The opposite is true. There is no overcoming in this life if there is no current reality of being an overcomer. Why would Jesus exhort people to overcome as He did...if we only overcome sin by a physical death? did Jesus overcome while He lived or after He died?
I don't understand the question. I need to see the verses in context. John speaks about overcoming but only in terms of our faith. 1John 5:4 He also writes that in order to have fellowship with the Father, one needs to admit that one sins. 1 John 1:8
John says that all who abide IN Him ought to walk even as He walked. That's while we are alive.
Yes, of course. But -- what does John mean? Is he asking me to never sin again? I don't think so. I think John is focused on Love. To walk as Jesus walked is to imitate God the father who loves perfectly, i.e. sends the rain down on the evil and the good. To walk as Jesus walked is to cry out "Abba Father. Not my will but your will be done." To walk as Jesus walked is to trust the Father for everything, seek the kingdom of God, and to remain humble, contrite and honest.
That is BEFORE Paul was crucified and translated into the higher spiritual walk. There's still Romans 8 to consider.
No. Paul speaks in the present tense there. Romans 8 is interpreted in light of the end of Romans 7. What is the basis of our pardon? Paul says that we are without condemnation. Why? We are without condemnation because we walked in sinless perfection? No. Even in light of the fact that we exist in bodies of death, we are without condemnation if the Spirit of God dwells within us. That's the key.
There is no sin whatsoever in holiness. When we put on Christ we put on His perfection...His holiness. In Him is no sin. Anything to the contrary is just unbelief.
Easy to say. :) But holiness is not a measure of morality or ethics. The term "holy" indicates things or people whom God has set aside for a special purpose. Consider two bowls equally alike in everyway: same material, same shape, potted on the same day from the same lump of clay. But one bowl is consecrated to be used in a worship ceremony, while the other bowl is used to eat breakfast. The first bowl is holy; the second bowl is not.
The same with people. The "holy" man is a man whom God has set aside for a consecrated purpose. If God declares a man to be "holy", that man is holy by virtue of having been chosen by God for a special purpose.
Within the body of Jesus-followers, the saints, the holy-ones are those whom God has chosen in light of the fact that he has poured out his Holy Spirit into our hearts. He did this, Paul says, while we were yet sinners. (Romans 5) "We celebrate in hope of the Glory of God," Paul says, which speaks about our "glorification" -- we await eagerly for the "redemption of our body." Romans 8:23
Anybody can claim to be a believer and continue to sin. The faith part of the walk is to believe that God can do anything...if you believe God then seek Him WHERE He is....and be translated into an intimate abiding place to walk as He walked.
If this were true I would believe it. But there is no promise that we shall be glorified in this age.
That is the Christian walk...which few even believe in any more let alone experience. It's the sign of the times.
The Christian walk, as Paul says, is "faith working through love."
I don't understand why it is so offensive for people to admit they are NOT walking like Paul or the early believers.
I guess we are offended by those who advocate for sinless perfection while unable to achieve it themselves.
The bible speaks of greater things.
Greater things to come. This is why it is called a hope.
There is no "being sanctified"....we are either holy or we are not. We are either walking as Jesus walked...or as carnal men...in the power of the flesh.
Again, holiness is not measured according to morality or ethics. The indwelling of the Spirit is the marker of those whom God has sanctified.
Sure, we can be LED by the Spirit...but then so were the Israelites in the wilderness LED by the Spirit. How many of them entered into the Promised Land? That in itself should cause us all to wake up out of our spiritual slumber...
Being awakened is a feature of being sanctified by the Spirit.
The law of the Spirit of life makes us fly above and beyond the pull of sin the way the law of flight OVERCOMES the law of gravity. When we walk in the Spirit we don't sin...
Is Paul suggesting that we employ the Spirit in order, like a skillful Jedi Knight, to avoid sin? I don't think so. Paul is not teaching the Jedi Knight theory of spirituality. He tells us that justification is apart from the Law, and here in Romans 8 he tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who achieved what the Law could not do. Measuring life according to an ethical code is walking by the flesh.
Rather, walking by the Spirit is much different. The specific role of the Spirit is focused on light, truth, wisdom, and knowledge. To walk by the Spirit is to learn from the Spirit, to gain wisdom and enlightenment. Those who are walking by the Spirit are having there eyes and hearts enlightened in order to understand the power of God.
After the Ephesians believed, Paul prayed for them saying, "For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which
exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention
of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:15-19)
Walking in the Spirit is walking in the light of the Lord "in a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." This should result in a life where sin is minimized. But it is also a life in which one is honest enough and enlightened enough to realize the depth and profundity of sin. And even while we repudiate our sin, we must confess that we ARE sinners. Those who are unwilling to make that confession are not walking in the truth.
Sure. But there is a sacrifice we can make before we physically die. That is the call of the cross. Those who offer themselves to God fully...body and soul...will receive a full measure of grace that makes them overcomers WITH Christ.
I would need to see the passages that teach this.
We can be a light...a sacrificed vessel who now walks in the life and power that resurrected Jesus from the dead. Believe in that... even if you never experience it...and you will escape the judgment on those who persist in unbelief.
Not in this lifetime.
I don't get any spirit of Cain from you! :) The vitriol comes from those who not only have a wrong doctrine but who also champion the uncrucified flesh against any exhortation to seek the face of God.
I have no problem with an exhortation to walk in Righteousness. This is in agreement with Romans 6. In Christ, we cease being a slave of sin and become a slave of righteous. I get that and I agree with it. Behaving as a righteous person aught to behave is doable today. And those in Christ live according to a Christian ethic. But . . . .
Why did Jesus condemn the Pharisees? It was because they limited God by thinking what they had was all there was. They claimed to "see" when they clearly were blind.
Yes, blindness is a major problem, which is why the primary concern of the Holy Spirit is curing the blind and convicting of sin. But Jesus' primary and central critique of the Pharisees is "hypocrisy", which in the Greek culture referred to a stage actor. The Greek stage actors raised a mask up to the fact while playing a role.
Jesus complained that the Pharisees were not actually righteous men, they were playing the role of a righteous person. The Pharisees were following a script. The same thing can happen amongst Christian believers, who adopt "Christian" as a role. They aren't being led by the Spirit, they simply ask themselves, "how does a "Christian" act in this circumstance?" Imagine what a Christian would do and behave like that.
It is far better to admit to God that you are blind so you can ask Him for the ability to see. God gives grace to the humble. All I ever ask is to take God at His word and seek Him for confirmation. But seek Him personally.
Me too.