Whoever has been born of God does not sin

[ClayInHisHands]

The flesh is "terminated". Faith in Christ allows us to abide in Him, now, so you can deny the "old" flesh. Romans 6:5-6 says that if we have joined Him in death, then we have also joined Him in His resurrection.
Those without the faith to believe that their old life is gone will continue to serve themselves.
I like Jesus' parable in Matt 5:29-30, where he says, "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
This is a picture of what happens to a believer when he crucifies the flesh with Christ. That flesh cannot entice him anymore. That flesh has received its' judgement, death. Those that continue to follow the "old" flesh show that they don't have the faith needed to obey Christ. Or they are simply refusing to obey Him.
The flesh will always continue to lure us away from Jesus, but you have to remember that the old man is dead, daily also.
When Jesus said to take up your cross, what happens to someone carrying a cross? They are killed on it. Christians have obeyed that admonition.

Did Peter sin when he denied Christ 3 times? Did he stop believeing and need re-saved or did he just need to confess that he sinned and repent?


What about later in Galatians?


GALATIANS 2:11-19

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”



Was Peter sinning against God by being hypocritical or was this not sinning? What would it be called?



I am serious. Is it a sin if I get upset about something my wife said and I let it anger me and then realize that I acted selfishly? Is that a sin or not? Or is it only a sin if I stew for hours or days etc.

[PJW]

Peter didn't have the Holy Ghost yet, but it was a sin. The bible doesn't say anything about His repentance, but it does say "he wept bitterly". "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." (2Cor 7:10)
As for the Galations scripture, (Gal 2:11-18) what exactly was his "sin"? Was it eating with Gentiles, as Peter would be accused of by the visiting "friends" of James? Or was it for pulling away from the Gentiles in order to please the visiting Jews? Paul gets after Peter for compelling the Gentiles "to live as do the Jews". Peter was in a no win situation. He made the wrong decision for a man freed from the constraints of the law of Moses, but not for someone trying to please "the unknown" Jews. I can't fault Peter, but Paul finishes with, "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." (v18)
Paul had a lot of experience with the far flung Jews, and was often in direct opposition to them, where I don't think Peter did. If I was in fights with "blue people" all the time, wouldn't I have a different perspective of them than somebody who only got their news about "blue people" from the TV? Again, It was their perceptions that drove each to their actions.

[ClayInHisHands]

Peter didn't have the Holy Ghost yet, but it was a sin. The bible doesn't say anything about His repentance, but it does say "he wept bitterly". "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." (2Cor 7:10)
As for the Galations scripture, (Gal 2:11-18) what exactly was his "sin"? Was it eating with Gentiles, as Peter would be accused of by the visiting "friends" of James? Or was it for pulling away from the Gentiles in order to please the visiting Jews? Paul gets after Peter for compelling the Gentiles "to live as do the Jews". Peter was in a no win situation. He made the wrong decision for a man freed from the constraints of the law of Moses, but not for someone trying to please "the unknown" Jews. I can't fault Peter, but Paul finishes with, "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." (v18)
Paul had a lot of experience with the far flung Jews, and was often in direct opposition to them, where I don't think Peter did. If I was in fights with "blue people" all the time, wouldn't I have a different perspective of them than somebody who only got their news about "blue people" from the TV? Again, It was their perceptions that drove each to their actions.

So Peter wasn't sinning? Can you give me a practical real life situation dealing with different perceptions that you are referring?


What about the analogy I gave with my wife? If I was being selfish, is me being selfish a sin? And if so, when that occurs shouldn't I repent for being selfish or is it an act that I just make obedient to Christ and it's not a sin because I didn't let it build a nest in my mind?

[glad4mercy]

The flesh is "terminated". Faith in Christ allows us to abide in Him, now, so you can deny the "old" flesh. Romans 6:5-6 says that if we have joined Him in death, then we have also joined Him in His resurrection.
Those without the faith to believe that their old life is gone will continue to serve themselves.
I like Jesus' parable in Matt 5:29-30, where he says, "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
This is a picture of what happens to a believer when he crucifies the flesh with Christ. That flesh cannot entice him anymore. That flesh has received its' judgement, death. Those that continue to follow the "old" flesh show that they don't have the faith needed to obey Christ. Or they are simply refusing to obey Him.
The flesh will always continue to lure us away from Jesus, but you have to remember that the old man is dead, daily also.
When Jesus said to take up your cross, what happens to someone carrying a cross? They are killed on it. Christians have obeyed that admonition.

So do you agree with this statement?

...it seems to me that the flesh still seeks to entice us, that we need to resist it on a daily basis, and that if we are not dilligent we can fall back into our old ways, but praise be to God that Christ has set us free from the power of sin and He has broken the yoke of bondage of the the flesh. Now the flesh is deprived of it's power and we are free to walk in righteousness...

[PJW]

Clay In His Hands,
No, I don't feel it was sin, in Galatians.
A good example would be, while drinking a beer, another person comes up and says, "Oh your sinning by drinking!"
I respond with, "Show me the scripture." "Wasn't Jesus' first miracle creating wine from water?" Of course I know that "being drunk" is a sin, but having a beer with dinner is hardly "serving the flesh". God gave us all things to enjoy, including beer.
(I wonder what kind of hornet's nest has just been stirred?)
Or, how about driving 70 mph in the 65 zone? Some will go into a tizzy because I have "broken the law"? These traffic laws are here for the safety of everyone on the road. If I"m not creating a hazard, what offense to God have I committed.
We live under the law of liberty, But I will not use this liberty "for an occasion to the flesh,". (Gal 5:13)
As for being selfish, that would seem to be the opposite of "love your neighbor", so I would look for some repentance from that.

[PJW]

glad4mercy,
I agree completely.
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Gal 5:24)

[glad4mercy]

glad4mercy,
I agree completely.
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Gal 5:24)

Great verse. So now that we are dead to sin, and have crucified the flesh, we need to continue to...

Romans 6: 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:12- Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:13-Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6: 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

[PJW]

Amen! Go, and sin no more.

[ClayInHisHands]

A good example would be, while drinking a beer, another person comes up and says, "Oh your sinning by drinking!"
I respond with, "Show me the scripture." "Wasn't Jesus' first miracle creating wine from water?" Of course I know that "being drunk" is a sin, but having a beer with dinner is hardly "serving the flesh". God gave us all things to enjoy, including beer.

With this example in mind....what criteria would be needed or what do you feel in your opinion would be a point where just simply having alcohol could be a stumbling block to somebody?


The best example would be.....


ROMANS 14

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.



Should we not just drink around those that Paul would be identifying here or all together?


Let's say I create a stumbling block, so I stop so I won't cause them to stumble further.


If I still drink and I am questioned in the future from this same person about if I drink a beer or wine from time to time, would I then be a hypocrit or be lying?

Because I would need to tell them the 100% truth...yes I still have a beer or two, etc.

What Paul is talking about here....should I just stop having a beer because those who are unsaved within my family who have a problem with alcohol and/or use frequently for recreation might deny the gospel because they see it as hypocritical(me as a Christian being a hypocrit)?




Wouldn't I then be a bad witness?

Or is it what Paul saying only applied to saved individuals and if so then the same thinking could be applied wouldn't it?




I ask not to disagree, but because I wonder about this.

[PJW]

If I was questioned about my "view" on beer, I would show every scripture that I could think of to give credence to my position.
If I knew a man was struggling with alcoholism, the situation would never come up because I would love him enough to protect him from his temptation. A beer to me is just a drink, but to him, it's just the first step toward gross misbehavior.
If a man really had a problem with obeying every nuance of traffic law, I would drive like a driving instructor. But if he wasn't around, I might drive with the speed of traffic just to keep from being run-over.
A Christian loves others and will treat them the way they want to be treated. Sometimes we don't know what another man is struggling with and until the problem is brought to our attention, we are unaware of our effect on them.
The key point is "have the scriptures so you can vindicate yourself to those who question you".