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NASB | Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 3:23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, |
Subject: Are christians sinners or not? |
Bible Note: John, When I read Romans 6 I read that I have been radically changed by God’s grace. I see that I am no longer a slave to sin but a slave to God. I see that God has set me free from the chains that Satan had on me. I see that before, my fruit was shame that lead to death. I see now that my fruit is holiness that leads to everlasting life. I see now that I am dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. I see now, I MEAN RIGHT NOW, that sin does not have to reign in my mortal body, and I do not have to obey its lusts. I repeat: This is RIGHT NOW! This power over the sinful lust of the flesh is only possible because Jesus lives in me. This is a power that is above and beyond my own will power. This is a power over sin that the unsaved do not have. So what happens when I sin? It’s not that “I can’t help it”, it is because I choose to allow the flesh to overrule the Spirit. When I read 1John 3 (especially 1Jo 3:9), I see a distinct difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. It tells me how to know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. This distinction is only possible because of what the presence of Jesus in our heart does, not of any goodness we have on our own. I have heard the statement many, many times that “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”. This is a good word. However, the focus should be that on the fact that “we are forgiven”, not the excuse of, “oh well, we are not perfect”, as is many times the case. I don’t really like the word “just” used as description of how I was forgiven! A better word would be, “We are forgiven, just not perfect.” I like what Paul said even better. He said, “imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). Too many times we have to say, “Don’t look at me (or other Christians or the church), just look at Jesus”. Well, Jesus said to let people see us for who we are and that should reflect Him (Mat 5:16). Our life should not be a life just like the sinner we were before with the only difference now being that we are forgiven. Paul said God’s WORD should be the manifestation that others see in our lives (2Co 3:2-3), not the manifestation of sin. I haven’t written anything here as any kind of rebuttal to what you said, because I pretty much agree with it all. I just wanted to explain my thoughts a little better. I think my definition of a sinner (a person complacent in sin) is probably a little different than yours (a person who sins), but hopefully you can pretty much agree with the other things I said. God bless you bro, retxar |