Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving for sin, for one who dies has been justified from sin. Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, having been roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul to the Romans 6: 6-11, Concordant New Testament
It was what we said each and every time we knew that we'd messed up once again. Despite all of the prayers, outreach and striving, we once again discovered we were...human. Not only that, but imperfect humans. Our goal was to be holy enough for God to accept us, but that rarely worked out in our favor. I often compared it to being stuck on a turning hamster wheel with no hope of getting off. Around and around we'd go, never knowing which sin we would land on. But knowing that we eventually would be there again. As we tried to explain our shortfalls, we would shrug our shoulders and proclaim that we were but sinners "Saved by grace." The basic concept of this sounds good on the surface, that we have been saved by the grace of the Father. I'm ok with that. Yet we were those same believers who sat in church every Sunday praising Jesus that He died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. But when the dust settled, we were still living in fear of sinning again. For its part, the mainstream church hammered home the idea that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God {Paul to the Romans 3:23}. While this is indeed true of our OLD man, that in no way describes our life in Jesus today. Growing up, I used to feel that my sin would forever be an issue between myself and the Father. How could I get to heaven if I was in continuous sin? How could I make myself holy enough to pass Gods judgement? Hell seemed a definite reality. I was spinning that hamster wheel for all it was worth. But what about Jesus? Didn't Jesus give Himself on the cross that our sins would be washed away? The double speak coming from the pastors seemed confusing. Yes, we were sinners despite the fact that Christ Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Eventually I had to make that choice of who was telling the truth, Jesus or the mainstream church leaders. That was the easy part. We are told in scripture that God never lies {To the Hebrews 6:18}. We're also assured that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow {To the Hebrews 13:8}. God will never lie, and Jesus will never change.
For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may becoming Gods righteousness in Him.
Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21, Concordant New Testament
The mainstream church needs you! It needs you to believe in their own interpretation of the gospel of Jesus. That despite the fact that Christ gave Himself as propitiation for our sins, that sin continues to reign unchecked in our lives. Therefore, you need to find a local church in order to deal with that sin in your life. Once there, the pastor will guide you in which prayers, programs and duties you need to engage in to be more "Like Jesus." How if you sacrifice hard enough that you can ultimately be "Closer to God." This alternate gospel goes against that of the apostle Paul, who proclaims that it is Christ Jesus who lives in us {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. It goes contrary to the spoken words of Christ who proclaims that we are in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. The church will try to convince you that sin remains the issue in your life between yourself and God. But it was Christ Jesus who gave Himself that we would no longer be slaves to sin {Paul to the Romans 6:6, Paul to the Colossians 1:14}. Jesus dealt with the issue of sin, that our union with He and the Father would be complete. We no longer need to worry that our sin will keep us from Gods love and mercy. For it is through His love and mercy that Jesus was dispatched for the death of sin in our lives {Johns Account 3:16-17}. We are not sinners saved by grace, but His children in union with Him.
In this was manifested the love of God among us, that God has dispatched His only - begotten Son into the world that we should be living through Him.
First Epistle of John 4: 9, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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