Please reflect on and ponder the following verses relating to our freedom in Christ!
"Being made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness" (Rom. 6:18, KJV).
"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything [namely, sin]" (Acts 13:38, ESV).
"For freedom [liberty] Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke [bondage to] of slavery [to the Law or legalism]" (Gal. 5:1, ESV).
"Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is" (1 John 3:6, NLT). [Carnality is temporary.]
"Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God" (1 John 3:9, NLT).
"So if the Son [only Christ can liberate us from sin's power] sets you free, you will be free indeed [from sin's bondage]" (John 8:36, ESV).
"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything" (Acts 13:38, ESV).
INTRO IN ITALICS:
Note that it's the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, performing an open-and-shut case, while the adversary, the devil, merely accuses us of sin. We are only responsible for what God reveals to us and convicts us of, not any vague sense of guilt or having a guilt-complex. Jesus challenged the authorities and Pharisees to convict Him of sin (cf. John 8:46), and He knew no sin, did no sin, and had no sin, yet Christ became sin on our behalf and suffered its full penalty. But He had to live for us also a life of obedience to the Law of Moses, in order for God to impute His righteousness to us.
Theologians define our situation of depravity as follows: "We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners [we can't help but sin and only do what's natural to our nature]." We are not basically good but evil: inherently and thoroughly tainted from the image of God: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23, ESV). Paul says in Romans 3 that there is none that does good, no not one! Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, proclaimed our predicament: non posse non peccare or that we are unable not to sin--we can only sin as natural men, even our good deeds are tainted and have wrong motives, our righteousness is as filthy rags per Isaiah 64:6 and our righteousness is not our gift to God, but His gift to us (cf. Isa. 45:24). Our fruit is from Him (cf. Hos. 14:8) and "... [He] has done for us all our works" (Isaiah 26:12, ESV). Paul said in Romans 15:8 (ESV): For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me...."
At salvation, we are redeemed from the slave market of sin and set free, no longer in bondage to our old sin nature as its slave, but given the power to overcome. Indeed if we remain in our sins or continue in them we are not free. There is no category of believer who is in perpetual sin or carnality if he is unrepentant, he is lost--the believer may fail his Lord, but he yearns to obey. Obedience is the only true test of saving faith, as a Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis, said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." However, we see the result of salvation: "For sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace" (cf. Rom. 6:14).
As believers, we are saved from the penalty of sin at salvation, the power of sin in time, and the presence of sin in eternity. We are born to become overcomers and be masters of our own domain, and comfort zone, not like fish out of water. Who is it that overcomes the world, but he who believes in the Son of God? (Cf. 1 John 5:5). We also know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (cf. 1 John 5:20). We ought to consider ourselves dead to sin, no longer obeying that cruel taskmaster.
Romans 6:16 (NLT) says, "Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living." And 2 Pet. 2:19 (NLT) says, "They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you." Jesus said that unless you believe He is who He says He is, you will die in your sins (cf. John 8:24).
"Being made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness" (Rom. 6:18, KJV).
"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything [namely, sin]" (Acts 13:38, ESV).
"For freedom [liberty] Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke [bondage to] of slavery [to the Law or legalism]" (Gal. 5:1, ESV).
"Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is" (1 John 3:6, NLT). [Carnality is temporary.]
"Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God" (1 John 3:9, NLT).
"So if the Son [only Christ can liberate us from sin's power] sets you free, you will be free indeed [from sin's bondage]" (John 8:36, ESV).
"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything" (Acts 13:38, ESV).
INTRO IN ITALICS:
Note that it's the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, performing an open-and-shut case, while the adversary, the devil, merely accuses us of sin. We are only responsible for what God reveals to us and convicts us of, not any vague sense of guilt or having a guilt-complex. Jesus challenged the authorities and Pharisees to convict Him of sin (cf. John 8:46), and He knew no sin, did no sin, and had no sin, yet Christ became sin on our behalf and suffered its full penalty. But He had to live for us also a life of obedience to the Law of Moses, in order for God to impute His righteousness to us.
Theologians define our situation of depravity as follows: "We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners [we can't help but sin and only do what's natural to our nature]." We are not basically good but evil: inherently and thoroughly tainted from the image of God: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23, ESV). Paul says in Romans 3 that there is none that does good, no not one! Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, proclaimed our predicament: non posse non peccare or that we are unable not to sin--we can only sin as natural men, even our good deeds are tainted and have wrong motives, our righteousness is as filthy rags per Isaiah 64:6 and our righteousness is not our gift to God, but His gift to us (cf. Isa. 45:24). Our fruit is from Him (cf. Hos. 14:8) and "... [He] has done for us all our works" (Isaiah 26:12, ESV). Paul said in Romans 15:8 (ESV): For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me...."
At salvation, we are redeemed from the slave market of sin and set free, no longer in bondage to our old sin nature as its slave, but given the power to overcome. Indeed if we remain in our sins or continue in them we are not free. There is no category of believer who is in perpetual sin or carnality if he is unrepentant, he is lost--the believer may fail his Lord, but he yearns to obey. Obedience is the only true test of saving faith, as a Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis, said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." However, we see the result of salvation: "For sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace" (cf. Rom. 6:14).
As believers, we are saved from the penalty of sin at salvation, the power of sin in time, and the presence of sin in eternity. We are born to become overcomers and be masters of our own domain, and comfort zone, not like fish out of water. Who is it that overcomes the world, but he who believes in the Son of God? (Cf. 1 John 5:5). We also know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (cf. 1 John 5:20). We ought to consider ourselves dead to sin, no longer obeying that cruel taskmaster.
Romans 6:16 (NLT) says, "Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living." And 2 Pet. 2:19 (NLT) says, "They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you." Jesus said that unless you believe He is who He says He is, you will die in your sins (cf. John 8:24).
We are to examine our fruit regularly (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5) to see if we are walking in the Spirit and following on to know the Lord in fellowship and obedience. We have been rescued from Satan's power and the power of our own selves because we are our own worst enemy. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us to overcome sin and set us free: "[That] I may know him and the power of his resurrection..." (Phil. 3:10, ESV).
However, the adversary knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and exploits them to catch us at an opportune time after a victory or on a spiritual high. Epictetus appropriately said that we are never free till we have mastered ourselves. Everyone has some easily besetting sin (cf. Heb. 12:1) or even pet sin that they find difficult to stop committing and keeps tripping them up. But the good news is that there is always an escape clause and way to defeat it because no sin is a temptation Christ didn't face and overcome--He is able to sympathize with our weakness and even intercede for us when we do sin.
The whole purpose of repentance is not to change your opinions about your sins, but to come to a change of heart, which means mind, feelings, and will. It will result in the fruit of a changed life and conduct (cf. Acts 26:20; Luke 3:8). We "must prove [our] repentance by [our] deeds" (cf. Acts 26:20). We must also bring forth fruit worthy of our repentance. No fruit, no repentance. The key to overcoming sin is genuine repentance, and confession, which implies saying the same thing about as God says and being willing to stop it; we must be sorry enough to quit! Our commission: "... [That] repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47, ESV).
The trouble with the sinner is that he doesn't see his own sin, according to Martin Luther, and even flatters himself too much to hate it (cf. Psalm 36:2). We don't have the power in ourselves to overcome sin, but must learn to walk in the Spirit--the secret to that is to keep short accounts of your sin with regular and frequent confession. Walking with God is only possible with progressive and continued repentance--it's a way of life, not something we go to confession to do and be absolved by a priest.
We can fall from grace, but not the state of grace, and not absolutely; however, we can and do backslide, but God can heal us of it and restore us (cf. Hos. 14:4). Paul told the Galatians just that and to stand fast in the liberty they had in Christ. The whole point of salvation is to be saved from the tyranny of sin and live a transformed life in Christ: "... [And ] you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21, ESV).
Religion is an exercise in futility as one lifts himself up by his bootstraps and reforms himself and engages in a do-it-yourself proposition, while Christ gives us the power for change by grace [a foreign word to world religion]. Conversion is not an acceptable way to have a nervous breakdown, but a transformed life, not done by self-help, an AA-like pledge, nor self-reform, but God changing one from the inside out. When sin abounded, grace abounded all the more (cf. Romans 5:20).
Victorious living is then learning to put off the old man, and put on the new man, made in the image of Christ. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17, ESV). In sum, when we sin we are not showing our freedom, but demonstrating our slavery!
Soli Deo Gloria!
However, the adversary knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and exploits them to catch us at an opportune time after a victory or on a spiritual high. Epictetus appropriately said that we are never free till we have mastered ourselves. Everyone has some easily besetting sin (cf. Heb. 12:1) or even pet sin that they find difficult to stop committing and keeps tripping them up. But the good news is that there is always an escape clause and way to defeat it because no sin is a temptation Christ didn't face and overcome--He is able to sympathize with our weakness and even intercede for us when we do sin.
The whole purpose of repentance is not to change your opinions about your sins, but to come to a change of heart, which means mind, feelings, and will. It will result in the fruit of a changed life and conduct (cf. Acts 26:20; Luke 3:8). We "must prove [our] repentance by [our] deeds" (cf. Acts 26:20). We must also bring forth fruit worthy of our repentance. No fruit, no repentance. The key to overcoming sin is genuine repentance, and confession, which implies saying the same thing about as God says and being willing to stop it; we must be sorry enough to quit! Our commission: "... [That] repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47, ESV).
The trouble with the sinner is that he doesn't see his own sin, according to Martin Luther, and even flatters himself too much to hate it (cf. Psalm 36:2). We don't have the power in ourselves to overcome sin, but must learn to walk in the Spirit--the secret to that is to keep short accounts of your sin with regular and frequent confession. Walking with God is only possible with progressive and continued repentance--it's a way of life, not something we go to confession to do and be absolved by a priest.
We can fall from grace, but not the state of grace, and not absolutely; however, we can and do backslide, but God can heal us of it and restore us (cf. Hos. 14:4). Paul told the Galatians just that and to stand fast in the liberty they had in Christ. The whole point of salvation is to be saved from the tyranny of sin and live a transformed life in Christ: "... [And ] you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21, ESV).
Religion is an exercise in futility as one lifts himself up by his bootstraps and reforms himself and engages in a do-it-yourself proposition, while Christ gives us the power for change by grace [a foreign word to world religion]. Conversion is not an acceptable way to have a nervous breakdown, but a transformed life, not done by self-help, an AA-like pledge, nor self-reform, but God changing one from the inside out. When sin abounded, grace abounded all the more (cf. Romans 5:20).
Victorious living is then learning to put off the old man, and put on the new man, made in the image of Christ. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17, ESV). In sum, when we sin we are not showing our freedom, but demonstrating our slavery!
Soli Deo Gloria!
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