In Defense Of The Truth Against Clean Flesh Teaching

Published by the Los Angeles ecclesia in 1940 as the Truth in contrast to Clean Flesh. It was taken up by Central and brother Carter (under the heading of "A Time to Heal"), as a sound basis of reunion as regards the Sacrifice of Christ. It was - after an emotionally-built-up momentum had assured "success" of the "conference" - mysteriously abandoned at the last minute at the Jersey City Conference over the strenuous objections of the Berean brethren drawn there by its promise. If it had been faithfully maintained as the (as promised) world-wide basis of reunion, the present difficulties on two continents could not exist. The four currently most significant points are emphasized in bold type. [now shown in blue specifically: Errors to be Rejected #'s 2&3, Truth to be Received #'s 3&5]

FOUR ERRORS TO BE REJECTED

1. That the nature of Christ was not exactly like ours.
2. That the offering of Christ was not for himself, and that Christ never made an offering for himself.
3. That Christ's offering was for personal sins or moral impurities only. That our sins laid on Christ made him unclean and accursed of God, and that it was from this curse and this uncleanness that Christ needed cleansing.
4. That Christ died as a substitute. That is, that he was punished for the transgressions of others, and that he became a bearer of sin by suffering the punishment due for sins.

SIX STATEMENTS OF TRUTH TO BE RECEIVED

1. That death came into the world extraneously to the nature bestowed upon Adam in Eden, and was not inherent in him before sentence.
2. That the sentence defiled him (Adam) and became a physical law of his being, and was transmitted to all his posterity.
3. That the word "sin" is used in two principal acceptations in the Scriptures. It signifies in the first place "the transgression of law," and in the next it represents that physical principle of the animal nature which is the causes of all its diseases, death, and resolution to dust.
4. That Jesus possessed our nature, which was a defiled, condemned nature.
5. That it was therefore necessary that Jesus should offer for himself for the purging of his own nature, first, from the uncleanness of death, that having by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for himself, he might be able afterward to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him.
6. That the doctrine of substitution - that is, that a righteous man can, by suffering the penalty due to the sinner, free the sinner from the penalty of his sin - is foreign to Scripture, and is a dogma of heathen mythology.