The Plumb line

The papers we write on The Three Eternal Destinies of Man will correct the false doctrine which has corrupted the whole world about God, which says this:

Since man is a fallen creature, and all fallen creatures are bent and crooked, it matters not how much (whether an inch or a mile out of plumb) there is no means by which a man can straighten himself out by his own efforts. So if one has not heard the truth of the Good News they are hopelessly doomed to the Lake of Fire. There is no other remedy.

This distortion of the truth has to first be exposed and then rectified. Christianity does not know that the Hebrews 9:27 death is remedial, since a man (who has never rejected the good news) can die once to pay for his own sins — that is, if his sins are such as can be atoned for by his own worth as a righteous man in the nations. A worthless man, who is depraved, as Romans 1:24,26,28 says, cannot atone for these kinds of sins since he has no worth. Only a Righteous person (as in Revelation 22:11) can atone for his own sins in Death — whoever keeps the Everlasting Covenant (Rom 2:6,7,10).

The Plumbline of a Man's Life

All have sinned, but not all are a mile out of plumb. A person can be straightened out through paying for his own sins in death. If a man is so bent by his own actions, due to his own choices, that he cannot make himself right again, then his own death will not atone for his own sins. But a man who is not far out of plumb, if God regards him as still having worth, or as still reflecting His very own image and likeness, can pay for his own sins. These sins did not put him so far out-of-plumb that he became depraved and worthless.

Revelation 22:11 speaks of those too far out of plumb to have any self-worth left in them in order to rectify their condition by their own death. So the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.

Revelation 19:2-3 — The Second Death is for all those whose sins could not be atoned for by the First Death. All men are responsible to their own conscience and will be held accountable for how far out of plumb they get in this life. This is the result of the choices they make, which cause them to go against their own conscience. Each time one goes against his conscience, especially when he hurts others, his life gets more and more out of plumb. Out of plumb means out of righteousness. Revelation 22:11 contains the word righteous. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17). One can tell by hearing the gospel how far out of plumb he is, or how far away he is from the plumbline. The word righteous means: to move in a straight line or in boundaries. This applies even to us, as Mt 7:14 and Romans 11:21,22 and Jude 21 show our boundaries. Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the nations or of all religions of the world.

Calvin ~ Predestination

Calvin believed that no matter how close or how far out of plumb one was, man was still totally depraved. There was absolutely no remedy for him unless that person happened to be predestined by God for salvation. If he was not predestined for salvation, even if he was only an inch out of plumb, he would be cast into the Lake of Fire at the Judgment of Revelation 20:12-15.

The only purpose Calvin could deduce for this judgment in Rev 20 was to pronounce judgment (or condemnation) as a matter of course upon all who were not predestined for eternal life. So this doctrine of Calvin subtly makes God out to be the author of sin, since man has no control or choice whatsoever over his eternal destiny. Romans 2:6-10 is then of no avail.

It makes God, at His own discretion, choose some to bless and some to curse. Even Lucifer had no choice in the matter. God chose to curse him. To this doom he was predestined.

So, since Lucifer didn't have any choice either, it follows that God would have been the author and originator of sin. All created beings are therefore without volition (will) or choice; they are nothing more than mere puppets on a string to do and act as God so wills.

Do What Is Right

In Revelation 22:11 the Righteous maintained the straight line to the degree that they did not get so far out of plumb that they could no longer regard, sense, or know the standard of conscience. To be so far out of plumb would mean that they became unrighteous — out of the Boundaries where conscience was maintained. God's plumbline for everyone in the world is to keep themselves abreast of it — for all have sinned. Man needs a standard by which he can live, since he is, in fact, fallen. The conscience is the means by which societies of the world could be preserved from further decline. Of course, no one is perfectly righteous, but not all have become depraved. Man is not so far out of plumb that he cannot be convicted by the gospel to be saved or corrected by his conscience (that is, if they never had a chance to hear the gospel from a "holy one" sent to them; John 7:17,18; 13:20; Eze 18:21,24).

Righteousness means: acting in the right way. Genesis 3:16-19 & 9:1-7 are boundaries — the straight way to go to be saved from the second death sentence in Revelation 21:8. The righteous are all who honor or respect the covenant of the knowledge of good and evil. Conscience will keep this straight line without going outside the boundaries. Outside these boundaries is outside of the boundaries of conscience, out of plumb — so far that they can hardly hear their conscience anymore. This is like one who breaks the everlasting covenant in Isaiah 24:5-6. Very few are left on earth in this day who honor this law or covenant of conscience within them.

Genesis 3:16-19 is not even in sight, nor is Genesis 9:1-7. They have broken through all barriers of conscience. God distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked ones of this world. He regards the righteous (Genesis 18:25) since He is the judge of the whole earth. Revelation 22:11 — He will not cast both the wicked and the righteous into the Second (Jude 1:6-7) Death, will He? Will not the Righteous Judge of the whole earth do what is right? (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Revelation 20:12; Romans 2:12-15; Genesis 3:22).

Every Man is Accountable

Man is responsible for his own actions and behavior once he reaches the age of accountability. But man is not responsible for his father's sins, or for Adam's sin in the choice he made regarding the tree (Genesis 2:17). Each will die for his own sins. Everyone can take identity with Adam, but still God leaves the choice to each individual to determine whether he chooses the good or chooses the evil now in his fallen state of being (Genesis 3:22). When man sins against his own conscience he is guilty, even as Adam — and all have sinned (Romans 3:23). So each will incur the First Death as a remedial action to atone for his sins that he committed, but only if he lived within the boundaries of the everlasting covenant (Isaiah 24:5,6; Genesis 3:16-19,22).

In the same way, there are two kinds of sins for the believer — inadvertent and deliberate (1 John 2:1; 5:17). Even while walking in the light we sin (inadvertently). But these kind of sins are those that we can readily judge (since we are walking in the light) and be forgiven for (1 John 1:7). But deliberate sin on our part, as 1 John 1:6 and 5:16,17, is going out of plumb from the Holy Spirit in us who teaches us the way we should walk. 1 John 3:6 — We will not sin a sin unto death (Hebrews 12:16,17; Revelation 2:11; 3:4,5).

So while a person of the nations is walking according to the plumbline of conscience (in the boundaries of Genesis 3:16-19 and 9:1-7), the rest of the kinds of sins men commit while outside of these boundaries of conscience are the kind of sins mentioned in Romans 1:28-31 or Revelation 21:8. These are sins committed outside of the boundaries or out of sight of the plumbline. They are committed while not walking in a conscientious manner according to the plumbline of conscience.

Without hearing the Gospel men cannot recover from the fall. But keeping conscience (Genesis 3:16-19 & 9:1-7) is the boundaries where God notices a man who never ventures far from the plumbline. He keeps his sights on it whenever he is tempted. He is by no means perfect, but he is by no means depraved in conscience. The eternal nations will be made up of these kind of persons (Rev 21:24,26; 22:2; Mt 25:34).

Calvin saw righteousness in the legal sense that God is righteous and no one measures up to His standard. So all will go to the Lake of Fire if they are not predestined for salvation. They have no part in the decision, since God chose some for hell and some for heaven (Romans 3:23; 5:18-21). But (Romans 1:17) we saw God's goodness, His kindness, and His mercy in His righteousness. This was good news for us who are Holy.

So all must die for their own sins (Romans 6:23) if they don't receive the gift of eternal life in Messiah (Hebrews 9:27). For those who must suffer in death to pay for their own sins, eternal life is not a gift. But to us who have accepted Him (life for life) when we should have had to suffer for our own sins in death, eternal life is a gift (Acts 2:38). The gift of eternal life (of the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 1:13).

So all have sinned to one degree or another (Romans 3:23). It is not that we all have missed the mark (totally depraved), as Christians say. All mankind was born in Adam's first death sentence and all have sinned, but not all have become worthy of Satan's Second Death sentence (Mt 25:34,41). For it is appointed for all mankind to die once (Hebrews 9:27; Genesis 2:17). After men experience the First Death sentence (spending that time in death until the resurrection) they will be resurrected to be judged (Revelation 20:11-15; Romans 2:14-16) to determine whether they merit a second life or a second death. However, if they rejected Messiah, then they are already judged, as this determination is already made by their rejecting Messiah, condemning themselves to a second death (John 3:18). The First Death can pay for the sins they have committed during their lifetime if they kept within the boundaries of the pathway God provided for fallen man to walk in so as not to incur a Second Death sentence (Revelation 21:8).

If fallen men (who still reflect God's image) walk according to Genesis 3:16-19 and 9:1-7 (and all this means "men of conscience"), then they will not be sinning the kind of sins which incur a Second Death sentence, such as Revelation 21:8 kinds of sins. Children will even respect their parents.

Look what happens to children who are raised up in the environment outside the pathway of the everlasting covenant in Genesis 3:16-19 & 9:1-7. Romans 1:28-31 — "Rebellious towards parents" or "disobedient to their parents" (verse 30 and 2 Tim 3:22). Timothy 3:1-7 presents the path of Christianity today as they all walk in the world, outside of even the Covenant to fallen man, out of plumb with what God expects from fallen mankind (Genesis 4:7; Acts 10:35). God differentiates between the righteous and the wicked in the nations (Romans 2:6,7 versus 8 and Romans 2:9 versus 10) as Genesis 18:23,25 says.

Taken Captive

What is the difference between Romans 1:28-31 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 when the whole first church was taken captive by Satan to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26)? The times will come when the whole batch of dough will be leavened completely (1 Corinthians 5:6,7) even though they retained a form of godliness. Now how could there be people who started out from Acts 2:44,45 & 4:32-35 and became so out of plumb as what Revelation 18:2 says, and 2 Timothy 3:2-5, and all the while go to church on Sunday morning and sing in the choir and sit in their pews in their perfect polyester pants suit Christian attire?

But God is doing everything in His power to gain back what He originally intended without compromising (showing partiality) so Satan won't have a valid accusation. God's original intention was that man would love and serve Him from a willing heart. From this premise of true fellowship with His highest creature, God would rule the universe through man. It would take nothing for God to destroy Satan, but He cannot in righteousness do this. So, God had a plan — a way to win back man's heart and take away the tyranny of Satan over his life. Now that our hearts and minds have been won through our Master Yahshua and made willing, God will regain His eternal purpose through MAN — His free agent, working on His side. Satan will not be able to have any valid accusation against God, for Redeemed Man will have overcome him on the basis of love and a willing spirit. God allows all men to function freely, according to their will, us as well — according to our response to Him and our care for Him (our faithfulness, Habakkuk 2:4).

The right way for the nations is Mt 6:31,32, but the right way for God's holy people is verse 33. The righteous in the nations have their own righteousness which God honors (Revelation 22:11). But the Holy take on Messiah's very own righteousness before God. God sees Messiah's righteousness and records it as ours and regards us as Holy. But we must begin now to walk in the righteous and holy way, so we can become righteous genuinely. Before we were unjust and filthy, but not yet depraved so as not to be able to hear His voice (John 10:27-29; Romans 5:1,2, 6-11; 8:1-17).

Rather than trying to prove ourselves good enough for God by our own righteousness, He gave us His Spirit so we could be like Him. When we heard the Good News it revealed to us "the right way" to escape both the first and second death (Romans 1:17). We saw His righteousness and knew we were sinners and we deserved Adam's sentence of death also, and we realized that we couldn't claw our way out of Adam's casket since all men must die once and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

The gospel is Good News! It reveals our Father's heart toward man and that He is a GOOD God, who in love and mercy has done something about our Second Death sentence (along with Satan because we were so out of plumb with our conscience). We see now more and more about His goodness and righteousness as we go from faith to faith — to ever increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:17-21).

Since neither we nor anyone else have lived up to the standard of Righteousness of Yahshua, it was only our response to the gospel that transferred His righteousness to us before God. So we are accepted on the basis of His own righteousness in Messiah Yahshua. We were sealed with His Spirit so we could now attain to Him (the first resurrection, Phillipians 3:11) by His Spirit's work in us (2 Ths 2:13; Acts 2:38-45). If we go to the Throne of Grace we will attain to Him — in this Holy environment.