I am writing a new post in response to the comment Mary replied with to my November 29th post.
I feel bad because I'm going to write so little in comparison to what Mary wrote and its obvious she put alot of thought and research into what she said, something I don't do enough of. Fortunately I'm not going to disagree very much so we won't have to fight.
So, my question in response to all Mary's well thought ought responses is, "why do we still sin after we are saved?" I agree with you that in the eyes of God we totally pure, Christ's sacrifice literally destroyed the consequences of our sin for those who accept Him as Lord. Yet sin, still reigns within many parts of us. St Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:18 "And we all with unveiled face , beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Christ died and saves us, making us see the Glory of God then we progress by stages into the image of God who having purified our inner soul(guaranteeing eternal salvation) then proceeds outward perfecting all our thoughts, actions, motives, emotions and desires from his initial stronghold in our heart.
So perhaps I worded my original post wrong but I do believe that the Christian has a responsibility to live the life God has given them. We were once dead in our Sin and Christ has given us life, we must now walk in life neither forsaking Christ nor ignoring the commands He's given us and the life He's entrusted to us.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:1-10
I hope this answers everything you commented on. In my earlier post I wasn't trying to say we can eradicate sin on our own, I wasn't trying to say that apart from Christ we can do anything good for in me and my flesh is no good thing. Let me know what you think and where I messed up again.
I feel bad because I'm going to write so little in comparison to what Mary wrote and its obvious she put alot of thought and research into what she said, something I don't do enough of. Fortunately I'm not going to disagree very much so we won't have to fight.
So, my question in response to all Mary's well thought ought responses is, "why do we still sin after we are saved?" I agree with you that in the eyes of God we totally pure, Christ's sacrifice literally destroyed the consequences of our sin for those who accept Him as Lord. Yet sin, still reigns within many parts of us. St Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:18 "And we all with unveiled face , beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Christ died and saves us, making us see the Glory of God then we progress by stages into the image of God who having purified our inner soul(guaranteeing eternal salvation) then proceeds outward perfecting all our thoughts, actions, motives, emotions and desires from his initial stronghold in our heart.
So perhaps I worded my original post wrong but I do believe that the Christian has a responsibility to live the life God has given them. We were once dead in our Sin and Christ has given us life, we must now walk in life neither forsaking Christ nor ignoring the commands He's given us and the life He's entrusted to us.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:1-10
I hope this answers everything you commented on. In my earlier post I wasn't trying to say we can eradicate sin on our own, I wasn't trying to say that apart from Christ we can do anything good for in me and my flesh is no good thing. Let me know what you think and where I messed up again.
Jude 1:3
ReplyDelete"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
You asked
"why do we still sin after we are saved?"
Sanctification is an ever ongoing process, not a magic pill we take that converts us into immediately faultless beings.
Temptation still exists. We still live in the world, and our natures are still sinful (Romans 7:19).
I think this quote sums up everything I'm trying to say:
"The Christian life is a maturing process. We are to keep growing in grace and knowledge of Christ. There are many Christians, especially young Christians today,
who want everything now. Some seek an experience by which they instantly have total victory over the flesh-- no more temptations. They want to have great power and wisdom
so that they suddenly know more than the Bible teachers, more than their pastors. The point is, however, that we still have to grow in knowledge; we have to know how to apply the truth of the Scripture to our life day by day; we have to grow in our ability to depend upon God in our daily circumstances and to live by faith, claiming His promises. Every believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling him, but not necessarily filling or empowering him. If we try to jump over this process of growth, we can get into a situation where we can be badly deceived."
-Hal Lindsey, 1972
I also think (and correct me if I'm wrong) that Caleb was trying to explain a level of intimacy with Christ, not being, by the strictest sense of the word "closer" because we're sanctified with Him after accepting His forgiveness, but I still know that some Christians do not have as deep a level of intimacy with Christ that some have, and the Bible does say that sin separates us from God, so making an effort to get rid of sin is making an effort to deepen our relationship with Christ, you're right Mary it's not something we can do on our own, we need Christ's help, but if we only prayed for Jesus to change us without making any effort ourselves we would be deceiving ourselves. Hope that made sense, but in any case I do agree with you Caleb.
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