Camp2: You love the idea of grace and forgiveness, and you enjoy the freedom you have in Christ. Therefore you don't worry too much about sinning. In fact, you often find yourself doing the same old sins you've always committed. Why not? You enjoy them! You know that when you mess up, all you need to do is ask for forgiveness and voila! God comes through.
I used to have a Catholic friend who lived in constant fear of ending up in hell. Every week while he drove to confession, he was terrified he'd get into an accident and die before he could have his sins confessed and forgiven. You may chuckle at this, but I've met Christians who fear almost the same thing. "What if I tell a lie and I have a heart attack before I have a chance to ask God's forgiveness?" These type of believers are the ones begging God to forgive them every second of the day. Can you imagine how taxing that would be for the Father? Can you imagine if your child followed you around all day and kept begging you to forgive them over and over? I'd stop them, grab a hold of their shoulders and tell them how much I love them, that they are already forgiven, and just to keep moving forward and learning. Do you think God does any less??
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14
God has already PAST TENSE forgiven us of ALL our sins. When we confess our sins to Him, all we are doing is appropriating that forgiveness He has already provided, in faith. We will all sin. I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't sin: think unkindly of someone, complain, criticize,
But what about those in the "It's all about Grace" camp, Camp2? If God has already paid for ALL our sins, then surely they have it right! Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die and go to Heaven! Right? Well..... not so fast.
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.
Hebrews 10: 26-30
and Verse 31: It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
and Verse 31: It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Isn't this a contradiction of what the Bible says in other places??
The verb sinning here is the present participle of a continuous action. Translation: If we go on sinning willfully. In other words, if every day you get up and continue to commit the same sins over and over, on purpose and knowing full well that you are sinning. then you're in dangerous waters. You are in essence spitting on the cross of Christ.
Of course there may be occasions when we will willfully sin. We are tempted. We get that nudge from the Holy Spirit, but we don't listen and we go ahead. We mess up. We feel horrible, We come to God and repent. We don't want to ever do that again. Perhaps it's something like pornography or even gossiping. We hate it! We don't want to do it, yet we seem to keep falling into temptation. I would say that this is NOT what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. He is talking about someone who feels no remorse, who keeps on sinning and keeps on ignoring God's gentle nudges. This person may even repent and ask for forgiveness over and over, but in their heart they don't really want to change. They love the sin more than they love God.
Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. John 14:21
Camp3: The balance we all try to achieve: All my sins, past, present, and future are forgiven once and for all when I received the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. I now can come boldly before the throne of Grace to receive mercy and strength. I have communion with God, the Father. When I sin, Of course there may be occasions when we will willfully sin. We are tempted. We get that nudge from the Holy Spirit, but we don't listen and we go ahead. We mess up. We feel horrible, We come to God and repent. We don't want to ever do that again. Perhaps it's something like pornography or even gossiping. We hate it! We don't want to do it, yet we seem to keep falling into temptation. I would say that this is NOT what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. He is talking about someone who feels no remorse, who keeps on sinning and keeps on ignoring God's gentle nudges. This person may even repent and ask for forgiveness over and over, but in their heart they don't really want to change. They love the sin more than they love God.
Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. John 14:21
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