SINLESS - IITB 12.06

 

Chapter 12.6

Sinless

Does the Holy Spirit Convict or does He Grieve?

I do not understand what I do; for what I want to do

I do not do, but what I hate, I do - It’s not me that sins,

it’s the sin living in me that does it.[1] - Circular Double Talk

 

 

First Word

     Is a Believer SINLESS?  Scripture seems to be at odds with this; let’s take a look.

     CIRCULAR DOUBLE TALK: Paul says that what he wants to do, he does not do and the thing he hates doing is the very thing he does.  Paul says it is not him that does this sin, but the sin that lives within him that does it.[2]  WHAT?  Has Paul gone plum CRAZY?[3]

     THE CONFLICT WITHIN: This is the first time we see of the TWIN NATURES within man that are at odds and battle each other every day.  The SIN NATURE and the SAVED NATURE; life does not run smoothly; it has effort, strain and failure.[4]  This invisible battle causes the person to experience the inability of his soul to realize the Divine Ideal.

     The desire to do good is met with a vigorous opponent or principal that Paul called THE LAW because of its regularity in opposing good actions; it’s a POWERFUL FORCE.  As Christians we walk around with these two natures; but there is GOOD NEWS.  The Law of the Holy Spirit is at work within our spirit, prompting our actions, inspiring our purposes and molding our character, and giving us VICTORY over the DOWN DRAFT of The Law of Sin.  There are ACCUSATIONS leveled against us, but for those who are in Christ Jesus there is NO CONDEMNATION.[5] SELAH

     There is tension “between” the Old Nature passing away and the New Nature being renewed every day.  We are between the natures as one dies and the other renews and interestingly enough, we are also between the first and the second coming of Christ.

We are given a lifetime to find Christ.

 

Marriage Advice from J. Vernon McGee

     The reason a Christian ought not to marry a non-Christian is that if you marry into the family of the Devil, you are going to have trouble with your Father-In-Law.  CHUCKLE, CHUCKLE

Convicting or Grieving

     When we sin, the Holy Spirit sure lets us know it.  That’s a true statement; the Holy Spirit convicts the WORLD of Sin;[6] however we are IN the world, but not OF the world.[7] The Holy Spirit is NOT convicting the Believer of sin, He is GRIEVING over their sin.[8]  There is a WAR going on in our Spirit, it’s the OLD YOU that grieves the Holy Spirit.  It’s the unwholesome talk coming from your mouth; it’s the slander along with every form of malice, lies, cheating, bitterness, anger, rage and brawling.[9]

     There is nothing good that lives in the OLD SINFUL NATURE;[10] there is a WAR going on between your mind and the members of your body. You DON’T GET RID of the old nature when you are saved.

The NEW YOU seeks to be kind, compassionate and forgiving of one another with talk that builds and lifts up the body and the OLD YOU puts stuff in your mind to derail your actions. The Apostle Paul in exasperation called himself wretched, not from sin, but from the battle to do good; acknowledging and praising God that he has Jesus Christ as the provider of his deliverance.[11]

Did you see it? Our body is a SLAVE to the old Sin nature, but our mind is a SERVANT to God.[12]

 

Make Believers

     I dislike anything that smacks of doubt in the Bible. I want to KNOW FOR SURE, I don’t want to be blown about by every wave of theology or new thought,[13] so some things need to be settled and the big one is, are you a child of God or not; IN or OUT.  The Bible is a handbook for Believers only.

     J. Vernon McGee says he believes in The Security of the Believer; they are saved; period.  He also believes in The Insecurity of the Make Believers; those who wonder if they’re saved.  He says that you might just want to take inventory of your life; are the things of God important to you?  There are really only TWO QUESTIONS that come from the commandments of Jesus.

1)      Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart; all your soul and with all your mind?[14]

2)     Do you love your neighbor as Christ has loved you?[15]

     The TEST is examining the fruit from your garden; what kind of fruit can people see on your tree?  We are not to judge others, but we are encouraged to be fruit inspectors. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit.  You will know them by their fruits.[16]

 

Sinless

     TWO ELEMENTS: The Believer must abide or live in Christ and Christ must abide or live in the Believer. THE TEST: Love others as Christ has loved you, there is NO excuse, NO substitute, NO compromise, NO grey area and NO other possibility; LOVE YOUR BROTHER!

     Love manifests itself in conduct; it is the evidence of a Christian passing from Spiritual Death into Spiritual Life; the specific form of doing right is obeying the command to Love.  The OLD Covenant Law told you that you OUGHT to do good and the NEW Covenant law causes you to WANT to do good; it’s a NEW YOU.

     When we accept Christ we are a new creation; the OLD nature has gone and the NEW nature has come,[17] and we cannot go on sinning.  WHAT?  Yes, our New Nature WILL NOT SIN;[18] it hates sin and wants to serve God; Sin is still active, but it no longer reigns.[19]

     We have been given a new heart and a new spirit plus the spirit of God now lives within us.[20]  The sin of a person is not counted against him where the bent and frame of his mind and spirit is against the sin.  The magnetic needle of a compass can be distracted, but it will always return to seek true North.

     FORGIVEN: Either we have been forgiven or we still need to be forgiven. One or the Other.  ALL of our sins have been forgiven; PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE.  When our OLD spirit man sins we are forgiven before the Dastardly Dirty Deed is Done.  IT’S LIKE WE NEVER SINNED in the first place.[21]

WHAT?  Yes, it’s in the Book.  The ONE sacrifice of Jesus Christ has made us perfect forever.[22]

Renewing Grace is an abiding principal; forgiveness is an accomplished fact.

     SO THEN, A BELIEVER CAN STILL SIN: A Homosexual that is a child of God will give up that SIN.  Whoever is born of God will not LIVE in sin, they will not PRACTICE sin.  The old nature can have an act of sin, but not deliberate or consciously or presumptuously, nor habitually, but SINS involuntary and it is forgiven, erased, never again to be remembered. [23]

 

The Take Away

     The Bible sounds like foolishness to the un-believer,[24] it is written to and for Believers only.  Using the litmus test of the two commandments; a person that has given themselves to God CANNOT SIN; the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross was for the forgiveness of sins Past, Present and FutureALL of them.   Should the old nature stumble into sin, it has been forgiven and blotted out even before he has finished the deed.  That’s the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel.

     A regenerated man cannot live in Sin, he cannot practice sin.  If he stumbles he will return to TRUE NORTH.  If you are a MAKE BELIEVER, now is the time to examine yourself and know for sure; examine the fruit on your tree.[25]

 

 

NOTE:  If in your Belief System of the word you embrace the RAPTURE of the Saints, then nothing else in scripture has to be fulfilled before the second coming of Christ; He can come today.

 



 

[1] Romans 7:15-17 - I am not the one doing wrong; it is the sin living in me that does it.

CIRCULAR DOUBLE TALK

[2] Romans 7:14-25 – It’s not me that SINS; it’s SOMEBODY else.  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

ALL SIN

[4] Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, -- 1 John 1:8 – We deceive ourselves If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. -- 1 John 1:10 – We make Him a liar If we say that we have not sinned

IT’S NOT ME THAT SINS

[4] Romans 7:20 – Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. It is sin living in me  -- Acts 26:24 – Paul, you have gone CRAZY, you are OUT OF YOUR MIND, "Your great learning is driving you insane”

GOOD NEWS

[5] Romans 8:9 – You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit (of God), if the Spirit of God lives  -- Romans 8:16 – The Spirit of God testifies to our Spirit -- Romans 8:1-2 – There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

 

[6] John 16:7-9 – The Holy Spirit CONVICTS those of the world of guilt in regard to sin

[7] John 15:18-19 – The Christian is not of this world because I have chosen you out of the world.

[8] Ephesians 4:30-32 – The Holy Spirit GRIEVES when we have bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice; get rid of all it

[9] Ephesians 4:25-29 – Watch what you say; Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up

[10] Romans 7:18 – Nothing good lives in my OLD NATURE

[11] Romans 7:24-25 – Paul is tormented by the Battle of the mind. -- Romans 7:23 – There is a WAR going on in my flesh against the law of my mind

[12] Romans 7:25 – Our Body serves law of Sin, but our Mind serves the law of God

[13] James 1:5-8 – Doubting makes you unstable

[14] Mathew 22:37-40 – The TEST: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself

[15] John 13:34 – Love one another as JESUS LOVED YOU

[16] Matthew 7:16-20 – You will know a Believer by their FRUITS

 

 

[17] 2 Corenthians 5:17 – We are a NEW Creation in Christ, the OLD creation is GONE

[18] 1 John 3:9 – If we are a True Believer we cannot continue to remain in sin

[19] Romans 8:16 – The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children

[20] Ezekiel 36:26 – We have been given a new heart and a new spirit -- 1 Corenthians 3:16 – Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

[21] Hebrews 10:14 – Jesus’ ONE sacrifice made us perfect forever.

[22] Hebrews 7:27 – His sacrifice was ONCE AND FOR ALL, it made us perfect forever

[23] Colossians 2:13 – ALL of our sins are forgiven, past, present and future -- Hebrews 10:17-18 – God will remember our Sins no more

[24] 1 Corenthians 2:14 – The Bible is foolishness to the unbeliever -- 1 Corenthians 1:18-19 – The Bible is foolishness to those that are dying; the unbeliever

[25] Matthew 7:19-20 – You will know them by their fruits; Are you a MAKE BELIEVER

 

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