So how did you receive the point of Jaybird's comment, that he didn't agree with you about sin? What he said was the message that the gospel gives us; the very essence of what the Scripture's message is.! And he said it accurately to a tee. How did your spirit miss it?
Jesus came to make right our relationship with God by laying payment thru His own blood on a Cross, He now is our bridge to having a pure relationship once again, starting from innocence and equipping us to remain that way, this relationship doesn't start after we die, it starts on day one of Salvation, and isn't that awesome! Smile. So, our position in His family is guaranteed by the Cross, but we still have to experience that victory for ourselves implementing all the power God has given us in Christ, otherwise we would not also realize our death that also happened on that Cross, nor would we be able to conquer our own sins ( plural; or the particulars of sin).
If I just say, "Yeah I died there, and He conquered sin (not plural) there on that Cross..." how is that our reality? But when we are asked to give God our sins ( the result of, and identifier of sin) strongholds and stand against it, being empowered by God thru Jesus Christ ---> And DO it, now it becomes our reality. God wants to show His glory in our changed behaviors, mightily so in our weak bodies. How can His purposes and intentions be served if we never actually change? If we never make all that God did that we could not, not also our reality?
How can we expect God to hear us say "No" to His sinless plan that He set in motion before we were born by-way of Jesus Christ when He sent His Son to die for that very reason? We so can live the life of Jesus Christ!!
You have broadly opened the door to Gods grace, which is true - on the Cross. Are you equally broadly opening up your heart to your death on that same Cross? It does take time to get there, but that will always be God's point in YOUR life. Any other message is not from Him.
So, Yes, you are half right! Only Jesus was pure enough to pay the price for our sins <-----(Plural), and God thru Jesus took care of sin <-------- (not plural). But now in Salvation we have been made pure and innocent, and God has placed us in Christ to do just the opposite of what your second part referred to: We are now empowered by God with Jesus sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us to stand ourselves against sin (in Christ) now. We ourselves are asked by God to be holy as Christ Jesus was holy. We ourselves are asked to sin (meaning the plural version; the particulars of sin) no more. So now the rest is up to us to accomplish. Will we in starting out struggle with this - yes! For we are still babes in Christ. Will we even struggle for a spell- yes! Because adolescence is short-sighted sometimes, will we still suffer into adulthood - we should begin not to! For by now God has been working on you to change from death to life . From the soulish-living to the Spirit-life. Now this is not chronological age, but Spiritual aging. So, God is patient and is always onward and upward in developing His children. But note this: Christ is only interested in us being a participant in the life He lived - otherwise you are at risk, even after regeneration of God's judgement. For we all die once, and are judged. Your spirit, not your soul knows that!
