You have not yet answered my question. Are you saying that you are without sin? I certainly hope that you are not saying that, because Scripture makes it clear that we are all sinners and all come short of the glory of God. It is only by being washed in the blood of the Lamb that our sins are forgiven.
and you are avoiding any question of what sin it is your talking about in your own life .
to be guilty of sin you must commit sin ..
if you have sin and the lord shows you you have sin.. then you must confess that he is right in everything and that you have sin .. and when you confess your sin he cleanses you of ...? how much unrighteousness ? answer = ALL , not some .
if then you stand before him being cleansed of ALL unrighteousness , what sin is it you are then guilty of .. ? answer - NONE .
you stand before him with a clear consciousness rejoicing .
also Jesus has set us free from the power of sin that it should not have dominion over us . so it has no way that it can force us beyond our own will to do it .
you use paul's verses
out of context .. for he was speaking about how it WAS
before he was made a new creation in Christ . saying no mater how much he tried to not in sin he ended up sinning . but that speaks of the old nature which is put to death when we are BURIED with him in baptism and raised up again by the spirit of god as a
new creation ( i guess many Lutherans would not have experienced that as they were sprinkled as babies and thus never repented based on their own faith in Christ and never "
buried" with him into his death through baptism ). this new creation he makes us has power authority and dominion OVER the flesh and walks and lives by the Holy Spirit .
can this new creation sin.. yes . can this new creation be made to sin beyond its own will..
NO !
for whom the son sets free is free indeed . and there is no temptation taken you but that which is common to mankind , and with every temptation god has made a way of escape .. Sorry but you cant blame the flesh when it has been crucified with Christ and is no longer master over you. but if you submit by your own will ,to the desire of the flesh , then that is your choice and if you do so YOU make it your master , unto unrighteousness and the result , death .
so why does a person who has been set free ,say they are a slave to that which they are free from .. ? because they do not believe they have been set free and/or .. they want to keep sinning because they love doing that more the they love obeying the lord Jesus .
Thus if there is sin in my life i am unaware of in my clear consciousness before him - and god shows this to me .. i must confess that there is ,for if i do not admit it, ..i lie AND i call God a liar
but, if having confessed it and
HE cleanses me of not some but ALL unrighteousness then i certainly stand sinless before him .HIS own WORD declares it is so. God does not lie
I know both by his word and his Holy Spirit what is sin and what is righteousness ..
if i do what is righteous it shows i am walking in his spirit and i am of him.. if , having been cleansed from ALL unrighteousness i then go and DO unrighteousness , knowing that it is sin .. for example i i go and look at inappropriate content- which is adulatory .and keep on doing that ,then i show i am of the devil .. and there is no repentance .for repentance is not a one off act and then going back drawing back turning away, rebellion against god . Rather ,it is a consistent state of perseverance and endurance until the end .. it is "abiding in Christ .
as uncomfortable and provoking as it is for some to hear it .. that is what is written , that is what is so .
ref 1 john ch 3 (or better the entire letter of john in its full uninterrupted undivided form before people have hacked it to pieces to take out the bits they don't like.
