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Subject:
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Is sinless perfection possible on earth? |
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Note:
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Some expositors find great difficulty in what I have said. They read the account and say, ‘Paul could not possibly be describing his own life as a Christian’.
But that is because they have a low view of sin (I do not mean that in any derogatory way. Most of us have a low view of sin). They see sin in terms of what we could call gross sins, the sins Paul so often lists as typical of unbelievers (Romans 1.29-32; 1 Corinthians 6.9-10; Galatians 5.19-21; and so on). But Paul had a high view of sin. He recognised that in spite of his upward climb he was not already perfect (Philippians 3.12). He still had to keep himself constantly under control (1 Corinthians 9.9.26-27). He had not yet attained to full Christ-likeness. He acknowledged that the flesh prevented him from continually loving God with heart, soul, mind and strength. He recognised that he did not always do to others what he would have them do to him (Matthew 7.12). That he came short of the full glory of God (Romans 3.23), that glory which the Holy Spirit was working to produce within him as he was being transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3.18). Thus he was constantly aware of the sin within that prevented him being what he wanted to be.
Indeed the more holy a man becomes, and the nearer he gets to God, the more sinful that man sees himself to be. It is the testimony of holy men through the ages. We must remember that Paul lived constantly under the searchlight of God. He walked in the light, and had experiences of God of which we know nothing (2 Corinthians 12.2-4). And we should therefore recognise that he experienced God in similar ways to Job and Isaiah. He too could cry ‘now my eye sees you, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in sackcloth and ashes’ (Job 42.5-6). He too could cry, ‘Woe is me for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips -- for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts’ (Isaiah 8.5). He had no false illusions about himself. He was not just thinking of his long past when he spoke of ‘sinners of whom I am chief’ (1 Timothy 1 .15). There are few Christians who, if true revival comes, will not have to fall on their faces and cry out to God in despair. We can read the accounts for ourselves. And Paul experienced times of continual revival. His was no ordinary Christian life.
Of course he did not mean that every day of his life was total failure. Indeed that is not true of anyone, even unregenerate people. He was simply saying that always he was conscious that sin was preventing him from being and doing what ultimately he should be and do. But he was presenting it in terms which would be helpful to his listeners. He wanted them to apply it to themselves.
And he recognised that one day there would be an end to his sin. ‘Who will deliver me out of the body of this death (this dying body)?’. And his reply was, ‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord -- for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death -- God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh so that the ordinances of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit’ (7.25-8.4). They are fulfilled wholly in the fact that Christ fulfilled them wholly on our behalf, and this is resulting in our also gradually fulfilling them if we walk after the Spirit.
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Write Note/Question on 1 John 1:8
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ID# 228753
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| Questions
and/or Subjects for 1 John 1:8 |
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bliss_7 |
Sun 06/25/06, 10:11am |
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Eliud |
Thu 05/12/11, 1:10pm |
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EdB |
Wed 07/6/11, 8:56am |
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biblicalman |
Wed 07/6/11, 5:18pm |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 8:40am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 9:56am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 10:00am |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:05pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:49am |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:36pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 1:09pm |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 2:58pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:16pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:18pm |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:24pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:29pm |
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DocTrinsograce |
Thu 07/7/11, 4:02pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 10:34pm |
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DocTrinsograce |
Fri 07/8/11, 7:18am |
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EdB |
Fri 07/8/11, 8:31am |
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jlhetrick |
Sat 07/16/11, 3:30pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 9:48am |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:05am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:59am |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:10pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:14pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:11am |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:56am |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:09pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:22pm |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:51pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 1:18pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 1:53pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:31pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 6:46pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 10:19pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:00pm |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:05pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 3:27pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 5:58pm |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/8/11, 3:46am |
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Beja |
Fri 07/8/11, 7:15am |
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Beja |
Fri 07/8/11, 7:36am |
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EdB |
Fri 07/8/11, 8:28am |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/8/11, 5:45pm |
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Beja |
Fri 07/8/11, 6:26pm |
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biblicalman |
Sat 07/9/11, 2:58am |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 4:40am |
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Morant61 |
Sat 07/9/11, 7:57am |
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biblicalman |
Sun 07/10/11, 7:23am |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 4:15am |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 3:05am |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 4:52am |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 7:05am |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 7:20am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:17pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:34pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 5:46pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:38am |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:54am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:08pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:30pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 12:48pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/7/11, 5:44pm |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:43am |
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EdB |
Thu 07/7/11, 10:51pm |
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Beja |
Thu 07/7/11, 11:12pm |
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EdB |
Fri 07/8/11, 8:38am |
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Beja |
Fri 07/8/11, 9:06am |
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EdB |
Sat 07/9/11, 10:58am |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 4:48am |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:26am |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 2:45pm |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:10pm |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 7:16am |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:40am |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 2:52pm |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 2:53pm |
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Beja |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:20pm |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:32pm |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 3:28am |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 5:03am |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 6:55am |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 7:30am |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 12:21pm |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 4:57pm |
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biblicalman |
Tue 07/12/11, 12:49pm |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 4:47pm |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 3:42am |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 4:39am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 6:02am |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 12:17pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 7:32pm |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/15/11, 1:34am |
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Morant61 |
Fri 07/15/11, 6:26am |
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DocTrinsograce |
Fri 07/15/11, 1:13pm |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/15/11, 1:27pm |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/15/11, 4:09pm |
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biblicalman |
Fri 07/15/11, 4:11pm |
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biblicalman |
Sat 07/16/11, 6:04am |
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biblicalman |
Sat 07/16/11, 6:10am |
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EdB |
Fri 07/15/11, 10:00pm |
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biblicalman |
Sat 07/16/11, 6:00am |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 5:49am |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 1:28pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 7:11pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 6:27am |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 1:00pm |
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biblicalman |
Thu 07/14/11, 3:18pm |
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Morant61 |
Thu 07/14/11, 7:14pm |
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Beja |
Tue 07/12/11, 10:59am |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 5:05pm |
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Morant61 |
Mon 07/11/11, 3:20pm |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:24pm |
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EdB |
Mon 07/11/11, 11:28pm |
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Morant61 |
Tue 07/12/11, 7:34am |
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lionheart |
Sun 07/17/11, 12:58pm |
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armond888 |
Sun 07/17/11, 2:27pm |
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