Re: Authenticity
 

There is no reason for a christian to believe that a christian must sin after conversion. I agree that we retain our carnal nature after the point of salvation which does pull us toward sin and also desires to sin (as it is our sinful flesh against which the Spirit wars). However from our carnal nature and sinful flesh we can be delievered and it can be destroyed thus enabling us through Jesus to live a perfect (in respect to sin), blameless life before God in holiness. This act of being made free from our fallen adamic nature is post salvation and is the experience of entire sanctification. The result is a pure heart.

Re: Authenticity
 

The Scripture says...

I Timothy 3:1-2
This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

This simply means that an elder's life should be above reproach. It doesn't mean that he's perfect, it simply means that he isn't embroiled in controversy, scandal, or illegal activity.

Also, we don't have to live as slaves to sin. The Bible says...

2 Peter 1:4 (NLT)
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

If we have been born of the Spirit, we have the very Spirit of God abiding in our inner man, the spirit. We literally become "one spirit" with the Lord:

1 Corinthians 6:17 (NLT)
17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

We share in a "oneness" with God that is perfectly reflected in the man, Jesus Christ. This oneness (abiding) allows us to be led by the Spirit. As we are led by the Spirit we cease sinning as a practice. It takes time. You see, while your spirit is united with the Lord's Spirit, your mind must be renewed. The old thought patterns, memories, experiences have to be cleansed from your mind. This is done through prayer, fasting, and the study of God's Word. This is "putting on the mind of Christ". This sanctifying grace is one that we will grow in throughout our lives.

It is possible to live above sin. What is sin? Any desire of the flesh that is contrary to spirit of God's Law. What is the Law of God? It's pretty simple...

1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

You'd be surprised how easily one can live without sin. But the answer isn't in listing these commandments and seeking to live by this. The answer is in the essence of these commandments. That is "love". A love for God and a love for others. Jesus put it this way...

Matthew 22:37-40
King James Version (KJV)
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

These two simple commandments are to be the motivating force behind all we do. So that in loving God and others we live out a life that isn't in violation of God's holiness. Paul put it this way,

Romans 13:8-10 (KJV)
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

... and...

Galatians 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Love fulfills the Law. Not legalistic efforts to abide by man made standards, even if the commandments or standards are plucked out of Scripture.

So what must one do if they do sin or are struggling with sin??? And why do we struggle with sin??? You see, right now your flesh is not regenerated, your spirit is. So the desires of the flesh still rage. In fact, the flesh and it's desires war against your spirit. This is why the impulse to sin is still in you. It's the flesh. So, there may be times when you succumb to the flesh and it's desires. There is good news for the saint of God who has a bad day of struggling with the flesh,

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Just confess them. However, really confess what the real issue is. For example... if you just happened to steal your neighbor's lawn mower... you shouldn't confess to having broken the eighth commandment. Don't confess that you've stolen. Why? Because that's not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is... you didn't love your neighbour enough to refrain from stealing his lawn mower. You need to repent of not loving your neighbor enough to respect him and his property. It's not enough to refrain from stealing the neighbor's lawn mower. Hence, the law itself is imperfect. You have to love your neighbor. You have to be filled with love for all people... even the most vile and sinful people. You failed to allow Christ's own love to pour out of you in your moment of temptation to take that lawn mower.

The root of EVERY sin is a failure to love God or a failure to love another as Christ would love them.

Have you neglected worship or been tempted to blame God for things gone wrong? The sin isn't so much neglecting worship or blasphemy... the sin is a failure to love God more than you currently do. Because if you loved Him as He calls you to love Him... you'd not even think of neglecting worship or blasphemy. So confess the lack of love and pray to be filled with a divine love that you can return to Him as you grow in your love for Him. Fall in love with Him all over again.

He's faithful and just to forgive. He knows that we are but flesh. But the goal, the mark, the prize... is to be conformed into the very image and likeness of Jesus. To emulate and image Jesus before a lost world in what we think, say, and do. Jesus is the standard. Not the Ten Commandments. Jesus. Loving God and others as Jesus loves them.

Pretty simple? It's harder than it looks. So the two "commandments" (if you will) that you should focus on are:

1.) Love God with all your being.
2.) Demonstrate your love for God by loving others as yourself.

If you are loving God and others with all you are... you do well.

Some say it's too simple. They want to add all kinds of jargon, rules, bylaws, standards, blah, blah, blah. However, the measure of true spirituality isn't measured in its complexity. It's measured in its simplicity.

Embrace love. Get all focus off rules and standards. Focus on Christ and His abiding in you. Then let that love, His love, pour forth in all you think, do, and say. You'll discover that you gained a significant victory over sin and the flesh that day.

Living "holy" isn't about rules or standards. It's about abiding in divine love. A divine love for God and others. Think about it... what is God's very essence? Love. Therefore we take a close look at these texts...

1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

You see... God doesn't just "love". God IS love. Therefore, when you are loving, patience, kind, and forgiving... you are most like Him. Living a life of divine love makes you discover the key to becoming perfect... as your Father in Heaven is perfect. He is love. Be a vessel of His love. In this... you will discover true "holiness".

Re: Authenticity
 

Good post, Aquila. :thumbsup

I will only add to barry72's post this scripture:

"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:" 2 Thess 2:13

We remain holy by the "renewing" of our minds (Romans 12:2). This is an ongoing process.

Perfect means mature - it's an ongoing process.

It is not necessary to be "authentic" with things that try to interfere in the process of sanctification. That is part of our maturity process.

Pride, anger, etc, are things we battle on our knees before God. All of these elements will hit us at one time or another. It is part of the growing process. We don't have to wear every struggle on our sleeves before the saints to see. We can share our struggles at an appropriate time (mainly to show that God always gives us the victory), unless, it feels as though we are overwhelmed and need to share for prayer or deliverance.

I am not a hypocrite when I keep things inside and only between me and God. How does it benefit the church body to know I am struggling with pride or anger? I have the utmost faith that He hears my prayers and will help me overcome. If I have to go to Him in prayer seven times a day, I will obtain the victory.

Re: Authenticity
 

:thumbsup

Amen.

We can confess our sins and faults in a general manner. Sometimes too much information can cause one to stumble. For example, if an elder says, "I've struggled with over-eating this week.", it can cause one prone to over-eat to think, "Well, pastor has over-eaten and he's okay with God, I guess my fourth helping of Hamburger Helper isn't a big deal." The elder can simply say, "Ah, my friends, I've struggled with my flesh this week."

Also, I love what you said about sharing things at an appropriate time. An elder may have struggled with anger, or maybe an elder is currently struggling with anger. That pastor can privately counsel a couple wherein anger is a major issue and share his own struggles and how he has gotten a grip on it or has sought counsel.

You're right... we don't have to wear every sin or struggle on our sleeves. We can simply admit that we have them in the appropriate manner or circumstance.

Re: Authenticity
 

To the extent of saying that we battle against the attempts of satan to cause us to fall I agree that we struggle with sin but to say that we do sin or that we must repent daily i strongly disagree. This is not biblical at all we do not have to sin.

Re: Authenticity
 

Amen! And you are also reminding me of this scripture:

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Re: Authenticity
 

I am not saying that one must sin every day.

I have noticed that there appears to be a certain arrogance when people declare, "Well I don't sin every day."

If it was so simple and easy to live without sinning every day, then Christ's death was unnecesary.

Yes He gives us power to overcome sin, but He is also our covering. We need His covering even on our best days because we are totally corrupt and incapable of being sinless.

Re: Authenticity
 

Yet, the Word says,
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:" - I John 2:1

I like how Barnes puts it - "As all are liable, with hearts as corrupt as ours, and amidst the temptations of a world like this, to do. This, of course, does not imply that it is proper or right to sin, or that Christians should have no concern about it; but the meaning is, that all are liable to sin, and when we are conscious of sin the mind should not yield to despondency and despair."

Galatians 6:9 and 2 Thess 3:13 both admonish us to "not be weary in well doing". When saints get tired and weary, they make mistakes. I have made mistakes being tired and weary.

But, I have an advocate with my Father... I have struggled and didn't share that with anyone at church. God gave me the victory because I continually sought him to bring me out...I believed that He would.

I can honestly say, that God wouldn't let me go. He came to me everyday until I had deliverance over that issue that wanted to destroy me. Weak on my part? Certainly. But, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

When I found Him at the Cross it was a beautiful thing. But, later, as a saint, I found Him to be truly my Father, when He stood by my side and set me on solid ground.

Many times, the church is not as forgiving.

Re: Authenticity
 

Public confession in a church service may not be called for at all times, but every Christian needs to have someone they can be real with, someone they can confess their faults and struggles.

The Book James says we are to confess our sins, one to another.

It is edifying to confess your faults because the person you confess to may be struggling with the same thing, or maybe they have conquered that sin and they can help you. Even still, the person that hears of your struggle will be encouraged to be transparent when in the future they are tested with the same thing.

When a church fosters an atmosphere that is not conducive to transparency, true fellowship and even the overcoming of sin is hindered.

After all, we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

Re: Authenticity
 

Without the death of Jesus there would be no possibility to live a sinnless life.

Hebrews 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.


Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.



It is only through Jesus that it is possible how therefore can anyone boast in any way of being sinnless in and of themselves?