Tell me the exact words you are reading which suggest I think it is okay to sin. Most of the post is a direct quote of scripture. There is a difference between excusing sin and recognizing sin for what it is. Are you suggesting the Apostle John was excusing sin with his words? Do you think that is God's intention? This is God's bible, not man's. His words that He chose.
MY LITTLE CHILDREN, these things I write to YOU, so that YOU MAY NOT SIN, ---->AND IF<---- ANYONE SINS ...
How is John suggesting we go out and sin with these words? Or me by quoting him? Good grief. How bizarre a reading of these words. And did not Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit say the same thing?
"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. ... For we are God�s fellow workers; you are God�s field, you are God�s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one�s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one�s work, of what sort it is. If anyone�s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone�s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." 1 Corinthians 3
Is anyone fool enough to call these words of God a lie, and say Christians do not sin, when the who passage is a rebuke of Christians living in sin? And who will dare say that quoting God is an approval of sin? That is outrageous.
"My LITTLE CHILDREN, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And IF ANYONE SINS, WE have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, �I know Him,� and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name�s sake. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world�the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life�is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for IF THEY HAD BEEN OF US, THEY WOULD HAVE CONTINUED WITH US; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that NONE OF THEM WERE OF US." 1 John 2:1-
There is a marked distinction by the apostle John between believers who sin on occasion, and unbelieving sinners who live a life of sin in this passage. Calling people "little children" is denoting that they are the believing children of God, and telling the little children that if they sin, means they can and do sin, but it is not sin unto eternal death. The sin unto death is unbelief/blaspheme of the Holy Spirit/refusal to changes one's thinking and accept Christ as Savior and Lord God Almighty (Revelation 1:8-18; Ephesians 4:5; Hebrews 1:1-9) John also denotes that if we sin, we have an advocate, which means the situation has to be addressed in real time, for our fellowship here on earth and with God in heaven.
"The first rule of bible interpretation is that the clear verses, which can only have one meaning, give meaning to the unclear verses, (those which can have multiple interpretations), NOT the other way around. ...There is no ambiguity in these words.",
and it was too mountainous for you to even respond in particular to even the first paragraph. Now you complain about me only giving you two verses? Did you miss the part where I invited you to go back to the prior post and give an actual answer instead of a rant?
And if you can't even come up with a simple answer to the questions related to John 3:18, why should anyone think you would be able to decipher the rest of scripture, much of which is not as direct.
So my suggestion to you is to buy several important books, such as:
KJV/KNJV Interlinear Reference Bible +
Greek New Testament +
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance +
The Interlinear Bible Greek/English by Jay P. Green Sr. (Hendrickson Publishers) +
Vine's New Testament Greek and Vine's Expository Dictionary Of Old Testament Words +
Mastering New Testament Greek by Mare +
New Testment Greek For Beginners by Machen +
Bible Doctrines by Dr. Mark Cambron (Zondervan Publishing House) +
Lectures In Systematic Theology by Theissen + or one by Hodge or Chafer, or Grudem, or Ryrie
Talk Thru The Bible by Wilkerson and Boa (Thomas Nelson Publishers) +
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary On The Whole Bible +
Handbook Of Personal Evangelism by Dr. A Ray Stanford +
Personal Bible Study, by Wm C. Lincoln
Independent Bible Study, by Irving L. Jensen (Moody Press)
Knowing Scripture, by Dr. R. C. Sproul +
+ Denotes in my personal library
and learn how to study the bible. I suggest you not only read the whole bible repeatedly, but study each of the books in a formal setting, and memorize as much as possible. I also suggest you listen to entire bible repeatedly; both dramatized and not, and if you know any foreign languages, in those languages as well. And you might want to listen to one or more of the following regularly: Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Dr. Charles Swindoll, Dr. David Jeremiah, Dr. Voddie Baucham, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Ravi Zacharias, Ron Moore, Alistair Begg
Anyone who thinks they can know the entire mind of another person by a few posts on a website is dangerous. My favorite verses are Ps 145:8,9. Prior to that, it was Joshua 1:8, "... that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it ...", because I'm all about the whole counsel of God. In short, you have no idea what you are talking about. That you think you are an authority on what or how I think is frightening. My cult evangelism professor tasked me with speaking to a church about Jim Jones and the massacre in Guyana. You show the same characteristics Jones displayed. Unable and unwilling to give a reasoned answer. Everyone else is wrong. My professor taught us a valuable lesson about dealing with cultists. Stay on point, and don't let them jump around. By doing this, their lack of understanding, and the falseness of their claims will be exposed.
Did Jesus Christ say in John 3:18 that if you believe in Him, you are not condemned? Yes or No?
If He did, was He telling the truth or lying?
If He was telling the truth, why are you trying to contradict His clear statement?
If He was telling the truth, why are you questioning His theology, and rejecting His words?
There is no other scripture which will contradict what Jesus Christ, Almighty God in the flesh, said in John 3:18. If you reject His teaching in this verse, you reject the gospel. These are the very words of Almighty God. If you reject them you reject God Himself. You might want to take a moment in 1 Samuel 15 and see where God demonstrates what happens to the man who rejects His word. After that, you might want to read about Peter pointing to another person and saying what about him?, in John 21. God has no patience for either. You, are rejecting God's word and His truth contained in John 3:18. The Lord rebuke you.
God the Father is in the same place He was when God the Son was dying on the cross so that He could have a relationship with mankind. He is in the same place He was when He was demonstrating His love to the world by not withholding whatever was necessary so that His holiness and justice could be maintained, while providing a payment for the sin of all mankind. God not only sees the torment of the wrongs committed today, but He unleashed His full wrath against sin, knowing the full measure of His wrath in the torment of hell, upon Himself. He is in the same place He was before time began, knowing the end of all things, with His plan to avenge every evil, and pour out His mercy and grace and love. Maybe you need to read the end of the story in the book of the Revelation, and get some perspective? This is not the end. It's going to get exceedingly worse. But God will set all things in order, and we will have eternal peace.
Feel free to start with paragraph #1 and itemize the problems you see in it, and continue by numbering each successive paragraph and showing from scripture with clear verses how I have written something that is wrong.
The fact that you went to an attack on character instead of addressing the issue doesn't speak well of you. Stick to the issues. Allow the clear verses, those which can only have one meaning, to rule over those which seem to conflict with them. If a verse seems to conflict with a clear verse, it is because you're understanding of the unclear, and in your mind, apparently conflicting verses to overrule the clear teachings of verses like John 3:18.
So tell me, Did Jesus Christ say in John 3:18 that if you believe in Him, you are not condemned? Yes or No? If He did, was He telling the truth or lying? If He was telling the truth, why are you trying to contradict His clear statement? If He was telling the truth, why are you questioning His theology, and rejecting His words?
Further, does God not state with absolute clarity that we can know that we already possess eternal life? Yes or No? If it can be undone, how it is eternal, that is to say, without end? If it is eternal, how can it end?
The first rule of bible interpretation is that the clear verses, which can only have one meaning, give meaning to the unclear verses, (those which can have multiple interpretations), NOT the other way around.
There is no ambiguity in these words. "He that believes in not condemned." "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that NOT of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God, NOT of works, lest any man should boast." "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but NOT before God. For what does the Scripture say? �Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.� Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but BELIEVES on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: �Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.�
Blasphemy - From Thayer's Greek lexicon - specifically, impious and reproachful speech injurious to the divine majesty
Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost - A continuous and obstinate rejection of the Holy Spirit's testimony regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ, a refusal to believe in the name of the Son of God, and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as long as a sinner remains in unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from pardon. (Matt. 12:31, 32; Mark 3:28, 29; Luke 12:10) Such a person refuses to change their thinking, i.e., repent (metanoeo Greek 3340, Short Definition: I repent, change my mind), and believe in Christ.
1 John is written to those who already are Christians, and confession is necessary to re-establish fellowship when the Christian has sinned. Positionally, all sin is forgiven all Christians, but in time forgiveness is not bestowed until it is requested. Each sin is to be confessed individually as you remember it before the Lord. At that time you are forgiven. If you doubt this look at 1 Corinthians 11 and what Paul wrote about those who were taking communion with unconfessed sin. They came in with a casual attitude, not humbling their own selves, and not asking for the sins they committed since their last confession before God. As noted in chapter 3, they suffer loss, but they themselves are saved.
"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples� feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, �Lord, are You washing my feet?� Jesus answered and said to him, �What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.� Peter said to Him, �You shall never wash my feet!� Jesus answered him, �If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.� Simon Peter said to Him, �Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!� Jesus said to him, �He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.� For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, �You are not all clean.�"
Jesus told Peter he didn't need to get saved, a whole cleansing, but needed the footwashing, cleansing of daily sin, to maintain fellowship. If I don't have my feet washed I have no part with Jesus until I do. This is about fellowship, just like 1 John 1:6-10 I'm surprised you didn't add this as yet another condition for salvation: "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." But it's a condition for fellowship, not salvation.
"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, NOT by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable TO MEN."
Do you really not see that a son, prodigal or otherwise, is ALWAYS a son? Go down to the courthouse and tell them you want to change your name. Spit on your parents grave. Deny you are a member of the family. Even kill your family members. Your heritage will NEVER change. You will always have the family DNA. Neither your outward conduct nor your inward beliefs will ever change the unchanging fact that your biological father and mother will always be your biological father and mother. Once born of the Spirit of Almighty God, that never changes either. You have ZERO control of that fact. A dog that acts like a cat is still a dog.
Matthew 6:15 - "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your ----->Father<----- forgive your trespasses." Again, this isn't about losing your place in the family, but fellowship. In hockey when you get a penalty, you go to the sin bin, to think about your cheating. Same with God, it's time away from the fellowship with others. The condition for getting out of the sin bin is confession. This is different than the condition for getting into the family in the first place, belief. "MY sheep hear MY voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father�s hand. I and My Father are one.�" Christ's sheep don't wander off. Your analogy is worthless. "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for IF THEY HAD BEEN OF US, THEY WOULD HAVE CONTINUED WITH US, but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things."
"He who has the Son HAS life (ALREADY POSSESSES); he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that YOU HAVE eternal life (ALREADY POSSESS ETERNAL life), and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:12-13 If it can end for any reason, you cannot know that you already possess it, because it is not eternal, but conditional.
There is a brilliant illustration of the truth behind James 4:7 in the book of Joshua. Most Christians are familiar with the battle of Jericho. That's because we get to put ourselves on the side of a righteous conqueror, and it feels good. The good guys win and we are one of the good guys.
But do you even know the name of the location of the next battle, or what happened there? Most don't. We don't like hearing about failure. But this is one of the most important lessons of life you can learn, and it's application has an impact on the quality of life we enjoy on a daily basis.
When you compare and contrast these two stories, and understand the implications, it will shock you. You will see how simple it is to fail in one easy step. These stories are told in Joshua chapters 1 through 7, and line up perfectly with the teaching in James 4:7.
Go ahead and read the stories, and see if you can figure out how and why this happened.
Second, our salvation is conditional. The condition to be met is that we at some point in time, must believe God, that He came to earth and died for our sin. If we do not meet this condition, we do not get saved. Salvation is a gift we receive from God when we believe God the way Abraham believed God, and it becomes accounted to us for righteousness, because God wills it to be so. Over 90 times in the New Testament it is written that the sole condition for salvation is belief alone. But, it must be belief in the right object of faith, God.
"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? �Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.� Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: �Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.�
To borrow a phrase, "(I) believe that the Bible teaches Lordship Christian living, not Lordship Salvation. Eternal salvation is received by faith alone in Christ alone! It is not my believing that makes these things so, but God, who sets the standards, saying they are so.
�He who believes in (Christ) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
No sir, you have no fully grasped the issues. You are confused by the differences in eternal truths as opposed to temporal truths. Positionally, all of our sin is already forgiven, even the sin we have not yet committed. Practically, our sin must be confessed to maintain fellowship. Each sin committed is a barrier to fellowship no matter how small. Each sin committed is an act of unbelief. Are you saved and not saved hundreds, even thousands of times a day? Not with regard eternal salvation. Yes with regard to each temptation. We are saved from the power of sin hundreds of times, if not thousands by being delivered on a practical basis from the power of sin with regard to each particular temptation, or not, depending on how we respond. That doesn't change our status as a member of the body of Christ, which is an eternal truth.
"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal." 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
The "brethren" here are clearly saved, else they would not be called brethren. But they are in sin, according to Paul. Why would Paul refer to them as "brethren", if a particular sin had caused them to lose their status as a member of the body of Christ, by committing an act of unbelief? It doesn't.
"For we are God�s fellow workers; you are God�s field, you are God�s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one�s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one�s work, of what sort it is. If anyone�s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone�s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." I Corinthians 3:9-15
The works which are burned are acts of the flesh, not done in faith but in vanity; acts of unbelief. Yet, God says, the individual is still saved. There is a loss in temporal realm of loss of fellowship, and in the eternal realm, loss of reward; but it doesn't impact the status as one of the "brethren" who is eternally saved.
And you still haven't understood the reality of the new birth. You completely ignored this reality in your response. Be careful of being so dismissive of this reality which God, of His own will, causes. It is a permanent creation, more alive than an unbeliever in the flesh. The new man cannot sin.
"If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him." 1 John 5:16-18
When you sin, you suffer loss of fellowship, but as God clearly states, that doesn't mean eternal death, eternal separation for the Christian.
Lastly, that you think that you have the authority to break the seal of Almighty God shows how little understanding you have concerning the seals of God. God alone has that power. You do not. Your unbelief in any given situation does not equal you attaining equality with God and ability to break God's seal.
"And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, �Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?� And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, �Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.�
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:
�You are worthy to take the scroll,
and to open its seals;
for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
and "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Or you can trust your heart, because, you know, "the heart wants what it wants" and, just like momma said in the song, "follow your heart, and nothing else" and of course, your heart would never misguide you:
�The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"
