I recently read an article that used Romans 7 to claim genuine Christians can live in “habitual sin” as long as they continually repent and wish they could change. This article contrasted habitual with “normative sin,” which they defined as sinning without repentance or desire to change.
Romans 7 talks about Old Testament law, Paul's struggle with sin, and Christ's deliverance. Scholars disagree about whether Paul's struggle was before or after his salvation. Either way, we know Paul wasn't living in “habitual sin” because “no one who lives in [Christ] keeps on sinning” (1 John 3:6).
Paul wasn't perfect, but he was serious about his walk with the Lord (Philippians 3:7-14). When our faith is real, we may struggle with sin from time to time, but living in habitual sin is a sign of unbelief (1 John 3:6).
True repentance is more than words or feelings (2 Corinthians 7:10). It's a process of renewal (Ephesians 4:17-24).
If a genuine Christian struggles regularly with any sin, especially sexual sin (1 Corinthians 6:18-20), they'll want to change out of love for Christ (John 14:21). So they'll seek accountability, renew their minds in Scripture, and gain strength from God's Spirit to overcome their sinful habit.
They will see improvement.
To confirm this truth, please read through the passages below and combine them with Romans 7. They don't contradict. They offer a fuller understanding.
✞✞✞
For more confirmation, see 3 Things Itching Ears Want to Hear and Have Christians Forgotten How Much God Hates Sin?
Please consider leading a study using Lies in Disguise. It will improve your discernment so you more easily recognize false teachings like this one.
1 John 3:6: No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Romans 6:18-19: You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.
John 14:21: Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
1 John 2:3-6: We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
1 John 5:18: We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
2 Corinthians 7:10: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
🠅 The Greek word translated repentance in the verse above “expresses a Spirit‐wrought reorientation of mind and heart that issues in a changed life. It is never presented as a mere intellectual shift, nor as a work that earns salvation, but as the God‐enabled turning that accompanies true saving faith.” (source)
No comments:
Post a Comment