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sinning
hello,
i have heard many times how if we repent and then keep on sinning, we haven't truly repented, as well as that if we keep on sinning, we are a slave to sin (rather than a slave to God)
but on the other hand, people always make it clear that just because one becomes a Christian, that doesn't mean they will become perfect, and indeed that we will never get to sinlessness in this life.
what can be done then?
please help
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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Hi, Jenny. Maybe this article will help some. As someone here on AAG has told me, there is a right way to live and a right reason to live that way. We will never reach sinless perfection but we are to pursue righteousness and holiness. (See Hebrews 12).
Question: "Why does Christ's righteousness need to be imputed to us?"
Answer: In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uttered these words: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This comes at the end of the section of the sermon where Jesus corrects His listeners’ misunderstanding of the law. In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says that if His hearers want to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees who were the experts in the law.
Then in Matthew 5:21-48, He proceeds to radically redefine the law from mere outward conformity which characterized the ‘righteousness’ of the Pharisees, to an obedience of both outward and inward conformity. He uses the phrase, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you…” to differentiate between the way people heard the law taught from how Jesus is reinterpreting it. Obeying the law is more than simply abstaining from killing, committing adultery and breaking oaths. It’s also not getting angry with your brother, not lusting in your heart, and not making insincere oaths. At the end of all this, we learn that we must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, and that comes from being perfect.
At this point, the natural response is: “But I can’t be perfect” which is absolutely true. In another place in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus summarizes the law of God down to two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). This is certainly an admirable goal, but has anyone ever loved the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and their neighbor as themselves? Everything we do, say and think has to be done, said and thought from love for God and love for neighbor. If we are completely honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we have never achieved this level of spirituality.
The truth of the matter is that on our own and by our own efforts, we can’t possibly be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. We don’t love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We don’t love our neighbors as ourselves. We have a problem, and it’s called sin. We are born with it and we cannot overcome the effects of it on our own. Sin radically affects us to our core. Sin affects what we do, say and think. In other words, it taints everything about us. Therefore, no matter how good we try to be, we will never meet God’s standard of perfection. The Bible says that all of our righteous deeds are like a “polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). Our own righteousness is simply not good enough and never will be, no matter how hard we try.
That’s why Jesus lived a perfect life in full obedience to the law of God in thought, word and deed. Jesus’ mission wasn’t simply to die on the cross for our sins, but also to live a life of perfect righteousness. Theologians refer to this as the “active and passive obedience of Christ.” Active obedience refers to Christ’s life of sinless perfection. Everything He did was perfect. Passive obedience refers to Christ’s submission to the crucifixion. He went willingly to the cross and allowed Himself to be crucified without resisting (Isaiah 53:7). His passive obedience pays our sin debt before God, but it is the active obedience that really saves us and gives us the perfection God requires.
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). Through our faith in Christ, the righteousness of God is given to us. This is called “imputed” righteousness. To impute something is to ascribe or attribute something to someone. When we place our faith in Christ, God ascribes the perfect righteousness of Christ to our account so that we become perfect in His sight. “For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Not only is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us through faith, but our sin is imputed to Christ. That is how Christ paid our sin debt to God. He had no sin in Himself, but our sin is imputed to him, so as He suffers on the cross, He is suffering the just penalty that our sin deserves. That is why Paul can say, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
By having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, we can be perfect, as God is perfect. It is not, therefore, our perfection, but His. When God looks at the Christian, He sees the holiness, perfection, and righteousness of Christ. Therefore, we can say with confidence “I am perfect, as God is perfect.”
Recommended Resource: Making Sense of Salvation by Wayne Grudem.
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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We can daily sacrifice the flesh. As we continue to feast on the word of God we mature and the more we mature in Christ, the more freedom we gain.
We can attain a life where we are not involved in habitual sins. We will not be sinless, but we do not have to be slaves to sin now.
we are in a real fight, but our weapons are not carnal:
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.2 Corinthians 10:4
Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Corinthians 6:7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
1 Timothy 1:18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,
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Permalink Reply by Jenny on
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thanks everyone.
so God overlooks our sin because we put our trust in Jesus. so when we are feeling in despair and self-loathing because of our sin, should we try to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust in Him rather than fearing that we haven't been saved at all?
i ask because there is an emphasis in the bible about making our election sure, making sure we are of the faith, not being lukewarm, a distinction between true believers and false believers etc.
in other words, if when i look inside of myself i see so much wickedness (as to make me hate myself), does this have no bearing on whether i am truly saved?
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Jenny, God does not overlook sin. Children of God will face divine discipline for sinning. There are natural consequences, too, for sinning. For instance, if you punch someone in the nose, you will likely face a judge for assault and battery if the person chooses to press charges. Here is a good article by Charles Stanley: Can We Avoid Divine Discipline?
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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Jenny,
Good questions. What people say about sin and salvation might make for an interesting discussion, but in the end these are just opinions--some more informed and therefore, carrying more weight, than others.
As Paul the Apostle counsels us, we are to test all things, holding to that which is true and reject that which isn't. Ultimately, the bottom line is what God says about this particular subject. For that, we turn to God's written Word, the Holy Bible. At this time, I will tackle the first part of your discussion.
*/ I have heard many times how if we repent and then keep on sinning,
we haven't truly repented, as well as that if we keep on sinning, we are a slave to sin (rather than a slave to God) /*The Bible is full of admonitions to repent and turn away from sin or perish as well as calls to repent and be baptized, repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand, and repent and believe the Gospel. "God commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).
The word repent is so often misunderstood in our day and age. Many believe it is all about sorrow and regret, but nothing could be further from the truth. These are the fruit of repentance; not repentance itself. Nor does to repent or repentance mean to "turn away from sin." The Greek word used in the Bible that we translate as repent is metanoia.
There are two parts to that word: meta, meaning change; and, noia meaning understanding. We have English words that use both parts. For example, meta-morphosis means changing shapes and para-noia means having an alternate understanding. So metanoia literally means changing one’s understanding. So, in order to repent we need to recognize our need to change our old way of understanding ourselves and the world around us.
Repentance is nothing less than a radical and total change of one's heart and mind, which is brought about by the Holy Spirit. With true repentance we become new creations in Christ and children of God. At that point we are born again (Titus 3:5; 2 Cor 5:17) by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit begins in us the lifelong process of sanctification, gradually imparting the character of Christ in us, shaping us into the image and likeness of Christ, and turning us away from sin. We can be confident that this good work begun in us will be completed (Philippians 1:6).
But not all who call themselves believers--even though many can talk a good game-- have truly repented. Sadly, they do not have the fruit of repentance, the evidence of metanoia, in their lives. They continue to live in habitual sin, perhaps believing mistakenly that they should go on sinning so that grace might abound. After all, they reason, their sins are already forgiven and covered bythe grace of Jesus' atoning death on the cross. They are grace-abusers. But wait, are they saved ... by "cheap grace?"
Typically, after failing to produce any fruit (faith that does not produce works is dead says the Apostle James) or wean themselves off of spiritual milk, theymay come to doubt or openly reject the faith they once proclaimed. Though, one might well ask: Were they ever really saved to begin with? Or are they backslidden, yet still saved like the man who barely escapes his burning house with nothing more than the clothes he is wearing?
Sinless perfection? No. A gradual turning away from sin, especially habitual sin? Yes.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and may God fill you with joy and peace,
Colby
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Permalink Reply by emanuela on
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I believe at the end of the day God sees the heart.. and what I mean by that is the "intent". I agree that today most christians do not truly repent and they embrace the concept of "nobody is perfect "and "we're all sinners"as an excuse to not try to fight harder against our impulses to sin ( Hebrews 12 ;4.) Well GOD sees that and we are not fooling anybody. It's all about repentance but also restitution, it's about admitting we were wrong and apologizing to " our neighbor", because let's be honest most of our "pet sins" are towards the people around us, lying, gossip, envy, judging someone unfairly, and then we will make up a justification for what we did so that we can feel better, and pride will get in the way of us actually humbling ourselves to ask for forgiveness, yes we will ask God to forgive us because it is much easier that facing the person we sinned against . We lack humility, and I truly believe that God will not forgive anyone without true repentance or restitution . ALL ABOUT INTENT!
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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on
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Colby,
I appreciate this particular post...especially where you break down the word *repent*. An entire thread could be started with this one word.
Blessings...
Rita
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this is where i get confused. based on everything you say here doesn't that leave only one option, to be perfect? and if we can't be perfect, then what? are we to reason that we must not be saved then?
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Jenny,
Assurance of your salvation is possible and very much needed (1 John 5:11-13). As long as someone thinks she/he can lose salvation ... then
... well, if you believe that you can lose your salvation whenever you fall into sin, or that you were never really saved to begin with, then assurance is beyond reach.I believe in the doctrine of the security of the believer. As long as I thought I was not eternally secure in my relationship with God as being Father and daughter, it was very difficult for me to grow as a Christian. I was stuck in always trying to stay saved and never being able to fully trust God because I might push Him to His limits with my sinning and He would abandon me forever. God does not abandon His children. People abandon us. God never leaves us, not even for falling into sin, the way King David fell into sin. It started with lust and then adultery and then lying and covering up and then murder and David was miserable and there were consequences but God never abandoned him.
Your assurance that you are really saved can only come from God. I cannot assure you or know your heart and all any of us can do is point you to the Scriptures for they and the Holy Spirit together are the only things that can bring you peace and assurance about belonging to Jesus.
There are many people faithfully attanding church every Sunday who think they are saved because they have submitted to being baptized and they pay tithes and they take communion and they do a whole list of things and they get their assurance from the works that they do but they have missed knowing the Savior and having a relationship with God and they think heaven will only be possible if they continue in all of these works until death. When they read that faith without works is dead, they see that works save them. They have missed understanding that we do works because we love God and love others and that the love within us is God Himself moving us to do the works which He created us to do but salvation itself is by grace through faith.
Ephesians 2:8-9
New International Version (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
If you are trapped in some sort of sin and you know you are born again, then God's wrath is not for you. However, God will discipline you for sinning and Holy Spirit will convict you and God will work on you and in you to help you overcome this sin. Sanctification is a lifelong process.
When we truly love God, we want to please Him. He, in fact, moves us to keep His laws and to be obedient to Him.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36)
As someone said to me, it is about your relationship with Jesus. Do you have one? If you do, then the Spirit is in you and if you are believing in Jesus at this moment and trusting in Him as your Savior, then Romans 8:16 should apply, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
There are many lies that the enemy would have us believe and one lie he likes to throw up into the faces of God's children is that Christ will not really save them or that even though they are believing in Jesus, they are still not a Christian because of committing present sin. There is a right way to live and God will empower you to live for Him!
1 John 1:9
Speak the Truth to the lies!
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