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NASB | Romans 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions. |
Subject: Can we live life without sinning? |
Bible Note: Dear Lookin, First, if you deem Zechariah as having moral perfection, he appears to have lost it (Luke 1:18) with the sin of unbelief. Presumably he regained it again, though, in verse 67. Be that as it may, I'd take issue with your exegesis of verse 6, though, in treating the righteousness of these folks as being equivalent in every way to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1b). If there were such people, why they wouldn't even need a Savior! Second, you're right, inductive reasoning is not a sure foundation on which to base conclusions. Yet, I see living and walking examples of faith, repentance, conversion, love, hope, peace, joy, etc. Interesting that one can even see examples of -- objectively and subjectively -- progressive sanctification. Examples of the living out of Wesleyan/Finneyism teaching of moral perfection is notably absent. (Or, at least, rare by your own admission.) Third, sure, our judgment can be skewed -- we should expect as much because of total depravity. We needn't revise our standard so that some people manage to squeak in under the new measure. We have the perfect (excuse the redundancy) rule for righteousness stated in the Word and exemplified by the Word in the flesh: the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourth, that's cool. I'm eager to have met someone who loved the Lord God with all their heart and all their soul and all their mind. Save for the example of Christ Himself, I'm unsure what it would even look like. (I wonder why Wesley, Finney, and Parham never managed the feat?) As to your conclusions, all I can earnestly and honestly say is: Go for it! The proof is in the pudding, as they say. More proof for you, of course, than it is for me. However, if your hermeneutic affords the means, then your life is consequentially required to reflect it. I am sincere in my wish that your doctrine manifests itself in what the old divines used to call "experimental Christianity." (The word experimental has changed over time. What they meant was that if our doctrines be true, then they are necessarily realizable in lives of submission to the Lord through His Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit.) Meanwhile, I'll just keep slogging along here in the old fashioned "already/not yet." In Him, Doc |