Your posts are so worth reading!That would take several weeks of dedicated Bible study that doesn't fit in a single post on a forum. You'd be better off just reading Bob Enyart's The Plot.
Or, just read the entire Old Testament.
Correct. Because of what Christ did on the cross.
No.
We are no longer identified as slaves of sin.
Our identity is in Christ.
Your straw man not withstanding, no. Try reading the following passage free of your a priori beliefs.
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. - Romans 7:1-25 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans7:1-25&version=NKJV
Paul is telling us that even though we are saved, we still remain at war with the flesh, because we are not rid of it.
Never said there was.
Christians have their identity in Christ.
We are no longer sinners. That is not saying that we don't sin, nor does it mean that we are now incapable of sin.
It means that our identity is no longer that of "sinner," but rather "saved," and by Christ's shed blood.
"Love God" and "love your neighbor" are commands, law. For the people of the law, this is to be expected, for as Christ explained:
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:37-40 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew22:37-40&version=NKJV
That's quite different from what Paul said:
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - Galatians 5:14 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians5:14&version=NKJV
See the difference?
One is a command that must be followed.
The other is something you do without needing to be told.
The promises God made to Israel were only for Israel. If a Gentile, prior to Acts 9, wanted to partake in Israels corporate relationship with God, they had to circumcise and become a proselyte Jew. (Circumcision is a symbol of the law.)
On the other hand, after Paul's conversion (remember, he was a Jew), anyone who wanted to enter into a relationship with God did not (and even could not, since the New Covenant was put on hold) could do so without having to circumcise, meaning they did not have to place themselves under Israel's laws.
False.
And? How does that in any way negate what I asked?
Again, in what way does God doing something different with different people at different times make it unfair for those who come later?
You still aren't getting it.
In the Body of Christ, THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE!
Under the New covenant, the distinction exists!
For someone who preaches that they are incapable of sinning anymore, it's hilarious that you bring this up.
"Remission" doesn't mean something is completely gone.
It means that it's reduced!
If someone has cancer, and through treatment it starts to go into remission, it doesn't mean that the cancer leaves their body, it just means that they are no longer in danger of it taking over their body, the doctor still has to check on them for many years, to make sure it doesn't come back.
Spoiler
In the same way, "remission of sins" doesn't mean that sin is eliminated, it means that the effects of sin are reduced, it means that one won't sin as often.
Both of the above "requirements" were 1) part of the law, and 2) stated in the context of this verse:
But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” - Matthew 15:24 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew15:24&version=NKJV
The "original message" was that Israel would have a kingdom ruled by Christ, with the Twelve Apostles sitting on Twelve thrones ruling over the Twelve tribes of Israel, a nation.
But the mystery revealed by Paul is that of an organism, one with many members, a new creature.
Things that are different are not the same.
You're still conflating the New Covenant with the gospel of grace.
Again: In the New Covenant, there is Jew and Gentile, and the distinction is important, so important that the entire nation's history (and the world's, for that matter) revolves around the difference! However, under the dispensation of the grace of God, in the Body of Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free. As Paul says:
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:26-29 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians3:26-29&version=NKJV
That won't happen until we're in heaven.
That's the entire point I've been making, Hoping!
Christians WON'T "bring sin along with them"! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF CHRIST GOING TO THE CROSS! When we as Christians sin, it's STILL covered by how gracious God is! No matter how many times we sin while in a relationship with Him, God has STILL FORGIVEN, PAST TENSE, US of ALL our sins!
It's what I mean by saying "our identity is in Christ!" We are no longer identified as sinners, but as saints!
And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?!
On the contrary!
Jesus constantly told Israel that they must adhere to the law to the end of their lives.
But He, through Paul, tells us in the Body of Christ that we are already forgiven, that there's nothing we need to do to obtain salvation.
That's EXTREMELY different, AND VERY MUCH SO related to salvation!
That's ironic, given what you say next!
Rather, the "Jewish faithful and unfaithful" have nothing to do with the Body of Christ, but rather the New Covenant.
Those "Jewish faithful" were so because they believed Christ was their Messiah, that He was to be their King, even and especially after being crucified, then rising again on the third day, even to the end of their lives. These Jews are known as the "Remnant."
The "Jewish unfaithful" rejected Him, and because Israel as a whole rejected Him, the unbelieving portion of the nation
of Israel was cut off, to be grafted back on again whenever she returns to her Messiah.
You're conflating believing Jews under the New Covenant with believers who are neither Jew nor Gentile in the Body of Christ. Paul, in that verse, was talking about the latter, not the former.
They're not "founders of the faith."
They are the TWELVE Apostles who will rule on TWELVE thrones over the TWELVE tribes of Israel. Their salvation is of the New Covenant, not the gospel of grace.
Those who entered into a covenant relationship with God under the New Covenant didn't need to enter into a second relationship with Him through the gospel of grace, and were told to remain faithful to the end under the New Covenant.
Also, Paul warned those in the Body of Christ that if they put themselves under the law then they would become cursed to keep that law.
Appeal to the stone.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Timothy2:15&version=NKJV
That's what I'm doing.
You, on the other hand, are just mashing everything up in the Bible and saying it's all the same
Yup.
That much is obvious.
No, you're not. You need to humble yourself and ask God for forgiveness, and place your trust in Him and his righteousness, and not yourself and your own righteousness.
No, I simply rightly divide scripture.
Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? - 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Corinthians1:12-13&version=NKJV
You worship yourself, putting yourself on Christ's pedestal.
Lying is a sin. Stop lying.
Bearing false witness is a sin. Stop bearing false witness against me.
I still have not received a glorified body, and thus I still sin.
But as someone in Christ, I am no longer identified as a sinner, but as saved.
If that's what you think, then you've completely misunderstood Romans 6, and the entire gospel he preached.
It's not.
Again:
Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. - Colossians 3:9-11 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians3:9-11&version=NKJV
Says the one claiming there is Jew and Greek in the Body of Christ...
Supra.
Jew, and Greek (Gentile)
That should have been obvious.
There's nothing here that says anything about tribes, even figuratively.
It wasn't tribes that were cut off of the natural fig tree, it was the unbelieving portion of Israel.
Try again.
Did you forget that there's still only twelve tribes in the Bible?
Funny how despite you claiming that you're part of some 13th tribe, that the Bible never calls the Body of Christ a tribe, nor mentions one.
Wrong.
We are joined to Christ, not to Israel.
Many people misunderstand and think that the gentiles are grafted into Israel, but that's not what the analogy Paul uses describes.
Israel are the branches on the olive tree, not the trunk. The wild branch (believers in the Body of Christ) wasn't grafted onto another branch, it was grafted onto the trunk, who is Christ!
In what way do I abhor them?
Says the man who binds himself in chains.
AMEN!
Was it your baptism that saved you?
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. - Romans 7:21-25 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans7:21-25&version=NKJV
Ad hominem.
Again, it doesn't make any sense to tell someone who is incapable of sin to not sin.
Duh.
Begging the question. You have not established that faith can keep one free from sinning.
Even the best runners stumble and fall.
My victory is in Christ who has already achieved victory, not my own feeble attempts at perfection.
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. - Romans 7:21-25 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans7:21-25&version=NKJV
Duh.
Not mine.
Not quite.
If we are in Christ, His righteousness is imputed to us. We are MADE righteous, justified, not because we ourselves are righteous (our righteousness is as filthy rags), but because Christ is righteous.
This was written to the twelve tribes scattered abroad.
Not to the Body of Christ.
Supra.
Paul is writing to believers, the same people whom you claim are incapable of sinning. My point stands.
Loaded question.
Nope.
That's one of the litmus tests for seeing who
No, as per my position, freedom from SERVING sin is for the Jews under the New Covenant.
Remember, the law given to Israel accounted for the fact that people were going to sin, and had ways for people who DID break the law, to become right with God, through sacrifices and rituals.
Under the New Covenant, Christ WAS the sacrifice.
Under the New Covenant, yes, hence why if a Gentile wanted to be free, he had to circumcise and keep the law.
But we're not under the New Covenant. We're under grace, not law, no circumcision required.
No.
It's saying that God's grace and love for us is greater than our sin, that He met the demands for justice by dying on the cross FOR US!:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. - Romans 5:6-11 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans5:6-11&version=NKJV
Christ took our place.
Liar.
Hoping is hopeless unless and until someone can cause him to see his own sin. His own sinless perfection delusion is THE bedrock foundation of his worldview. If it cracks, his entire world crumbles to dust. This is why he instictively refuses to clearly define what it means to sin.
People who think they're swimming will accept the efforts of the life guard as an attack and, you can throw all the life preservers at a drowning man you want but if he thinks he's walking on the water, he'll ignore them all and look at you like you're crazy for throwing them.
Clete
