You miss my point ... which was what the law came to do.
“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.” (Romans 7:7, ESV).
“Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” (Romans 7:13-14, ESV).
I would agree that the law once broken can only bring death. Be honest with me ... and all here. Have you broken the law even once after being saved ? Seems to me that this is why you need to place sin into your two categories of "willful sin" ... and "sins of ignorance". Would I be correct in assuming that you, if you have sinned at all since salvation have only sinned sins of ignorance ? And if so, how would you even know you had committed such a sin if it was done in ignorance ? Does God convict you afterwards ... but then say ... "It's alright pal ... I know it wasn't your fault" ? Sorry Skinski7 .... I'm not buying what you're selling.
I'm not selling anything, I'm telling you how it is. You need to reconsider what you believe. When you state that I am in error for discerning that there is indeed a difference between willful sin and non-willful sin you are speaking against the clear teachings of Scripture.
The Bible clearly teaches that there is a difference between presumptuous (willful) sin and non-presumptuous (ignorant) sin.
Sins of Ignorance Under the Old Covenant
Num 15:22 And
if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses,
Num 15:23 Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;
Num 15:24 Then it shall be,
if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.
Num 15:25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel,
and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD,
for their ignorance:
Num 15:26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.
Num 15:27 And
if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.
Num 15:28 And the priest shall make an atonement
for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he
sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
Num 15:29 Ye shall have one law for him that
sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
Willful Sin Under the Old Covenant
Num 15:30 But
the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger,
the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Num 15:31 Because
he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
Num 15:32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
Num 15:33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
Num 15:34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
Num 15:35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
Num 15:36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Willful Sin Under the New Covenant
Heb 10:26 For if we
sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
There was no sacrifice in the Old Testament for willful sin and there is none in the new. This is what the Bible clearly teaches, whether one rejects the truth or not does not make the truth disappear. The only reason I can think of why people would reject this truth is because they want to be forgiven while they remain in their sins.
Heb 10:26 For if we
sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Num 15:30 But
the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger,
the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Heb 10:28
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Num 15:31 Because
he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
Willful sin for a true born again Christian is out of the question.
I recommend reading what Tertullian taught on repentance for this man expounded on the subject in great detail and speaks the truth.
Tertullian on Repentance
CHURCH FATHERS: On Repentance (Tertullian)
For what I say is this, that the repentance which, being shown us and commanded us through God's grace, recalls us to grace with the Lord, when once learned and undertaken by us ought never afterward to be cancelled by repetition of sin. No pretext of ignorance now remains to plead on your behalf; in that, after acknowledging the Lord, and accepting His precepts — in short, after engaging in repentance of (past) sins— you again betake yourself to sins. Thus, in as far as you are removed from ignorance, in so far are you cemented to contumacy. For if the ground on which you had repented of having sinned was that you had begun to fear the Lord, why have you preferred to rescind what you did for fear's sake, except because you have ceased to fear? For there is no other thing but contumacy which subverts fear.
Such words would be deemed heresy if spoken of in an apostate church building today. There is no quicker way to get kicked out of a church building that earnestly contend for the truth that ALL willful sin must stop in repentance.
Here is a good paper which discusses the Shepherd of Hermes in the context of the debate in the early church as to whether a second repentance was possible.
http://www.churchhistory101.com/docs/Hermas-2ndRepentance.pdf
Notice though that the early church was unanimous in teaching that all willful sin had ceased in the life of a Christian. Therefore they did not debate whether one could willfully sin and remain justified, no, they had no disagreement over the fact that willful sin was out of the question, the debate was in regards to whether a Christian who committed willful sin was able to truly repent and be forgiven again.
The early church preached an entirely different Gospel message than what is commonly preached today and thus their attitude in regards to sin was completely different.
1Joh 2:1 is clearly in the context of sin done in ignorance and not that of willful transgression.
1Joh 3 clearly implies that Christian's CANNOT SIN lest they cast the seed within out and go back to their former rebellion. He who sins is of the devil and he who does what is right is righteous is what John taught.
Jesus taught that if you sin you are a slave to sin. Jesus came to set sinners free from this deplorable state of bondage.
Paul taught that you are a slave to whom you yield yourself, whether sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. Yielding is done willfully and thus the implication is willful sin. Obedience is done willfully thus the implication is willful obedience.
Rom 6:17 speaks of those who had come to the faith as having "obeyed from the heart that former doctrine once delivered." It is impossible to obey God from the heart and willfully disobey God at the same time. To believe so is to believe one can serve two masters.