You make an excellent point. I have often said that the Christian life should be lived “moment by moment” in the very same sense of what your DH was saying.

The problem in a lot of situations is that we tend to live life on “auto-pilot” and fail to recognize our opportunity in every moment to choose holiness.

Thanks for stopping by!

I do not claim to be “without sin”…but I do believe that we (as Christians) DO move on towards perfection.

Blessings.

Susan

Oh, and Tony, are you saying that Alan’s use of 1 John was what you were getting at in your earlier comment?

Pretty much, though I would like to point out that in 1 John 2:1, where John writes, “…I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins…” this expresses the point Alan hit on way up there in the thread, but then you guys went a different direction.

The verbs “sin” and “sins” in the aforementioned verse are in the subjunctive mood, which I am sure you know, is that mood of possibility.

It is very possible that a believer sins, but it is not required. I think an apt translation could be (and I am NO Greek scholar, btw), “I write to you so that you may not continue in sin. But if anyone does sin we have an Advocate” (ptl!). That may express the mood of potentiality inherent in the verse.

Individual sins in moments of time are a possibility for the believer, but not a lifestyle, for we have an Advocate; though often we do not avail ourselves of the forgiving power, grace, mercy, and liberation that Advocate affords us .

Blessings; great post!

This has been a very interesting and enjoyable discussion. By the way, if you’d like to visit my blog sometime and leave a comment, that would be great.

I have recently been doing a series on Arminianism vs. Calvinistic/Reformed thinking (quite a controversial topic ). But it’s been difficuly for me to post the articles in the series as frequently as I would like, since 1: I like to be thorough; 2. I consider myself a relative newcomer to the Reformed/Arminian debate and so I’m trying to make sure what I say is accurate; and 3. I’ve been sick a lot.

But I would certainly covet this kind of thought-provoking, quality commentary/discussion on my blog .

By the way I also am a singer/songwriter– though not professional, I am hoping to do much more with my musical gifts…

Hey, I’m just asking the questions… I’m not answering them. That’s your mission… if you choose to accept it.

-Alan

Our modernistic mindset constantly tries to categorize things in “either/or” mentalities, and I think that you and I are probably just emphasizing two sides of a “both/and”. Perhaps. I’m not certain, but it’s certainly not something I feel the need to argue with you about at this point. (Unless, like Alan, you are looking for a fight with me!! hehe )

I think there is a danger in interpreting this chapter as a portrait of the kind of day-to-day experience we should be having as Christians. I don’t think paul is saying that at all, especially when we see his conclusions in Romans 8.

Exactly. That’s pretty much what I was trying to get across, so we likely are in agreement.

However I think there is an equal if not greater danger to view what Paul describes here as pre-Christian experience….

Fair enough. I can accept that “disclaimer” on what I wrote.

Thanks again for your thought-provoking and gracious comments on this. It’s a pleasure to have commenters like you here. I appreciate and think very highly of all who contribute to discussions such as this.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply to my comments.

I think I understand what you’re saying– if we have the resources needed, through Christ and the Word and the Holy Spirit, to overcome sin victoriously, why should the battle with sin be so difficult?

But to describe the battle with sin as a “struggle” to me does not imply that it is not one in which we are not steadily making progress– as others here in their comments have eloquently concurred– it is simply an honest acknowledgment that in this lifetime, while I’m still in the mortal body, the sinful, evil tendencies of the flesh remain with me, always rising up–as a law– against the inner man that wants to please God (Romans 7:21). This is also why I think it so important to understand Romans 7 as Paul describing the believer’s conflict between his God-planted inner desire to please God in submitting to the Law that he recognizes as good, vs. the fleshly inevitability of disobeying the law.

I realize some may interpret this chapter as Paul’s pre-conversion experience, because the picture of the Christian walk described seems pretty bleak, and does not seem like the “victorious” life promised or implied by Romans 6 and Romans 8. But I think Paul purposefully portrays the starkness of the battle between the sinful flesh and the godly desires God has planted in us through rebirth in Christ, to show how utterly useless it is to fight against the “law” of sin using the “will power” of the natural man. Only a higher, more powerful law, the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8: 2), can set me free from this “law of sin and death” at work in the members of my body. this concurs with what Jesus teaches us in John 6:63: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing”.

I think there is a danger in interpreting this chapter as a portrait of the kind of day-to-day experience we should be having as Christians. I don’t think paul is saying that at all, especially when we see his conclusions in Romans 8. However I think there is an equal if not greater danger to view what Paul describes here as pre-Christian experience– because we perhaps think that the battle with sin will not continue, or that there is some kind of special experience I must have in my walk, or some special deliverance, that these struggles with sin may cease.

I agree with the others here (ded, Laurie Ann) who seem to say that if we are honest we recognize that there is continuing struggle with sin but that progress is possible and indeed inevitable if we are Christ’s.

I didn’t have a chance to look this up earlier, but I finally looked up the meaning of the Greek word that the NIV translates “say no to”.

BDAG Greek Lexicon: arneomai – to refuse to pay attention to, disregard, renounce.

So, does the grace of God teach us to “refuse to pay attention to” ungodliness?

-Alan