Two useless/inappropriate/wrong accusations

[eternally-gratefull]

These things that tear us down as you say, are the testing of our faith. We struggle to keep believing that God is doing the very best thing for us because it seems that He is just beating us. We cannot see that we are being tested for our great good in the growing of our faith. So we don't surrender in trust but we wrestle with God and contend with Him. Our will wants what is pleasant and easy. But our will is the very problem. We want what we want, not what has come to us. We begin to mistrust that He is doing good. We begin to think He is being cruel to us instead of caring for us. This IS the race we are in. A race to keep trusting no matter what it looks like to us.

and some times, with gods help, we will overcome, and sometimes we will try it on our own and fail, and sometimes we may lack trust in God, and fail, and it can get so bad the enemy can take us out.

Praise God when we come to our senses, he is still there, We like sheep went astray, but God never left us. And if we happen to die while we walked away, it's ok, God will come take us home, for he promised, he would never leave or forsake us.

If we do not have this hope. We have no hope at all.

 

[OneFaith]

One of the OSAS believers on here told me that he doesn't seek sin out, but that he puts no effort into not sinning. He believes that Jesus does everything for him, so no effort on his part is needed. This is so unbiblical.

As far as my belief, he doesn't seem to understand that God chooses who will receive His grace, and that the group of people He chooses are the ones who obey Him. Now no one obeys Him perfectly- thus the need for grace in the first place, but this obedience is an estimate. People who don't obey Him enough are estimated the same to Him as not obeying at all- these are "cold".

The ones who put much effort, but into false doctrine, are "lukewarm"- to whom He warns that He will spit out of His mouth. The ones who are on fire for the Lord are the ones who study, ask, seek, and knock to make sure that they are only obeying His doctrine (the Bible) DAILY putting to death their own wants on the cross, and having the attitude of Christ "Yet not as I want, but Father as you will it to be." If you don't think that takes effort, then you're better than Christ Who sweat drips of blood just thinking about it.

Our obedience does not earn grace, but God won't give it to us unless we obey Him. OSAS say well that's earning it, but nothing we do or say can earn it- not all the obedience in the world. BUT the group of people He decides to give it to are the ones who obey- these are called the VERY elect of God (the ones who will actually make it to heaven). The simply ellect of God are the ones who wear His name (CHRISTian) and even do deeds in His name, yet don't make sure it matches the laws of Christ, are the ones to whom Christ will say "Depart from Me."

Because they obeyed their own beliefs, or the beliefs of others, instead of obeying Him (the New Testament only). These are those about whom God says "They worship Me IN VAIN (not resulting in salvation) because their doctrines are merely human rules." Conclusion: obeying God is a must, and takes effort. Why all the writing in the New Testament if there's nothing to obey, or no need to obey? Those who think this way will not enter heaven. This life is a test for us to pass, not a pass to test God.

Do not be deceived. God will judge His servants. The Bible says "If it is HARD for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Not all the righteous (elect) will make it- only the VERY elect will make it- and they are the ones who not only wear His name, but OBEY Him.

 

[Chester]

This is ONLY if he is doing it.

He does not want us to to all we do. So this may not be true.. and would be dangerous to say.

Yes, I see your point - but if we are in Christ and He is in us -- then He and us cannot really be separated.

What I said above is talking of the spirit level of the believer. At the level of the flesh, the statement "what we do, He is doing" is quite problematic.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

One of the OSAS believers on here told me that he doesn't seek sin out, but that he puts no effort into not sinning. He believes that Jesus does everything for him, so no effort on his part is needed. This is so unbiblical.

As far as my belief, he doesn't seem to understand that God chooses who will receive His grace, and that the group of people He chooses are the ones who obey Him.

Well if he chooses people. then does not that support OSAS.. Who can un-choose who God chooses. Or does God make mistakes

ps, I do agree, It is God who chooses, and they do obey.

Now no one obeys Him perfectly- thus the need for grace in the first place, but this obedience is an estimate. People who don't obey Him enough are estimated the same to Him as not obeying at all- these are "cold".

what is enough, Do we have a cut-off. What is that cut-off. and how can we know if we are ok. or in danger of sinning *too much*

The ones who put much effort, but into false doctrine, are "lukewarm"- to whom He warns that He will spit out of His mouth. The ones who are on fire for the Lord are the ones who study, ask, seek, and knock to make sure that they are only obeying His doctrine (the Bible) DAILY putting to death their own wants on the cross, and having the attitude of Christ "Yet not as I want, but Father as you will it to be." If you don't think that takes effort, then you're better than Christ Who sweat drips of blood just thinking about it.

Our obedience does not earn grace, but God won't give it to us unless we obey Him. OSAS say well that's earning it, but nothing we do or say can earn it- not all the obedience in the world. BUT the group of people He decides to give it to are the ones who obey- these are called the VERY elect of God (the ones who will actually make it to heaven). The simply ellect of God are the ones who wear His name (CHRISTian) and even do deeds in His name, yet don't make sure it matches the laws of Christ, are the ones to whom Christ will say "Depart from Me."

Because they obeyed their own beliefs, or the beliefs of others, instead of obeying Him (the New Testament only). These are those about whom God says "They worship Me IN VAIN (not resulting in salvation) because their doctrines are merely human rules." Conclusion: obeying God is a must, and takes effort. Why all the writing in the New Testament if there's nothing to obey, or no need to obey? Those who think this way will not enter heaven. This life is a test for us to pass, not a pass to test God.

Do not be deceived. God will judge His servants. The Bible says "If it is HARD for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Not all the righteous (elect) will make it- only the VERY elect will make it- and they are the ones who not only wear His name, but OBEY Him.

You just contradicted yourself.

You said you can not earn grace, then you said if you were not obedient, then you would not recieve grace. But that was not earning grace.

Thats false. and contradictory.

If I must be obedient to recieve grace, I am paying for that grace, which just became a wage, with my obedience. To not pay for it (be obedient) I would not receive it.



to end I go back to the beginning of your response.

If God chose us, and those he chose WILL be obedient,does that not prove, the disobedient were not chosen of God (Because if he chose us, WE WILL OBEY)

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Yes, I see your point - but if we are in Christ and He is in us -- then He and us cannot really be separated.

What I said above is talking of the spirit level of the believer. At the level of the flesh, the statement "what we do, He is doing" is quite problematic.

yes, But we must be careful, Because sometimes I think we are doing in the spirit, what we are really doing in the flesh. And God has no part in that.

Thats why I said it is dangerous.

The pharisee, or the religious person will do all kinds of good deeds, and claim they are doing it in the spirit. But they never had the spirit to do it in. They were lost. there "good deed" was human work, thus works of the flesh (even if it was a good work, like feeding the poor)

 

[Chester]

I think not so much about the greek meaning of words but the actual concepts being discussed.
Faith is often thought of as being a belief that God exists.

But this is a mistake. Faith that God exists is like saying I know the world is round.
The key issue is the nature of God that you believe in, and how you agree or disagree with His
approach to existance.

The demons know God exists but hate Him and His approach. They know they are defeated
and bitter, but they can do nothing about it, because goodness no longer dwells within them.

We believe in Christ, His nature and redemption through the cross, the power love and
righteousness. We know obedience to the will of the Father is the power of His kingdom.

"Our Father who is in heaven, glory be to your name, may your kingdom come,
may you will be done on earth as it is heaven"

We need to become like Christ, to walk in His ways. This is the road of salvation.

Repentance is well defined in Ezek 18:21.

The Lords word is eternal. Those who overthrow it as a cheap offering bring judgement
on their souls.

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Prov 30:5

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
Matt 12:26

You are right, Peter, in that the context of how "believe" is used is important.

James 2:19 says: "Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Here it is clear that the belief of the devils is that they know and acknowledge the existence of one God. This belief of the devils is clearly not a saving faith.

But, we can say from a Biblical perspective that the devils have faith. The text says that. This is based on the clear fact that "faith" and "believe" come from the same Greek word. There is no distinction in Scripture. But I do not go around saying that the devils have "faith" - because such a statement would be misunderstood in today's culture . I might say - "the devils had a faith that only believes that God exists, but they did not rest their faith into him".

We have to be careful in Scripture when it says people "believed" -- Do not automatically assume this is a "saving faith".

Example:

John 8:30 - says that "As he spake these words, many believed on him". The Greek uses the preposition "eis" which means "into" after the word "pisteuo" (believe). So it means literally that these believed into him. This was a saving faith.

John 8:31 - The very next verse gives a contrast: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him" - Here the Greek uses a different construction. It uses the dative case of "him" after the verb for "believe". This means something like - "they believed that what he said was true" - but this is not a saving faith because they did not believe "into" him. Reading the rest of the chapter reveals the true state of this group of Jews. Jesus winds up saying that there father is the Devil! Definitely their believing was not saving faith!

 

[Grace777x70]

Doing righteous deeds by themselves does not make one righteous. This is having the cart before the horse.

Doing righteous deeds because Christ has made us righteous is what 1 John chapter 3 is talking about. This shows the difference between the devil and those that belong to Christ. John was describing a believer and an unbeliever.

I know there have been "good" people doing "righteous deeds " but they were not belonging to God. Many religions have moral living people in them - all doing "righteous deeds".

Here is how righteousness is manifested in the life of a believer....we need to be righteousness conscious...not sin-conscious...we have a new creation in Christ now!

This "righteousness " will manifest outwardly in doing righteous deeds - but we need the "horse" in front first.

The "horse" being Christ's righteousness in us because of our being in Christ in our inner man..our new creation in Christ.

Awake to who you are in Christ!..Awake to righteousness and sin not..when you see who you are in Him in your new man...you will then manifest outwardly who you already are now in Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NASB)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

[SUP]18 [/SUP] But we all, with unveiled face,beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.


Hebrews 5:13 (NASB)
[SUP]13[/SUP] For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

Romans 5:17 (NASB)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 54:14 (NASB)
[SUP]14 [/SUP] "In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
[SUP]21[/SUP] He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When you see who you are in Christ because of His finished work...you become outwardly in behavior what you are truly like in your new inner man where Christ dwells and His life gets manifested in love towards others in this hurt and dying world.

 

[Chester]

If I could like this 20 times, I would hit the like button until my hand got tired. They are not always opposing views. Sometimes they are just two men, both insisting that there is no tension between verses and that there is only one side of the road and only one ditch. It is like...trying to tear our Lords' seamless robe instead of noting that it is seamless and will be ruined if it is torn. It is one piece.

LOL!! LOL!! LOL I love it! You two need to sit down with Arminius and Calvin when we get to heaven and tell them a thing or two!

 

[Chester]

Well if he chooses people. then does not that support OSAS.. Who can un-choose who God chooses. Or does God make mistakes

ps, I do agree, It is God who chooses, and they do obey.



what is enough, Do we have a cut-off. What is that cut-off. and how can we know if we are ok. or in danger of sinning *too much*



You just contradicted yourself.

You said you can not earn grace, then you said if you were not obedient, then you would not recieve grace. But that was not earning grace.

Thats false. and contradictory.

If I must be obedient to recieve grace, I am paying for that grace, which just became a wage, with my obedience. To not pay for it (be obedient) I would not receive it.



to end I go back to the beginning of your response.

If God chose us, and those he chose WILL be obedient,does that not prove, the disobedient were not chosen of God (Because if he chose us, WE WILL OBEY)

EG (or someone else) - technical question: How do I break a quote box up and put my replies inbetween like you did on post #484?

 

[Grace777x70]

You are right, Peter, in that the context of how "believe" is used is important.

James 2:19 says: "Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Here it is clear that the belief of the devils is that they know and acknowledge the existence of one God. This belief of the devils is clearly not a saving faith.

But, we can say from a Biblical perspective that the devils have faith. The text says that. This is based on the clear fact that "faith" and "believe" come from the same Greek word. There is no distinction in Scripture. But I do not go around saying that the devils have "faith" - because such a statement would be misunderstood in today's culture . I might say - "the devils had a faith that only believes that God exists, but they did not rest their faith into him".

We have to be careful in Scripture when it says people "believed" -- Do not automatically assume this is a "saving faith".

Example:

John 8:30 - says that "As he spake these words, many believed on him". The Greek uses the preposition "eis" which means "into" after the word "pisteuo" (believe). So it means literally that these believed into him. This was a saving faith.

John 8:31 - The very next verse gives a contrast: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him" - Here the Greek uses a different construction. It uses the dative case of "him" after the verb for "believe". This means something like - "they believed that what he said was true" - but this is not a saving faith because they did not believe "into" him. Reading the rest of the chapter reveals the true state of this group of Jews. Jesus winds up saying that there father is the Devil! Definitely their believing was not saving faith!

Well said!

There is a vast difference between mental assent believing which is from our minds and believing with the heart. Paul said that it is with "the heart that man believes".

Peter shows this when he said that God who knows the hearts - gave those in Cornelius's house the Holy Spirit and cleansed their hearts by faith.

True believing from the heart creates the truth of the gospel of the grace of Christ to be manifested in us which results with us being sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. ( Eph 1:13; 4:30 )

Acts 15:8-9 (NASB)
[SUP]8 [/SUP] "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

[SUP]9 [/SUP] and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

 

[PeterJens]

You said you can not earn grace, then you said if you were not obedient, then you would not recieve grace. But that was not earning grace.

The above is a logical error in connecting a free gift with the conditions surrounding the gift.
If you are given a train ticket to travel from one place to another, it is a free ticket for which
you do not pay.

If you go on the train and wreck it and get thrown off, have you earnt the ticket by behaving
well, or is this just a condition of travel.

Now if we can understand this kind of simple reality of travel on trains, why is it so hard to
accept God expects His people to love and be obedient to Him.

 

[Chester]

One of the OSAS believers on here told me that he doesn't seek sin out, but that he puts no effort into not sinning. He believes that Jesus does everything for him, so no effort on his part is needed. This is so unbiblical. .

Response: This is why some of us here can get quite angry at the idea of OSAS. I have felt, more than actually heard this idea - that since I am saved and going to heaven it does not really matter about how I live at all. I think that most (many, some?) OSAS believers are not like this at all.


.[/QUOTE]
As far as my belief, he doesn't seem to understand that God chooses who will receive His grace, and that the group of people He chooses are the ones who obey Him. Now no one obeys Him perfectly- thus the need for grace in the first place, but this obedience is an estimate. People who don't obey Him enough are estimated the same to Him as not obeying at all- these are "cold". .[/QUOTE]

Response: I am not sure I am following all you believe. It seems like a mix of Calvinistic predestination, OSAS, no OSAS, and other stuff all mixed together. But never mind my description: it is your version of what you think is Biblical - and I want to listen to see what I can learn . .



[/QUOTE]
The ones who put much effort, but into false doctrine, are "lukewarm"- to whom He warns that He will spit out of His mouth. The ones who are on fire for the Lord are the ones who study, ask, seek, and knock to make sure that they are only obeying His doctrine (the Bible) DAILY putting to death their own wants on the cross, and having the attitude of Christ "Yet not as I want, but Father as you will it to be." If you don't think that takes effort, then you're better than Christ Who sweat drips of blood just thinking about it.

Our obedience does not earn grace, but God won't give it to us unless we obey Him. OSAS say well that's earning it, but nothing we do or say can earn it- not all the obedience in the world. BUT the group of people He decides to give it to are the ones who obey- these are called the VERY elect of God (the ones who will actually make it to heaven). The simply ellect of God are the ones who wear His name (CHRISTian) and even do deeds in His name, yet don't make sure it matches the laws of Christ, are the ones to whom Christ will say "Depart from Me."

Because they obeyed their own beliefs, or the beliefs of others, instead of obeying Him (the New Testament only). These are those about whom God says "They worship Me IN VAIN (not resulting in salvation) because their doctrines are merely human rules." Conclusion: obeying God is a must, and takes effort. Why all the writing in the New Testament if there's nothing to obey, or no need to obey? Those who think this way will not enter heaven. This life is a test for us to pass, not a pass to test God.

Do not be deceived. God will judge His servants. The Bible says "If it is HARD for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Not all the righteous (elect) will make it- only the VERY elect will make it- and they are the ones who not only wear His name, but OBEY Him.[/QUOTE]

Response: Not sure I follow this all - but God bless you and thanks for the input!

 

[PeterJens]

Well said!

There is a vast difference between mental assent believing which is from our minds and believing with the heart. Paul said that it is with "the heart that man believes".

Peter shows this when he said that God who knows the hearts - gave those in Cornelius's house the Holy Spirit and cleansed their hearts by faith.

True believing from the heart creates the truth of the gospel of the grace of Christ to be manifested in us which results with us being sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. ( Eph 1:13; 4:30 )

Acts 15:8-9 (NASB)
[SUP]8 [/SUP] "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

[SUP]9 [/SUP] and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

Amen. We believe from the heart that is made pure, holy, blameless.

So when we are defiled by what comes out of our hearts we need to bring it to Christ,
confess, repent and learn to walk in love.

It is our inner life that matters above our outer exterior, which is the fruit of our hearts.

 

[Stunnedbygrace]

and some times, with gods help, we will overcome, and sometimes we will try it on our own and fail, and sometimes we may lack trust in God, and fail, and it can get so bad the enemy can take us out.

Praise God when we come to our senses, he is still there, We like sheep went astray, but God never left us. And if we happen to die while we walked away, it's ok, God will come take us home, for he promised, he would never leave or forsake us.

If we do not have this hope. We have no hope at all.

Eg, you are on the road.
I think (but could be wrong) that the thing God has put on the hearts of men like eph and chester is concern for those who have been told they are on the road when they really aren't.

 

[OneFaith]

Well if he chooses people. then does not that support OSAS.. Who can un-choose who God chooses. Or does God make mistakes

ps, I do agree, It is God who chooses, and they do obey.



what is enough, Do we have a cut-off. What is that cut-off. and how can we know if we are ok. or in danger of sinning *too much*



You just contradicted yourself.

You said you can not earn grace, then you said if you were not obedient, then you would not recieve grace. But that was not earning grace.

Thats false. and contradictory.

If I must be obedient to recieve grace, I am paying for that grace, which just became a wage, with my obedience. To not pay for it (be obedient) I would not receive it.



to end I go back to the beginning of your response.

If God chose us, and those he chose WILL be obedient,does that not prove, the disobedient were not chosen of God (Because if he chose us, WE WILL OBEY)

But, like my first sentence, a OSAS said he puts no effort into obeying God. God does choose- He says murderers, homosexual offenders, drunkards, swindlers, etc will not inherit eternal life. So there is a group of people that will, who are they? You ask how do you know if you are sinning too much. Well, you know the difference between visiting somewhere and living there, right? Those who LIVE in sin are sinning too much- such as those who live in fornication, or as a daily drunkard. When I smoked, I smoked less and less until I quit- if you fast toward it, you see my u-turn- which repentance means turning away from sin. But those who do not put forth effort to change live in it, wallow in their sin like pigs wallow in mud, with no effort to crawl toward the sprinkler to clean the mud off.

Its like an athlete who misses the mark. Say they stand behind a white line, and have to jump over the other white line some distance away, but they don't make it that far, they miss their mark. (And sin means missing the mark or target). Well Christ makes up the difference for us as a gift. And the reason He chooses to do that for us is because we are trying. Now to the one who sits before the line and expects Christ to go the whole distance for them, hoping to win His favor simply because they made a point to be there, Christ will not intercede, and they will be disqualified.

The Bible says that if we sin willfully there remains no more sacrifice to cover our sins. And Paul said he ran the race (not had Christ do it for him), and that he made his body obey him so that he didn't get disqualified for the prize (salvation). As long as you are actively moving forward you are in the race But if you stop and sit down (stop your effort to not sin), and the race ends while you are idle, you will not win. Whatever stops growing dies, we must grow in Christ. Why would the Bible say not to go back on what you have already attained if it is not up to us to attain?

We don't obey God to pay for our sins. God does not accept our obedience as payment. That's like trying to purchase a mansion with zero money. God does us a favor, and He does it because even though we can't afford it, He is pleased with our effort to try.

 

[Grace777x70]

NO...we have a new heart now in Christ. People are confusing the works of the flesh with the thinking that it is coming from the heart. We are a new creation in Christ. Christ lives in our hearts and we are one spirit with Him. Evil does not come from Christ. There is no defilement in our hearts where Christ lives.


Until we understand the difference between the flesh and the new creation in Christ - that has been created in righteousness and holiness - we will be having a works-righteousness mindset which in effect denies the work of Christ on the cross and resurrection - of which we too died with Him and rose again to newness of life with a new heart.

We will be constantly thinking we have to clean up our hearts. This is not the true Christian life. It is in fact the complete opposite of the life that Christ is inside of us.

 

[Stunnedbygrace]

Amen. We believe from the heart that is made pure, holy, blameless.

So when we are defiled by what comes out of our hearts we need to bring it to Christ,
confess, repent and learn to walk in love.

It is our inner life that matters above our outer exterior, which is the fruit of our hearts.

A verse was recalled to my mind when I read your post. You are clean but only have need of your feet being washed. (my paraphrase).

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Response: This is why some of us here can get quite angry at the idea of OSAS. I have felt, more than actually heard this idea - that since I am saved and going to heaven it does not really matter about how I live at all. I think that most (many, some?) OSAS believers are not like this at all.

I hate it just as much as you do. However. Know that just because this can lead some to say it is ok to sin, Does not mean OSAS is not correct. It would be foolish to think this if it is not true.

Just as bad, are legalists, who claim you can lose salvation. who claim you have to live a certain lifestyle or you will lose salvation. Excusing all their sin with the excuse, I do not murder, have sex outside marriage or adultery, lie cheat or steel. so I am ok.. You sinners will go to hell.

This is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous that licentious behavior. Which God already condemned. in scripture.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

EG (or someone else) - technical question: How do I break a quote box up and put my replies inbetween like you did on post #484?

when you make a break in a persons response and want to respond to that, You end where you want to stop by using ?quote which is surrounded by []

when you want to quote after that, You can just use the quote button on the format bar in the reply tab (the farthest button on the right,) remembering that the end if the response you are responding to will have a /quote box. so it must them be erased.

It can get confusing..lol

 

[Stunnedbygrace]

But, like my first sentence, a OSAS said he puts no effort into obeying God. God does choose- He says murderers, homosexual offenders, drunkards, swindlers, etc will not inherit eternal life. So there is a group of people that will, who are they? You ask how do you know if you are sinning too much. Well, you know the difference between visiting somewhere and living there, right? Those who LIVE in sin are sinning too much- such as those who live in fornication, or as a daily drunkard. When I smoked, I smoked less and less until I quit- if you fast toward it, you see my u-turn- which repentance means turning away from sin. But those who do not put forth effort to change live in it, wallow in their sin like pigs wallow in mud, with no effort to crawl toward the sprinkler to clean the mud off.

Its like an athlete who misses the mark. Say they stand behind a white line, and have to jump over the other white line some distance away, but they don't make it that far, they miss their mark. (And sin means missing the mark or target). Well Christ makes up the difference for us as a gift. And the reason He chooses to do that for us is because we are trying. Now to the one who sits before the line and expects Christ to go the whole distance for them, hoping to win His favor simply because they made a point to be there, Christ will not intercede, and they will be disqualified.

The Bible says that if we sin willfully there remains no more sacrifice to cover our sins. And Paul said he ran the race (not had Christ do it for him), and that he made his body obey him so that he didn't get disqualified for the prize (salvation). As long as you are actively moving forward you are in the race But if you stop and sit down (stop your effort to not sin), and the race ends while you are idle, you will not win. Whatever stops growing dies, we must grow in Christ. Why would the Bible say not to go back on what you have already attained if it is not up to us to attain?

We don't obey God to pay for our sins. God does not accept our obedience as payment. That's like trying to purchase a mansion with zero money. God does us a favor, and He does it because even though we can't afford it, He is pleased with our effort to try.

I believe there is something you are not seeing. You say murderers and adulterers will not inherit eternal life. And this is true. But anger in your heart is murder, in spirit and truth. This is how Paul could say murderers will not inherit but then could say - but you who condemn them, why do you do the same thing? It is a Pharisee who condemns a man who murders outwardly if he is doing the same thing inwardly.