IS SIN A CHOICE?

[AlmondJoy]

I have heard people say for years that Christians HAVE to sin everyday.

Do we not choose to give into temptation when we do?

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

If God provides a way of escape when we are tempted then we must make a choice to sin.

If we choose to sin, can we not also choose not to?

 

[pottersclay]

I have heard people say for years that Christians HAVE to sin everyday.

Do we not choose to give into temptation when we do?

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

If God provides a way of escape when we are tempted then we must make a choice to sin.

If we choose to sin, can we not also choose not

[/

Which do you want to talk about sin or temptation?

 

[Tararose]

We are all tempted. Even Christ faced temptation but he never gave in to it.

He released us from the power of sin, we are no longer slaves to it.
Romans 6
17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

We sometimes deliberately choose to sin, other times we have sinned in ignorance. But thanks to Christ, no one, Including our own old self, can force us to sin. There is ALWAYS a way to escape it if we look hard enough and choose resist and flee.
1 cor 10
13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

We do sin still as believers but we do not make it our habitual practise. If we make it our lifestyle by habitually practicing it then it is evidence we are not born again and the Lord is not working His will and His ways in us by the power of His Spirit. We should always strive to practise righteousness as believers but at times we will and do fall short. We always have the option to turn to God in our times of weakness, and He can deliver us from every temptation if we were completely serious about it. But truth be told we are not able to perfectly exist without sinning in this fallen flesh. It will at times get the better of us sadly, and we are totally responsible for those occasions.

1 john 1

5. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Sin, Its Reality and Remedy
8 If we say that we have no sin, 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.

 

[AlmondJoy]

Which do you want to talk about sin or temptation?

It would be hard for Christians to talk about one and not the other seeing we are tempted to sin. No?

 

[AlmondJoy]

We are all tempted. Even Christ faced temptation but he never gave in to it.

He released us from the power of sin, we are no longer slaves to it.
Romans 6
17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

We sometimes deliberately choose to sin, other times we have sinned in ignorance. But thanks to Christ, no one, Including our own old self, can force us to sin. There is ALWAYS a way to escape it if we look hard enough and choose resist and flee.
1 cor 10
13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

We do sin still as believers but we do not make it our habitual practise. If we make it our lifestyle by habitually practicing it then it is evidence we are not born again and the Lord is not working His will and His ways in us by the power of His Spirit. We should always strive to practise righteousness as believers but at times we will and do fall short. We always have the option to turn to God in our times of weakness, and He can deliver us from every temptation if we were completely serious about it. But truth be told we are not able to perfectly exist without sinning in this fallen flesh. It will at times get the better of us sadly, and we are totally responsible for those occasions.

1 john 1

5. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Sin, Its Reality and Remedy
8 If we say that we have no sin, 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.

Thanks
I agree that no one can force Christians to sin.

 

[Tararose]

]I have heard people say for years that Christians HAVE to sin everyday.

Do we not choose to give into temptation when we do?

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

If God provides a way of escape when we are tempted then we must make a choice to sin.

If we choose to sin, can we not also choose not to?

[/QUOTE]

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4 speaks of help to escape temptation,
these verses show us Christ is not leaving us to accomplish resistance to sin on our own but is ready and waiting to assist if we are serious about it.

(The verses I have quoted are Often used by some to show God is compassionate and how we can boldly come for mercy and forgiveness... Which of course is all true, but not the point of the verses in their context. It speaks of coming to Christ for help during temptation, VITAL DIFFERENCE THERE, to help us to resist as He did, this context is not about coming to Him after we sin.)

 

[pottersclay]

Thanks
I agree that no one can force Christians to sin.

So you don't sin?

 

[Nehemiah6]

If we choose to sin, can we not also choose not to?

That should be as plain as day to any sane person. However, the movement to make victims out of everyone was a fundamental fallacy of Liberalism. Thus people began to blame everyone else, and everything else, for their own misdeeds.

But James explains the progression of sin in his epistle (James 1:13-15; 4:1-3):

TEMPTATION--->YOUR OWN LUST---->ENTICEMENT----> SIN--->DEATH

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death...

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Lusts are unlawful desires. But Christians can resist temptations by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The three primary lusts were evident in the temptation of Eve. While Satan was trying to deceive her, she was yielding to her own lusts. But when it came to taking responsibility, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent, and the Serpent blamed God.

 

[Deuteronomy]

I have heard people say for years that Christians HAVE to sin everyday.

Hello AlmondJoy, while I've certainly heard many people say that Christians continue to sin everyday, I do not remember them saying that we are forced to do so (well, except for the very occasional Hyper-Calvinist over the years).

If we choose to sin, can we not also choose not to?

Of course, we have free will! The problem is this, we choose to sin because that's what we want to do most in the moment, not because we could not choose to do otherwise. That, after all, is the essence of free will is it not, the ability to choose whatever we desire the most at a given moment in time

~Deut

 

[AlmondJoy]

That should be as plain as day to any sane person. However, the movement to make victims out of everyone was a fundamental fallacy of Liberalism. Thus people began to blame everyone else, and everything else, for their own misdeeds.

But James explains the progression of sin in his epistle (James 1:13-15; 4:1-3):

TEMPTATION--->YOUR OWN LUST---->ENTICEMENT----> SIN--->DEATH

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death...

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Lusts are unlawful desires. But Christians can resist temptations by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The three primary lusts were evident in the temptation of Eve. While Satan was trying to deceive her, she was yielding to her own lusts. But when it came to taking responsibility, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent, and the Serpent blamed God.

AMEN!!!

 

[AlmondJoy]

So you don't sin?

Soooo why would you ask such a question?

 

[Scribe]

I am not going to say that I sin every day. I don't think it is biblical. If we define things like not being as productive with our time as a sin then it would be easy to say we sin everyday but I think we are redefining the definition of sin when we do that.
The biblical definition of sin, transgressing the law or the commandments of God is not something I think I do every day.
If I decide to take a nap I do not condemn myself as slothful. Some others do and so they consider themselves being guilty of the sin.
If I say something nasty or mean, or provoking or condescending, to a member on CC because I don't like what they posted, I have sinned and should repent. I don't do that every day and I am trying to never do it. I think I have done it before in the past. It is not nice and not love and that is a sin because it is a transgression of the command to love and of the admonition "the servant of the Lord must not strive but be patient with all men apt to teach.. etc.."

Maybe some people do sin every day. They need to stop. We can do something about such uncontrolled lives and we better because holiness and obedience is a not a suggestion. It is a commandment.

 

[AlmondJoy]

Hello AlmondJoy, while I've certainly heard many people say that Christians continue to sin everyday, I do not remember them saying that we are forced to do so (well, except for the very occasional Hyper-Calvinist over the years).


Of course, we have free will! The problem is this, we choose to sin because that's what we want to do most in the moment, not because we could not choose to do otherwise. That, after all, is the essence of free will is it not, the ability to choose whatever we desire the most at a given moment in time

~Deut

Yes, as the book of James says we are drawn away by our own lusts

 

[Deuteronomy]

The biblical definition of sin, transgressing the law or the commandments of God is not something I think I do every day.

That's excellent brother While I do not believe that I can make the same claim, I do know that I sin FAR less than I ever did as an unbeliever, and when I sin now, as a Christian, it's almost always something (like impatience) that I would have never considered to be sinful prior to coming to saving faith in Christ.

That said, the Bible speaks of sins of omission as well, yes

James 4​

17 Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, sins.​

When I think of the two great commandments that were given to us in the NT, I sometimes wonder if I have EVER/truly/completely "loved the Lord with all of my heart, and with all of my soul, and with all of my strength, and with all of my mind, and truly loved my neighbor as I love myself" ... much less ever done so continuously (24/7)

Jesus did, of course, and we are completely beholden to Him because He did so on our behalf (because we could not have declared righteous by God and saved if He had not done so for us .. e.g. 2 Cor 5:21).

~Deut

2 Corinthians 5​

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.​

​

 

[pottersclay]

It would be hard for Christians to talk about one and not the other seeing we are tempted to sin. No?

Actually no...gossip is sin but I don't need to be tempted. Hating for no cause....don't need tempting..

 

[pottersclay]

Soooo why would you ask such a question?

Well if we can chose not to as you say ahhhh I wanted to ask you your secret.

 

[Scribe]

I am not going to say that I sin every day. I don't think it is biblical. If we define things like not being as productive with our time as a sin then it would be easy to say we sin everyday but I think we are redefining the definition of sin when we do that.
The biblical definition of sin, transgressing the law or the commandments of God is not something I think I do every day.
If I decide to take a nap I do not condemn myself as slothful. Some others do and so they consider themselves being guilty of the sin.
If I say something nasty or mean, or provoking or condescending, to a member on CC because I don't like what they posted, I have sinned and should repent. I don't do that every day and I am trying to never do it. I think I have done it before in the past. It is not nice and not love and that is a sin because it is a transgression of the command to love and of the admonition "the servant of the Lord must not strive but be patient with all men apt to teach.. etc.."

Maybe some people do sin every day. They need to stop. We can do something about such uncontrolled lives and we better because holiness and obedience is a not a suggestion. It is a commandment.

Then again... Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Psalms 19:12 ESV

A fault may be hidden, not because it is too small to see but because it is too characteristic to register... Derek Kidner.

 

[AlmondJoy]

Actually no...gossip is sin but I don't need to be tempted. Hating for no cause....don't need

So you can't choose to not gossip? You have to?

Yeah you was tempted!

You have no choice concerning the hatred that you have in your heart?

Yeah you was tempted!!!

 

[AlmondJoy]

Well if we can chose not to as you say ahhhh I wanted to ask you your secret.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 KJV

 

[Scribe]

Actually no...gossip is sin but I don't need to be tempted. Hating for no cause....don't need tempting..

It may not seem like a temptation if one is used to doing it but once they try to stop they will notice there is always the initial temptation. The prompting to gossip originates from the evil one, and we accept it as our own idea. That may be over simplifying it but that initial prompting can be resisted and if so we have not sinned. We cannot stop thoughts from coming to our minds but by not acting on them we have resisted the temptation. Don't you think?

Thinking about the way of escape is what we must do when we are tempted. There is always a way out. Sometimes it is changing the subject, sometimes it is walking away. There is always a way of escape, we have to look for it.