SINLESS
I
do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate,
I do. Rom 7:15
First Word
- Is a
Believer SINLESS? – Scripture seems to be at odds with this – Let’s take
a look.
- CIRCULAR
DOUBLE
- THE
CONFLICT WITHIN
- This is the first time we see of the TWIN NATURES within man that are at
odds and battle each other every day.
The SIN NATURE and the SAVED NATURE – Life does not run smoothly;
it has effort, strain and failure. - The battle causes the person to experience
the inability of his soul to realize the Divine Ideal.
- The desire to do good is met with a vigorous
opponent or principal that Paul called THE LAW because of its
regularity in opposing good actions. – It is a POWERFUL FORCE.
- As Christians we walk around with these
two natures. – But there is GOOD
NEWS.
- The Law
of the Holy Spirit is at work within our spirit, prompting our
actions, inspiring our purposes and molding our character,
giving us VICTORY over the down draft of The Law of Sin. - Although
there is ACCUSATION, there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who
are in Christ Jesus. – SELAH
- There
is tension
“between” the Old Nature passing away and the New Nature being renewed
every day. – We are between the natures as one dies and the other
renews – Interestingly, we are also between the first and the second
coming of Christ. - NYOBS 07.02 Eschatology
Rom 3:23 – All have sinned
23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
NIV
1 John 1:8 – We deceive
ourselves
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. NKJV
1 John 1:10 – We make Him a liar
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make
Him a liar, and His word is not in us. NKJV
IT’S NOT ME THAT SINS
Rom 7:20 – It is sin
living in me that sins – NOT ME
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is
no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
NIV
Acts 26:24 – Paul, you
have gone CRAZY – OUT OF YOUR MIND
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul's
defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your
great learning is driving you insane” .NIV
CIRCULAR DOUBLE TALK
Rom 7:14 -25 – It’s not me that SINS –It’s SOMEBODY else
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I
want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree
that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,
but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me,
that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is
no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do
good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23 but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a
prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to
God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. NIV
GOOD NEWS
Rom 8:9 – You are not
controlled by the sinful nature
9 You, however, are controlled not by the
sinful nature but by the Spirit (of God), if the Spirit of God
lives in you. NIV
Rom 8:16 – The Spirit of
God testifies to our Spirit
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God's children. NIV
Rom 8:1-2 – There is no
condemnation for us
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the
Spirit of life set me free from THE LAW of sin and death NIV
MARRIAGE ADVICE
The reason a Christian
ought not to marry a non-Christian is that if you marry into the family of the
Devil, you are going to have trouble with your Father-In-Law. - J.
Vernon McGee
CHUCKLE, CHUCKLE
Convicting or Grieving
- When we sin, the Holy
Spirit sure lets us know it. – That’s a true statement. - The Holy Spirit convicts the WORLD of
Sin; however we are IN
the world, but not OF
the world – The Holy Spirit is NOT convicting us of sin, He is
GRIEVING over the sin. There is a WAR going on in our Spirit.
- It’s the OLD YOU that grieves the Holy
Spirit. It’s the unwholesome talk
coming from your mouth; its slander along with every form of malice, lies,
cheating, bitterness, anger, rage and brawling.
- There is nothing good that lives in
the OLD SINFUL NATURE. – There is a WAR going on between your mind
and the members of your body.
- You
- The
- NUTSHELL: Our body is a slave
to the OLD Sin nature, but our mind is a servant to God.
- Paul in exasperation
called himself wretched,
not from sin, but from the battle to do good; acknowledging and praising
God that he has Jesus Christ as the provider of his deliverance.
Rom 7:24-25 – Paul is
tormented by the Battle
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will
rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ
our Lord! NIV
John 16:7-9 – The Holy
Spirit convicts those of the world
8 When he comes, he will convict the world
of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: NIV
John 15:18-19 – The
Christian is not of this world
18 "If the world hates you, keep in
mind that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the world, it would
love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates
you. NIV
Eph 4:30 -32 – We can grieve the Holy Spirit
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,
brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
32 Be kind and compassionate to one
another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. NIV
Eph 4:25 -29 – Watch what you say.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood
and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
26 "In your anger do not sin": Do
not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
28 He who has been stealing must steal no
longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he
may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out
of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to
their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. NIV
Rom 7:18 – Nothing good lives in my OLD NATURE
18 I know that nothing good lives in me,
that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good,
but I cannot carry it out.
Rom 7:23 – There is a war going on in my flesh
23 but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and
making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. NIV
Rom 7:25 – Body serves law of Sin – Mind serves the law of God
25 So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to
God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. NIV
Make Believers
- I dislike anything
that smacks of doubt in
the Bible. I want to KNOW FOR SURE – I don’t want to be blown about by
every wave of theology or new thought. - So some things need to be settled
and the big one is, are you a child of God or not. - IN or OUT – The Bible
is a handbook for Believers only.
- J. Vernon
McGee
says he believes in The Security
of the Believer; they are saved; period. He also believes in The Insecurity of the Make Believers; those who wonder if
they’re saved. – He says that you might just want to take inventory of your
life. - Are the things of God important to you? – There are really only
two commandments from Jesus.
- Do you love the Lord
your God with all your heart; with all your soul and with all your mind?
- Do you love your
neighbor as Christ has loved you?
- The
Test
is examining the fruit from your garden. – What kind of fruit can people
see on your tree? – We are not to judge others, but we are encouraged to
be fruit inspectors. – A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. – You will know
them by their fruits.
James 1:5-8 – Doubting makes
you unstable
6 He who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind.
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he
does. NIV
Matt 22:37-40 – The TEST
37 Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: `Love your
neighbor as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments."
John 13:34 – Love one
another as JESUS LOVED YOU
34 "A new command I give you: LOVE one
another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. NIV
Matt 7:16-20 – You will
know a Believer by their FRUITS
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but
a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
NKJV
SINLESS
- TWO
ELEMENTS -
The Believer must abide or live in Christ and Christ must
abide or live in the Believer. – THE
TEST – Love others as Christ has loved you. – There is no
excuse, no substitute, no compromise, no grey area and no other
possibility – LOVE YOUR BROTHER
!
- Love manifests itself
in conduct
– It is the evidence of a Christian passing from Spiritual Death into
Spiritual Life – The specific form of doing right is obeying the command
to Love.
- The Old Covenant Law
told you that you OUGHT
to do good – The
- When we accept Christ
we are a new creation; the OLD nature has gone and the
- We have been given a new
heart and a new spirit plus the spirit of God now lives within
us. – The sin of a person is not counted against him where the bent and
frame of his mind and spirit is against the sin. - The magnetic needle of
a compass can be distracted, but it will always return to seek the North
Pole.
- FORGIVEN – Either we have
been forgiven or we still need to be forgiven. One or the Other. -
- IT’S
LIKE
WE NEVER SINNED in the first
place. - WHAT? – Yes, it’s in
the Book. - The
- SO THEN
WE STILL CAN SIN
– A Homosexual that is a child of God will give up that sin. Whoever is
born of God will not LIVE in sin, they will not PRACTICE sin.
- The old nature can have an act of sin, but not deliberate or consciously
or habitually, nor presumptuously, but SINS involuntary and
it is forgiven – erased – never again to be remembered.
2 Cor 5:17 – NEW Creation in Christ - Old creation is GONE
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
NIV
1 John 3:9 – We cannot
continue to sin
9 No one who is born of God will continue to
sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning,
because he has been born of God. NIV
Rom 8:16 – We are God’s child
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God's children. NIV
Ezek 36:26 – We have a new
heart and a new spirit
26 I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you
a heart of flesh.
NIV
1 Cor 3:16 – God’s Spirit lives in us
16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's
temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
NIV
Heb 10:14 – His ONE sacrifice made us perfect forever.
14 Because by one sacrifice he (Jesus) has made perfect forever those who are being made
holy.
NIV
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us ALL our sins, NIV
Heb 10:17-18 – God will
remember the Sins no more
17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no
longer any sacrifice for sin. NIV
Heb 7:27 – His sacrifice was ONCE AND FOR ALL
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need
to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the
sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he
offered himself. NIV
Summary
- The Bible sounds like
foolishness to the un-believer, it is written to and for Believers only.
- Using the litmus test
of the two commandments; a person that has given themselves to God
CANNOT SIN – the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross was for the forgiveness
of sins Past, Present and Future…
- That’s the GOOD NEWS
of the Gospel.
- A regenerated man cannot
live in Sin, he cannot practice sin. – If he stumbles he will
return to
- If you are a MAKE BELIEVER, now is the time to
examine yourself and know for sure.
- Examine the fruit on
your tree
1 Cor 2:14 – The Bible is foolishness to the unbeliever
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the
things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned
NIV
1 Cor 1:18-19 – The Bible
is foolishness to those that are dying
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power
of God.
NIV
Matt 7:19-20 – You will
know them by their fruits
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
NKJV
NOTE: If
you embrace the RAPTURE of the Saints, nothing else in scripture has to be fulfilled
before the second coming of Christ - He can come today.
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.
A commentary - Eerdmans
Annotated Reference Bible – Dake
Apocrypha; The
– Edgar J. Goodspeed
Baker Commentary on the Bible - Elwell
Bible Almanac; The – Packer Tenny White
Bible Commentary - F.B. Meyer
Bible Dictionary – Harper & Row
Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein
God without Religion - Andrew Farley
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale
Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Matthew Henry
Naked Gospel; The – Andrew Farley
New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Zondervan
Thru The Bible Commentary – J. Vernon
Victor Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers
Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison
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