A little confused on this one. Define "habitual" please. How long can a Christian sin before it becomes habitual? Can not a believer sin habitually??? I believe the Scriptures affirm that. Believers can make a shipwreck of their faith and even depart from it as some have done.
Arguing habitual is a problem to me. I find it impossible to say that a Christian cannot sin habitually. If a believer cannot sin habitually then we can certainly judge many as lost and share again the gospel to them.
We may say that they will experience divine discipline but that doesn't guarantee that they will repent and this I believe can go on for years.
I know your messages are short and you cannot cover everything but habitual was a little vague to me.
Dave, I admit that it would be difficult to define "habitual" here. 1 John 3:9 suggests that because God's seed is in the believer, he can not "practice" (NAS) sin. The word seems to indicate an ongoing, continuous way of life.
I do believe that God's grace will outlast our sins, even if a person will "make a shipwreck of their faith."
The point of this particular blog was to suggest that we can't get out of fellowship with God. It seems that my incidental use of the word "habitual" threw a monkey wrench in the works for you. I want trying to make a point by using that word.I probably could have used a better word here, but hope you get the point I was trying to make.
As to whether or not a Christian can sin "habitually," I suppose that would be a lengthly discussion for another day :) I do wonder how you would understand 1 John 3:9 though. I'm not dogmatic on this. I'm not comfortable saying that a Christian will "habitually" live a lifestyle of sin, but neither would I deny that a believer can sometimes get bogged down in sinful behavior that certainly looks habitual.
i enjoyed his teachings he is on the mark.. its all Jesus
ReplyDeleteA little confused on this one. Define "habitual" please. How long can a Christian sin before it becomes habitual? Can not a believer sin habitually??? I believe the Scriptures affirm that. Believers can make a shipwreck of their faith and even depart from it as some have done.
ReplyDeleteArguing habitual is a problem to me. I find it impossible to say that a Christian cannot sin habitually. If a believer cannot sin habitually then we can certainly judge many as lost and share again the gospel to them.
We may say that they will experience divine discipline but that doesn't guarantee that they will repent and this I believe can go on for years.
I know your messages are short and you cannot cover everything but habitual was a little vague to me.
Dave, I admit that it would be difficult to define "habitual" here. 1 John 3:9 suggests that because God's seed is in the believer, he can not "practice" (NAS) sin. The word seems to indicate an ongoing, continuous way of life.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that God's grace will outlast our sins, even if a person will "make a shipwreck of their faith."
The point of this particular blog was to suggest that we can't get out of fellowship with God. It seems that my incidental use of the word "habitual" threw a monkey wrench in the works for you. I want trying to make a point by using that word.I probably could have used a better word here, but hope you get the point I was trying to make.
As to whether or not a Christian can sin "habitually," I suppose that would be a lengthly discussion for another day :) I do wonder how you would understand 1 John 3:9 though. I'm not dogmatic on this. I'm not comfortable saying that a Christian will "habitually" live a lifestyle of sin, but neither would I deny that a believer can sometimes get bogged down in sinful behavior that certainly looks habitual.