Not By Works

Is not the willful sin a conscious rejection of Jesus and his sacrifice?

Amen! To sin willfully, as in Hebrews 10:26, carries the idea of deliberate intention which is habitual and stems from rejecting Christ deliberately. This is continuous action/a matter of practice. Now we don't walk along our daily life and “accidently” fall into a pit called sin. We exercise our will but, the use of the participle shows willful, continuous action. The unrighteous practice sin - (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21); not the righteous, who are born of God - (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 John 3:9).

Well then you are warning the wrong people.... you are projecting.

It does no good to warn if your message is in error came to give them life and freedom. Not to make them slaves if they do what he says

That is a pretty dangerous and reckless way to travel. I am not going to go out on that limb. I'm sure that you have no intention of doing so either. Too much time spent on hypotheticals. Lets just agree on seeking a closer daily walk with Jesus, and we will all be OK.

Hebrews 10v9
9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, [b]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

Psalm 40v8
I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

Luke 6
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Romans 6
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Those who willfully sin are those who reject confession of their sins. They reject repentance (i.e. not willing to change their minds about their sins, feel that "Its OK God will overlook what I do".)

I believe you are wrong on this.

Hebrews 10
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

The believer is the one who is sanctified.

To be honest I agree and disagree with the above.

I believe that believers are and can be afraid to cofess their sins before God because of guilt. They do not realise that the temple curtain was torn in two so that they can come before the throne of God let alone know that Jesus is interceding for them.
So they are frightened to confess their sins because they are frightened that God will say "That's it you have sinned too much you are no longer my child"

But they want change.

What I find interesting about you is that you posted to someone about deliverance ministry. How to be released from a sin pattern.

But if memory serves me you never said they were not saved.
If a person follows your advice then they know that God does not overlook what they do.

I went for deliverance ministry myself.
I ended up worse off.
So much stuff was opened up and never sorted.

To me to confess is not to repent but to agree.
Agree I got it wrong.

You have much contempt sinners I think... I myself know I am a sinner saved by grace.

He wasn't a genuine believer:


and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing; or "common thing"; putting it upon a level with the blood of a bullock, or at most counting it איך דכלנש, "as that of another man"; as the Syriac version renders it; yea, reckoning it as unclean and abominable, as the blood of a very wicked man: this is aggravated by its being "the blood of the covenant"; of the covenant of grace, because that is ratified and confirmed by it, and the blessings of it come through it; and from sanctification by it: either of the person, the apostate himself, who was sanctified or separated from others by a visible profession of religion; having given himself up to a church, to walk with it in the ordinances of the Gospel; and having submitted to baptism, and partook of the Lord's supper, and drank of the cup, "the blood of the New Testament", or "covenant": though he did not spiritually discern the body and blood of Christ in the ordinance, but counted the bread and wine, the symbols of them, as common things; or who professed himself, and was looked upon by others, to be truly sanctified by the Spirit, and to be justified by the blood of Christ, though he was not really so: or rather the Son of God himself is meant, who was sanctified, set apart, hallowed, and consecrated, as Aaron and his sons were sanctified by the sacrifices of slain beasts, to minister in the priest's office: so Christ, when he had offered himself, and shed his precious blood, by which the covenant of grace was ratified, by the same blood he was brought again from the dead, and declared to be the Son of God with power; and being set down at God's right hand, he ever lives to make intercession, which is the other part of his priestly office he is sanctified by his own blood to accomplish. This clause, "wherewith he was sanctified", is left out in the Alexandrian copy:" - John Gill

Hebrews 10v9
9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, [b]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

Psalm 40v8
I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

Luke 6
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Romans 6
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

He wasn't a genuine believer:


and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing; or "common thing"; putting it upon a level with the blood of a bullock, or at most counting it איך דכלנש, "as that of another man"; as the Syriac version renders it; yea, reckoning it as unclean and abominable, as the blood of a very wicked man: this is aggravated by its being "the blood of the covenant"; of the covenant of grace, because that is ratified and confirmed by it, and the blessings of it come through it; and from sanctification by it: either of the person, the apostate himself, who was sanctified or separated from others by a visible profession of religion; having given himself up to a church, to walk with it in the ordinances of the Gospel; and having submitted to baptism, and partook of the Lord's supper, and drank of the cup, "the blood of the New Testament", or "covenant": though he did not spiritually discern the body and blood of Christ in the ordinance, but counted the bread and wine, the symbols of them, as common things; or who professed himself, and was looked upon by others, to be truly sanctified by the Spirit, and to be justified by the blood of Christ, though he was not really so: or rather the Son of God himself is meant, who was sanctified, set apart, hallowed, and consecrated, as Aaron and his sons were sanctified by the sacrifices of slain beasts, to minister in the priest's office: so Christ, when he had offered himself, and shed his precious blood, by which the covenant of grace was ratified, by the same blood he was brought again from the dead, and declared to be the Son of God with power; and being set down at God's right hand, he ever lives to make intercession, which is the other part of his priestly office he is sanctified by his own blood to accomplish. This clause, "wherewith he was sanctified", is left out in the Alexandrian copy:" - John Gill

I am not perfect either. But I do want to be, and I do try. It's not something I strive for out of obligation. It is something that I strive for out of appreciation, thankfulness, and love. If you are married, do you want him to be faithful only out of a sense of obligation to vows? I think God wants more than that, and I WANT to give Him more. I believe that when a Christian stops caring about the things of the Lord and starts living for self again, he is standing on what the Scripture reveals to be dangerous ground. We cannot arrive at perfection, but it is good to strive for it if we are doing it for the right reason. Hold tight to that 'want-to', for that is what love is.

What is your point?

It is a response to E-G's statement "It does no good to warn if your message is in error came to give them life and freedom. Not to make them slaves if they do what he says"

With respect, you were the one to post 1 John 1v9 above, which says the believer is to confess their sins. Then in the same thread just above you say some believers are afraid to confess their sins. So which is it (I am not trying to be difficult on this matter), just wanting to get to the bottom of what you think about this.

The bible gives many promises and assurances, but also conditions:

Look at this: Proverbs 28v13
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Praise God you have been largely spared. Unfortunately I haven't. Our family left a church where, amongst other things, the pastor stood on the pulpit and said he could commit murder tomorrow and it would be ok. He was adamantly OSAS and still is. There are extremes in Christianity for certain and we must vehemently guard against the truth being twisted into something false. I think it's important to present a complete message, whether OSAS or NOSAS, and beware not to leave sloppy "loopholes" that confuse new believers. (I'm speaking in general and not referring to you in particular.) This is great training ground for that. God bless you in your walk and may you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Colossians 1:9)

With respect?
Thanks for the respect.

It seems like I did not make myself clear. Thought I had.

Personally I do not believe that we never to confess our sin to be forgiven.
But I do believe a believer will confess their sin and agree with God that they have sinned.

But there are belivers who are afraid to confess their sin because they are frightened.
Frightened of what?

My experience.

"Bill you have sinned too much now you are not my child and going to hell"

So the point I was trying to make was "Do we confess to be forgiven or is it relational?

Bill, I believe the Holy Spirit brings conviction to those he leads. It will pang the heart of a believer, and lead them to confess. Even if its a small inner voice of "Sorry Lord, forgive me, help me to ...." We should never overlook the fact that there is a very real Spirit of Grace that works in us. If there is something that is displeasing to Him, I am fully convinced that He will bring it to our thoughts.

Its what we do with this when He does that is the crux of the matter.

I mean are we, or are we not to trust the Lord. Did we not accept Him by faith? Do we not know that God loves us, no matter what sin we bring to Him? There is depths to His mercy and grace. But the problem is pride - where we believe we are without sin (refusing repentance or confession). That's dangerous.

I have been in a lot of evangelical type of Churches.

2 in Nebraska,
12 in California
1 in Nevada
As well as 3 Prison Chapels in California, where I taught the sermons.

Like said, we moved a lot. Not one of them taught anything like you just mentioned. So I have to believe your experience, was a VERY RARE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE, that Obedience is PART OF GOD Given LOVE, that has NOTHING TO DO WITH SALVATION.