Philadelphia is called the City of Love, and after my recent visit there I must say that I concur.
Just a few months back I had the pleasure of being contacted by a minister from an area near Philly. His exposure to the teaching I have done over the last few years had made a dramatic impact on him. As we’ve talked over the last few months I learned that several other folks in the area had also been significantly affected from hearing our gospel message that all the law and
prophecy of God had been totally fulfilled at the cross. As a result, I received an invitation to come share with this small group of people who hungered to know more.
Two days and four meetings turned into an immersion experience of being engulfed in the love of God. It is an amazing thing to visit a place and people where you had never been and be greeted with unrestricted acceptance. It resulted in a sense that I have known these people forever.
One of the most poignant moments was when we were discussing the question of why Jesus went to the cross and what end had been realized because of it. I have had questions regarding this for a long time that seemed unanswerable. However, our time together revealed a crystal clear understanding.
When I was a young man I attempted suicide three times. I had been told that my own sin was in fact nailing Jesus to the cross over and over again. This perverted message of Christ, which in purity should have relieved my guilt, instead caused so much guilt that it was, to say the least, absolutely oppressive.
Here is what surfaced so beautifully in that meeting in Philadelphia. You see, Jesus did not die because you or I had done wrong. He died for the unbelief of the Adam. As Paul explained, sin was in the world 430 years prior to the giving of the law by God to the children of Israel. Paul also stated that the law NEVER made a man a sinner. So, if Jesus died to correct all of our wrong doing, than the work of the cross was a miserable, disappointing failure.
Further, if people still had to believe in order to achieve righteousness, after Jesus died for “the sin of the world” (Adam’s sin of unbelief), then again this would represent a total failure to accomplish the goal.
Only two things are called “sin” in the Bible, the sin of unbelief and sin which is a transgression of God’s law. Concerning the sin that was a transgression of God’s law, Jesus did NOT die to free us from what we have done, not done, OR are currently doing. He did, however, die to remove the law which had held all of humanity liable for our actions. In other words, Jesus did not die to free me from my sinning. He died to free me from the requirement to believe. Then He nailed the law, which had indebted me to God for simply being human, to His tree.
Yes, in Christ is TOTAL freedom from sin. For where there is no law there is NO transgression (Romans 4). And where there is no sin of unbelief any more, no human can be held liable for their unbelief either! Oh happy Day! Oh happy day! When Jesus washed, He washed my sin ALL away! Oh happy day! And by the by, that was not the day I believed. That was 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary. Oh Happy day, indeed!
To my new friends and partners in this awesome Gospel work, I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your graciousness and kindness while with you in Philadelphia. I hope to see you again there soon!
Now I move on to Nova Scotia, where another new group of listeners have invited me to speak.
And to those who have supported and still do support this amazing truth of God’s Word, THANK YOU!
One of my good friends and supporters Richard Mull from California will be traveling with me to the Canada meetings. Richard’s wife Eva will be visiting her family in her native land during the same time. Many of you will remember Richard and Eva from some of our week long meetings a few years back. Eva sang and played her guitar. We could have listened to her for many hours.
It’s all about Jesus!
Michael Williams