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NASB | Romans 8:10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:10 If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides]. |
Bible Question:
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? |
Bible Answer: 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. |