"BORN OF GOD" DEVOTIONAL BOOK

 
12.  SINS OF THE FLESHLY BODY AND THE SIN OF THE SOUL.

One may ask, "Are there different sins of the fleshly body and the spiritual body?"  Yes, emphatically yes!  Although we have churches teaching that salvation requires sinless perfection of the physical body, such is neither possible, nor scriptural.  The Christian's walk is seen in the outward man, or life, but the fleshly or outward man is always in conflict with the inward man.  The Christian, after putting his trust in Jesus Christ, becomes a new spiritual creature, with a new inward nature.  As Christians mature, they will strive to bring the carnal nature under control and subjection.  The Bible deals with both the physical body and the spiritual body, but many, either willfully or ignorant, seem unable to comprehend the spiritual.  It is "natural" for all of us to focus on the physical and it is "spiritual" for those born of God to focus on the spiritual.  The following scriptures show a distinct difference:

A.  THE SCRIPTURES SAY WE ALL SIN!

Romans 3:9-10, "What then?  are we better than they?  No, in no wise:  for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one:"

Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God:"

I John 1:8-10, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say, we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

B.  THE SCRIPTURES SAY THOSE BORN OF GOD CANNOT SIN!

I John 3:6, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not:  whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."

I John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;  for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

I John 5:4a, "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world:"

I John 5:18, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not."

ConclusionA. and B. above, would be a contradiction of the Word of God, if the Apostle John was not making a distinction between the natural man and the spiritual man.  "A" refers to the sins of the outward, fleshly body and "B" refers to the absence of sin from the inward spiritual body of those born of God.

 

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