"You cannot "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin" ( Romans 6:11 ) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God."
> 11."Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
In my view, that can happen in its absolute form, only after I am dead and resurrected and if found worthy at Judgment by Grace...
...but nothing stops us from trying our best in the Interim. St Peter got it wrong quite a few times, right up until the Crucifixion and even afterwards (according to St Paul)...
Yet St Peter is my very favorite Disciple (and later Apostle) precisely because of his Humanity. And because he kept on trying.
Anyrate. I'm not perfect and I don't profess to me. I seek to be Forgiven when I fail. Meanwhile, I live a life in which I am not and cannot hope to be pure because I share Adam's sin nature and frankly I don't try for purity. I'm a son of Adam aspiring to find a better way, and perhaps one day be granted Grace. And perhaps have to accept that Grace is not granted, in which case dire consequences follow...
Until then there is work for me to do that sometimes precludes purity. I accept that in so doing I may Sin inadvertently. It is an acceptable cost to me -- I'll seek Forgiveness and argue the toss later.
For me, a simple Faith accompanied by simple beliefs work best, because I'm a simple man. Complex beliefs defeat me. To that end, I was able to take some valuable lessons from The Three Musketeers. As a Guardian Angel I could relate to each of them, in different ways for different reasons. Porthos, Athos, Aramis, D'Artagnan, de TreVille.
I failed to allow for others who aspire to and achieve a higher calling than I do, now and today, probably hereafter, and by so doing I offended a FRiend. And for that I apologize. No offense was *ever* intended.
I'll lurk this thread for a wee while. I don't want to cause further offense amongst my FRiends. The wilderness will do me good. Time to reflect.
Love in Christ
"DieHard"