Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy
Not sure I quite follow. And I'm not sure you are really answering the question. I mean, you start by saying "no", and then it looks like you are explaining a "yes" answer.
You were in the cesspool of sin before, and now (I think, if I understand you correctly) you are not. That seems "better", to me. And this doesn't really hinge on whether you deserved to be pulled out of that cesspool or not. If you were, you were.
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If the question is whether Christians are better than they were before they became Christians, then I would say yes.
But if the question is whether or not Christians are better than non-believers, then I would say no. I don't see Christians being better, superior, more important than, or over, non-believers. Paul told the church at Rome not to think themselves better than the Jews who rejected Christ, because in reality the gentiles were grafted into the vine and could just as easily be taken out of it as well.
I don't see myself as being better than the non-believer sitting in the cubicle next to me. We were both born in sin and shapen in iniquity. We both are human and are subject to the passions and lusts of the flesh. We both have sinned and made mistakes. So when it comes to us as individuals, I am no better than she is. As Paul said, "such were some of you."
However, I am in a better standing since I have responded to the gospel, repented, been baptized for the remission of my sins, received the Spirit of God, and have tried my best to live a life pleaseing to HIM. I know that I have the hope of salvation. The non-believer who has done none of these things does not have that same hope. I don't have that hope because of some intrinsic quality, talent, or accomplishment that makes me superior to the non-believer who is absent of those things. No, because it doesn't matter what qualities I have, or talents I possess, or accomplishments I have made, if I were to be without Christ again, then I would be right back in the same hopeless state as the Non-believer sitting next to me.
So, am I better that she is? Superior in some way? No.
Am I in a better place than she is spiritually? Yes. Currently I have a better spiritual standing than she does. Not because of who I am, but because of who HE is.
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