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jbow -> RE: A Christian WILL NOT Continuously Sin! (4/14/2008 11:03:15 AM)
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quote:
If a true salvation experience has occurred, then why no change? I don't see how because of His love, we can continue to do those things that He despises. I'm talking about heavy duty sin here.
The fact of the matter is that we can indeed choose to sin as a believer. It is not the right decision but we are very capable of it. The difference in the Christian life is that it is not done with ease. the unregenerate person will choose to sin and not even notice it. It is their nature to sin and they NEVER do anything righteous.
Life in this world is like a river that we all swim in. It has a strong current. Unbelievers go with the flow, never even noticing the current because they never struggle against it. A Christian will constantly struggle against the current, swimming upstream. Sometimes we choose to sin. If we do, we can come to the throne of grace, we can repent and go again.
To teach that a Christian will not choose to sin, and sometimes seriously, is error. The Bible tell's us that the man who think's that he stands should take heed lest he fall. Proverbs 24:16 says:
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.
That is the struggle, the wicked have no such struggle. The very nature of struggle gives the possibility of failure. If it were not so, it would not be a struggle. Sometimes we may fall before our enemy but we can find grace if we do. Who is our enemy? Who is the wicked who is our enemy? I can tell you about my enemy, he live's inside of me. He is a homebody, he never leaves and he never sleeps. He is my old nature, my flesh, indwelling sin. Thank God that once I believed, I got a new nature. The new and the old fight for control of my body. Most of the time the new wins but sometimes I am weak, sometimes the old wins and I choose to sin. Thank God He does not give me the boot. Thank God He still love's me.
There was a man living in gross sin in the church. He had his father's wife. Paul delivered him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his soul might be saved in the end, (this implies that the man was justified and in the end saved, though not in a way we should choose). That did not make it ok to sin, it never is but there is grace.
The difference is that a Christian will feel the struggle and the wicked will not. The reason the Christian will feel the struggle is because we have, in addition to the old nature, a new nature. We have the Holy Spirit. We do not have a liscense to sin, God forbid... but we do have the ability to sin.
Can a Christian practice sin? Yes, but not comfortably and not for an unlimited time. Some Christians get caught up in sin, sometimes grievous sin, but if they are a Christian they will be miserable about it. The one who sins and thinks that it is just fine... need's to worry.
I reckon the question is what is meant by "continuously". When does it become continuously? Two days? Two weeks? Two hours? Two years? Two times?
Personally I think the whole matter is all defined by the struggle or lack thereof, not by the action but by the heart. Actions do matter but the source of the action matters more. The source defines the action.
J
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