I can definitely testify that I have been saved from temptation. But I also cannot tell you that I have always resisted all temptation either.
You have been saved from temptation but you don't always resist temptation? That sounds like a contradiction to me.
The Bible doesn't teach we are "saved from temptation," it teaches we are "saved FROM sin." Blessed is the man who ENDURES temptation is what the Bible says. Temptation is common to man but God does not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able.
Thus when you don't resist temptation you are CHOOSING sin willfully because the Bible says that you are "able" to do otherwise. The issue then is your heart. Why would you choose evil over good? Think about that.
I do believe that when we sin, we do commit transgression against God. I do believe that we cannot do such a thing anymore. But I also know that we will do it, at some point, and we will rely on Gods grace to save us from it.
So we cannot do such a thing anymore but we will do such a thing. Which is it? You just contradicted yourself again.
You can't have your cake and eat it too. We are either set free from sin or we are not set free from sin. This notion of "sin you will and sin you must" is pure insanity.
What did Jesus mean when He told people to "go and sin no more"? We have a woman caught in adultery, she receives mercy from Jesus, so off she goes with the commandment of "stop sinning," what does she do? Does she follow your words of "well we can't sin but we still will." Well?
I struggle everyday with sin, and when I give in its my fault.
Well stop doing that. Jesus said "go and sin no more." You are claiming that you persist in disobedience to Jesus. You have obviously not repented if you are doing that. The Prodigal Son didn't make trips back to the pig pen every now and then after he repented, he forsook it once and for all. That is what we have to do.
I am generally good at not giving in, it is rare that I do. But even still, we do slip up, when we do does that mean we are now unforgiven?
Well what does the Bible say?
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
If you still engage in sin then you have not forsaken sin have you? No forsaking = No mercy. We have to confess and forsake our sin, not keep doing it.
How would it work in a marriage? A husband keeps committing adultery and keeps telling his wife, "well I am generally good at not giving in, but sometimes I slip up and have sex with other women." You think that would work in a marriage? I don't think so. Why would you think it works with God?
Im not saying we must sin and cant help it, and I agree that those who continue to sin are not saved. But think about the stories in the bible, Peter denied Christ 3 times. Do you believe he was not saved? And in 1 Cor 10:10 we are told that grumbling is a sin. Have you never once grumbled since coming to Christ?
We don't have to grumble. I don't grumble. Can we murder sometimes? How about occasionally rape? Where do you draw the line? Grumbling is ok but rape isn't?
Peter denied Jesus three times and then repented. Yes God forgave him but not in the midst of his denial. The Bible says "confess and forsake." You don't believe those parts of the Bible?
James wrote...
Jas 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
You don't believe James? We don't actually have to do that? We just sort of obey most of the time but still disobey other times? We serve two masters, both Satan and God, just God a bit more often? Is that what you believe?
What is this insanity? The Bible speaks of heart purity, holiness, walking by the Spirit, victory over sin, ceasing from sin, not walking according to the lusts of the flesh, hearing and doing, obedience to the truth through the Spirit, etc. Is all that stuff meaningless? Just things that are optional whereby we can ignore it and water it down?
My argument is not that sin is unavoidable therefore we can be saved while we sin. Im merely bringing up times that we fail, and rely on the mercy of God to save us.
I don't think you have seriously examined what you believe, especially in the light of what the Bible actually teaches.
Of course we rely on the mercy of God to save us, but not while we keep sinning. The sin has to stop. We have to approach God with a true heart and be cleansed. Once cleansed if we willfully sin there remains no more sacrifice because the whole purpose of the sacrifice was to cleanse us from sin, not to give us an easy forgiveness sin license.
Go and read Hebrew 10. It is very clear. This is not a game, our souls are in the balance here.
