The Gospel is good news. That is what the word means. But if what we are teaching as the gospel causes one to be lost, is it in fact good news? Not at all, it is bad news, and as such cannot be referred to as the gospel. It is false doctrine and will lead the individual who believes it to be outside the New Jerusalem when fire and brimstone is rained down onto the wicked. Not a pretty picture.

In this theory we are told that our relationship with Jesus is like being in a car. At first we are in the drivers seat and are in control of our lives. But then we get to know Jesus and decide that we would like to have him ride along with us. So, we invite Him to get into the car with us and sit in the passenger seat. We are lead to believe that Jesus in now in our lives and that being the case have a saving relationship with Him.

As we are driving down the road and continue to get to know Jesus better and we begin to ask Him for suggestions as to where to direct the car (our lives). After a time we realize that it would be in our best interest to get out of the drivers seat and let Jesus take it, allowing Him it be in complete control of the car (our lives).

As we are driving down the road of live the devil tempts us and convinces us that we want to take a side road and since Jesus says that He will not turn off onto it we ask him to move back into the passengers seat and we take over again. We are not only lead to believe that we are still in a saving relationship at this point, we are emphatically told that we are in a saving relationship. Why? Because Jesus is still in the car. On the face of it, it would seem logical. Jesus is still in the car, isn't he? Yes, in this illustration that is true. But this is where the problem begins. When finite man creates spiritual illustrations that are based on his thoughts and feelings and experience of how salvation works. He comes to the conclusion that what is written is not good enough and that he has to come up with an illustration that is superior to.... To what? To what Jesus himself used. Yes, You heard me right. So, you ask, "what did Jesus use to illustrate our spiritual relationship with Him." Let's look at John 15:5, 6 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." Jesus illustrates our relationship with Himself with the vine and the branch of the vine. If a branch is separated, broken or cut off from the vine, what kind of relationship with the vine does it have? Is it not broken, cut off? Is the sap of life (Holy Spirit) still flowing into it? Empowering it to live? For a short time after it's being broken off it may still look like it is still OK, but very soon the leaves begin to wilt and it becomes evident not only to ourselves, but to all, that the relationship we had is gone. How only can we again have the relationship we had? We must be reconnected, restored.

"God shows, in his dealing with Jacob, that he will not sanction the least wrong in any of his children; neither will he cast off and leave to despair and destruction those who are deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin. Doubt, perplexity, and remorse had imbittered Jacob's life; but now all was changed, and how sweet was the rest and peace in God, in the assurance of his restored favor." The Signs of the Times, November 20, 1879

"We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And do not forget the words of Christ, "The Father himself loveth you." John 16:27. He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ." The Faith I Live By 118

If our relationship with God doesn't change when we sin why are we told that God wants to restore you to Himself? We don't need to restore something that isn't broken. Obviously sin breaks the saving relationship. We are told that, "I can't believe that God has an off and on relationship with us. If every time I fall short and sin I am out of relationship and have to be restored, I would be constantly in and out of relationship with God and I don't believe that God is like that, in and out, in and out." The answer is, No, God is not like that. He never wants the relationship broken. It is not God that breaks the relationship. The question needs to be asked. Who is making the wrong choices here? Is it God or is it us. If the relationship is an on and off relationship who is to blame? We are told that, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13. "When the human will co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent" The Youth's Instructor June 24, 1897 Par 2. If God has given us sufficient strength to do all things who is at fault if our relationship with Him is an on and off one? Is it God who is weak and can't keep us from falling, or is it our problem because we take control away from God and cease depending on Him? Do we take our lives out of His hands or does He let us Go? "It is not because He is unwilling to forgive that He turns from the transgressor; it is because the sinner refuses to make use of the abundant provisions of grace, that God is unable to deliver from sin. "The Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:1, 2." Prophets and Kings 323. We can only live victorious lives when God has total control of our lives. There is no other way. "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6. Anything we do in our own strength no mater how good it may be is useless in regard to our salvation. It is only the good that we do that is of faith and empowered by the Holy Spirit that has any value. And since it is done by the Holy Spirit working in and through us we can take no credit for it. It is all of Christ and none of us.

John tells us that, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." John 3:9 Why can't the born again sin? Well as long as His seed (Holy Spirit) is in him he cannot sin. Why? Will God or His Holy Spirit cause anyone to sin? No, God tempts no one. So, as long as we allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge, in control of our lives we cannot sin. We must first expel Him from our lives before we can sin, break the relationship. It is rebellion against God that causes us to expel Him from our lives. If we are in rebellion against God how can we say that we have a saving relationship with Him at the same time. We cannot sin without first rebelling against the one who has told us not to sin. In fact the act of rebellion is sin. It is a desire to do it our way and not God's way. To say that we can explain something better than Jesus can, and that our explanation is better and clearer than His. That is rebellion.

Jesus told us that, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24. How many masters are there in the spiritual realm? Two. Who are they? So many of us think that we are the masters of our own destiny. Yes, we make choices and the choices we make determine who is master of our lives, but we are never the masters of our lives. There are only two masters and you are not one of them. Never forget that. The masters are God and Satan. If we do not choose God as our master we automatically default to Satan. God will never force His master-ship onto us He will only be our master by our asking Him to, but Satan has no qualms about taking control if God doesn't have it. The simple fact of our not consciously choosing God puts us under the control of Satan. It could be said that not choosing God is in itself rebellion. It comes naturally to us to rebel, we don't even have to do it knowing, it is second nature to us.

The Car and the Elevator theory are very similar in that they both covertly endeavor to convince us that we can carry on a relationship with Christ and Satan at the same time. That we can in fact have two masters. And that one of them can even be us (When we are in the drivers seat). It also leads one to believe that there is salvation in sin. John is very clear on this point when he says, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:6-8. The car illustration is not the Gospel because it gives the impression that Jesus shares our life with Satan. It is meant to deceive you into believing that you have a saving relationship with God while in known ongoing sin. This illustration as used is bogus and can never teach truth. If the car analogy were to be used correctly it would have to be explained that we are the car and that there is only one seat in the car, the drivers seat, and that either we ask Christ to take the wheel or Satan will be there. It needs to be emphasized that there is no room for two occupants in the car. One has to be let out before the other can get in, and we are never in control of where the car is going. All we can do is to choose who will be driving.

When trying to discuss the illustration that Jesus used when He was teaching what our relationship with him was, the vine and the branch, those who hold to this theory become antagonistic and refuse to discuss it saying that it is a poor illustration and that they have no desire to talk about it since theirs is a better one. They then go back to the on and off thing saying that they don't believe that that is the kind of relationship that God has with them. In doing so they refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and choices and put the blame on God. They know deep down that they can't really blame God for this on and off relationship, yet, at the same time they don't want to take personal responsibility for it, so they come up with a theology that allows them to be in a saving relationship with Christ when they have separated themselves from it. They become very convoluted in their arguments and want to play by their own rules. They don't want to, and at time refuse to discuss the illustrations that Christ used to illustrate the Christian walk. This should make it very evident that there is a problem with the theology that is being taught. We need to stick with the illustrations that Jesus used to illustrate our relationship with Him. It is very dangerous when we think that in our wisdom we can come up with better ones.

The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy make it very clear that there is no salvation in sin, not even one sin. When we find ourselves in sin, the only way we can enter back into a saving relationship again is to acknowledge our sin and that it has separated us from God and salvation. We must ask for forgiveness for it and then ask God to restore us to the relationship that we broke. If our sin, as they suggest, has not broken the relationship then there is no need to make it right, ever. If the relationship isn't broken by sin then there is no problem with it and it can in turn never break the relationship. They say that in time it will cause the relationship to be broken. Well, if that is true, then how much time doses it take before it breaks the relationship. They can't tell you, and there is nowhere in the Bible that I have been able to find that tells you. On the contrary the Bible teaches that the saving relationship is broken the instant the sin is committed, and it is not only a sinful act that breaks it but a sinful though dwelt on.

Now, we need to be clear here. God loves us unconditionally. We are all his children, He created us. We are all legally His. God is the legal owner, ruler of the whole universe. It is all His. So we have a legal relationship with God no matter what we do. But when it comes to the spiritual, things change. God has given us free moral choice. He has not given us the right to determine who brought us into being. He has not given us the choice as to our legal ownership. He has only given us the right to choose who will be our spiritual master, ruler. So, no mater who we choose as our spiritual ruler, legally we are still God's and as such He can do with us as He pleases. Those who teach the car theory equate legal ownership with spiritual ownership and since legal ownership never changes they would like us to believe that salvation falls into the same status. Yet at the same time they acknowledge that we can be lost. This equating or mixing the legal relationship with the spiritual relationship causes no end of confusion. Hence the marriage relationship theory and the child/parent relationship theory where they equate the legal relationship that can't be broken with the spiritual relationship that can be broken. We can be legally married (related) while having no spiritual relationship. We can be legally children of our parents (their sperm and egg which can't be changed) while having no spiritual relationship with them. It is a spiritual relationship that God wants with us. He has and always will have a legal relationship with us, that can't be changed. It is in the area of the spiritual relationship where God has given us free choice. We can choose to have a spiritual relationship with Him or we can choose not to. There are no gray areas here either. We either have a spiritual relationship with him or we don't. God tells us that it is our choosing to sin that breaks the relationship. God doesn't choose for us to sin, we do. God doesn't choose to break the spiritual relationship we do, and God honors our choices. If we have an on and off spiritual relationship with God it is not His fault it is ours. He tells us that He has the power to keep us from sin and He is willing to give us this power if we want it. He has also told us that He will give us the victory over all sin. But it is our choice to avail ourselves of His power and victory over sin. He will never force it onto us, we have to ask for it.

Another interesting belief that they hold to is that if one actually goes far enough so as to break their relationship with God that God then rejects them. Yet at the same time they can't tell you when this will happen. I believe that this is why they hold so adamantly to the belief that our sinning does not break our relationship with God. How can there be any kind of security in that kind of relationship if we can never know when we have crossed the line that causes God to reject us. But the belief that God rejects us when the relationship is broken is not founded on fact or truth. The truth is that God does not reject us when we fall into sin and break the relationship.

"There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1. And do not forget the words of Christ, "The Father Himself loveth you." John 16:27. He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is the health of our countenance." Steps to Christ 64. There is no need to restore a relationship that has not been broken. Obviously sin breaks the relationship and our repentance restores the relationship. We are not rejected by God when we break the relationship. God is doing everything he can to get us to come back to him in repentance so He can restore the relationship again.

In conclusion, if we find that our relationship with God is an on and off again one, then we need to realize that we are in deep trouble, and that it is not to be taken lightly. It is a sign that we have not truly surrendered everything to God. We are still hanging onto some sin that we are not really willing to give up. If we continue to hang onto it the relationship will become more and more off than on. Once Peter truly surrendered all he no longer had an on and off relationship with Christ. The same can be said of Moses and all the others who surrendered all to Christ. We need to search our hearts and truly surrender everything completely to God. Then give God permission to do whatever it takes to save us and to work out His character in our lives. We also need to give Him permission to control our thoughts and feelings. Then ask God to give us the victory over specific sins not simply ask Him to help us with the victory. There is no part of the victory that we can gain. If we could then we would have something in which to boast. It is all God, but He won't do it without our asking and our permission. Our place is to submit to Him and ask Him to work in us and through us. He only accepts willing followers. He will do it all, but we have to submit all to Him and allow Him to do it or it won't get done.