Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
You are not quoting the whole verse as it appears in the King James (Which is a translation that existed for hundreds of years long before the Modern Translations showed up).
Romans 8:1 says,
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1) (KJV).
There is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH (
SIN), BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT. Note: The "
works of the flesh" is in reference to sin according to Galatians 5:19-21.
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2 is proof that Paul is not saying we are not under any kind of Law salvation wise. Keeping the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (
New Covenant Law) makes us free from the Old Law (
or the Law of Moses, i.e. the Law of Sin and Death). The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is defined for us in the previous verse. It is to be in Christ Jesus and to walk not after sin or the flesh, but it is to walk after the Spirit (
Whereby one will have the fruits of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23). So Romans 8:1-2 speaks against a "
secure in one's sin view of salvation" as a result of having a belief alone on Jesus.
You said:
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4
You quote Scripture again that refutes your own belief and you don't even realize it.
What Law existed when God the Father sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh whereby He condemned sin in the flesh? The Law of Moses.
Colossians 2:14 says, "
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;"
Which ordinances were against us?
Colossians 2:16 (KJV) says, "
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:"
Colossians 2:17 "These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body [
that casts the shadow] belongs to Christ." (GWT).
In other words, the ceremonial laws of the Law of Moses had been nailed to the cross (like the Saturday Sabbath, circumcision, and the dietary laws).
This was the Law that Jesus condemned at the cross; It was the Law of Moses.
But verse 4 says we now fulfill the righteousness of the Law.
The "
righteousness of the Law" (mentioned in Romans 8:4) is: "
That righteous aspect or portion of the Old Law that is still in effect" (i.e. the Moral Law).
How so?
"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if
there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:8-10).
The Gentiles were able to keep the Law by nature without having the Law (See Romans 2:14). In other words, this would be the Moral Law (like do not murder, do not steal, etc.).
We are to fulfill the righteousness of the Law by our not walking after the flesh (sin), but by walking after the Spirit. The Spirit is always going to guide us into walking after what is good, right, and holy.
The Old Law was crucified to the cross (with all the ceremonial laws) (Colossians 2:14, Colossians 2:16-17), but we now fulfill the "
righteous aspect of the Law" by loving our neighbor (Romans 13:8-10).
You said:
There's little to no consensus on what separates sins into death from regular sins. This will always be a debated passage.
John himself said not too far back that whoever hates his brother is like a murderer and no murderer has eternal life abiding in them (1 John 3:15). There is forgiveness if we confess sin (1 John 1:9), and if we forsake it. For if walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). So this has to be taken into consideration when interpreting 1 John 5:16-17. But no doubt, you don't like what 1 John 1:9, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 3:10, and 1 John 3:15 says. So they must either go ignored or changed to fit your belief that one can sin and still be saved by having a belief alone on Jesus.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the one sin we know brings spiritual death... In summary this sin as "committed by the Pharisees, was a deliberate, open-eyed rejection of known truth. (See
Mk 3:29,
Mt 12:32)… the outcome of his sin will be spiritual ruin, the final separation of the soul from God, which is ‘the second death’, reserved for those whose names are not ‘written in the book of life’ (
Rev. 20:15)...this is the most likely explanation for what John is getting at.
Of course, one can lose spiritual life to various degrees, so praying for a brother to be restored from any sin is praying for his spiritual life.
Except John does not refer to this sin. Also, you are misinterpreting Matthew 12:32. I already showed you that in verse 32 that the contrast of speaking against the Spirit is contrasted with speaking bad words against the Son of Man (Jesus). So this is in reference to actual real blasphemy or cursing against God and not a rejection of God. For how many times do you think the Lord gives people chances to come to Him? Only once?
You said:
Another possibility:
Sin Can cause death
In other words, James 5:19-20 is saying the exact same thing as 1 John 5:16-17: there are certain sins which can bring death.
But how should we respond to people who commit these sins? Here is where some of the confusion enters, because John seems to instruct his readers not to pray for people who commit sin leading to death. Does this mean that when Christians commit certain sins which may lead to death, we should not pray for them?
There are groups of people today who do in fact pray for the forgiveness of people who have already died. Probably, there were people in John’s day who were praying similar prayers. John is perhaps saying that such prayers are unnecessary. If a person commits sin that leads to their death, we don’t need to pray about that. Pray instead for those who are still living, no matter how serious their sin might be.
There are examples in the Bible of people who physically died because of God's judgement.
But I'm still of the opinion that this is about not praying for a person whose blasphemy is final. A person can speak against the Spirit, in a heat of the moment way, but God alone knows when he means the words, unless God reveals it to a discerning believer.
Again, praying for those who are committing regular sins (or "t
he sin not unto death") does not make a whole lot of sense if they are secure in their salvation. There is no motivation to pray for another believer if they are sinning in this case. They got their golden ticket to Heaven and nothing we do will change that. So then prayer is then meaningless.
Also, the idea of praying for believers who have already died from a sin is illogical. It says John was not talking about praying for a person who commits a sin
UNTO death, and not a sin for those who are already dead. James even confirms this. James talks about praying for those who are sick in the hope that they may not die as a result of some sin. This does not mean that this is a "
sin unto death" because they really do not know if such a sin will bring death or not.
I believe John was correcting the brethren from a previous misunderstanding on another writing to them on the point that he was not referring to a "
sin unto death" when it comes to praying for the brethren in regards to sin. Meaning, John is saying that his previous letter or conversation was not referring to praying for believers who committing sin and they are refusing to confess of their sins to the Lord and they have no desire to overcome such sins. Granted, John is not saying that we should not pray for such believers, but he is saying that it was not the point of the topic he was referring to in his previous discussion to them.
"But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it." (1 John 5:16) (NLT).
In essence, John is saying "I was not saying to you before that you should pray for those who commit this kind of sin because that was not the point of my previous discussion to you."
