Originally posted by :crow:
The use of the word "sin" is what is confusing. It's common use includes human acts. Sin, in the sense we are discussing it, deals with that which puts mankind out of God's will, thereby separating us from Him.
A Christian must be righteous to be in relationship with God. The least bit of sin makes one unrighteous.
With man, this is not possible, as Christ pointed out. No one can possibly be righteous by keeping the Law. The Law is there to teach us that we just aren't good enough to be righteous of our own works, because none of us can keep the Law perfectly, saved or unsaved. The sinful nature of our flesh will see to that.
The only way we can be saved is through Christ, the Savior. When we are saved, we are once more in God's will, in relationship with Him, because we receive His righteousness through His grace. That is the only righteousness which is possible for us.
When a Christian does something immoral, it does not blemish God's righteousness. That is an act of our sin nature, an act of our flesh.
We should not take the righteousness that God has given us, the freedom from the condemnation of sin, as carte blanche to perform wickedness. Even though our wicked acts do not pollute God's righteousness, they are harmful to our fellow human beings and to us. We are to love them as we love ourselves and behave decently toward them, not out of fear of going to hell, but by allowing Christ to live through us, and act through us.
We are the Body of Christ. It is through us that He chooses to work today. Christ would not have us, as His body, behave immorally.
We will, of course, do things that are wrong. Our sinful nature still lives in our flesh. The Law taught us that, that we will never be righteous of our human works. Wickedness is a failure of the flesh, not a failure of God's righteousness to be sufficient to save us. Christ will not desert us because of our wicked acts. We are His for keeps.
