Or is it the spirit life who lives there and leaves when your body dies, that is born again?
The flesh was born in the first birth; the spirit is born again in the second birth, a spiritual birth. Every unsaved person has a body and a spirit but their spirit has never been born again.
Praise God with me that my only brother, Tommy, though his body is dying, his spirit is alive and well and and will soon leave that painful, dying body to be caught away into the presence of God.
This post is the result of a 'Common Sense' reader who asked me to comment on a verse and her pastor friend's commentary on eternal security, who believes eternal life isn't necessarily eternal and that you can be un- 'born again' after you have been born again, unless you are good enough to keep it. Here is the verse...
The flesh was born in the first birth; the spirit is born again in the second birth, a spiritual birth. Every unsaved person has a body and a spirit but their spirit has never been born again.
Praise God with me that my only brother, Tommy, though his body is dying, his spirit is alive and well and and will soon leave that painful, dying body to be caught away into the presence of God.
This post is the result of a 'Common Sense' reader who asked me to comment on a verse and her pastor friend's commentary on eternal security, who believes eternal life isn't necessarily eternal and that you can be un- 'born again' after you have been born again, unless you are good enough to keep it. Here is the verse...
2 Tim. 2:19.
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
The question here is what is meant by "depart from iniquity"? One cannot "depart" from a position or location he is not already in. So a Christian can, at times find himself within sin or maybe the very edge of sin. Is he then lost again, at that point, before he "departs", even if he remains for only a moment? If so, this means that a single sin, of a Christian, even for an instant, by action or thought, is enough to send his soul to hell. If that be true, and a cigarette, glass of beer, bad thought, or an exaggeration (a lie), will doom a Christian's soul to eternal torment, then a single puff of a cigarette, a single swallow of beer, a fleeting thought or the slightest exaggeration of the truth over-rides what the agonizing death of Jesus paid for and the person loses his "eternal" life, which means it was not "eternal" to start with. Another question. So here is a Christian who has done his human best for many years to live for the Lord, but then, a speck of temptation flies through his eye into his brain and is conceived in a flash of lustful fantasy. The scripture says that is "sin", and "the wages of sin is death". Sin sickens, weakens and kills the body and if not repented of, a Christian's fellowship with God has a blockage. And "every man", (including all man-kind) must deal with this reality... regularly, with some version of sinful lust, no matter how small it may seem. But it is the Christian's flesh not his born again spirit that is tempted to sin.
"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." 1 John 3:9.
But the Christian's flesh is constantly tempted because the flesh is not born again.
"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:14-15
The question here is what is meant by "depart from iniquity"? One cannot "depart" from a position or location he is not already in. So a Christian can, at times find himself within sin or maybe the very edge of sin. Is he then lost again, at that point, before he "departs", even if he remains for only a moment? If so, this means that a single sin, of a Christian, even for an instant, by action or thought, is enough to send his soul to hell. If that be true, and a cigarette, glass of beer, bad thought, or an exaggeration (a lie), will doom a Christian's soul to eternal torment, then a single puff of a cigarette, a single swallow of beer, a fleeting thought or the slightest exaggeration of the truth over-rides what the agonizing death of Jesus paid for and the person loses his "eternal" life, which means it was not "eternal" to start with. Another question. So here is a Christian who has done his human best for many years to live for the Lord, but then, a speck of temptation flies through his eye into his brain and is conceived in a flash of lustful fantasy. The scripture says that is "sin", and "the wages of sin is death". Sin sickens, weakens and kills the body and if not repented of, a Christian's fellowship with God has a blockage. And "every man", (including all man-kind) must deal with this reality... regularly, with some version of sinful lust, no matter how small it may seem. But it is the Christian's flesh not his born again spirit that is tempted to sin.
"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." 1 John 3:9.
But the Christian's flesh is constantly tempted because the flesh is not born again.
"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:14-15
This verse tells us that "every man is tempted" and that he is only tempted "when he is drawn away by his own lust" . The lust is already lying there like a dozing snake, in its weak, hungering, sinful flesh, which is, itself, constantly corrupting toward death. The flesh is not born again. If it were it would not have lust and would not get sick and die. It is our spirit which is born again, in the second birth, and cannot be tempted and will never die. When a Christian's faulty flesh dies, his eternal spirit is immediately released and carried by God's Holy Spirit, who also lives in true believers, to eternal glory in the presence of God to await the resurrection, reunification and glorification of the old dead body.
So that brings up the question of whether it is possible for a human being, while still living in this fleshly, tempted, carcass, to live totally and perfectly without the slightest ting of lust or sin. Things like insufficient prayer life, insufficient witnessing, insufficient burden for the sufferings of others, spending too little time in the scriptures, overeating, vain pride, judging others, gossip, not telling the whole truth, and many more. So then, if a person cannot live sinlessly perfect, they cannot be saved or stay saved more than 5 minutes without having to be saved again and again throughout life. Jesus said, "...there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark 10:18). If we are all "not good", what is it that makes us "not good"? "It is SIN that dwelleth in me.... that is in my flesh", said Paul, in Rom.7:17-18. It all comes back to this. We are either saved by our good works and perfection living, and that only if we are truly perfect, or it is according to Eph.2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
So that brings up the question of whether it is possible for a human being, while still living in this fleshly, tempted, carcass, to live totally and perfectly without the slightest ting of lust or sin. Things like insufficient prayer life, insufficient witnessing, insufficient burden for the sufferings of others, spending too little time in the scriptures, overeating, vain pride, judging others, gossip, not telling the whole truth, and many more. So then, if a person cannot live sinlessly perfect, they cannot be saved or stay saved more than 5 minutes without having to be saved again and again throughout life. Jesus said, "...there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark 10:18). If we are all "not good", what is it that makes us "not good"? "It is SIN that dwelleth in me.... that is in my flesh", said Paul, in Rom.7:17-18. It all comes back to this. We are either saved by our good works and perfection living, and that only if we are truly perfect, or it is according to Eph.2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
The command to "depart from iniquity" will distinguish between an imperfect human flesh, a Christian, who passes through temptations and sins and is in a continuous process of repentance and departing from the sins of the flesh, and a habitual sinner, non-Christian, who lives there and his lust is seeking out more sin to enter in to. Every Christian, by the very nature of the "unsaved" flesh, in a sin saturated world, must and will be, daily departing (going the other way) from fleshly temptation and sin.
The sins listed in your pastor friend's reference below are, indeed, the things Christians must not willfully enter or remain in if they find themselves there. Like the prodigal son, they will always, soon, "come to themselves" (Luke 15:17) and "depart from it". If they choose to remain in the pig pin of sin, and prefer it, they are not truly born again believers but religious pretenders or self-righteous joiners. The sins listed in the verses below are things which a Christian's flesh may be tempted to briefly, but the Holy Spirit, dealing with his spirit will not let them remain there with any comfort. Part of His purpose is to convict Christians of any hint of sin. He lives in every Christian. And if He lives in you, you will not long remain in sin. The Prodigal son's flesh got him into sin, but his convicted spirit walked his body out of it and back to his father.
Every Christian has been tempted, to some degree, small or large, by at least one of these temptations ... deception, sexual lust, obsession with collections or possessions, sexual fantasy, perversion, keeping the tithe, wanting what someone else has, finding relief in oblivion, cursing, etc. (verse below). Any one of those temptations may briefly pass through a Christian's fleshly brain, without an invitation, but you don't let it build a nest there. A true Christian wants to be free of it rather than embracing it. Those who do not soon "depart from it" do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them and convicting them to flush it as unwanted filth. Remember, it is your "inner man", your spirit, not your flesh, which is born again. Your weak, faulty, dying flesh is not born again, and will not be until it is resurrected, rejoined with your born again spirit, and it too be glorified ... born again.... "and when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is ..." 1 John 3:2.
Every Christian has been tempted, to some degree, small or large, by at least one of these temptations ... deception, sexual lust, obsession with collections or possessions, sexual fantasy, perversion, keeping the tithe, wanting what someone else has, finding relief in oblivion, cursing, etc. (verse below). Any one of those temptations may briefly pass through a Christian's fleshly brain, without an invitation, but you don't let it build a nest there. A true Christian wants to be free of it rather than embracing it. Those who do not soon "depart from it" do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them and convicting them to flush it as unwanted filth. Remember, it is your "inner man", your spirit, not your flesh, which is born again. Your weak, faulty, dying flesh is not born again, and will not be until it is resurrected, rejoined with your born again spirit, and it too be glorified ... born again.... "and when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is ..." 1 John 3:2.
1 Cor.6:9-10
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Is your outer man, your fleshly body "righteous"? So what is there about you that is? Your born again spirit soul. Your body has its turn coming .... at its resurrection and glorification. But not until then. As long as it lives, our flesh, where lust lies, will be inclined to sin but not our born again spirit which "does not" and "cannot sin" and is the only thing about a Christian that is "righteous". "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." 1 John 3:9.
I am also struck by the worldliness of this Corinthian Church, Paul was writing to about sin, which was guilty of the sins pointed out. Yet, he addressed that church as ...
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord...." and spent the second book of Corinthians encouraging them. He may, obviously, have been speaking only to the ones who fit the description he gave in the address, but even if they were not the guilty ones, they were tolerating such things in their church.
I also call to memory the fact that even among the 12 apostles, Jesus had His Judas. That is one in 12. I wouldn't be at all surprised if at least one of every 12, probably more, "professing" Christians are as lost as Judas. So why was he there? God knew he would be a greedy, self-serving traitor before he was chosen. That tells me that the Lord had a reason for the treason. I know families who have a child who is super exceptional in Christian Commitment and another who is the total opposite or who joins a cult. It's as if God uses the positive and a the negative for His own unknown objectives. It's kind of like day and night, hot and cold, up and down, a negative and a positive in electricity. Both of which have a purpose in God's design.
I think one thing is clear: A lot of "professing" Christians are not "possessing" Christians and when the Anti-Christ makes his demands, they will shift sides quickly. And even prior to that, when Christians are greatly persecuted and suffering, many "professing" Christians will drop out and "fall away".
"...that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 2 Thess.2:3
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