Terry wrote: > 1. What about carnal Christians? I believe that there is such a thing as carnal Christians. In fact, they make up the majority of those who profess to be Christians. Whether such Christians are saved by grace I leave up to Jesus Christ to judge. All I know is that they should not profess to be Christians and remain carnal, so I do not excuse their carnality, but rather I rebuke it. Because of Matthew 5:19, I accept the notion that some of these may be saved, perhaps because they rely upon Christ's grace to cover them, but I do not accept it as the normal Christian life. The Scriptures teach that the standard for everyone in Christ is to be holy and without sin. This is why Christ died for us, and to accept anything other than this is an insult to the work of Jesus Christ. How would you feel if you suffered and died for the sins of the whole world, and then those who claimed to follow you taught them that sin won't be dealt with until after they died?
Terry wrote: > 2. It seems to me that in some places the Bible > looks at sin as a one time thing, and other times > as the pattern of one's life. Yes, sin has this effect. A one time thing called sin enslaves and will become a pattern for one's life unless it is repented of. Terry wrote: > This last is of particular concern because though > sin is no longer the pattern of my life, I still > sin on occasion, as does everyone that I know. > Because of my own struggle and observations, I > suspect, everyone I do not know, including those > vain enough to think themselves sinless, also sin, > though not in a deliberate manner. Waddayathink? I think that perhaps you have relied upon your own experience and have thereby nullified faith to operate this way in your life. If the Bible says that a Son of God does not sin, and then you look at your life and realize that you have a pattern of continuing to sin from time to time, you face two options: 1) the Word of God means something other than what it says, or 2) your faith in Christ and your position in Christ has not been exactly what you thought it was. The second option is difficult to admit, especially when we have been fed the easy believism which makes a great noise about the assurance of your salvation. To admit that we have fallen short of following Christ after we have professed him for awhile is a very humbling thing. I've seen many grown men weep over this realization, and I shed many tears also when it happened to me. The truth is that I don't really know how much I might sin. Jesus knows. My heart is 100% toward following Jesus. I do all I can to follow him and have him reign in my heart. I am not aware of anything in my life that I have not submitted unto him, and I walk in good conscience toward the Lord. I choose to believe the Scriptures that he keeps me from sinning. If people rebuke me and correct me, I consider carefully their complaint and see where I might need to repent. Often people call me a sinner just because they believe that everyone sins. They think it is sin for anyone to think that they don't sin. They consider it pride, or as you called it, vain. This is one reason why trying to declare a testimony of not sinning doesn't work. People automatically think such a testimony is a lie because there is this popular idea in our society that everybody is equal and nobody is better than anybody else for any reason whatsoever. The idea of being free of the power of sin is impossible for many to believe, just as it was impossible for the Israelites to believe that God would enable them to conquer the giants and those living within the walled cities in the promised land. This is a matter where we simply have to look to God's Word and trust God's Word. When we do that, we will go along for a few years and then look back and not be able to find any sin in our life. It is a wonderful and glorious thing to realize that the Word of God is true, alive, and working in our lives. I realize some might consider it vain and arrogant, but I see it as humble faith in the Word of God and in the finished work of Christ to deal completely with sin. I truly would be abasing myself (which is a sin) if I claimed to sin from time to time just so I could fit in with everybody else. Jesus promised me that there would be no temptation that comes to me that he does not provide a way of escape. I believe him. Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
