Here's What First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress Actually Said About Catholics

I don't see any HABITUAL in the Greek.

That's because you do not yet grasp the sense of what the various tenses of the Greek language men when transformed into the English. See the discussion of the present tense by Don Martin in my Post #255.

I don't see the word "practice" there either, but that is one aspect of the fact that the literal translation of both verb and its conjugation into English may require more than one word, a definition (not a dynamic interpretation) that involves words not even present in the Greek vocabulary.

Again, remember, if you will, that Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is limited to only those words that the 17th century translators employ to render the meaning of the original languages. We have more words in our English vocabulary today than they did then, and some of the words they used then do not even have the same meaning as they did then. So one has to look beyond Strong's to get a precise translation (not interpretation) that fits the first century Greek definition, grammar, and syntax.

I use Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Vine's Expository Dictionary, Webster's (Unabridged) Third New International Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, Sisson's Synonyms, several Grammar texts (by Vine, Machen, Shretzer, Wallace, and Dobson), and once in a great while Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, to get the words that are equivalent to the Greek words. There are many other references, one very useful volume being Englishman's Greek Concordance, but I do not have that one.

Referring to the way Beloved John treats the habit of committing sin in his first epistle to saved believers that he led to Christ, Vine says (regarding the verb harmartano): ". . . in 2:1 (twice), the aorist tense in each place referring to an act of sin; on the contrary, in 3:6 (twice), 8, 9, the present tense indicates, not the committal of an act, but the continuous practice of sin . . .". In this situation, the person is ". . . the instrument of indwelling sin . . .", which necessarily gives the person's commission of sin the quality of habituality by definition. This is not a dynamic rendering, it is literal.

The regenerated person, though by new birth no longer controlled by the power of indwelling sin, may incidentally through ignorance or lackadaisical attitude lapse into the old habits and commit a sin, but he has a choice not to sin. Ongoing chastening by The Father (Heb. 12:5-11) will ensure that we are continually on the path of spiritual and behavioral maturation that speaks of progressive sanctification. But if no change occurs subsequent to receiving and professing allegiance to God, or if it plateaus and does not improve (due to an inrush of initial emotional enthusiasm not proceeding from the new birth), doubtless Hebrews 1:8 must be taken as the sign by the individual that he/she is not saved, not being chastened by God for missing the intent of His provisional Will (boulemia, 2 Pet. 3:9), and is still under condemnation, not having the sin-overcoming power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Arminian will interpret this as "backsliding" or even "losing one's salvation"; but it is really only the natural outcome of falling away from The Faith by a person who was not really totally committed to Jesus as Lord and Master from the outset.

Unhappily, the NIV does not lend itself well to this kind of detailed study that refines the meaning of what the Holy Ghost is communicating through the writings of the prophets and apostles (as Robert Martin indicates, again referring to my Post #255, if you would read it and thoroughly digest it, and let the unadulterated Word nourish you).

As a last comment, your reference to the literally equivalence NASB is admirable; but after that, it has the deeper flaw of being based on a critical Greek text that was synthesized by fallible men from three corrupted Greek textforms that do not agree with each other, by which the current liberal theological thought is quite contaminated and trending toward suppression of Bible salvation through the texts preserved throughout the ages under God's supervision. IMHO. Maybe even not so H.

So, there it is.

Here we are; arguing over words. Just what the bible tells us NOT to do

Wrong. I am not arguing except in the debative sense. 2 Timothy 2:14 says ". . . that they strive not about words TO NO PROFIT, but to the subverting of the hearers."

This kind of confrontation is profitable to me and to the hearers who can be averted from the slippery slide you seem to be on, grabbing for straws to justify your position on salvation:

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let ~~them~~ slip" (Heb 2:1 AV).

This verse was the theme of one Pastors' Appreciation Banquet which I attended as a Gideon, and it provoked me to memorize it, and with it, its immediate context:

"For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompence of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard ~~him~~;
God also bearing ~~them~~ witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Heb. 2:2-4 AV; my bolding for emphasis and strike-through of translator-added words).

Then, because of the "therefore" of 2:1, I thought it important to memorize the "wherefore" of Chapter 1, which was the reason for Chapter 2 to be "there for"." That led to memorizing the rest of Chapter 2; and finally, the rest of the whole book of Hebrews, word for word (including the translators' added words) over a period of nine years, which has served me well ever since.

Rejecting your thesis that the Paul counseled Timothy not to debate AT ALL about the Scripture, the words, and the doctrine therefrom; let me offer Paul's more substantive and true command to Timothy:

"If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister
of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine,
whereunto thou hast attained.
. . .
These things command and teach.
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Neglect not the gift that is in thee^(preaching?), which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save* thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim. 4:6, 11-16 AV; * = effecting the ongoing process of salvation, my bolding for emphasis).

If it turns out to be wrangling, no; but if someone is learning and benefits from it, yes. I don't want to let you duck out by offering such excuses for avoiding profitable engagement. But to me, eating turkey and dressing is an acceptable reason.

Regarding football, I'm not interested in spectating, especially now of what seems to be a concussive brain-damaging sport. Speculating on "what if" is more fun.

Can I sin once a year and get away with it?

If you know from Scripture or from the heart the sin that you sinned, no. The indwelling Holy Spirit will alert you and give you the opportunity to admit it, abandon it, and be throughly cleansed from it by the Blood of Christ, and to be restored to perfect fellowship with The Father (1 Jn. 1:9). How about once a month? Once a week?

Same again, only now the Spirit's warning may start to get louder and more insistent regarding the earthly consequences of ignoring the commandments that Jesus gave to be taught.

The Father may step in, or He may defer the handling of discipline to the purview of the local church. You sin affects not just you. I affects every member of the assembly when your functional role in it is degraded.

Only every other day?

If your practice is becoming habitual, here is where the sirens and klaxons ought to be going off. It may even be that, if you cannot choose to control it, you may have to face the question as whether or not you are even saved, only a professor and not a possessor, a la Charles Templeton. Or even a Judas. Eh?

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are very patient regarding your progress in sanctification. Howvwer, there is a limit, and God may blow the whistle and say, "OK, son -- out of the pool. You need to come up with me for close, more personal attention away from the distractions of earthly life. Otherwise you are going to hurt somebody that I also have equal interest in, and that can no longer be permitted. I can see that you are not ging yo be helping there for Me, so just come up and sit on the bench for a while."

That happens. Ananias and Sapphira are already there, so you'll have company.

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