Replies

But we are all sinners and fall into sin again and again. What do we do then?

No, we're not all sinners. Born again believers are saints. We're saints who sometimes sin.

If we sin, we confess it and move on.

and...

God has known our every sin from the moment of our birth until our final breath.. When He hung on that cross He saw all of them...and forgave them and satisfied the wrath of God ,acted as a propitiation for the sin and gave us right standing with God.. ..His cross is totally sufficient ..there is nothing to add to it.

That is the peace that passes all understanding ...He has forgiven us even before we ask ..

True believers, "born again", by being "born again" are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer, that therefore our bodies are indeed a temple to God.

While we still are born into sin, that is, we are still human and have a sinful nature, when we truly are born again we actually see a marked change in ourselves, in that we "put off the old man", the Bible says. That is, we put off our former sins that we used to fall to temptation to habitually. We are drawn to God's Word, and, unlike our former "old man", the unbeliever, who tries to make excuses and hates to be held accountable to God's Word, instead the born again true believer finds a great interest in God's Word and very much finds themself desiring and loving it as a rule and guide in faith and life.

Thus when someone approaches us and posits that a certain thing we do is a sin - we welcome the critique since we hate the idea of not following the commandments of our Lord much more than the temporary embarassment of being confronted with our own sin. Since the true believer frequently studies the Word of God and prays, and they keep the Lord in their thoughts continually and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, they may realize from time to time sins in their thoughts, words or deeds, and these evoke the same response.

The Bible tells us that the response to sin must be repentance.

This requires admitting the act is a sin, admitting that we committed the act, and thus we sinned; in a word, acknowledgement - not an excuse, blameshift, etc. We must confess our sin to God, and to the person we sinned against as well, if we sinned against a specific person. Our confession to God, of course, is a prayer, directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ. In our prayer, when we repent, we also, having recognized and acknowledged our sin, resolve to not repeat it. This confession and resolution to turn away from that sin is essential part of true repentance. The Bible clearly says we do not have a license to sin, that simply asking forgiveness from God somehow entitles us to repeat the sin over and over again, as long as we confess each time and ask for forgiveness. Such a wicked game is clearly and specifically refuted in the Bible. The regenerate sinner, the true believer, born again, has the help of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, and when the situation arises again in the future, we should find ourselves being repulsed by the idea of committing a sin again that we have confessed to God and repented of. Otherwise, there has not been true repentence regarding that sin.

While we all fall short of the glory of God, and our human nature is that we are born into sin, the Bible tells us that we will not live a sinless life, that even the most faithful among us will occasionally sin, sometimes not so serious a sin, sometimes a grave sin. We may find ourselves sometimes repeating a sin that we have confessed before. That being said, if we find ourselves having little or no success at all in avoiding repitition of our past sins, the professing Christian should really consider the condition of their soul - have we really put off the "old man", are we born again ? Anyone professing Christ while they continually and habitually commit grave sins for which they are not repentant is clearly not convicted of their own sin in their heart, they do not fear the Lord, and they actually are an unbeliever. Many Christians profess Christ outwardly, but are unregenerate sinners, unbelievers, and this is evidenced by their habitual, grave sins that display a hatred of God's Word and their rejection and opposition to it.

The Bible clearly says that the true believer has every reason to be assured of their salvation and should, as they progress on their Christian walk in the process of personal sanctification, find increasing assurance for themselves in living according to the Word of God according to the promises of the Word. The Bible tells us God will forgive if we repent - it's not repenting that is a problem. The true believer will come to delight in the Word of God.

When we are able to overcome sin - the glory goes to God, not to us, since were it not for the help of the Holy Spirit, we would not only be unbelievers that hated and rejected Christ, we would have no hope of overcoming temptation to sin.

AMEN!!!

Those who are not born again have no idea of what a regenerated spirit's response to sin is.

Anyone who thinks that a true born again believer can sin with impunity cause they know they're saved, clearly does NOT understand that work in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

And there is the aspect that someone else brought up, that somewhere some Catholic is busy biting their fingernails down thinking that somewhere, some Christian is getting away with something they can't do.

Colossians 2:20-23 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Amen! Very well said. I especially like the way you phrased these:

Thus when someone approaches us and posits that a certain thing we do is a sin - we welcome the critique since we hate the idea of not following the commandments of our Lord much more than the temporary embarassment of being confronted with our own sin. Since the true believer frequently studies the Word of God and prays, and they keep the Lord in their thoughts continually and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, they may realize from time to time sins in their thoughts, words or deeds, and these evoke the same response.

The Bible tells us that the response to sin must be repentance.

and

While we all fall short of the glory of God, and our human nature is that we are born into sin, the Bible tells us that we will not live a sinless life, that even the most faithful among us will occasionally sin, sometimes not so serious a sin, sometimes a grave sin. We may find ourselves sometimes repeating a sin that we have confessed before. That being said, if we find ourselves having little or no success at all in avoiding repetition of our past sins, the professing Christian should really consider the condition of their soul - have we really put off the "old man", are we born again ? Anyone professing Christ while they continually and habitually commit grave sins for which they are not repentant is clearly not convicted of their own sin in their heart, they do not fear the Lord, and they actually are an unbeliever. Many Christians profess Christ outwardly, but are unregenerate sinners, unbelievers, and this is evidenced by their habitual, grave sins that display a hatred of God's Word and their rejection and opposition to it.

Additionally, as Paul speaks in Romans 7, even those who are regenerate and born again, will sin. The difference is that they do not want to sin. They take no pleasure in sin, their pleasure is in pleasing the Lord because He has put a heart of flesh in them to give them that desire. Oh, there may be some initial "pleasure" in sinning, but it is fleeting because sooner or later, they have to come to grips with knowing they have sinned against the Lord that they love. Then comes the struggle many know so well of coming to repentance, to quit struggling with God and giving control over to Him in that temptation to obey Him rather than our sin nature. And oh, what blessed peace there is then! And we know that this cycle will be repeated, over and over, but as it is, we also know that He is conforming us more into His image.

Contrast this process to the unregenerate who thinks they have to do all these things to not sin. That it is up to them. They have a pride in all that they do or can do, in order to live "holy" lives. Instead of having a great desire to obey their Redeemer, knowing they are unable in and of themselves, they look to the things they can do or say or touch or eat, or whatever and put their trust that God will be more pleased with them if they do so.

The gospel is simple: He is a holy God and we are not and can never be and we need Him alone to fix what is broken in us. So simple, but so difficult.

The Bible tells us that the response to sin must be repentance.
This requires admitting the act is a sin, admitting that we committed the act, and thus we sinned; in a word, acknowledgement - not an excuse, blameshift, etc. We must confess our sin to God, and to the person we sinned against as well, if we sinned against a specific person. Our confession to God, of course, is a prayer, directly to God, in the name of Jesus Christ. In our prayer, when we repent, we also, having recognized and acknowledged our sin, resolve to not repeat it. This confession and resolution to turn away from that sin is essential part of true repentance. The Bible clearly says we do not have a license to sin, that simply asking forgiveness from God somehow entitles us to repeat the sin over and over again, as long as we confess each time and ask for forgiveness. Such a wicked game is clearly and specifically refuted in the Bible. The regenerate sinner, the true believer, born again, has the help of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, and when the situation arises again in the future, we should find ourselves being repulsed by the idea of committing a sin again that we have confessed to God and repented of. Otherwise, there has not been true repentence regarding that sin.

Amen!