Isn’t it obvious… the body is still corrupted so it still enjoys sin. It’s your soul that’s been changed.
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Why do Christians sin?
- Thread starter Russell Earl Kelly PHD
- Start date
There is a "continuous action" sense in the Greek verbs that are present tense and active voice.
In English translations (remember, English is a poor receptor language contrasted to Latin or Greek) the verb structure "I sin" or "I am sinning" is used. In Greek NT, this is often "I am sinning continually", a repetition or habit. The context usually makes this "understood" by the reader of original language.
Whoever is [state of being] born of God does not continually sin [action]; for God's seed continually remains [action] in him: and he cannot continually sin [action], because he is [state of being] born of God.
Tenchi
Active Member
Because they don't know how to "walk in the Spirit."
Galatians 5:16
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Because they aren't aware that there is a difference between "living in/by Spirit" (being saved) and "walking in/by the Spirit" (being led of the Spirit).
Galatians 5:25
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
What's the chief difference between "walking in/by the Spirit" and "living in/by the Spirit"? Paul explained:
Galatians 5:17-18
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Romans 8:13-14
13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Most Christians are not being "led by the Spirit" throughout every day. They don't know what such living looks like because no one around them is living in a constant state of "being led" by him - not even their pastor(s). And since their spiritual leaders give only lip-service to life in the Spirit, knowing nothing, practically-speaking, about what it is to "walk in the Spirit" throughout every day, they don't ever teach those under their spiritual care about "walking in the Spirit." As a result, these ignorant believers do not "walk in/by the Spirit" and so cannot avoid carrying out the sinful desires of their flesh. They try their best in their own fleshly, human powers (intellect, willpower, physical strength) to please God, but life in the Spirit, the only life that truly pleases God, is a supernatural business and entirely beyond human capacities to properly achieve. But, since everyone else is doing the same, these poorly-taught believers just assume that a regular, tight cycle of sin>confession>sin>confession is normal and resign themselves to it.
Consider Paul's words, though:
Romans 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:6-7
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Romans 6:11-12
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
Galatians 5:24
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 6:14
14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Colossians 3:2-3
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
And so on.
The crucified life was a big deal to Paul. He directly and repeatedly connects practical sanctification of the believer to the truth of the believer's being crucified, buried and resurrected with Christ spiritually and thus set free from the power of the "old Self" and sin (Ro. 6:6, 11; Ga. 2:20). When's the last time, though, that you heard a comprehensive sermon series on "walking by the Spirit," the crucified life, submission to the Holy Spirit and life in the Spirit (conviction, strengthening, illumination, comfort, transformation, etc.)? Very, very rarely (and never in a systematic manner) in my fifty years of walking with God. Baptists, in particular, seem deathly afraid to discuss "life in the Spirit," though it is a common (and vital) subject of the NT. They generally remain in over-reaction to the blasphemous nonsense of hyper-charismatics (Benny Hinn, Todd White, Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Mike Bickles, etc.) and so have blinded themselves to a crucial aspect of Christian living.
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Born anew believers do not sin because they cannot sin, but they can and do engage in sinful thoughts ad deeds. But a sin is not a sin if it had been forgiven, when the believer underwent the circumcision of Christ, which moved the consequences of all their sinful acts out of the way, nailed to the cross so to speak.
It is actually the spirit that is born anew. The spirit communes with God. The soul is produced as the union of spirit and body. The soul has the mind, emotions, and eill. The soul enjoys what it receives through the body, the fleshly appetites.
Most people are led of their soulish nature, thus they sin. The Holy Spirit unites the spirit of the Christian with Christ, thus the new birth, the new man. 1 Corinthians 6:17. The soul won’t be perfected until the resurrection.
atpollard
Well-Known Member
Sometimes other Christians REALLY PISS US OFF!
(Isn’t there some famous quote by Ghandi about that?)
Sometimes other Christians REALLY PISS US OFF!
(Isn’t there some famous quote by Ghandi about that?)
Yea, you are from Jersey
well …it’s my body that reacts to all those pretty women in Manhattan
Some Rando
Member
With respect to I John, I would read it within it's specific literary context. By that, I mean, John's major concerns are avoiding Christological heresies and loving one another.
I read chapter one as introductory, and he describes his principle argument in Ch. 2:9
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him
etc... etc...
I think we get in our most trouble when we read individual verses outside of their immediate literary context.
Put differently, John isn't really making statements about his views on Hamartiology...
John's doctrinal concerns he is addressing here are about Christology...
And loving one another.
Therefore, I think we get in trouble when we ignore what the author of the passage we are reading is actually addressing. We should draw no major conclusions without reading the entire letter. It takes about 10 minutes to read the entire letter slowly. Why not do so? John never intended us to read one sentence in the middle of the letter, draw a Theological conclusion from it, and then ignore the rest of it.
We have to ask the question:
"What does John want from his readers?"
That answer is:
1.) Avoid particular Christological heresies such as docetism
2.) Stop considering it acceptable to dwell in sin and fellowship with darkness
3.) Love one another as Christ has loved the Church
4.) Repent of sin when we commit it
...and a few other things.
If, we begin looking for and drawing in-depth hamartiological conclusions from the book of 1st John....then, we've missed the point he's been trying to make entirely
And we begin to argue with each other...
Then call each other names....
Then proceed to question each other's salvation....
Then report each other to the Moderators...
Then accuse the Moderators of being biased...
Then start hating each other, which is precisely what John was trying to avoid.
We often go off the rails Theologically I think, when we draw Theological conclusions on a topic mentioned in a Scripture which the author was not directly addressing.
John mentions sin here....But, that does not mean that it was a Theological Treatise on the nature of sin. We then, are wrong to draw too many conclusions about what he is teaching here. He's begging us to stop sinning, stop being docetists, and stop treating fellow believers horribly.
As far as why we sin?
The same reason Adam did:
The fruit is good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desired to make one wise.
We're still flesh, just as Adam was flesh.
Adam no more needed a "Sin nature" (whether that's a real thing or not) to sin than we do.
We can sin just as easily as Adam did regardless of the new man. We are not perfected yet, and we still have flesh.