That's incredibly untrue. How else do you think that stealing, fornication, adultery are all still sins except because of what the law of Moses reveals as them being sins? People conveniently discard the law of Moses because they are in fact still sinful, and think that as opposed to the strictness of the law of Moses, that the shedding of the blood of Jesus has somehow given mankind more lenience in relation to sin. Not so, Jesus spoke with words like, "be perfect", and "sin no more", so therefore, the new covenant is in fact more strict....
cgaviria,
1. Sin has always been sin in each age, before the law of Moses and after the Moses.
2. The antediluvians did not have a written law but the conscience was their guide even though not always the best because your conscience could be seared.
Cain killed Abel and there was no mandatory law about murder or a specific judgement but he know people would be bucking for him and this is why he asked God for protection.
Under the law murder was death and fornication and a child sassing their parents were stoning. Today fornication is still wrong but it doesn't carry a penalty of stoning.
3. I understand some lack of understanding of the law of Moses being holy and good compared to the self effort and defeat and abolishment of the weakness of the commandment. The bible goes to great lengths to show the differences to the Hebrews and the gentiles through Paul the apostle and whoever wrote Hebrews which I lean more to the apostle Paul.
4. The early church was jews and proselyted gentiles from Christ ministry which was under the old covenant of the law of Moses.
5. Christ expounded the law and the prophets concerning his Messiahship and being the Savior and why he had to fulfill what they said of him. However, they didn't know everything about the change of old to new and this is because of gradual revelation and they were not told of every jot and tittle of the difference especially about the gentiles and the body of Christ in a different context of the church.
6. Peter and the apostles still had the KoH in their mind before Christ arose and Christ said it wasn't for them to know. The jews had the covenants and the apostles knew the message had changed of how to attain unto salvation through the new covenant but they didn't fully understand the church and the body of Christ in its completion.
7. It was 8 to 10 years later before Peter got the vision of the clean and the unclean but he could not fight God. Paul gave in greater detail of the jew and gentile in one body alike and the separation of jew and gentile.
8. The law was to be forever for the jew but the law of Moses was until the seed should come. This sounds like an oxymoron or contradiction but the law itself could only say Thou shalt not and could not draw people to God to carry out the command and could not save a person. It took the God-man as the savior of the world to redeem man from sin.
9. Contrary to popular belief the law had different purposes in a different context. The law was not of faith and yet it was also holy and good. It was good if performed but the spirit of life is greater because of the person of Christ in helping us to perform the commandment. It doesn't mean that the new covenant believer is better or will always perform the commandment any better than the old covenant believer but the possibility is greater for obedience under the new than the old.
10. A jew would argue that the law was to be who you are and in the long run I would agree. There were many jews who are very much more disciplined than new covenant believers in obedience. However, it was through self effort many times because of the law of sin and death taking the advantage of the Mosaic law's weakness. The good things of the law are magnified much greater in the new covenant of the perfect one. This is why the new covenant was built on better promises and different than the old covenant.
11. The jews culture was wrapped up in all of the law and because the law was moral and spiritual is why many doctrines about the sabbath (which is not really moral) and the keeping of the dietary law etc are carried to the extreme and are made doctrines that have to be performed.
Jesus wanted them to be perfect according to the law and some did perform the law perfectly so it was not impossible to perform the law perfectly at all like some believe. He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more and to us he says to abstain from all appearance of evil.
Under the law they were to be perfect to be blessed but that didn't mean they would attain it in every jot and tittle and the new covenant is no different otherwise God would be a respector of persons.
12. The law was perfect if done but man is imperfect and Jesus is perfect and we are still imperfect.
13. Peter said the flesh has ceased from sin so it wouldn't fulfill the things of the flesh and Paul said he did everything to mortify the members of his body otherwise he would could be a reprobate and he was a christian.
14. It is no doubt that God's strength is all powerful and if it pervaded our lives completely 24-7 we could technically perform sinless acts all through our christian lives. It is a possibility not necessarily a probability.
15. John said, all unrighteousness is sin and that covers alot of ground and God wants us to depend on him because we are still in training. 2 Timothy 2:12.
16. The sin struggle is over in the new nature about who's one master is and so we won't sin. Peter said this in the context of suffering of which we are to arm ourselves with that same mind.
17. God's purpose is in predestination of the foreknowledge of God and his redemptive plan to save us. This doesn't mean he will do everything for us or that because we will automatically do everything the Holy Spirit leads us to do. In your context of receiving the Holy Spirit and then you will be sinless type of mindset is very naive and is being ignorant of satan's devices. Paul said, to be careful if you think you stand then you will fall. Even of the most humble men of faith down through history understand their shortcomings though maybe not like many christians today that may not understand how much God hates sin or takes it for granted.
18. Now I understand truth is truth and God can bring forth irresistible grace through his love and those who gravitate to God most likely will grab a hold of it but this doesn't mean that those who don't gravitate normally to him cannot grab a hold of it either. God told the jews to choose life in order to be blessed because he had set forth his purpose for their lives but they had to choose to cooperate with him. There is no covenant connected to man and salvation of his soul that is not conditioned by obedience. And there is no where that shows a christian will never fall into sin for any reason. Even Peter gave the condition in 1 Peter 1:8 when we have the right virtues; For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. The word if is conditional of virtues being in a christian. But those lacking these virtues is blind and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. This shows christians can sin after they receive the Holy Ghost of which Peter had received on the Day of Pentecost.
19. John said he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not it is sin. Peter after being saved and receiving the Holy Ghost got in trouble for being a respect of persons and knew better and Paul called him down on it. God didn't preordain him to sin but he did.
20. Predestination is based on the knowledge of his purpose and destiny for man to attain being conformed to the image of God's son. In the context of being a christian things will be attained but it doesn't mean that God will make us do those things just because we are in the club. Israel thought because they were in the club in Ezekiel's day and that God would not judge them and take away their salvation and he told them he would unless they would ask for forgiveness and the same was for a gentile who didn't know him.
21. If you think that you will be sinless after receiving the Holy Spirit God you will learn otherwise sooner or later. This doesn't mean that I wish you to sin even more than God but in Romans 8 Paul said he had a made up mind that nothing would separate him from the love of God and at the same time the things he listed about tribulation, etc. he knew would not effect God but man. God requires cooperation in obedience with our freewill choice and he will not go over the churches head in rulership training. We are not in the perfected state yet and this body is tainted with sin and must be resurrected and we must pass our earthly test before we receive the crown of perfection with no chance of sinning.
22. Philippians 3 talks about apprehending perfection of the body and the spiritual aspect of being perfect without possibility of missing the mark.
23. Last, but not least, is the state of abiding in Christ and doing those things that bring forth the fruits of perfection is true, but this doesn't mean that we have no possibility or cannot fall into sin or that we have no freewill choice. The condition is always there just like Paul said in Galatians 5; Walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill the things of the flesh. The condition is walking in the Spirit. The absolute of this coming to pass is in the condition and the state of and not because God will make us do it.
14. You can manipulate the motive all you want but the condition and the possibility of not being perfect is there. Jerry kelso
