Do Christians Have Power Over Sin?

[DevotiontoBible]

OK, so then if you do something charitable, you are righteous.

If being born again doesn't change your identity, what DOES it change?

You are free to stick with your own righteousness, I will stick with Jesus'.

Yes, doing charity is righteous. Notice the word do 1 Cor. 6:9-10 (NLT)
Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, [10] thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers—none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.

As it says you are only fooling yourself if you do those things and think you will have eternal life.

 

[holo]

So if a sinner does something good, he then becomes a saint.

What does the sinner need Jesus for?

 

[DevotiontoBible]

So if a sinner does something good, he then becomes a saint.

What does the sinner need Jesus for?

Where does the Bible say when a saint sins they are not a sinner? Paul called the sexually immoral saint a "wicked person" in 1 Cor 5:13 and excommunicated him. Paul didn't say it's okay because he is righteous and under grace.

 

[holo]

Where does the Bible say when a saint sins they are not a sinner? Paul called the sexually immoral saint a "wicked person" in 1 Cor 5:13 and excommunicated him. Paul didn't say it's okay because he is righteous and under grace.

Where does the bible say that a saint becomes a sinner when he sins? The bible says we were sinners by BIRTH. And we are made righteous by JESUS. Our identity as sinners was not a result of our behaviour. Our identity as saints is not a result of our behaviour.

What do you need Jesus for? What does it mean to be born again?

 

[holo]

BTW, I'm not saying sexual immorality is OK either.

 

[DevotiontoBible]

Where does the bible say that a saint becomes a sinner when he sins? The bible says we were sinners by BIRTH. And we are made righteous by JESUS. Our identity as sinners was not a result of our behaviour. Our identity as saints is not a result of our behaviour.

What do you need Jesus for? What does it mean to be born again?

The Bible doesn't say we are made righteous 2 Cor 5:21 is a becomming righteous.

 

[DevotiontoBible]

BTW, I'm not saying sexual immorality is OK either.

Actually you are saying it is. To be a righteous man is to be a moral man and you are saying if you are sexually immoral then you are a moral person.

 

[JimfromOhio]

We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.

Christians are still sinners but forgiven sinners when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. God is very holy and very powerful that I am a forgiven sinner. We are to worship God from our hearts because we are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16), that God will search us and try us, and know our thoughts.(Psalm 139:23).

 

[Heartland]

We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.

Christians are still sinners but forgiven sinners when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. God is very holy and very powerful that I am a forgiven sinner. We are to worship God from our hearts because we are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16), that God will search us and try us, and know our thoughts.(Psalm 139:23).

In the same book John says the following: 1 John 3:4-94 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

 

[holo]

The Bible doesn't say we are made righteous 2 Cor 5:21 is a becomming righteous.

Here's a little of the context:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Why would God re-create you as the same old sinner? What's the point of that?

And if He doesn't make you righteous, well then you are left with YOUR OWN righteousness. I'll take HIS righteousness over mine any day.

 

[holo]

Actually you are saying it is. To be a righteous man is to be a moral man and you are saying if you are sexually immoral then you are a moral person.

No, I've never said that.

I have said that Christ is my righteousness. That my righteousness is from HIM, not from my behaviour.

 

[DevotiontoBible]

No, I've never said that.

I have said that Christ is my righteousness. That my righteousness is from HIM, not from my behaviour.

Yes you are saying immorality is morality for a Christian. Your comment shows you are confusing imputed righteousness (our standing with God) at the new birth with actual righteousness (our progressivly righteous behavior) as we mature. A person is immoral who is sexually immoral and imputed righteousness does not change that.

 

[Heartland]

Yes you are saying immorality is morality for a Christian. Your comment shows you are confusing imputed righteousness (our standing with God) at the new birth with actual righteousness (our progressivly righteous behavior) as we mature. A person is immoral who is sexually immoral and imputed righteousness does not change that.

Imputed righteousness is everything. It is the whole of the Good News. I have one very important thing to ask, why would we be so enamoured with sin that we think we have to fight it? Why would we wear resistance as a badge, when others of us rarely even come into contact with it?

 

[holo]

Yes you are saying immorality is morality for a Christian. Your comment shows you are confusing imputed righteousness (our standing with God) at the new birth with actual righteousness (our progressivly righteous behavior) as we mature. A person is immoral who is sexually immoral and imputed righteousness does not change that.

[sigh]
Show me where I've said that "immorality is morality for a Christian."

There is only two types of righteousness - self-righteousness, which comes by behaviour, and which isn't actual righteousness, and then there's TRUE righteousness, which is Christ.

My righteousness is Christ, and Christ is actual.

I have not been made righteous by my behaviour. ALL my righteousness is Jesus Christ. I have none of my own. I have been GIVEN this righteousness. I have not earned it or deserved it or produced it or achieved it.

There aren't degrees of righteousness, just like there aren't degrees of being your father's son. Either you are, or you're not. You're either righteous or you're wicked.

I can't become more righteous by behaving in a certain way, because Jesus IS my righteousness. I realize that you are seeking and talking about a righteousness that doesn't come by faith, but rather by works. That's fine, but that's not the kind of righteousness I have, or want.

As for my behaviour, my behaviour steadily grows better the more I realize my identity in Christ. My good works are a result of my righteousness, not the other way around.