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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: Hi Tim You say: First of all, I always try to start with the clear statements of Scripture, not the less clear, or even my own experience. So, I begin with Rom 6:2 'By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?' This is a clear statement. In fact, our death to sin is compared and contrasted with Christ's death on the cross. My reply: But I do not see this as 'a clear statement'. It immediately raises the question, how have I died to sin? What is certainly true is that it does not mean that we do not sin, for our whole lives are involved in sin. To sin is to come short of the glory of God, and 2 Cor 3.18 makes clear that our progress towards the glory of God is a continuous one. Thus we are all 'sinning' by coming short of it. We are told to love God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength, but we all fall short of that in our daily lives. It is in our sinful state impossible of achievement. Thus we are all continually coming short of Christlikeness, for He did love God with heart, sould, mind and strength. Consider how Jesus would rise 'a great while before day' in order to be in communion with His Father because He loved Him so. But He did not expect it of His disciples. He was fully aware that they still came far short of loving the Father as He did. Thus we, like the disciples, are all sinning. Do you not think that they should ALL have been arising a great while before day? Thus we must ask, what does it mean to die to sin? And the answer lies in both what has been said before, (that we have 'died to sin' because Christ died for our sins, and we died in Him) and in what he subsequently says, that we are 'drenched into His death', that we are 'united with Him in His death'. We have been made one body with Him (1 Cor 12.12-13). In consequence His death was our death. And sin can therefore no longer condemn us because in Him we have died and paid the penalty of sin. That is real, not pretence. But it does not mean that sin within us is therefore dead. We are not restored to the innocence of Adam. Our death is in no way 'contrasted' with Christ's death, nor is it 'compared' with it. Christ's death IS our death. It is because He died that we can consider (not pretend) that we have died to sin. Paul's logic is based on what has caused our justification, what has caused our being accounted as righteous in Christ. But if there is one thing that is abundantly clear, we are all still in a state of sin (that is, are still continuaslly sinning) which is why we come short of the glory of God, and is why we do not all the time love God as we should. It was because Paul knew that many of his listeners would be saying, 'but my experience is not like that. I am not dead to sin. I am very conscious of sin, Does that mean that I am not a Christian', that Paul called on his own experience in Rom 7.14-25 so as to make clear to them that all Christians, even Paul, still had sin dwelling within them. He did not articulate what those sins were because he wanted his words to apply to the condition of each of his hearers. He wanted them to be assured that, even though they might still be struggling against sin, it did not mean that they were not Christians. And he wanted them to know that there was also a way by which they could overcome their known sins through the activity of the Spirit of Christ. But be assured that all of us without exception, would, if God suddenly made Himself vividly known to us, fall on our faces in despair at our sinfulness (Job 42.5-6; Isaiah 6.5). That is one thing that happens in time of revival, a facing up to sin as never before. Indeed it would be unbearable were it not for the fact that Christ having died for us, and we having died in Him, we have assurance of forgiveness and being accounted as righteous, even though we are not. You say: When, I get to Rom. 8:11, I don't take 'reckon' or 'consider' as simply pretending that we are dead, but as a logical recognition of what Christ has done for us. My reply: Nor do any of us. We reckon on it as a fact that we are dead to sin and alive to God THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. But we do not reckon on the fact that sin is dead. We must be constantly alert to it. Best wishes |