Irony Becomes Her

Something Like an Argument

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he is born of God."

Whoa.

This is one of the verses a friend from church pulled out to fuel his usual antagonistic style of discussion. He lives on getting a rise out of people, so he likes me.

He believes that the Bible's teaching on sin amounts to the literal requirement of sinlessness for eternal life. At least, that's what he says. If that is the case, to use a very human way of expressing it, God's gonna be pretty lonely in heaven.

Every time I think I've got this nailed down, I have to rethink. I know what is right: God enacted a plan both to create and to restore me, even though I come from a corrupt race and have no tendency to goodness by myself. Because he has restored me, I love him; because I love him, I want to live a life worthy of him; because I am still a member of that corrupt race, I never live up to that standard.

What does God do with saved sinfulness? "No one who is born of God will continue to sin..."

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Whew.

posted by Lynn @ 8:45 PM