Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? | Rom 8:10 | Bill Mc | 18095 | ||
Zealot, thanks for your answer. You have indeed laided out a good explanation. But, brother, I ask you to consider one thing. Not everyone is a sinner. 63 times in the New Testament, believers are referred to as saints. In fact, Paul never addresses his letters, "To the sinners at Corinth, To the sinners at Ephesus, To the sinners at Philippi, etc." You have rightly stated that our spirits are made alive with Christ. This being the case, we are born again spiritually and your new birth determines your identity, not your actions. We were all born sinners the first time. But at new birth, we are born in righteousness and holiness and God never refers to us again as sinners. If you'd like to do any interesting study, look up the word 'sinner' in the NT context. It is used almost exclusively of Gentiles and unbelievers. If God calls you a saint 63 times in the NT, then that is pretty good proof that you are no longer a sinner. Do you still sin? Yes. But that is not who you are. How would you like to go through your entire life labeled by your one major weakness? If you run around your house barking, chewing on the furniture, soiling the rug, and panting, does that make you a dog? No. Why? Because, no matter how you act, you were born a human. If you put clothes on your dog (some do, ya know), seat him at the dinner table, and teach him to use the commode, does that make him a human? No. Why? He was born a dog and a dog he will remain. Likewise, we are spiritually born again and, though we may ACT like sinners occasionally, we will NEVER be sinners again. Why is this important? Because the Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. If you believe, at your deepest level, that you are a sinner, then how will you act? If you believe that you are a saint, then how will you act? You will act out whatever you believe is true of yourself. I am not spouting some 'name-it-and-claim-it' wishful thinking. God says unequivically that we are saints. What He says is true, regardless of my actions. What do you think? |
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2 | Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? | Rom 8:10 | Zealot | 18099 | ||
Christians are made saints by being chosen. God chooses those who choose him. Yet, all are sinners. Paul was arguably the most saintly man other than Jesus who ever lived, yet even he said in the epistle to the Romans: 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 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. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 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. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 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. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. This is both plain and stated in the present tense, not the past. Paul did not write "I used to serve the law of sin". Matthew 19 17 And He said to him, ""Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'' "ALL sin", not "All were sinners". Yes, I , like Paul, am a sinner, probably far worse. I, like Paul, thank God for His forgiveness and sacrifice on my behalf. He died for me, and rose again, the firstborn among many, as testament to me that I will be among the many. Jesus was the only pure and perfect man to ever live. Those who became saints because of their faith accepted His free gift of grace and have been sealed, purchased by His blood. But, they are all still sinners. |
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3 | Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? | Rom 8:10 | kalos | 18129 | ||
*God chooses those who choose him.* Is that what the Bible really teaches? "Foreknowledge. Occasionally someone will suggest that God's election is based on His foreknowledge of certain events. This argument suggests that God simply looks into the future to see who will believe, and He chooses those whom He sees choosing Him. Notice that 1 Peter 1:2 says the elect are chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father," and Romans 8:29 says, "whom He foreknew, He also predestined." And if divine foreknowledge simply means God's knowledge of what will happen in advance, then these arguments may appear to have some weight behind them. "But that is not the biblical meaning of "foreknowledge." When the Bible speaks of God's foreknowledge, it refers to God's establishment of a love relationship with that person. The word "know," in both the Old and New Testament, refers to much more than mere cognitive knowledge of a person. Such passages as Hosea 13:4-5; Amos 3:2 (KJV); and Romans 11:2 clearly indicate this. For example, 1 Peter 1:20 says Christ was "foreknown before the foundation of the world." Surely this means more than that God the Father looked into the future to behold Christ! It means He had an eternal, loving relationship with Him. The same is true of the elect, whom we are told God "foreknew" (Romans 8:29). That means He knew them--he loved them--before the foundation of the world." (See: www.gty.org/IssuesandAnswers/archive/election.htm) |
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4 | Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? | Rom 8:10 | Zealot | 18241 | ||
Yes, God chooses those who choose Him: Revelation 20 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 13 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Revelation 3 4 "But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 "He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Which names are written "from the foundation of the world"? Which names will not be erased? Matthew 22 14 ""For many are called, but few are chosen.' Romans 8 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 10 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. John 3 16 ""For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Matthew 3 2 ""Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'' Acts 2 38 Peter said to them, ""Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Romans 10 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Matthew 24 31 ""And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Time is a construct of the universe created by God for the support of the lives of His children. Eternity is not a long time, it is the absence of time. So, before the foundations of the world, God knew who to call, who would hear, who would believe, who would repent, who would confess His name (choose Him), who would be baptised, who would be saved, and who would not have their names erased from the Book of Life. Hebrews 6 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. To elect is to choose. The Lord will gather his "elect" (His "chosen") from those who hear, believe, confess, repent, and are baptised. The "choosing" is mutual, as is appropriate in a marriage. Jesus will not divorce His bride: Romans 11 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Nor can the betrothal be broken: John 10 27 ""My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. As in Heb 6 above, only the one who becomes unfaithful and walks away from the promise will ever be able to "divorce" Jesus, thereby resulting in the erasure of their name from the book of life. The choice occurs on both sides of the relationship. |
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5 | Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? | Rom 8:10 | kalos | 18290 | ||
No, God does not choose those whom He sees choosing Him. "Foreknowledge. Occasionally someone will suggest that God's election is based on His foreknowledge of certain events. This argument suggests that God simply looks into the future to see who will believe, and He chooses those whom He sees choosing Him. Notice that 1 Peter 1:2 says the elect are chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father," and Romans 8:29 says, "whom He foreknew, He also predestined." And if divine foreknowledge simply means God's knowledge of what will happen in advance, then these arguments may appear to have some weight behind them. "But that is not the biblical meaning of "foreknowledge." When the Bible speaks of God's foreknowledge, it refers to God's establishment of a love relationship with that person. The word "know," in both the Old and New Testament, refers to much more than mere cognitive knowledge of a person. Such passages as Hosea 13:4-5; Amos 3:2 (KJV); and Romans 11:2 clearly indicate this. For example, 1 Peter 1:20 says Christ was "foreknown before the foundation of the world." Surely this means more than that God the Father looked into the future to behold Christ! It means He had an eternal, loving relationship with Him. The same is true of the elect, whom we are told God "foreknew" (Romans 8:29). That means He knew them--he loved them--before the foundation of the world." (See: www.gty.org/IssuesandAnswers/archive/election.htm) |
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