THE CHRISTIAN CAN COMMIT ANY SIN A NON-CHRISTIAN CAN COMMIT PART 1

 

We begin a new series of studies with what may be a shocking title to you: a believer can commit any sin a non-Christian can. The coming essays will prove that statement to you, from experience and from the highest authority, the Bible itself. 

But first, we must lay the foundation by addressing a common misunderstanding: the mistaken belief that II Cor. 5:17 teaches that once a person believes the gospel, he is delivered from committing sin. In other words, we should see the new believer throwing his packs of cigarettes away, swearing off the excessive use of demon rum, breaking off an adulterous relationship, stopping lying, and correcting his "colorful" language. Those would be good things to do, and it would be wonderful if he did. To put it another way, II Cor. 5:17 is telling us to expect a changed life; he would never commit adultery, a genuine believer would never drink to excess; he would never deny the faith, he would never . . . you get the picture. 

As Paul writes II Cor. 5:17, notice the key words at the beginning: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." His subject is being "in Christ" positionally, which results in being a "new creation." .

So, what's new about being in Christ?

1. He has a new destiny, heaven, not hell.

2 He has been transferred from death into life.

3. He has peace with God.

4. God has credited to him the righteousness of Christ.

5. He has been purchased out of the slave market of sin. 

6. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ.

Those are just some of the over 30 things that make up "the new creation" in Christ.

If you keep reading this series, you will be amazed to learn what sins a believer can commit. 

TBC

 

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

 That was the communication spoken during Apollo 13, a NASA mission in the Apollo space program, and the third mission intended to land on the Moon. After an explosion occurred on board the spacecraft en route to the Moon, around 56 hours into the mission, Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, reported to Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas: "Okay, Houston ... we've had a problem here." 

Well, we have a problem too. The following report comes from a pastor-friend of mine. Read it and weep. 

"A seasoned saint in evangelism told me that he was down doing survey evangelism at the Fort Bend County Fair near Sugar Land, Texas, when he was invited to meet with 15 seminary students and church leaders {several from Southwestern Baptist Seminary & Dallas Theological Seminary} to discuss evangelism.

"He asked them: 

'Do you know what the Gospel is?" {No one answered.}

'Can you tell me where the most definitive passage on the Gospel is in the NT? They did not know (1 Cor. 15:1-4) though 1 person blurted out 'John 3:16.' 

"On another occasion, 12 seminary students came to observe and tentatively participate in doing the Spiritual Viewpoint / John 3:16 evangelism at the fair. This older gent gave each one of them the 'Spiritual Viewpoint Survey/Interview" and not one of them answered correctly. So they let them watch but not participate in doing fair evangelism as they need first to be evangelized themselves."

As a boy said to Shoeless Joe Jackson of the scandal-ridden 1919 Chicago White Sox, "Say it ain't so Joe."