Posted on 01/08/2015 5:33:17 AM PST by Gamecock
Amen, amen, AMEN!!!
Heavenly Rates
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”
“Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”
“That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”
“Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.”
“Terrific!” says St. Peter, “that’s certainly worth a point.”
“One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”
“Fantastic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.
“TWO POINTS!!” the man cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”
“Come on in!”
He certainly is speaking of a born-again Christian:
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Rom 7:24-25)
Nowhere does he say anything about a hypothetical unregenerate, but says over and over again "I" "I am" "I myself", all in the present tense. It is also consistent with the Apostle John's testimony:
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But Paul is not stating that a Christian lives a vicious life of sin like we used to, back when we were "by nature the children of wrath, walking in the vanity of our mind." The difference between the regenerate and the unregenerate is that the former are at war with their flesh, and in the Spirit they worship God (for God has given us a new heart and a new mind, and works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure). The latter are yet in darkness.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.Chapter 8:1-4:
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.I realize that many have been falsely told and taught that Paul is actually referring to himself and is declaring that Christians cannot escape Sinning.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Then Paul is the one who "falsely told and taught" this, as did John, as he refers to himself over and over again, even repeating it, "I myself," "I am," "I," etc etc. I'll make one final point:
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
It is not possible that an unregenerate serves the law of God with his mind.
As for the verses, they are all consistent with the teaching I already explained.
...I realize that many have been falsely told and taught that Paul is actually referring to himself and is declaring that Christians cannot escape Sinning.
I read ALL of Chapter 7 and 8. Did you?
I don't know who is teaching you, but you are the one being taught error. Paul is giving his own testimony, and refers only to himself.
Romans 7: 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.
It's irrelevant if a person can stop sinning.
Because all it takes is ONE sin to condemn us and need a Savior, so even if we sinned only once and lived an otherwise perfect life, we STILL couldn't get in.
Not only that, God is not going to love us any more if we sinned only once or were on death row.
Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners.
And while theoretically, perhaps it is possible to never sin again, but I doubt even that. We are all weak, especially when sick, tired, or hungry. We're all caught off guard when something unexpected happens. We all get ground down by the pressures of daily living and become irritable and cranky.
I for one, sin far more than I care to and care to admit. It's a hazard of living in this body.
Ha ha!
This is quite true, but the heresy of perfectionism-- this Pelagian idea that we might become sinless-- is also quite heinous. It tells a person that if they cannot become sinless, that they must not really be converts, but damned individuals fooling themselves. This brings torment for born again believers, and false pride for infidels who preach it. It is another way to get back to that old sinful assertion: "that I am getting to heaven based on my own merits, for I myself am not "evil," but innately good."
He is talking about himself, and then branching out. He is also in writing in present tense.
You are being so profound today!
It ain’t me.
I'm given to believe murder is a sin.
I'm often tempted to murder.
Thus far I've managed to resist the temptation.
Are you telling me I don't need Jesus?
Presumably you have hated people. According to Christ, that is having committed murder in the heart. In the same way lusting after a woman is adultery in the heart. To Christ, it is not just about actions in the world, but the acts of the heart itself even in secret.
I suggest you visit North Korea if you think all religion is sinful and agents of discord.
It’s got nothing to do with hatred; it’s a simple acknowledgement that certain individuals should be destroyed before they have an opportunity to destroy other innocents.
We aren't talking about your stoic determination to see terrorists dead. We're talking about the people you've hated in your life.
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