I must confess: I'm flabbergasted.
I also have to wonder if the agenda behind this (if there is one) is requiring people to "clean up" before they are baptized. That's an old doctrinal preference, especially among uber-UCs.
Quote:
|
Don't I need the Holy Ghost to stop sinning? NO!
|
His NT examples were statements written to churches where presumably believers were already Spirit-filled. (And he's telling Spirit-filled believers to "flee fornication", "lay aside every weight, and the sin", "awake to righteousness", etc.)
Citing OT examples of righteousness--there were far more who failed at righteousness than succeeded, especially perfectly.
I do agree that it is POSSIBLE for a person to walk in [outward] righteousness without the help of God. However, it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to walk in perfect [inward] righteousness without being filled with the Spirit. Without God IN us, our hearts remain guilty as ever. Impossibly wretched, wicked and debauched. Horribly and utterly corrupt. Only God can transform the heart of a man, and that is
required for actual righteousness.
This is a line of thought produced by dependence on appearances rather than reality. If someone
appears to have stopped sinning, and they
appear to be modest and holy, then we can assume their hearts are also righteous and they are sin-free. Nope. Sorry. We actually NEED God to finish the work. You can stop participating in outward sins, but your heart will remain black as coal until
He has washed and filled it.
Linear Mode
