What is it to deny Christ before men?

Matt 10:33

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

This question could be answered in a multitude of ways, men can deny Christ by denying His Godhead, His Deity as God/Man , His Oneness in the Divine Nature, making Him God of very God; But yet a more subtle way that Christ is denied before men, even by those who confess His Deity, and that's by their denying the Saving efficacy of His Redemptive life and death, giving them no saving effects unless its assisted by the actions of men, and without their own actions, it will fail to produce Saving results !

Its a denial of Christ when we say that any of those Christ died for, as in He died for their sins 1 Cor 15:3, its a denying of Christ to say of any one of them, that they can or shall die in their sins in Unbelief Jn 8:24 !

 

Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin !

Jn 8:34

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

This applies to all men without exception by nature, we are servants to sin, in unbelief ! All men are sold under unbelief/sin Rom 11:32

32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

That word concluded can also denote enslaved or imprisoned in unbelief !

Rom 7:14

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The carnal person, those never born again are sold under sin ! The word sold means:

I sell; pass: I am a slave to, am devoted to.

And its in the perfect tense in the greek, and this applies to the carnal saved or lost, that which is carnal is permanently once for all sold under sin !

Paul was speaking as a saved person, but still in this body of flesh ! Now if a saved person, while in the body of flesh is sold under sin, how much more one who never has been born again ?

Speaking of all men by nature Paul writes Rom 3:9

What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

The NIV captures the meaning of under sin:

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

Under the power of unbelief ! Thats why Jesus said the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, meaning unbelief Jn 16:8-9

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

and the sin in question is mentioned in Vs 9

Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Now heres the issue, many in false religion today teach that man by nature, as a slave to sin under the power of unbelief/sin, they teach man has a freewill to savingly believe on Christ, hence in total denial of the fact that has been established by the testimony of scripture, that the natural carnal man is a slave to sin , hence a slave to unbelief !

When ignorant men teach this, they are in essence saying in contradiction to scripture, i was not a servant of sin and unbelief, i exercised my own freewill to overcome the power of sin and believed savingly upon the Lord Jesus Christ, their freewill overcoming the power of sin !

True Believers understand that, it was Christ that set them free from the power of sin and unbelief , He gets the Credit ! Jn 8:34-36

34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Made free from what?

release from bondage; (figuratively) to remove the restrictions of sin (darkness) because delivered by God in true spiritual liberty


Christ makes those He died for free from the darkness of sin and unbelief !