I Am Not Come To Call The Righteous
By Allen Bailey
(Mat 9:12 KJV) "But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."
"... And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance..." Matt 9:10-13.
"... If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us..." 1 John 1:8-10.
"...Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh..." James 3:11-12..
"...Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned..." Matt 12 33-37..
"...For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death..." Rom 7:9-10.
Some Rhetorical Questions
Who in this house are sinners? (pause)
Well?
(Hands raise)
Then the rest of you must not be sinners?
(No hands) Proceed with text.
(If any Hands - not likely)- quote 1 John 1:8-10.
If you are not (manifest) sinners, then you have nothing to do with Jesus, because He is the sinner's friend, for it is not the righteous, but sinners that He came to call to repentance.
Oh, you say "That you have already been saved, that you were once a sinner, but now that you have "been saved"- and therefore become righteous, you have no further need to be called to repentance" - But how can this be? - Considering that the Apostle John was writing the words above not to the "dead alien sinner", but to the brethren, the church, who are instructed to confess their sins. How can they confess their sins, if they are not still in the commission of sins? And Paul admonishes the brethren to confess their faults one to the other? And if they are not sinners, why are they yet in the commission of sins - for do they not (all saints) yet commit sin?
Can they commit that that they are not subject to? Can a tree that is subject to bring forth only corrupt fruit, avoid bringing forth anything but corrupt fruit - but occasionally bring forth some good fruit? We know that this is not true in nature, and neither does this idea conform to Christ's analogy - though nearly all the world of fallen mankind of sinners would disagree with Him. If a tree brings forth nothing but corrupt fruit, then it must be identified as a corrupt or worthless tree, destined to be cut down and cast into the fire. Can "a fountain bring forth both sweet and bitter water at the same time?" The Apostle James says no, because it is in the nature of bad trees and bad fountains to consistently bring forth nothing but worthless water and bad fruit for human consumption. If we drilled a well and got only bad water from it for a year, but woke up one morning and found that it was producing sweet and wonderful water, we would indeed be astonished! - Or vice versa. Nature does not act in this way, but is pretty reliable; therefore man can learn from its nature and so advance in the sciences of nature. It is even so in the analogy of spiritual things. The nature of man can be held under restraint by the force of law, but its propensities and inclinations cannot be changed. The strong man in nature keeps his palace in peace until a stronger man enters and binds him, and spoils all of his goods that he trusts in for his survival.
Oh - but you say that although man may have the nature to bring forth bad fruit, they yet have another nature that they may bring forth either good or bad fruit at their option; the choice is only left with them - Thus they that espouse this doctrine must necessarily identify themselves with the sacred cow free-will crowd, but did you ever see a tree that God made (and He made all the trees) that was able to do this? Or did you ever see a fountain of waters that could exercise such a built-in option of it's nature? If so, then how can Christ's and Jame's analogy above hold true? If a bad tree can't do it, and a corrupt fountain can't do it, a worthless fig tree can't do it and a sorry grape vine can't either, then pray tell me how you can do it, when Jesus, John and James have compared God's people (who are sinners) to trees, fountains and vines?
How is it that you by nature are not a sinner, when Paul says that he was the chief of sinners? You say that this only referred to the time before Paul was converted, repented and became righteous; and that he merely felt to be the chief of sinners, but was not actually the chief of sinners. Well, at least, Saul may have truly been the chief of sinners at that time, because the blood of many believers and saints was still on his hands, and he was no doubt directly responsible for the death of more of the saints then any other man that lived at that time. The persecution and murder of prophets and saints and righteous persons of God was such a serious charge upon the Jews and the wicked of like kind all the way back to righteous Able, who was murdered by his wicked brother Cain; Christ said that the blood of these saints would be required at the hands of that present generation of Jews (excepting the elect in it), because of their fathers' and their own persecution of the saints including that of Christ The very Son of God: Let man try to square this judgment with his own standards of justice if he can. The only way it can be answered is as the Apostle does in Rom 9. So Paul and his Master are in agreement. (Rom 9:14-24.)
"... Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation..." Luke 11:49-51. (Also Luke 21:22)
"... Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation..." Matt 23:34-36.
--- And subsequently which judgment and vengeance upon them came to its climax a few years later, and took place in a literal destruction and thus terminated the Law economy, the legal and political dispensation, chronologically speaking in the year 70 A. D when the Roman armies under the leadership of Titus Vespasian utterly destroyed that nation, and dispersed the Jews throughout the world.
But Paul didn't say that he felt or onlywas (past tense) the chief of sinners; but when he wrote these words he said: "...This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief..." ( in the present tense.) 1 Tim 1:15. Although Paul, when he was known as Saul of Tarsus, and was a persecutor and waster of the church and injurious to God's called people, was arrested on the Damascus road by Christ, and sent to Ananias for further instuctions, he was a sinner; the only difference now in his experience was, he had now been shown and made to realize that without Christ and His Spirit, he was only an undone sinner in God's sight, instead of a self-righteous Pharisee who trusted in his own righteousness in keeping the Law in order to obtain and maintain salvation; that before his conversion from his ignorance of himself and sin to a true knowledge of sin and death, he thought that he was righteous, and was able of himself, like the Rich Young Ruler to keep the whole law of God (The holy commandments). He at that time in principle could well have embodied the rich young ruler that said to Jesus that he had kept all of the commandments from his youth. No doubt, this young man thought he possessed the option to choose life or death just as he may please, because the conditional law covenant or economy taught this also. "...I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: ..." (Deut 30:19) But the other side of this coin under the New Covenant of mercy in Christ is: "that the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a New Covenant did.." And the conditional Law entered that the offence might abound- not to remedy or take away the offense of sin. The Law was "not a rule of life, as many teach, but rather the law as it is presented in propositions and offers, invitations, exhortations and such conditional terms always issues in death to the sinner, for though the Law has a Divine right to demand, yet it has no obligation to furnish fleshly hands to obey the precept presented.
"....But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready - (but not already completely vanished at the time the Hebrew writer penned this) - to vanish away..." Heb 8:6-13.
Oh, how sweet to realize that saints now live under a covenant of mercy and love and that their sins and offences against God are remembered by Him no more! for blessed are they to whom the Lord will not impute sin, as it was all charged to their Savior in His redemptive work!
This doctrine is very offensive to the proud flesh of man, but it states cleary the condition that the flesh stands in relationship to God and His righteousness. And as the dead world still thinks and yet teaches) about this, even to the aquisition of Eternal life, just as this young man's notion of it, until he and they have been killed by the Law's sentence of death, as Paul was. But Jesus, in rebuking him in his folly showed that if the aquisition of eternal life was connected in any way with our keeping the commandments, then we must be able to keep the whole Law to perfection. If he was keeping the Law of God, (or was even able to keep it at his option) then he was not a transgressor of it, and therefore was not sinful, or a sinner, because man (regenerate or unrenerate) cannot keep the Law of God, being not righteous, but rather being sinful with a nature disposed not to the keeping of the principles of the holy Law, but indeed, his sinful nature is contrary to the true spiritual tenents of the Law.
"...So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do..."Luke 17:10. We cannot take the credit to ourselves in a legal way, so as to then fail to praise God and give Him thanks, not only in some things, but for all of the blessings that He is pleased in mercy and goodness to fulfill within us by His Spirit. This mere servants are commanded to do, and expect it, because the servant abides not in the house forever, but is merely a hired hand. When his legal work is finished, he is paid his wages and discharged. With the son and daughter it is not so: These have both a natural and therefore legal bond between the parent and child. Love is stronger than death, and there is One that sticketh closer than a brother. The child cannot earn or buy the blessings of their home; They have them by natural inheritance, and the adopted by a legal inheritance because of the love and esteem of their benefactor for them.
The Law is spiritual, but the natural man is carnal, being sold under sin, so that the good that he (the inner man, which is Christ in him, the Hope of glory) would do, the man does not do, and the evil that the inner man within (Christ) would not do, the flesh, or the outward man desires to do, that he does; For they that after the (nature of the) flesh do mind (obey) the things of the flesh, and they that are after (the nature of) the Spirit, do mind (obey) the things of the Spirit. (Rom 7 and 8)
You say well - the rich young ruler may have been sinful from Adam, but it didn't make any difference - because he was such a good man, and he had the best of intentions, and had always strived to do right, and to "always do the right thing"- therefore, Jesus loved him. Does God love anybody because they are good or because they do good? Did you ever read in the Bible that God ever loved anyone because they did right, or even had a desire to do right? In fact, the very opposite is stated by Paul in Rom 9:11:
"... (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated..."
Is it not then indeed the other way around? (That the children of God love Him because He first loved them) Their love to God is actually God's Love in them which is Christ's Love, or Christ in them, and His Love flowing back to The Father: For Christ is in them, and they are in Him, and He is in the Father, and Father in Him. With these Divine enclosures how can their eternal security fail? The children of God are enabled to keep Christ's commandments because He first loved them.
Jesus questioned the young ruler as to why the man addressed Him as being Good. This must have been to point out the truth that there is no true goodness present unless it be the manifestation of God Himself as Goodness, and this must be because He is the only Source of True Goodness. This would also be a confession and testimony from Christ that if He was indeed Good, then He must be none other than The Son of God, and clearly states that there is no true goodness in man in the sight of God other than in Christ The Son of God, Who is God Himself. While there may be a kind of human goodness (which the Pharisees possessed and was recognized by the people, and to which Jesus referred to when He said that they indeed appeared righteous to men (because man can only judge on the outward appearance) but God knew their hearts; that is the very intents and motives of all their actions. This truth He asserts and further confirms when He says: "... There is none good, but God..." The Pharisees believed and therefore taught and followed the notion that the bare performance of works were acceptable in God's sight to aquire and maintain God's favor; But they fell short in this that they advocated and taught, because Jesus charged them with actually doing nothing in godly sincerity, but rather that in all they did, they did in pretense, hypocrisy and to be seen of and gain the applause and approval of self-righteous people like themselves: " but Jesus said that "...except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven..." Again, does God love anybody because they are good or because they do good? If so, where is this found in the Scriptures? Are you one that thinks you are doing good (for God) and often pride yourself in your good works that you do and are doing in His name? If so, then you do not have the same Spirit as Paul expressed in Rom 7, for he said there "...For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do..." And he also said "....For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not..." How is it that you know how to do good and perform that which is good, when the holy Apostle didn't? Are you somehow more righteous and morally higher than Paul, was who was lifted up to the third heaven and there saw things not lawful to be uttered - but still he didn't feel able to do any good? Paul said that he was the chief of sinners, not worthy to be called an apostle, could not find it in himself to do any good, and was a wretched man because of indwelling sin, and you people are here to tell me that that you can do good and perform righteous works in the sight of God, and that you will thereby earn blessings at and from His Hand. You say that one does not have to sin - as if a corrupt tree could say "although I am a corrupt tree and it is a function of my basic nature to bring forth bad or worthless fruit - at least part of the time and along with the good fruit that I may also produce - yet this does not necessarily have to take place, although this is the nature that is built unto me. And worse, some of you have the presumption and audacity to think and therefore boast that you have reached a state and plateau where you never sin - still when pressed, (or you backslide) you will sometimes admit that you commit sins; yet you say that you don't have to do this, that you would not have to commit one sin - it is all left up to yourself, and how hard that you struggle to be righteous. Is this not like saying that a corrupt tree can bring forth good fruit? If this was possible, then certainly you would finally get to the place where you would actually not sin, and then you surely would have no need for Jesus, because He came not to call those who do not sin, but sinful people to repentance; that is to turn them away from their sins, cause them to look to Him as the Savior from sin, and thus save them from sin. But you don't need saving from your sin, and then don't need any repentance, or turning away from sin because you are more and more reaching this place, and growing in goodness every day, so you must really think that someday you hope to have reached such an estate in this earthly life that sometime you will actually not need any repentance whatsoever, and therefore you will then not need the Savior of sinners at all. You and the emminent Apostle Paul seem to be at great variance with each other in your sentiments upon this matter; Paul says that he could not find how to do good - You say that it is easy to do good- all one has to do is exercise their "faith"; but where is this faith that you are always talking about that you are so able to exercise at your will and option; or we might say just anytime that you get ready to do so? Do you pride yourself in your own goodness and ability to keep the Law by your own efforts and at your own option? Then this is the greatest evidence that you are yet a sinner and yes, the worst kind of a blind sinner in God's Book, because pride is the sin in man that God hates the worst. For the moment, I will be a conditionalist like you, and say if you persist in this way, and make it your lifestyle, you cannot and will never know Christ as your Savior, or enter into the kingdom of heaven, because you will never really have any need of Him, since you are (self) righteous, and not a sinner, for Jesus came not to call the righteous (whom you esteem yourself to be), but sinners to repentance. But you say that though you may be sinful, you are still getting better or more righteous all the time. Then Jesus is not your experimental and revealed Savior, and never will be as long as you persist in this attitude and feel and think that you are being saved by your own righteousness, goodness, works and efforts to please God - because Jesus didn't come into the world to save those whom esteem themselves righteous, (that is those whom think that they are their ownor self saviors, and therefore feel no need of God's only Savior, that is Christ Jesus) for He came to save, and did save, and does save those who are, and feel themselves to be sinners.
- So you think that you are still partly righteous (and partly sinful) and therefore able to work out this false righteousness in the sight of God, will you please explain how you can perform this with any fear and trembling, (Phil 2:12-13) unless you first find yourself as a poor wretched, helpless sinner in His sight, ten thousand talents in debt, sold under sin as Paul found himself to be, with not a farthing to pay, who could not look to his good works for salvation, but must look to Christ for all; not only for a justifying righteousness found only in the penal work that Christ performed for Paul in Christ's intercessory and propitiatory sacrifice in His Life and Death, but also for the experimental application of Christ's righteousness to his conscience in the believer's daily walk and conversation, so that the sinner is brought of from the trust in his own righteousness and righteous works, having found by bitter and trying experience that his good fruit was not found in his old corrupt nature, a tree that is so bad, that like the nature of all of God's creation can bring forth nothing but the same kind of fruit, whether bad or good for human consumption. Paul, or rather Saul continued to bring forth this sinful fruit (which is all the fruit that the flesh can produce) but all the good fruit emanated from Christ Himself, the Hope of Glory within him, because in Christ all of the sinner's good fruit is found, Who is the Good Tree that has been implanted within by the Agency of The Holy Spirit, and he can therefore say "...I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with my flesh the law of sin..." Rom 7:25.
Jesus is our Tree of Life. In Him alone our fruit is found. Only by and through Him can and do we produce any fruit that is acceptable in God's sight. He is the Tree in the midst of the paradise of God that hath taken away the curse of sin from us; not the being and existence of it, but the fateful consequences thereof, which is death. In this city, The New Jerusalem there is sin, but no death caused by sin; for where sin has abounded unto death, Grace (in the same elect vessel of mercy in Christ) has much more abounded unto Life through Him who has abolished death and brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel. (Rev 22:2-6). The curse that was due, and that rested upon us through Adam's transgression, He has taken unto Himself, for what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and that His saints might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Therefore, we are not debtors to the flesh to look for our life there, for our flesh is dead through sin, but our spirit is Life unto righteousness through Him that loved us, and gave Himself for us. We do not frustrate the Grace of God in Christ to make it of none effect; For if righteousness and life comes by our conformance to the demands of the law of dead works, then Christ would be dead in vain, because He came to save His people and did save them from their sin. If He did not, then He has failed in the commandment that His Father gave Him, and our faith is then in vain, our preaching is vain, and we are nothing but false witnesses and imposters claiming to preach salvation by the merits and finished work of Him Who gave Himself for us that He might (and did) redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself an elect or peculiar people, zealous of those good works that God has before ordained that we should walk in them; For the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in this highway, for they only can walk there. Though esteemed fools by the unbelieving world around, and sometimes by themselves, they shall not err therein, (Isa 35:8) Though yet unclean in themselves, they are washed, they are sanctified by His blood. Having been placed upon this highway of holiness, which is the Way of perfection, (Heb 6:1) and that Way is none other than Christ Himself. They go on in His strength, forgetting the things that are behind but looking by faith (and not by sight) unto the things that are before, they press on for the mark of the prize of their high calling in Him, so they more and more know Him and the power of His resurrection, not having reckoned themselves to having attained unto some state of carnal perfection as they are already perfect, or have no need of a present and daily Savior, so as to have already attained unto the resurrection of the dead by reaching a plateau where they may settle on the lees of their perceived past accomplishments, but must go from strength to strength as He gives them of His Spirit, and from well to well, where they are refreshed from time to time; for the Lamb that is in the midst of them, and that continually, sings praises unto His Father's Name through them and leads them unto fountains of Living waters where they shall thirst nevermore.
God has created these for His Own Glory, and formed this true Israel for His Own Sovereign pleasure. They are the work of His Hands, and the sheep of His pasture; It Is He that has made them, and not they (that has made) themselves. They are are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto the blessed work and way that He will have them go, for they are chosens vessels unto Him to sing His praises through Jesus in the midst of the great congregation. When they pass through the waters of tribulation, He is there with them, and the rivers of sorrow, woe, disappointment and seasons of declension and unbelief shall not overflow them; The fire of persecution, doubt and fear, and the sorrows of this present world shall not burn them; neither kindle upon their person. The LORD is their God, The Holy One of all Israel; and their Savior; Not a conditional savior, but a real One, because He gave Egypt, Ethiopa and Seba for them, and finally His Own Dear Son for a ransom. They were precious in His sight, therefore He esteemed them honorable. He loved them, and therefore gives men for them and people for the continuance of their gospel life. He says to them, "Fear not, I am with thee, fear not, nor doubt my faithfulness to my Own, I have reserved these for Myself, and they have not bowed their knee to the image of Baal; At this present time there also remains and will forever remain a remnant according to God's election of grace; Christ says to the north, "...Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him for my praise..."(Isa 43:1-7)
This tree (the man in Christ) can only be made good by the indwelling of the Good Tree that grows in Grace and Truth within, which is Christ in us, the Hope of glory; and while we are growing in this Grace of Christ, yet we are not growing one whit in our own righteousness, neither in our own estimation of it; but rather we are growing less in self and more in Christ, for the days of the life of His children shall be as the days of a tree:
"... So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off..."Isa 55:11-13.
As the days of a tree are the days of God's people, and His elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands given to them in Christ. (Isa 65:22)
"...My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver..."
Prov 8:19.
"... Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found...." Hosea 14:8
"... As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love..." Song 2:3-5..
OAB
*Copyright 2004,
O. Allen Bailey
*This material may be copied and freely distributed, but shall not be sold or altered in any way.
Come Ye Sinners
By Joseph Hart
8, 7
(public domain)
"Come Ye Sinners"-
..Sequenced by O.Allen Bailey..
Come ye sinners, weak and weary,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready, stands to heal you,
Full of pity, love and power:
He is able, He is able,
He is willing, doubt no more,
Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him;
This He gives you, This He gives you,
'Tis the Spirit's glimm'ring beam.
Come ye weary, heavy laden,
Bruised and mangled by the fall;
If you tarry till you're better,
You will never come at all:
Not the righteous, Not the righteous,
Sinners Jesus came to call.
Agonizing in the garden,
Lo! our Savior prostrate lies!
On the bloody tree behold Him!
Hear Him cry before He dies;
"It is finished!" "It is finished!",
Sinners, will not this suffice?
Joseph Hart