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 | Who's sinning? | Col 3:9 | Lionstrong | 3379 | ||
Thank you Prayon and Lifer for your patients and perseverance. I love this forum. I think it’s a great place for iron to sharpen iron and for Christians to work on becoming of one mind on the things of the Lord. But let me press you a little bit further on this, if I may. I John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”(NJKV) I know some translations soften this, but I won’t quibble. (Now follow me on this.) 1st point: Animals cannot sin. (Your comment on animals also implies this, I think.) Only persons can sin. 2nd point: So when sin is committed, it is committed by a person, not an animal or thing. 3rd point: A nature is a thing. It determines behavior, but it is a thing, not a person. 4th point: Our new man (or self) with its new nature, born of God, cannot sin. 5th point: We sin. 6th and finally: If only a person can sin, and our new man cannot sin, who’s sinning? Thanks again and peace in the Lamb. |
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2 | Who's sinning? | Col 3:9 | Lifer1J511 | 3440 | ||
Lionstrong, Please permit me to ramble on just a little bit more to (finally) answer your question. According to my previous explanation, the root of sinning (committing unrighteous acts) is unbelief in what God says. That is why it is SO important to have our mind renewed as Christians by God's Word. God's not crazy about our acts of sin (Jesus died for each one we commit or omit) but He really wants to get at the root of why we commit sins - our belief system. That is what He wants to change. If, through His Spirit and His wonderful Word, He changes our mind (renews) it to see things from His point of view (truth) THEN, and only then, will our actions change. Our actions will follow what we truly believe. If I don't believe that God can provide all my needs, I'll resort to stealing. If I don't believe God has provided me with one wife to enjoy life with, I'll resort to adultery. If I don't belief God has revealed His true self to me through Jesus Christ, I'll worship other gods. Sins are always related to wrong belief or doubting God. That being said, Paul describes the his old man, old nature in chapter 7 of Romans and the new man in chapter 8. Without going terribly indepth (I type slow), here's the situation. Paul used to be a Pharisee. He describes elsewhere his 'fleshly' credentials in keeping the law. At least outwardly. Inwardly, he says that he was the chief of sinners. Starting in Romans 7:14, Paul says that he knew the law was good and spiritual. He wanted to keep it. But he couldn't keep it. He tried, through his works, but the harder he tried, the more he failed. He knew, from studying the law, what God said and what God expected. And he sincerely wanted to obey God. But he had the old Adamic nature, the sin nature that caused his flesh to rebel and not keep God's law. His inner man vs.22 agreed with God's law but he found his body subjected to the law of sin, and wouldn't obey. The old nature held his body slave to sin. It was driving him nuts! He longed for deliverence. Then, he says in vs. 24, 'who will deliver me from this conflict?' And he answers it, thanks be to God THROUGH Jesus Christ we are delivered. God crucified our old nature, the sin nature, us without God, the old man with Christ on the cross. That master of our bodies is dead and gone. But, in the Christian, we still have 'flesh' - not a sin nature that says we MUST sin, but a fallen body with habits and a resource for us to get our needs met from within. But our flesh no longer has the old sin nature standing over it saying, 'Sin, sin, sin.' That was crucified with Christ. So, without a master, the flesh says, "What now? How do I act? Who is the master?" And here, brother, is where you have a choice as a Christian. You can either: A. 'Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.' Allow Christ to 'work out' through your body what He has 'worked in' to your spirit. This is walking in the Spirit, relying upon Christ to be your suffieciency for every situation. Or: B. Not submit your body to Christ, in which case it will rely and 'fall back' on the only thing it knows, what the sin nature trained it to do. That means relying upon yourself and your own resources to get your needs met. Your body, flesh will resort back to sinning. It knows nothing else. That is why Paul says to set your mind on things above. Only then will your body follow. That is why Paul says in Romans 6:16 - '16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.' So, Paul says to count yourselves (accept it as true) to sin but alive to God. So, when a Christian sins (commits a wrong act), it is because we are not believing what God says and relying on our old flesh, self-suffieciency to get what we want (remember Abraham with Isaac and Ismael?). We can do that as Christians. But we can also choose to submit ourselves to God and allow Him to be our all-in-all. Whew, I'm getting tired. (Stinking flesh, my spirit is willing, though) I hope this helps. Let me know. I'm still 'learning to believe.' God bless. |
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3 | What is sin? | Col 3:9 | Lionstrong | 3729 | ||
I’m pleased with the flow of our discussion so far, Lifer. I started with a rather speculative question on the nature of regenerate man and we’ve moved to the more foundational subject of sin. Thank you for hanging in there, and I thank you for the time you took to give such and extended answer. By God’s grace we’ll continue to make progress. I hope, after we come to one mind on the more foundational issues underlying my first question, we can get back to my first question. Understanding what sin is is important because it is that for which the Lord Jesus came to save his people from. It is that for which the wage of death is paid. It is that which separates us from our God. (I wax eloquent.) And I agree with you that what ever sin is, it is both internal (in our hearts) and external (in our words, gestures and deeds). But what is sin? What makes sin sin? The same could be said of anything. What makes a thing a thing? In order for something to be a thing it has to fit into certain categories or else it ceases to be one thing and becomes another thing. In order for something to be a dog it has to have certain characteristics or else it’s a cat or a cow, or a hairy man on all fours. In your answer you define two things, sin and sins (or sinning), and I agree with much of what you said about both. But they are two different things, and I think it becomes confusing. In your definitions "sins" is not the plural of sin nor "sinning" its verb form. I’ve come to accept a biblical definition that will appreciate, capture and combine your two things into one. It's not one I've developed; it's been around for a long time. What makes sin sin, be it in the heart in the form of unbelief or be it overt, is the Law of God. Sin is any lack of conformity to or transgression of the Law of God. It is lack of conformity to or transgression of the Law of God to not believe in Jesus. It is also lack of conformity to or transgression of the Law of God to murder a man. Even in a most simplistic understanding the law does not deal with overt acts only, because it says do not covet, which is totally a matter of the heart. Understand, Lifer, that this definition doesn't mean you have to throw out everything you wrote. I just wish you to consider that the Law of God is internal as well as external and that it makes unbelief (as fundamental as it is) a sin as well. So we have one definition to cover both unbelief and other wrong thoughts and deeds. God says repent and believe the gospel. To not conform to or transgress this command is sin. This definition can be found in the letter our present discussion has taken us, I John. I John 3: 4 says, "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." (NKJV) You will note, Lifer, that this would be your definition of "sins" not "sin." |
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4 | What is sin? | Col 3:9 | Lifer1J511 | 3740 | ||
Hi Lionstrong, Wow, you do wax eloquent. Thanks for the response. I read your response three times and, unfortunately, I'm still not sure what you are getting at. I do agree with the law of God part but sin was around way before the law. Satan rebelled and sinned. Adam and Eve sinned. The people in Noah's day sinned. And we all know that Noah was declared righteous before the law was ever given. But I still do see a differentation between sins that are committed and the sin of unbelief that causes us to commit sin. We can discuss sin singular and sins plural til the cows come home but, in the end, we are probably arguing semantics. 1 John 3:4 is talking about sins of commision. But scripture also says that 'whatever is not of faith is sin.' You may disagree (that is your right) but I still believe that sins come from sin. Jesus took away the sins of the world. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not holding men's sins against them. Why? Because sins caused spiritual death. Sin (unbelief) leads to sinning (whether inward or outward) which results in death. If Christ took away our sins, then why can we still sin? If God wasn't holding our sins against us (because of Christ's death), then why do we still confess them. The unfortunate thing about all this, brother, is that we focus only on what we DO or DON'T DO. We confess sins we feel that we commit (whether it is hatred or murder) and NEVER talk to God about the unbelievng attitude that was the seed of our sinning. God wants us focused on Him, not our sins, not the law. Only as our mind is renewed through God's Word, can we learn to trust what God says, believe Him, and rest in Him. As we do this, relying totally on God to meet our needs, we walk in the Spirit. And, if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In Christ, Lifer |
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5 | What is sin? | Col 3:9 | Lionstrong | 3865 | ||
Dear Lifer: A quick question. When I type my paragraphs and submit them, the paragraphs dissappear and it's all smooched together, making it harder to read. How do you make paragraph breaks? (I typed this note doublespaceing between paragraphs.) |
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