Posted on 06/08/2017 5:24:08 PM PDT by ealgeone
My posts on this thread are motivated by a desire to counter the excuse to sin inspired by the thought “all Christians are sinners.”
I’m no more able to overcome the flesh without Christ than any other believer.
All Christians sin.
There's a difference between calling Christians sinners and recognizing that we sin far more than we realize.
Christians, genuine born from above, regenerated Christians, are saints.
However I doubt there's a one of us in that category who would not admit that we sin an awful lot.
It honestly is not possible to go long without sinning somehow.
Unless you are unconscious.
But,
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 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.
9 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.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 3:6-10
Is it possible to speak without lying?
Is it possible to conduct business without stealing?
Can a person worship God the Creator while ignoring other gods?
Can a person live their daily lives while avoiding fornication and adultery?
Can a man see a woman, be tempted to look at her in lust and then turn away from her?
Can a person begin to hate their neighbor in anger or covetousness, but in the moment repent in their heart and turn from this sin?
Turning from sin is a work.
That’s why you better hope it’s the Lord turning you and not you doing it by yourself.
And if there is no turning from sin in your life, something’s very wrong.
Have you not read Romans 7?
We ALL have a sin nature which wars within us with the new regenerated sinless nature.
Paul himself had that struggle and ALL of us do.
And yes, I can speak without lying, etc, but the motive of my heart is what the Lord looks at, not just the mere actions.
I would propose that it is possible to keep God’s Law perfectly to the letter. Jesus even acknowledged it when addressing the pharisees, but then in the Beatitudes, He raised the bar higher.
MUCH MUCH higher.
He went on to show that ALL of us, even those most outwardly perfect, sin almost continually.
But there is a world of difference between sinning because we have a strong sin nature and actively pursuing a life of sin.
I am sure that we all sin more than we realize and those who claim that they don’t sin, or know how much they do, are deluding themselves.
Not all sin is intentional. It doesn’t have to be intentional to be sin.
I don’t think I’ve claimed anything about my own sin in this thread. Maybe the responses to me are related to an inference about that. I’m not making any claim other than the Lord has turned me from sin, but I struggle daily against the flesh like any other Christian.
In Romans we learn to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. It’s that simple. And we can only do it with the help of the Lord.
I am only motivated to post in this thread because I know how God’s enemy uses subtle deception. One of these ways is to make Christians think “All Christians sin, so I might as well do what I’m gonna do.” So they defile their neighbor’s wife, or pursue love of money, or whatever.
Again, all I’m interested in is warning people about this.
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