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Encrimsoned
- 06/03/08
- 6
Crimson is a word, a color, that figures prominently in the Christian faith. The Bible teaches that each of us is born into this world encrimsoned, covered with the blood required of those who sin against God. And without further blood, further encrimsoning, there can be no remission of this sin. Blood cries for blood and that Scripture is clear that every person will die encrimsoned in either their own blood or the blood of a divine substitute.
In a thin volume published by Christ Church of the Carolinas, author deTreville Bowers writes about the importance of living an "encrimsoned" life--one marked by faith in Christ and by continued dependence upon Him. With a clear dependence upon the Scriptures and upon the writings of the Puritans, the book encourages Christians in the transformation from people marked by their own blood to people marked by the blood of Christ. It encourages the kind of abandonment to God and to His purposes that is so foreign to the unregenerate man and to the world around. It reassures that the natural man, though encrimsoned from birth, can be washed whiter than snow by the blood of Jesus. Only crimson can remove crimson, leaving pure white.
Here are a few choice quotes from the book.
"God's perfect will is never to give His children the positions, possessions or pleasures that will result in their harm. Oftentimes, His children accrue to themselves associations, involvements and pursuits that bring them harm--they desire God's permissive will rather than His perfect will, and God gives them over to themselves in that regard."
"You cannot be wholly integrated when the remnants of your lusts stiff-arm God. God will never call upon you to surrender an ambition you do not have! No one can be abandoned to God as long as he holds the one ambition God is calling him to surrender."
"Satan drives--the Holy Spirit leads. Satan will ferry you to the pinnacle while the Holy Spirit escorts you to humility. Satan leads you into indulgence, whereas God's Spirit leads you into abstinence. Satan exalts you in order to tear you down, but the Holy Spirit reveals your weaknesses in order to build you up in Christ."
"Everyone either sails into God's holy presence upon the sea of Christ's blood, or they shall surely continually drown in hell in the flooding baptism of their own blood."
"The process of your becoming conformed to the image of God's Son is held hostage by your unwillingness to surrender your will to Him. Your will suspects the unfolding of God's ministry of righteousness in your life."
Encrimsoned is a small and attractively-produced hardbound volume available from Christ Church of the Carolinas. They say "The writings have a fee associated with them but if you can not afford the fee, please advise and we will gladly send it you to et gratis." You can contact the church to ask for further details.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (6)
Wow! I read the title of your post and thought, “I have a book by that title sitting on my nightstand.” Imagine my surprise when you were talking about that exact book! I guess what makes it more surprising is that the author of the book is my pastor, and I attend Christ Church of the Carolinas!
It is a really short book, though I read it over the course of several nights, a chapter at a time. There’s a lot to think about. I would commend this book, and any other that my pastor has written, to anyone’s reading. Until I started going to Christ Church, I had never felt the real conviction of sin in my heart from the pulpit. God has grown me tremendously under Pastor Bowers’ teaching - because it’s straight from God’s Word.
“The process of your becoming conformed to the image of God’s Son is held hostage by your unwillingness to surrender your will to Him.”
Statements like this really sicken me. If this is true then I am doomed.
If my God is so powerless, or so unwilling to do for me what I am unable to do for myself then I am hopeless. If being conformed to image of my Lord is dependent on even the smallest portion of something that is left up to my will then I am destined to failure.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin wrestling with my unwillingness. I will to do His will and that’s all I know. I can’t play mind games and wonder if there is some unwillingness left in me that hasn’t been surrendered or surrendered sincerely enough or surrendered completely enough.
“God will never call upon you to surrender an ambition you do not have! No one can be abandoned to God as long as he holds the one ambition God is calling him to surrender.”
Sounds like Mumbo-Jumbo to me.
Got to confess, that last quote makes me a little uncomfortable too, along with the one about not being wholly integrated if we cling to remnants of former lusts. Not only do they seem to contradict Paul’s description of his battle with the flesh in Romans 7, they also seem to contradict his description of how that battle is ultimately won through Jesus’ death and the Spirit’s gift of life in Romans 8. Then there’s the idea of being covered on the outside vs. being simultaneously transformed by the Spirit and thus declared holy and loved, while still battling with the flesh and the lusts that remain….
Tim C. - it would be interesting to know how you came upon this work and whether you’re truly commending it in its totality to your readers… perhaps other parts not quoted here clarify the quotes you did offer?? Or maybe I’m just misreading these passages entirely… entirely possible. :)
Tim C. - it would be interesting to know how you came upon this work and whether you’re truly commending it in its totality to your readers
The book was sent to me…as are so many others! I don’t know that I’m commending it in its totality. It is what it is, really. I just enjoyed reading it and didn’t come across anything objectionable in it.
Statements like this really sicken me. If this is true then I am doomed.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with such a statement. Sanctification is a process in which we cooperate with the Spirit (unlike justification which is entirely monergistic). Hence there are things the Spirit can and would do in and through us if we were more willing to surrender our wills to His. Or that’s how I read that quote…
Tim C. - I would like to offer to send the book to each person who has commented thus far in order for them to grasp the fullness of the writing and to better judge it. If they would contact me via the church links mentioned in the above, I will place the book in the mail with all haste.
I didn’t take exception to those statements either. Scripture is full of those challenges: “For you died…Therefore put to death…” “you were raised with Christ….Set your mind on things above…” (from Col. 2 & 3) “Beware, brethren, lest there be in anyof you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort on another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin…” (Heb. 3:12) Our sanctification is not automatic. It comes through the renewing of our minds by the word of God, and the exhortation we receive from one another, and prayer, and other means by which the Holy Spirit works in our lives. And of course it is the Spirit of God who leads us in all of this “to will and to do according to His good purpose”.
Certainly there are times when for believers, “The process of your becoming conformed to the image of God’s Son is held hostage by your unwillingness to surrender your will to Him.” This God permits for His purposes, clearly. If we Christians were all perfectly willing at all times for all things that God wills, well….we’d be perfectly sanctified.
That said, I don’t entirely agree with the statement: “”Satan drives—the Holy Spirit leads”. These kind of blanket statements about God’s leading can be misleading. People tend to read them very subjectively and then use how they “feel” to guide them (ie “do I feel ‘led’ or do I feel ‘driven’?). And right away Mark 1:12 comes to mind: “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness…”