QUOTE: Dr. John MacArthur, Jr., "A Christians is not sinless, but as he or she matures spiritually, they will SIN LESS, AND LESS, AND LESS.
Spiritual Maturity is NOT instantaneous, it is a life long growing process.
2 Peter 1:3-8 (HCSB)
[SUP]3 [/SUP] His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
[SUP]4 [/SUP] By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.
[SUP]5 [/SUP] For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,
[SUP]6 [/SUP] knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,
[SUP]7 [/SUP] godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
[SUP]8 [/SUP] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NOW I WILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO MEDITATE ON, and to start working on:
Romans 14:23 (ASV)
[SUP]23 [/SUP] But he that doubteth is condemned if he eat,
because he eateth not of faith;
and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
You should be the one to meditate and work it out to know if you really have LOVE in your heart or just infatuated by a DEAD FAITH you defend to espouse a FALSE DOCTRINE.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 John 4:8,11-16 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
New International Version 1984 James 2:22,24 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. You see that a person is justified by what he does and NOT BY FAITH ALONE.
New International Version 1984 1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, LET US NOT LOVE WITH WORDS AND TONGUES but WITH ACTIONS AND IN TRUTH.
Romans 13:8-11 Love, for the Day Is Near Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED.
ALL GLORY AND PRAISE, HONOR, POWER AND WORSHIP BE TO GOD THE FATHER ANDHIS SON OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. AMEN!!!