oh..so my point was a good one,cause now you say u r full sanctified.
Matt..your a good bro..it was fun talking,and we are all learning and sharing here.Do I have a wrestle here and there like gal 5 16-18..sure,but as the law subsided,by walking in grace,adam went back to sleep.
God bless.
oh..so my point was a good one,cause now you say u r full sanctified
I never said that the internal man was/is not fully sanctified . . . NOT ONCE. I have always posited that what I am refering to has nothing to do with this.
Do I have a wrestle here and there like gal 5 16-18..sure,but as the law subsided,by walking in grace,adam went back to sleep
The law (nomos) that is being referred to is the Mosaic covenant. As Romans 7 points out, even when one is saved, there is a law at work internally (grace) and a law still at work in the members (which is NOT the same thing as the "old man/Adam" law of condemnation that the Mosaic covenant brings) which is the law of the FLESH warring for domination.
See brother, for me, the awareness of sin INCREASES as one grows in Christ . . . the war changes, but it never ceases (until the death/resurrection/translation of the body). Your statement:
Does not compute with the NT progression that we see. The OLD MAN ADAM inside is DEAD . . . not asleep . . . but the habits and effects that he brought are STILL ACTIVE in the members of the body. When u sin, for the Christian, it is NOT a matter of "adam" waking again, as if what is crucified with Christ comes back to life, it is a matter of the carnal nature left in the body reasserting its habits and the war becomes the weeding out of these habits and pervasiveness and killing of them as per Romans 12 (bodies of living sacrifices).
Paul's final letters to the Church had what perspective?
1 Tim 1:15-16
15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
among whom I am foremost of all.
NASU
If u watch the progression of Paul from his early works til these latter pastoral epistles, HIS AWARENESS OF HIS SINFULNESS INCREASES.
Notice, it is I AM, not was. Take 2 Cor 12 . . . Paul is given a thorn in his flesh (saryx), or propensity to falleness, that STAYS . . . and never seems to leave cause it is there as God's will to keep Paul HUMBLE in dependance (what the thorn/skopos is at this point really doesnt matter) upon the grace of God. Paul was ever aware of an INCREASING reality of his sinfulness which drove him deeper into the grace of Christ and His Cross.
Ur statement doesnt compute with me, see when I stop wrestling with one sin, God is quick to reveal another!
Let me give u an anectdote by CJ Mahaney. When I first heard it and what he did, my response was "big deal, there is no sin in that!" But God was gracious to reveal more to me.
CJ was preparing a sermon downstairs when, while nearing the end with final touches for the next days delivery, he spilled his cup of coffee ON THE LAP TOP! He said a distinct "Fzzt!" and a puff of smoke arose from the computer and the screen went black. He stood, lifted his chair from the ground about 6 inches and slammed it back down while yelling "NNOOOO!" He said immediately conviction arose within his soul.
Now, when I first heard this I was like "big deal, sounds right" . . . but I was wrong. Listen to CJ's assessment.
He said immediately he went upstairs to his wife and told her of what he had done and began the questioning process of "where is your hope, where is your trust?" His hope at that moment was NOT in Christ and His atoning work on the Cross; he was not trusting in the grace and sovereignty of his great and glorious God . . . he was hoping in a series of circuits and wires . . . he was trusting in a hard drive . . . so when the circuits and wires and hard drive were taken from him . . . his hope and trust went as well. We call this IDOLATRY brother . . . and the Spirit of the Lord quickened that to him to see that the fruit of the Spirit was NOT in the moment but all of his fallen flesh . . . and that had the fruit of the Spirit really been in the moment, he would have hit his knees in trust, petitioning his God for peace and affirming his trust in his Creator that he hopes in a sovereign God who is an ever present help in time of need and that God can recreate the message from scratch or supernaturally quicken the whole thing to him w/out notes or printed paper, for GOD is the source ANYHOW.
You see, for me, I understand the power of sin to be broken . . . but it is still ever present, crouching at the door. I see that even in my best moment, worshiping in church, fully in love with Jesus with my arms raised . . . I AM STILL FULLY WORTHY OF THE WRATH OF GOD . . . it is ONLY by the blood of Christ and His atoning work that I am able to stand there . . . and all the righteousness that IS within me at that moment IS STILL dependent upon Him . . . it does not stand on its own . . . if He be removed from me . . . then my heart does not remain as it was with Him . . . MY HEART REVERTS . . . HE and HE alone is the factor . . . and the holiness that is true of my heart in that moment is DERIVED . . . it is CHRIST IN ME that is the holiness . . . I am fully holy internally . . . BUT ONLY BECAUSE HE IS NOW INSIDE, and my righteousness is NOT my own, but His.
What is the outcome then? Luke 7:
Luke 7:40-47
And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 " You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much;
but he who is forgiven little, loves little."
NASU
I live in an ever increasing awareness of the greatness of my sin, that results in an ever increasing LOVE for the greatness of the One who has covered and forgiven any sin that I have already committed and any sin that I have yet to fall into.
He who has a deficient view of sin has a deficient view of the Cross and the Gospel of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Consequently, I can say, as I have heard it said, two things I know, I am a GREAT sinner . . . BUT I have a GREATER saviour.
A "most of the time I am successful" with the war with sin, to me, does not show a full understanding of the presence of sin (which will continue until it is thrown into the lake of fire) still in ones life.
pax adlephi
..hey one more thing..
