You and Sin?

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Yeraza_Bats

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2014
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#2
I try to never sin. I always consider whether or not I should do something, or try to, before acting. But, it would not be totally honest to say that I have not intentionally sinned since coming to Christ. One thing I do struggle with is the temptation of the flesh, and though I generally do just ignore it, there have been a few times I let myself become weak and acted out in sin. And everytime it really bums me out and causes me some stress. I believe that yes, God is willing to forgive, but I still dishonored Him by doing something I could have went without, and when I do that I get that thought in the back of my mind, "Who am I to even repent to you?"When I do sin, I feel worthless, like I make what Christ has done for me meaningless, and I feel very unhappy. This is what keeps me from wanting to sin. I deal with temptation daily. And there are times it can be hard. But I can 100% tell you with all honesty I find more joy out of doing whats right over doing what I want.

On the subject, though, yesterday I did something that I had not even considered could be sinful until I was already in the act. Though I did feel bad, I guess I sorta took comfort in the fact that I did learn that it was wrong, and never want to do such a thing again.
 
Nov 26, 2011
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#3
No.

John wrote this...

1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
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 in that they do not sin, instead they do righteousness. This is why Jesus offered Himself on our behalf...

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

If we are still willfully sinning then obviously we have not forsaken unrighteousness but still remain the servants of sin.

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

In order to be set free we must obey from the heart the doctrine of Jesus Christ...

Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

The doctrine according to godliness...

1Ti_6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

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.

Still willfully sinning? If you are don't kid yourself by thinking you are saved. Salvation is saved FROM sin, not saved in it.
 

Yeraza_Bats

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2014
3,632
175
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#4
Though I agree with you that salvation is being saved from sin, and not saved in sin, could you really say you never sin ever? You have never once messed up since coming to Christ, and had to repent?
 
V

Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#5
We need to define our terms here if we're going to have this discussion -- yet again!

What is willful sin? Is it sin that we plan? It is a thought we have that, even after considering it to be sin, we implement into action anyway? What exactly is "willful sin"? The verses that get kicked around on here regarding such sin are commonly Hebrews 4:4-6 -- which lifts the center of a paragraph out of context to reach it's conclusions -- and Hebrews 10:26, another verse that, removed from it's context, blinds people to the fact that it is talking about one thing and one thing only: Apostasy.

Apostasy is a deliberate turning from sound doctrine and believing some fanatical nonsense that purports to be related to the Gospel of Christ. We have many people like that on here, though they haven't made the total break, being unwilling to admit what they believe is completely, totally, and utterly unbiblical. People who believe in water baptism, for example. People who believe salvation can be lost, for another. There are entire "families" of people on here to huddle together and support one another in outrageously unbiblical nonsense and bash everyone else over the head with it because the rest of us refuse to be blinded by those lies.

Essentially, willful sin is going back to self-trust, believing that by something within one's self, one can "not sin." It's an utter fabrication of belief, for no where in the Bible does God say that believer's behavior is dependent upon anything within him/her, other than the Holy Spirit. It is He who "keeps" us from sin, which is why, when we sin unthinkingly -- and by that, I don't mean we don't know it is sin, but that we blow through our own safeguards against sin like a car thief running through a police roadblock -- the Holy Spirit prods our own spirit and convicts us of the sin.

If we ignore that prick of conscience, we put our relationship with Christ in peril. It is like a wound that festers, heals, and develops a thicker skin over it. We can insulate ourselves from our sin so that we then begin rationalizing it, which further damages the relationship with Christ and continues us on a road of disobedience that will not end until we renew that relationship, confess our sin, and restore ourselves to fellowship. No where in that process have we "lost our salvation," but we have certainly walked in darkness that, if it were possible (and it is not), would cut us off completely from the Light.

OK, long-winded set up, but to answer the question, yes. Everybody does. If you say you have no sin in you, you are a liar. John said so in 1 John 1:8. But he also said immediately afterwards ...

1 John 1, NASB
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In Galatians 5, Paul uses the juxtaposition of "Spirit" and "flesh" to contrast the ways in which we walk in Christ. He says we walk in both, and our acts are according to which one we choose to obey: Our own desires, or Christ's through the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5
7 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But we have control over this war, by the simple decision we make to follow not the flesh, but the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5
8
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Paul then lists the obvious results of walking in the flesh, contrasting them with the fruit of the Spirit, which everyone knows is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against which there is no law. And he finishes his thesis with this:

Galatians 5
25
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

We say we live by the Spirit, but we do not always walk in the Spirit. Paul makes an eloquent plea for us to be aware, it is a choice daily how we will walk. When we choose the flesh, confess and get on with our lives, and keep no accounts that we think might add up to losing our salvation, and in particular, don't keep others' accounts for them. That's the error so many make around this board.

Like asking the question in the OP, for example.
 
Last edited:
Jan 7, 2015
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#6
A simple test to see who you are of....

1 John 3:8[SUP] "[/SUP]He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

1 John 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."
 
V

Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#7
A simple test to see who you are of....
So sin -- any sin? -- makes us "of the devil" huh?

Rubbish.

Romans 7, NASB
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

The great apostle struggled, and yes, that is him, in the present day of his writing. It isn't a metaphor, an image, or a pre-saved Paul's perspective. That was Paul's perspective as he sat in a house church in Corinth, dictating directly to Tertius, his scribe. You who claim sin costs us our salvation are blind to the reality of what power we have, but more importantly, Who it actually belongs to. Hint: Not you.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#8
Not many people know that the esteemed and revered Augustine of Hippo said this:
"Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved."


And even fewer people seem to understand what he meant. Probably because they seem to resist studying to dig for the meanings of many things.
 
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#9
We need to define our terms here if we're going to have this discussion -- yet again!

What is willful sin? Is it sin that we plan? It is a thought we have that, even after considering it to be sin, we implement into action anyway? What exactly is "willful sin"? The verses that get kicked around on here regarding such sin are commonly Hebrews 4:4-6 -- which lifts the center of a paragraph out of context to reach it's conclusions -- and Hebrews 10:26, another verse that, removed from it's context, blinds people to the fact that it is talking about one thing and one thing only: Apostasy.

Apostasy is a deliberate turning from sound doctrine and believing some fanatical nonsense that purports to be related to the Gospel of Christ. We have many people like that on here, though they haven't made the total break, being unwilling to admit what they believe is completely, totally, and utterly unbiblical. People who believe in water baptism, for example. People who believe salvation can be lost, for another. There are entire "families" of people on here to huddle together and support one another in outrageously unbiblical nonsense and bash everyone else over the head with it because the rest of us refuse to be blinded by those lies.

Essentially, willful sin is going back to self-trust, believing that by something within one's self, one can "not sin." It's an utter fabrication of belief, for no where in the Bible does God say that believer's behavior is dependent upon anything within him/her, other than the Holy Spirit. It is He who "keeps" us from sin, which is why, when we sin unthinkingly -- and by that, I don't mean we don't know it is sin, but that we blow through our own safeguards against sin like a car thief running through a police roadblock -- the Holy Spirit prods our own spirit and convicts us of the sin.

If we ignore that prick of conscience, we put our relationship with Christ in peril. It is like a wound that festers, heals, and develops a thicker skin over it. We can insulate ourselves from our sin so that we then begin rationalizing it, which further damages the relationship with Christ and continues us on a road of disobedience that will not end until we renew that relationship, confess our sin, and restore ourselves to fellowship. No where in that process have we "lost our salvation," but we have certainly walked in darkness that, if it were possible (and it is not), would cut us off completely from the Light.

OK, long-winded set up, but to answer the question, yes. Everybody does. If you say you have no sin in you, you are a liar. John said so in 1 John 1:8. But he also said immediately afterwards ...

1 John 1, NASB
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In Galatians 5, Paul uses the juxtaposition of "Spirit" and "flesh" to contrast the ways in which we walk in Christ. He says we walk in both, and our acts are according to which one we choose to obey: Our own desires, or Christ's through the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5
7 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But we have control over this war, by the simple decision we make to follow not the flesh, but the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5
8
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Paul then lists the obvious results of walking in the flesh, contrasting them with the fruit of the Spirit, which everyone knows is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against which there is no law. And he finishes his thesis with this:

Galatians 5
25
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

We say we live by the Spirit, but we do not always walk in the Spirit. Paul makes an eloquent plea for us to be aware, it is a choice daily how we will walk. When we choose the flesh, confess and get on with our lives, and keep no accounts that we think might add up to losing our salvation, and in particular, don't keep others' accounts for them. That's the error so many make around this board.

Like asking the question in the OP, for example.
A fantastic post. Thank you.
 
Nov 26, 2011
3,818
62
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#10
Though I agree with you that salvation is being saved from sin, and not saved in sin, could you really say you never sin ever? You have never once messed up since coming to Christ, and had to repent?
The sin has to stop. That is what the Bible teaches.

Willful sin stops.

If the rebellion to God has not stopped then one has not been saved from anything save perhaps a working conscience.

This idea that everyone just has to rebel every once and awhile (ie. sin you will and sin you must) is a lie straight from Satan.

If Satan can convince you that you cannot obey God then it negates obedience entirely.
 
Nov 26, 2011
3,818
62
0
#11
So sin -- any sin? -- makes us "of the devil" huh?

Rubbish.
Romans 7, NASB
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

The great apostle struggled, and yes, that is him, in the present day of his writing. It isn't a metaphor, an image, or a pre-saved Paul's perspective. That was Paul's perspective as he sat in a house church in Corinth, dictating directly to Tertius, his scribe. You who claim sin costs us our salvation are blind to the reality of what power we have, but more importantly, Who it actually belongs to. Hint: Not you.
By quoting Romans 7 and implying that the "wretched man" who is "carnal and sold under sin" is actually saved means you believe in a salvation that leaves one in a state of being carnal and sold under sin.

A salvation that leaves one enslaved? That is nonsense and it is astounding that so many people swallow such garbage hook, line and sinker.

In Romans 7 Paul is giving an illustration of a man whom is in bondage to sin whom is under the conviction of the law. The man in his mind knows the law is good yet he cannot find the means to break the bondage that he is in to sin. Paul uses the grammatical device of the "Historical Present" to give a more vivid picture of the illustration.

After giving the illustration of the wretch Paul foes on to state that THEREFORE there is no condemnation to those whom are IN Christ Jesus, whom WALK after the Spirit. He then states that it is the SPIRIT OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST which SETS US FREE from the law of sin and death.

Go and read Romans 8:1-4. That is Paul's solution to the dilemma of the wretched man. The law could not save the wretched man. Paul was speaking to those WHOM KNOW THE LAW (Rom 7:1) and giving a defence of the law and also teaching that the law cannot bring salvation.

This idea that salvation leaves one carnal and in bondage is simply stupid. One has to throw all reason out the window and uphold a Christianity which in effect is magic.

1Joh 3:9-10 specifically states that the children of God are MANIFEST in that they do not sin. Is the wretch of Romans 7 MANIFEST in that way? Not even close.
 
Nov 26, 2011
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#12
Not only is the belief in a salvation that leaves one in a wretched state stupid, it is also a mockery of Jesus Christ who specifically stated that He would set is free indeed.

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.

What kind of "free indeed" leaves one a wretch?

"Free indeed" is in the context of "whomsoever commits sin is a servant of sin."

Paul wrote...

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

The wretched man is a servant of sin. He is not free indeed. In fact he cries out for deliverance...

Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
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.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

THEREFORE

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.

See the law does not save. The law can only reform the outer man. The wretch is trying to reform himself via the law and it does not work. It is the SPIRIT OF LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST that sets us free, not the law. It is via the Spirit that our hearts are transformed, the law cannot do that. That is why we are saved by grace THROUGH faith, as opposed to being saved by the works of the law.

So few believe what the Bible ever so plainly teaches simply because it contradicts with the mass of delusion they blindly believe. In their mind 100 lies outweigh 1 truth, the truth when shown to them is a mere anomaly which does not fit, so just disregard it. Look up cognitive dissonance. That is what is going on here.

No-one can refute what I wrote. It is the plain and obvious truth taught in the Bible.
 
D

DesiredHaven

Guest
#13
A simple test to see who you are of....

1 John 3:8[SUP] "[/SUP]He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

1 John 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."
Messenger get shot again?

LOL
 
Nov 26, 2011
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#14
How are we delivered from the "body of death"? Well Paul answers that in Romans chapter 6...

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
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.


We die WITH Christ in repentance. Our old man (the man bonded to the service of the flesh in disobedience to God) is crucified WITH Christ whereby the body of sin (the root of iniquity) is destroyed once and for all. We are then raised up or quickened to life by the Spirit and Power of God. Then as we walk after the Spirit God quickens our mortal bodies and we walk in victory over sin.

Peter described it perfectly...

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.

Those are another couple of passages most professing Christians do not believe. The idea that one can actually "cease from sin" and "no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men" is simply an impossibility to most people because they believe in "sin you will and sin you must" cos they believe in the doctrine of Original Sin.

What a shame.
 
Jan 7, 2015
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#15
Paul often spoke like a sinful man in order to relate to sinners.

Romans 6:19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
 
Feb 5, 2015
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#16
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.
Rom 6:18-20

Verse 20 mirrors Heb 10:14, the Christian is BEING made Holy(led into holiness), they are not therefore perfect in the flesh.

Paul is speaking of being set free from sin dominating your life(you are its slave), by the Gospel message he proclaimed. But he is not speaking of sinless perfection. You are a work in progress all your life.
 
D

DesiredHaven

Guest
#18
Paul often spoke like a sinful man in order to relate to sinners.

Romans 6:19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

Theres another, he spake as a man, spake as a fool, spake to them who knew the law etc
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#19
Im sorry op but what you are asking is a trick question its not a yes or no answer because if we are all honest the answer is yes but we willingly sin because of the weakness of the flesh for the most part the other part is simply our choosing to sin. if any person claims to be without sin not only are fooling themselves they are probably worse off than those who admit to sin. and imo anyone who posts scripture how if we sin we belong to the devil or how we are supposed to have no sin is throwing the stone at the woman when jesus said let him without sin throw the first stone.

there is a reason the world sees us as hypocrites you know......
 
Feb 5, 2015
1,852
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#20
Im sorry op but what you are asking is a trick question its not a yes or no answer because if we are all honest the answer is yes but we willingly sin because of the weakness of the flesh for the most part the other part is simply our choosing to sin. if any person claims to be without sin not only are fooling themselves they are probably worse off than those who admit to sin. and imo anyone who posts scripture how if we sin we belong to the devil or how we are supposed to have no sin is throwing the stone at the woman when jesus said let him without sin throw the first stone.

there is a reason the world sees us as hypocrites you know......
well put...