God promised to perfectly save the sinners of this world from all their sins through the righteousness of God and fulfill this promise with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

People Who Go to Hell Even though They Have Believed in Jesus Because all God’s promise have been fulfilled, those who have sinned because they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, even though they believe in Jesus, shall receive the judgment of hell when they stand before the presence of God. They will make an excuse and say, “Why are You bringing down the verdict of hell to me just because I have a little sin when I believe in Jesus?” And God will say to them, “It is appropriate for you to go to hell. I promised that I would blot out your sins and I received the baptism in this world and took all your sins upon Myself as I promised, but you still have sin. Therefore, it is appropriate for you to go to hell.” That’s right. The remission of sin is received by believing with your heart. Those who believe shall be endowed with the grace and blessing ◄

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because they do not have sin and those who do not believe shall receive the penalty of judgment because their sins will be revealed according to the Law. God has fulfilled everything according to His Word and He gives award to those who believe according to the Word and He gives penalty to those who do not believe. That’s why not all those who believe in Jesus will go to Heaven. In believing in Jesus, it is very good for you to have a proper understanding of the gospel of the water and the Spirit prior to having faith in Jesus on your own. The gospel of the water and the Spirit appears in all parts of the Old and the New Testament of the Scriptures. Therefore, those who believe in the righteousness of God go to Heaven because they can always confess their proper faith before the presence of God. Our human righteousness is filthy but God has clothed us with the righteousness of God that God has made.

With what faith that you go before the presence of God is very important. You must go forth toward God with the faith of believing in the Word of the righteousness of God. You must not go before God with the experience of illusion and the power of performing miracles. The important thing is why you have received the remission of sin. You must discover and believe in the righteousness of God within the gospel of the water and the Sprit. You and I can be approved before the presence of God and enter the Kingdom of God without fail through the faith of believing the Word of God’s righteousness when we stand before the presence of God. Our physical body does wrong because of our weakness in this world, but we escape from the judgment of sin and the adversity of Satan the Devil through the faith of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We can say, “Depart ◄

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from me, Satan the Devil! The Lord received baptism at the Jordan River and He shed blood on the Cross. Haven’t all the righteousness been fulfilled at the time when Jesus said it was proper for Him to receive the baptism! Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist to take all the sins upon Him. He took upon Himself all the sins I will commit until I die. I believe the baptism of Jesus is to take all my sin, that the death of Jesus is my death, that Jesus shedding blood on the Cross is the shedding of blood on my behalf, that the resurrection of Jesus is to give new life to me.” We can rebuke Satan the Devil with this faith and say, “I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Stay away from me!” Then Satan the Devil departs from us when he sees our faith in the true remission of sin. You and I do not keep our faith until the end before the presence of God because of our strong will and good memory. You and I must not forget

that we cannot deny God with our faith in the righteousness of God as we stand before Him. Hell is reserved to those who do not believe in the righteousness of God. But those who believe have become people who have received the Holy Spirit as a gift and become sons of God who have attained the eternal life of Heaven. There is an ever so clear work of the Holy Spirit to the righteous.

Do Our Sins That We Commit Demonstrates the Righteousness of God Even More? Romans 3:5 says, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath?” (I speak as a man).

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Do all the sins that we commit manifest the righteousness of God even more? Yes, they do. Human beings have so many shortcomings that they sin from their conception in the mother’s womb till they are buried in the grave. Then how many sins do humans commit? Humans commit more sin than the specks of sand of a seashore and they commit sins greater than the dark clouds of the sky. They commit such sins, but such sins manifest the righteousness of God even more. Because we commit sin continuously until we die, the greatness of the righteousness of God and His love is revealed even more. Because we are insufficient, the righteousness of God is revealed even more in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because humans have shortcomings and weaknesses, the salvation God has saved us with is revealed even more. Then is it wrong for God to judge the sinners for their sin? No, it is not. It is appropriate to

judge those and bring down the wrath to those who do not believe because of their unbelief. God takes the people who believe in the righteousness of God as His people and embraces them in His bosom and allows them to enjoy the wealth and glory forever because God’s righteousness has manifested in them. But there is nothing wrong even if God judges the sins of the people who do not believe because they did not believe even though God bestowed an amazing grace that has wiped away all the sins they commit in their lifetime. “Is God unjust who inflicts wrath?” This is asking whether God commits sin. It is very appropriate that God brings down the wrath to the people who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God. Therefore, can people who go to hell because they have sin in their hearts, even though they say they believe in Jesus, ◄

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protest against God claiming that God is unjust? No, they cannot. Why? It’s because God clearly removed all the sins of humanity through His only begotten Son’s righteous acts. God the Father sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, and made Him take over all the sins through the baptism and had Him die on the Cross and saved all humanity from the judgment for their sins. Therefore, people are forgiven of all and any sin they commit as long as they do not reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But there is nothing that anyone can do about them going to hell because they do not believe in the righteousness of God. It is also appropriate for God to bring down wrath on those people. There is nothing wrong with God. Therefore, one actually decides one’s own fate. Your fate is decided on whether you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus fulfilled through the righteousness of God and receive the

remission of your sin or whether you do not receive this gospel. Therefore, God’s wrath sending the souls who do not believe to hell is appropriate. The greatest sin before God is not accepting the love of God that has sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world; the love that took all our sins through Jesus’ baptism; and the love that atoned for all our sins by Jesus dying on the Cross. Such sinners do not acknowledge and believe in the Truth of salvation that gave the remission of sin through His only begotten Son because they do not receive the love of God’s righteousness into their hearts. That is the biggest sin. Therefore it is proper for those who do not believe to be cast into hell. Do some Christians also go to hell? Of course they do. They cannot help but go to hell if they do not believe in the baptism of Jesus and the blood of the Cross and insist on their own ◄

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righteousness. Why is there sin in the hearts of people who believe in Jesus? It’s because they do not believe in the righteousness of God and insist on their own righteousness instead. Those who insist on their own righteousness, who come before God with the righteousness of their own deeds, become people who have sin in their hearts. Those who believe in the righteousness of God and give thanks to the salvation He has given to us, want other souls to receive the salvation from sin and they are happy to be used for God’s work. God receives our sacrifice for the Lord and the sacrifice for the gospel, but He does not receive what we offer with our own righteousness before the presence of God and rather casts them away. Why? It’s because God is pleased with those who believe in the righteousness of God.

Do You Believe That Your Weakness Manifests the Righteousness of God Even More? Romans 3:6-7 states, “Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?” The Apostle Paul spoke the Word of Faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and he said that God’s truthfulness and the abundant glory of salvation manifests even more through his weakness. He is saying, “How could I receive judgment like a sinner if God’s truthfulness became even more abundant to His glory through my lie?” The Lord saved such inadequate people who lie, and therefore the righteousness of the salvation that saved us from the sin illuminates even brighter and greater as

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our shortcoming is revealed more. People actually have come short of God’s glory because all the people have committed sin, and the core theme of the Scriptures is that such people have fulfilled the glory of God by believing in the grace of salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s grace overflowed in the evil that resulted from our weakness. Actually the more we acknowledge our shortcomings the more the righteousness of God that removed our sin through the gospel of the water and the Spirit becomes magnified in our hearts. That’s right. But we do not sin more intentionally in order that grace may abound. We obtain liberation from all sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit whenever we make mistakes and our shortcomings and weaknesses are revealed after you and I have received the remission of sin. As we see that all our sins are remitted whenever our

shortcomings are revealed, we come to know how great, how immense, how endless God’s love is and therefore become inspired to give praise to God. The Apostle Paul is talking about that here. What if God’s truthfulness became even more abundant to His glory through his lie? Then, would I be judged because of the sins that I commit? It’s not like that. It means that I do not receive the judgment because the salvation God gives is greater than the sin I commit. This is the message the Apostle Paul speaks continuously through the Book of Romans. Because the salvation of God that saved us is so great and because the remission of sin that Jesus has given is so great, those who believe this do not receive the judgment and also go to Heaven as the righteous by receiving the righteousness of God. The righteous are those who do not have sin by believing in the righteousness of God. The ◄

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righteous are those who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts by receiving the remission of sin, that is, by believing in the righteousness of God. God loves the righteous forever. He never sends the righteous to hell because He loves His people eternally. No matter how insufficient a person may be, God considers anyone who believes in the righteousness of God as His people and sends them to Heaven. But He severs them from that salvation and the blessing of Heaven if someone betrays this faith. This kind of sin is the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and this sin can never be forgiven. Therefore we must never commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. In the end times, Satan the Devil will compel the righteous to reject the gospel that Jesus received the baptism, took over all their sins, died on the Cross and resurrected from the dead. But the people of faith can never reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

The righteous can never reject the righteousness of God. They can never reject it. The strong faith that we can never deny this Truth no matter how Satan the Devil tempts us and threatens us will help us embrace our martyrdom in the end times. We could defend our faith because this gospel that Jesus saved us is so precious. Is it right to commit sin in order that the grace of the righteousness of God may abound? Romans 3:8 says, “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come?’—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” Is it right to sin in order that the grace of the righteousness of God may abound? Should we continue sinning in order to demonstrate God’s righteousness even more? No we shouldn’t. There were some people at that time who said these things to slander the righteous. People who do not believe in the ◄

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righteousness of God are slanderous in this manner these days just as they were at the apostolic age. They say, “If you have received the remission of all sins through the righteousness of God, then you must commit even more sin to manifest the righteousness of God even more.” But we must understand clearly. We do not commit sin more because we have received the remission of sin before the presence of God, but we sin even if we don’t want to sin because our body and heart are weak until we die. We do not sin more because we have received the remission of sin. Rather, the righteous who have received the remission of sin do not sin more. The heart that has become sanctified without sin is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and thus filthy sin cannot dwell in it. But we sin because our physical body is still weak. That means that we sin because we are weak; we don’t commit even more sins in

order to enjoy the blessing that declares all our sins are already blotted out. The sins we commit after we have received the remission of sin are also committed because of our weakness. And we also sin because our faith of believing in God’s Word is small even though we have the faith of receiving the salvation. For example, the print shop has finished producing our book and the books are brought to the front of our Church on a truck. Let’s say we are bringing the books up to the third floor. A strong person would carry the books up without much problem, but what about a person who is not so strong? Wouldn’t he try to make the other brothers and sisters do more work? Isn’t this a selfish sin that seeks only one’s benefit? But this sin is stemmed out from our weakness. As such, we cannot help but sin out of our weakness. Some people look at us and say, “You have now received the remission of sin. Wouldn’t you ◄

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sin more to demonstrate the righteousness of God all through your life?” But this is wrong. We who believe in the righteousness of God cannot sin more because we know sin as sin for we have received the remission of sin. But we do sin as we live in this world because the human flesh is so weak. But we still do not have sin. That’s because all our sins have been remitted away already by believing in the righteousness of God. Therefore, the Apostle Paul said those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are sinners before the presence of God even though they believe in Jesus and therefore it is appropriate for them to receive the judgment to go to hell. And this faith is truly amazing. This Word of the Book of Romans was recorded about two thousands years ago. Even in this Book of Romans that was recorded before A.D. 100, there were people who told Paul exactly the same thing that those who slander us

are saying. Isn’t it amazing that there were people in the old days who misunderstood the gospel of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God and slandered the righteous just as they do today? It is amazing. This Word does not change even today because it is God’s Word. Satan the Devil always attacks the born-again with the same method. Therefore, no matter how Satan the Devil attacks you, no matter how it attacks God’s Church, we must win over Satan with the faith of believing in the righteousness of God when it attacks us. Satan the Devil always attacks God’s Church with the same method today as it did in the old days. They slander those who have obtained the righteousness because they have not received the remission of sin. They say, “You should sin more and more as your heart desires because you do not have sin no matter how much you commit sin. You should ◄

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sin more to manifest the righteousness of God even more.” But that’s not the case. If we sin that’s because of our weakness. But even the sins we commit because we are weak, we understand as wrong before the presence of God and admit the sin before God and live without sin by believing that the Lord has taken even this sin upon Him. That’s why the weaker we are, the greater the righteousness of God becomes magnified in our hearts and manifests as greater glory. Therefore, the Apostle Paul asked, “What advantage then has the Jew?” So, what is the benefit to believing in Jesus? There is no benefit if Christians do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If Christians do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that is, if they do not believe in the righteousness of God, there is no benefit for them to believing in Jesus as long as they believe only in the blood of the

Cross. It is just like believing in any other religion because there is no benefit. Faith is beneficial to someone only when the person believes with their heart in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that manifests the righteousness of God. And even though the righteous who have received the remission of sin also commit sins in this world, they just need to admit that they have sinned and believe all those sins are also remitted already because Jesus has already taken over even all those sins a long time ago. That’s right. We do not sin more because we have received the remission of sin and because we have no worry about the condemnation of sin. Those of you who believe in Jesus should come back to the gospel of the water and the Spirit now. Then you can receive the righteousness of God and you shall obtain it. The fruits of evangelism become abundant when the blessing of believing the righteousness of God ◄

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dwells in your hearts. “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” Some who do not know the righteousness of God say to the person who believes in the righteousness of God, “If the Truth of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God removed even all those sins that a person has yet to sin in their lifetime, then it should be okay for the person to continue sinning.” But the Apostle Paul says clearly that the sins people commit in the future after receiving the remission of sin are sins that people commit because they can’t help but sin for they are weak, not the sins they sin intentionally. You must not distort the gospel of God’s righteousness in your thinking. People sin until they die for they are weak and

they do not commit sins intentionally because they believe the righteousness of God and have received the remission of sin. Humans are weak beings. It means that people cannot help but sin until the final moment of his life and until the ends of the world because they are weak beings. Do you sin intentionally without having any reason? There is reason why we sin as we live in this world and the reason lies in our weakness. But the Lord took upon Himself even the sins you and I will commit in the future all at once by receiving the baptism and dying on the Cross, and thus He has blotted out all those sins. Therefore, you must not look at the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God as wrong faith. I hope you understand that such thinking is a departure from God’s Word and believe the gospel that contains the righteousness of God and receive the eternal remission of sin all at once by faith. ◄

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Even now most Christians indulge themselves with moralistic religious life. So they cannot help but think like that because they worry about what would happen if there is something wrong with them morally. But God wants all people to believe the remission of sin that is in the righteousness of God. If you do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God, then you will remain a sinner eternally because you will not receive the remission of sin.

Though There Essentially Is None Righteous “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”

This Word does not mean those who believe in the righteousness of God are also under sin. Those who believe in the righteousness of God have escaped from all sins. But the Jews at the time had sin because they did not believe in Jesus. This verse says, “Are we better than they?” This passage is telling us that the Jews and Greeks alike were fundamentally under sin but that they got to receive the remission of sin through the righteousness of God. The Apostle Paul is now describing the fundamental sinfulness of humans first to explain the power of the gospel that contains the righteousness of God to the Jews and Greeks as well as all Gentiles. The Apostle Paul is saying that all people were under sin. It means that there is none righteous in this world because humans cannot help but constantly sin. He is saying that God turned the sinners into righteous through the righteousness of God, but there is none who understands this. ◄

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All mankind were sinners before God. But Jesus made them righteous through the righteousness of God. Verse 10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one,” and this means that there is none righteous without believing that all the sins of the world have been blotted out through the righteousness of God. There is no true awakening to a person unless he or she comes to believe in the righteousness of God because he or she cannot become righteous then. That’s why the word “sanctification” was made up in religions. But people cannot achieve sanctification no matter how hard they try to live ascetically and no matter how sincerely they discipline their character within the boundaries of religion. Therefore all humans were sinners before they knew the righteousness of God. It says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” It is possible for people to become righteous by believing the righteousness of God

although they are born sinners. And verse 10 also says, “There is none who understands.” It means that sinners don’t even recognize themselves as the ones doomed to hell. They do not understand how scary God’s judgment is because they do not understand they are sinners before God and they are heading for hell. This is the Word that summarizes the sinful state of every human being. According to Paul, the Jews are not better than the Gentiles and the Gentiles are not better than the Jews. Rather, all are under sin and all have therefore become object of the wrath of the Omnipotent God and the final judgment. Quoting a passage from Psalm 14:1-3, Paul declares, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.’” This is the correct understanding of human nature. This is the Word that looks squarely at the truly horrible state of humanity. ◄

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Humans do not have the ability to make God happy and the ability to understand and seek God. Humans are “totally corrupt beings” from their birth. For those who are heaping up human righteousness, the total corruption theory that says humans are a mass of sin from birth is difficult to accept. They say it’s because the theory has a tendency to take the human dignity lightly. But isn’t that true? Most people willingly acknowledge that a human being is not perfect, but they are not ready to admit that there is no human righteousness. And they are willing to admit that humans have lost the righteousness of God and that they are wandering away from the path of Truth, but most of them are not willing to admit that they have completely gone astray from the path of righteousness and that they stand in the path of destruction. Those who seek human righteousness pretend to seek God instead of

admitting that they are standing against the righteousness of God. Those who do not acknowledge the righteousness of God and fight against it in order to insist on human righteousness will never be able to avoid the penalty of hell. Such faith and acts are extremely evil. Humans do not try to understand the righteousness of God while they only seek human righteousness. That is because they are possessed by their own ignorance. When people do not understand they are arrogant before the presence of God, there is no need for them to know the righteousness of God. And they do not go before God, in the same way that a person who does not know they are sick does not go to see a doctor to receive treatment. A person would not think of going to the hospital as long as he is convinced that he is healthy. But as one who realizes that he has a serious sickness goes to the hospital, a person who realizes that he does ◄

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not have righteousness spiritually and that he will be destroyed because of this will seek and return to Jesus Christ who is the only Person who can cure this disease of sin.

There Is None Who Has This Understanding That there is none who understands means that there is not even one person who understands that he is going to hell because he has sin. Rarely there are some people who feel that they are destined for hell. But that understanding is gleaned from mere feeling and it is not from knowing and believing in God’s law that says, “The wages of sin is death.” Therefore people need to look at their spiritual state according to God’s Word in order to receive the treatment. People need to understand first that their soul is

destined for hell after living a meaningless life because they do not have the righteousness of God in their souls. They find the righteousness of God when they truly have such understanding. “They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable” (Romans 3:12). Humans have all turned aside and they have become unprofitable. That they have “all turned aside” means they have gone astray towards human thinking because they do not understand the righteousness of God. The true criteria for judgment of the Truth resides only in the righteousness of God. Everything begins with the righteousness of God and ends it. This is because only God is righteous and only God has done the righteous work for humanity. The righteous judgment resides only in God. Humans have no ability to give righteous judgment. Even so, people are imprisoned to their thinking and say, “I think like this”, “I think ◄

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and believe this way” because they are slanted toward their own thinking. All people are slanted toward their own thinking and they have no interest in God’s will. The people who do not get rid of their thinking in this manner cannot discover the righteousness of God. Therefore, they do not seek God and they do not come back to the faith of believing in God’s Word. This is because they believe that their thinking is of the truth. But God’s Truth only exists within the righteousness of God. God’s Word is the canon, the measuring stick. You must understand that God’s Word of Truth is the criteria for all things.

The Quotation That the Religious People Use the Most “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’”

All human beings who have been born from their common ancestors Adam and Eve have been born with sin from their origin. David confesses in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” David confessed that he came out from his mother’s womb in a sinful state having sin and evil, and also that he was a mass of sin since his mother conceived him because his mother conceived him in the midst of sin. But David was a person who became righteous by believing the righteousness of God through the sacrifice that God had allowed in the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle. Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” As such, there is none righteous who had no sin originally from their birth. Paul is saying that there is none in this world who were originally righteous, but that God has made us who believe the gospel of ◄

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the water and the Spirit righteous through His righteousness. We must understand and believe the Scripture within the righteousness of God. God is saying that people were originally sinners from their birth but that they have been made righteous through the righteousness of God. When we look at the passage of Romans 3:10, we should not believe by misunderstanding that even those who have received the righteousness of God by believing in Jesus are all sinners as well. What Paul says in this verse reveals the sinful state that we were in before we believed in the righteousness of God. This Word is not saying that there isn’t anyone in the world who is righteous. It is talking about the state we were in before we believed the righteousness of God.

Why Do the Religious People Like to Say That There Isn’t Anyone Righteous? But there are so many Christians of religious faith who use this passage for their own religious benefit. They quote this passage and think their faith is so appropriate and proper. They claim that their faith of believing Jesus with sin is rather biblical. Therefore we must inform all the people clearly about what this passage is talking about and lead them to the correct answer.

All People Were Under Sin Because They Have Not Met the Righteousness of God Romans 3:9 says, “What then? Are we better ◄

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than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” Is Apostle Paul saying here that he is also under sin? We must move to this passage with this question in mind. We must first understand whether Paul includes himself in the application of the Word from Romans chapter 3 verses 9 to 18. And we must also find out whether he includes the people who have attained the righteousness of God by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit as well as himself, and the answer is “No, he doesn’t.” Put differently, Paul did not include righteous when he mentioned Romans 3:10-18. When we use a quotation from another source we use a quotation mark as the sign to point out that it is the word spoken by someone. And if we pay attention to Romans 3:10, we can see that the verse begins with “As it is written.” The Apostle Paul’s word in Romans 3:10 is quoted from

Psalms 14:1 and the following words. It says, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’” From the standpoint of time, is this verse describing one’s state before believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ has given? Or, does it mention the state of faith after believing in the Truth? It is talking about the state of people’s heart before they meet the salvation that Jesus Christ has given. It does not describe the state of people’s heart after Jesus Christ came to this world and saved us from our sins all at once through the righteousness of God. So, it does not mean that there is none righteous even after Jesus Christ came to us. The Word from this passage speaks about the state of faith before believing in the righteousness of God. This Word is saying that there is none righteous before believing the righteousness of God. Does that mean that there isn’t any righteous ◄

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person in the Old Testament time? No, there were the righteous in the Old Testament too. Some people in the Old Testament had become the righteous by believing the Messiah that was to come in the future. They became righteous by believing that Jesus Christ who was to come to this world in the future would blot out their sins through His baptism and blood and give them the salvation from all sins. Therefore, there is none, in the past and now, who has become righteous without the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It means that there isn’t even one righteous person among people who do not believe the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ has given. People can ask this sort of question, “The Lord has come to this world and fulfilled all the righteousness, but don’t we still have sin even if we believe in that righteousness?” No, that’s not true. All people are not sinners. The people who have attained the righteousness from God by

believing the righteousness of God are the righteous and the people who have not received the righteousness of God are sinners. But it is saying that there was not even one righteous person besides the people who received the remission of sin by faith before they believe in the Lord, for both the Israelites and the Gentiles.

The State of a Sinner’s Heart Is Like This “There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.” If there wasn’t any righteous people and there were only sinners, then how was the spiritual state of those sinners? Verse 11 says, “There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.” Then, can a sinner realize his own sin? No, he can’t. It means that one cannot come ◄

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to the realization by himself that he is a sinner. As it is said in Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep,” people’s hearts are so jumbled up with sin and they are filled with so much darkness that there is no way for a person to realize his sinful self. They look at the sins inside of their hearts and think of reasons and excuses to justify their committing sins and therefore cannot see the fact that they are really a mass of sin and that they are sinners. As the Word that says, “There is none who understands,” a sinner cannot realize the sinful appearance of his own self. Even people who are imprisoned in jail justify and defend themselves with all kinds of rational reasons and excuses. A sinner does not know what kind of sinner he is. But sinners must first understand that they are the brood of evildoers that has sin from birth and that they have no

choice but to go to hell. Do sinners seek God then? Sinners pretend to seek God but they do not really seek after God. There is a religious appearance of seeking God because God is alive and God has given the yearning heart to seek God to every human being. But people do not seek God sincerely. Sinners cannot meet God without the faith of believing the righteousness of God even though they seek God. “They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” In the state of having sin in the heart because of not believing in the righteousness of God, all the sinners are prone to commit sin every moment and end up falling into useless lives before the presence of God. It is saying therefore that there is not even one truly righteous deed performed by the sinners before the presence of ◄

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God. Among the good deeds people perform, we should think about whether there is anyone who would really perform a good deed without expecting anything in return as God does. God says that sinners cannot perform any deed that is truly righteous. And He says that all humans are slanted toward their own benefit. Are you performing truly good deeds? The truly good deed is the act that has nothing to do with the person’s own benefit. God said that there isn’t anyone in this world who essentially does the truly good deed, and all humans are turned aside to seek after their own benefit. People cannot do any good deed because they are a mass of sin and a brood of evildoers from birth. People can only do unbeneficial things and they are the seeds of sin that cannot do any kind of goodness. Can a sinner do a truly good deed? A truly good deed is the unconditional agape love that God gives without any price in return. Only that

is the true love and the truly good deed. The good deed and the love of human beings cannot be without condition and there isn’t any good deed that does not have a cost until the end. Humans turn their back when the situation becomes unfavorable to them and they are the brood of sin far from righteousness, who can stick a sword into a former friend at any time. Therefore sinners cannot perform a truly good deed. And they are unbeneficial beings. God said that humans are unbeneficial beings in this world, but what does this mean? It means that humans are unbeneficial from His viewpoint. This is what God can see. Is it beneficial to try hard to not sin and to go before God with clean appearance? Is it beneficial to go to the mountain and cry out in prayer for many days and nights of fasting in the mountain? It is not beneficial. It may be beneficial to the world when a seed of sin tries not to commit sin, but it has no ◄

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benefit to God. Such people are rather evil in God’s sight, and they are hypocrites who are like the children of the Devil. But I do not mean that you should try hard to commit sin. Since people know who they are, they should acknowledge their fundamental nature and seek God’s mercy before the presence of God. Some people wonder, “Would God be happy if I led a decent life by not committing sin? Maybe that would be very beneficial before God.” It is beneficial for the righteous to lead an upright life before God. But it is useless for a sinner to try not to sin before God. It is rather unprofitable. A certain Buddhist monk lived an ascetic life facing the wall and meditating all the time as he just sat in the room and never even came out of the room to discipline himself during the rest of his life. He submitted himself to the endless path of ascetic discipline but could not gain anything profitable except that he realized the fact that a

human being is just a human being. Such things are not profitable before God at any rate. Whether humans commit sin or not is neither harmful nor profitable to God. It has nothing to do with God. A sinner just goes to hell for the price of his sin and receives the penalty for his sin, but it does not harm or profit God. Even if all the people on this planet went to hell and even if they were all destroyed, it won’t be any harm to God. Therefore, concerning the sinners, He said, “They have together become unprofitable.” Humans are completely unprofitable beings. It is written, “There is none who does good, no, not one.” Sinners cannot do a truly righteous deed. Human righteousness is similar to the political acts of congressmen. Regardless of whether they are enemies or allies, they will use whatever is necessary for them and will also throw it away if they become useless. Yesterday’s enemy turns into today’s ally if that’s ◄

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what is needed for them. The human righteousness changes like this according to what is profitable for them. Sinners who are not yet born again act like this. “Their throat is an open tomb;” “with their tongues they have practiced deceit;” “the poison of asps is under their lips;” The sinner’s throat is like an open tomb because they live to eat until the day they die. Sinners commit deceit and murder until the day they die in order to eat. That’s why a person who does not know and believe in the righteousness of God is a mass of sin, a person that does only evil. That’s why people need to believe in the righteousness of God. To understand whether a person eats to live or whether a person eats to die, we need to know whether he is a person who believes in the righteousness of God. A human being is a mass of sin and he is also a seed of

evildoer who does only evil. Who says that humans are essentially born virtuous? The Scriptures define human as the brood of evildoers (Isaiah 1:4) because humans are born with sin and evil inherited from their parents from birth. But humans often seem to be virtuous because they behave in that manner for the benefit of their community. Geneticists say that people’s DNAs are essentially composed of egotistical DNAs. In other words, each DNA struggles to survive the other DNAs desperately. Isn’t it the fundamental nature of every human being? But they make the social norms and laws for the benefit of their communities and seek the benefit of one another because there is no benefit to one another if they just insist on their own egotistical demands. That’s why it looks like there is some sort of goodness even in egotistical people. But people’s throats fulfill their role as the ◄

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essentially open graves until the day of their death because they are essentially sinners. The sinners are liars who say as if they are telling the truth every time they tell lies. Even among the creatures in the animal world, we cannot find a being that is as evil as a sinner. What do the Scriptures say about the tongue and the lip and the throat of the human being? It says the throat of the human being is an open tomb. A tomb is a place where a dead person is buried and the Scriptures say that a person’s throat is an open tomb. It means that human beings eat and live in order to die. That means all human beings are like they are already dead although they can speak because their throat is still open. Consequently, they eventually die while eating. I hope you understand that a sinner’s life is not living even though it breathes and it has actually become a dead life already. It then goes on to say, “With their tongues they

have practiced deceit.” People leave this world after a lifetime of deceiving one another. They lie about this and that, they lie to God, they lie to themselves, and they lie to their family. They leave this world after a lifetime of lying to all of them. There is nothing but lies that come out of the mouth of a sinner who has not received the remission of sin. The mouth of a sinner is busy sinning as it is not possible for a sinner to speak about the Word of the righteousness of God that saves all of humanity. There is a poison of a serpent on the lips of sinners. They spill out blessing when they are given something to eat, otherwise they spit out the curse. There is a poison of the deadly serpent on the lips of sinners. They live with the poison that can kill people. They are always wrapped with smooth and sweet stuff on the outside although they always speak lies and damaging words, words that hurt others. But they spew out ◄

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poison mercilessly when they see preys show up or when they are in a critical situation. For example, “entering Nirvana” in Buddhism sounds like truly righteous and good words. But that word is the word of poison that brings curse upon a person by drawing him further apart from God. Christianity also spreads the poison through the doctrine of sanctification. “Sanctification” is trying hard to live a holy life before the presence of God and become more and more like the image of God and eventually become holy like God before death. This is a cursed word that comes out of human ignorance that does not understand the essence of human nature. “Justification by faith” means that one is called righteous because of his faith in Jesus. This does not mean that you have attained God’s righteousness by faith; rather it is saying that God overlooks your sin even though you have sin just because you are a Christian somehow.

Therefore, this is a terrifying word that leads many Christians to hell because it blindfolds their eyes and tells them that they are going Heaven. “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” Actually, curse and evil that fills human hearts or a mouth of a sinner cannot be found anywhere in the animal world. You just have to look back to the time when you were a sinner to see how filthy and evil a sinner’s mouth is. A sinner does not understand he is sinning even while he is sinning. That’s because he does not feel sin is bad for his nature and is essentially the same element as sin. Even the Scriptures say that the false prophets bless you when you give them something to chew on, but spew out curse from the mouth when you don’t give anything for them to eat. Among the ministers who do not ◄

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know and believe in the righteousness of God, there are some who display their pleasure when church members serve them with something good, others spew out curse from their mouth. That’s because the essence of a sinner is a mass of evil. That’s why ministers, lay believers, and even the spiritual Gentiles must surely believe the word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God. All the sinners must believe in the righteousness of God because the righteousness of God makes them receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. All evil is removed and you become a servant of God who practices the righteousness of God when the Holy Spirit manifests in your heart after believing in God’s righteousness. Sinners live all their life sinning because they are filled with evil and curse. They spew out curse and evil whenever they are at a disadvantage. People cannot live alone because they are not

perfect. Therefore, they need to live among other people and they need law and order and regulations to live together because the essence of human beings is evil and sinful. You follow the law so that you may not be harmed and you may not harm others, definitely not because you have a positive inclination toward the law to live virtuously. Sinners are full of curse and evil. That’s why they need the law to restrict their evil. Human beings spew out curse and evil according to the situation and whenever they are at a critical situation. “Their feet are swift to shed blood;” Those who live without knowing the righteousness of God have sin in their hearts. That’s why they are called sinners. Sinners who have sin in their hearts have a heart that enjoys committing sin and will commit sin quickly. ◄

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Believe in the Word of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God if you want to break away from the evil sin. Then you will experience that your feet have drifted far away from following after sin. The Lord said that a tree bears fruit according to its kind and that a good tree cannot bear a bad fruit. If you continue to desire and commit sin that you do not want to commit, then you need to examine your heart and see whether you have the righteousness of God in your heart or not. Believing in Jesus without knowing the righteousness of God is the same as trying to bear a good fruit from a bad tree. A sinner is so restless to commit sin. Why does a sinner like to sin? Sinners are always thinking about “what to do” and this concern is about “what sin should I commit?” From the Christian perspective, they not only pursue the pleasure of the flesh, but they also kill, harm, hit

people, steal, swindle, and step on people as well. Because sinners themselves are of the seed of sin and evil, the desire to sin overflows even more in dark nights and they commit all kinds of sin. People become excited when they see blood and they find pleasure in the moaning, flowing out from pain. Man is a breed of evildoers that is in a hurry to try to commit sin whenever they can. It means all those who are not born again are like that. Romans 3:9-18 tells us about this. The righteous who are born again must understand they also belong to such a breed when it comes to their flesh and believe in it. We recognize the need for evangelization of the gospel to the sinners when we understand this, and we can share the gospel with the sinners when they understand plainly what kind of sinful breed they really are. The bread for sinners is sin and the bread for the righteous is to believe in the righteousness of God and preach it. ◄

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What If You Do Not Solve the Problem of Sin by Not Believing in the Righteousness of God! “Destruction and misery are in their ways” We must know that there is only destruction and hardship awaiting the sinners that have sin in their hearts. There is only the pouring of destruction and hardship welcoming a sinner no matter how earnestly he wants and seeks the blessing from God. That’s because you do not accept the righteousness of God in your heart. The righteousness of God leads you to the path of blessing of the Truth. The reason you suffered hardship in your life until now is because of the sin in your hearts, and the way to escape from that sin is by believing in your heart the baptism and the Cross of Jesus that is of the righteousness

of God. Only destruction and misery rule over the life of a sinner. There is no blessing. Sinners repeat a life of hardship and curse from their birth to their death. Is there happiness in a person who is not born again? No, there isn’t. There may be some people who say, “There is happiness in the stories and characters we see on TV dramas or movies, and there are many people who say they are happy among the people I know.” TV dramas and movies attract people’s attention by sharing dreams and hopes that are not present in our life. Those who say they are very happy are the people who are lying to themselves and many other people with the hope for the rotten things because they do not know true happiness. But their inside is full of sin and there is destruction and hardship in their path. That’s the reason why you need to receive salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God. You need to receive the ◄

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righteousness of God and become the children of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to be rescued from the path that leads you to hell with destruction and hardship. You will only receive destruction and hardship throughout your life if you do not receive the salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God and stay in God’s Church. The life of a sinner is predestined. We can summarize every sinner’s life in a stereotype: “A sinner laughs, and then cries. Wins the congressional election, and then loses the election. His business goes well, and then goes bankrupt. Wins the lotto, then he is murdered because of that money.” There is only destruction and hardship on the path of sinners in this manner as the Scriptures tell us. There was a Korean woman who received huge sums of money as a compensation for an airplane accident that had taken her husband’s

life in the United States. She could have done anything she wanted to do because she had so much money. She bought a huge house and a nice car, clothes, a new man, and she had everything she wanted as she lived in this life. She had nothing to wish for because she had so much money, but she didn’t have a good relationship with her neighbors because maybe she didn’t feel it was needed. Then one day she was found dead in her swimming pool in her home, but it was said that she did not die while swimming because she did not know how to swim. She was killed at a young age even though she had everything she wanted. There is no real happiness for a sinner. There is only destruction and hardship for a sinner even if the sinner has everything in this world. “And the way of peace they have not known.” ◄

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Those who do not understand the righteousness of God do not understand the way of peace in their hearts. Do you always resolve all your problems with the righteousness of God? Actually the righteousness of God solves all your sin, curse, and pain. Most people want to attain peace in their hearts through their own way. Some try to attain peace through yoga, some others with material goods, and still others through prayers of repentance, but nothing can give you eternal peace. The eternal peace is not temporary and is attained by believing in the baptism our Savior Jesus received and the blood He shed. The only thing that can give peace in a person’s heart is the faith of believing in the Old Testament and the New Testament Word, God’s Word. God’s Word of the water and the Spirit written in the Scriptures leads your heart to the way of peace. Is there peace for a sinner? Is there peace in a

sinner’s heart? There is no peace and comfort in the hearts of those who have not received the remission of sin. They are always insecure, always depressed by sin, always waiting for the Day of Judgment for their sins. They try to have a joyful life at least as long as they live because they are so fearful of the coming of the last day. They eat and enjoy and live for the temporary pleasure in this world because they know the miserable end for themselves. When you ask a sinner, “What is the purpose of your life?” The sinner will answer, “Pleasure.” When you go to the graveyard in Korea, you can see people have erected tombstones. Some prestigious families even carve and set some stone statues before their tombs, but common people generally have two stone posts erected on each side of their tombs. This signifies pleasure. “He lived for this and He died as this had lost its function.” Therefore, they plant two phallus-type ◄

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stone posts at both sides of the grave when they die so that they may take the pleasures of this land to the other world. When you look closer at the stone posts, there is a squirrel on each post, one is going up the post, the other squirrel is running down the stone post, and these signify the sexual pleasure. People live for this sexual pleasure and then go down when the time comes. Therefore, they carved and erected two posts for them to take this pleasure to the other world. The life of sinners is focused on the pleasures of this life. Having a good family with sons and daughters and living a comfortable life is the sole purpose of their life. The purpose of life for the sinners who have not been born again is to seek the satisfaction in pleasure, but eventually they die without gaining any satisfaction and without fulfilling anything. Is there peace in sinners’ hearts? How can there be peace when there is sin in their hearts?

There is no peace in their hearts because they cannot understand the righteousness of God and there is no one telling them about it. That’s why you must become the person who shares the gospel of the righteousness of God with others. There must be a person who preaches the righteousness of God in order that many people get to be enlightened about the righteousness of God. People who shall preach the righteousness of God are you and me who have met the Lord. There is no peace for sinners. They are full of worries and concerns even while they are on a beautiful scenery excursion. There is a load of worries and concerns in their hearts even while they are eating delicious food and laughing with friends. Those who do not know the peace in their hearts must definitely receive the righteousness of God. They will receive the comfort in their hearts only when they receive the remission of sin in their hearts by hearing, ◄

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understanding and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the righteousness of God. They can finally have fellowship with God when they have accepted the righteousness of God. But a sinner who is full of sin because he did not listen to the Word of the Truth cannot receive the remission of sin and the comfort in their hearts. Therefore, there is no peace for those sinners. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Sinners who do not understand the righteousness of God live a life of not fearing God in the real world. That’s because the eyes of their hearts are darkened by their sins. The people whose eyesight is darkened live this life not knowing where the road is, even during the daytime. Sinners are those who do not know by themselves what they should believe, what the

righteousness of God is, and what the gospel of the water and the Spirit is. That’s why they live in this real world without any fear, even though they are headed for hell for their sins. They do not have any interest in God’s righteousness even if they are cast into hell tomorrow. According to this verse, do sinners have a heart fearing God? No, they don’t. Then, do the righteous have a heart that fears God? Yes, they do. Sinners are prone to have a grudge against God rather than have fear and admiration for God in their hearts. They spill their bitterness, “Where is God? Would God leave such evil people alone if there were a God? Would He leave alone those who are living a lavish life with money they stole or those who killed so many people, and make such people like me who are living an upright life, suffer in this manner?” There is a reason God leaves a sinner in the midst of hardship in this world. Would sinners ◄

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turn to God for dependence if they wouldn’t have gone through appropriate anguish? God allows evil people and gives pain in this world intentionally so that the sinners can return to God. God allows such a world so that sinners may say, “Oh, my God, please help me,” and return to God. But there are too many people who do not understand the intention of God and insist that there isn’t a God and do not fear God at all. They only seek pleasure in this world even until the moment of death because they do not fear God. Many people in Korea believe in Confucianism. They believe that worshipping their ancestors is very important and they think that’s filial piety. But we can see that even the filial piety, the greatest virtue in Korean morals, doesn’t have much worth if it doesn’t bring them much to their own mouth or if they can’t acquire much for themselves. The people who say they believe in the Confucianism and value filial duty

are the people who sell out even the land their grandmother and grandfather is buried on if it would bring in a lot of money to them. Of course their ancestral deities are not God and are just dead spirits, but how would they have the heart of fearing and admiring Jesus Christ, the true God, if they don’t fear their ancestral gods that they have established in their hearts. Sinners are ignorant and they do not do righteous works; their throat is an open tomb and their tongue spills out deceit; their lips have the serpent’s poison and their mouth is full of curse and evil; their feet move about hurriedly to spill blood and there is destruction and suffering in their path; and they do not know the way of peace and they do not have the fear of God in their eyes. This is the nature of a sinner. There wasn’t any righteous person in this world before believing in the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ gave. Except for only a few ◄

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believers among Jews, there wasn’t any perfectly righteous person. However, the gospel of the water and the Spirit began to save, from the sins of the world, those people who had become sinners before the Law. The Scriptures say, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” This is not talking about the doctrine of justification by faith. After Jesus Christ came, those who believe in the righteousness of God become the righteous and those who do not believe in it are destined to go to hell. Sinners who are all around us really cannot do good and their feet are swift to spill blood. They are people who don’t know what to do because they are so eager to sin. Even though they speak of love and virtuous deeds and pretend to be very merciful, they are actually sinners who lie.

The substance of the sinners is exactly as the Scriptures tell us. The most important thing is how we look at fundamental human nature. Do you still have a perspective that there are righteous as well as evil people? But the Scriptures look at people as a mass of sin because they definitely commit sin until they die. We must look at the sinners in the same manner. We must not look at them like, “This is a little better sinner. That sinner is not okay.” We must look at sinners as a brood of evildoers, who have the poison of the serpent, enjoy harming people, and whose feet are swift to spill blood. It means that the nature of humans is a mass of sin. Those who are not born again are people who seek pleasure of the flesh like a beast and terrible people who pretend to be humble. Those who pretend to be merciful are people who are full of evil. We also need to look at the sinners as such. Sinners are swift to spill blood and they are ◄

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busy seeking sin for pleasure throughout their lifetime after they are born into the world. And their life purpose is to seek how they can get more material wealth and how they can commit more sin. A sinner’s life is committing sin as he pleases in that manner until he leaves this world. A sinner is such a breed. We cannot distinguish them as an acceptable sinner and a treacherous sinner; we have to regard them as the same sinners. Those who have received a lot of education in this world and have refined themselves, will hide their sins well and those who have not will have their sins exposed plainly, but their essential nature is all the same as a breed of sinners. We can interpret God’s Word correctly and share the gospel to those who have not received the remission of sin when we can see their fundamental nature clearly. Even the righteous can be grouped into the righteous that follow God and the righteous that

do not follow God. But we look at them as the righteous because at least they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit even though they may have shortcomings. But we must look at the sinners and evildoers as just horrible people, not people who are insufficient. Those whose souls are destined to fall to hell because they do not believe in God’s Word are like beasts and actually worse than beasts, therefore it is appropriate to look at them as such. Humans are beings that attack the opponent with higher intelligence than animals, attacking more terribly, fearfully, and sharply to kill the opponent. It is proper even according to God’s Word to look down on the sinners who think it is okay for them to trample on anyone for their own benefit as tremendously evil people. The Israelites had the faith of looking at themselves as the chosen people of God and all the other Gentiles as beasts. Of course, the ◄

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Israelites also are not the chosen people spiritually even though they are the chosen people physically. But we, the righteous, who have been born again spiritually through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, have such faith that pleases God. We must have such a mindset when we look at them spiritually to be able to battle them and be victorious and save the pitiful souls. Sinners are souls definitely destined for hell. We must preach to them the gospel that contains the righteousness of God because they are souls destined for hell, but we cannot rescue them if we do not show them their true self first. There is no way to rescue them because they do not want to come and ask for help. We can rescue them from their sins when we can point out their sins sharply and let them understand their fundamental sinful nature and their destination. We will lose the battle if we fight them without understanding

them clearly. How do you understand the sinners? Do you live with sentiment that there are some virtuous ones even among the people who are not born again? If you have had such sentiment so far, throw them away by believing in the Word. “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” This means, “A person who is not born again is worse than a beast.” Hijackings or terrorism occur frequently these days, and countless innocent victims are sacrificed by such terrorism. People curse the terrorists whenever they hear bad news of terrorism saying that the terrorists are unspeakably and treacherously evil beasts, but actually their mouths are full of evil and cruelty as well because of their innate sins. The righteous who are born again must look at sinners in that manner and share the gospel to them. It is a mistake to look at a person who looks gentle and graceful and think they are any ◄

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different from other people because the inside of the person is filled with unspeakable evil. Such a person is an even more treacherous sinner who has covered himself so firmly with an armor of hypocrisy so that it’s really difficult to break through. Some religious organizations build orphanages and provide a place to stay for the unwed mothers and orphans and provide protection for them. This looks so beautiful. But it is full of unspeakable evil, deceit, and schemes on the other side. They are wolves although they look like good shepherds. All the religious people including Christians who do not know and do not believe in the righteousness of God are filled with curse and evil in their hearts and curse and evil spills out if you just provoke them. But we the righteous say bad things about someone just by our lips sometimes but actually do not have cruelty in our hearts.

How should we look at sinners? We need to look at them exactly as it is recorded in Romans 3:9-18. We may have thought that there are sinners who come to an understanding, some who seek God, some who do good deeds, and some who are decent, but we mustn’t think that way from now on. We must think, ‘Sinners are people who have no concern for God’s righteousness, people who like to sin, people full of poison, people who are unprofitable, pitiful people who have no choice but to go to hell because they cannot do any good. Therefore they also must believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God and we have the realistic mission to share the gospel to them.’ Romans 3:9-18 is talking about people’s fundamental nature before they have faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in the righteousness of God that Christ has given are not applied by this Scripture passage. It means ◄

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that only the sinners belong to that Word. The Apostle Paul quoted the Old Testament Word from Psalm 14:1 and the following verses to teach us that there are now people who became righteous through Jesus Christ as well as sinners who still did not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ gave, treacherous sinners like the sinners in the Old Testament. In other words, this passage is clearly talking about the sinners who have not met Jesus Christ through the righteousness of God, and it is clearly not talking about the righteous. We must understand this clearly. But Christian sinners are prone to use this as the source for justifying their claim that there is sin in a person even if he believes in Jesus. But this Word cannot be grounded for justifying their claim that a person is still a sinner even if he believes in Jesus. The Apostle Paul is saying here that all the Jews and the Gentiles, excluding

those among the Israelites who believed in Jesus who was to come in the future, were sinners before Jesus came to this world. He says that’s the reason God gave the Law to the sinners and sent Jesus to give the righteousness of God to all the sinners. According to God’s promise, Jesus Christ was conceived in Maria’s body by the Holy Spirit and was born to this world. Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist at the Jordan River when he became 30 years old (Matthew 3:13-17). Jesus, who took all the sins of the world upon Him by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, shed blood on the Cross and died in our place for the penalty for all the sins He had taken over. Now there is no judgment for the person who believes in Jesus who carried the sins of the world upon His shoulder. Such a person has become a righteous one. Romans 3:918 tells us that such sinners became righteous ◄

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through Jesus Christ and that people should realize their sinful nature so that they could attain God’s salvation by believing in Jesus Christ. Those who take this Word, “There is none righteous, no, not one” and claim that there cannot be any righteous, are going to hell according to their faith. We have definitely become the righteous by believing Jesus Christ and by believing the baptism of the Savior and His death on the Cross. Those who do not know and believe this are sinners who are evil, swift to shed blood, heartless, and full of curse even though they are in their respective Christian communities. It is appropriate for you to look at everyone like that except the righteous that have been born again. That’s why it is our duty and the will of God for us to have pity toward those who are destined to go to hell and share the gospel with them. Therefore it is important for us to understand clearly and believe the Word, “There

is none righteous.” I want you to believe the righteousness of God with your heart. As the Apostle Paul defined the gospel as “my gospel,” I hope you have the gospel as your gospel as well.

The Way to Bring about Wrath “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” What does God’s Law say? And to whom is it spoken? God’s Law teaches and points out what sin is to the people who are imprisoned under the power of sin. It says that the function of the Law that God has given is not only to point out people’s sin, but also to teach us that all the people in the world are under the terrible ◄

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judgment of God if they do not believe in the righteousness of God. All human beings are in the helpless situation where they cannot help but commit sins and inequities because they have been born with sin from their birth. Therefore, all people are under the judgment of the Truth that says, “The wages of sin is death,” which is the chief declaration of God’s Law. Therefore, everyone’s mouth is shut before God’s Law. That’s because God has made such laws for the sinners. How can humans change the law of death that God has made for sinners when He Himself made this Law? No one can change this Law. The sinners can only be destroyed according to the process of the judgment according to the Law. Everyone must respect the law of death God has made for sinners. And they must shut their mouth attempting to cry out for appeal and just pray for God to have mercy on them. And they

must believe in their hearts the righteousness of God that God has mercifully given them. Sinners surely do need the righteousness of God. “The Law brings about wrath” (Romans 4:15). And the Law speaks to those who are under the Law. God gave the Law to people and taught them that they cannot live by the Law. God gave such Law to us humans. God did not give the Law for us to not keep the Law. Then is it God’s will to nullify the Law? No, it’s not. The Law makes the people who have departed from God realize their sins through the Law and come back to Jesus Christ. But the sinners who try to receive salvation by keeping the Law live without knowing the way of peace because of the Law. First, their life is in the state of war against God because their relationship is not peaceful with God because of their sins. Secondly, they curse and attack one another because they are not at peace with other people. Thirdly, they are not ◄

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at peace with themselves. Rather, they are constantly anxious and worried. The only way for such sinners to find peace is to believe in Jesus Christ who gives the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ took away all the sins that were blocking the relationship between God and people and erected a bridge of reconciliation between God and human beings with the righteousness of God. Therefore, sinners must seek peace with God within the righteousness of God. And they need to have fellowship with God and one another within the righteousness of God that gives us a way to live peacefully. The pain is the thing that evil people experience personally. There is hardship and destruction in the path of the evil people. Therefore those who do not know and believe in the righteousness of God try instinctively to destroy one another. The true peace comes when

you know and believe in the righteousness of God.

There Is No Fear of God Romans 3:18 is saying that the relationship between mankind and God has been broken off and their lives have been destroyed because of the sins in their hearts as a result of not believing in God’s Word. They became ignorant, so they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. That there is no fear of God in the hearts of the sinners, is evidence that they have become atheists. This Scripture passage points out that fact. A person will receive the curse and destruction before God if he does not depend on the righteousness of God in this manner. Actually, ◄

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not being fearful of the Omnipotent God means that he is ready to receive the wrath of God. Not receiving the righteousness of God is a sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. God definitely brings down an appropriate punishment for that sin because it is an unforgivable sin. Even though people are in the midst of sin, they do not fear God, who is holy and the only divine Being who brings His judgment of wrath. Rather, they fear the beings that are created by God and this is because of the sins of human beings. What an inconsistent contradiction it is. They fear the visible creatures that will be rotten and do not fear God whom they all have to stand before and confess their sins. It is not surprising that the writer of a Psalm said, “Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways.” This is the proper Word. As Paul said, mankind is on the verge of

destruction because its sin. Then how can the problem of sin that destroys mankind be solved? Mankind must receive salvation from sin by believing in the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ, the true God, has fulfilled. Only this faith can save mankind from the destruction for its sin.

There Is Nobody That Can Be Considered Righteous by the Deeds of the Law “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” People cannot be without sin by the deeds of the Law. Those who believe in Jesus cannot wash their sins and become people without sin even if they believe in the doctrine of sanctification and

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offer prayers of repentance fervently and follow the Word of the Law diligently. You must know clearly and believe that you cannot cleanse your own sin with the faith of the Law. Then what kind of faith can wash away one’s own sin? You can receive the cleansing of all your sins at once if you believe in the righteousness of God. You may come to realize your sin through the Law but you cannot receive the righteousness of God by it. You must realize this Truth and live out your faith properly. Apostle Paul told us to realize sin by the Law. Can we become the righteous by keeping the Law? We cannot become the righteous by the Law. Can people become sanctified by keeping the Law and enter the Kingdom of God? No, they can’t. People who have not been born again are all under God’s Law because they think they need to keep the Law. As a result, they offer prayers of repentance every day and challenge

every day to keep the Law. This is a wrongful act that comes from taking the first step wrongly. If one misplaces the first button into the second buttonhole, then all the rest of the buttons are misplaced automatically. The Law is given to us to teach us that Humans are complete sinners. Therefore, misunderstanding God’s Law and trying to keep the Law is an embarrassment that comes from ignorance and it is the work that comes out of confused religious thinking. It means that they do this because they misunderstand the function of the Law. Can people enter the Kingdom of God by becoming sanctified on their own? No, they can’t. The distinctive feature of the doctrine of sanctification is that all the religions of this world have similar doctrine in their teaching. Buddhism has the doctrine of entering Nirvana. Christianity has the doctrine of sanctification. But this doctrine came out of human fleshly ◄

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thinking, not out of the Truth. Therefore, it could be regarded demonic. Did Jesus tell us that we become sanctified little by little and eventually enter the Kingdom of Heaven on the last day? No, He didn’t. The righteousness of our Lord sanctified us at once and made us receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore people without the Holy Spirit are not the righteous. Sinners are only sinners, regardless of how hard they try to become sanctified by believing in Jesus and living virtuously. Although people may look clean from the outside, they still have sin that pollutes inside and outside and that is the typical appearance of a sinner. But those who have received the remission of all the sins through the righteousness of God are different. Humans can’t help but live maliciously, but they live cleaner lives after receiving the remission of sin. Humans cannot help but spread sin throughout their life because they were born

infected with sin and the sin keeps coming out unintentionally from inside because they are already infected with sin. They need to take in the medicine of the righteousness of God that heals the disease of the sin fundamentally if they truly don’t want to be a person who spreads the germs of sin. And those who believe in the righteousness of God bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit because they have the Holy Spirit inside them. Another reason people cannot become righteous before the presence of God by keeping the Law is that there actually isn’t anybody who does keep the Law perfectly. Anyone who keeps the Law perfectly would be approved as righteous before the presence of God, but people actually cannot practice all the things according to God’s Law. Rather, all people are violating God’s Law. How can people keep all the statutes of the Law when people cannot even keep the ◄

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slightest stipulation? What would you do?

Righteousness of God Witnessed by the Law and the Prophets “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets” The righteousness of God is speaking of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Where does the gospel of the righteousness of God receive its witness? It has to be witnessed by God’s Law and the prophets. God prophesized through the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle that Jesus Christ would become the sacrifice offering to take all the sins of mankind through the laying on of hands and shed blood to death. As such, the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel that has been witnessed in the Old Testament

Scriptures. Therefore, the baptism Jesus received is same as the laying of hands on the sacrificial animal, and the sacrifice of an animal, outpouring its blood to death, is the same as Jesus dying on the Cross. God’s righteousness is fulfilled when Jesus came to this world and took over the sins of the world by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, dying on the Cross with the sins of the world, and receiving the judgment for the sins. It is the righteousness of God that saved the sinners from sin in this manner. When we read Paul’s Epistles more closely, we can see that he often used expressions that showed contrast like “before” and “now.” He used these expressions because he experienced both the dark past when he was in bondage to the Law and the glorious salvation now. That change took place on the way to Damascus, but Paul had actually been the enemy of Jesus and His ◄

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disciples before that took place. He tried to remove the Early Church believers in any way he could and he thought he was doing the right thing like most fanatic believers in Judaism do. But he was actually standing against God with his own righteousness without knowing God. Jesus Christ appeared to Paul on his way to Damascus and revealed that He was Jesus the Son of God who was persecuted by him. The Truth of Heaven manifested as the new light to Paul at that time and removed all the darkness from his heart. Paul gave up the life of arrogance, prejudice, and persecution from that time and began a new life of serving Christ and His righteousness. Paul said, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” What do we have to do in order to not be caught by all the evil sins? It is impossible with

our own strength. Paul believed in the righteousness of God instead of the wrath of God. The only way for people to receive the salvation from God’s wrath of judgment for their sins is for them to believe in the righteousness of God. And we must follow God who gave us this path with thankfulness. Paul was transformed to a child of God who had no sin by believing in the righteousness of God through his faith in Jesus Christ in this manner. But most people who believe in Jesus think that they won’t be condemned by God even though they have sin. They think so just because they believe in Jesus somehow. That’s why they have an illusion that they have received the salvation from their own standpoint even though they have sin because they do not have the faith of believing the righteousness of God. But we now have a way of living in the righteousness of God without sin instead of ◄

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receiving judgment for our sins due to the meritorious work Christ has done. That is the righteousness of God we receive “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Then, let’s look at your heart. Did you have sin before believing in Jesus? But you would have no sin if you knew and believed the righteousness of God. If there is anything in you that has changed after believing in Jesus, it’s that you now believe in the righteousness of God while you believed in human righteousness before. If we just believe in Jesus without having faith in the righteousness of God, would your faith be approved as righteous before God? No. The faith of believing in Jesus with the understanding of the righteousness of God makes God’s righteousness become yours before the presence of God. Therefore you must know the righteousness of God. If you just believe in Jesus

without believing in the righteousness of God because you do not know it, then you have a wrong belief in faith. You must know this very clearly and know and believe the righteousness of God. “Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” Anyone who believes the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that was fulfilled together with Jesus’ baptism and His death on the Cross receives the righteousness of God, and there is no difference. Believing in Jesus Christ is to believe the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God lies in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. Therefore all the sinners, no matter who they are, must believe in the baptism Jesus Christ received from John the Baptist and the blood of the Cross ◄

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in order to receive the remission of sin.

Doctrine of Justification by Faith or the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” The redemption in Jesus Christ that sinners received is enough to make those people who believe in the righteousness of God sinless. Sinners can receive the perfect remission of sin only by believing the righteousness of God. From God’s standpoint, God paid the due price of sacrifice to give us the righteousness of God. But, from our standpoint, we can attain the

righteousness of God just by believing without any sacrifice. God’s Word telling us to believe in the Lord Jesus is the Word of salvation that admonishes us to believe only in the righteousness of God. Romans chapter 3 speaks about becoming righteous by faith. Here, Romans 3:24 states, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Now, we have become righteous through the redemption in Christ without a price. Then, does attaining the righteousness of God by His grace mean that we are considered righteous even if we still have sin? Are we called righteous even if we have sin? Or, are we called righteous because we actually don’t have any sin? I want to tell you clearly about this based on the Scriptures.

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Is the Doctrine of Justification Correct? Is the doctrine of justification in Christian theology correct? No, it’s not. The doctrine of justification is the doctrine that says Christians are considered without sin because they believe in Jesus even though they have sin. In this passage, was the Apostle Paul talking about the doctrine of justification? We became without sin through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. We have become people without sin because our Lord took our sins upon Him through His baptism and His death on the Cross. Because we became people without sin by believing with our hearts in the salvation the Lord fulfilled this way, God looks at this faith and considers those who believe in this Truth as the righteous without sin. To be called a righteous person means to be without sin. Therefore, the doctrine of

justification spoken of in Christian theology is a negative and unrighteous claim that says Jesus did not take all our sins forever. Some people try hard to become righteous through the work of the Law, that is, by keeping the Law. But it is impossible for a person to become sinless by living upright. A person becoming sinless and becoming a righteous person by living an upright life is just a wishful thinking that stems from the religions of this world. Such a notion may be logical in the religious perspective but this can never be true from the spiritual perspective. Legalistic Christians interpret Romans 3:24, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” as saying that Christians are considered without sin through their merit of believing in Jesus although they have sin. But Jesus has blotted out the sins of the world with the water and the Spirit. The ◄

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word “redemption” in this verse means “deliverance upon payment of ransom.” There was the Civil War in the United States of the issue of the abolition of slavery. The war broke out like this: The wealthy people living in the south claimed that they should not give freedom to the slaves because then the owners would have to work because there wouldn’t be anyone to work if the slaves were liberated, and the north claimed, “No, they must be given freedom. They are human beings just like us,” and the war erupted because this issue turned into a political confrontation. Before this war, blacks were generally slaves of the whites. The slaves also had children even though they usually did not have a wedding ceremony. And when the slaves had many children, the owners took their children to the market and sold them. They put a price on the slave in the slave market and bid for the slave. The one who bid the highest won the

slave if there weren’t any other bids that went higher. People bought some other people in this manner with money. That is so-called slavery. The slave exists for the owner. The price of a slave is called “ransom.” One should pay the ransom to redeem a slave. What did Jesus do to redeem us who have become slaves of sin? What did Jesus do to pay the ransom for us? He was born to this world and received the baptism to take all our sins over to Him to save us from sin. Because He took all the sins upon Himself in this manner, He went to the Cross and died, shed all the blood of His body, resurrected from death on the third day and witnessed for 40 days after being resurrected from death, went up to Heaven, sat at the right hand of God the Father’s throne and became our Savior. Our Lord justified us freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We have received the remission of sin and new life and the ◄

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righteousness of God by believing in this Truth. Therefore, it is written, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” But many people in this world do not believe that Jesus saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit although they try hard to become righteous by the deeds of the Law. As such, in today’s Christianity, there are many who have the faith that deteriorates Christianity into just another worldly religion. The ministers that teach the doctrine of justification represent such people. Who are the people that claim the doctrine of justification? They are the philosophers in Christian communities. They are people who try to interpret the Scripture by fitting it into their thinking. The Lord is rejected because of these people. The Puritans in England had to go to the American continent because they received so

much persecution in England. The first thing they did when they came to America was to build churches and offer up a worship service. After this, they established theological schools to teach theology, and the teachers of the seminaries were the philosophical theologians. The philosophical clergymen taught people as the theological experts. They looked at Romans 3:24 that states, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” and interpreted and taught, “We are called as the righteous even though we have sin only if we believe in Jesus.” Although they understood the meaning of the words “redemption” and “God’s grace,” they did not understand the words “redemption” and the “grace” in connection with the Truth of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, they interpreted this passage erroneously and eventually fabricated the so-called doctrine of justification. ◄

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The doctrine of justification is the doctrine that says, “Christian believers are called righteous even though they actually have sin.” Such theological experts taught the students, and those students that learned the doctrine of justification from them became pastors and thus the doctrine of justification was spread all over the world. The word “saint” means a sinless person who does not have one iota of sin. When we ask those “self-styled saints” who believe in Jesus with this doctrine of justification whether they actually have sin in their hearts or not, they reply “Who in the world does not have sin?” They say, “How can there be a righteous person when the Bible says, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one?’” They profess the doctrine of the justification because they do not know the Truth of the water and the Spirit. The doctrine of justification was created by such people in that manner and it

spread to our times in that manner. Therefore Christians just believe it without much question when the theologians teach such doctrines. But that’s not true. God does not call those people with sin as sinless, and He definitely sends people who deserve to go to hell to hell. God blesses those who deserve to be blessed and has mercy on those who deserve to have mercy. Those who deserve to receive judgment because they have sin will definitely be judged. But many people came to understand and believe wrongly because the erroneous teachings of the theologians influenced the people throughout the world. They go to church and call one another saints, deacons, deaconess, elder, and pastor and they all say that they are the saved sinners even though they have sin in their hearts. The common characteristic of those people who believe in the doctrine of justification is that they are all the same sinners. Those who believe in Buddhism ◄

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have sin, and those who say they believe in Christianity have sin also in the same manner. Consequently all of them have not attained the righteousness of God. Those who have not received the righteousness of God by faith are merely religious people all the same. There are so many religious people in Christianity like this. The religious Christians are not true Christians. Only those who have attained the righteousness of God can lead a true life of faith. If we look at this in simple black and white terms of whether a person has sin or not, then those people who believe in the Buddhism and those who believe in Christianity all have sin alike. Therefore the faith of believing in the doctrine of justification is all fallacious. Then where did the doctrine of justification originate? It was formulated in the head of philosophers. They look at the passage, “Being justified freely by His grace” and used it as the

material for fabricating the doctrine of justification. “You shall be called righteous even though you have sin. You shall be called a saint.” They say the reason one shall be called a saint is because the person believes in Jesus as the Savior. But you actually do not have sin when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus has given. It means that your sins and mine have actually been passed over to Jesus when we joined together in Jesus’ baptism. Did Jesus take all the sins of all humanity upon Him, or not? He did. Jesus went to the Cross and received the judgment for the sin He had taken over through His baptism. Then He resurrected from the death on the third day and went up to the right hand of God the Father’s throne. That Jesus is our Savior. If we have received the remission of sin by believing in Jesus, is that God’s gift or did we receive the salvation through effort? ◄

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Salvation is God’s gift. Gift means that it is God’s grace. The Scriptures say, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Did you and I receive the righteousness of God through grace, or did we make ourselves sinless? We have received the salvation from sin by believing in the redemption that is in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God. This is not earned through the doctrine of justification. Who is Jesus? He is the Savior. God of the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit saved us from all the sins of the world through His Son. We do not have sin by believing in the righteousness of God that God has fulfilled. God manifested in our hearts as the gift of the Holy Spirit because there is no sin our hearts. That’s why we can say, “I am righteous. When you look at me, I have shortcomings and weaknesses and I do many wrong things. But I have no sin in my

heart because I believe that Jesus removed all my sins through the baptism He received and His blood of the Cross.” Those who believe in the doctrine of the justification are people who have false faith. They profess Christianity with much misunderstanding. Those who teach this doctrine of justification are doing much wrong to the people who want to believe in God. Their faith is very harmful to many people. You often hear the doctrines like the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of sanctification, but the reality is that people are falling into destruction by believing in these doctrines. They believe that they are considered sinless because they believe in Jesus even though they all have sin. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself when He received the baptism from John the Baptist. There cannot be sin in us and there must not be sin in us when we always remember and ◄

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ruminate with faith that Jesus has already blotted out all our sins. You and I are really righteous people because we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit even though we have shortcomings. We really do not have sin. 1 John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This passage doesn’t mean that God will blot out our sins whenever we confess our sins, but that we believe that all the sins have already been remitted because the righteousness of God is fulfilled through the water and the Spirit. It is saying that there is the effect of the remission of sin if we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit Jesus has given to us. “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His

forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The passage, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness,” means that God made Jesus the sacrifice of reconciliation. Shedding blood here means death, so God already planned the remission of our sins through the death of Jesus to blot out our sins. Jesus was able to die in our place instead because He received the baptism. We must understand what the passage “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” means. This Word means that God made His Son to be put to death because the remission of sin of people is accomplished by paying the price of sins with sacrificial blood, that is, the death of sacrificial ◄

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offering. The wages of sin is death. Here, “death” means not only physical death but also spiritual death, which means going to hell. God gave us the Law so that we may realize what sin is and we know through the Law that we are people who cannot help but sin every day. Therefore, we absolutely needed Jesus and Jesus, as the mediator for reconciliation between God and us, came to this world, took over all our sins by receiving the baptism, and shed blood for the payment for all the sin. He thus made reconciliation between God and us. Therefore God made us who believe this the children of God, and now we can be called by God as His children. This is our remission of sin that has already been fulfilled through the righteousness of God. This Scripture passage goes on to say, “To demonstrate His righteousness, because in His

forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” Here, “to pass over something” means “to leave out; disregard.” To pass over something means to leave out something that should be dealt with importantly. And it also means to not care for it. God really endures for a long time. God has created humans and endured for a long time. Humans have sinned so much and they will commit so much sin in the future too. But God said, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” This means that God manifested His righteousness and did the righteous work for us. By doing truly righteous work, He has removed all our sins. He made the believers in His righteousness to be sinless. Now, let’s take a closer look at this particular ◄

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clause that goes, “God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” Does the everlasting God perceive the concept of time just as we perceive it? No, He doesn’t. To Him, even the end of the world is well seen. In other words, the entire human history is the past tense to God. Therefore, this passage means that God passes over all the sins that we commit from the time of our birth until we die whether it is 80 or 90 years of life. These days Koreans have entered the aging period. Koreans are living a long life too. Most people generally live over 70 years of age. There are some social problems because of the aging population. Well, let’s say that you received the remission of sin at the age of 30. You received the remission of sin at the age of 30, and you have about 40 years to sin from now on, if you are to live until 70. But our Lord came to this world about 2000 years before we were born and

received baptism at the age of 30, was nailed to the Cross at the age of 33 and received the penalty for sin as the price for the sin, and resurrected from the dead and became our Savior. The Lord knew that we were going to be born into this world about 2000 years later and also knew that we would sin until we died and already took all those sins upon Him. It means that He not only took over the sin of our children and our grandchildren, but that He even took all the sins that our descendants would commit until the last day. Therefore, the passage “God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” tells us that from God’s perspective, God has already removed the sins we committed today and the sins we will commit in the future. From our perspective, it is the sin we will commit in the future in our timeframe. But from God’s perspective, it is the sin God has already blotted ◄

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out in the past. God removed the eternal sin because He is the eternal being that exists forever. Therefore, even though people commit many sins in the future after they are born, He has already removed those sins a long time ago from God’s perspective. In other words, all the sins we humans commit are mere sins that were committed previously in God’s eyes. It says, “God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,” because they are the sins that He had already removed. People sin every day, but from God’s perspective, God has already removed all our sins a long time ago through Jesus, His only begotten Son. God the Father has removed our sins by sending Jesus to this world, having Him receive the baptism from John the Baptist and take over the sins of the world when He became 30 years old, having Him nailed on the Cross and die with the sins of this world, and resurrecting Him from death. God

removed the sins from His standpoint in order to manifest His righteousness and say that He is righteous and those who believe in Jesus are righteous by passing over the sins that were previously committed because they are the sins that God had already removed a long time ago. You must have the faith that says “yes” to this Word. Although we sin in present sense, God does not care about that sin because Jesus already removed all the sins of this world at the time when He removed the sins. If we have received the remission of sin by believing Jesus who has come by the water and the blood, we are righteous in God’s sight even though we still sin out of our insufficiencies. It means that we do not have sin when we acknowledge our sinful nature and admit Jesus Christ as our Lord. That’s why the Scriptures say that God had passed over and does not care about the sins that were committed previously. ◄

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Of course, that doesn’t mean that we can sin as we please. Do we sin even though we don’t want to, or, don’t we? We do sin. Do we sin intentionally or do we sin because we are weak? We commit sin because we are weak. We wouldn’t sin if we were perfect, if our will were invincible, because we would know it was sin. But how is our will? It changes in an instant. We swear and decide in the morning, but completely collapse in the evening and say, “Why did I do this?” And then sharpen our knives of will again in the night. And we swear and decide one more time in the morning and begin the day, but it may go a day, a week, but we can see all that crumbling down within a month. But those sins are all of the past from God’s perspective even though we continuously sin any way we can in the present timeframe. God forgave all our sins in the past. That’s why the Scriptures say, “To demonstrate His

righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” God has planned the righteous work and blotted out all our sins according to His plan. And He said to those who believe in Jesus Christ who fulfilled this work, “You are righteous. You are without sin.” It means that God saved us from sin in this manner. Do you understand this? You need to understand such Truth in order to believe in God and not fall when Satan attacks you. But when we ask those who believe in the doctrine of the justification whether they have sin, most of them say they have sin. Some of them reply, “I don’t have sin because Jesus has atoned for all my sin with His blood on the Cross.” Then if we ask what they would do with the sins they commit in the future, they say they just need to offer prayers of repentance. Such people are the ones that believe in the doctrine of justification. All those who say they receive the cleansing of ◄

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the sin by offering prayers of repentance are Christian sinners that advocate the doctrine of justification. Do you receive the remission of sin by offering prayers of repentance? Or, do you receive the remission of sin by faith just because Jesus Christ has blotted out all our sins by coming to this earth, taking all our sins through His baptism, receiving the penalty of all those sins by His death on the Cross, and being resurrected from death? What should we believe to have all our sins removed? Are the sins removed whenever we offer prayers of repentance? Or is the sin removed when we believe that Jesus has blotted out all our sins through the water and the Spirit? We have become sinless by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, not by offering a lot of prayers of repentance. If someone stabs and kills another person and then says, “I am

sorry. I have done wrong. I have killed your only son. I am sorry. I will never kill another person. Please forgive me,” could that sin be forgiven? The person must pay the price for that sin. He must go to prison and face the death penalty himself or be sentenced to life imprisonment. Otherwise, could that person be forgiven just by saying, “Please forgive me?” There is a Korean saying that goes, “You could feed all Korean people with a piece of rice cake if you do it just in word.” People who believe in the doctrine of justification say that they receive the remission of sin whenever they offer prayers of repentance. But how can they receive the remission of sin through the prayers of repentance? We receive the remission of sin by knowing and believing that Jesus has blotted out all our sins by taking them upon Himself through His baptism, and by receiving all the judgment and shedding His ◄

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blood on the Cross. Advocating the doctrine of justification is the same as the Buddhist teaching that says they could take a soul from hell to Heaven by sounding a wooden gong while citing the Buddhist scriptures. The Law is claiming that a person is a sinner even if one sins just once in their lifetime. Moreover, a human being is inevitably a sinner even if he never commits sin in his lifetime because he is born to this world with sin from his mother’s womb, and therefore he goes to hell. Even so, people generally do not acknowledge that. Then from what age do they acknowledge the sin? They acknowledge the sins committed from about 7 years old and till their death in this world. Then if a person were to be approved as a righteous person without any sin before God by the deeds of the Law, then he must not commit sin even once from the cradle to the grave. All

become nullified if he commits sin just once even by mistake. Sinning just once nullifies everything even if he has been perfect 99.9% of the time. For example, let’s say one Buddhist monk went into a cave and meditated for 40 days to get rid of the filthy desires inside his heart. After 20 days, he sees an illusion of a woman. The woman appears to him naked and tempts him. At first he rebukes the woman to depart from him as he attempts to overcome the temptation, but he later begins to enjoy the woman serving him at his side. Then the 40 days of meditation becomes for naught. A well known Korean Buddhist monk named Sungchul Lee, who was famous for his decades of meditation sitting against the wall, composed a poem just before he died as follows: “I have deceived so many men and women; my sins are greater than the highest mountain. I will fall to the endless pitfall of hell; and my sorrow will be boundless. ◄

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A slice of red sun is hanging on the ridge of a blue mountain.” He left this as his last Buddhist sermon and died. He was saying, “I am going to hell.” It is not bad for a human being to try to live a virtuous life. But human beings cannot live a perfectly upright life. We Christians should live a virtuous and upright life. And we need to be led by the Holy Spirit. And we must absolutely remember to live for God. But even if people in the worldly religion suck out the pus from a leper and die in place of a cancer patient, no matter how virtuous a life the person may live, he goes to hell if he does not have the love that has blotted out all our sin through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus gave us. One goes to hell if he does not have that faith. Conclusively, the doctrine of justification is an erroneous doctrine. A person who actually still has sin in their hearts even though he says he

believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is a person who has wrongful faith because he is still a sinner. Sins really disappear when a person actually believes the gospel of the water and the Spirit with his heart, but he cannot remain a sinner if he just believes in it theoretically. The result is important. Whether you believe or not is important from God’s perspective, but how can there be sin if you really believed in this true gospel? Therefore, those who believe in the doctrine of justification consequently make God a liar. This means that God could not even blot out my past sins and the sins that I will commit in the future. When Il-sung Kim, North Korea’s President, was alive I preached that Jesus even took Il-sung Kim’s sin when He was baptized. Strictly speaking, God has removed the person’s sin from His side. But Ilsung Kim is a sinner because he has sin for he does not believe that Jesus took ◄

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over his sin through His baptism and died on the Cross and saved him from all his sin. If people believe in Jesus through the doctrine of justification, they think that they receive the remission of the past sins but they need to offer prayers of repentance for the sins they will commit in the future to receive the remission of those sins. This is the same as the faith that says, “Jesus, you are a liar.” This is so wrong. Such faith makes Jesus a complete liar, a fraudulent cult leader. The cultic leaders of this world extort money from people in the name of faith. But our Lord Jesus is not a cult leader. Jesus came to this world to give us new life and blot out all our sins and removed them all at once. Jesus took all the sins of humanity by receiving the baptism and was nailed to the Cross at the age of 33 and spilled all the blood from His heart and resurrected from the dead and really saved us

from sin. That’s right. Jesus is not a swindler. But you are turning Jesus into a swindler if you still believe in the doctrine of justification. If you say “Jesus, please forgive me” even after 10 years have passed since you first believed in Jesus, then it is the same as saying that you want Jesus to die on the Cross again. It is requesting, “I have sinned again and my heart has become filthy again. Please pay the price for this sin again in my stead.” But one must go to the fountain of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and wash himself cleanly with the fountain of God’s Word if he wants to cleanse your feeling or heart. One must cleanse himself with faith. Among the people who believe in Jesus in this world, those who have sin in their hearts are actually degrading God and going against God by making God a liar. You must not believe in the doctrine of justification. This is one of the fallacious ◄

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Christian doctrines. Before I was born again, I learned about the so-called doctrines of justification, sanctification, predestination, and other things that didn’t make sense for 10 years. Most Christians including Evangelicals believe these doctrines. Strictly speaking we can see that these people have sin even though they say they do not have sin. The Salvation Sect in Korea says that they have received the remission of sin. But what happens when they sin? They say everything will be okay if they receive due punishments for their sins on this earth. All such faith has originated from people’s erroneous faith that believes in the doctrine of justification. They say, “I have no sin because I believe in Jesus. I believe that God considers me sinless even though I have sin in my conscience. Therefore, I do not have sin.” But people who have really received the remission of sin do not actually have sin in their

conscience. Do you have sin in your conscience? No, I don’t. The Bible says, “He [Christ] might sanctify and cleanse her [the Church] with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 10:22 also says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” We can find in these passages that the Bible emphasizes the water of Jesus’ baptism as well as His death on the Cross. Christ has saved us from all our sins by receiving the baptism and dying on the Cross. Jesus took all the sins of our conscience. In other words, Jesus took all the sins we commit through our actions, the sins we ◄

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commit in our thoughts, the sins we commit intentionally, the sins we commit unconsciously, and the sins we commit because we are weak, and so on. Sin is recorded in the tablet of conscience when people commit sin. And they feel the pain in their conscience. The conscience is the detector of the sins. Jesus took all our sins that torment our conscience when He received the baptism and He removed all our sins by dying on the Cross. That’s why God has cleansed our conscience from dead works to make us serve the living God. We sometimes deceive our conscience. When we are in a critical situation, we ignore the voice of the conscience and say things that are different from what is in our hearts in order to escape the situation. But God said He has cleansed our conscience from dead works. Jesus received the baptism and died on the Cross so that we might receive the remission of all the sins that we

commit with our conscience and all the sins we actually commit in our lifetime, if we just believe in His baptism and blood. And even though we sin with our conscience after we have received the remission of sin, we always maintain perfect purity if we just acknowledge our shortcoming in our flesh and always look and believe in the merit of the work that God has fulfilled. The Lord has blotted out all our sins through the water and the blood. The Lord has filled us with grace if we, who believe in this gospel, remember and ruminate the Lord’s meritorious work that has blotted out all our sins until the day we go before the Lord. Therefore, this is the reason why we have to come to God’s Church and listen to the Word and offer up the worship service even more frequently. Because even the person who believes in the righteousness of God and does not have sin, commits sin in this life and his heart will become filthy again if he ◄

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cannot listen to the Word that the Holy Spirit is speaking to the Church. Then, even though he does not have sin, his conscience becomes as evil as it can be and becomes a completely useless person in this world, a person who commits more sin in this world. That’s why we need the Church. Even though we have some bad things in our life or some disagreeable things in our conscience, when we come to the Church and listen to the Word and reconfirm our faith and look to the Lord and listen to the Word that the Lord took all our sins by receiving the baptism of the water and the blood, the Holy Spirit says, “That’s right. That’s it,” and the conscience is pleased as our hearts say “Oh, that’s how it is. It is so much better now.” That’s how you and I can live a happy life through faith without being oppressed by sin. And we can share fellowship with God and live with the grace God gives to us. Do you believe this? It will be terrible for you

to draw far away from the Church. Those who stay away from the Church or those who degrade their pastors or the predecessors cannot live the upright spiritual life. As a result, they become very evil. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” The question is whether the removing of sin is through the work or through the faith—through what gospel do people become sinless? The Apostle Paul says one becomes righteous through the law of faith. What is the law of faith? In the Book of Exodus, God gave and showed Israelites the Law and the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system in concrete terms. Then the Book of Leviticus talks in detail about how ◄

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people should offer up the sacrifice in order to receive the remission of sin before the presence of God. A sinner had to bring a lamb or a goat without blemish first, lay his hands on the head of the animal, confess his sins, and transfer them to the sacrificial animal. Then, the sinner cut the throat, took the blood and gave it to a priest. The priest then put the blood on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, poured the rest of the blood on the ground, cut the animal to pieces and burnt it up on the altar of burnt offering before the presence of God. This was a typical sin offering for a sinner to receive the remission of daily sins. Leviticus speaks about the sin offerings in detail. It describes the daily sin offering of a common people, that of a priest, and that for the elders. For one year’s worth of sin, the High Priest transferred over all the sins the Israelites had committed during the past year unto the head of one of two sacrificial goats by the laying of

hands on its head. Then, he cut its throat, drew the blood and put the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. And he went into the Holy Place and put the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense in the Holy Place and sprinkled the blood seven times on the Ark. Then he cut the sacrificial animal to pieces and burned it up before the presence of God. The High Priest then brought the live goat before the Israelites. He laid his hands on the head of the live goat, confessed over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sent it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man (Leviticus 16:20-21). God established such sacrificial systems in the Old Testament for the remission of one year’s worth of sins of the Israelites. According to this revelation of the Old ◄

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Testament, Jesus came to this world as the sacrificial Lamb and received the baptism in the form of laying on of hands and shed blood on the Cross and resurrected from the dead for the remission of our sins. Therefore, we receive the remission of sin by believing this. Then, is the remission of sin attained by the deeds of the Law? No, we receive the remission of sin by the law of faith. Here, the law of faith means that we can attain the righteousness of God by believing in the works Jesus Christ has done for us: God established the sacrificial system in the Old Testament as the promise of His salvation; to fulfill this promise, Jesus came to this world and took all the sins upon Him by receiving the baptism and dying on the Cross to pay for the price for all of our sins and resurrected from the death. We receive the remission of sin by believing in Jesus. That’s why the righteousness

of God cannot be attained by the deeds of the Law. That’s why we cannot be boastful of the righteousness we have attained. The Bible concludes that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law--we become righteous by believing that God has blotted out all our sins with His Son’s ministry promised in the sacrificial system. “Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” Is there any difference in the way God brings about the remission of sin for the Israelites and the Gentiles? No, there isn’t. God is not only the God of the Israelites but also the God of the Gentiles. It is saying that He is the same God, and the law and the faith to receive the remission ◄

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of sin are also same. The Triune God planned to blot out all the sins of humanity through Jesus and fulfilled all this through the water and the blood in order to make all the people receive the remission of sin through faith. God saved both the Israelites and the Gentiles with this same method. “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Can we make void the Law just because we have received the salvation through the law of faith? No, we cannot. It says that we establish the Law even more firmly because the Law includes not only the 613 commandments that includes the Ten Commandments, but also all the Word that God has spoken to humanity constitutes the Law. Therefore, the Law essentially cannot be made void. Rather, the Law is established even

more firmly through faith. Through faith we establish the Law even more firmly because we come to know God’s commandments through the Law, we come to know the sin through the Law, and we receive the remission of sin by believing that the Lord has saved us according to the sacrificial system that is established in the Law. We have received the remission of sin, but we can understand and acknowledge what is right and wrong in our deeds and turn from wrong, thanks to the Law. The Law is the criteria for our proper deeds, so we establish the Law even more firmly because we know the criteria of the Law. The Law is God’s commands that tell us about sin, and our faith becomes even more constant because the Law makes us even more grateful to God whenever we admit what rotten beings we are. We establish the Law even more firmly because our Lord saved us through the water and the blood. We acknowledge God even more ◄

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whenever we stand before the Law. This faith is not the faith that has come from the doctrine of justification. We actually receive the remission of sin by believing in the Truth. Those who believe in the doctrine of justification say that God just removed original sin from us when we first believed in Jesus; that He removes our personal sins whenever we offer prayers of repentance; and that He saves us by leading us to gradual sanctification. But this is never the case. For our salvation, Jesus came to this world, received the baptism, died on the Cross, and removed all our sins to save us. We became righteous by believing this. Although many people believe in the doctrine of justification, the Lord gave us the actual and perfect justification through the remission of sin that is not of the doctrine of justification. We give thanks to God.

God Had Passed over the Sins That Were Previously Committed “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” The righteousness of God is the Truth of the salvation that was fulfilled by the baptism Jesus Christ received and the blood of the Cross in this world. Here, the Word “by His blood” in Romans 3:25 is speaking about the Truth that Jesus Christ was able to shed blood on the Cross because He had received the baptism at the age of 30, which fulfilled all righteousness of God. Jesus Christ was able to become the propitiation that brought reconciliation between God and all the sinners because He took the sins of the world through His baptism. Therefore Jesus could become our ◄

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Lord who has blotted out the sins of all those who believe by fulfilling the righteousness of God. What does the Word “God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” mean? This is spoken from God’s standpoint. God said this because the sins people who believe in the righteousness of God are committing, now are the sins that were removed a long time ago when viewed with God’s eyes. When Jesus looks at the sins of those who believe in the righteousness of God, they are the sins of the world that He removed a long time ago through the baptism and the blood of the Cross. Therefore God is saying that the sins they commit now do not matter any more and He doesn’t care about them either. This blessing comes from the abundance of the righteousness of God. Therefore, “to pass over the sins that were previously committed” means that God has

remitted all the sins of humanity about 2000 years ago through the righteousness of God. That’s why we should view all the sins we commit now as the sins that were passed over by God. To pass over means the sins of the world are not sins worthy of God’s wrath because the price for the sins has already been paid. This Truth was fulfilled in the righteousness of God, and we have become the righteous by believing in this righteousness of God. “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God manifests His righteousness beyond the dimension of time and space to the people who believe in Jesus and the people who do not believe in Him. God saved us through the righteousness of God to show how great His ◄

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righteousness is, and God wants to make people who believe in the righteousness of God sinless through Jesus Christ even today in the year 2000, passing over time and space. From Jesus’ point of view, the sins of the world do not matter any more because He has already paid for them a long time ago through the righteousness of God that He has fulfilled through the baptism He received and the blood He shed on the Cross. But Jesus takes big issue with those who do not believe in the righteousness of God. That’s why we must understand correctly the sin that Jesus Christ makes a serious issue of, and therefore we must be careful not to commit that sin. Jesus Christ takes the unbelief of those unbelievers, who do not believe the righteousness of God with thankful hearts and do not even try to understand, more seriously than the sins humans are committing. More than any

other sin the biggest sin before the presence of God is the sin of not believing the righteousness of God that has blotted out all the sins of this world. God considers those who believe in Jesus sinless, because the gospel of the water and the Spirit has manifested the righteousness of God thoroughly and God made them sinless to His satisfaction through His righteousness. This is through the righteousness of God, not through the doctrine of the justification. “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness” means that Jesus came to this world and demonstrated His righteousness through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. God sent His only begotten Son and made Him receive the baptism from John the Baptist and had Him nailed to the Cross and demonstrated the righteousness of God to humanity. And to those who believe this, He gave them the ◄

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salvation from all their sin all at once. That’s how we became righteous by believing the righteousness of God with our hearts. Those who believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus, through which God has removed all the sins, do not have sin. We don’t have sin because we believe the righteousness of God. Therefore we have received the salvation from all the sins we commit in our lifetime. That’s why God is saying that He has passed over the sins we committed in the past, the sins we commit now, and the sins we will commit in the future. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” And it goes on to say, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes,

of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:2831). We believe all this Word because all the recorded Word is God’s Word. “We establish the law” (verse 31) means that we cannot make ourselves exempt from the judgment of sin when it comes to our deeds of the Law. In other words, we are weak people who cannot help but go to hell if God judged us according to God’s Law. But the righteousness of God has saved us from all our sins and made us His perfect people. This means that we became perfect because we were saved from all the sins by believing the righteousness of God. Our deeds are still lacking even after receiving the remission of sin by believing in the righteousness of God. But the ◄

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Lord saved us perfectly. We receive salvation from all sins by believing in the righteousness of God. Then there could be nothing for him to boast about, and we can only boast with faith about the meritorious acts of Jesus that fulfilled the righteousness of God. We cannot receive the righteousness of God by the deeds of the Law and we can only attain it by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Scriptures say, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” God asks all of us for the faith of believing the righteousness of God, not the works. You must keep this Truth in your hearts. If you belong to those who don’t even try to understand the righteousness of God and perceive the righteousness of God as the like of the doctrine of justification, then you should come out of them and meet the Church that is united with

Christ by believing in the righteousness of God. Then the peace like a river will fill your heart greatly through the righteousness of God. The doctrine of justification is the doctrine the legalists believe. Now you are no longer a legalist but a saint of God if you understood and believed in the righteousness of God. Those who believe in God must understand the righteousness of God and know that there is a law of salvation that enables us to attain the righteousness of God. “By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” We receive salvation by believing in the righteousness of God not through the works. The Scriptures say, “Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not!” Those who believe in the righteousness of God are established but the people who don’t believe shall stumble. People who do not believe in the righteousness of God cannot live in peace. ◄

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Such people will receive God’s judgment according to the Law because they do not accept God’s Word. Now we must have the faith of believing in the righteousness of God in the Word. Regardless of how extraordinarily powerful the salvation fulfilled by Jesus Christ is, the salvation by Jesus Christ becomes useless to you if you do not make it yours personally. The only way to make God’s work yours personally is for you to believe it. That is why the Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6), and that is also the reason Apostle Paul often told about the faith through the Book of Romans. For example, Paul said in Romans 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” He also said in verse 25, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith.” Again he said, “We conclude that a man is justified by

faith apart from the deeds of the law” (verse 28). Faith is not good deeds. The salvation attained by faith manifests the righteousness of God. Through the righteousness of God, He removed the burden of sin from us. God saved us from all sins through our belief in the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” The righteousness of God brings the remission of sin to those who believe in it. Man is not called “righteous” (sinless) by keeping the Law or offering prayers of repentance and advocating the doctrine of sanctification. But it is possible by believing in the remission of sin for humanity that was fulfilled through the righteousness of God. Most Christians today regard the ◄

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righteousness of God like the doctrine of justification, which was fabricated by theologians arbitrarily. But we must clearly understand that the righteousness of God and the doctrine of justification are clearly different. The righteousness of God is made through the baptism and blood of Jesus, but the doctrine of justification came out of the brain of a person with the IQ of about 120 to 140 at the most. This is a doctrine made by theologians as they saw that they could not but continually sin while living in this world and tried to comprehend the righteousness of God with their brains, and they concluded in their thoughts, “God calls a person with sin ‘the saint without sin’ if the person just believes in Jesus.” Anyone can make such a doctrine. But I want to bring to light that the righteousness of God is not a doctrine made by humans.

“Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,” It is saying that the gospel of the righteousness of God gives all people who believe in this salvation from sin. The gospel of the righteousness of God does not have effect only on a particular race or nation, but it applies to all the people in the world who believe in this. God is the God of Jews and the God of Gentiles as well. That’s because all the people are created by God and all their sins have already been cleansed through the righteousness of God that God has given to all humanity. All those who believe in the righteousness of God have received the blessing of becoming a person without sin. God is the God of those who believe in His righteousness. “Since there is one God who ◄

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will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” The righteousness of God that the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, and all the other people attain through faith is the same for all. God cares for the people who believe in the righteousness of God even now because God is the God of righteousness. God calls those who have the faith of believing in the righteousness of God sinless, but He does not consider those who have sin because they do not believe in His righteousness sinless just because they believe in Jesus. We must remember that God does not acknowledge such faith. And you must give thanks to God for becoming a sinless person by believing in the righteousness of God. I want the blessing of the righteousness of God to be with you forever.

God Establishes the Law Firmly “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” How do those who have become sinless by believing in the righteousness of God understand God’s Law? Do they make void the Law? No. Instead, those who believe in the righteousness of God are more perceptive about sin through God’s Law. We are more thankful because the Word of the Law that God has given us teaches us how important the righteousness of God is. Maybe there are some people who have become righteous by believing in the righteousness of God but are worried that they may become the kind of people that commit sin at will because they are not under the Law. You certainly don’t have to worry about that because you have now become the righteous people who ◄

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walk by the Law by believing in the law of salvation of love even though you had been oppressed by the Law in the past. There are some who are worried what would happen if they do something wrong after believing in the righteousness of God. But your original nature is so weak like that. That’s why God saved you from all your sins through His righteousness. Therefore, I hope you take a look at your true self and become one who shares the love of the righteousness of God to all humanity even more with thankfulness to God, who has given us the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then you will also become a servant of the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God illuminates even more brightly through God’s Law. They complement one another. God saved us with His righteousness but He did not make void the Law itself. God’s Law is eternal and perfect because

God planned it and made it. We have attained the righteousness of God by believing in Jesus as our Savior who has fulfilled the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We can see that the functions of the gospel of the water and the Sprit are: (1) Remove the boasting of the righteousness of man (Romans 3:27-28), (2) Present one and only one path of salvation to all the people (Romans 3:29-30), (3) Contrary to the claim made by some people, the gospel does not make void God’s Law. Instead, it makes the Law perfect (Romans 3: 31). Paul spoke of the salvation from sin by believing the righteousness of God apart from the Law. However, the Apostle Paul said that the righteousness of God does not turn the Law into nothing and that the Law instead makes the righteousness of God even more constant. This is ◄

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because the Law manifests the righteousness of God.

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Exegesis Chapter 4

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218 The Righteousness of Man Is Nothing to Be Proud of

The Righteousness of Man Is Nothing to Be Proud of < Romans 4:1-25 > “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are

forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.’ Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while ◄

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still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of

many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

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“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?” Even Abraham, the father of faith, was really a weak man in the flesh. His flesh could not wait for the promise of God, and so he took Hagar, his wife’s maidservant, to bear a child, who later stood against God. In his flesh, Abraham had nothing to be proud of. Out of the weaknesses of his flesh, he had betrayed his wife to save his own life. He had done what he should have never done as a husband. Given this, what could he boast of his flesh before God? There was nothing to be proud of in his flesh. Romans chapter 4 explains to us what it means to have faith in the righteousness of God. As an example of this, it tells us how Abraham attained God’s righteousness, asking, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?” (Romans 4:1) Abraham

had nothing to be proud of in his flesh, nor any righteousness. On the contrary, we can see from the Bible that he even failed to abide by the moral standard of mankind. To save his own life, he had betrayed his wife and as we can see from this, Abraham didn’t even have any righteousness of man. However, because he believed in the Word of the righteousness of God in its entirety with his heart, his faith was approved by God. What, then, happened to his sin of betraying his wife? This sin, too, had already been blotted out by God. God had blotted out the sin of Abraham with the gospel of the water and the Spirit containing His righteousness. This is the power of the true gospel. What is this gospel that contains God’s righteousness? It is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that has such power. Abraham had no righteousness of man, but he had faith in the ◄

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righteousness of God. This is how Abraham became the father of faith for all people, because of this faith. The righteousness of God that Abraham received from God was not attained through his own human righteousness. For us, now living in the 21st century, messages in the Book of Romans may perplex us. Paul said in Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Paul makes it clear here that it was not by his works that Abraham received the righteousness of God and was approved by God as a righteous man. On the contrary, Paul explains that it was by believing in the righteousness of God that Abraham’s sins were covered. Does this then mean that God considered Abraham as sinless even as he actually had sin? No. It means that God’s righteousness blotted out all his sins. God does not call anyone with sin as

sinless just because this person believes in Jesus. However, there are too many Christians today who believe in Jesus without knowing the righteousness of God. Yet their faith is never upright, nor can they blot out their sins with their current faith. If Abraham had been justified by the righteousness of his flesh, then he would have had something to boast about. But the righteousness of God that he obtained came by his faith in the Word of God, not by his own righteousness of man. Therefore, before God, Abraham was someone who could boast of God’s righteousness. He had nothing to be proud of in his flesh, and yet because of his faith in the righteousness of God, he became a great man of faith. In the Book of Romans, Paul explained what it is to have faith in God’s righteousness. Faith in the righteousness of God means to receive the remission of sin by believing in Jesus Christ, and ◄

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as a result, be blessed to have our sins covered before God. So it is fitting for anyone who believes in God’s righteousness to be accounted righteous as a reward for this faith. The topic to be developed through the Book of Romans is the righteousness of God. “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Abraham was not accounted righteous by God for his own works. For what, then, was his faith approved? His faith was approved by God because he believed in all the Word of promises that God had given him. The faith that enables us to obtain God’s righteousness is also like this. Our faith is approved by God not because of the good deeds of our flesh, but because we believe that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and

the blood He shed on the Cross constitutes the righteousness of God that brings us the remission of our sins. “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” Abraham attained God’s righteousness by believing in His Word, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham’s faith thus became one that was approved by God. Some Bible scholars interpret the righteousness of God that Abraham attained by believing God’s Word through the lens of the Doctrine of Justification, but this is not correct. The origin of the Doctrine of Justification is this: some theologians who couldn’t get their sins blotted out even as they believed in Jesus came up with the idea that because they believed in God, God would call them His people. ◄

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Even now, many people still think that although Abraham had sin, God considered him as one of His sinless people because of his faith. However, the righteousness of God is not like this. Those who believe in the righteousness of God truly become righteous people. Just as God actually gave Abraham the promised son, faith in God’s righteousness does in fact bring real righteousness into every believing heart. Because God speaks and fulfills what He has spoken, those who believe in His Word believe in the Truth, and therefore their faith is approved by God. That’s because God and His Word are true. For you and I living in this age, if we believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John to blot out our sins, the blood of the Cross, and His death and resurrection exactly as they are, then we, too, can come to have the faith that enables us to receive the remission of all our sins. It is when we believe in the Word of the water and

the Spirit that our faith is approved by God. This faith actually brings God’s righteous into our hearts concretely. That’s because Jesus accepted the sins of the world by being baptized, dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, all in reality. The baptism and blood of Jesus have blotted out all our sins once and for all. Faith in the Word is the very faith in the righteousness of God. “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.” If we had done something meritorious, spiritually or carnally, to attain the righteousness of God, then we would be qualified to receive God’s righteousness, but the reality is that we have failed to do anything upright to attain God’s righteousness. That’s the simple truth. No matter how virtuously we might live, we can never obtain God’s righteousness through our own ◄

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goodness. If someone finds a job and is paid for his work, then his wage would not be gratuitous. However, through our own works, it is impossible to receive God’s righteousness. That’s because we are incapable of doing anything that enables us to receive God’s righteousness as a reward. Therefore, the righteousness of God is only attained as a gift, and this gift is given to us only when we believe in the righteous works of God that the Lord has fulfilled. If we have received the righteousness of God by faith, then clearly, this is a gift of faith given by God to those who believe in this righteousness.

Those Who Have Attained the Righteousness of God without Working for Him “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,” The Word of Truth is that even though we became sinners by failing to walk by the Law perfectly, if we obtain the righteousness of God by believing that Jesus took upon the sins of the world through the baptism given by John the Baptist, and in His death on the Cross as our remission of sin, then God will approve our faith as the right faith. To know thus and to believe thus is to have the faith in the righteousness of God. To save us from our sins, who are by nature

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ungodly, God sent His Son to this earth, made Him be baptized and crucified, raised Him from the dead, and has thereby made us righteous. It is in this God that we believe. We believe in the Truth that Jesus has delivered us from the sins of the world through His baptism and blood. Therefore, it is by believing in His righteousness that our faith is approved by God. God approves the faith of those who know and believes in His righteousness as the right faith. The Lord spoke about the blessedness of those to whom God imputes righteousness even as they have not worked for God. David said that those who are blessed by God are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. This passage explains the gospel, which is the righteousness of God. How, then, can we obtain the righteousness of God and receive the remission of our sins? To be remitted from our sins, what kind of faith must

we have before God? Since no one can keep the Law, it is only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel given by God, that we can obtain the righteousness of God and receive the remission of our sins. There are many people who are trying to have their faith approved by God by leading a virtuous life. Some people say that the Sabbath Day must be kept faithfully, and others say that we must not eat squid or pork. Such notions are derived from the mistaken thought that they should try to get their faith approved by God through their own acts. So in their confused thoughts, they are still seeking after the righteousness of man. People must realize that it is by knowing and believing in the righteousness of God that they can be saved from their sins. Yet despite this, many people think that if they believe in Jesus, they then must be sanctified gradually, live virtuously, keep the Law, and not commit sin. ◄

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That is why they end up missing out on God’s righteousness. Confounded by such fallacious beliefs, they believe that their goal in believing in Jesus is to sanctify their lives. However, their faith is an extremely erroneous faith that has gone far astray from the righteousness of God. Have you attained God’s righteousness by faith apart from works? The faith that has received salvation by God’s help is the faith that believes in the righteousness of God. You may have believed in Jesus as your Savior to be saved from your sins, but if you believe in Him without knowing the righteousness of God, then your faith is all in vain. Are you holding onto the righteousness of God? Because we are fundamentally incapable of being upright before God, unless we hold onto His righteousness, it is impossible for us to be saved. Human beings are by nature seeds of evildoers. So before the gospel of the righteousness of God

came, it was impossible for them to live virtuously. That’s why God Himself came to save sinners, for He had compassion for them. Jesus, who came to save sinners from their sins, fulfilled all the righteousness of God with the baptism that He received from John the Baptist in the Jordan River. By being baptized by John the Baptist and dying on the Cross, Jesus washed away all our sins and has saved us all. All the righteousness of God was held in the birth of Jesus, His baptism, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection. It is Jesus who fulfilled all God’s righteousness when He came to this earth. In this world, there are those who believe in their own righteousness. Some people even lay down their life for others. This is the righteousness of man. But everything in this world has a reason. Is there anyone who can really sacrifice himself for others without any heed to his own interest? The Lord said, “There ◄

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is no one who does good, none.” Someone who drowned while trying to save someone else is praised for his virtue. But delivering a drowning man is an act of human righteousness. In all cultures, there is an underlying moral principle that promotes good and punishes evil. People believe that the virtuous are to be rewarded, while the wicked are to be punished. So people are inclined to manifest the righteousness of man, even though by nature there is no goodness in mankind. People cling to this principle because they are beholden to the righteousness of man. Is there anyone who would willingly lay down his life for someone else, without being motivated to build his own righteousness of man? No. All human beings’ hearts are self-centered. Even when they love, they can only share self-centered, egoistic love, and they can only build virtue according to their own righteousness.

Recently, I heard from one of the deacons at my Church that her father-in-law was about to pass away. I heard this around noon, and then around mid-night, I heard the news that the father-in-law passed away. Hearing the news, I congratulated the deacon for the passing of her father-in-law. I did so because that man knew the righteousness of God and believed in it. This man had never come to God’s Church in his life, not even once. About a year before his death, when he was under hospital care, some of our ministry workers went to visit him and preached the gospel to him. But he refused to listen, saying that his hearing wasn’t any good. Later, after he was discharged from the hospital, the deacon preached the gospel to him again, and then he said that he believed in the Word of the gospel. He didn’t want to believe at first because he did not know the reason and need as to why he should believe in Jesus. But when his body ◄

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fell ill, his eldest son went broke, he lost all hope on this earth, and he felt the need to listen to the gospel containing God’s righteousness and he accepted it into his heart. Before he passed away, the deacon confirmed his faith once more, and he professed that because all his sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized, he was now sinless. This man received the remission of his sins by believing in the righteousness of God. In his life he had never come to God’s Church to worship there, nor had he shown any devotion to God or given any offerings. He had not prayed for the spread of the gospel of God either. Yet despite all this, when he heard about God’s righteousness and believed in it, this righteousness of God remitted away all his sins. By believing in the gospel of the righteousness of God with his heart, he became a righteous man. The gospel that he heard was the gospel of the

water and the Spirit that was more than sufficient to blot out all his sins. Hearing this amazing gospel of God that contains His righteousness, the man put on its power. A man who could never be saved from his sins in any other way was saved by believing in the righteousness of God. This is the result of the right faith that trusts in God’s righteousness. In the gospel where the righteousness of God is contained, the mercy and power of God are revealed. God’s mercy is the great love of God that is bestowed on all human beings who do not deserve to be saved at all. Because God had so much compassion for that sinner, He gave him the gift of the remission of sins with His righteousness. God’s mercy is what brings great love and salvation to those who have no qualification to be saved. God has given such merciful love to everyone. Yet many people still do not try to know the ◄

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righteousness of God, nor do they believe in it. That’s because they do not appreciate the power of the gospel that is fulfilled by the righteousness of God. The deceased in our story became a righteous man because he came to understand God’s righteousness and believe in it. Although he had never lived his life on this earth perfectly, because he believed in the gospel containing the righteousness of God, he was washed and saved perfectly from all his sins. None other than this is the very salvation that the Bible speaks of, attained by believing in God’s righteousness. Such people who believe in God’s righteousness are all blessed people. “Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;’”

All those who believe in the righteousness of God, and whose faith is therefore approved by God, are happy even if they could not keep all the Law of God. Who and what kind of people are the happiest people of all? First: Happy are those who believe in God’s righteousness and have thereby received the remission of all their sins, whether already committed or yet to be committed. Second: Happy are those whose sins are all covered by believing in God’s righteousness, and who have escaped by faith from all their sins and all their punishments. If you had done something terrible against your own country, and yet someone else bore this crime in your place and died for your stead, wouldn’t you be so happy and grateful to the person? Jesus did so for you by being baptized and dying on the Cross, and has thereby ◄

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delivered you from all your sins. Now, if you could be remitted from all the sins of the world by believing in the Truth of the righteousness of God, wouldn’t you believe in it with all your heart? It is by believing in the righteousness of God that you can become happy. Those of you who believe in this Truth are happy.

Those Who Covered Their Sins with True Faith “‘Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.’” Those to whom the Lord does not impute sin are those who believe in the gospel Word, the righteousness of God. Those who have received all blessings from God are also those who believe in the righteousness of God. He who believes in God’s righteousness is one whose

faith is like that of Abraham. He who believes in the righteousness of God is one who is blessed like Abraham. My fellow believers, who could be blessed by God like Abraham? Those who believe in God’s righteousness have been blessed like Abraham. The Bible states that Abraham’s faith was approved by God because he believed in everything God said. Like this, for all those who now believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit as their remission of sin, their faith is also approved by God as the right faith. So if you also know what the righteousness of God is, then believe in it with your heart. Then the heavenly blessings that were once bestowed on Abraham will all be yours as well. What does the Bible say about the happiness of man? It says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” What would be our lawless deeds ◄

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before God? Lawlessness before God refers to not believing in His righteousness. Everyone commits sin against God. So everyone must receive the remission of his sins by believing in the righteousness of God. What, then, is the gospel of the righteousness of God? The true gospel is that Jesus came to this earth, was baptized at the age of 30 to take upon the sins of the world, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby remitted away all the sins of mankind once and for all. How could we cover our sins before God? Will our sins be covered if we live virtuously? The Bible says that those whose sins are covered are those who believe in God’s righteousness. All the sins of ours can be remitted away only when we believe in the Word of God that contains His righteousness. In other words, it is only when we accept the righteousness of God into our hearts that our sins

can be covered. All our sins can be blotted out only when we believe in the Word of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, and of His blood on the Cross. It is by believing in God’s righteousness like this that all our sins are covered. Our sins are not covered by our own good deeds, but only when we believe that the baptism Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross are the price paid for our sins. It is this faith that can cover our sins. Because of our sins, Jesus came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist, and died on the Cross. By believing in this Truth with our hearts, we can all cover our sins. How is this possible? It is because we can put on God’s righteousness that covers all our lawlessness sufficiently when we believe in the gospel where God’s righteousness is contained. It is by believing God’s righteousness that all our sins are covered. ◄

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Anyone who has this kind of faith is a righteous person before God. Also, it is such people who are most blessed before God. Just like the father-in-law in our story, you and I, too, will go to God one day and stand before His presence. No one can avoid this. This old man was a blessed man because he heard the good news that Jesus came to this earth, was baptized for him, and bore condemnation for him. And by believing in this gospel, his sins were covered. So even though he had no good work to show before God, his sins were still covered because of his faith. What kinds of people are happy before God? Do you have the faith that can cover your sins? Are you not, by any chance, trying to be saved from your sins by living virtuously, without the gospel Word that holds the righteousness of God? You must realize the Truth, which enables you to cover all your sins when you know and

believe in the righteousness of God. Those who believe in God’s righteousness can all praise God. It is not to be saved from our sins that we praise God. We praise God because we have already been saved from all our sins and we are so thankful for this. Those who have truthfully found happiness are those who have accepted God’s righteousness into their hearts. Those who believe in the gospel that holds the righteousness of God with their hearts are those whose sins are covered thanks to God. Whenever a righteous person passes away, I take this person’s funeral as an opportunity to preach the gospel. I do so because it is a good opportunity to testify the righteousness of God to the family that’s been left behind. Those who are truly happy believe in the gospel that holds God’s righteousness and live their lives preaching this gospel. ◄

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My fellow believers, you must not try to be saved from your sins through your own good deeds. For your sins to be covered before God, you must believe in God’s righteousness. If a rich man gives a diamond to a poor man as a gift, all that the poor man has to do is just accept it with thanks. Like this, to cover all our sins, God came to this earth and was baptized. If, despite this, anyone still holds onto the belief that although he believes in God he can receive the remission of his sins only if he keeps the Law, or at least tries his best to keep it all to establish his own righteousness, then his sins will never be covered by God. We must all accept God’s righteousness by faith. We must never be stingy with faith. On the contrary, we must accept it liberally.

Salvation Is Received without Good Deeds “Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.” This verse speaks about the Law and God’s righteousness. Of these two, Paul is saying here that one becomes happy not by keeping the Law, but by believing in God’s Word. Paul explains that Abraham was blessed by believing in what God had told him before he was physically circumcised. This is the faith that believes in God’s righteousness, and this is the same belief of the people of faith who have attained God’s righteousness by believing in this righteousness. Here, the reason why Paul mentioned the timing of circumcision and uncircumcision of ◄

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Abraham was to teach the Jews that they could be blessed by believing in God’s righteousness. We must believe in God with this understanding. We must remember that Abraham’s faith was approved by God because he believed in the righteousness of God that was manifested in His Word. In Genesis 15:1-6, God promised to Abraham, “One who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Abraham was childless, so when God appeared before him and wanted to give him something, he told God that his servant Eliezer was to be his heir, since he had no child of his own. God then said to Abraham, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4). Then God took him outside and said, “Look now toward Heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them,” and went on to say, “So shall your descendants be.” Abraham

believed in Jehovah God and God accounted Abraham’s faith for his righteousness. In other words, Abraham became a man of faith whose trust in God was approved by Him (see Genesis 15:5-6). Our faith is approved by God not when we keep the commandments of the Law given to us, but when we believe that God has blotted out all our sins through the baptism and blood of His Son Jesus. We are accounted as righteous people by believing in God’s Word like this. We receive the remission of our sins and become God’s children not by keeping the Law of God, but only by believing that God has remitted away all our sins through the baptism of Jesus and His blood, for God loves us all. This faith is the faith of Abraham that was approved by God, for he believed in God’s Word. Just as Abraham became a man of faith by believing in what God said to him, our faith is ◄

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also approved by God by believing in the Word of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the Cross. Abraham’s faith and the faith of those in this age who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit are both the same faith, and it is this faith in God’s righteousness that saves us. The God whom we believe is the God of righteousness. If we believe in God’s righteousness, then this righteousness of God becomes ours, and therefore our faith is approved by God. The real faith in God and His Word is one that believes in His righteousness. You, too, must believe in God’s righteousness and have your faith be approved by God. Hallelujah! The Bible says the following about those who have attained happiness: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:7-8).

Was Abraham then justified because of his circumcision? Or was he justified before he was circumcised, by believing in God’s promise? Abraham was saved by believing in the Word of the righteousness of God, irrespective of his circumcision. For us also, it is by believing in God’s Word of righteousness that we are saved from all our sins. In the following verse, Paul asks when Abraham was justified by God. In other words, he asks when Abraham accepted the Word of the righteousness of God. Was it after he was circumcised? Or was it before? If it was after he was circumcised, then one may think that Abraham’s circumcision had something to do with his justification. On the other hand, if Abraham’s faith was approved by God before he was circumcised, then we can see his faith had nothing to do with his acts. The God-given salvation of righteousness is not attained through ◄

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physical circumcision. When was Abraham’s faith approved by God? The answer is clear. Abraham’s faith was approved by God in Genesis 15:6, that is, 14 years before he was circumcised. Therefore, because Abraham was approved by God for his faith in His Word, just like him, his descendants also came to be imputed with righteousness by the same faith. Whoever believes in God’s Word of righteousness has his faith approved by God. This is how Abraham became the father of faith who was saved from all his sins by faith. Abraham was justified by believing in God’s Word. He was circumcised as a sign of his faith in God’s Word of promise. Ultimately, it was because of his faith that Abraham was approved as a righteous man and became the father of faith for us. Because his faith was already accounted to him for his righteousness before he was circumcised, he

became the father of faith for all those who believe in God. Paul said that for both the Jews and the Gentiles to attain the righteousness of God, all must return to the faith of salvation promised by God’s righteousness that justified Abraham on account of his faith, not on account of physical circumcision practiced under the Law. The salvation from all your sins is possible only when you believe in God’s righteousness. All of you are standing on either side, either you have been saved by the righteousness of God, or you still have not been saved at all. That’s because one is justified not by acts, but by faith. “How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.” Because Abraham believed in God and His ◄

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Word of promise spoken to him, God considered his faith as the right faith. What we need to realize from this passage is that God did not just approve Abraham’s faith out of simple generosity and blind love even though it was insufficient. Although Abraham was weak in the flesh and had so many shortcomings in his deeds, God approved Abraham’s faith because his faith in God and His Word was proper in God’s sight. God did not just consider him sinless without any proper reason. Do you understand this point? An additional point that must be ascertained from this passage before we move on is the question over the Doctrine of Justification. Is the faith of this doctrine the proper faith in God? The Doctrine of Justification claims that even if someone still has sin, if he believes in Jesus, then God takes this faith into account and considers him as a righteous person and His child. But this

faith is not the faith that believes in the righteousness of God. Yet this doctrine appeals to many Christian sinners who still have sin in their hearts even though they believe in Jesus, and so most Christians adhere to this doctrine without any doubt. But, does God really account sinners to be righteous just because they profess to be Christians? No way! When God looks at our faith, He looks at whether or not we believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes God’s righteousness, and He approves only this faith as the right faith. If we otherwise do not believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has become God’s righteousness, and instead believe in Jesus only as a religious figure, then God does not lawlessly consider our sins remitted away just because of this one reason, even as we still retain our sins. Do you understand this? ◄

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Such Christian doctrines as the Doctrine of Justification or the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification are never the Word that actually constitutes the righteousness of God. On the contrary, they lead us to false beliefs, trying to obtain God’s righteousness by practicing the Law through our own acts, like physical circumcision. Would such faith be approved by God? No, God will not approve this kind of faith. God does not approve crude beliefs that are legalistic and man-made. As evidence, we can see that in the hearts of those who believe in such doctrines as the Doctrine of Justification or the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification, there is no righteousness of God, and therefore their sins still remain intact, for they have not received the remission of their sins. In contrast, for those who have the faith that is approved by God, we cannot find any sin at all in their hearts, no matter how hard we might try.

The evidence of the fact that faith in the righteousness of God is found in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is that there is absolutely no sin remaining in the hearts of those who believe in this gospel. And even as they are insufficient, they still remain without sin. Such faith is the faith that is founded on the Truth and believes in God’s righteousness. We should realize that Abraham’s faith was approved by God before he was physically circumcised. Christians do not become sinless in time just because they try to obey the Law of God faithfully everyday, or because they keep offering prayers of repentance time after time whenever they stumble from the Law. Rather, they are remitted from all their sins and become sinless by believing with their hearts in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God when they first believe in Jesus. To thus obtain the ◄

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righteousness of God by faith like this is to become a believer in God’s righteousness. When you first believed in Jesus, did you believe in God’s righteousness? And do you still believe in the righteousness of God, even now? If you believe that Jesus is the Savior of sinners, then believe in His baptism and blood as the righteousness of God that has remitted away all your sins once and for all. If you believe in this, then God’s righteousness will become your righteousness. You will then have the same faith as Abraham’s faith. May the blessings of the righteousness of God be with you all. “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,”

God approved Abraham’s faith while he was uncircumcised, and what we can find out from this is that God has made us possess the faith that attains His righteousness like Abraham by believing in the Word of His righteousness when we had failed to keep His Law. Abraham was a man whose faith was approved by God because he believed in God and what He said to him. For us, who are now living in this age, our faith can be approved by God only if we believe in the Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God. Abraham is the eternal father of true faith.

In the Footsteps of the Faith of the Righteousness of God “And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the ◄

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circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” By believing in God’s Word, Abraham became the father of faith to all those who are spiritually circumcised. The ritualistic circumcision that the Jews of that time practiced was a circumcision that had no spiritual effect whatsoever for them to have the same faith of Abraham and become his real descendants. It was merely a sign that showed that they were Abraham’s descendants in their blood lineage. Abraham’s faith was not approved by his physical circumcision, but it was a faith that was rooted in his heart by believing in God and His Word before he was circumcised in the flesh. This is how Abraham’s faith was approved as the

right faith. The faith for which Abraham was approved by God was the faith that he had 430 years before God gave the Law to the people of Israel (Galatians 3:17). Therefore, the faith of spiritual circumcision has nothing to do with the Law that God gave to the Jews. To believe in God and His spoken Word is the true faith that believes in His righteousness. If we believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes His righteousness, then we will receive the blessing of salvation from all our sins. In short, to believe in this gospel is to believe in the righteousness of God. We must have the faith of our spiritual predecessors, and we must follow in their footsteps. If we fail to do so, and instead only follow the rituals and acts of the predecessors of faith, then our faith will flounder. So we must discover the faith of the disciples before us, and at the same time have the same faith as theirs. ◄

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The faith of our predecessors in the Bible was always founded on the Word of the Old Testament. Through the sacrificial system written in the Pentateuch of the Old Testament, God made the people of Israel receive the remission of their sins by laying their hands on the head of their sacrificial animal and drawing its blood. So in the New Testament also, we must believe according to such a law of salvation. To do so, we must be aware of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and at the same time we must also have the knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit in the New Testament. To become spiritual pilgrims to Heaven, we must have faith in the righteousness of God, and we must be able to deny ourselves. Abraham left his homeland following God’s Word of righteousness. Because of this, Abraham left behind the religious faith that prevailed in that

land, and he came to have the faith that followed the righteousness of God. It is for this reason that Jesus told us to deny ourselves everyday and pick up our cross and follow Him (Luke 14:26). Spiritual pilgrims are characterized by the fact that they follow the righteousness of God. This is the way walked by the disciples of Jesus who embarked on the path of the pilgrims of Heaven. The pilgrims of Heaven leave their religious faith behind, and instead believe in God’s righteousness, deny themselves, and follow the Word. Abraham left his homeland and lived a life that walked with the Word of God. It is because his faith was placed in the Word of God that it was approved by God. Abraham did not insist on any religious notions that he had or on his own thoughts. Once he began to walk with God, he threw out his religious experiences and instead followed God’s righteousness. This was the faith ◄

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that he had and this is the true faith that follows the righteousness of God. That is the sound judgment of the pilgrims who believe in God’s righteousness and follow it. Abraham boldly cast aside anything that might cover the light of God and make him forget this glorious memory. Having left Haran, Abraham never stopped his pilgrimage. What’s more, he was already 75 when he left Haran. He lived for 175 years before going to God. Even when we consider the average lifespan in those days, when Abraham was called by God he was already well into his midlife, and yet he still followed Him believing in His Word innocently. What about you then? Are you also the possessors of pure faith who follow the righteousness of God? The reason why Paul said the following in verse 18 is also because of Abraham’s faith: “[Abraham], contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations,

according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” You, too, must have faith in the Word of God “who makes us hope for what cannot be hoped.”

The Righteousness of God Is Attained by Faith “For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,” Now in this age, if God were to approve the faith of the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification or the Doctrine of Justification, which are both oriented toward the acts of the Law, then the right faith that attains God’s righteousness by believing in this righteousness would disappear forever. Paul said that if those who are of the Law are God’s children, then faith ◄

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in His righteousness is made void. Therefore, if you really long to find God’s righteousness and believe in it, then you should believe with the heart in the gospel Word that has come by the Word of the water and the Spirit, not the acts of the Law, and thereby attain the righteousness of God. Faith in the righteousness of God advocates the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But legalistic and dogmatic faith rejects the righteousness of God, for it belongs to acts. If we could attain God’s righteousness by placing our faith in our ability to keep the Law of God, as the Doctrine of Justification and the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification do, then God would not have spoken His Word of promise to Abraham in the first place. Abraham was a man of faith who attained God’s righteousness in the age of the Old Testament by hearing and believing in the Word

of God. His faith has now become an example for all those who believe and follow God’s righteousness. After approving Abraham’s faith, God promised him through the covenant of circumcision that He would take him and his descendants as the people of His righteousness. It was a special blessing for God to bestow the law of circumcision on Abraham. In this blessing, there is the mystery that enables us to attain God’s righteousness. The faith that is hidden in this mystery is obtained by hearing the Word of God. The righteousness of God and the righteousness of man are diametrically opposed to each other. That’s why we must look for the righteousness of God and believe in it. And we must also reject circumcision as a religious ritual. Only those who know the gospel of the water and the Spirit where God’s righteousness is revealed can obtain their salvation. God ◄

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approved Abraham’s faith because Abraham believed in Him according to His Word. “Because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.” In chapters 3 and 7 of the Book of Romans, Paul said that the God-given Law is only to expose people’s sins before God. If the Jews at that time really became God’s sinless children just because they were physically circumcised, then we would conclude that we can also become God’s sinless children by keeping the Law. However, the problem of the Jews at that time was that they in fact did not have the faith of Abraham, their forefather. In other words, they only had faith in ritualistic circumcision, and this was their fallacious belief. For you and I now living in this age, if we do not acknowledge the Word of God’s Law, then

we, too, would not know what sin is, and even after sinning, we would not know what sins we might have committed against God. As such, through the statutes of the God-given Law, we must admit that we are depraved sinners and confess the sins we have committed. Coming before Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the righteousness of God, we must believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit; we must thereby become sinless once and or all, turn into righteous people, and glorify God the Father. In the early church period, the Jews and the Gentiles had fallen into the belief of circumcision and legalism, but now in this age and time, the gospel of the water and the Spirit is being preached openly, and so it is an age when the believers are saved from the sins of the world and forever turned into God’s children. Do you know the righteousness of God that has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit? If you do, ◄

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then throw away your legalistic faith and believe in God’s righteousness with all your hearts. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” The way to become God’s children is not something that is attained through our own acts, but it is what God has given us as the gift of His righteousness. In other words, it is by believing in God and His gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that we can become His children. Everyone must have the same faith as Abraham’s faith. “(as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the

presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did…” Abraham had unwavering faith in God. And he believed unwaveringly that God would infallibly fulfill the Word of covenant that He promised to him. That’s why Abraham became the father of true faith for us, for the Jews, and for the legalists all alike. Like this, we must remember and believe everything God did—that is, Jesus came to this earth and took upon all the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:15), carried the sins of the world to the Cross (John 1:29), died on the Cross for the sins of the world (John 19:30), and rose from the dead again (John 20:21)—all constitutes God’s righteousness. It is faith in this Word that enables us to obtain God’s righteousness.

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The Righteous Who Live by Believing in God’s Righteousness “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” By believing in God and all that He spoke, Abraham was approved for his faith, and he became the head of faith for all those from every nation who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes God’s righteousness. It was God’s will for Abraham to be raised as the father of faith of many nations. Abraham believed in God and everything He said and for this faith he was approved and blessed by God. It was God’s will. Today, for us, it is also God’s will to be blessed by Him by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that

constitutes His righteousness. At the age of 75, Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans, his country, his family, and his father’s house, and followed God’s Word. And he believed in God’s promise that He would make his children as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham believed in God’s Word exactly as He said it. Because he believed in God’s Word contrary to what was humanly possible to hope, he was approved as a righteous man. Abraham’s faith became an exemplar to all those who followed in his footsteps and believed in God, and led them to also become righteous by faith. In the flesh, all the Israelis are Abraham’s descendants. Palestinians, too, are all his descendants. Though Abraham was old, he still begot a son because he believed in God’s Word. Can a woman 90 years old give birth to a child? No. Sarah was way past menopause and so ◄

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she could not bear any child. Yet God appeared before Abraham and promised him, “Abraham! Through the heir begotten from your own body, I will give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky.” And Abraham believed in what God told him. This was something that was humanly impossible to hope, but he still believed it because it was what God had said. The Bible tells us that this kind of faith is true faith. This is what true faith is. It is to believe that whatever God said will all be fulfilled exactly as He said it, even if it seems impossible in human thoughts. Though it may seem impossible in human thoughts, to believe that it will be fulfilled exactly as God said so, precisely because that is what God said—this is true faith. Therefore, faith is to believe in what is not seen as if it is seen. If we hope for and believe in what God said, then it will be fulfilled according to His Word. Since the Word of God is true, all

that we have to do is just believe in it. Even though it may seem impossible in our thoughts, to believe that it will be done because God said so is what faith is all about. Whenever we pray, we ask for the righteousness of God according to His will. And when we believe in His faithfulness, it will be fulfilled just as we believe. None other than this is faith. If we were to define true faith, it would be the following: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This faith is the right faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. In other words, if we hope for the righteousness of God and believe in His Word, then everything will be fulfilled according to the Word. So, when we believe and hope for what God said, then it is actually fulfilled. If you and I believe in the Word of God, then it will be fulfilled according to how we believe. ◄

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By believing in what God told him, Abraham begot Isaac. After this, Abraham’s faith was tested by God. God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham’s faith was tested greatly. “What do You mean? I got my son because I believed in Your Word that You would give me a son, and now are you asking me to sacrifice this son as a burnt offering?” If Abraham did not believe in God, he would have stood against God, saying, “What kind of God are You?” However, Abraham told himself, “God promised me that he would infallibly give me a son begotten from my own body, and He also promised that He would make my descendants as many as the stars in the sky. So I believe in this Word. If I sacrifice my son as a burnt offering, God will bring him back to life for sure,” and by this faith he went on his way to give his son as a burnt offering. He believed that since God had given him Isaac, even if he were

to kill his son as a burnt offering, God would make sure to bring him back to life. When Abraham took this son to Mountain Moriah and was about to kill him to offer him as a burnt offering, seeing this faith of Abraham, God told Abraham not to kill his son. It is written, “And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him’” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham killed his son by faith and he brought him back to life by faith. It was by faith that Abraham begot his son, and it was by faith that he begot all his descendants. He begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot twelve sons, and this is how the people of Israel have come to prosper today. To believe in God is to believe like this. Can we see God with our eyes of the flesh? No, we can’t see Him with our naked eyes. But faith is the substance of things hoped for. We believe in God even though we can’t see Him. Seeing ◄

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God’s creation, and through His divine attributes revealed everywhere in this creation, we can realize that God exists. We come to believe that there is a God, even though He is not seen by our eyes. While following the Word of God, Abraham went through many hardships. He was also tested, but his test was resolved by trusting in God. Though he faced all kinds of difficult tests, he passed them all by faith. Many people throughout the whole world now have the faith of Abraham. I am not talking about Abraham here just to tell you about the historical events that happened to him. Rather, what I am trying to convey to you through the faith of Abraham is that you must live by believing in the righteousness of God. You must ask God for His righteousness by faith, and you must preach the gospel throughout the world by faith. And you must live by faith according to the will of God. Were it not for our faith in the righteousness

of God, how else could we follow Him? And how else could we live? Some of you may have received the remission of your sins, and some of you may not, but to those who have received the remission of sin, I would like to say the following: You must have faith in the Word of God; without faith, how else would your hopes and dreams be fulfilled? Only when you have faith can your wishes be fulfilled before God; only when you have faith can you follow the Lord; only when you have faith can you preach the gospel all over the world; only when you have faith can you be blessed by God; and only when you have faith can your heart’s dreams be fulfilled. And according to the Lord’s promise, you can really meet Him even while you are still alive. Someone who has no faith is like a scarecrow and dry chaff. When the grain is gathered and milled, the husks come off; the empty husks are ◄

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chaffs. We eat the grain, but what do we do with the chaffs? They are threshed from the grain into a pile, and then they are burnt, put into pillows, or used as fertilizers—the faithless are like this. And the faithless are also like dry straws. They are like completely dry straws, which blow away when the wind picks up; everyone would face this unless he has faith in God. Therefore, we the believers must deny our own thoughts and believe in the Word of God, just as Abraham believed contrary to his hope. By hoping and believing against hope, Abraham became the father of faith. And the dreams he hoped for before God were fulfilled, and God’s promises all came true because he kept what God had told him until the end by faith. This faith is the true faith that all of us must have. Without faith, we are nothing. Those of us who have no faith are just like sinners. Trusting in the Lord, we are now preaching the gospel

throughout the whole world, but if we were to look at just our situation, it would appear to be an impossible task. But what has actually happened? We believe that it is the Lord’s will to preach the gospel throughout the whole world. We are doing this work because we have such faith, and because we believe that through the born-again, righteous people, God will infallibly fulfill this work that spreads the gospel all over the world. What about the age of the New Testament then? In the age of the New Testament, God speaks to us through His written Word. God does not speak directly to us with His voice like He called on Abraham’s name in the Old Testament, but He now speaks to us only through the written Word. Therefore, it is through the written Word of God that we can find out His will, and it is by believing in God’s Word that we can build our faith and follow His Word. God’s Word will be fulfilled to us exactly as it is written and we ◄

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believe in this. This faith must be continuously applied to all aspects of our actual lives. Since without faith we are incapable of following God’s Word, it is because of faith that we can live out our faith, and it is because we believe in it that everything is fulfilled according to the Word of God. While we face numerous problems, these problems are solved because we believe, and we pray because we believe. And because we believe in the Word of God, we rise up to our challenges by faith, and we get all the problems of our lives solved. Anyone who wants to have his faith approved by God must have faith in the Word of God. So you need to examine yourselves to see whether or not you really have faith in God’s Word. Do your hearts really have faith, even as small as a mustard seed? You must be able to see it clearly and if there is no faith, then you must have faith in the Word of God. What should you do when

you do not even have this faith? Then you must hold onto the written Word. The Bible tells us about faith like a mustard seed. Our Lord said to His disciples, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:6). The Lord told us that He would hear our prayers and answer us according to our faith. Some of you will probably say that you really have no faith in your hearts, and that you just can’t figure out what faith is. Such people must have the kind of faith that holds onto the written Word. Faith like a mustard seed will then spring up; because of this faith that’s like a mustard seed, you will come to have a greater faith; and then because of this faith, the Word of promise will be fulfilled to you and you will come to live by faith before God. If you have attained God’s righteousness by ◄

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faith, even as you had nothing to do with him, then you must follow God and run your race by faith. Do you believe in God’s Word, my fellow believers? When it comes to believing in this Word, you shouldn’t just end at mere knowledge, but you must hold onto it. The Bible is composed of 66 Books, and of all this Word, if we do not hold onto even a single passage, then the Word is rendered all useless for us. That’s why we must hold onto God’s Word. It is when we hold onto the Word of God that this Word becomes ours, yours and mine. That’s why we must all hold fast onto the Word. After God promised Abraham that He would give him a child, God fulfilled this promise 25 years down the road. Throughout all these years Abraham’s faith was held fast onto the Word that God promised. In your everyday life and at its every turn and twist, you must also live by faith believing in the Word. When we thus hold onto

the Word and pray, faith as a mustard seed will spring up in us. We will then become people of faith and we will be answered and blessed. There is an old saying in Korea that describes something impossible as “trying to break the rock with an egg.” If we look at it with our thoughts of the flesh, we may wonder, “How on earth will we accomplish this work of spreading the gospel throughout the whole world?” But, if we have faith and believe in God, then this is all possible. We are now preaching the gospel all over the world. Even if our planet is thousands of times bigger than this universe, we can still spread the gospel all over this world if we have faith. We must live by trusting in God. We must believe in the Word. You, too, must trust in the Word of God. All God’s promises for Abraham were fulfilled because he believed in what God had told him. Abraham begot a son, a son that ◄

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had been impossible for him to have. God told him that He would bless him, give him the land of Canaan, and bless his descendants as well. Abraham believed in this Word. And so by his faith he got all God’s promises fulfilled. It is by faith that we live. We live not because of anything else, nor because there is something else out there, but it is only because there is God’s Word that we live by trusting in Him. That’s why our faith is so indispensable, and that’s why we must all believe in God’s Word. And it is here that lies the reason for us to live by believing in the Word even after receiving the remission of our sins by believing in Jesus. This was the faith of our spiritual predecessors. “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

The reason why Abraham’s faith was not weakened is because he had unwavering faith in God’s spoken Word. When someone attains God’s righteousness by believing in the Word of this righteousness, his faith in God becomes as strong as that of Abraham. For all those who believe today in the Word of the righteousness of God, their faith is also strengthened like this. The gospel Word of the water and the Spirit constitutes the righteousness of God and it gives this righteousness to the believers, and therefore those who believe in it will become God’s children and His servants. No matter how difficult their circumstances might be the believers in the righteousness of God will always triumph by faith, for they have faith in God and in the truth that His Word will be fulfilled. “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was ◄

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strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,” Abraham believed in what God promised to him without any doubt. So it was because of this faith in God’s promises that Abraham came to give glory to God. The same principle holds for today as well. Those who believe in the Word of the righteousness of God hope for the fulfillment of the Word and keep their circumstances under control, for they believe in all the Word that God promised them. “And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” Abraham believed that even if his son Isaac was killed, God would bring him back to life and fulfill His promise that He would make Abraham’s descendants as many as the countless stars in the sky. Because of this, God approved

his faith as a truly upright one. How is your faith? Do you have faith in the Word of God that He blotted out all your original sin and personal sins, even your future sins, through the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross? Such faith is the faith that is placed in the righteousness of God, one that is approved by God. Those who have faith in God’s righteousness also believe that all their sins of weakness, no matter what, were passed onto the Lord and washed away through His baptism. They also have faith that because of His baptism, the Lord carried the sins of the world to the Cross and died on it for all those sins. And they believe that the Lord rose from the dead again, and He will clothe the believers in the righteousness of God with the glory of the first resurrection. Do you have such faith? If you want to have this faith, then believe in Jesus as your righteousness, in the ◄

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Lord who has blotted out all your sins by being baptized, carrying the sins of the world to the Cross, and being crucified all for you. The righteousness of God will then become yours. “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,” When Abraham believed in God and His Word, God not only approved his faith and blessed him to become one of His people by bestowing His righteousness on him, but He also made him the father of faith for all the people of true faith to come. To those who actually believe in His Word, God has given the gift of power bestowed by the Word according to its promises. In other words, if we believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is held, then all our countless sins that are thicker than the dark clouds will disappear. The privilege that comes

from having faith in God’s Word, which constitutes the righteousness of God, is not confined to just Abraham, but today it is also in our possession, whose faith is just like Abraham’s faith. “But also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,” God’s righteousness is for those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit today. Today, those who believe in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the ones who have faith in God. “Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Jesus rose from the dead again to make us believers in God’s righteousness sinless ◄

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(righteous), and to raise us from the dead as well. Jesus came to this earth and blotted out all the sins of the world with His baptism and His blood on the Cross, and what He did to make us righteous is God’s righteousness. God has made the believers in this Truth righteous (sinless). I admonish you all to believe in this Truth also, cleanse away all the falsehoods that are in you, and live a life that glorifies God. It is my sincerest desire for all the blessings of God to be bestowed on you. The Lord came to this earth because of us. And because of our iniquities, He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and took upon the sins of the world. He also carried the sins of the world to the Cross, was crucified to death, and rose from the dead again. All these things were done to save you and me from all our sins. And in doing so, He has made us His believers “sinless,” and has given us the blessing

of becoming His children and attaining everlasting life. All these things are for you and me. Hallelujah!

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Exegesis Chapter 5

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258 Together with God

Together with God < Romans 5:1-21 > “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet

perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned ◄

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according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men,

resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” The Book of Romans makes it clear that it is not by the righteousness of man that one receives the remission of sin, but it is by believing in the righteousness of God that his faith is approved. That is why here in chapter 5 Paul explains that ◄

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we have peace with God by believing in His righteousness. When God has saved us from our sins through His righteousness, it makes no sense for us not to attain peace by failing to believe in God’s righteousness on our part. The Bible tells us that one is saved from all his sins by believing in God’s righteousness. This is the peace that is obtained when one places his faith in the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness has made us whole. Therefore, whoever knows the righteousness of God and believes in it with his heart will receive the remission of all his sins. In Romans 1:17, the Apostle Paul said, “For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” The Book of Romans tells us that one’s own human righteousness cannot deliver him from his sins. In Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul once again summarized the gospel in which the

righteousness of God is contained. He did this to preach this righteousness of God to the saints in Rome, so that their faith may be strengthened even more. However, some people still interpret this passage from the erroneous viewpoint of the Doctrine of Justification. It is fallacious to distort this passage to adhere to such a doctrine. The Doctrine of Justification is an interpretation that claims that since Christians believe in Jesus, God considers them sinless even though they still have their sins intact. This is the essence of the Doctrine of Justification. The righteousness of God tells us differently though. It tells us that those who believe in God’s righteousness have “been justified by faith.” We can be justified before God only by believing in His righteousness. God does not consider anyone sinful to have no sin.

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Entering by Faith into This Grace in Which We Stand “Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The righteousness of God given to us is not constituted by our own good deeds. We are saved from all our sins once for all by believing in God’s righteousness, which has already been completed and has absolute power. What is God’s righteousness then? It refers to the fact that God has already saved everyone living on this planet from all his sins to perfection, by sending His Son to this earth, having Him to be baptized by John the Baptist, die on the Cross, and rise from the dead again. Therefore, we who believe in God’s righteousness have become His children, and we have entered into His glory. Romans 5:2 says, “Through whom also we

have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” As the Apostle Paul underscores it again, since the righteousness of God has already been completed and is standing firm, it is by faith that we have attained God’s righteousness, and therefore you and everyone else in this world must realize that it is now possible for all to obtain, through the law of faith, this righteousness of God that is already standing. If you also become righteous with us by believing in God’s righteousness, then you, too, will receive the blessing of everlasting life. What we need to realize clearly in God’s righteousness is the fact that the baptism and blood of Jesus have saved us from all our sins. That is why we can attain holiness and have true faith by believing in God’s righteousness. Real faith is the faith that is placed in the Truth where the righteousness of God is contained. We must ◄

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not exchange God’s righteousness, which God Himself has already completed, with the Doctrine of Justification and believe in it instead. God’s righteousness is not something that was created theoretically by men. God’s righteousness has been completed concretely and actually by the baptism and blood of Jesus. Without believing in God’s righteousness, it is impossible for any sinner to be saved from all his sins. Therefore, we must understand God’s righteousness properly and believe in it properly. The reason why we must not believe in the Doctrine of Justification in lieu of the righteousness of God is because if we do so, our sins cannot be blotted out. God has approved the faith of those who believe in His righteousness. To the hearts of the believers in God’s righteousness, He has given everlasting peace. What the righteousness of God is trying to tell us is that the sins of mankind had

broken their peace with God, but Jesus Christ has reconciled them with God by blotting out all these sins with His baptism and blood. It is only by believing in the true righteousness of God that we can have peace with Him. We who believe in God’s righteousness can no longer remain His enemies, and true peace has come to us as a result of believing in the righteousness of God. The One who has prepared such peace is God the Father. Having been sent to this earth, Jesus Christ blotted out, through the baptism He received from John, and His blood, death, and resurrection, all the sins of the world that had made us God’s enemies. However, those who do not believe in God’s righteousness wage war against this righteousness of God by fronting their own righteousness. Such people must turn around immediately and surrender to God. And by now placing their faith in God’s righteousness, they ◄

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must receive the grace that remits away all their sins. How does God’s peace come to a sinner? Your peace with God can be had only if you attain it by believing in His righteousness. There is no other way but this to have peace with God. Yet despite this, sinners do not know the righteousness of God even when they desire to have peace with Him, and so they are not at peace with God. If a Christian sinner does not hold onto the righteousness of God and believe in it, then he has no conviction of salvation because of the sins that he constantly commits, and so he comes to rely on groundless doctrines instead. As a result, all that perpetuates is only moaning and endless despair. In contrast, we who believe in the righteousness of God are now actually enjoying peace with Him.

The Righteousness of God That Enables Us to Overcome Everything “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;” Not only this—that is, not only have we received salvation by faith—but we also have joy in tribulations. This is all because we believe in God’s righteousness. The passage here says that tribulation produces perseverance; this faith is the Apostle Paul’s testimony and also our testimony. Those who have been saved by believing in God’s righteousness are sometimes persecuted to preach this righteousness of God. They face tribulations to follow the will of God. “And perseverance, character; and character, hope.” However, perseverance also produces ◄

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character, and character produces hope. Because God has saved us from all our sins once for all and He has given us new heavens and a new earth, we wait patiently in hope. This is the true purpose for which the saints persevere. Tribulation produces perseverance for the saints. The saints persevere through tribulation because they believe that God’s blessings will come soon. A patient heart is the heart that longs for the early return of the Lord. Through tribulations, God refines the hearts of the saints. A refined heart makes us have strong faith and enables us to persevere through any suffering. Therefore, no tribulation can ever abolish our faith in the righteousness of God. Before God, the saints’ hearts always hope for the Lord’s return standing firm on the Word of the righteousness of God. All our perseverance stems from the fact that we believe in the Lord’s promise, and the strength for the saints to

persevere through tribulations comes from the fact that God’s love of the Truth has been poured into their hearts. Those who believe in the righteousness of God given by the Lord are those who have received the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit makes the hearts of the saints believe firmly in the righteousness of God, and thus leads them to trust in God’s promises.

The Righteousness of God That Has Given Us Hope “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” One who believes in the righteousness of God is one who has hope for the Kingdom of Heaven. ◄

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So he is not ashamed of the fact that he is living on this earth for the Kingdom of the Lord. That’s because the love of God has been poured into his heart. God’s love is a love that is attained by placing faith in the righteousness of God, not by believing in the Doctrine of Justification or the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification. Yet many people are still pushing God’s righteousness aside with the Doctrine of Justification. Referring to the baptism of Jesus that constitutes God’s righteousness, some people stand against God saying, “Where does it say in the Bible that the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist?” In the Bible, the meaning of the baptism of Jesus is: 1) to be washed; 2) to be submerged; 3) to be buried in funeral; and 4) to be passed on. That the sins of the world were washed away when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist is the same principle as the laying on

of hands in the Old Testament, where the sins of the people of Israel were washed away from their hearts when the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the scapegoat. The people of Israel, too, were washed from their sins by faith, by believing in the Word of the sacrificial system of God that was found in the laying on of hands set by God. Therefore, that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and submerged under water means that He accepted the sins of the world, and it further means that Jesus died on the Cross precisely because He had accepted all those sins of the world. Jesus’ burial tells us that He died because He had taken upon the sins of the world and shouldered them through His baptism. “The wages of sin is death,” and this is God’s Law; therefore, that Jesus was baptized and buried refers to the fact that He bore all our sins and died in our stead. ◄

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When Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, He said in Matthew 3:15, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So it is when He came out of the water after being baptized that the righteousness of God that saves mankind from sin was fulfilled. Yet despite this, some people consider themselves too smart, and they gloss over the significance that is hidden and contained in the Word of God, and do not hold onto it. Using the word baptism, the Bible spoke about the washing of sin that fulfilled the righteousness of God. God spoke about His righteousness that washes away the sins of the world through the laying on of hands in the Old Testament, and through Jesus’ baptism in the New Testament. Those who believe in the righteousness of God are those who believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus as their salvation. It is such people who abide by God’s righteousness.

Even Before We Were Born “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Here the Bible uses the expression, “When we were still without strength,” and this phrase refers to the time when we were not born yet. When did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came about 2,000 years ago. He came to this earth long before any of us was born in this world. To Adam and Eve, the first human beings, God had promised the plan of the remission of sin for all sinners. As God said to the serpent, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Satan had incited the hearts of Adam and Eve to disbelieve in God’s Word. However, the New Testament tells us that Jesus has saved us sinners from all our sins ◄

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through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. When God said in Genesis that Satan would bruise Jesus’ heel, this meant that the Lord would be baptized and crucified on this earth. It refers to the baptism and death of Jesus, prophesying that our Lord would take upon our sins through His baptism and die on the Cross. Therefore, the phrase in this verse, “When we were still without strength,” tells us that the Lord had promised to remit all our sins even before we were born on this earth, and that He completed this work long before any of us was born. We must therefore believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus that have become God’s righteousness as our remission of sin. Verse 6 states, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Paul is saying here that the righteousness of God was already fulfilled even

before we were born. He is therefore telling us that it is by believing in the baptism and blood of the Lord that we are saved from all the sins of the world, and that the remission of our sins is not received by offering prayers of repentance. Those who do not know the righteousness of God claim that while one’s original sin is remitted away when he believes in Jesus Christ, his actual sins are forgiven by giving prayers of repentance everyday. Not only are such beliefs not approved by God, but they have nothing to do with the faith that believes in God’s righteousness. So we must not believe like this. That’s because the righteousness of God is not attained by this kind of faith. These people also say that the believers are sanctified gradually, and that they will go the Kingdom of Heaven when their bodies and souls become completely sinless in their deathbed. Among the nominal Christians who have not ◄

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been born again, there also are those who advocate the Doctrine of Justification, which claims that God considers someone sinless just because he believes in Jesus, even though he still has sin in God’s eyes. This is nothing more than a man-made doctrine. If God were to call a sinner righteous, who could call Him and believe in Him as the Holy God? To believe like this is to turn God into a liar. All of you must realize clearly here that God the Father will judge anyone who has sin in his heart, regardless of whether this person professes to believe in Jesus or not. To give us His righteousness, God the Father sent Jesus long before we were born; and the Father made the Son receive the baptism through which Jesus accepted the sins of the world from John the Baptist. It is because the Lord was baptized like this to accept all our sins that He shed His blood and died on the Cross. That is the

righteousness of God and the infallible Truth. The phrase “all righteousness,” which Jesus uttered in Matthew 3:15 when He was baptized, means “what is just and righteous.” The Lord Himself came to this earth to blot out all our sins of the world; He accepted all these sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist; He went to the Cross and was condemned for the sins of the world by being crucified and shedding His blood; and through all these things, He fulfilled the righteousness of God all at once. Knowing that we would commit sin when we are born in this world, Jesus Christ had promised to save us from all our sins. He fulfilled this promise through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection. In the age of the Old Testament, the sacrificial animals accepted the sins of the Israelites through the laying on of hands. In the age of the New Testament, Jesus Christ accepted ◄

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our sins through the baptism given by John the Baptist, died on the Cross, and has thereby saved us from all our sins and fulfilled all the righteousness of God. That is why we must all have faith in the righteousness of God, and we must all realize that the Doctrine of Justification is a groundless doctrine. God only approves the faith that is placed in His righteousness. The Book of Romans is teaching us to cast aside our own human righteousness and to place our faith in God’s righteousness.

God Has Demonstrated His Love “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.” This verse talks about the few in this world that have sacrificed themselves for others. There

are some people, though very rare, who are willing to lay down their life for a cause they hold to be just. In other words, some people sacrifice their life for someone else whom they consider to be good. And it tells us that rarely does anyone die for the servants of God. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Here the Bible used the expression, “while we were still sinners,” implicitly asking whether one was a sinner even before he started to believe in God’s righteousness. Before we believed in the righteousness of God, were we sinners or righteous people? We were all sinners. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This passage tells us that to save us from all our sins, God the Father completed the remission ◄

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of our sins through the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross long ago. Even while we were still sinners, Christ confirmed His love for us with His baptism and death. Ever since the foundation of the world, we were all born as Adam’s descendants and thus became sinners automatically. Because we were born with sinful bodies, there was no way for us to escape from our sins without having faith in the righteousness of God. There were only destruction and suffering for us because of our sins. However, God sent His Son to save us, and by having His Son be baptized by John the Baptist and die on the Cross, God fulfilled His righteousness once for all. Through His righteousness, God completed the remission of all the sins of the world. This talks about the perfect righteousness of God toward us. By contrasting the weakness of mankind to the

perfect righteousness of God, Paul is telling us just how great His love is. My fellow believers, you must not believe in the Doctrine of Justification that brings nothing but confusion to you. Nor should you believe in the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification. The carnal thoughts of man can only corrupt God’s righteousness. By fundamental nature, no man has ever had any goodness or righteousness of his own from his very birth. Had human beings been born in goodness by nature, the righteousness of God that Jesus fulfilled by saving sinners from all their sins would not have been exalted so highly. However, if we who had all been bound to sin because of our iniquities have now attained the righteousness of God by believing in it, then we should all be thankful, and we should all have unwavering faith in God’s righteousness. The love of God can be known only to those who believe in the righteousness of God. That’s ◄

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because it is only the righteousness of God that has saved us from all the sins of the world. Here we need to ponder upon a few words that the Apostle Paul used.

The Weakness of Mankind These words tell us that we were fundamentally born as seeds of evildoers from our very birth (Isaiah 1:4; Mark 7:21-22). By nature, everyone was born as a sinner without any righteousness at all. That means that one’s salvation from all his sins entails absolutely no righteousness of his own. In other words, all of us have the flesh that commits sin from the day we are born to the day we die. Therefore, we have been saved from all our sins entirely by believing in God’s righteousness. For one to be saved from his sins, he doesn’t need any

righteousness whatsoever of his own. Put differently, there is no rightfulness of man that can be added. The word “ungodly” means that mankind is standing against God ferociously. The righteousness of man stands against the righteousness of God. Human beings abhor that their sins are exposed before God, and they also dislike God who judges these sins. They want to do whatever they wish without paying any attention to God, and they are trying hard to establish their own righteousness. This is why they cannot look toward the righteousness of God. They do not accept the power of the righteousness of God that has solved the problem of their sins and remitted them away. That’s because they do not want their sinful acts and lusts to turn into problems. God is righteous, but the righteousness of man refuses to acknowledge the righteousness of God. However, those whose ◄

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own righteousness is all broken down and who admit themselves as sinners can be saved from their sins by believing in the love of the righteousness of God. The word “sinners” refers to those who have failed to reach the goal set by God. Because people do not believe in God’s righteousness, they are living in sin and despair. The word “enemies” refers to those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains God’s righteousness, and instead stand against it. Even so, God has saved us all from sin through His righteousness.

The Remission of Sins That Was Completed Long Ago “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved

from wrath through Him.” That Jesus Christ shed His blood on the Cross is the Truth that puts the final period to the totality of the righteousness of God. It is the conclusion to God’s righteousness. The righteousness of God means that Jesus Christ not only promised to come to this earth to save us, but He actually came just as He had promised, shouldered the sins of the world by being baptized, and was crucified and shed His blood on the Cross. To blot out the sins of mankind, Jesus Christ came to this earth, and to fulfill the righteousness of God, He received the baptism given by John the Baptist. He shed His blood on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved from sin all those who believe in the righteousness of God. The Bible says that the blood of the Cross has put the final period to the righteousness of God. Some people do not know the significance of the ◄

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baptism that Jesus received. They just say that one is justified only by believing in His blood. However, for Jesus to be condemned for our sins, there had to be the absolutely indispensable process whereby Jesus accepted the sins of the world through the baptism given by John the Baptist, and only then could He shoulder the sins of the world on His body. The Bible says that the wooden Cross is a symbol of curse (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). If the Lord was crucified and shed His blood on the accursed Cross, then we must realize and believe that Jesus had to be crucified and shed His blood precisely because He had received, in the Jordan River and from John, the baptism that fulfilled the righteousness of God. It is by believing in what the Lord did when He came to this earth to fulfill the righteousness of God— that is, by believing in the righteousness of God that Jesus fulfilled by being baptized by John the

Baptist, and bearing all the punishments of our sins through His crucifixion on the accursed Cross—that we can be saved from all our sins. There is no effect without a cause. Just as we exist now only because God had created the heavens and the earth in the beginning and decided to make us, everything has its cause and effect. If the Lord came to this earth to save us from our sins, then Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist because He had to be baptized, and that’s why He could be crucified and shed His blood on the Cross. It is extremely frustrating that many people still do not know this Truth; the significance of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and fulfilled the righteousness of God, and they still continue to misconstrue and misbelieve that only the blood of the Cross constitutes the righteousness of God. We can see that such people are only trying to establish their own righteousness, completely ◄

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oblivious to God’s righteousness. The Bible says, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). The letter here refers to interpreting and believing in the Word of God literally. One must believe in God’s Word within His righteousness. If one were to believe in it literally, misunderstandings are bound to arise. If anyone believes like this while misunderstanding God’s righteousness, then this person cannot receive the remission of his sins. The spiritual meanings of the Bible are not hidden in the letter itself. They are hidden in the Truth of the water and the Spirit that is in God’s righteousness; thus, we must believe in this righteousness of God. Only when we know clearly what the righteousness of God is and believe accordingly can we receive the remission of our sins. This is why God said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Do you know the righteousness of God that He speaks of? Do you understand the meaning of the Cross with an in-depth knowledge of the significance of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist? You can be saved from all your sins only when you believe in Jesus’ Cross with a clear understanding of the meaning of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist when He came to this earth. “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” The phrase, “When we were enemies,” refers to the time when human beings were God’s enemies because of their sins. The Bible says that ◄

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mankind became enemies not only because they had sinned, but because they were all born sinners as Adam’s descendants. That’s why David said in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” It is because we were born as Adam’s descendants that we became God’s enemies. However, because our Lord came to this earth and has reconciled us to God the Father by being baptized, dying, and rising from the dead again, we were able to have peace with God once again by believing in His righteousness. The Lord has saved us from all our sins through the righteousness of God. Like this, God’s righteousness was completed through the baptism and death of Jesus, and it is by believing in this righteousness of God that we have been reconciled to God. God’s righteousness refers to the fact that the Lord became the Lamb of atonement before God when

He was baptized and crucified to death on this earth. Therefore, those who believe in the righteousness of God are those who have been reconciled with God by believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood that He shed on the Cross. In other words, the very people who had been by nature God’s enemies have now become His children and one family with God, all by believing in His righteousness. Seeing us, who believe in His righteousness, God says to us, “You are My children,” and we, too, have no hesitation whatsoever to call Him “God our Father.” “Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” This tells us that because our Lord rose from the dead again, our bodies will also be resurrected on the last day.

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Christ and Adam “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—” What the Apostle Paul addresses from verse 12 and on is how sin came to enter into this world. He is also explaining what the weight of this sin is, and how Jesus has blotted out all such sins. The word “therefore” here refers to the fact that even before we were born on this earth, and even before we knew God, Jesus came to this earth, took upon our sins through His baptism, shed His blood on the Cross for the wages of all our sins, and has thereby saved us from all our sins perfectly. That’s why Paul used the word “therefore,” underscoring the fact that every sinner is saved from all his sins by believing in

the righteousness of God previously explained. The Bible says that sin entered the world through one man. And death came to everyone thereby. “Thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The one man here refers to Adam, the first human being. Death spread to all men because of Adam and Eve. As everyone came to sin, every human being is bound to suffer death without exception. There are two theories concerning human nature: the theory of innate goodness and the theory of innate wickedness. The theory of innate goodness asserts that human beings are born with goodness in them by nature, whereas the theory of innate wickedness argues that human beings are wicked from their very birth. Divided in these two camps, scholars have argued over the fundamental nature of mankind for ages, but God said in the Bible that sin entered this world through one man. Sin entered because of a single ◄

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couple, Adam and Eve, and through this sin death came to mankind. “For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” To explain the gospel of righteousness once again, the Apostle Paul spoke about the Godgiven Law. God had given the Law to the people of Israel through Moses, but even before this, there was already sin in people’s hearts because of the inheritance of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve. “Until the law sin was in the world.” Sin was in people’s hearts even before God gave the Law to mankind, but they did not recognize sin as sin, and they came to realize sin through the Law only when it was given to them. Sin is explained here in connection with the Law because for sin to be exposed as sin, there must be the Law.

Human beings continue to sin throughout their lifetime because they all inherited sin from the moment they were born. This was all because of one man. Ultimately, they are bound to reach death because of this sin, and Paul said here what exposes this sin is none other than the Law. Romans 3:19-20 state, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Why did God give the Law to sinners? It was to expose mankind’s sins. Everyone has sin in his heart, but without the Law no one can recognize sin as sin, nor can anyone realize that he is a seed of evildoer—this is why God gave the Law. For example, when some people do some good deeds, they think of themselves highly, ◄

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saying, “Who can live virtuously like me?” They think that they are living virtuously, and they consider themselves good. However, such people consider themselves good and virtuous precisely because they do not know the Law of God; if they knew God’s Law, none of them could confidently say to God that they have lived virtuously. The Law is subdivided into 613 commandments, but its backbone can be summarized into ten. These are the Ten Commandments, and in here there are rules that we must keep in our relationship with God, as well as rules that we must keep in our relationship with each other. If we were to reflect our individual lives upon these Ten Commandments, which constitute the gist of the Law, there is no one who would emerge innocent. That’s because human beings are incapable of keeping even a single commandment of the Law.

We begin to break the first commandment telling us, “You shall not have other gods before Me.” Since human beings love their own life more than God, and they love money, fame, and power more than they love God, they have many idols according to their needs, and therefore they have a lot of other gods before God. Many people worship another human being as a god, while others worship God’s creation such as trees and rocks, but all these are in fact committing sin. When we stand before the commandment that God has given us, “You shall not have other gods before Me,” we are compelled to admit that we have all offended this commandment before God. But when there was no Law, many people did not consider sin as sin. Although Abraham was approved as a righteous man because he believed in God’s Word, his descendants committed idolatry when they were living in the wilderness after escaping ◄

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from Egypt, and they did not even realize what a grave sin they were committing against God. Before the people of Israel received the Law through Moses from the Mountain Sinai, they did not know about sin. They finally came to realize that idolatry was a sin only after they received the Law that told them not to have other gods before God. God gave the Law to the people of Israel and the whole mankind, and soon after giving this Law He also gave them the sacrificial system. The God-given sacrificial system commanded the people of Israel that whenever they realized their sins through the Law, they should bring an unblemished sacrificial lamb to the Tabernacle, pass their sins onto it by laying their hands on its head, and draw its blood by cutting its throat. When this blood was given to the priests, the priests then had to put it on the four horns of the altar of burnt offering and poured the rest on the

ground. Like this, the people of Israel received the remission of their sins through the sacrificial system set by God, and they sacrificed in this way because they recognized their sins through the Law. In other words, they came to realize their sins precisely because the Law pointed out their iniquities to them. This is why the Apostle Paul said that the Jews and the people of the world did not consider sin as sin when there was no Law. So before he spoke about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, he first mentioned the Law. This explains why the Apostle Paul preached the gospel of God’s righteousness in connection to the Law and the sacrificial system, so that people would realize their sins and God’s remission of these sins. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the ◄

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transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Paul used the word “nevertheless” here to underscore the fact that since sin entered this world through one man, and death came into the world because of this sin, our Lord has saved all of us humans who had been sinners from the time of Adam. To preach the gospel to the unbelievers, the Apostle Paul once again explained the gospel of the righteousness of God by contrasting it to the innate and universal sinfulness of all humanity. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” By mentioning Adam, the father of mankind, the Apostle Paul explained why Jesus came. In other words, the Savior came when all human beings inherited sin from Adam and were therefore

bound to commit sin throughout their entire lifetime only to reach death and be accursed. Paul said here that Adam is a type of the Savior to come. By this, he was using a comparison to explain how Jesus has blotted out all our sins; that is, just as everyone has sin and will die and be cursed without exception because of one man, Jesus came as the Savior and has blotted out all the sins of the countless people once for all. In other words, just as every human being turned into a sinner because of one man, Adam, everyone can now reach salvation because of one Man, Jesus Christ. When Paul described Adam as a type of Him who was to come, he was referring to Jesus Christ “Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.” This tells us that just as sin entered all human beings through one man, Adam, their salvation from sin is also reached by believing in the righteousness of God fulfilled by Jesus Christ. ◄

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Through One Man, Jesus Christ “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” The Apostle Paul continues to explain how sin entered this world and how this sin has been remitted through God’s righteousness. The free gift here refers to the gift of salvation given by Jesus. In other words, it explains that the righteousness of God has blotted out all our sins through the water and the Spirit, and has saved us perfectly. “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” Since the entire human species originated from

Adam, and there is no one in this world who was not born from Adam, sin perpetuated onto all Adam’s descendants because of his transgression, and thus every human being was born as a sinner. In other words, everyone continues to sin, and because of this everyone is to reach death. Just as every sin came from one man Adam, the salvation from sin was also completed by one Savior. Thanks to the grace of salvation that Jesus Christ has bestowed, salvation from sin now abounds to everyone in this world, and the God-given love of salvation also abounds for all. People like to divide. They have divided themselves into different races, countries, nations and cultures, and they have established laws to their likings. However, no one can be born without God, and it is only because God made us that we were all born on this earth. So even though we may be of different nations, races, and laws, we are all Adam’s descendants before God. ◄

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Therefore, the Law of God applies to everyone equally, and the Word of God applies to everyone equally. Because of one man, everyone was born as a sinner, continues to sin, and is to drown in this sin, and this perpetuates continuously even at this very moment. God made Adam and Eve, and through them He planned to bring forth their descendants. However, as a result of their fall, deceived by Satan and eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the sins of the world entered the entire mankind. Adam and Eve bore their children after sin entered the world like this. How then, were these children? These children also inherited their parents’ sin intact and were all born as sinners. Since the descendants of Adam and Eve all have the twelve kinds of sin in their hearts, they came to commit sin by nature, without anyone teaching them how to sin. The twelve kinds of sin such as murder, adultery,

fornication, jealousy, and thievery were inherited to them; and so these sins spring forth from their hearts by nature—this is why human beings continue to sin repeatedly time after time, today and tomorrow, for twelve months a year. An apple tree is bound to bear apples even if it doesn’t want to, and a pear tree can only yield pears when it grows no matter how desperately it might want to bear some other fruits. Human beings, too, cannot help but continue to sin, no matter how much they don’t want to and how hard they try not to sin, precisely because they were all born with sin. Everyone commits sin constantly with their thoughts, acts, and hearts. If circumstances would allow, people put into action the sins they committed only with their thought, and they even commit each and every one of the twelve kinds of sin all at once. The secular law punishes only the sins committed in deed. However, the Law of God ◄

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says that even the transgressions committed with the heart are sins, and they are to be punished also. Therefore, what people may not grasp as a sin, God still sees it all clearly. As such, the iniquities that we commit in our hearts are also counted as sins in God’s sight. This is the Godspoken Law. Just as His Word is true—that sin entered through one man, and death through this sin—the claim that human beings, who are all seeds of evildoers, can live in holiness without committing any sin is a lie. It is nothing more than a whitewashed tomb; a deception that tries to hide the fact that all human beings are sinful seeds through one man Adam. Of course, I am not suggesting here that we should try to sin deliberately. Rather, what I mean is that it’s not because people are deliberately determined to sin that they commit sin, but they cannot help but sin because they were all born as seeds of sin. Whether people sin

or not has nothing to do with their level of education or character. Everyone is a sinner who repeatedly commits sin in various forms under various circumstances. How, then, can human beings, who can only be sinners, ever become God’s sinless children? Paul answers that just as sin entered this world through one man, it is also through one Man that everyone can receive the gift of salvation and be remitted from all his sins by believing in the righteousness of God.

The Righteousness of God That Is Greater than Sin “And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came ◄

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from many offenses resulted in justification.” Paul continues to explain the righteousness of God by comparing His salvation to sin. The “free gift” here refers to the salvation that God has given to us, and this gift “is not like that which came through the one who sinned.” In other words, this gift from God is fundamentally different from the gift given by Adam. Because of one man, everyone was born as a sinner and is to commit sin until the day he dies. But “the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.” In other words, the grace of God that has saved us from all our sins has perfectly justified His believers, for it is greater than all the sins committed by mankind. All the descendants of Adam are still committing sin continuously because of this one man. Once born, everyone continues to sin perpetually, even after he reaches his 30s and 40s, and even until the very day he dies. Human

beings commit sin like this constantly in the present tense; and although we do not know when exactly the world would end, human beings will continue to sin without ceasing until the very last day of this world,. However, because of God’s salvation, all these sins that have such an extensive and long history have already been remitted away, and people have come to be justified by faith. That is why God said that where sin abounds, the gift of salvation abounds even more. Here we can see clearly that God’s gift of salvation is found in His righteousness.

One Man’s Righteous Act “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and ◄

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of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul continues to explain that death came to this planet because of one man’s offense, and death reigned through this one man. Death reigned because everyone committed sin. “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” The Apostle Paul is addressing even the sins that we have not committed yet. The reason for this is because we have all become those who cannot help but continue to sin until the day we die, all stemming from one man Adam. Since everyone who was and will ever be born in this world cannot avoid but continue to sin until his death, all human beings will commit sin perpetually until the end of this world and the end of the history of

mankind; even so, however, the free gift of God is greater than all these offenses. “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” When Jesus came to this earth, He at once blotted out all the sins committed by every human being until the end of this planet. To take away all our sins that are darker than ink and redder than scarlet, Jesus was baptized and crucified, and He has thereby saved us perfectly from all our sins once for all. Therefore, although sin entered into the world through one man Adam, the power of salvation that Jesus has given to us is far greater than this. It was more than sufficient to blot out all our sins. As such, when people profess to believe in ◄

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Jesus and yet say, “Lord, I’ve committed sin. Please forgive me,” they are actually establishing their own righteousness, oblivious to the righteousness of God. Our Lord has remitted away all the sins that you and I have committed and will ever commit from the day we were born to the day we die, as well as all the sins that our descendants would commit in the future. In other words, He has remitted away all the sins of everyone from the beginning to the end of the world. The world means all human history ranging from the days of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, to the days when Jesus and His disciples walked on this earth, and to the present age and the future ages to come. God is the Alpha and the Omega, and He took away not only our present sins, but also all the sins of the world that will ever be committed in the future. Because all mankind is bound to sin ceaselessly,

when Jesus came to this earth, He accepted all the sins of the world once for all by being baptized, and by carrying these sins of the world to the Cross and being crucified to death, He has saved us from all our sins, death, and judgment. This grace of Jesus is that much more majestic, amazing, tremendous and powerful. Jesus took upon all the sins of everyone, of all those who ever lived in the past and are now living in the present age, and even of all those who will be born with sin and continue to commit sin; He was crucified to death at once; He rose from the dead again; and through all these things, He has saved mankind perfectly once for all. This is why the gift of the righteousness of God is so great and so vast that we must all be profoundly grateful for it. Despite this, however, those who do not know this grace of salvation still assert the Doctrine of Justification or the Doctrine of Incremental ◄

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Sanctification. These people claim that when the Bible says here, “through one Man’s righteous act,” it means that God considers them sinless even though they all commit sin everyday and therefore still remain sinful. This interpretation and the accompanying belief constitute the Doctrine of Justification. Such claims are words of rebellion against God, arising out of their ignorance of and disbelief in His righteousness. However, there are people of faith who believe that the Lord fulfilled God’s righteousness when He came to this earth, and God has made those believers His children by His grace. God does not just consider them as sinless even though they have sin, but He has truthfully turned them into His own children by making them actually sinless.

By the Lord’s Obedience “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Verse 19 says, “By one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Here again, Paul drew a comparison. Let’s assume for a moment that a pear tree has human faculties. Thinking that apple trees are more beneficial to people, the pear tree decides to yield apples from now on. But can any pear tree really bear apples? No, it’s impossible. A pear tree is nothing but a pear tree; it cannot turn into an apple tree, and it can only produce pears, not apples. Until the end of this planet, a pear tree will continue to sprout its own kind and bear nothing else but pears. Like this, by one’s man disobedience, many became sinners before God. And by one Man’s ◄

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obedience, many will be made righteous. Jesus, God Himself, came to this earth as a Man, and by being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30, He fulfilled all the righteousness of God. In other words, He accepted all sins onto Himself. “By one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Since God has made everyone righteous, it is by faith that one can become righteous. The righteousness of God proclaims that Jesus Christ took away all our sins when He came to this earth. This entails the principle of representation whereby everyone is represented by one man. Because of one man, Adam, all mankind automatically turned into sinners, and they were all accursed to be cast into hell. Because of one Man, Jesus, we have now become God’s children, for Jesus came to this earth to save us, accepted all the sins of mankind by being baptized when He was 30, carried them to the Cross, was crucified, and declared, “It is

finished!” The children of God have the hope that they, too, will be resurrected just as Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and that they will live forever with Him next to God in the Millennial Kingdom and Heaven. All these things came from the salvation that was fulfilled by one Man’s righteous act that has blotted out all the sins of this world. In writing about the Book of Romans, far too many people have addressed it without knowing the Truth. As a result, they ended up producing many different arguments and their own thoughts, only to lengthen their books. By expounding on the Doctrine of Justification (which claims that God considers Christians sinless even though they have sin in their hearts), or the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification (which tries to hide their sins), these authors have established only the righteousness of man. This is completely irrelevant to God’s law of life, and in doing so ◄

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they have led countless people in this world to stand against God’s righteousness. In contrast, what the Bible says is that Jesus has saved us from all our sins once for all by actually taking upon all the sins of mankind from their beginning to the end in the Jordan River, and by being crucified three years later. And by rising from the dead again, He has given us everlasting life. This is the Truth testified by the Bible. Yet, even though this is the real Truth, many people still remain far too ignorant of it. Some people stand against us saying, “Is the gospel of the water and the Spirit all that you know?” But of the many preachers on this earth, how many of them can really preach this gospel? Most of them just say, “You will go to Heaven if you believe in Jesus. It’s good to believe in Jesus. You should believe in Jesus and live virtuously.” This is all that they can say while preaching the so-called gospel. That is no gospel however.

People can believe properly only if they are taught in detail and according to the written Word how exactly Jesus has saved each of them. Yet despite this, if we were to scream, “Jesus is salvation! Believe in Him or you will go to hell!” wouldn’t we be just scaring them off? It’s not because we do something good or evil with our acts that we become sinners or righteous people. It is wrong for Christians to try to blot out their sins and sanctify themselves through their own efforts in complete irrelevance to the Word. Can Christians enter the Kingdom of God only if they are sanctified through their own acts, or do they become righteous and enter the Kingdom of Heaven by realizing what the Lord has done to blot out the sins of the world once for all, and by believing in it with the heart? It is by believing in the righteousness of God that we can become righteous. However, Romans chapter 10 makes it clear ◄

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that the Jews who did not know God’s righteousness disobeyed it by trying to establish their own righteousness. The Jewish people even today have not accepted Jesus Christ, trying to live virtuously and still waiting for the Messiah to come. They are still pretending to be godly and holy on their own, slaughtering bulls and lambs to offer sacrifices that were already abolished long ago. Even now, they are divided into the conservatives and liberals, with one camp beholden to the Law trying to keep it to the very letter, and the other drawn to religious festivities and captured by the murky beauty of the world. There also are too many Jews who even deny the existence of God. Even the Jews who believe in God’s existence are only trying to keep their own righteousness and to manifest their own rightfulness, rather than believing in God’s Truth. So even to this very day, they still make sure to wear dark robes

and hats, and to keep their beards because the Law forbids them from shaving them. They are still trying to keep the Law through and through, writing scriptural passages on a piece of paper and wearing it on their arms to read, and putting on their foreheads a plate written with the phrase, “Holiness to the Lord.” However, they refuse to accept the fact that Jesus is the Lamb of God who has become their Savior by coming to this earth over 2,000 years ago, taking upon all their sins by being baptized, and dying on the Cross, all in order to save them. Not only these people, but even today’s Christians say all kinds of nonsense, falsely asserting, “Anyone who believes in Jesus is saved,” or “Since you’ve come to church and believe in Jesus, you are the chosen people.” My fellow believers, our Lord chose those who would be saved in Jesus Christ by believing in Him; He did not say that anyone who blindly ◄

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calls upon His name would be saved. To have the right faith, you must understand the whole Bible, and you must grasp its core message. The Apostle Paul explained the Word repeatedly to convey its core message. Unless this is done, people often fail to grasp the key Word that they must all understand. This is why the entire Christianity worldwide has fallen into a decline, even though countless churches are preaching about Jesus. The word baptism means “to be buried in funeral,” “to be passed on,” “to be transferred,” and “to be washed away.” My fellow believers, why was Jesus crucified? It was because He was baptized by John the Baptist. Yet when Christians think about the crucifixion of Jesus, all that they can muster is to wonder how much pain He must have suffered. They don’t even realize for whom and why He died; they only wonder how much they would have suffered if

they had been subjected to this punishment, and say, “Lord, You must have suffered a lot.” The Lord died for us in order to make us holy because He had accepted our sins. You need to get away from the mindset that considers your own emotion as somehow reflecting your faith. You should actually think about and shed tears over your soul and all the souls around you who are bound to hell. The gospel can be preached properly only when we know the Truth and we have its exact knowledge in our hearts. It is because Jesus took our sins upon Himself that He died on the Cross. When our Lord came to this earth, He did not just die without first accepting our sins through His baptism. He didn’t say, “I am dying on the Cross for you. Look at the Cross and repent from your sins all the time.” The first thing that Jesus did in His public life was to go to the Jordan River and receive His baptism from John the ◄

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Baptist at the age of 30. The Four Gospel Books first speak about the Jordan River, John the Baptist, and the fact that Jesus was baptized by John. For 29 years Jesus had lived a private life, but once He turned 30, He began His work to save mankind from its sins, and the first thing that He did in His public life was to be baptized. After Jesus was baptized and accepted our sins, He was testified by John the Baptist who had baptized Him, saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In other words, Jesus accepted the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The word baptism means “to be washed,” “to be submerged,” “to be buried in funeral,” and “to pass on.” The biblically sound way to perform baptism is for the baptizer and the one who is to be baptized to be halfsubmerged in the water up to their waist, and for the baptizer to lay his hands on the head of his

counterpart and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The righteous have the evidence of their faith in Jesus, that is, the evidence of their belief that all the sins of the world including theirs were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist, and that He has saved them by being crucified. It is because Jesus accepted our sins by being baptized in the Jordan River when He came to this earth that He could go to the Cross and die. If Jesus had not shouldered the sins of the world, how could He be accursed on the Cross, when He has no sin? The Bible says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). How could Jesus, who has no sin, be crucified then? Many Christians believe in Jesus far too religiously. Just as Buddhists consider themselves faithful followers if they bow to a ◄

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statue of Buddha carved out of stone and give offerings to their temple, many Christians think that all that they have to do is just give some offerings and attend every worship service, saying, “I believe in Jesus. I believe in the blood of the Cross. I drank the precious blood of the Lord.” But it is by believing in the righteousness of God that we can drink the Lord’s precious blood. It other words, we drink the Lord’s great salvation by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus. We believe in the Truth that Jesus died on the Cross in our place precisely because all sins were passed onto Him instantaneously through His baptism, and He accepted them all. So we receive the Lord’s grace of salvation by believing that His death on the Cross was the condemnation He bore for our sins, and that He washed away our sins and accepted them by being baptized. Since faith does not just seek after worldly

blessings, we should look at this reality objectively. A preacher should open the Word and then give his sermon according to the Scripture passage he has chosen. However, far too many preachers only say preposterous things as the Word is opened. The congregation should learn spiritual lessons from the Word, understand it and believe in it, and yet they only come to learn about formalistic and acts-oriented faith. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” It is because one Man, Jesus, came to this earth in obedience and accepted our sins through His baptism that our sins were all washed away. And it is because Jesus accepted our sins that He had to die on the Cross in our place. The reason why the death of Jesus Christ is our death, and why He was pierced, abused, and beaten is because He had already shouldered the sins of the world ◄

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by being baptized. Throughout all these sufferings that Jesus endured in Pilate’s court, He did not open His mouth until His death. He knew that He had to bear this punishment without fail because He had taken upon all our sins through His baptism. It’s because this was the will of the Father that Jesus obeyed Him like a lamb before its shearer. Just before He died, He said for the last time, “It is finished,” indicating that Jesus fulfilled all the ministries of the salvation of mankind. He rose from the dead on the third day, bore witness for 40 days, and then ascended to the Kingdom of Heaven. If anyone believes in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the righteousness of God as his Savior, then no matter what insufficiencies he might have, Christ has made him righteous. There is no sin whatsoever that Jesus Christ did not take away. He bore them all.

Through One Man Many Were Made Sinners; Through one Man, Jesus Christ, All the Sins of the World Have Disappeared “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” Paul says here that the Law entered that our offense might abound. As Adam’s descendants, human beings were fundamentally born with sin and committed sin constantly. But even as they committed sins, they did not realize those sins as sins. In other words, because there was no Law, they did not know their sins; but once God’s Law of commandments came, they recognized sin as sin. As the Law made us realize the sins that we did not recognize before, our sins abounded more as a result. We all commit many sins by nature,

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but once we recognized them, our offense abounded even more. That is why the Bible says here, “The law entered that the offense might abound.” When it further says here, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” it means that through God’s commandments we know sin, and by believing in His righteousness we become God’s sons and daughters. Only when people realize through the Law, “I am this much insufficient; I am this much sinful,” can they realize that the perfect gospel, which constitutes the righteousness of God, is the very grace of God. Only someone who knows his sins well can realize that he is bound to hell, and he also comes to realize that the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross have saved him, and to believe in this with thanksgiving. In other words, those who realize their sins through the Law, and realize them even more, can appreciate

the grace of salvation that is even greater than their sins, all because of the gospel of the righteousness of God. “So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Explaining that sin reigned in death, the Bible says that the righteousness of God has saved us perfectly from all sins through His wisdom, and therefore we who have become God’s children have now become the King’s children. That is why God said that He has made us reign in His grace. So we conclude that it is by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ that we have been remitted from all our sins and received everlasting life. Before you were born in this world and before Jesus came to this earth, there was Adam. He is ◄

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the first man created by God, and this first man, Adam, is the father of every human being all over the world. As he committed what God forbade him to do, he sinned, and because of him, sin was passed down to us, his descendants. Therefore, to save us, who all were born with sin as Adam’s descendants, God sent His only begotten Son to this earth. This Son is none other than Jesus who obeyed God the Father. As God the Father ordered Him, Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized. By shouldering the sins of the world to the Cross, dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, He has become the Savior of mankind. Do you believe that all the sins of the world were remitted through Jesus Christ who obeyed God the Father? Anyone who believes in this is saved, but those who do not believe in this, and instead try to become righteous through their own prayers of repentance, their own rituals, their own attempts

at godliness, and their own virtues, will all end up in hell. The Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification and the Doctrine of Justification are foolish claims that have arisen out of people’s ignorance of the Word of God. It would be correct to view them as nothing more than sheer nonsense produced by incompetent philosophers incapable of interpreting the Word correctly. God’s Truth is transparent and clear. We have been saved from the sins of the world by believing that one Man, Jesus Christ, came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man and has saved us from all our sins. Anyone who believes in this is saved. Do you believe this? If anyone believes in the righteousness of God, then he is delivered and saved from his sins unequivocally. What many false prophets claim, that one is gradually sanctified and saved by giving prayers of repentance faithfully and living ◄

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virtuously in this world, is tantamount to saying that one can be saved even if Jesus did not come to this earth. Given the fact that only Jesus Christ is the gate of salvation, the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification that claims one’s own efforts and virtuous deeds are helpful to his salvation is completely contradictory to the Truth. The Lord says to us that we are incapable of keeping even 0.1 percent of His Law. If we broke just 0.1 percent of the Law, it is the same as breaking it 100 percent. So anyone who claims that he can keep the Law of God does not know himself at all, and because of his own righteousness he will ultimately end up standing against the righteousness of God. Do not try to grasp God’s righteousness set by God Himself based on your own man-made thoughts and logic. Having saved us from all our sins perfectly with His righteousness, God is waiting for you to believe in this and become His child. My fellow

believers, I beseech all of you to believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross with all your heart, and receive the overflowing grace that God has bestowed on you. For God is almighty and merciful, He has saved us wholly with His grace and mercy. He has saved you perfectly from all your sins. I give all my thanks to God.

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Exegesis Chapter 6

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299 We Can No Longer Continue in Sin

We Can No Longer Continue in Sin < Romans 6:1-23 > “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of

sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin ◄

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because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those

things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” The “grace” here that the Apostle Paul is speaking of refers to the salvation from sin that is especially attained by believing in the righteousness of God. What Paul emphasized particularly in Romans chapter 6 is the faith that believes in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, His death, and His resurrection. Referring to sin, Paul asks rhetorically here whether we who had died ◄

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to sin with Jesus Christ, should continue to dwell in sin and commit it so that grace may abound even more. This question is aimed to those who may say rather ridiculously, “Hey, isn’t Paul saying that we should commit more sins since we have been remitted from all our sins once for all by believing in the righteousness of God?” There are those who wonder, as mentioned in Romans chapter 1, “If I have been remitted from all my sins once for all, then I can sin even more with impunity.” To resolve those people’s question, in chapter 6 Paul makes his final explanation as to how the believers in the righteousness of God should live their lives of faith. Having asked, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul answered that this could not be done. The reason why we cannot continue in sin is because we have been delivered and saved from our sins by believing in the righteousness of God. Someone who is saved

from all his sins by believing in God’s righteousness is called as a saint. This title of saint is a priceless title that is more precious than anything else in this world. It cannot be exchanged for any fame. So the saints have no desire to continue in sin in this perishing world. Can someone who has become a saint by faith intentionally sin, now that he has attained the righteousness of God? Certainly not! On the contrary, because he has received the remission of his sins, he abhors continuing to live in sin. Anyone who is wearing a clean set of clothes wants to avoid dirty things and stay in a clean place. Likewise, those who have attained God’s righteousness want to live practicing righteousness. That’s because for all those who have been remitted from sin, their hearts are ruled by the Holy Spirit. The righteous therefore cannot dwell in sin. The Apostle Paul said that the saints are the ◄

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ones “who died to sin.” “To die to sin” is possible when we believe that our sins were passed onto Jesus through His baptism and that we died with Christ on the Cross. In other words, faith in the righteousness of God is to pass our sins to Christ with His baptism, to die with Christ on the Cross, and to live with Him. Then how can a man die to sin? Our death to sin is to die on the Cross by believing in the baptism of Jesus Christ, and then to live with Christ again. “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The Apostle Paul makes it clear here that the believers in the righteousness of God cannot live abiding in the sins of the world. There is no need for people to doubt the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God and its gospel. That’s because they have the faith and the belief to say, “Certainly not!” In other words, their faith

compels them to say, “How could we, who by believing that Jesus Christ had died to the sins of the world with Him, want to continue to live in sin?” Before they were born again, the believers in the righteousness of God used to agonize and suffer because of their sins. So remembering those times, they know very well that they can never live if they revert back to that condition. That’s why Paul is asking here rhetorically how we, the born-again, could possibly live in the sins of the world any longer. What those who do not know the righteousness of God are worried about is this: Wouldn’t those who claim to believe in the righteousness of God end up committing more sins and become even more immoral than before? However, there is absolutely no need for such worries. The believers in the righteousness of God have the Holy Spirit in their hearts right ◄

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now, and they are led by Him. Therefore, they are no longer bound and enslaved by sin, as they had been when they were indeed slaves to sin. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that they can walk with God. Before the saints were born again, they had been slaves to sin, but now that they have become slaves to righteousness by believing in God’s righteousness, they no longer want to live in sin. Would you want to once again continue in sin if you were perfectly remitted from your sins by believing in the righteousness of God? Just as you would not want to do this, neither did Paul who believed in God’s righteousness desire this, nor do we. We should apply the fact that “we have died to sin” to our faith. First, we had died in union with the death of Jesus Christ after He was baptized; and second, the resurrection of Christ implies that as a result of uniting with Christ, we have

received new life. This means that we have now been forever separated from the wages of sin that would have led us to death. As we now believe in the righteousness of God, we have the Holy Spirit whose power enables us to live righteous lives. Therefore, we who believe in God’s righteousness can never revert back to sinners. Only the believers in the righteousness of God are the ones who died to sin, and they can no longer continue in sin.

We Who Were Baptized into Jesus Christ “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” If we understand the reason why Jesus Christ received baptism from John the Baptist, we can ◄

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then understand this passage and believe in it as well. All those who believe in God’s righteousness are baptized into Christ spiritually. That is because when Jesus Christ came to this earth and was baptized by John the Baptist to fulfill all the righteousness of God, all their sins were also passed onto Jesus Christ by their faith. This is why we come to believe that all our sins were passed onto Christ through His baptism when we were “baptized into Him.” All of us absolutely need to believe that we have been baptized into Christ. Whoever believes in the righteousness of God comes to pass all his sins and all the sins of the world by believing in Jesus who was baptized by John. This is because by being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus accepted all the sins of the world. That is why we believe in the Truth where the righteousness of God is revealed. Nothing other than this faith enables us to be baptized into

Christ. We believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and this involves the following beliefs: First, the belief that He is the Son of God; second, the belief that He forsook the glory of God and came to this earth in the flesh of man to deliver sinners from sin; and third, the belief that He accepted all the sins of this world once for all in the Jordan River through His baptism given by John the Baptist. Faith in this Truth is the faith that enables one to be baptized into Christ. If you believe in this Truth, then you have also been baptized into Christ by faith. The ability for us to die with Christ and live with Him all depends on our knowledge of, and faith in the mystery of the baptism of Jesus. Put differently, to understand this passage, we must first comprehend the mystery of the baptism of Jesus and put on the power of His death on the Cross by faith. So through the Word, I would like ◄

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to unveil the power of baptism and its mystery. To do so, we need to realize why John the Baptist had to baptize Jesus, and why Jesus Christ had to receive this baptism. In the New Testament, John is called “John the Baptist” because he baptized Jesus. What, then, does the baptism that Jesus received from him imply? The word “baptism” is “βάφτισµα (baptisma)” in Greek, which means, “to be immersed.” More importantly, it also means that “sin is passed on, washed away, or buried.” Therefore, “baptism” also means the death of sin. It indicates that as Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and thus accepted all the sins of the world onto His body, He washed away the sins of His believers, and paid off the wages of sin with His own death. It was to take upon all the sins of mankind that the Lord wanted to be baptized. He was baptized after saying, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill

all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Baptism also means “to wash.” It means that as Jesus was baptized, He accepted all the sins of the world and washed away every sinner’s iniquities. Those who know and believe in this Truth can wash away all their sins by faith. In other words, baptism signifies that all our sins were passed onto Jesus without exception, and it speaks the Truth that whoever believes in this is washed from all his sins without exception. Since all our sins were passed onto Jesus as He was baptized by John the Baptist, whoever believes in it is cleansed from all his sins. This Truth was already foreshadowed in the Old Testament. The Old Testament makes it clear that Jesus Christ would come and take upon all sins in this way. It is written in Leviticus 1:4, “Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” This passage ◄

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speaks about the absolute necessity to “lay one’s hands” on the head of the sacrificial animal to blot out one’s sins. When it says here that the offering “will be accepted on his behalf,” it means that God would accept it in pleasure. Like this, the sacrifice that pleased God required the Israelites to pass their sins to the sacrificial animal first by laying theirs hands on its head. Only then was God pleased to accept it. In the Old Testament, “the laying on of hands” means “to pass on,” “to impute,” and “to bury” (Leviticus 1:1-4). In the New Testament, baptism means exactly the same. The baptism that Jesus received from John was the act of accepting all our sins. God established this principle of salvation as the laying on of hands in the Old Testament, where the High Priest had passed all the sins of the people of Israel every year on tenth day of the seventh month. It is written, “Aaron shall lay both his hands

on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:21-22). When Aaron the High Priest laid his hands on this sacrificial animal on behalf of the people of Israel, all their sins were passed onto the head of the scapegoat. This is why this sacrificial animal was put to death in lieu of the whole people. In the same manner, to be remitted from their sins, the Israelites brought unblemished goats, sheep, or bulls to the altar of burnt offering, and they passed their sins to these sacrificial animals by laying their hands on the animals’ heads; daily sins were passed by individual sinners, while a ◄

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whole year’s sins of the Israelites were passed onto the sacrificial offering by the High Priest as their representative. It was exactly according to this shadow that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the New Testament’s time. Through the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, all the sins of mankind were passed onto Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the salvation of humanity was therefore achieved. As Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (the representative of mankind), He became the sacrificial offering for all sinners; the offering that accepted the sins of this world. By believing in this mystery of the baptism of Jesus and His death on the Cross, we passed our sins to Jesus and were brought back to life once again with Jesus by faith, to enjoy everlasting life. This sacrificial system reflects the principle of representation that is often used in the Bible. Just as Adam was the representative of all sinners, as

a descendant of Aaron the High Priest, John the Baptist baptized Jesus as the representative of mankind. The New Testament writes that John the Baptist was the priest who was born from the house of Aaron and who represented mankind (Luke 1:66-88). John the Baptist was the greatest (representative) of all who were born of women, a man prophesied in the Word of the Old Testament. It is written, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5). Jesus Himself testified that the man who was prepared like this in the Old Testament was John the Baptist, saying that Elijah to come was John the Baptist. Therefore, John the Baptist baptized Jesus as the representative of mankind and the last High Priest of the age of the Old Testament, thus fulfilling his priesthood to pass the sins of the world. This duty of John the Baptist was set ◄

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by God. When we examine the lineage of John the Baptist, as seen in 1 Chronicles 24:10, we can see that the number of the High Priests, the descendants of Aaron, increased. Because of this, King David set an order by which they were to minister according to their divisions. Among these divisions, the division of “Abijah” was the eighth one allotted. Referring to John’s father Zacharias, Luke 1:9 says, “According to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.” This testifies that Zacharias, John’s father, was a priest who was born from the house of Abijah the High Priest. We can therefore see that John the Baptist was God’s servant who had the duty to pass the sins of the world to Jesus through baptism. That Jesus took upon the sins of the world through the baptism that He received from John

the Baptist is shown in various places in the Bible. Also in the Scriptures, the Apostles confessed in several places that Jesus took upon their sins through His baptism. Paul testified in Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” and the Apostle Peter also testified in 1 Peter 3:21, “There is also an antitype which now saves us— baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The Apostle John also testified in 1 John 5:5-8, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there ◄

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are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” Matthew also bore witness in Matthew 3:13-17, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:13-17 makes it clear that all righteousness was fulfilled as John the Baptist passed all the sins of everyone in the world to

Jesus by baptizing Him. Here, all righteousness refers to the righteousness of God that took all of everyone’s sins. Jesus could shoulder the sins of the world and carry them to the Cross because He was baptized. It is written, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Indeed, God the Father Himself bore witness of all these things: “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17). By being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus accepted all the sins of the world once for all, shouldered these sins, carried them to the Cross, shed His blood and died, and rose from the dead on the third day. He now sits at the right hand of ◄

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the throne of God, giving the blessing of the remission of sins to all those who have the faith that enables them to be baptized into Christ, and using them as His workers who preach the gospel of the righteousness of God. Even though the Holy Spirit testifies that the One to whom all the sins of the world were imputed is the Savior Jesus, people have failed to understand Him properly. As their spiritual eyes are not opened, they cannot see that the Lord shouldered the sins of the world by being baptized. They think that even without the baptism given by John the Baptist, it was okay for Jesus to do the work of salvation by Himself, and that He actually did so. However, Aaron the High Priest had freed the people of Israel from their yearly sins by passing these sins to the scapegoat through the laying on of his hands and by putting it to death according to the sacrificial system set by God in the Old Testament;

likewise, since Jesus Himself came to this earth as the Lamb of God, He absolutely needed John the Baptist, a descendant of Aaron and the representative of mankind who would pass all the sins of this world to Him. Therefore, Jesus carried out the work of salvation that fulfilled the righteousness of God together with John the Baptist according to the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. The sacrificial animal of the Old Testament accepted and died for only personal sins within a given period of time, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came as the sacrificial offering of the New Testament, had to accept all the timeless sins of mankind through John the Baptist, and be crucified to pay off the price of these sins. That is why the Bible says that we who were baptized into Christ were buried with Him. After Jesus was baptized, John the Baptist bore witness of Him, saying, “Behold! The Lamb ◄

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of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Without the testimony of John the Baptist, we cannot believe in the righteousness of God fulfilled by Jesus Christ. So, referring to John the Baptist, John 1:7 states, “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.” John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, testified that Jesus took away the sins of the world as written in John 1:29, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus could take away the sins the world precisely because He was baptized by John the Baptist. He then died on the Cross all because He had taken upon the sins of the world through His baptism. When we say that we were baptized into Christ, it means that we have united with Jesus by faith, by believing that He accepted all our sins when He was baptized by John the Baptist.

By the word “unite” here, I mean that our hearts should be united with Jesus by believing in everything that He did when He came to this earth. So we need to realize what it is that Jesus Christ did when He came to this earth, and we need to believe in it. What Jesus did when He came to this earth is this: He was baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30; He taught His disciples and testified the Truth for three years; He was crucified, and He rose from the dead on the third day. To believe in all these things is to unite with Christ by faith. That one is “baptized into Christ Jesus” means that he believes in all these things. This implies the belief that his sins were all passed onto Jesus. We must realize here that if we do not know the Truth that allows us to be baptized into Jesus Christ, our faith in Him would be all in vain. How can anyone claim to know Jesus without knowing the baptism that enables us to unite with ◄

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Christ? Despite this, the sad reality is that even Christians believe in Jesus without knowing this Truth. They are truly ignorant, for Christians throughout the whole world believe in Jesus without even realizing the mystery of the reason why Jesus was baptized. This Truth had been hidden since the end of the Early Church period until the present age. However, because He loves us, God has now revealed it to us in this age and time. Some people may then ask how this Truth could have been hidden for so long. But how can we say otherwise when this is the fact of the matter? Those who are baptized into Christ by faith become one body with Christ. And they become one with His death, resurrection, and the blessing of new life as well. Through the Book of Romans, Paul showed what it means to be baptized into Christ. The confession of faith that we make when we are

baptized in the name of Jesus is to confess that as Jesus was baptized and died on the Cross for us, He has become our Savior. It is from the Prophet John the Baptist that everyone in this world obtains the witness to Jesus. John the Baptist bore witness that Jesus accepted all the sins of this world most fittingly and most fairly through the method of baptism. All these things that Jesus did—that is, He came to this earth incarnated in the flesh, justly took upon all the sins of sinners by being baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood and died on the Cross, and rose from the dead again—were the righteous works of God. From the testimony of John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, we came to know Jesus, and by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, we came to be saved from all our sins. One comes to know and believe in Jesus as his Savior by realizing the true meaning of His ◄

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baptism and the reason why He shed His blood on the Cross.

United Faith “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” If we have received the remission of our sins by passing the sins of the world and all our sins to Him through His baptism, then we also ought to realize the spiritual truth that we ourselves had died spiritually along with Him. Put differently, it is indispensable to have the faith that passes our sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus, and it is also absolutely necessary to have the belief that we were also crucified to death with Jesus.

If one has passed the sins of the world and all his sins through the baptism of Jesus, then he also needs the belief that he died with Christ. That’s because even for those who have been born again by believing in the righteousness of God, as they try to follow Jesus Christ they still face many problems arising out of complex human relationships that are entangled in this world. In other words, the world holds back even the believers in the righteousness of God and does not want to let them go, appealing to their human attachments. That is why you need the spiritual faith, that you were baptized with Christ and crucified to death with Him. Only then can you live for the righteousness of God with a new life, because you are then resurrected back to life with Him, which is the third component of your proper faith. It is absolutely indispensable for anyone who ◄

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believes in God’s righteousness to have faith in these three things and to understand them profoundly. This is the truth Paul is speaking of here.

We Must Have the Faith That Unites Us with the Lord We must have the faith that unites our hearts with the baptism of Jesus and His death. It is written, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). So Romans 6:3 says, “As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.” This passage means that we believe with the heart that when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, He took upon all our sins once and for all. The Bible says that this is the united faith. And we must believe that

Jesus Christ died on the Cross after being baptized precisely because He had accepted all our sins through His baptism, and that He was crucified to pay the wages of all those sins. This is the faith that unites us with the baptism of Jesus and His death. It is only in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can have such united faith. Because of our offense, we could not reach the righteousness of God. But the Lord came to this earth about 2,000 years ago, took upon even more sins than just our own offenses once for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and as the price for this, He was crucified and shed His blood and died. It’s because the grace that has saved us like this is so great and so powerful that we believe in Jesus, and are united with Him. The Lord blotted out the sins of the world because He took them upon Himself once and for all, and therefore our sins were forever washed ◄

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away completely through His baptism and blood. Once we are born, we all commit sin for the rest of our lives. That’s why the Bible says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” This passage means that faith that is founded on the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross is the faith that is united with Him. We can be united with Christ only when we believe that the baptism of Jesus, who fulfilled the righteousness of God by being baptized by John the Baptist, is the mark of salvation through which He took upon all our sins. Who is the One that obeyed the will of God the Father? It is none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has saved you and me from the sins of the world and death through His baptism. My fellow believers, for you to have the faith that unites you with Jesus Christ, you must believe in the baptism He received from John the Baptist as

the baptism that passed your sins, and you must believe that your flesh died with His death. Since the Lord overcame death and lived again, thereby becoming the everlasting Savior for all of us who believe, you must also unite with His resurrection by faith. The Apostle Paul’s faith was also one that believed that Jesus saved sinners from sin by being baptized and shedding His blood on the Cross. Jesus has become our Savior and He has made those of us who believe in this Truth righteous. Although we cannot say we are righteous when seeing our deeds, because Jesus has blotted out all our sins with His baptism and His blood on the Cross, by faith we have become sinless. We have been remitted from all our sins by believing in the salvation that Jesus has brought to us; that He took upon the sins of the world once for all by being baptized, and that He paid off the wages of these sins by dying on the ◄

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Cross all at once. That is why the Apostle Paul spoke about being baptized and dying with Christ in Romans 6. And he also said in Galatians 3, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” My fellow believers, you can unite with the Lord only if you have the faith that knows the Truth. You need to realize just what kind of faith you must have in order to be baptized into Christ to receive new life with Him, and believe accordingly. Paul asked whether we should continue in sin so that grace may abound, since God has blotted out all our sins, but the answer is no. Of course, everyone actually continues to sin until the day he dies and stands before the Lord. But we sin because we are weak, not to add and enjoy the grace of salvation even more. “For if we have been united

together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,” This passage reflects the same faith of Paul that is revealed in Galatians 3:27, where he said, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Jesus Christ came to this earth to save sinners, was baptized by John the Baptist to accept all the sins of the world once for all, and once He accepted them all, He carried them to the Cross and died. By thus crucifying our old selves, He has made it impossible for us to live for this world again. Those who believe in the baptism of the Lord and His shed blood on the Cross believe in His resurrection, and they enjoy everlasting life with Him. It is by believing in the baptism of Christ, His death and resurrection that we become victors united with Jesus. Have you united with Jesus Christ? If you have united with Jesus Christ, then you would be ◄

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persecuted together with Him for the righteousness of God and to spread this righteousness. But together with Him, your soul and body will be brought to life and enjoy everlasting life and eternal blessings. If you truly believe in the righteousness of God, then you should unite with His baptism, with His death, and with His resurrection, all by faith. Realize that only this faith is the faith that truly makes you united with God. May all of your hearts have this faith that unites you with Christ. Hallelujah! By spiritual faith, we can receive the remission of our sins; by spiritual faith, we can die on the Cross; and by true faith, we can be resurrected and become God’s spiritual children. When Jesus was baptized, He spoke about all of these four spiritual domains. First of all, that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, means that He took

upon the sins of the world and your sins as well. That Jesus was baptized and submerged into the water implies that for the price of all these sins, He would be condemned—His death, in other words. That after He was baptized He came out of the water—from death, that is—implies His resurrection. Those who believe in all these things together will receive the right to become God’s children. Through this baptism, all these things were implicitly spoken, and faith in this is the faith that is truly united. Anyone who is baptized into Christ by faith is baptized into His death. Then, the person who can believe in this is united with Christ. Do you believe in God united with Jesus? You must be baptized into the Lord, die to sin united together with the Lord, and receive new life. What does it mean to be baptized into His death? It means that when Jesus was baptized, He fulfilled all righteousness—that is, He took upon everyone’s ◄

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sins. It is by believing in this that we have been washed from all our sins. For example, let’s assume that someone you know is heavily in debt, and you feel such a pity for him that you want to pay it off for him. But if you want to do this only in your mind and you do not actually pay off the debt, then the debt is not really paid off. To pay back this debt, you actually have to put into action what is in your mind and make the payment. You have to receive a receipt indicating its payment, and the debtor must actually accept this reality into his heart— only then does he become debt-free. When the Lord came to this earth to blot out our sins, He did the same thing: Our Lord, too, paid off the wages of all the sins of the world. He took away all our sins, and with His baptism and His blood on the Cross, Jesus paid off all the wage of our sins. Our Lord accepted all our sins, each and every sin that you and I have ever

committed since the day we were born and will ever commit until the day we die, whether committed with our hearts or deeds, intentionally or unintentionally. It was to take upon all these sins that Jesus was baptized. Indeed, you have been wholly freed from the debt of sin, for it has been paid off in its entirety by Jesus Christ. Because Jesus accepted our sins onto His body by being baptized by John the Baptist, He could pay them off by shedding His blood on the Cross. It was fitting for Jesus to be baptized, as He said to John the Baptist, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” He took upon all sins, each and every sin of the world. However, many people are still trying to fit this Truth of the baptism and death of Jesus into the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification only as a matter of theology. But this kind of faith that is placed in the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification is not the faith that is united with ◄

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Jesus Christ. Although people say that Jesus has blotted out all our sins, they see themselves continuing to commit sin, and so they come to rely on the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification. However, all your sins were blotted out by Jesus in a single instance. To believe in this is the faith that unites with Christ. Jesus took upon all your sins by being baptized, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead again, and thereby making you whole. It was to blot out your sins that our Lord was baptized; it was to pay off the wages of your sins that He died on the Cross; and it was to give new life to you and me that He rose from the dead again. You must therefore have this kind of faith that is united with the Lord. We must all unite with Him. You must repent and turn around from faith in the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification and unite with Jesus by placing your faith in the gospel of the water and the

Spirit. The Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification is nothing more than a man-made, religious doctrine.

We Must Unite with the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit You and I must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit uniting our hearts with it. Why? Because God has saved you and me from our sins, we must therefore unite our hearts with this righteousness of God and believe in it. My fellow believers, you must unite your hearts with the righteous works Christ has done for you. Whoever believes that Jesus took away all his sins is baptized into His baptism. You must have the faith that unites with Jesus, believing that all your sins were also passed onto Jesus when He was baptized. ◄

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There is only one Person who can save you from your endless sins. Everyone must know what Jesus Christ did, accept it into his heart, and unite with Him. To believe like this is the proper faith. My fellow believers, you must believe that Jesus blotted out the sins of the world by being baptized and dying, and that He rose from the dead again. You must receive the remission of your sins by believing with the heart united with the Word of God, not reject it in your own thoughts. You must accept the baptism, death, and resurrection of Christ that He fulfilled for you. Only then can your heart be at peace and your faith can be approved as true faith. To everyone in this world, this Truth of Jesus’ baptism and death is now being preached. So the work of salvation is unfolding all over the world, as countless people are truly reaching their salvation and receiving eternal life by accepting

this gospel. Yet even so, those who believe in their own thoughts are unable to unite their hearts with this Truth, saying incredulously, “How can I be sinless when I am committing so many sins out of my weaknesses?” However, it is precisely because you are weak that God has saved you from your many weaknesses; all by sending His only begotten Son, making Him accept all your sins by being baptized, putting Him to death on the Cross, and raising Him from the dead again. Some people think that there are certain sins that can never be forgiven. One of them is the sin of adultery; whereas all other sins are committed outside of the body, adultery is committed inside the body, and so they think, regard, and believe that this sin cannot be forgiven. However, did Jesus ever say that He did not take away the sin of adultery? Is the sin of adultery then not a sin of this world? In the righteousness of God that ◄

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fulfilled all righteousness and took away all sins, this sin of adultery is also included. That’s why the woman caught in adultery could receive the remission of sins by believing in Jesus (John 8:11). However, my fellow believers, there is one sin before God that cannot be forgiven. This is the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is the sin of refusing to accept the Lord’s work, and instead blaspheming, standing against, and not believing in the righteousness of God. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the sin that prevents one from receiving the remission of his sins. Anyone who commits this sin cannot have the faith that makes him united with Jesus Christ, and he actually ends up standing against God. The religionists do not have the faith that unites them with Jesus Christ, God Himself. That’s why they are all bound to hell.

What Must We Then Do to Unite by Faith with His Death? “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” We must have the faith that unites us with Jesus Christ so that we would no longer serve this world and the lustful flesh. Paul said here that now that he was dead to this world and no longer belonged to it, he could be a slave to the righteousness of God. Do you have the faith that has partaken of the baptism of Jesus Christ and the Cross? Those who have this faith no longer live as slaves to sin, nor do they live for this world, but they live only for the Kingdom of God. The faith that Paul is speaking of demands the kind of faith that is united with Jesus Christ. He is admonishing us not to just stop at receiving the ◄

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remission of our sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, but to reach the kind of faith that allows us to die spiritually on the Cross with Jesus Christ, to work with Him, and to enter into His Kingdom together. This faith is the faith that is united with Christ. Those who now have united with Christ by faith are no longer slaves to sin or to the people of this world, but they are slaves to the righteousness of God, living their lives to serve His work with His Church. If you would also like to live this kind of life, then you should have the faith that unites you with the baptism of Christ and His death. Then the salvation of God, the glory of death, and even the glory of resurrection will be yours. Such is the faith that Paul spoke of. Our old selves were crucified with Christ Jesus by faith. This faith is attainable only when we unite our hearts with the righteousness of God. Through the unity of faith, we were

crucified with Christ. Paul said, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:5-11). In other words, Paul told us to unite with Christ by faith. Jesus accepted the sins of the world by being baptized and was crucified to shed His blood and die. Our Lord Himself came to this earth, bore all ◄

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our sins, and died for us in our place. You must all realize this, believe in it, and unite with it by faith. For us who have united with the Word of God, our old selves that had been in sin died by faith. Although we still have the flesh that has not changed much, our flesh actually died together with Jesus when He died on the Cross. Our old selves had been slaves to sin, but now we have become servants of righteousness by faith. The Apostle Paul told us to “reckon” that our sins had died on the Cross with Christ, and here the word “reckon” means that this is how we should realize, how we should believe, and how we should unite. None other than this faith is the real faith in the Truth. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony” (Hebrews 11:1-2). Our proper faith that pleases God is one that believes with the heart in unity that Jesus

came to this earth, took upon all our sins through His baptism, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby given us new life. If we believe in the righteousness of God revealed in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then we come to unite with Him. Our united faith is one where we pass our sins to Jesus through John the Baptist, die with Jesus on the Cross, live again with Jesus, receive new life from Jesus, and enter the Kingdom of God with Jesus. This is why the Apostle Paul said that before we met the Lord—that is, before we were baptized into Christ by faith, died through faith with Christ, and received new life into Christ— we were all just slaves to sin. Paul spoke about such old selves, and he also said that such old selves have already died with Christ. As the Lord has saved us, who had all been slaves to sin, and as we believe in this, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit God has made us ◄

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His servants who now follow His will and obey His righteous work. However, we who have become servants of God are sometimes still insufficient and weak. But because of our faith that has united us with the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood, we still have no sin at all. That is right. Clearly, our old selves had been wholly slaves to sin, 100 percent. But we have now been 100 percent freed from this slavery to sin, and we have now become slaves to righteousness. Everyone commits sin. Some people might say to the righteous, “Since you have no sin at all, then I suppose you wouldn’t commit any sin at all either?” But the Bible says, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). It is because we have united with Jesus Christ that we are righteous. Although we still sin, we are without sin. This is God’s amazing work. God has made us sinless

even though we still cannot help but commit sin. This is the omnipotent power of God and His perfect salvation. God has given us the perfect salvation. Before, we were to reach death as disobedient servants, but now we have reached righteousness as obedient servants. Even after receiving the remission of our sins, our flesh still remains insufficient and we commit sin, but despite this, through our united faith we have become the servants of righteousness, doing what is right. Having received the remission of our sins, in other words, we are now at least qualified to do what is right, becoming someone who does the right thing. Even though we are still insufficient, we are now capable of doing the right thing if we would only devote our hearts to it even slightly. Therefore, we should not offer our bodies to unrighteousness, but we should now offer our remaining lives to what is right and bear the ◄

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fruits of righteousness. Our Lord has permitted us to bear abundant fruits of righteousness. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of our God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ came to this earth as the King, the Priest and the Prophet, and to take upon all our sins as the High Priest of Heaven, He offered His body as the sacrificial offering. Jesus, who became our propitiation, was baptized for us, died for us on the Cross, and has thereby saved you and me. With the Word, Jesus Christ has awakened us to know and realize what life is, what man is, what the beginning and the end of the world are, and what the origin and result of sin are. Jesus Christ is fundamentally the God of creation, the King of kings and the Judge. The gift of God that is found in this Christ is everlasting life for us. That’s right. By faith we have received eternal life and become the servants of righteousness.

We must therefore unite by faith and live as the servants of righteousness. For those who have received the remission of their sins and become righteous, they at least have the faith that has united their hearts with the baptism of Jesus, enabled them to die united together with His death, and brought new life to them united together with His resurrection. Anyone who has become a righteous person by this faith is at least a servant of righteousness; someone who lives the life of righteousness doing what is right. In other words, by uniting with Jesus Christ and believing in Him, we have become those who are to receive everlasting life at the end. However, those whose end is hell cannot unite their hearts with what Jesus did for them, and therefore they still have sin. Like this, anyone who fails to be born again as a righteous person will bear the punishment of hell as the price of his sins. The faith that is ignorant of God’s ◄

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righteousness is not the faith that is united with Christ. Paul said that the gift of God is eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, there is remission of sins and everlasting life. We can also do what is right as the servants of righteousness. However, if we do not believe that Jesus Christ has saved us, and we do not unite our hearts with Him, then we will all be cast into hell, for the wages of sin is death. That is why the Apostle Paul said that we must offer our bodies to God as the instruments of righteousness. As such, having faith in both the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross is extremely important. We must not take Jesus’ baptism lightly. If Christians were to believe in Jesus leaving His baptism out, then all their hearts would be bound by sin. They may profess to believe in Jesus everyday, but they will still remain as sinners always. Christians all over the world now believe in

the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification rather than the righteousness of God. As a result, even the believers in Jesus are living bound by sin together with the unbelievers. They must believe in the righteousness of God as soon as possible and be freed from all their sins. We should thank God for the fact that He has saved those who believe in His righteousness from sin and made it possible for them to live as the instruments of righteousness and its servants. God also said that the wages of sin is death, and that anyone who has even the smallest of all sins would be cast into hell. But He has blotted out all our sins, leaving absolutely none behind. We should all thank the Lord for saving us like this, who had all been destined to hell, for turning us into the army of righteousness, and for giving us everlasting life. Although our flesh is insufficient, those of us who believe in this gospel are servants of ◄

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righteousness. Even as we go astray because of our insufficiencies, if we turn around and serve God’s gospel, then we immediately regain our glorious status as the servants of righteousness. Since Jesus has blotted out all our sins, we can always live as the servants of righteousness. Because we are the servants of righteousness, our hearts are joyful when we do righteous works and gloomy when we fail to do them. If our purpose is in line with God’s purpose, and if we set our hearts on this purpose, then our hearts are joyful. If, on the other hand, we pursue our own lusts, then our hearts are troubled and tormented. Why? Because we are servants of righteousness. You must believe in the Lord and unite with Him. I cannot thank God enough. It is written, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Literally, the wages of sin—that is, the price of sin—is death. If one has sin, he must die for its price.

Spiritually speaking, anyone who has sin is to be cast into hell. “So I am then bound to hell. No matter how others might see me, whether they see me as decent and deem my faith as good, since I have sin in my heart, I am still bound to hell.” When you saw yourself accurately like this, as someone who was bound to hell because of the sins in your heart, you could then believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and be saved from all your sins by faith. My fellow believers, the righteousness of man may be approved by human beings, but it cannot be approved by God. Through the righteousness of man one cannot meet God, nor can he enter into Christ. Therefore, one must examine himself carefully before God, turn around from his religious faith, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the righteousness of God, and thereby be wholly saved from his sins. ◄

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My fellow believers, you must believe in God united together with the baptism of Jesus Christ, His death of the Cross, and His resurrection, which constitute God’s righteousness. You may have a bowlful of salt in the kitchen cabinet, but if you don’t actually put it on your food, it does not taste salty at all. Likewise, even though God’s perfection salvation is all prepared for you, if you do not take it into your heart, it is useless for you. Only when you accept the Word of God into your heart and believe in it wholeheartedly does salvation becomes yours. Then the Holy Spirit comes into your heart, there is everlasting life for you, and you become a servant of righteousness. If you otherwise do not believe and do not accept it into your heart, then the Word of God is irrelevant to you without any benefit at all. What I am truly thankful to God for is the fact that I have become a servant who has united with

Jesus by believing in His baptism and blood. Before I came into the Lord, I could not become a servant of righteousness no matter how much I wanted to, because I did not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit despite professing to believe in the Lord. At all times, I had been only a slave to sin. However, now I have become a servant of righteousness. Have you also become a servant of righteousness? Even though you and I are insufficient, if we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then we are always servants of righteousness. Having obtained the righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are now the servants of God’s righteousness at all times. Although we are insufficient in our flesh, we have become servants of righteousness who know the will of God and who are capable of doing what is right at anytime. We live the kind of life that’s united with God’s will. We do what ◄

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God has entrusted to us with thanksgiving, and we are always living as servants of righteousness. You and I are servants of righteousness. We cannot become slaves to sin. As the Apostle Paul specifically explained in Romans, we had been slaves to sin before, but we have now become slaves to righteousness. By believing in Christ united with His baptism and blood, we have become servants of righteousness. Our character may have flaws, but we are still servants of righteousness. We may be lazy, but we are still servants of righteousness; and we may be insufficient and make countless mistakes, but we are still servants of righteousness always, for we believe in this Truth. The heavens may split in two, this earth may break into a thousand pieces, the oceans may rise up to cover the earth, and this planet may all disappear; but we are still servants of the righteousness of God forever. We will live as the

servants of righteousness and enter the everlasting Kingdom that God has prepared for us. My fellow believers, are you struggling to live as the servants of righteousness in this treacherous world? Ask God for help then. God said that even as we are in trials, He would provide us with a way out. Stop worrying and ask for His help. God already knows everything. God has called those whom He already knew, justified those whom He called, glorified those whom He justified, and is always in union with us. Having raised us as His servants of righteousness, and made us do His righteous work and have the faith that is truly united with Him, God will take us to the Kingdom of righteousness in His time. I give thanks and glory to Him. “For he who has died has ◄

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been freed from sin.” Anyone who believes in the righteousness of God absolutely needs the faith of spiritual death where he himself was also crucified with Jesus Christ. Only when one has the experience of faith to be crucified with Christ can he offer himself to God’s righteous works while living in this world. If you have the spiritual faith of being crucified with Christ, then you can live as servants of God’s righteousness like Paul. Before, when I found it hard to dedicate my entire life to God’s work, and unable to cut myself off from this world, I had a moment of reflection. At that time, I realized that Jesus Christ took upon my sins by being baptized, and that when He died on the Cross, I had died there also. I was awakened to the realization that because Jesus Christ died on the Cross for taking upon the sins of the world through His baptism, His death was my death. I then came to the

inevitable conclusion: “When Jesus Christ was crucified, He died while shouldering my sins at that time. So doesn’t this then mean that I was crucified also? How could I, who was already crucified, say that I am alive?” So because I had died at that time, I could then dedicate myself entirely only to God’s righteous works, no longer concerned about my relationship with the people of this world. What Paul spoke about here is this faith.

United Together with Him “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,” The Apostle Paul said that only those who died with Christ by believing in Him will live with Him. That’s right. Whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit where the ◄

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righteousness of God is revealed will receive the remission of his sins, and he will also be crucified with Jesus. However, the problem is that we think we are still alive, when in fact we were crucified to death with Christ. All of us must be remitted from all our sins through Christ, be crucified with Christ, and have the faith of hope that we will live with Christ. We need such faith of hope because God has decided that those of us who believe in His righteousness would take part in the first resurrection with Him on the last day. Therefore, we must have the faith that will enable us to obtain our resurrection when the time of the Millennial Kingdom comes, and to reign for a thousand years as God’s children. We must also believe that when the Millennial Kingdom is over, we will then enter the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven and live there forever. That is because Jesus Christ, having

been baptized, died on the Cross, and risen from the dead again, went to the Kingdom of the Father. Therefore, we the believers in the righteousness of God also believe that just as He rose from the dead again to live forever, we, too, will live again. Since we believe in the first resurrection, it is clear that we would live again. Do you have such faith? God has given such faith and such blessings to the righteous. “Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.” Death no longer has dominion over the believers in the righteousness of God, and the reason for this is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to live again. To become someone who is no longer ruled by death is precisely to become a true Christian. So we are reminded once again what a great joy and blessing this is. ◄

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Death can no longer have dominion over the saints. That is why the saints are to live forever. We are then led to wonder, “What would the saints do then, and what would they enjoy in their eternal lives?” God said that the saints would live for eternity enjoying splendid glory with Him. Perhaps one may think that not to die is a tragedy. Only someone who still has not been freed from sin would have this kind of thought. In contrast, the believers who have received the remission of sins by believing in God’s righteousness are happy, for all their sadness and curses have disappeared, and there are only everlasting joy and blessings for them. Death can no longer have dominion over the righteous ever again precisely because the righteous have attained eternal life by believing in the righteousness of God. Death is now forever incapable of ruling over the righteous. That’s

because God has made it so. “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Jesus’ death on the Cross was effective because He had taken upon the sins of the world once for all through His baptism. Jesus Christ came to this earth to blot out the sins of all humanity. He died because of the sins of the world, and His death was a death suffered for all human beings. Yet despite this, there are not many people who believe that His baptism and death are actually their blessings. His resurrection was to bring all human beings back to life from death. This Truth, however, is also known by only a few. To save us from death, Jesus Christ was not only baptized, but He was also crucified and rose from the dead again. As such, His death was the ◄

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Truth of everlasting love that He fulfilled before God the Father in order to save you and me. “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The phrase “reckon yourselves” here means that we should believe and consider this. We are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. In other words, we are dead to this world, but in God we have been brought back to life. That is why the Apostle Paul is admonishing the saints to live with living faith. Romans 6:10-11 states, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When Paul said here to “reckon” ourselves, he was not talking about the Doctrine of Justification. He

was telling us to believe that we have become righteous in God’s righteousness. In other words, Paul was saying that we have been brought to life by believing in the righteousness of God. “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now, therefore, we who believe in this Truth have also attained eternal life by believing that Jesus Christ bore all our sins when He was baptized, that we died with Him when He died on the Cross, and that we were born again as God’s children when He was resurrected. It is by believing this with the heart that we have been saved from all our sins. You must know exactly how Jesus Christ has saved you from your sins and believe in it. Jesus has saved you from all your sins by accepting them through His baptism and by being condemned for them on the Cross. Therefore, you actually died with Jesus Christ and were ◄

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brought to life with Him. The phrase “reckon yourselves” here means that we should believe, “Our old selves died and we were brought back to life again in Jesus Christ.” By saying, “Reckon yourselves,” Paul is admonishing you to have this faith. Those who have been saved from sin by believing in the righteousness of God no longer live for their own flesh. They now live for this righteousness of God. As such, the biggest reason why God has made us live on this earth is to expand His Kingdom through us, the bornagain. If we have truly been born again from sin by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then we should have the right faith, realize how we ought to live and for what purpose God has left us on this earth, and live the rest of our lives according to His will. For what should we the born-again live from now on? We must live with a clear purpose for the spreading of the gospel of

the water and the Spirit. The carnal thoughts of man are all wicked. However, for the born-again there is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The righteous know how to be spiritually minded. Since the righteous know what pleases God, they must clearly set the direction of their lives toward the life of righteousness. Only then can they live for God’s righteousness for the rest of their lives and deliver the souls that have fallen into sin. My fellow believers, we need to think carefully here. After being born again, we at first may not easily discern how we should live. But as we hear the Word and are led by the Holy Spirit, we gradually begin to think about the spiritual, righteous work of God. As we ponder, “What will happen if I live like this? What is my purpose for life, and what should I live for?” we ◄

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eventually come to realize clearly that we must live for the righteousness of God. We must know and realize what it is that pleases God, make it our goal, and run toward this goal without losing its sight. We, the born-again, can follow our flesh or follow the Holy Spirit. We may do either. If a sailing boat does not have a rudder, it can only go in whatever direction the wind blows. However, if the boat has a sail and it has a rudder at the stern to steer it, although this boat is propelled by the force of the wind, the rudder can set its direction. Like this, it is only when we entrust our thoughts and faith to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we can move forth in the right direction. We must think about God’s work and ignore our carnal thoughts. We must discern the will of God and advance boldly by faith toward the lost souls of this world for the expansion of

the Kingdom of God. Only then can we live out our faith until the end of our lives as the servants of righteousness.

Offer Your Bodies as Instruments of Righteousness to God “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” The bodies and hearts of the saints have now been enabled to practice the righteousness of God. As such, they are someone who is capable of living for God’s righteousness. This passage reveals just how completely blessed the saints ◄

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have become. Since the righteous are now able to live their lives practicing the righteousness of God, they are the most blessed ones among all human beings. Think about it. People cannot avoid committing sin and live under its oppression; yet they have now been enabled and blessed to practice the righteousness of God. Do you not see what a great blessing this is? We who believe in the righteousness of God have now been blessed to live our lives practicing righteousness before God. I thank God for this. I give Him glory. I give all my thanks to Him for blessing us to live righteously. In chapter 6, the Apostle Paul clarified how the righteous should now live their lives by referring to the Word of Jesus’ baptism. It is by believing in the baptism of Jesus, His blood on the Cross, and His resurrection that we have become perfectly righteous people. If we had

believed in Jesus without the gospel of His baptism and of His blood on the Cross for us to be saved from our sins, could we have obtained the righteousness of God? Jesus Christ was baptized and died on the Cross for us. But if He had not taken upon all the sins of the world when He was baptized by John the Baptist, then His death on the Cross and our faith in it would all have been in vain. Only those who believe that the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus because He was baptized by John the Baptist can come to have the righteousness of God. God has surely clothed all the believing souls in His righteousness. It is written, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1) While we who are still living in the flesh have attained the righteousness of God, we cannot continue in sin so that the grace of God may abound. The Bible says, “How shall we who ◄

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died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” My fellow believers, the Bible clearly states that we were baptized into His death. In other words, because Jesus Christ was baptized and crucified, anyone who believes in this is dead to sin, but he is now alive to righteousness. This is possible only by faith. The Lord accepted the sins of the world through His baptism and He died on the Cross instead of sinners. Our Lord is fundamentally sinless from His origin. Yet Jesus still shouldered all the sins of the world through His baptism to save sinners from these sins, and for them He shed His blood and was condemned on the Cross. Do you believe in this, my fellow believers? Do you believe that the sinless Lord was baptized to take upon all the sins of the world, including your personal sins, and was condemned on the

Cross for you? It was for all of us that Jesus Christ was baptized and condemned. It is written, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” Those who believe in Christ as their Savior were baptized into Jesus and were resurrected together with Him. The Apostles placed extraordinary emphasis on the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. They preached Jesus’ baptism and blood as the remission of sins. That the Apostles emphasized Jesus’ baptism in their preaching is not biblically unsound. The people of Israel in the Old Testament were remitted from their sins by laying their hands on the head of their sin offerings and passing their sins onto them. In the same manner, Jesus also accepted all the sinners’ trespasses and sins once for all through His baptism, and He died in their place for them. Jesus was our propitiation that atoned for all the sins of the world once and for all. He was ◄

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baptized by John the Baptist to be the Scapegoat for all mankind. Like the Old Testament’s sacrificial offering of atonement, Jesus accepted all the sins of mankind by receiving His baptism from John the Baptist. The baptism of Jesus was our baptism. The death of Jesus was the death of the believers. We who believe in Jesus were baptized into Jesus Christ and died on the Cross together with Him. However, anyone who is not baptized into Jesus by faith—that is, anyone who does not believe in His baptism—is not someone who has been wholly saved. Such a faithless person cannot deny himself, nor can he overcome the world by faith. Only those who believe that the baptism of Jesus is absolutely essential for their salvation believe that they themselves have died in this baptism of Jesus. Only those who believe in Jesus’ baptism believe that all the sins of mankind were passed onto Him through His

baptism, and only those people can be saved from any and all sins by faith. At the core of salvation that remits away our sins is faith in the baptism Jesus received. No matter how Jesus died on the Cross, if He had not taken upon all the sins of the sinners of this world through His baptism beforehand, then His death would have been in vain. As such, the crux of the righteousness of God lies in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. My fellow believers, all of us must believe that all our sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized, and we must also believe that He was crucified to die for our sins. That is why the Apostle Paul said, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” We who were baptized into Christ Jesus have received the remission of our sins by faith, died with Him, and have been brought back to life together with Him by faith. My fellow ◄

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believers, to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and God Himself, to believe in His baptism and His blood on the Cross, and to believe in His resurrection from death—this is the giant faith founded on the rock. Paul said, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:4-5). What about you then? Do you also believe in this? The faith that can unite us together with God is the faith that is placed in the baptism of Jesus, His death on the Cross, and the newness of life of His resurrection. Now, whoever believes in Jesus Christ died with Him and was resurrected with Him by believing in His baptism. My fellow believers,

the born-again do not live according to their old ways. The reason why we must deny all our old ways is because our old selves have died. The Apostle Paul says, “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). By believing in the righteousness of God, we have become new. Our Lord was baptized in the Jordan River to take upon Himself our sins, He shed His blood and died on the Cross, He rose from the dead again, and He has thereby saved us from all our sins. All our tragedies of life and all our injuries and sadness inflicted by sin have disappeared now, and having received new life by faith, we have now come to live new lives. Salvation is the beginning of a new life. You and I who have been saved and born again are to live new lives from now on. Once we receive the remission of our sins, the difficult, bitter task of denying ourselves ◄

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invariably awaits all of us. It is at that time we must believe that we had died with Christ and were brought to life with Him. As Paul said, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:10-11). This is the faith that is united with Jesus. Of the things that the Lord did for us, it is by believing in His baptism, in the Cross, and in His resurrection that we can unite with Him. We believe in our Lord’s birth, baptism, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming. Faith in this Truth is the faith that saves us from all our sins, the faith that enables us to escape from condemnation, and the faith that is placed in the righteousness of God. This then, is the faith that is united with Christ.

Offer Your Body as an Instrument of Righteousness “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” No sin whatsoever can reign over the believers in the righteousness of God. That’s because the believers in God’s righteousness are no longer placed under His Law. That they are not under the wrath of the Law of God is because they are now under God’s righteous law of salvation. For the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, sin cannot have dominion over them. This is why we can all live in the righteousness of God practicing it at all times. On the face of this planet, those who can live practicing the righteousness of God are only the righteous people who believe in it. So the saints are the truly noble ones on this earth. That’s ◄

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because they have faith in the gospel Word of the righteousness of God. They are the ones who will reign in the Millennial Kingdom, and they are the ones who will live with God in His eternal Kingdom. I thank God for giving His righteousness to those living on this earth. From now on, the saints will live forever practicing righteousness. I thank the Lord for giving us such a righteous life. Verse 14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” This passage tells us that no matter what flaws we might have, we will never be under sin again. Since we are still in the flesh, many insufficiencies will continue to be exposed as we live on in this world. But for us who have come under grace by believing in God’s righteousness, there can be no sin in our hearts. Because of the baptism of the Lord and His condemnation of blood on the Cross, we can

never revert back to being sinners ever again. All of us are still insufficient. That is we sin, but this sin can never have dominion over us again. So that sin may no longer reign over us no matter what insufficiencies we might have, our Lord took upon all the sins of the world by being baptized, cleansed us from all our sins once for all by shedding His blood, and with this Truth He has made us sinless. Jesus has paid off the wages of our sins with His baptism and His blood on the Cross. Because our Lord has already paid off the wages of our sins with His baptism and His blood on the Cross, all who believe in this are clearly without sin. Even the saints who have received the remission of sins cannot help but continue to commit sin everyday because of their insufficiencies. In faith, however, sin cannot have dominion over them, and moreover there is actually no sin in their hearts before the Lord. ◄

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Therefore, they can always live in newness of life. The Lord has blessed the righteous to live renewed everyday. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Paul says here that even those who are capable of practicing the righteousness of God still need their own determination not to sin. Although God has blessed the righteous to practice righteousness, they can still commit sin if they intentionally want to sin. So we can see that even those who have been blessed to practice righteousness in their lives must still be able to control themselves. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you

are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Once one becomes a righteous person, he is forever righteous. Therefore, the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit may be described as someone who believes in the righteousness of God before Him. Anyone who believes in this gospel is saved from all sins. However, this is not all that there is to the spiritual life. Even if one has become righteous by faith, every time he serves to spread God’s righteousness he becomes a slave to righteousness. But if he otherwise fails to do so he becomes a slave of sin. We can become either servants of righteousness or slaves of sin. So depending on whether or not we obey the will of God, we either live as the servants of righteousness or fail to do so. In other words, it tells us that in each and every moment in our ◄

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lives, we sometimes live as the slaves of sin, and other times as the servants of righteousness. This is what the passage means. “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” By nature, the believers in the righteousness of God had also lived as the slaves of sin. But once they believed in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, they were made righteous and were freed from their sins. For anyone to be freed from the sins of the world by himself is actually more difficult than to harvest the stars in the sky. But since people think that they can somehow harvest the stars in the sky with their own devotion, they are trying so hard to blot out their sins by devoting themselves to lead pious

religious lives. However, no religion in this world whatsoever can ever blot out the sins of the world. Even Christianity is taken and believed by many as no more than one of the many religions of the world. But with this kind of religious faith, even Christians cannot blot out their sins at all. Only the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God can and has indeed blotted out the sins of the world. Therefore, only the believers in the righteousness of God can serve it, because only they are qualified to serve this righteousness. This is the gift of God that has come to the believers thanks to His righteousness. Those who have been made righteous have become servants who serve the righteousness of God. They have received the privileged blessing to live as the servants of righteousness for the rest of their lives, if they only so desire. So we are thankful to God. ◄

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“God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin.” By nature, we, too, had been slaves of sin. Before we received the remission of our sins, we were all experts at committing all kinds of sins. “God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Indeed, we who have become righteous by faith are the free people who can now do what is righteous, completely liberated from sin and capable of practicing righteousness. As the righteous, we have become slaves to righteousness who can practice God’s righteousness. “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as

slaves of righteousness for holiness.” Depending on where you offer your bodies, you either become slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin. Therefore, we must offer our hearts and bodies to the righteousness of God and live holy lives for our remaining lifetime. Where do we want do offer our bodies? Do we want to offer our bodies to God’s righteous work, or do we want to offer them to uncleanness and lawlessness? This free choice is up to each and every one of us who believe in God’s righteousness. So Paul is admonishing us to set our hearts wisely. Do you want to live as a righteous servant before God for the rest of your lifetime? Then do so. Have you still not made up your mind? Then you will end up turning into a slave of sin. May the peace of the righteousness of God be with you.

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“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” This passage tells us that although the righteous that are living as slaves of sin are free to serve the righteousness of God, because they offered themselves to sin, they became slaves of sin. Here, we need to pay particular attention to the word “free.” The righteous are free to do whatever and serve whomever they wish. But it is proper for them to be bound to serve the righteousness of God. The saints and servants of God who are not bound by His righteous work are prone to degenerate into dissolute lives and may very well become slaves of sin. Therefore, given that we are free to do what is right, we should not squander this freedom to debauchery. Instead, we should be bound by what is right and remain slaves to righteousness for the rest of our lives. This is what Paul is trying to tell us here.

“What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.” The consequences of sin are completely devoid of any benefit. Paul is admonishing us here to cast aside the lifestyle that we had led before we were born again, and to now live bound by God’s righteous works. The righteous must live bound by the righteous work of God. For the righteous to try to escape from the bondage of righteous work is akin to trying to serve sin. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” The righteous who live all their lives bound by righteous work are given the righteous title and honor as God’s servants, and have eternal life. ◄

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The righteous must live bound by righteous work. If one lives bound by righteous work, then he has been blessed to live a holy life. Do not reject this life of privilege. On the contrary, you should be thankful that you are bound for righteousness. That is Paul’s desire for you and God’s Word of admonishment. Do you volunteer to be bound by God’s righteous work? My fellow believers, once we receive the remission of sins, what should we then do with our bodies? How are our bodies? There is no sin in our hearts, but our bodies often fall into sin, for they are fundamentally weak. Therefore, only when we offer our bodies to the righteous work of God can we avoid continuing in sin. My fellow believers, after being saved by believing in the righteousness of God, there might be times when you think, “Am I really sinless, even as my body is this weak?” However, it is beyond any doubt whatsoever that anyone

who believes in the Lord’s baptism, the Cross, resurrection, return and judgment has no sin. All who believe in the righteousness of God are without sin. Once we receive the remission of our sins by believing in God’s righteousness, we must offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness. Our hearts desire to do what is right, but it’s also true that this is difficult for us to do, for our bodies are too weak. Therefore, as the Bible says, “But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7), we need to exercise ourselves. We have to continue to try to spread the gospel, precisely because it’s hard to achieve it all at once. You may wonder, “Should I hand out gospel pamphlets to people? Wouldn’t I be embarrassed if I meet someone I know?” It may be embarrassing at first, but when you muster up enough courage to do it once, and continue to do ◄

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it several times, then eventually you will come to think, “What does it matter, now that I am already dead?” And you will be able to shout out boldly, “Receive this gospel pamphlet! See and believe in the gospel and receive the remission of your sins!” My fellow believers, as you offer your bodies to the work of righteousness step by step, gradually your entire bodies will be offered to the righteous work of God. As Paul admonished us in Romans chapter 6 to present our members as slaves of righteousness for holiness, we need to train our bodies as instruments of righteousness as often as possible. Even if our flesh makes mistakes while doing the work of righteousness, we shouldn’t stumble or despair, but we should instead continue to carry out the work. Attending God’s Church is the same: You can discover the spiritual joy of coming to Church and hearing the Word only if you actually come to Church as

often as possible. If only your heart is in the Church and your body is sitting at home, then nothing can be accomplished. In contrast, once you offer your flesh to righteous work and continue to do so even if you think you are not good at spiritual work, you will eventually see faith growing stronger in your heart. My fellow believers, you must offer your bodies as slaves of righteousness. Do you realize this now? If your heart desires to unite with Christ, and yet your body is somewhere else, then without meaning to, you may very well turn into God’s enemy and stand against Him. The believers in the righteousness of God must discipline their bodies. That is why the Apostle Paul told us to obey God’s righteousness. It is when we are led and reined by the righteousness of God that we are used as instruments of righteousness. Even for the righteous who have received the remission of ◄

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sins, if they are not reigned by righteousness in their lives, then they are bound to claim their bodies as their own and follow the lusts of the flesh. That is why the Bible tells us to offer our bodies in obedience to the Lord as instruments of the righteousness of God. To be saved by faith takes only a moment’s decision, but to follow the righteousness of God is our lifework. Depending on where we place our bodies, our lives may change. When we offer our bodies to righteous works, our hearts and bodies are always clean. Soon after being saved from our sins, we are not quite sure how we should live; but we must live centered around God’s Church that serves God’s righteousness. The Bible calls the Church as an inn (Luke 10:34). The Church is a spiritual inn where the saints drink spiritual water and eat spiritual food and have fellowship with each other. As the people of this world talk over a drink in an inn

and share their friendship, the Church is the same. Since it is in the Church where we have fellowship with each other, promote friendship, and share our hearts, we need to gather together at the Church. If one comes to the Church often, he becomes a spiritual person. But those who do not come to the Church often cannot become workers of righteousness, no matter how good their faith might be and how much grace they might have received. Those who come to the Church as often as possible can become workers of righteousness no matter how insufficient they might be, for the power of the Word is with them. This is the spiritual life that we must live after receiving the remission of our sins. After believing in the righteousness of God, whatever we do, we must think about the Word, follow the Word, do not cease to gather together, and adjust our lives around the gatherings of the saints. Your life of faith will not fail then, but ◄

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succeed instead. Such people will be used by the Lord as His precious instruments and they will enjoy His blessings. I admonish you all to offer your body to the Lord as an instrument of righteousness.

The Wages of Sin and the Gift of God “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What the Apostle Paul said here, that “the wages of sin is death,” is the Truth that summarizes all the Law and the justice of God. If anyone has sin before God, then he must pay its price, which is spiritual death called hell. This is why everyone must be remitted from all his sins by believing in the true Word of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of

God; and everyone must receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. If one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, he will be remitted from all his sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So I admonish you all to believe in this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit and receive the remission of sins and new life that Jesus has given you. This is the Truth that Paul is speaking of. This is also the will of God, and it is also my sincere hope for all of you. With one single sentence, “The wages of sin is death,” Paul made it clear that if anyone has even the slightest sin in any shape or form, then he is bound to hell. Paul concluded that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Simply put, Paul declared that if we believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, we will be remitted from all our sins, and as a result we will become God’s children and receive eternal life. ◄

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It does not matter whether you now believe in Jesus or not. What matters is this: Do you now have sin before God? If you have sin even though you believe in Jesus, then you are a sinner, and since all sinners will be cast into hell, called spiritual death, you must turn around, believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and be remitted from all your sins. In doing so you must attain the righteousness of God. This righteousness of God can be attained only by those who are remitted from all their sins. Do you truly know the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Do you really believe in this gospel before God? If not, then learn and believe in it now. The righteousness of God will then be yours.

The Wages of Sin Is Death If we consider “death” and “eternal life” in contrast to each other, as the Apostle Paul explained in this verse, then we come to think about our souls that lie beyond death. My fellow believers, the wages of all the sins committed by everyone is death. So we must consider carefully here whether or not our souls are truly without sin. If our souls have any sin at all, even as small as dirt, then our souls will be cast into hell. Regardless of whether we believe in Jesus or not, and whether our faith in Him is strong or weak, if we have sin, then we are inevitably bound to hell. This is not just man’s own words, but it is the judgment according to the Law of God, and it is the Truth. Before, I used to adhere to the Calvinist beliefs of the Presbyterian Church. I used to think that the Calvinist faith was “the faith that ◄

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went where the Word went and stopped where the Word stopped.” By the time a decade had passed since first believing in Jesus, I was attending a theological seminary. But by then I was also having serious doubts about my faith. One day, I came to reflect on my faith before God, asking myself, “Am I a sinner before God, or am I a righteous man?” My answer to this question was that there was sin in my heart. This presence of sin brought the greatest shock to my life, and the sins that remained in my heart did not disappear no matter how much I devoted myself to offering prayers of repentance. I had believed that I was remitted from all my sins through the precious blood of Jesus. But even the smallest sin in my heart that I myself could not tolerate was eating up my soul and suffocating me. This sin had never left me but followed me around everywhere. Even as I tried to pray, this sin blocked me from God,

preventing me from having communion with God through prayer. After this, I realized that the Word declaring “the wages of sin to be death” was the never-changing Truth. At that time, I finally realized that the sins in my hearts would lead me to fall into hell, and when I believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I could at last be freed from all these sins. It is in this faith placed in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is received. My fellow believers, if you know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it, then you will surely taste the true fountain of God’s eternal life. What Paul said in Romans chapter 6 is that if we have indeed been delivered from sin by Jesus Christ and put on the gift of God, then we should offer our bodies as instruments of His righteousness. It is only proper to do so, if you have indeed been baptized into Christ and truly ◄

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believe in His righteousness.

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Exegesis Chapter 7

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354 The Law That Has Dominion over Man

The Law That Has Dominion over Man < Romans 7:1-25 > “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—

to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, ◄

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taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,

that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” ◄

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The Apostle Paul is discussing the Law’s function. He says that the Law of God continues to have dominion over a sinner only as long as he is alive. That the Law has dominion over a man only as long as he is alive is because of the particular characteristics of the Law. The function of the Law of God is to render judgment according to the rule that “the wages of sin is death.” Because this is a statute, regardless of who might be standing before the Law, if he has sin, there is no way he can avoid death. Paul said, “The law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.” Therefore, for a sinner to be freed from the dominion of the Law, he must die according to the statutes of God, and then be brought back to life again by believing in the righteousness of God. For the Law of God is such a clear truth, from the statutes of this Law of God we must realize and admit that everyone

is bound to hell because of his sins. Have you admitted that you are bound to hell before the statute of God declaring the wages of sin to be death? If any of you still has not acknowledged the strictness of the Law of God, then I ask all such people to admit that they are bound to hell before God’s Law and hold onto His righteousness. All of us should not just realize that the function of the Law of God is to give us the knowledge of sin, but we should actually admit from this Law that we ourselves have sin, and that because of our sins we are bound to hell. What the Apostle Paul is telling us here is to admit that we are destined to hell for our sins according to God’s Law, and to believe in the salvation that has come by the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ.

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The First Husband Must Die “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.” Drawing an example from marriage on this earth, the Apostle Paul is explaining the truth that to be freed from sin, human beings must die once according to the Law of God. All human beings were born as Adam’s descendants and they have all inherited sin from their common forefather, Adam. Given this, how could sinners then approach Jesus Christ, who is the new groom, while they still remain sinful? That is why Paul says here that sinners should not only admit through the Law that they cannot escape from the condemnation of their sins, but they should also admit that they are spiritually dead because of their sins. Only then can they receive Jesus

Christ, their new groom. Some Christians have never admitted their sins from the written Word of the Law, nor have they admitted that they are bound to hell for their sins, even as they profess to believe in God. That is why anyone who wants to come to Jesus Christ needs to first stand before the Law, the strict statutes of God, recognize his sins, and realize his spiritual death resulting from these sins. The Apostle Paul also said, “But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.” How, then, could we die to our sins? The way for this is to believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross. By thus believing, we can die to our sins and we can attain God’s righteousness, and therefore we can approach God. For all of us to die to our sins, it is made possible only when we first admit our sins, recognize our accursed destiny condemned to hell on account of these sins, and then believe ◄

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in Jesus Christ united with His baptism and His death on the Cross. What the Apostle Paul said is that one can die to his sins by believing in Jesus Christ who has become God’s righteousness. For you also, if you want to die to your sins and be alive to the righteousness of God, you should believe in Jesus Christ who has come by the water and the blood as your Savior.

To Go to Another Husband “So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.” This passage says that if one believes in the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross,

which have become God’s righteousness, then he now belongs to Christ because he has passed his sins to Christ, died with Christ and was brought back to life with Christ. If a married woman goes to another man while her husband is alive, then she is actually an adulterous woman. Likewise, if someone who does not believe in the righteousness of God and remains sinful believes in some religion, then he is actually turning himself into a servant of Satan. If today’s Christians professing to believe in Jesus still have not resolved their sins by believing in the righteousness of God, and yet they continue to claim to believe in Jesus, then they are not God’s people, but Satan’s people in fact. As those who claim to believe in Jesus, how can they leave their sins intact and yet still say that they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior? In other words, if they really believe in Jesus ◄

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Christ properly, then shouldn’t they realize that the righteousness of God has come through Jesus Christ, be resolved from the problem of all their sins, and then say that they have become Christ’s people? As such, those in today’s Christianity who believe in Jesus without knowing the righteousness of God have not actually become God’s people, but in fact, have become Satan’s people. We need to reflect once again before the Law of God whether we really know and believe in the righteousness of God and have received the remission of our sins when we profess that we believe in Jesus as our Savior, or we have not gotten the problem of our sins resolved, even as we claim to believe in Jesus. We should examine ourselves to see if we still remain as sinners before God or have become righteous. With our hearts starting from scratch, we need to renew our faith in Jesus properly by once again placing

our faith in God’s righteousness. We cannot have sin in our hearts even as we profess to believe in Jesus. To avoid this, we must clearly understand the baptism and the blood on the Cross of Jesus Christ who has become God’s righteous, believe in these truths, and thereby become sinless and righteous people.

Only If We Have United Faith “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” The Apostle Paul continues to bear witness to the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist an indispensable element in testifying the righteousness of God. That is because Jesus ◄

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Christ was baptized in the Jordan River, through which He took upon Himself the sins of the world. For us to die to our sins, we must have the kind of faith that makes us realize that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist was to fulfill the righteousness of God (Matthew 3:15). With this passage, the Apostle Paul is once again speaking about the baptism that fulfilled God’s righteousness. When we profess to believe in Jesus as our Savior, we must unite ourselves with four beliefs: First, we must have the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Second, we must have the belief that Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world once for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. Third, we must believe that because Christ accepted the sins of the world by receiving His baptism from John the Baptist, He went to the Cross and was crucified to be condemned for the sins of the world. At the same time, we

Christians must be united together with the death of Jesus, that we were also crucified with Him. And lastly, we must also have the belief that along with the resurrection of Christ, our souls and bodies were also brought back to life. Only when we have faith in the baptism that constitutes the righteousness of God can we really say that we have become dead to the Law through the body of Christ. As such, because we believe in the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ fulfilled through His baptism and His blood on the Cross, we can now go to Christ and bear the fruit of new life to God. You and I must realize that the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus as He was baptized, and that through His death on the Cross you and I have also become dead to sin, and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have become alive to the righteousness of God.

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By Legalistic Faith “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” Those who know and believe in God’s righteousness have received this righteousness of God into their hearts, and as a result, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When people do not know and do not believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God, they are not the people of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, sin reigns over them and makes them bear the fruit of sin. Everyone must ponder on the following question: “Do I really belong to Christ by believing in the righteousness of God, or am I just professing to believe in Jesus without knowing the righteousness of God, and therefore am I someone who does not have the Holy

Spirit?” So the “people in the flesh” whom the Apostle Paul spoke about refer to those who still belong to the flesh and can only bear the fruit of death, for they have failed to attain the righteousness of God. We need to grasp here that when we were in the flesh, we could not avoid falling into sin because of the Law. Although we realize that the Law of God is holy and makes us realize sin, we must also realize that God’s Law arouses carnal passions in our hearts and makes us fall into sin even further. In other words, the more we know the Law of God, the deeper it makes us fall into carnal sins, and it is incapable of making us wholly righteous. That is why the Apostle Paul said the above passage to explain the role of the Law.

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With the New Faith of the Spirit “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” What is “the newness of the Spirit” that Paul is speaking of here? It refers to faith in the righteousness of God. The gospel of the righteousness of God that Paul is speaking of is the gospel of the water and the Spirit of which the Lord spoke. To believe in this gospel is to believe in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, His blood on the Cross, and His death and resurrection. If we believe in God’s righteousness like Paul, then we will also die to the sins that have bound us and be freed from the wrath of the Law. When Paul and all those in this age who believe in the

righteousness of God serve Him, they do not serve Him with the Law, but they serve Him with the righteousness attained by their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Who would have the faith that serves God rightly and properly? Those who serve God by the Law are not ultimately serving God, but they are serving only their own flesh. In contrast, for those who serve God by placing their faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed, they serve God by doing His righteous work—that is, by preaching everywhere the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saves sinners from sin, and by delivering the all mankind from sin. Therefore, we who believe in God’s righteousness are not of those who serve God with the Law, but we are of those who please God by believing in His righteousness. Anyone who serves God must never try to do ◄

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so with legalistic faith. I admonish all of you who now believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God to serve Him, follow Him, and preach Him by this faith in God’s righteousness. It is with such beliefs that the life of faith should be led.

The Effects of the Law “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” Indeed, as Paul said, the Law of God is holy and just, and it enables us to realize our sins. The Law itself is not sin, nor is it unnecessary for us to live our lives of faith. On the contrary, God’s Law is the indispensable barometer that tells us

what constitutes sin. For sinners, the Law also has dominion over their souls and flesh, thus preventing them from debauchery. Such restraining function of the Law is even more effective for Christian sinners who profess to believe in Jesus but still do not know the righteousness of God. However, the Law also has the effect of pointing out sin to those who have become God’s people and believe in His righteousness. Since without the Law of God no one can know what sin is, it is indispensable for everyone. It is not, however, because the believers in God’s righteousness fear the statutes of His Law that they serve Him. Far from it, they believe with the heart in the righteousness of God that is more exalted than the Law, for they have the Holy Spirit and trust in Him. This is how they come to do what pleases God. Do you know God’s righteousness and believe ◄

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in it? Or are you trying to serve God with your own righteousness, attempting to keep the Law? I admonish all of you to serve God with the knowledge of and faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel that enables you attain the righteousness of God. I thank the Lord for giving us the Law and God’s righteousness.

Without the Law, Sin Is Dead “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.” It is correct that the Law of God enables us to realize sin. Paul wrote this passage thinking back to his old self that had been in the Law before he was born again. As Paul testified about his own experience and

realization of the role of God’s Law and statutes, “sin took opportunity” and by the statutes of God provoked evil desires in him. That is the reality. As we all know, the Law of God reveals His holiness to all of us, for it is holy itself. However, apart from this role, the Law has another function: It exposes the sins that are hidden in our hearts to our realization, stirs them up, and makes us commit them. That is why Paul said, “Sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.” God spoke to all those who believe in Him about the Law that must be kept in everyday life. This Law entails no less than 613 statutes. To classify them into two, these statutes are divided into positive and negative commandments—that is, what we must do and must not do. However, although this Law commands mankind with the “do’s and don’ts,” because all human beings were born with twelve kinds of sins, the sins that ◄

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are latent in their hearts are eventually manifested outwardly. Paul said that the Law “produced in me all manner of evil desire.” Therefore, without the Law that God has given to mankind, people’s sins could have been considered non-existent even when they were real. The Apostle Paul said, “Apart from the law sin was dead.” Before the Word of the Law of God, all of us should reflect on what wrongdoings we might have committed, admit all such wrongdoings, and also give thanks to God believing in His righteousness.

The Law Leads People to Death “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”

Do you really know the Law of God? If you know the Law and its commandments that God has given to mankind, then you would realize that you are revealed as a great sinner before God, and that nothing but death awaits you. When Paul did not truly realize the Law of God, he used to think of himself as a decent man. But once he reached the proper understanding of God’s Law, he realized that he was a sinner who simply could not live before God, and that the wages of his sins was death. When we realize properly that God is the Creator and Judge to us, we come to recognize God’s commandments properly and bow our heads before the statutes that He established. In doing so we are truly recognizing God as God. In contrast, when we do not recognize God as God, even though He is our Creator and very much alive, we do not tremble in fear before the statues commanded by Him, our hearts are hardened, ◄

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and we live thinking that no terrifying judgment will befall us. However, when we really acknowledge the God of creation and engrave His commandments in our hearts, we come to realize that we are indeed sinners bound to reach death, and hold onto the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Savior. For us to truly believe in God’s righteousness, we must admit that Jesus Christ is the God of creation, confess that we are great sinners before Him, and at the same time thank Him for delivering us from all our sins through the righteousness of God when we could not avoid but be accursed to death for the wages of our sins.

Wow! How Is That Possible? “And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.”

When we believe in God for a long time, we can reach the same realization of the Truth that Paul had. One major problem, however, is that many Christians usually have no such realization, only trying to establish their own righteousness by keeping the Law. Before he was born again, Paul also used to think that he could receive eternal life if he kept God’s commandments. So he devoted all his life and gave his everything trying to keep all the 613 commandments of the Law, to abide by God’s commandments to honor Him above and to love fellow men at his side. However, what he actually experienced was this: “The commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” This means that Paul truly came to realize the role of the Law of God. The Law’s function is to enable us to recognize our sins, and to also make us realize just how strict God’s commandments are, so that we would grasp that ◄

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we have no choice but to die for our sins. At the same time as Paul reached this realization, he also saw for himself especially that Jesus Christ was absolutely necessary to him, and that the righteousness of God far exceeded the righteousness of man. Paul was someone who fully understood the righteousness of God. That is why he could make such a confession out of his personal experience. We who believe in Jesus as our Savior in this age and time should also be able to confess this kind of personal experience, which we have also realized the same righteousness of God that Paul realized. I believe that if you do not treat the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit lightly, then you will all be able to grasp God’s righteousness just like Paul. May the blessings of the faith in the righteousness of God be with you.

Misunderstanding the Law “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” Few ever understood the Law of God as profoundly as the Apostle Paul. Even from the Word of the commandments of God, Paul recognized thoroughly his own insufficiencies. Having realized profoundly that he was to die for his sins, Paul confessed, “Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” The sad reality today is that many Christians are now quite satisfied at just keeping God’s commandments. It is also a fact that they somehow take their obedience to God’s commandments as their own righteousness, and they are thankful for this and pleased by it. However, if one does not have the righteousness ◄

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of God in his heart, then he should realize his insufficiencies from the commandments of God and not be filled with his own righteousness just because he sometimes manages to keep some small commandments. That’s because if one has failed to possess the righteousness of God by faith, then he is still a sinner before God; and since he is a sinner, he has no righteousness to exalt himself just because he kept God’s commandments to some extent. Looking back to when he himself was a sinner, Paul is confessing the truth that he realized through his own experience. Like the Apostle Paul, those who have really recognized their sins in-depth before God will be able to confess as Paul did by placing their faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has become the righteousness of God.

The Good Law and We Who Are Piles of Sin “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” What the Apostle Paul realized was that all the commandments given in the Word of the Law of God, which he had to keep in everyday life, were all holy, just, and good. He simply confessed that he was a great pile of sin before God, and that he was a man bound to hell. Before God, those who realize their sins and recognize that they are fundamentally bound to hell thank God for and believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that enables them to attain God’s righteousness. Although there are many Christians in this world professing to believe in Jesus, not just anyone recognizes his sinful self before God, and few actually realize the Truth that the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit ◄

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constitutes the righteousness of God. What about you then? Have you really discovered God’s righteousness through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit? If you just say that you believe in Jesus, even as you cannot find the righteousness of God fulfilled in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then you will still continue to live your life buried in sin and face your destruction just like those who do not believe in Jesus. I admonish you to find your sins before the Word of the Law and discover the righteousness of God manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit from His written Word. If you discover God’s righteousness in the Word of the water and the Spirit and accept Jesus as your Savior, then you will be forever saved.

What Makes Sin Exceedingly Sinful “Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.” The Apostle Paul is not advocating the abolition of the Law. Some people falsely assert that the Word of the Old Testament is needless in the present age of the New Testament. Referring to the function of the Law of God, however, Paul said, “Sin, that it might appear sin,” and he also believed that God’s Word of the Law was still “what is good”. Paul was correct in his understanding of the Law of God and His commandments. That is why when he discovered the righteousness of God, he could perceive this Truth correctly, obey ◄

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it, and believe in it. The statutes and commandments that God has given to mankind are good. Through God’s commandments we must realize our sins, and we must accept God’s righteousness into our hearts. To give us the salvation of His righteousness, God has given us the good Word of the Law, enabling us to recognize our sins and believe in the true gospel of salvation. The gospel that brings true salvation to mankind is made of the baptism of the Lord and His blood on the Cross. This gospel is none other than the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit of which the Lord spoke. I pray and hope that you would also all become exceedingly sinful through the commandments of God, believe in the gospel where the righteousness of God is revealed, and thereby be saved from sin perfectly.

The Powerlessness of the Flesh “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Paul is confessing the powerlessness of his flesh. Paul is confessing from his own experience how much his flesh still followed the sins that the Law spoke of, even though he had the righteousness of God by then. All of us have a great deal of respect for Paul because he reached such a high spiritual height of faith. This does not mean, however, that we respect Paul because his flesh was somehow different from ours. Far from it; Paul had the same flesh as our flesh and committed the same sins that we commit, but despite this he held onto the righteousness of God, believed in it, and preached this righteousness. Seeing the weaknesses of his flesh, in other words, Paul believed even more firmly in the righteousness of God revealed through ◄

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Jesus Christ and thanked for it. To properly understand what Paul is saying from verse 14 and on, we need to make sure that we have the correct assessment of his state, whether what he is saying applies to before or after he believed in God’s righteousness. What Paul is saying from here and on is that the flesh of man continues to break the Law of God and to commit sin, whether before or after being born again. However, we see that Paul was a man of faith who lived a victorious life by believing in Jesus Christ who fulfilled the righteousness of God. If Paul triumphed by believing in God’s righteousness, then we should thank the Lord for imparting us with the belief that we can also triumph with the same faith as that of Paul. Are you satisfied by your own righteousness, or by the righteousness of God?

For the Good That I Will to Do, I Do Not Practice “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” When Paul says here that he does not understand what he is doing, he is talking about the acts of his flesh. What Paul is talking about in verse 15 is the dualistic life of his flesh and his soul. So Paul is lamenting here over his flesh, seeing that it follows the lusts of the flesh rather than the will of the Spirit in his heart. Paul said this because he saw that his flesh always wanted to disobey the will of God. In other words, he saw that the flesh of the believers in the righteousness of God was following the same sins prohibited by the Law, just like the flesh of those who were not born again. So he confessed like this ever more frustrated and ◄

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lamenting: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Though Paul thus lamented, he was soon joyous for the righteousness of God that came to him through Jesus Christ. The flesh of man always seeks after carnal lusts. The lusts of the flesh always constitute sin before God. So anyone who believes in God’s righteousness must preach this righteousness throughout the whole world. That’s why Paul said in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” We need to realize here that even for those who were born again by believing in the righteousness of God, their flesh follows sin constantly. However, we should also realize and believe that the spirits of the believers in God’s righteousness always want to serve it and follow

it. There is one thing that even the believers in the righteousness of God should realize. It is the immutable, everlasting truth that in their flesh, they are still following the lusts of the flesh, while in their spirits they desire to serve God’s righteousness. So those who believe in God’s righteousness must live their lives serving it.

We Must Admit the Goodness of the Law “If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.” Paul admits here the weaknesses of his flesh and the goodness of the Law of God. God’s Law is forever good. In contrast, the flesh of man always commits rebellious sins. So we can see that the flesh of man constantly disobeys the will of God and stands against it. No one should ever ◄

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expect any goodness from his flesh, but instead place their expectations of goodness only on their faith in the righteousness of God and the Holy Spirit who follow it. We have to admit that the flesh of man is wicked, but the minds and bodies that follow the will of the Holy Spirit are instruments that are used for good works. We should realize and believe that God’s righteousness always leads the believers to the way that pleases God.

The Lusts of the Flesh “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” The Apostle Paul is saying that even as a believer in God’s righteousness, his flesh still serves sin. He is revealing here that even in his heart, there is a desire to follow both the flesh

and the Spirit. So because of his carnal thoughts, the Apostle Paul faced many hardships, and therefore he always held fast onto the righteousness of God that came through the Lord. That’s because there was no other way for Paul to live but to hold onto God’s righteousness and follow it.

There Is Nothing Good in the Flesh “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” We should believe that although the flesh of man may desire to do what is good, it is incapable of actually practicing true goodness. No one can follow the will of God with his carnal thoughts. Therefore, even for those who ◄

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believe in God’s righteousness, only when they seek and realize God’s will that pleases Him can they unite with this will and follow God. We need to realize that it is possible to follow the will of God only when the saints and servants of God want to follow the Lord uniting themselves with God’s will. Anyone who wants to live righteously on this earth must not follow their flesh, but the will of God.

Practicing Good Is Impossible by the Strength of the Flesh “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” Fundamentally speaking, without following the righteousness of God no one is capable of practicing what is truly good, but only of

practicing wickedness. This is the typical way of life and its consequences for those who do not follow God’s righteousness. For all, only when they believe in the righteousness of God and follow His written Word can they practice what is truly and genuinely good. The Apostle Paul, too, testified that he could not practice true goodness without following the righteousness of God by faith. How about us then? We cannot deny the fact we are also like Paul. Therefore, even for someone who believes in God’s righteousness, if he wants to live truthfully and virtuously, he must never stop believing in God’s righteousness and serving the true gospel. Only when we infallibly believe in God’s righteousness and serve His righteousness until the day we stand before the Lord, can we avoid falling into sin. Therefore, we shouldn’t place any expectations on our own flesh, but we should continue to ◄

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serve the gospel of the righteousness of God step by step. All of us must realize this: In our flesh and our carnal thoughts, we are incapable of doing what is good; and only when we believe in and serve God’s righteousness can we become true workers of righteousness and please God, and we must all believe accordingly.

Did Paul Have Sin? “Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” When Paul mentioned here, “Sin that dwells in me,” we shouldn’t misinterpret it as saying that Paul had sin in his heart. That’s because in Paul’s heart there was God’s righteousness, and therefore he was actually sinless.

We may then wonder what Paul meant when he talked about the “sin that dwells in me.” What is this sin that Paul is speaking of, that dwells in his heart? By these words, he is referring to the carnal mind in him discussed in Romans 7:18. Paul always described his carnal mind as the flesh, and his spiritual mind as the right heart that follows the righteousness of God. Paul was explaining that the human heart had two minds. The Apostle Paul is saying that if he dwelt in sin, which he did not desire, he did so because he followed his carnal mind and the flesh of man, instead of following the righteousness of God and the Holy Spirit. As such, we must not misconstrue the Apostle Paul as a servant of God who had sin in his heart. Fundamentally speaking, the Apostle Paul’s heart had faith in the righteousness of God, and therefore there was no sin. You may then ask, “But didn’t he say that he committed sin? ◄

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Doesn’t this then mean he was a sinner?” However, as someone who possessed God’s righteousness, Paul was not a sinner. He was actually sinless because he believed in God’s righteousness; not because he was called sinless based on the Doctrine of Justification even though he still remained sinful. You must all grasp this truth. It is by believing in the gospel of the righteousness of God that human beings can become sinless even though they are all weak beings who cannot help but commit sin in their flesh. Those who actually believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God in their hearts can see and realize that they have become sinless when they look into their hearts. As the Bible testifies, “In it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17), I admonish all of you to realize this righteousness of God and become sinless.

Every Christian Has Both Body and Soul “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.” Even for those who have received the remission of their sins from God by believing in His righteousness, they desire to follow both the righteousness of God and their flesh. Since one part of our heart desires to follow the Spirit while the other desires to follow the flesh, it is by nature that the flesh would follow carnal lusts, and it is a God-given desire of our spirit to follow His righteousness. So since one man has two laws and two hearts, he can only be tormented. Therefore, depending on which of these two hearts a man follows, he obtains either peace or suffering. That’s why it is so indispensable and critically important for us to realize the Truth ◄

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that the Apostle Paul grasped. We must realize and believe in the righteousness of God; however, even after attaining this righteousness of God by faith, we still agonize between the spirit and the flesh, and we need to realize that we must overcome by believing in God’s righteousness. For us to follow God, we should not just skirt over the fact that in our flesh there are two minds, but instead follow the spirit by believing in God’s righteousness. We should never forget that in our hearts as the believers in the righteousness of God, both the heart of the spirit and the heart of the flesh coexist. Those who realize that there are two different hearts in themselves can fight and overcome Satan by believing in God.

According to My Inward Man “For I delight in the law of

God according to the inward man.” This passage is talking about the heart of someone who knows and believes in the righteousness of God. When people believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, they will be delivered from sin, become God’s sinless people, be nurtured with the Word of God, and turn into the servants of faith and righteousness. So they will become God’s faithful workers.

Another Law in My Members “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” In the Apostle Paul’s heart, his carnal mind sought to remove the other mind that desired to follow the Spirit. So Paul’s heart suffered ◄

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because this could not be tolerated. Yet, it was an unavoidable battle that there would be two laws in one man’s heart, and these laws would wage war against each other. That is why the saints and servants of God are endlessly struggling against themselves. So they tire from the battle and fall, but it is still only a matter of course for them to eventually overcome as they believe in the righteousness of God. Such battles are waged by anyone who believes God’s righteousness, but the victory is obtained by trusting in the Lord who brings this victory.

The Lord Who Saves the Wretched People “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” If any servants of the righteousness of God

who have become Christ’s people tire from the battle and fall down, it is because of the unflagging pursuit of the desires of their flesh and the sins of carnal lusts. But there is a General who enables the servants of righteousness overcome, and His name is Jesus Christ. He is the Savior who, whenever those under His command fall and ask for His help, comes to their rescue with the sword of the gospel of the righteousness of God; with one swing of the sword He removes death, which is the wages of sin, curses, shame, and contempt; clothes them with the garment of salvation; gives them new strength; raises them up, and enables them to live forcefully for the righteousness of God. Whenever the saints and servants of God who believe in His righteousness fall from their battle against sin, Jesus Christ always makes them overcome. However, before such a victory is attained, whenever they lose the battle against ◄

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themselves and fall, it is Jesus Christ the King of righteousness who comes to their rescue. This is why the saints thank God and give glory to Him. Although the believers in the righteousness of God are put under such circumstances, they come to experience for themselves the power of the righteousness of the Lord that helps them overcome, receive new strength and stand on their ground again. Such experiences can be had only by the righteous.

With the Mind, I Serve the Law of God “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” The saints and the servants of righteousness

who know and believe in the righteousness of God overcome all sins by always believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus Christ. So by believing in God’s righteousness they fight against and overcome sin, thus thanking Him. This is the victory and blessing for those who have become God’s servants by believing in His righteousness. Do you have such blessed faith of victory? Such faith and victory are attained by faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit that God has given us through Jesus Christ. Each and every one who knows and believes in this Truth will secure the final victory in their struggle against self, and all will come to give glory and thanks to God. This kind of victorious faith is not attained from legalistic beliefs. Nor is it attained by believing in Christian doctrines. Such faith is attained only by believing in the gospel of the ◄

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water and the Spirit that makes us triumph over all sins. All the righteous people and all the servants of God who believe in His righteousness are also those who, with their minds, serve the Law of God themselves, but with the flesh serve the law of sin. However, He who enables them to overcome all these things is Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus Christ that everyone who believes in God’s righteousness comes to be forever thankful. Hallelujah! I thank God for giving us victory over all these sins.

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Exegesis Chapter 8

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382 People to Whom There Is No Condemnation

People to Whom There Is No Condemnation < Romans 8:1-39 > “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,

but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put ◄

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to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty

of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to ◄

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those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or

nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” In the Word of God in the Bible, each and every conjunction and modifier holds a great ◄

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amount of truth. The word, “therefore,” used in this verse by the Apostle Paul is a conjunction used to speak of how great God’s righteousness is in reference to people’s things of the flesh. The Apostle Paul saw that his flesh was following sin. Also, he found that in his heart there was a heart following the flesh besides the heart walking according to the righteousness of God. Therefore, as he saw his soul getting eroded into the lusts of the flesh, he is praising the righteousness of God shown in Christ. Although Paul was a believer of the righteousness of God, because he had experienced agony due to his flesh, the righteousness of God was the Truth worthy of eternal praise for Paul. Thus, he is witnessing how great the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is, which is the righteousness of God. This faith was in Christ Jesus. Paul is shouting out how perfectly the righteousness of God in

Christ has defeated the sins of the world. Really, who in this world can say that he or she is without sin? For those who believe in the righteousness of God, because they do not have sin, there can be no condemnation to them. Paul is witnessing that truth. The only way for human beings to get rid of their sins is through the righteousness of God fulfilled in Jesus. Even though you say you believe in Jesus as your Savior, if you were to believe without the knowledge of what the righteous of God is and what sort of role the baptism Jesus had received from John the Baptist played, it would be impossible for you to become sinless. But as for those who believe in the righteousness of God in Christ, they get to wear the great glory that has no sin whatsoever. It is the same as it is written, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans ◄

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10:10). For a person “to become a person who has no sin,” is only possible by believing in the gospel Truth, which has come by the water and the Spirit, in the righteousness of God. Therefore, people who do not believe in the gospel of the righteous of God and only believe in the half-gospel must believe in the gospel that contains the righteousness of God. Then, could it be possible for a person to be sinless by believing in the righteousness of God? It is possible because God says the following: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” If so, in order to come into the faith of believing in the righteousness of God, people must take on the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit which contains the righteousness of God. A believer of this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is a person who has the faith of becoming someone

in whom there can be no sin. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is a gospel that is absolutely necessary to those who, even now, try to cleanse their sins through prayers of repentance. Only when one possesses the faith of knowing and believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit instilled with the righteousness of God, does the Word, “There is no condemnation,” gets realized in that person. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” The righteous is someone who serves the gospel of God’s righteousness. But, even for those who know and believe in the righteousness of God, there are times when they walk in sin and live among the desires of the flesh. However, we can see that there is fundamentally much more desire to walk according to the Spirit in ◄

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those who serve the righteousness of God. This Word in verse 2 tells us of the fact that Jesus’ receiving the baptism and the righteousness of God in which He has saved sinners from sins by shedding blood at the Cross and being resurrected from the dead, has saved us from all the sins mentioned in every statute of the Law. Freedom from the law of sin and death was fulfilled by the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. This truth tells us that Jesus Christ had the sufficient qualification to go to the Cross and shed His blood because He had taken on the sins of the world once and for all by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. Jesus Christ has abundantly freed those of us who believe in the righteousness of God from the law of sin and death by receiving the baptism given by John the Baptist, dying on the Cross, all the while bearing the sins of the world, and then being resurrected from the dead. Even more so, the righteousness

of God in Jesus, which gives us life and saves us from sins, was perfected by the baptism for the remission of sins and by the blood of the Cross that God the Father had established through His Son. For this reason, the Bible says that the righteousness of God is “the law of the Spirit of life that has made us free from sin.” The law of the Spirit of life refers to the law of salvation of God’s righteousness established by God. What is the righteousness of God? It is the righteousness that God the Father gave to mankind in which the salvation by the remission of sins was completely fulfilled through Jesus’ baptism, His blood of the Cross, His death, and His resurrection. This Truth shows the love of God that has allowed us to become perfect by the righteousness of God. The love of God refers to the righteousness of God perfected by the baptism that the Lord had received from John the Baptist in order to save mankind from sins, the ◄

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death on the Cross, and the resurrection. In the Scripture passage above, the phrase, “the law of sin and death,” refers to the Law that God had given to man through Moses. The law given by God is a filter that strains out sins. It is a searchlight that identifies the sins of people. The Law is the standard of God. That standard indicates what a sin is, and at the same time, tells us that those who go through that law need the righteousness of God. Thus, the Law allows all people to realize that they are in need of the righteousness of God. At the same time, it makes all people to become aware of the fact that they are sinners through the Word of the Law that God had established through Moses, and that they will be receiving the punishment of death according to the law of death, which is the wages of sin. We must know that God has established a single law of righteousness that saves people

from sins. That law is the law of salvation laid down by the righteousness of God. The law of the remission of sins established by the righteousness of God was fulfilled by the baptism Jesus had received and His blood of the Cross. By the righteousness of God, God has given us the Truth by which we can be atoned for sins. We all must gain eternal freedom from all sins by believing in the righteousness of God that God has given us. You must believe in the righteousness of God in order to gain freedom from all the sins that you have committed, all the sins that you are currently committing, and all the sins that you will be repeatedly committing in the future. Do you want to gain true freedom from sin and death by believing in the law of life established by God? Have you gained true freedom from all your sins? If you were to believe in the law of salvation that enables you to ◄

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obtain new life, and that is established by the righteousness of God, you would surely receive the freedom from all sins by having believed in Jesus’ baptism and His blood of the Cross. However, people who do not know and believe that one gets to receive the remission of sins through the baptism and the blood of Jesus will not be able to receive freedom from all their sins for all eternity. Therefore, we all must gain eternal life by believing in the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death set by God. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,” The sins of people could not be taken away by the Law given by God. This is a truth that is

inside the righteousness of God. The reason for that was that human flesh did not have the ability to abide by the Law of God. The Law serves the purpose of making people seek the Savior, for it has the function of pointing out and judging the sins of people, but it does not have the function of making people fundamentally sinless. The God-given Law instead had the power to make those who profess to be sinless into someone who has sin. So, regarding the Law, the Apostle Paul said, “What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh.” What we must know correctly is the fact that one cannot cleanse one’s own sins with a legalistic faith. Even though people who have legalistic faith offer prayers of repentance and continue to pray in order to cleanse their own sins, the Law of God exposes their sins. Those sins mount up more and more as they continue their life of faith longer and longer because such sins cannot be cleansed ◄

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without believing in the righteousness of God. Therefore, people who live out a life of legalistic faith without the knowledge of the righteousness of God must now stop living out such life of faith. Now, so long as you have had the righteousness of God, you can no longer afford to be tied up in a life of legalistic faith because the righteousness of God has blotted out all your sins. You must know the righteousness of God. You must know that the righteousness of God has taken away all your sins. The righteousness of God means that God the Father did blot out all our sins “by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Here, the fact that God has condemned sin in His Son’s flesh means that He has decided to pass the sins of the world to the body of Jesus Christ through His baptism, and by doing so, He has taken away the sins of the world. God has once and for all

cleansed the sins of those who believe in the righteousness of God. The basis of this Word of the Truth can be found at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17). After being born onto this earth, Jesus went to the Jordan River at the age of thirty in order to receive the baptism from John the Baptist. Jesus perfected all the righteousness of God by taking on all the sins of this world once and for all by the baptism He had received from John the Baptist. By Jesus’ receiving of the baptism from John the Baptist, the sins of the world were all transferred over through the head of Jesus to His back. Jesus was able to take on the sins of the world because He had received the baptism that fulfilled the righteousness of God, and thus, He was able to be crucified while carrying the sins of the world. Also, by resurrecting from the dead, He was able to give the remission of sins and new life for all eternity to those who believe in ◄

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Him. This was the righteousness of God by which God the Father was able to take away all the sins of the world through His Son. The righteousness of God is the justness and the love of God. God the Father perfected the love through His Son. The righteousness of God is God’s love, and it took away all the sins of mankind. Having said this, do you know that your sins were also transferred over to Jesus at the time when He received the baptism from John the Baptist? Do you believe in the righteousness of God witnessed by the Apostle Paul? He said, “God did what the Law could not do.” Do you know this truth? You must learn and know the righteousness of God, without fail, and you must believe in it. When John the Baptist bore witness to the righteousness of God, he said that the righteousness of God is accomplished by passing the sins of the world onto His Son through the

baptism Jesus received from him. To whom were your sins passed onto, and by what sort of faith? Have you also passed on your sins to Jesus by believing that John the Baptist had passed on the sins of the world to Jesus’ body by giving Him the baptism in the form of the laying on of hands? Are you aware of the truth that Jesus was able to die by getting crucified to the Cross and to resurrect because He had taken on the sins of the world by receiving baptism given by John the Baptist? The baptism Jesus had received, His death, and His resurrection were what perfected the righteousness of God, and Jesus saved you and me who believe in this Truth, from sins once and for all. We can all be atoned for all our sins and gain eternal life by believing in the righteousness of God. Do you believe in this Truth? We must know and believe what the Apostle Paul says, “There is no condemnation to those ◄

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who are in Christ,” in Romans chapter 8. The meaning of these words is precisely in reference to the baptism Jesus had received, His death at the Cross, and His resurrection. Do you believe in the Truth that Jesus has taken on your sins as well by the baptism He had received from John the Baptist? Because Jesus had received the baptism given by John the Baptist, He was able to be crucified bearing the sins of the world and thus fulfill the righteousness of God once and for all. Jesus had received the baptism in order to have us die to our sins, and He resurrected from the dead in order to bring us back to life from the dead. This Truth is a gift to you and me who believe in the righteousness of God. Are you thankful? Do you glorify the Lord who has given us the righteousness of God? “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” A proper life of faith is to think and believe in accordance with the Word of God, not of walking in one’s own thoughts. Such faith is the finest faith as well as the best life of faith. If your faith is that of believing in the righteousness of God according to the Word of God, then you should know that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist was for the fulfillment of God’s requirement of the Law. Jesus, in order to save those who are to receive salvation by believing in Him as their Savior, fulfilled all the remission of sins that is the righteousness of God. In order to take charge of all our sins and death, which is the wages of sin, Jesus received the baptism given by John the Baptist and fulfilled the requirement of the Law. That is why Jesus was able to immerse Himself under water by receiving the baptism ◄

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that fulfilled the righteousness of God from John the Baptist at the Jordan River. Then, He came out from the water to save those of us who believe in Him. Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to take charge of sins of the world onto His body which would fulfill all the righteousness of God, and He got immersed under water in order to vicariously suffer death at the Cross for all sins, for He had taken on all our sins. Paul states that the receiving of baptism from John the Baptist by Jesus was to fulfill the requirement of the Law of God. Paul is now spiritually discussing the baptism Jesus had received from John the Baptist which is written in the Book of Romans chapter 6. Do you believe that the requirement of the Law gets fulfilled when you enter the spiritual truth of the remission of sins that Jesus has accomplished by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist?

Now, you must believe in the Truth which contains the righteousness of God, instead of hesitating any longer. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” People live either according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Paul says that those who live according to the flesh will do the work of the flesh. On the other hand, he says that those who live according to the Spirit set their mind on the salvation of the spirit of people and live accordingly. Here, he is saying that the results for each of these two types of life are completely different. Just as the Lord has said that for whatever a man sows, he will also reap accordingly, if people live for their flesh, they will bear fruit of the flesh; ◄

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but if people live for the righteousness of God, they will bear fruit of the eternal life. Therefore, it is very important for the born again to decide which type of spiritual life to follow. Whatever you choose to sow, you will reap the fruit that you have sown. Because this is the Word of truth spoken by God, no person can deny its result. For this reason, we must be those who pursue the benefit of the righteousness of God, instead of those who pursue the benefit of the flesh. Regarding “living according to the flesh,” Paul states the following in the Book of Galatians chapter 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who

practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Actually, “selfish ambitions, dissension, heresies, and envy” are things that come out from those who stand against and do not believe in the righteousness of God. Those who do not believe in the righteousness of God are creating bands and standing against the Word of God. They create bands, saying boastfully, “I go to so-andso Presbyterian Church (or a Baptist Church, or a Full gospel Church, or a Methodist Church).” Then, they try to stand against the righteousness of God as a group and fight against those who believe in the righteousness of God, saying, “Our denomination believes that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to show humility. We do not believe that the righteousness of God was realized through the passing on of all sins to Jesus when He received the baptism from John the Baptist.” ◄

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Heretics are also like that. Who are the heretics before God? Could a person of faith who believes according the righteousness of God be a heretic? Today’s Christians consider anyone who believes differently from their respective denominations as a heretic. However, the meaning of the word, “heresy,” refers to believing differently from what God wants. Those who believe in Jesus with sins intact to the end are heretics because they believe differently from the Word spoken by God. The Lord says that regardless of whom, if there are sins when one looks into his or her heart, then that person is someone who hasn’t yet come into Christ. It means that even though that person believes in Christ, he or she is a heretic (Titus 3:11). In looking at this, as we cannot deny the fact that among those who believe in Jesus these days, there are so many people who have heretical faith for they do not have the faith

of believing in the righteousness of God. It is truly disheartening, but what can we do? For this reason, anyone who believes in Jesus but has sins must turn around from his or her wrong way of faith and believe in Jesus according to the righteousness of God. Do you have your mind set on the work of the flesh, or on the work of the righteousness of God? You cannot but think about either one of these two, and on the path of the one you choose, there will be your fruit. People who think about the work of God go on working with their mind set on what the righteousness of God is. You must believe by thinking, “What is the meaning of the baptism Jesus Christ received by coming to this earth, what is the meaning of His death, and what is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection.” Thus, you get to believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with heart, follow the Holy Spirit, and ◄

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think about whether or not the work of spreading the gospel throughout the world is right. Those who have their mind set on the work of the Spirit are the people of faith who do the work of the righteousness of God; but those who have their mind set on the work of the flesh are the people of flesh who think only about things of the world. Therefore, those who pursue the thoughts of the flesh will arrive at death, but those who think about the work of the Spirit and follow Him are those who will gain life and peace. We must go on living thinking of God and about how joyful the work of saving people’s lives is “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

Once people fall into the thoughts of caring for the flesh, they tend to forget how good it is to be doing the work of God. Therefore, everyone must go on living thinking about the work of God. To do so, one must believe in the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is the basis for all that is good. Those who believe in the righteousness of God throw away their own righteousness. Because the righteousness of God is good, it makes people do virtuous deeds, and it enables the saints to bear fruit of goodness. Everyone can think about caring for one’s own flesh, and they can also think about the work of the righteousness of God. Therefore, people must think upright thoughts. By doing so, people are able to please God. “Then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” ◄

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Those who believe in the righteousness of God can follow the Lord if they think about God, instead of having thoughts about caring for one’s own flesh. If people genuinely want to please God, they “must believe that God exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). People who want to serve God must avoid the work of caring for the flesh. If believers of the righteousness of God want to walk according to the Spirit of God, then they must ceaselessly serve the Lord and follow Him. Only then can they take away any opportunity from their own flesh, and thus, be able to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to others. Do you want to do the work of saving people’s souls from sins? If so, believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit! If you do, you will be spreading the Truth that contains the righteousness of God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit will make your soul be

sinless, and it will allow you to live a Spirit-filled life. “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Whether or not the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, is in the heart of a person who believes in Christ decides whether that person is a man of the Spirit or a man of the flesh. Is the Holy Spirit in your heart? If so, then you are surely a person who believes in the righteousness of God. The following is written in the Bible about the way by which one can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. In Acts 2:38, it is said, “Then, Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall ◄

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receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Why does the Scripture say here, “Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”? It is because Jesus has taken on all the sins of the world by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, dying at the Cross, and being resurrected from the dead. This is how He has delivered those who believe in the righteousness of God from all sins. And so, those who have cleansed all their sins by knowing and believing in Jesus’ receiving of the baptism get to receive baptism in the form of the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus Christ. And, they get to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift from God as they believe that Jesus’ receiving the baptism, shedding His blood, and His resurrection from the dead was to atone for all their sins, and to have them die and then live again. Therefore, those who have received the

cleansing of all sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit get to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, which is the mark of having become people of God. Therefore, whoever has received the gift of the Holy Spirit is a person who believes in the righteousness of God. This means that without the cleansing of one’s every sin by believing in the Word of the righteousness of God, no one can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. Because God is Holy, those who haven’t received the cleansing of sins thoroughly by believing in the righteousness of God cannot receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for there is sin in their heart. Therefore, people who have sins in their heart do not have the Holy Spirit. In the heart of a sinner, only sin and the spirit of Satan can dwell. The divine Holy Spirit cannot dwell there, not even for a moment. If you have felt the Holy Spirit disappear from your heart after just a short stay, ◄

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then it is without a doubt the work of the Devil disguised as the Holy Spirit, not the work of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the Holy Spirit being in your heart depends on whether or not you have sins in your heart right at this moment. If you have sin in your heart right now, even though you have previously experienced the working of the Holy Spirit, the fact of the matter is that there was no true Holy Spirit back then because you have had sin in your heart. As for those of you who want to invite the Holy Spirit into your heart right now, I want you to believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with your heart. The baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist has taken on and cleansed all you sins. If you believe in Jesus’ taking on of the sins of the world through His baptism, His getting nailed to the Cross, His death, and His resurrection, you have already

been delivered from all sins and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once you start to believe in Jesus, you must know and believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with which you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to receive the cleansing of all the sins in your heart. Does the Spirit of God dwell in your heart? The only way of finding that out depends on whether or not you have in your heart the faith of knowing and believing in the righteousness of God. If this is not the case, what you need is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God shown in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and nothing else. Have you become a person of Christ? “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Christ is the Hero of the Scriptures who has ◄

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fulfilled the righteousness of God. Thus, for those who believe in the righteousness God, Christ has blotted out the sins in their heart, and at the same time, He dwells in their heart as a place of residence. Believers of the righteousness of God are those who have received the remission of all sins, and they died at the same time when Jesus died at the Cross. The hearts of those who believe in Him were brought back to new life due to the righteousness of God. Put differently, the souls of those of us who believe were brought back to life from the dead by our faith in the righteousness of God. Therefore, those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God, become those who dwell in Christ together with Him. However, regarding the lustful desires of this world, they are dead.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” The hearts of those who believe in the righteousness of God are not dead but rather they are alive by the Spirit of God. The flesh of a saint who has the Spirit of God will die once, and then will be brought back to life once more. Such people are the saints who do not have sins as well as the believers of the righteousness of God. Even though their spirits have been born again by faith due to the Truth of the water and the Spirit, their flesh has the destiny to die once and then be brought back to life once more. Therefore, a saint is someone who has gained a new eternal life. “Therefore, brethren, we are ◄

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debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” People who believe in the righteousness of God are those whose spirits are alive. They shouldn’t go on living pursuing the trivial desires of the flesh that follow sin because their flesh has already died together with Christ at the Cross due to all sins, and they have gained new life together with Christ. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” A saint living out a life that is dead or a life that is alive depends on whether that saint walks according to the sins of the flesh or serves the righteousness of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

People who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts will listen to Him and follow the words of the spiritual leader who gives the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the sons of God are led by the preceding servants of God; but as for the sinners, they will be led by other sinners. It is written, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). People who have become children of God by believing in His righteousness follow the Word of God. Whether or not someone is a child of God can also be determined by looking at whether or not the person follows the Word of God by faith. It is the same as is written, “A tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” ◄

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People who believe in the righteousness of God get to receive the Holy Spirit which allows them to become children of God. Therefore, since these people have received the remission of sins and believe in the righteousness of God shown in the water and Spirit, are the ones who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. If people are those who have accepted Jesus Christ, then they can say that they are those who know and believe in the righteousness of God. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” For those who have the Holy Spirit in their heart, the Holy Spirit bears witness to the fact that they are God’s children. If we have become

children of God by believing in His righteousness, then we will be enjoying the glory of the splendors of Heaven together with God the Father. Because we are those who will be receiving the glory of God together with Christ, we must also suffer with Him for His righteousness. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” An endless life of glory awaits those who believe in the righteousness of God. This is why Paul speaks of that glorious life in Heaven in comparison with the sufferings on this earth for Christ. But no suffering on this earth is worthy of being compared with the glory that the righteous will be enjoying in the next world. Yes, this is so. The glory of Heaven is beyond description as it ◄

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is written, “The glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another” (1 Corinthians 15:40). Truly, the glorious life that will be given to the saints can neither be compared with nor be measured against any other kind of life on this earth. Because the glory given to the saints and servants of God is so tremendous, all we can do is to give thanks in return. “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” All the creations made by God wait for the moment when all the Word of God gets fulfilled in the future and the sons of God wear the glory. The reason is that everything becoming perfect upon reaching that moment is the providence of God. Even now, all the creations are waiting for the Millennium Kingdom and the eternal

Kingdom of Heaven to come upon the saints. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;” Now isn’t yet the time for the completion of the will of God. The providence of God hasn’t yet been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is why the creations are inflicted with pain from sinners as well. It is because the will of God has determined that the creation will be subjected to futility only until the will of God is perfected. “Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Just as the righteous who have received the salvation from sins and become children of God await the day when they will enjoy the glory of ◄

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Heaven, all the creations made by God also wait for that day. We who know the righteousness of God yearn for such glory after being freed from the slavery of death and attaining new life. The creation is like that also. “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Still, all the creations suffer pain along with the righteous. God’s glorious life will begin at the Kingdom of the Lord along with those who believe in the righteousness of God. Up until now, God is the only One living gloriously. But from now on, a glorious new world in which He will share with the righteous people who have gained the remission of sins by believing in the righteousness of God will open up. That world is the Kingdom of the Lord. All the creations and the people of the Lord

wait for and believe in the Kingdom of God that is soon to come. We all suffer pain until the day. “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Just as the creations wait for the Kingdom of God, we who have become people of Christ by believing in the righteousness of God also wait for the day when the Kingdom of the Lord gets realized quickly on this earth and in Heaven. This is the earnest expectation of all the saints and servants of God who have received the remission of sins. “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” ◄

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People who believe in the righteousness of God have come to receive the remission of sins, and they yearn to enter and live in the Kingdom of Heaven wearing all the glories of God in hope. They have come to receive the remission of sins through their faith in the righteousness of God. The saints are waiting for that day, because they have secured the right to go and live in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the righteous do not hope for what they can see on this earth, but rather, they hope for entering and living in the Kingdom of Heaven by faith. This is the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God.

the Lord. This is the life of a saint. The word “to wait” is a symbol of faith to those who have become the saints. All those who have become saints wait for the day of the Lord by persevering through the hardships of reality. When that day of hope comes, all the wishes will be realized for those who believe in the righteousness of God. Therefore, “faith, love, and hope,” will always abide. The very last hope is for us to be living in that glorious place on the day of the Lord. At that time, let us live out our lives enjoying the glory of God.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” People who go on living on this earth believing in the righteousness of God live out their faith in perseverance waiting for the day of

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” For the believers of the righteousness of God, ◄

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the Holy Spirit will dwell in them until the end of the days of the world. However, there are times when the righteous do not know what they should pray for to God. But knowing what to pray to God, the Holy Spirit prays for them, The Holy Spirit is always helping those saints who believe in the righteousness of God. When the saints are in hardship, He gives them the strength to pray, allows them to come up with a prayer subject, and grants them the strength to ask in earnest. He gives conviction and peace in their hearts. The Holy Spirit also gives aid to all the works of serving the righteousness of God with power. “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” God the Father has given the Holy Spirit to

His children who have become the saints. Thus, the Holy Spirit allows us to pray according to the will of the Father, for He is God. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is possible only for those who have become the children of God. In the hearts of those to whom the workings of the Holy Spirit have come, there is the Holy Spirit, and He has allowed them to pray in earnest to God the Father for His will. As such, He has allowed the saints who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to live and pray according to the will of God the Father. If the hearts of the saints have only been cleansed of sins by faith, then there is no Holy Spirit inside their hearts, and the saints would not be able to live according to the will of God. The divine Holy Spirit is always there inside the hearts of the saints, and He has them pray fervently for everything according to God’s will. Those who have the Holy Spirit inside their hearts are those ◄

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who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they are the ones who are experiencing the workings of the Holy Spirit. In this world, those who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts are the happiest ones. It is because He is the Protector and Counselor of the saints. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God has called the sinners and He has made them the righteous. God works in order to bring maturity of faith to the saints through all their livelihood as well as the environment; and thus, all things work together for good. The righteousness of God has the power to take in all things and turn them into good. God has fulfilled good by making all things

work together by working in every aspect of our lives. The proof of His working is to make the sinners to become the righteous and His people. All these things are achieved within the power that has completed the righteousness of God. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This passage means that God the Father has predestined us to become children of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is shown in His plan in which He has predestined to make us younger siblings of Jesus Christ. God has made us His people with His predestination in Jesus Christ, and He has saved us by the gospel of the water and the Spirit accordingly. Ever since God had created the universe, it was predestined that He will make us His people ◄

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in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the plan for salvation fulfilled in Christ by the righteousness of God was something that was to be perfected within the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God the Father has sent down Jesus Christ to this earth, and He has called upon the sinners in the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ. It means that it was predestined that anyone who wants to become a child of God has to believe in the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ. For mankind to become children of God, it was made so that they had to believe in the Truth of the baptism Jesus had received and the blood. Thus, people must believe in the righteousness of God wholeheartedly, recognizing the fact that they do not have any righteousness of their own. God the Father has only called upon those sinners who believe in the righteousness of God fulfilled through Jesus Christ. God has predestined that those who do not believe in the

righteousness of God, regardless of whether or not they have much self-righteousness, cannot but suffer a great failure in salvation for they go on refusing God’s plan. Therefore, in order for us to believe in the righteousness of God, we had to believe in the predestination of God established within God’s righteousness. “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Who do God the Father call? He calls upon all those sinners whose self-righteousness has been broken in Jesus Christ. Whom God has called, He has clothed them with His righteousness and thus turned them from sinners to the righteous. Because God has perfectly saved the sinners from sins by His righteousness, He has glorified the believers as His people. ◄

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The Apostle Paul tells us that people must not understand this Scripture passage in verse 30 as the basis of some Christian doctrines, like the Doctrine of Sanctification. Christians must be aware of the Christian Doctrine of Sanctification. Yet, right now, so many Christians and Christian theologians have confused the Word of God’s righteousness of by creating the Doctrine of Sanctification. These people understand and believe in this Scripture passage like the following: First of all, they think and believe that even though God the Father has called upon the sinners through Jesus Christ and has saved them from sins, because that salvation is not perfect, it can only be completed through the gradual sanctification of mind and body. However, the Scripture passage does not speak of God turning people into His perfect children gradually as time passes by, but rather it speaks of God completing

it once and for all by the righteousness of God. God has made sinners the just perfectly not by human righteousness, but by the righteousness of God. Here, starting from “whom He predestined, these He also called,” to the end, the passage talks about the righteousness of God in which God has called upon the sinners and has saved them perfectly from sins by having Jesus take on the sins of the world with His baptism and shed His blood on the Cross. God calls upon the sinners by His righteousness, and He had called them by predestining that He will make those believers His children perfectly. The gospel that I have preached to you is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which contains “the righteousness of God,” and this gospel has made sinners the righteous. The predestination of God gets unraveled in the gospel of the water and the Spirit so clearly because the gospel of the ◄

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water and the Spirit is the Truth. If one were to try to unravel this verse of Romans 8:30 with the Doctrine of Sanctification and the Doctrine of Predestination that prevail in today’s Christianity, that person will fall into chaos. There are so many people who have fallen into chaos and darkness for not having received the remission of sins because they tried to obstinately unravel this Scripture passage with the Doctrine of Sanctification and the Doctrine of Predestination. This is because the Doctrine of Sanctification is absolutely groundless and absurd. You must believe in the righteousness of God amidst your actual life. Only then, can you be free from all your sins. If you don’t believe so and try to believe in Jesus by obstinately unraveling the righteousness of God with Christian doctrines, you will never be able to escape from your sins. The unraveling of all the truths is through the Holy Spirit. You must never

forget that this Truth constitutes the righteousness of God. The Doctrine of Sanctification has many aspects of fabrication. But the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is the righteousness of God. All the truths are proven in the righteousness of God. Therefore, you must know that all your sins can be solved with the righteousness of God. If you don’t hold fast onto the truths of the Scriptures but instead try to solve them with the Doctrine of the Sanctification, the more you try, the less it will get solved. Therefore, you must first meet the Truth which is the righteousness of God. You must realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the substance of the righteousness of God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that an actual sinner can only believe in when the person admits his or her sins by believing in that gospel Word. All the truths and the righteousness of God can be ◄

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understood and experienced within the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must not hesitate to accept Jesus Christ who has come to this earth by the water and the Spirit as your Savior. If you do so, the righteousness of God will be realized inside your heart and be blessed. By believing in the righteousness of God, you will be able to receive the blessing of wearing the glory of God. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” God has made whole those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is the righteousness of God. Therefore, we must throw away religious righteousness, good conduct of religion, and religious doctrines that make enmity with the righteousness of God and return to God. The righteousness of God is the Truth

that has perfectly cleansed us of all the filthy sins. As God cherishes us, the believers in the righteousness of God, who would dare say then that we are wrong? No one can say so. Proper faith before God is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God, and that faith is an invincible faith that allows the sinners to enter Heaven by making them the just. The way of defeating all lies is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God. In order for us to defeat Satan, we must have the faith of believing in the righteousness of God. God has given you the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit which is the righteousness of God for you. Do you know that the Doctrine of Sanctification in Christianity doesn’t make you to be without sin? Such doctrine has been taught also in Buddhism. Instead of believing in certain Christian doctrines, we must have the faith in the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God ◄

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is more than sufficient in glorifying you and in making you who believe in Jesus to be the righteous for all eternity. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” God the Father has given the blessing of becoming the people of God and the blessing of reigning as kings in the Millennium Kingdom to those who believe in the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. In this verse, God promises us to give us freely all things with His Son Jesus Christ. For as long as the righteous people who have been born again by the water and the Spirit live on this earth, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has granted them many gifts of blessing. God had the righteous live out their life in the righteousness

of God, always receiving the love of God all the while believing in the Truth. “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” God loved especially those who believe in the righteousness of God, and He made them His children. Like so, no one can bring a charge against what God has done for us. This means that who can possibly protest those whom God has taken in as His people with His righteousness? God has approved the faith of the believers of the righteousness of God. Therefore, no one can say that the faith of the righteous people who believe in the righteousness of God is wrong. It is because the righteousness of God is always just, merciful, and honest. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also ◄

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risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Just as one can’t say that the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God is ‘wrong,’ no one can say that God, who approves such faith, is wrong. The One who approves the believers of the righteousness of God to be right is God. Jesus Christ came to this earth, received the baptism, cleansed the sins of the world by getting crucified, and vicariously received all the judgment once and for all for the believers of the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ became the Advocate of those who believe in the righteousness of God by receiving the baptism, dying on the Cross, coming back to life from the dead, and sitting at the right hand of God. Therefore, there is no one who can say that the faith of those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is wrong.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Nothing in this world can separate those who believe in the righteousness of God from the love of Christ and their faith. Is there anyone who can separate us from the faith of believing in the righteousness of Christ? There is none. Then, is there a distress that can separate us from the faith of believing the love of Christ? There isn’t any. Persecution, famine, poverty, danger, and death cannot separate us from the love of Christ. “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’” Just as it is written in the Old Testament, regarding the prophesied relationship between ◄

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the saints and Christ, that the saints’ love for Christ has sprouted much love and sacrifice, all the saints who believe in the righteousness of God have come to be able to live out their lives for the Lord. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Those who believe in the righteousness of God are able to easily overcome all the persecution through the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus Christ. God has allowed the saints to live out every aspect of life for the Lord by the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.

principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,” In this day and age, those who have the same faith as that of Paul who believed in the righteousness of God, are the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Just as there was no one who could break the faith of Paul and the saints during the Early Church Era, in this day and age, there is no one who can break the life of faith and the faith of the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Saints must always keep the faith of believing in the love of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they will be meeting the Lord after living out such a life.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ◄

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Exegesis Chapter 9

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416 Where Does the Apostle Paul’s Anguish Come from?

Where Does the Apostle Paul’s Anguish Come from? < Romans 9:1-33 > “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who

are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have ◄

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compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and

that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.’ ‘And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.’ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work ◄

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upon the earth.’ And as Isaiah said before: ‘Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.’ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’”

“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.” Up until now, the Apostle Paul has been telling us about the upright Truth. The Truth told by the Apostle Paul was about the righteousness of God that has saved sinners from all their sins. In the Word of God preached by Paul, it is written what the righteousness of God is and how that righteousness of God was completed and gets applied to us. If we all know and believe in the genuine Truth preached by the Apostle Paul, we will get to receive all the blessings that God gives to us. I hope that all the blessings of God will be with you all. However, far from the completeness of the righteousness of God preached by the Apostle Paul, the people of Israel did not have the faith of accepting Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the ◄

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righteousness of God. Because of this, Paul’s heart was in great sorrow all the while in bitterness and sadness. He was in grief because of the problem relating to the salvation of the people of Israel. Therefore, the time when the Apostle Paul’s grief and sorrow disappears will be when the nation of Israel accepts Jesus, who is the Hero of the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the Savior. Thus, the grief that torments Paul’s heart will be continuing until the nation of Israel gets to stand before God. Each and every person of the people of Israel should right now accept in his or her heart Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the Savior prophesied in the Old Testament. Should they not do so, they will never be able to meet the Messiah, and they will never be able to take the New Jerusalem that will come from above as their land. Starting today, the day when the people of Israel will believe in Jesus Christ, the true

Messiah, as their Savior because of the sufferings they have to go through is close at hand. In the future, there will come a day when the nation of Israel will believe that Jesus Christ, who had come 2,000 years ago, was the Savior they have been waiting for because of much suffering.

Paul’s Faith “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,” This verse shows us the heart of those who believe in the righteousness of God. I am saying that Paul’s heart is like that. He had wished for the salvation of his nation, his countrymen, and his family even if it meant that he himself would be accursed from Christ. I am saying that such heart is the heart of the righteous. ◄

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Righteous finds joy in sharing the God-given salvation with many people. However, sinners, unlike the righteous, focus on obtaining things that are good. They do not find joy in sharing what is good. The Lord said those who have received much should share much, and He also said, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48). Therefore, people who have the righteousness of God in their heart wish to spread the righteousness of God throughout the entire world, just like the heart of God. Even though they may lose much, they wish for it to be so. Even now, those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit find joy in sharing many things for numerous souls. Such a heart is the heart of the righteousness of God

given to those who have become children of God. People who possess the righteousness of God are going through troubles for the spiritual salvation of others. It is because doing so is most comforting to their heart.

Even Though the Israelites Have Received the Special Love of God “Who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” The Israelites are a nation that has been granted many blessings from God both in the flesh and in the spirit. For them, God had ◄

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personally become their God, and He had granted them the commandment of God and the promise of blessings as the nation of priesthood that can offer sacrifice to God. But because they did not believe in the blessing of God, they drove away Jesus Christ, who is God’s blessing, from their country. Therefore, the Gentiles were permitted to receive many blessings due to their knowledge of Jesus Christ who has become the righteousness of God. Because the nation of Israel did not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the blessings of the righteousness of God have reached those among the Gentiles who believe in the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ, whom the nation of Israel did not accept into their heart, was fundamentally God and the Savior. Thus, they should have known that God was more than enough to receive love, praise, veneration, and glory from all of us. This Truth was a very important Truth; so much so

that much emphasizing is never enough. We all must know and believe in the fact that Jesus Christ is God. We must realize that knowing and believing that He has fulfilled the Savior’s mission for all the sinners is extremely important.

God’s Plan Did Take Effect “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’” ◄

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God works like this. When God works on people, He works by making them a promise first. For example, we can look into the work He had performed after having spoken to Jacob and Esau. Also, we can see that God gave Isaac to Abraham after having given him the word of promise first. God promised to give Abraham a son, and that promise meant that He would give a son through Sarah’s body. However, because the fulfillment of that promise seemed tardy, Abraham’s heart flowed in the direction of the fleshly ways, and he gained a son named Ishmael. But, after having promised Abraham to give a child through Sarah, God had fulfilled that promise 20 years later. When God said He was going to give a son to Abraham, He meant that He was going to give a child of the faith, not a child of the flesh. Likewise, before God, we must understand Him as God who promises and fulfills the prosperity

of our spiritual faith rather than the prosperity of our flesh. There are times when we wait to fulfill the prosperity of the flesh, while ignoring the spiritual faith that God requests of us. However, we ourselves must continue our life of faith with our goal placed on the Word of God. If we were to perceive the Word of God by placing our purpose on the fulfillment of fleshly desires, we would in turn be making a big mistake. The Word of God always requests a faith that is absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of the Word. Having faith in this spiritual principle, we must live out our faith before God. The faith that God desires is the faith that always believes in the realization of the Word of God. God requests of us the faith of always believing in the Word of God. You must also wholeheartedly believe in the Word of God which tells us that all the righteousness of God ◄

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has been fulfilled by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Was the Election by God Carried Out without Any Purpose? “And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”” Regarding election, the Bible says, “Jacob was elected not because of works but of Him who calls.” People must take this truth to their heart. We must realize that concerning God’s

electing of His people, it is said that it is done not by the works of people, but only by the One who calls, because God wants to give us the righteousness of God. God is saying that it was to call upon all the sinners who were born as sinners by the whole righteousness of God through Jesus Christ, and to make those who have answered His call God’s people by saving them from sins. We must know the righteousness of God. The Bible says that regarding the calling of God, there is a reason for having called someone like Jacob, but not Esau. Do you know the reason why God said, “The purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls”? You must understand that the reason was for God to save sinners like Jacob from sins. God loves someone like Jacob but hates someone like Esau. It is because someone like Esau, for he had much rightness of his own, had ◄

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disregarded the righteousness of God and did not accept it into his heart. God wants to break human righteousness; God actually breaks human righteousness with His righteousness in order to save humans. God wants to deliver sinners from all sins by His own righteousness. Between Jacob and Esau, who were inside the Rebecca’s womb, God chose only one of them one-sidedly because He knew which one would accept the righteousness of God into his heart and which one would not do so and reject it. Thus, God said He chose Jacob who would accept the righteousness of God into his heart instead of Esau. Some people say that between Esau and Jacob, God had one-sidedly loved one and not the other without any particular reason. But I say to you that there is never an instance where God acts without a reason. God is the God of the Truth, and you must realize that there is something wrong with those

who think that God, who is the Truth, does not carry out truthful judgments and acts. In no way does God elect untruthfully. Why is that? The fact is that “calling” is predestined inside the election by God. If there is no predestination of whom to call in the election by God, God will say that there is an error in His electing of people. But you must realize that God does not make mistakes. It is because God says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” It means that God is the Truth, the Master who gives life, the Way to obtaining everlasting life and receiving the remission of sins. It is because God knows everything. Aren’t you and I someone who is fundamentally vile and weak, deceiving others as often as possible? Given this, if God has chosen us because He could not but choose us through Jesus Christ, is that an error? Never. Rather, God excluded those who are arrogant, have much ◄

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righteousness of their own, overflow with selfstyled justice, and believe that they do not have that much lacking from God’s choice. Then, is it right for God to elect people who are arrogant and have much rightness of their own before God as His people? God of the Truth will never do that in the least. We praise the fact that God had chosen Jacob, who was lacking, weak, and had not much of his own rightness, instead of someone like Esau, who was full of pride and arrogant. God isn’t the God of someone like Esau. Instead, He is the God of someone like Jacob. God is the Father of compassion. God is the God of the Truth. God is the God of mercy. But He is the God who pours down His wrath upon those who are full of pride and breaks those who are arrogant. As God the Father elects and loves people, He disperses and brings His wrath upon those who

are full of pride; but He shows mercy to those who are humble. He wants you to have the insight to know that God the Father has saved you through the baptism of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and the blood He shed on the Cross. God elects people, and we needed the knowledge of realizing and knowing that God has given the blessing of becoming God’s children to those who believe in the rightness of the One who has called us through the baptism received by Jesus Christ and His blood of the Cross. I hope you would have the knowledge of the rightness of God and the blessing of realizing why God had to love Jacob but hate Esau, and then believe in Him properly. The fact that God loved Jacob with the righteousness of God and hated Esau who had refused the righteousness of God is a truth.

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Truly Are the Ones on Whom God Has Mercy “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” Is it wrong for God to love Jacob but hate Esau? The fact is that it is not so. When God looks at people, He personally saves the pitiful from all their sins by having compassion on them. Therefore, those on whom God has compassion become people of God by having worn the love of God’s salvation and having been delivered from all their sins. Actually, becoming God’s people by having received the remission of sins

from God depends on whether or not one has received compassion from God, and not at all by living out a life until one reaches sanctification. We must all know that in order for us to receive the remission of sins before God, we must throw away our own thoughts. If you do not throw away your own thoughts before God, you will fall into the misunderstanding of trying to receive the remission of sins by having done something good on your own. All who wants to receive the remission of sins before God must throw away their thoughts. Only from then on, are we able to believe in the salvation, the righteous act that God has done for us. This in turn means that if we want to receive the remission of sins, we must first do away with our own thoughts instead of trying to do something. When we put away our thoughts, we get to see the work that God has done for us. Up until now, have you and I been trying to ◄

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receive the salvation by doing well in the footrace of faith? No, not at all! If so, let us put away our thoughts. Let us look toward the love of God’s righteousness that God has done for us. If we do so, the baptism received by Jesus in order for Him to take on our sins, the blood of the Cross, and His death and resurrection will be shown to us clearly. Then, the righteousness of God will truly be shown to us. Like Jacob, do you want to receive God’s love? If so, I hope you will also confirm and acknowledge the fact that you are a person like Jacob. I hope you will realize the fact that a person like Esau does not get saved from sins because he or she hasn’t received compassion from God. I want you to believe in the fact that the righteousness of God which has come by the water and the Spirit has saved you perfectly from all your sins.

The Wrath of God to Those Whose Heart Is Hardened “For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’” It is also the will of God to show His Omnipotence by raising someone like the Pharaoh up. Among those living in this world, people whose heart is hardened suffer destruction for having fought against God. But in the midst of that destruction, God has made it so that we will be able to see that God lives and works, and thus, they can be seen by us. Recently, there was a happening in which someone who had been slandering the servants of God who were spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit had died because of skin cancer. ◄

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In the Bible also, God had Egyptians drowned in the waters of the Red Sea because the Pharaoh did not free the people of Israel because his heart was hardened. In the Bible, there also were the occurrences of the armies of Assyria and Babylonia losing their land for having fought against Israel. Likewise, whether it is an individual or a nation, all of them suffered destruction by the power of God for having fought against God and His people. That each and every person whose heart is hardened suffers destruction just like Esau and the Pharaoh had for not having believed in the righteousness of God is the power of God. Those who are like Esau are hated by God and suffer destruction for not having believed in the righteousness of God. The power of God and the fact that God lives are also shown through the destruction of those whose hearts are hardened. Therefore, God displays the power of His wrath

to those who are like Esau, but shows the love of mercy to those who are like Jacob. Thus, God shows the fact that He lives and His power to both types of people living on this earth. We must learn the lesson that one must not become someone who will be suffering destruction because of his or her hardened heart before God. We must become those who wait for the mercy before God. Why would we need to become hardened in our hearts before God? The fact that one’s heart is hardened before God means that the heart is arrogant. What I am saying is that are we so good that we need to be raising our hearts? Do we have any reason to exalt our hearts even before God? God has given us God’s righteousness freely, yet what reason is there for us not to believe in it? The righteousness of God is fully instilled in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, yet what reason could there be for us to receive hate from ◄

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God by not believing in it? By believing in the love of God’s righteousness, we must become those wearing the love of God. Thus, why do we need to become those who disbelieve by exalting our hearts? Regardless of whom, there is no benefit in raising their heart before God. However, because those whose hearts are haughty before God get to receive the wrath of God; God’s name gets spread more and more because of such people.

God Bestows Justice and Mercy “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” This verse tells us that God gives the righteousness of God that gives the remission of sins to those who have nothing to show off, for they lack rightness of their own all so much in

God’s view by taking great pity on them. How about the will of God toward men? Toward the pitiful, God has the will to be clothing them with His love and mercy and the righteousness of God; but toward the proud whose heart is haughty, the will of God is to have them receive the punishment of hell by making their heart even more hardened. Therefore, you must become a humble person who asks for mercy from God, instead of becoming someone whose heart is full of pride before God. When God sees people, He sees them by dividing them into two types: the proud and the pitiful. He practices according to His will. He casts punishment upon those who are full of pride and He bestows the love of the righteousness of God’s mercy upon those who are pitiful. We must not think of God as a despotic God who has no reason, discretion, or truth. God is ◄

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the God of the Truth. We must know and believe in the fact that God acts with reason, discretion, mercy, and a sense of justice.

You Should Acknowledge the Justice of God and Yearn for His Mercy “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’” The question at hand is, “How can God rebuke those who have been born as the seed of sin for their trespasses?” But the fact of the matter is that because it is the will of God to make people—those who acknowledge God and believe in the love of God’s mercy by making their heart humble before God, despite the fact that they were born as the seeds of sin—His children and clothe them with blessings, God

casts curses upon those whose heart is full of pride and grants blessings upon those who are humble. Therefore, we cannot say that the blessing and the curse God bestows upon human beings are wrongful. The work that God does is a just work. Who can fight against the work that God does? There is no one. Why? It is because the work that God does is perfect and just. We human beings may seem all same from our viewpoint. In God’s view, however, there are some people who are so pitiful that God wants to clothe them with His love, and then there are some people who are so hardened and arrogant that God wants to pour His curse over them instead of His love. Therefore, because it is the will of God to bestow the love of mercy to some human beings who are all so pitiful, no one can stop that. Neither can anyone stop the will of God to cast His wrath through His power to some other human beings whose hearts are so arrogant ◄

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and hardened that they do not accept the righteousness of God. No one can oppose the work that God does, and no one can obstruct it.

Can We Rebuke God? “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” This verse is asking what is wrong with God bestowing the mercy of His righteousness to those who deserve pity. We cannot protest to God by saying to Him, “Why have you made me such an arrogant person?” If some man is such a person, then he became so not because God has made him like that but because he did not accept the love of God’s mercy for having hardened his heart on his own.

No human being can swear at God. What wrong did God do? Is there something God did unjustly? That is never so. God has given the righteousness of the salvation of the remission of sins to human beings who have fallen into sin. Despite of it all, there are those who believe in Him and those who do not; and thus, people were divided into those who are to receive the blessing and those who are to receive the curse. But still, people swear at God saying that He isn’t just. It is because they have the misunderstanding that God has allowed blessings and curses because He arbitrarily loves some people but hates others, being biased instead of being fair to all human beings. However, God was never biased or unjust. Rather, because God is so just, it is the people who are misunderstanding God, unable to understand His justness. Human beings can love with a bias, but ◄

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because God cannot, that is something that people have misunderstood for having thought of God like a human being. By sending His only begotten Son to the world, God the Father had His Son receive the baptism from John the Baptist in order to have Him take on the sins of the world, and all the righteousness of God were thus fulfilled to save all human beings. Jesus received the baptism, died on the Cross, and became our eternal Savior by His resurrection. Like so, the love of God is absolutely fair, but people are swearing at God because they have misunderstood Him with their own thoughts. People must repent.

God Has the Right to Do Things Justly “Does not the potter have

power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” This passage means that all the authority rests with God Himself. It is saying how could God not have the authority to make people His children? Certainly, God has the authority to make people His own children. It is also saying how could God not have the authority to send His enemies who do not accept the will of God but rather fight against it, to hell? Of course, all the authority belongs to God. There is nothing wrongful about the work that God does, not even a little. Should there be something wrongful, it would be in people’s thoughts, heart, and faith. People’s wrongful faith is insisting that only their thoughts are right, all the while not accepting the righteousness of God. According to their thoughts, it is right for them to complete their lives as children of God and their faith of salvation by offering prayers of repentance every ◄

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day and living out a life of gradual sanctification. But, God did not set His will like that. The will set by God is to enable people to obtain everlasting life by believing in the righteousness of God. The will of God the Father is to save the sinners from all their sins by sending His Son to this earth, having Him take on the sins of the world through His baptism, and having Him nailed to the Cross. That is the righteousness of God. In other words, it is the will of God for Him to make those who believe in the righteousness of God His own people and to make those who do not believe in His righteousness the servants of destruction. God has all the authority along with His goodness.

It Is the Will of God That He Bestows His Mercy on Those Who Are Destined to Suffer Wrath “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,” God has saved human beings, who were to be destroyed, from destruction by having them know about the riches of the glory of God and the righteousness of God. Originally, human beings were all servants of Satan, having been deceived by him. Those who have been deceived by Satan and have fallen into his lure were those who had lost communion with God. Rather, they became those who have fought against God. They were those whom God had decided to destroy. Those who have sins before God and

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those who rise up against God became those who could only receive the punishment of hell due to their sins. It shows that they were destined for destruction due to their sins. For such human beings, God decided to clothe them with the riches of His mercy and the grace of the remission of sins. He has decided to clothe them with the His love, all the while waiting patiently with tolerance. Because God has decided to clothe us with the love of His righteousness like so, we have no reason whatsoever to protest. Instead, we should praise God for His great love. If God has decided to carry out the work of saving sinners from sins, we should all be thankful, and we should exalt the glory of God. Regardless, no one can interfere with the work that God does; and even if people want to interfere, they lack the qualification to interfere.

There Is Nothing Wrong about the Work That God Does, Not at All “and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,” Even if God has decided to save sinners with His righteousness, who can protest it to be wrong? We who believe in the righteousness of God cannot say that He is wrong. All of us can only be thankful with a heart that reveres God who does virtuous work. We cannot dare judge whether it is ‘right or wrong.’ Who can dare say that the work of the righteousness of God that God carries out is ‘right or wrong?’ People who believe in the righteousness of God as well as all those who do not believe in it can never do that. “Even us whom He called, ◄

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not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.’ ‘And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.’” We who are born as descendants of Adam fundamentally weren’t people of God. But by having received the love of God’s mercy, we have become His own people. We all were the vessels of wrath before God. Yet, God has considered the pitiful as the vessels of mercy. God has delivered those whom He wants to take in as His own children from being the subject of wrath. When God sees us human beings, some are so very pitiful that He cannot

but deliver them from the deserved wrath. And thus, God has adopted human beings as His own people by bestowing His love of mercy. So, those who have put on the righteousness of God have become His own children by faith. People were fundamentally destined to receive God’s wrath. In the Book of Romans chapter 11, verse 32, God said, “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all,” and we wholeheartedly believe this. We all were fundamentally the seed of sin, unable to obey God. But God, who is full of love, has made everyone His people by bestowing them His merciful love after having put us, the disobedient, amidst sins in order to make us His people. For this reason, the love of the righteousness of God resides only with the believers and God.

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Does Only the Small Number of People of Israel Become People of God? “Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.’” Even if there are a large number of Israelites, God has said only those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior will become people of God at the end of days. If so, does it mean that among the numerous Israelites, only a small number of them get to

become people of God after getting delivered from the wrath? Yes, that is so. This passage is saying that God will do so only onto a small number of the Israelites, and He will do so onto a small number of Gentiles, as well. Among those numerous people who will receive the wrath from God, only a small number of people will be wearing God’s mercy, escaping from the wrath, and becoming people of God. God will fulfill all His Word and then finish this world. God will surely find out those who will receive the love of His mercy among those who are to receive His wrath, and He will complete the work of making them His own people by clothing them in His righteousness. When that is fulfilled, He will finish the history of this world. If we are going to be wearing the remission of sins from our God, we must be prepared in our hearts to be clothed with God’s mercy. ◄

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God Has Left Those Who Believe in the Righteousness of God on This Earth. “And as Isaiah said before: ‘Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.’” This Scripture passage tells us that the entire world would have been destroyed due to sins if God hadn’t left those who believe in the righteousness of God’s mercy. For all the people in this world, the Lord has left His servants who believe in and preach the righteousness of God. They are the ones who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Even though they were sinners who had deserved His wrath,

by believing in the Truth instilled with the righteousness of God, they have become those who have been saved from all sins. They are the servants of the righteousness of God who carry out the work of delivering people from sins that deserved the wrath by preaching to them the righteousness of God. God has left them on this earth for you. You and all others must receive and welcome those who believe in and preach the righteousness of God. It is because they are the ambassadors of God’s righteousness. As you think about why God has left them on this earth, you must realize that it was for you. Those who are fundamentally destined to receive the wrath from God must accept these people of faith who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as ambassadors of God. You and all others must know, be thankful, and believe that God has left those who believe ◄

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in the righteousness of God on this earth for the sinners. God has delivered from His wrath all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit preached by the servants of the righteousness of God.

One Cannot Obtain the Righteousness of God by His Meritorious Works “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”

Up until now, the people of Israel have been pursuing the righteousness of the Law before God. Therefore, they have been living having thrown away the faith in Jesus Christ who has become the righteousness of God. That is why they could neither receive salvation from God’s wrath nor become people of God. However, because the Gentiles believed in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit instilled with the righteousness of God rather than following the righteousness of the Law, they were delivered from all their sins and became people of God. Right at this moment, the faith of those among the nation of Israel and the Gentiles who have followed the righteousness of the Law is destined to be destroyed because they haven’t been able to receive deliverance from sins. Among those who believe in Jesus today, those who believe without the knowledge of the righteousness of God shown in the gospel of the ◄

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water and the Spirit, have arrived at destruction in the end for not having received deliverance from sins despite their faith in Jesus. Because they have risen up against the righteousness of God with human righteousness and legalistic righteousness, and although they believe in Jesus as the Savior, they cannot but become confined under sin. Regardless of whom one may belong to, the nation of Israel or the Gentiles, each and every person must believe in the righteousness of God to become people of God. The righteousness of God is fully shown in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

One Cannot Properly Believe in Jesus without the Faith of Believing in the Righteousness of God “As it is written:

‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’” God the Father has established Jesus as our Savior on the pathway to Heaven, and whoever does not believe in the baptism of Jesus, who has become the righteousness of God, at the Jordan River and the blood of the Cross will not be able to pass through the gates of Heaven. We must know this Truth. Today, there are many people who believe in Jesus as the Savior in order to receive Heaven and the remission of sins. However, the fact that they believe in Jesus is good, but there are many people who do not believe in the righteousness of God. It is because they are not aware that Jesus’ baptism received from John the Baptist and His blood shed on the Cross truly constitute the righteousness of salvation and the righteousness ◄

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of God to the believers. Thus, their faith becomes a failure. God the Father has allowed for anyone to believe in Jesus as the Savior. But He has made it to be so that if people do not know that Jesus’ baptism and His blood of the Cross constitute the righteousness of God, then their faith will turn out to be a failure. Therefore, those who believe in Jesus as their Savior must bear in mind and believe that they can be delivered from all their sins only if they believe in Jesus’ baptism and the blood of the Cross which have become the righteousness of God without fail. I pray in the faith of believing in the righteousness of God that God’s blessing will be upon you. Until now, I have been working together with God’s Church. I am thankful that I have come to serve the Lord together with you who also believe in the righteousness of God. I truly give thanks to the Lord. I hope I will be able to meet

you in my next writing.

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