King Uzziah

King Uzziah was the tenth king of Judah, in the line of Kings David and Solomon.

You may have heard of the prophets Hosea, Isaiah, Amos, and Jonah. Well, they all ministered during Uzziah’s reign, a reign which lasted 52 years (790 to 739 BC). Remembering their ministries may help you to recall the times of this amazingly successful king.

Uzziah did well as king and prospered. He was one of the few good kings in Israel's history, having begun his rule at age 16. The Scriptures tell us that Uzziah 'did what was right in the eyes of the LORD' just like his father Amaziah (2 Chronicles 26:4), and yet his story ends with shame and humiliation.

The Bible tells us:

King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the Temple of the LORD (2 Chronicles 26:21).

What went wrong? You'd be surprised to know that only one thing went wrong, really. And that one thing meant that Uzziah wasn't blameless. His one sin brought God's punishment upon him. There was something for which he could be blamed, so the glory of his rule was taken from him.

Blameless

This is the third part of our study on how Christians must test ourselves to see whether we are in the Faith. We're looking at how to know you’ve got sound doctrine because that’s what the Faith is—sound doctrine. The Faith is orthodox teaching, the Doctrine of the Apostles.

Do you have it? The Bible tells us: "Test yourself and find out."

The key verse we’re studying is 2 Corinthians 13:5 which says:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the Faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—Unless indeed you fail the test (NASB).

That’s our foundational passage. It’s the one we’re interpreting to understand how we must behave as Christians and how to test ourselves. We’ll get right back to it, but first let's pick up where we left off.

The last passage we read in lesson 31 was this:

… Christ also loved the Church and gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27; ESV).

And that’s where we left off—on the word blameless. So, let’s continue to investigate how the Church must be blameless. Did you get that? It's not just that we can be blameless, it's that we must be blameless.

How can the Church be beyond blame—blameless?

How can it be above reproach—irreproachable?

And more broadly, how can the Church be free from sin--spotless?

Remember: That's not only what Jesus was, but it's Jesus' goal for his Bride, the Church. His goal is to present her to himself '... a radiant church, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish...' (Ephesians 5:27).

The Church should strive to be impeccable, just like a young woman strives to be free from any blemish or imperfection for her wedding day, so is the Church preparing herself for our wedding--the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Free from Sin

We hope you know that according to the Bible, the Church is the only group of people on Earth which is free from sin. Sound strange? You may have never heard it in a church before, but it's true.

You may have never heard that we are the only people who do not sin. But it's what the Bible says. It's Biblical. You may be asking yourself: "If that’s so, then why are there so many pastors who affirm we are sinners?" Why does the Pope affirm it? He said "We are all sinners."

Well, that's a good question. Why do religious leaders who are supposedly Christians say this?

Almost all of the most popular preachers, including the famous "megachurch" pastors preach that the Church is made up of sinners. One of their favorite sayings is “We’re all sinners” and with that, these pastors depict freedom from sin as an impossibility. They're wrong.

They tell us they are quoting the Bible when they say “Everyone sins and falls short of the glory of God”—and therefore few people dare to argue with them. But is that Bible verse right? Is it true that "everyone sins," even Christians?

No, they’re not. In fact, they’re misquoting the Bible!

In case you didn’t notice, the verse they so frequently quote is actually not a Bible verse at all. The Bible says that ‘All have sinned…’ (Romans 3:23) which is not the present tense, but the past!

In other words, the Bible says that sinning is something Christians did in the past.

How different is it to tell you "I have sinned" from "I am sinning"? Quite different, isn't it? Christians have sinned just like anybody else, but we are no longer sinners. We sinned in the past, but now we are sin-free!

The Saints

Saying "all have sinned" means our sinning happened in the past. The present is different for a Christian. Now we’re holy! We’re God’s holy ones now—we’re his saints! We have ceased to be sinners.

Here's what the Bible has to say about a Christian's level of holiness:

Everyone who abides in him [Jesus] does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him (1 John 3:6; LEB).

So, if you sin, it's because you don't even know Jesus. Maybe you have a Jesus from the movies or a Jesus from a TV show. You don't have the Jesus of the Bible.

Here's another:

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he [Jesus] is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the Devil... (1 John 3:7-8; NASB).

Meaning: Don't be tricked on this subject! We're not all sinners. True Christians are righteous and have ceased to practice sin.

No one who has been born of God practices sin, because his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9; NASB).

When was the last time you told someone "I can't sin. I just can't do it!" Well, that's true for someone who has been born of God by the power of the Holy Spirit because that's what the Bible says.

It's not what pastors are saying, but it's what the God said.

Back to Uzziah

Remember how we started talking about Uzziah, a famous king of Judah? Well, here's his complete story. It goes like this:

His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.

But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the Temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in.

They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the Sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.”

Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s Temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.

When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.

King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the Temple of the LORD (2 Chronicles 26:15-21).

You also may have a very successful Christian ministry. You may have been blessed by God beyond measure. But if you refuse to test yourself, and can't keep a clear blameless conscience, you too will fall, and you'll fall surprisingly hard.