Yes, which doesnt mean that I dont slip on the way here and there.
What do you mean by slip up? Do you mean willful sin or sins of ignorance?
I challenge you to be specific on this matter.
The Bible teaches...
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Do you believe we can always take the way of escape?
The Bible says...
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
The children of God are MANIFEST by the fact that they do not sin and cannot sin. This means that they don't sin unto death, they no longer choose evil over good.
I fear that when you allude to "slipping up" you are alluding to the notion of "sin you will and sin you must." If you believe that "sin you will and sin you must" then surely you must believe that "you can sin and not surely die."
I make the distinction between sin unto death and sin not unto death. I make the distinction between obedience unto righteousness and disobedience unto unrighteousness. We cannot do both and expect to enter the kingdom. We are to choose this day whom we will serve, either sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. There is no middle ground.
Nobody is sinless. It's a journey which can have ups and downs but overall is going forward and we are never perfect (in works), only Jesus is perfect. Paul was God's chosen vessel and was closer to God than many, and still was aware of his imperfections...Romans 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Here you claim that salvation leaves you a wretch who is carnal and sold under sin. What kind of salvation is that? Are you not mocking God in saying that? Do you really believe that sin is more powerful than the grace of God and therefore you simply cannot stop serving sin?
Think about it.
Jesus said...
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Do those words mean nothing to you? Why do you deny being able to be set free indeed?
Paul's illustration of the wretch is in this state...
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The wretch is a captive to sin. The wretch is carnal and sold under sin...
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but
I am carnal, sold under sin.
The wretch cannot do what is right...
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but
how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
He cannot perform that which is good.
Do you really think that is salvation?
Do you really think that the salvation that the Creator of the universe offers is a salvation that leaves one as a filthy wretch still in slavery?
Use your mind and think about it. Jesus said if you commit sin you are its slave but that He can set us free indeed. It appears you don't believe that.
Paul writes IMMEDIATELY after the wretch passage these words...
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The wretch was trying to reform himself via the law and that does not work. It is the SPIRIT OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST which sets us free from sinning unto death. That is why Peter says...
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Do you think those who CEASE FROM SIN and no longer live the rest of their time in the flesh to the lusts of men are wretches who are carnal and sold under sin? Think about that. Why would Peter make such a statement if salvation left people as wretches who could not stop sinning unto death?
Peter wrote this...
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Had the wretch escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust? NO he had not. The law does not bring such an escape. It is only through the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ that we escape having died to sin in the baptism of repentance where our old man is crucified once and for all.
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
These things are not taught by the false gospel teachers and their adherents. These scriptures are ignored and explained away as not meaning what they plainly state.
Practically every professing Christian I converse with today holds to the tenets that they are...
1. Romans wretches (Rom 7:14-28) - ie. sin you will and sin you must.
2. Always have sin (1Joh 1:8) - ie. sin you will and sin you must.
3. Nobody is perfect - ie. sin you will and sin you must.
4. All their righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa 64:6) - ie. they can never do the right thing and thus cannot be expected to.
Yet Jesus preached about heart purity and being saved FROM sin. The Bible from cover to cover contends for righteousness in the context of people DOING the right thing from a RIGHT MOTIVE.
Tenet 1. is in the context of a man under the law who cannot break his addiction to sin. Paul is using the Historical Present grammatical device to emphasise the point that the law cannot redeem someone. It is only the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ which can set us free.
Tenet 2. 1Joh 1:8 is presented in the context of claiming we have NEVER sinned. The context is in regards to how we are cleansed when we approach God in true repentance and come clean about our crimes before God. John is not contending for perpetual wickedness.
Tenet 3. The perfection God requires is moral perfection, ie. a pure heart. That is why Jesus said "be perfect and God is perfect" in Matthew 5. Jesus was not commanding people to do something which is impossible. By setting up a strawman of absolute perfection in the sense of never missing the mark (due to ignorance) the false teachers are able to throw heart purity as being necessary right out the window.
Tenet 4. Isaiah 64:6 is Isaiah identifying himself with Israel as a WHOLE, Israel as a NATION and speaking of their behalf. He is not making a statement that we cannot do the right thing.