Stefan Davidovich said:
I think you have misunderstood Paul. Paul was referring to his struggle with his sinful flesh, not a particular sin that had become habitual.
I am looking for a victorious life where I will always struggle with temptation and a sinful nature but have complete victory over deliberate sins.
Not according to Paul in regards to his thorn. Of course, some argue that this was a physical ailment, others believe a particular sin (perhaps pride.) If so then it is clear that He asked three times for God to remove this thorn from his life and yet was told "My grace is sufficient..."
Remember John said this:
"Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it is because they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil...Those who have been born into God's family do not sin, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they have been born of God." (1 John 3:7-9)
Interesting translation... the text of Scripture translated into English however more closely states the following:
1 John 3:7-9
Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
The point here is not that Christians cannot sin, nor that they will always have some victory over specific sins, but that they don't desire nor seek to
practice sin. This is in harmony with Romans 7.
Romans 7:19-25
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Paul's struggle is mentioned right here. Though he "joyfully concur(s) with the law of God in the inner man" he none-the-less found himself "doing the very thing I do not want." The answer is "there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus" (8:1). The believer then, with a continually repentant heart toward God is always viewed by God as righteous even though his very thoughts remain tainted with sin as long as the believer remains in the flesh.
Here is the victorious life, not that we over come sin by the effort our will, but solely by looking to the cross of Christ for redemption. As Martin Luther liked to put it, we are "simul iustus et peccator", simultaneously saint and sinner. We are saints in and through Christ, but in the flesh sinners.
Thus it is written that we are "waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."
No mere physical ailment would have brought Paul to such desperation, keep in mind this "messenger of Satan" that tormented him never let up and was allowed by God to keep him humble.
And yes Satan has power - God has more power but He has given Satan power...if we take our authority seriously we can have victory when he attacks. But we ought not to expect that we will no longer be attacked simply because we are God's children.
Strange, did Paul not "take his authority seriously" when he entreated God to remove his thorn? What was Paul's problem?
