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NASB | 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.] |
Subject: Is sinless perfection possible on earth? |
Bible Note: In the past the following have been mooted as contradictions using Greek in the normal way. 1) Slaves or not: Rom 6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Rom 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. There is in fact no contradiction here. The former verse states the ideal position to which the Christian has been raised. He has been set free from sin and become a slave to righteousness (because he is in Christ). That is his status. It is a privileged status, but sadly one from which we often fall short, even if unconsciously. Who among us can say that he 'always does good, and sins not?' The weakness of the flesh regularly results in our failing to do the good that we should do perfectly all the time. Only Jesus achieved this standard. Indeed we are often not sure of what good we should do. Who among us continually and perfectly continues do to others what we would have them do to us?' The standard is huge in its implications. It is something at which we aim, not something that we can possibly achieve, for its demands are endless. Paul, knowing this, said, 'We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.' What did he mean by this vivid description? He was indicating that the Law in order to be fulfilled needed a truly spiritual response. It was in the realm of the Spirit. In contrast there is that within us which he calls 'indwelling sin' which drags us down from being spiritual. It is something that has to be constantly overcome through the power of the Spirit (compare Galatians 5.16-24). From the commencement of our lives we have been 'sold under sin'. That is sin has been our master. And when we become Christians that sin still indwells us making its claim to be our master. But because Christ died for us on the cross and we have been united with Him in His body, we have in Him died to sin. That does not mean that sin has died. It means that we are to see ourselves as having died. We are to 'reckon on it' (Romans 6.11) We are to reckon on the fact that we are slaves to righteousness. Thus when sin within us raises its head we say, 'yes as we are in ourselves we are sold under sin, but as we are as those who have been united with Christ we are sold under righteousness'. We are servants of righteousness. There is no contradiction in that. 2) To sin or not to sin: Rom 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Rom 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Both these statements are true for all of us at the present. We are not to let sin reign in us so that we obey its evil desires. Sin dwells within us, but we are not to let it reign. We are to say to it, 'In Christ I have died to you. In myself I am your slave and have been from birth. But in Christ I have died. So positionally I am no longer your slave. For I am dead, Of course I am not really dead. I am still the identical person to th one that I was. But because I have been united with Christ my spiritual position has changed so that I am 'dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord'. This is my new status. This is how I am to see myself (Rom 6.11), so that when the sin that dwells in me makes demands I reply, 'in Christ I am dead to you'. Thus I can now call on the Spirit's power to enable me to overcome sin. But if we look at our lives as they are in themselves we have to admit, 'I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.' Good lives in me because Christ lives in me,but as I am in myself nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. Left to myself I have the desire to do what is good but cannot carry it out. Let me but take my eyes off Christ and cease to reckon on myself as dead to sin, and then sin will take over. In order to live a holy life I am wholly dependent on Christ and His risen power. I am wholly dependent on the Spirit. Without Him reigning in me sin will again take over the reins. So these verses are not contradictory. They are complementary. They describe on the one hand what I am in Christ, and what on the other hand I am when I cease to reckon on myself as dead to sin. In the latter case sin once again exerts its right. |