Results 1 - 7 of 7
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Reformer Joe | 24074 | ||
Please support your view that 1 John 1:8-10 is speaking of life before conversion. It is quite clear from all the moral instruction from the apostles to their Christian audiences in the epistles that being a Christian does not mean being sinless. If they had already attained moral perfection (which is the only biblical definition of sinlessness), why would they need to be told to do certain things or refrain from certain things? It simply does not follow from Scripture that the sinless life is a reality before entering the presence of God. Romans 7 also illustrates Paul's inability to live a sinless life, as does Philippians 3:13-14. Inevitably, all who claim that the sinless life is attainable have to weaken the biblical definition of sin (and thereby dilute the biblical notion of the absolute holiness of God and his moral requirements), or live in frustration that even with the sanctifying work of the Spirit that we still fall short of the glory of God in our behavior. It is also theologically incorrect to say that the "devil put is in sin." Man sinned of his own will, bringing about the curse. I still have never met a sinless person. Anyone else had that pleasure? --Joe! |
||||||
2 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Sir Pent | 24077 | ||
Contrary View .................................. Dear Joe, I agree that humans are responsible for their own sins, and cannot blaim the devil for "putting us in sin". I disagree that the passages in the Bible that instruct certain groups of believers to do or refrain from doing certain things means that all of them were guilty of that. It is quite likely that while a large number of them were guilty (thus the instruction), that there were some who did not participate in those sins. As for whether a person could live a life free from sin (after salvation), some of the reasoning behind this is dependant upon a "free will" perspective. Since you do not have this perspective, it is not reasonable to try to convince you otherwise. I commend your consistency while disagreeing with your conclusions. |
||||||
3 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Reformer Joe | 24079 | ||
Do you know anyone who is sinless? Has anyone lived a sinless (perfect) life since Christ? If no one has (yet), that would seem to indicate the impossibility of it. So would Paul: "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members." --Romans 7:18-23 I repeat my question for you, then. If true Christianity is sinlessness as Lanny holds, who is a Christian? Who is sinless? --Joe! |
||||||
4 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Sir Pent | 24090 | ||
Clarification ................................... Dear Joe, It appears that there is a confusion here that needs to be cleared up to begin with. I don't believe that Lanny (or anyone else that is supporting the idea of a sinless life) is equating that state with basic Christianity. It is obvious that there are many Christians (including myself) who continue to sin at times (some Christians even have habitual sins). What we are trying to say is that it is possible for Christians to reach the point where they stop sinning. As for whether I know anyone who has done this, I'm not sure. I don't follow anyone around constantly, and I can't read their thoughts. And anyone who would be in this category would obviously not go around bragging about it. But there are several people at my church who I suspect have reached this point, and do not know of any sins that they have committed in word or deed in the last several years. These are older saints who have spent a lifetime of walking with the Lord, and who have completely committed their life to Him. |
||||||
5 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Reformer Joe | 24096 | ||
Actually, I think that is precisely Lanny's point, from previous posts he has made on this forum. I didn't think you would have to follow anyone around constantly to detect a sinless/holy life. Has church history provided any examples. I contend that no one has ever lived in moral perfection besides Christ, and to say that we have attained or can attain a completely Christ-like sinlessness is to underestimate just how holy Jesus was in all his behavior. And my experience is that it is the older, more sancified saints who are most acutely aware of their own continuing sin and God's continuing grace. There is no such thing as "unknown sins." If we do sin and forget about it or fail to recognize it as sin, then our sin is compounded by our prideful disregard of our violation of the commands of a holy God. --Joe! |
||||||
6 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Sir Pent | 24097 | ||
Clarification ................................... Dear Joe, I would like to respond to several of your points. As for Lanny's true meaning, I'll leave that to him to clear up. As for Christ being the only person who lived a completely sinless life, I completely agree with you. Just because I believe that a person can stop sinning does not at all mean that I think that they never sinned before that. All have sinned at some point in their life, and therefore all need Christ's forgiveness. As for our ability to stop sinning cheapening Christs sinless life, I disagree with the statement and the implication. I disagree with the statement because once again Christ is the only person to live His ENTIRE life without sin, and that can't be cheapened by anything. I disagree with the implication that we can't start living lives without sin because Christ is so different than us. We have the same Spirit in us that was in Christ Jesus, and Jesus said that we would do greater things than Him. Finally, as for "no such thing as unknown sins", what would you call the examples that I gave? The person is definately committing an act that is against the known will of God, however, they are not doing it intentionally. What do you call that? |
||||||
7 | Is iT possible to live without sin? | Rom 6:2 | Reformer Joe | 24103 | ||
Not sin, because volition is not there. If a single woman is raped, I would not call it fornication, either. There has to be a moral weakness/willfulness present in order for the action in which we participate to be called sin. You wrote: "I disagree with the implication that we can't start living lives without sin because Christ is so different than us. We have the same Spirit in us that was in Christ Jesus, and Jesus said that we would do greater things than Him." The first sentence proves my point I made earlier. To say we are sinless at this point is to say that we are not-so-different from Christ in his behavior. That is simply false. As for your second sentence, which verse are you citing, so that we can take a closer look at what Jesus actually said and to whom? --Joe! |
||||||