Are Christians better?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Apostolicman7

Yes. Cesspool being an alligory I use of course. But all unbelievers remain bound by sin.

And you are no longer in that cesspool? No longer bound by sin?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

And you are no longer in that cesspool? No longer bound by sin?

Good question. What does the HG infilling do to your "sin condition"? Does it disappear? If not, is it easier to deal with?

[houston]

Originally Posted by Adam

Good question. What does the HG infilling do to your "sin condition"? Does it disappear? If not, is it easier to deal with?

Oh boy.

[bbyrd009]

It gives you access to 1 John 1:9.

[Apostolicman7]

Originally Posted by Timmy

And you are no longer in that cesspool? No longer bound by sin?

No. Christians have been set free from the reign of sin. Does that make us sinless? Not necessarily, because we are still flesh. However, now if we sin we have a mediator between us and God - the man Christ Jesus.

We also have the ability to walk in the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We have also been set free from the curse of sin. Non-believers do not have the ability to walk in the Spirit, are ruled by the lusts of the flesh, and are subject to the curse of sin and are bound servants to sin.

While Christians are not perfect and sinless, we have a means by which we can crucify our flesh and minimize the influence of sin in our lives through prayer, submission to God, and to HIS word. We do not have to be servants of sin, or ruled by sin. When we do mess up, we do not face condemnation and have an advocate. Non-believers do not have this hope. They are servants to sin, bound by sin, and have no advocate to plead their case when they stand in judgement.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by houston

Oh boy.

What do you mean by that?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Apostolicman7

No. Christians have been set free from the reign of sin. Does that make us sinless? Not necessarily, because we are still flesh. However, now if we sin we have a mediator between us and God - the man Christ Jesus.

We also have the ability to walk in the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We have also been set free from the curse of sin. Non-believers do not have the ability to walk in the Spirit, are ruled by the lusts of the flesh, and are subject to the curse of sin and are bound servants to sin.

While Christians are not perfect and sinless, we have a means by which we can crucify our flesh and minimize the influence of sin in our lives through prayer, submission to God, and to HIS word. We do not have to be servants of sin, or ruled by sin. When we do mess up, we do not face condemnation and have an advocate. Non-believers do not have this hope. They are servants to sin, bound by sin, and have no advocate to plead their case when they stand in judgement.

You are better now than when you were bound by sin, you said. But you won't say that you are better than other people who are still bound by sin. Why not?

[Apostolicman7]

Originally Posted by Adam

Good question. What does the HG infilling do to your "sin condition"? Does it disappear? If not, is it easier to deal with?

Peter allowed peer preasure, bias, and fear to cause him to remove himself from the gentiles when Jews showed up for dinner. It created a stumblingblock for other believers and ended with a face to face challenge by Paul.

Paul had thorns in the flesh that God refused to take away.

Aquila and Priscilla lied to the Apostles and the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost doesn't change our nature from a sin nature to a sinless one. The rapture will do that. The Holy Ghost reconnects us with God, leads and guides us into truth, and gives us grace and power to hold strong in faith and live without committing sin.

A close example is this. I am a man. That is my nature, my gender. As a man, I exhibit behaviors and other things that are typical of men. I can change those behaviors that I exhibit, but that doesn't change my basic male nature and gender.

The same is true with the sin nature. We were all born in sin and shapen in inquity. That is our basic nature and will not change until the rapture when our mortal bodies put on immortality. Through the Holy Ghost however, we have the ability to change our behavior so that we are not ruled by the sinful nature within us, but by the Holy nature of the Spirit of God within us. If we become weak in walking in the Spirit, then we'll notice a re-emergence of that "old man" that sinful nature. It is a constant struggle of submitting our base sinful nature to the dominate nature of the Holy Ghost within us. Paul talked about this struggle when he said "I do the things I don't want to do, and don't do the things I want to do."

For a Christian, its a continual battle to keep our sinful nature subjected to the Spiritual nature of God, so that we can walk in the Spirit and not fulfil the lust of the flesh. We all slip from time to time, and will never walk 100% sinless, but the difference between us and non-believers is that we have the ability to subject our sinful nature to the nature of God within us, and not be ruled by that sinful nature.

[Apostolicman7]

Originally Posted by Timmy

You are better now than when you were bound by sin, you said. But you won't say that you are better than other people who are still bound by sin. Why not?

Because without Christ I would be bound by sin again. There is nothing in me that sets me free from sin. There is no action on my part that keeps me unbound. It's only by God's Spirit and Grace that I am free from the rule of sin. It's nothing I've done.

So no. I'm not better than other people because I have the same base nature and would be bound by the same task master they are.

I AM in a better position because I have been set free by Christ. They have yet to be set free, but have the same opportunity if they choose to take it.

Saying I am better than someone else would mean that I am in some way superior to them. In order to be superior to someone or something, you have to have an intrinsic quality that gives you higher status than they are able to obtain. Christians have no such intrinsic quality. Our "status" is solely dependent upon Christ.

How can I say I am better than the non-believer when I am completely dependent on someone else to stay out of that cesspool?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Apostolicman7

Because without Christ I would be bound by sin again. There is nothing in me that sets me free from sin. There is no action on my part that keeps me unbound. It's only by God's Spirit and Grace that I am free from the rule of sin. It's nothing I've done.

So no. I'm not better than other people because I have the same base nature and would be bound by the same task master they are.

I AM in a better position because I have been set free by Christ. They have yet to be set free, but have the same opportunity if they choose to take it.

Saying I am better than someone else would mean that I am in some way superior to them. In order to be superior to someone or something, you have to have an intrinsic quality that gives you higher status than they are able to obtain. Christians have no such intrinsic quality. Our "status" is solely dependent upon Christ.

How can I say I am better than the non-believer when I am completely dependent on someone else to stay out of that cesspool?

Never mind.