well I do have a comment, but I don't wish to draw the scorn and the piling on as several of you did to PJW.
He brought it on himself for claiming to be sinless, 100% of the time.
He does conclude from scriptures that man can indeed repent and bring works worthy of repentance. He does indeed believe that with the "Helper" given to those who obey God, as Peter preached, it is possible to live in obedience to God.
Nobody is arguing against that, but this does not mean we are without sin, 100% of the time.
It is written that Abraham did.
Gen. 26:
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
We know Abraham sinned, we also know he repented and, as Jesus instructed, "Went and sinned no more".
Would you guys pile on the Author of Genesis, ridicule and insult him for these statements?
So even though Abraham was said to obey God's voice, and keep His charge, His commandments, His statutes, and His laws, we see that he was not sinless, 100% of the time. Also, the word "keep" does not mean sinless, perfect obedience 100% of the time. I've seen people abuse and misuse the words of Jesus "go and sin no more" in John 8:11 to teach sinless perfection. Jesus was telling the woman to go and leave her life of sin, namely, she had been practicing adultery. Also, Jesus cannot compromise his perfect holy standard, so of course He is not going to say, "go and just sin a little bit."
Luke 1:
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife
was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name
was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Righteous and blameless
does not mean that they were sinless, 100% of the time (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23).
We know these also sinned, because all have sinned, but we also know they repented and brought forth "Works" worthy of repentance.
Would you insult and ridicule Luke for making this statement about these two believers?
So you just admitted it. WE KNOW THEY ALSO SINNED. Thank you! So Zacharias and Elisabeth were not righteous (in right standing with God) through their own goodness (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10,23), but their faith was accounted to them as righteousness, just as with Noah (Hebrews 11:7) and Abraham (Romans 4:3). Even under the Old Testament, the only way to be in right standing with God was through faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11). No one could keep the law perfectly (Romans 3:23; 6:23), so faith had to be put in the mercy and forgiveness of God (Philippians 3:9).
Matt. 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Will you guys ridicule and insult Jesus for making this statement and command which directly contradicts your preaching?
So do you claim to be sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, absolutely perfect 100% of the time just like God the Father? Are we actually perfect "in that sense?" NO. Matthew 5:48 - Be Perfect - AT Robertson points out - Perfect (teleioi). The word comes from telo, end, goal, limit. Here it is the goal set before us, the absolute standard of our Heavenly Father, which He cannot compromise. The word is used also for relative perfection as of adults compared with children.
So absolute perfection, sinless, without fault or defect for us will not become a reality until we are present with the Lord, but that is the goal to strive for. Yet teleioi is also used to refer to the maturity of an adult, which is the end or aim to which the child points. Thus it denotes those who have attained the full development of innate powers, in contrast to those who are still in the undeveloped state (children). So what Jesus said does not contradict my preaching.
2 Tim. 4:
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Kept the faith does not mean sinless, 100% of the time. There are multiple crowns mentioned in scripture.
1 Cor. 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Will you insult Paul for claiming himself righteous and ready for the Kingdom?
Notice in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, describes the sinful lifestyle of the unrighteous in verse 9-10, then as we read on in verse 11, we discover - And such
were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. All because of FAITH, not sinless perfection.
So personally I have never seen PJW transgress God's Commandments. He seems to be teaching the same things as Jesus did.
So you believe that PJW is sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, absolutely perfect 100% of the time, just as Jesus Christ Himself? 1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, (present tense) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Did Jesus demand sinless perfection in the flesh? as the basis for receiving eternal life in John 3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26.
I know God will write HIS Laws on our heart. But of course, our heart is nothing but a lump of meat. So we should know He means our mind. He will write His Laws on our mind. But we also have sin (Transgression of God's Laws) in our mind.
So why are you defending sinless perfection out of one side of your mouth then admitting we sin out of the other side?
Anyone who says they have no sin in their mind is a liar as it is written. But we are told to reign over sin, Yes?
We are told not to sin, yet does this mean we NEVER sin at all?
Rom. 6:
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Will you guys insult and relegate Paul as a liar for making such a suggestion?
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.
This is what we are commanded to do and is the goal set before us to strive for, yet obviously, if those who are born again never sin at all, then Paul would not have to give us these instructions, so obviously, it happens, Christians are not sinless, 100% of the time.
14 For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, (
Dead in your sins) but under grace. (Alive to serve God in HIS Righteousness)
"Sin has no dominion over you/dead in your sins" because we are not under the law, but under grace, but that still does not mean we never sin at all.
So I have no reason to judge PJW as a liar or false teacher for simply believing what your Bible and mine teaches.
The Bible teaches in 1 John 1:8 -
If we say that we have no sin (present tense), we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. God's word judges those who claim to be sinless, 100% of the time.
Rom. 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
It is apparent to me that Paul serves the Law of Righteousness, also known as the Laws of God, while letting his OLD MAN, also known as his flesh, be crucified with Christ. So his sinful self is dead, which is the law of sin. But his new self is renewed in his mind.
Sinless perfection is not taught in Romans 7:25.
Eph. 4:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The Greek word for "put on" is "enduo" and means to enclose oneself in, as when one "puts on" clothes or armor or some other item. Involved in this is the idea of "imitation" and "identification."
Second, the verb in Greek translated "put on" has the meaning of putting on a badge or uniform of service like that of a soldier.
"Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us
put on the armor of light...
put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13:12,14)
"Put off," wrote Paul, "the old man," and "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness"(Ephesians 4:22,24); And, "put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."(Ephesians 6:11) The allusion is to putting off old clothes and putting on new ones, to enclosing oneself in armor, etc. Nothing here suggests sinless perfection.
Rom.6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Do you guys not believe this?
I believe it and this does not mean sinless perfection. The NIV says - For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
Believers are no longer slaves of sin, but are not slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18) but that does not mean we will never sin again at all. If it did, then 1 John 1:8-2:1 is superfluous.
2 Cor.
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience,
when your obedience is fulfilled.
Still does not mean sinless perfection.
How do you know PJW wasn't sent to expose your "Transgression of God's Commandments by your own doctrines and traditions?
By claiming sinless perfection? Yeah right
(1 John 1:8-10). How do you know he was sent to do as you suggested? You continue to speak out of both sides of your mouth.
I don't know that PJW hasn't achieved the goal of refusing to let "SIN" reign in his mortal body.
Sin "reigns" in your mortal body is one thing and occasional acts of sin are another.
What evidence do any of you have that he hasn't?
1 John 1:8-10 is all the evidence I need to disprove sinless perfection.