Scripture and Discernment

"But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:17,20). "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are DEAD to sin, live any longer therein? ... Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should NOT serve sin... What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid... Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? ... Being then MADE FREE from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness... For when ye WERE the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death" (From Rom. 6). "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it NOT be ONCE named among you, as becometh saints" (Eph. 3:3). These are just a few notes from the apostle Paul, whom so many in Christianity say had an ongoing struggle with sinning. That mindset comes from a gross misunderstanding of a passage in Romans 7, where Paul was actually speaking of his condition BEFORE he was in Christ. No my friend, the man who wrote the above passages of scriptures was no hypocrite, which is what he would have been if he himself was a sinner.

It it is certain that Jesus was in agreement with these things as well: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free INDEED" (Jn. 8:31-36). Now let's hang on those last two words [free indeed] for just a moment, and we'll see the truth of this whole sin thing. The word "indeed" comes from the Greek word "ontos," and is defined as follows: "truly, in reality, in point of fact, as opposed to what is pretended, fictitious, false, or conjectural." If you can see it, this shows us the real difference between the Christian gospel which allows for sin, and the real gospel of Christ that imparts and requires true holiness for salvation. Christianity offers the pretentious, fictitious forgiveness and freedom from sins, as mentioned above as being the OPPOSITE of "free indeed." My friend, if you can't see that, then you just plain don't want to see, period. Let's be real with ourselves and with God, and be busy "purifying [ourselves], even as he is pure." According to the beloved apostle, that is the only real way to look for the coming of the Lord, and to be a part of the first resurrection AT his coming (I Jn. 3:2,3; Rev. 20:6). And to this agreed the apostle Paul, whom so many have labeled a sinner: "Follow peace with all men, AND HOLINESS, without which NO MAN shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). Need I say more? Amen.