Really, sharing the gospel is the same as teaching disciples all He commanded. Reaching people for Christ is not really the same as training people to strive to be Christ-like. Evangelism is not the same as discipleship.
If we forget the weightier matters, like picking up our cross and following Him wherever He leads, soon the power of our testimony will be diminished. One group within Calvinism (perhaps hypers) pushes monergistic sanctification, where only God's actions affect our effectiveness within the family of God.
Have we forgot the weightier matters
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Judith, Mar 16, 2014.
Page 2 of 2
-
-
-
-
I think some people are talking past one another. On the one hand, we have John saying, (1 John 1:8) if we say we do not sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the Truth is not in us (we have not been born anew and sealed with the Spirit of Christ.) So we sin. But we are to strive to not sin. And on the other hand, we have John saying, (1 John 3:6) no one who abides in Him sins, no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. So if we are born anew and sealed with the Spirit of Christ we do not sin.
The answer to resolve this paradox is to accept that we have sinful thoughts and do sinful things after being born anew, but because we are spiritually in Christ, those present and future sins are continuously washed away by the blood of Christ, we are continuously justified, so it is as if we did not sin.
So from our perspective, we know what we think and do, and our indwelt Spirit convicts us of those sins, such that we recognize they are sinful, but we also know that Christ died once for all, and so if we abide in Him, our sins do not count as sins, thus no one who abides in Him sins. -
Also the passaged you quoted about no one in Him sins is incorrect. The Greek structure is of the nature of practicing sin. No one in Him sins as a practice or way of life is what the passage is saying. We are new creatures and seeking the practice of sin is no longer our path. -
righteousdude2 Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
You are ASSUMING and AWFUL Lot....
If you looked at those two laws, He told us to follow and live by, you'd see they are a mini, crash course in the TEN! I don't believe anyone on this board is arguing with you on that. It is just your continued attempt to prove yourself HOLIER then those of us you continue to talk down your spiritual nose to that is grwoing old quickly!
The kind of things you are saying are not loving in any way, and I think Jesus said we were to Love each other and love the Father, and by doing this we will be keeping the 2 commandments, which are a Readers Digest version of the big TEN. NOW, I don't question your love for Him ... but your love for those of us you are judging does not demonstrate a God like love, but rather disdain, contempt and disgust. and that is a shame. We are all such loving folks, and we want to love you back. You just make it hard to do with the wall of judgement you continue to build, higher and higher with each attempt to put us folks in our place, or rather the place you seem to think we all belong in! Wishing you happiness....Shalom! -
-
-
-
Bottom line, to reconcile 1 John 1:8 and 3:6 we must see sin as not only an act (thought or deed) but an act for which God's justice demands punishment. Thus, so to speak, if God's justice is satisfied, propitiated, turned aside by the blood of Jesus, if we abide in Him we do not sin, even though the Holy Spirit convicts us and leads us not into temptation but delivers us from evil. -
Since another way to resolve the paradox exists, as I related above, this reliance on a message in a grammatical bottle ignores that John alternates tenses for purely stylistic reasons. -
Lets back up to 1 John 1:8, and little phrase, "have no sin." To say we have no sin is tantamount to saying we have no continuing need of Christ to act as our High Priest. So the phrase goes beyond saying we have no knowledge of our continuing deviations from perfection, or no guilt or personal accountability for our deviations, but makes God a liar by claiming His Holy Spirit does not convict us of sin. His Word (the Spirit of Christ) is not in those who say they have no sin.
Page 2 of 2