We all live a lifestyle of sin because we are human.
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[font="'Book Antiqua"]No, we don't all. Speak in your own name. You don't have an insight into other people's lives.
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You and I struggle with the same sins we have always struggled with. As soon as we repent from the sin in one form, it pops up again in another form. We also consistently fail to see that very sin in ourselves in the most blatant and obvious form. I've used this example before, one of the Christian professors (theologian) I got to know personally, at the small Christian college I attended, struggles with pride. He knows he struggles with pride; he repents of it when it manifests in a manner he can see, but the man is so tickled to be who he is, he oozes pride from every pore. What is so obvious to those around him, completely escapes his awareness.
We are just like him - look at the way people drive, for example (talk about a 'lifestyle' of sin); everyone drives selfishly, expecting others to understand their circumstances for doing so (I am late; blah, blah, blah), while, at the same time, flipping out at everyone else for behaving the same way. Think about it - every time you get mad at another driver for behaving badly, you are really getting mad because you believe he or she has taken something that you deserve - that is pride.
Obviously, there is pride that is sinful, and there is pride that is not sinful. If my pride puts others down it is sinful. I can be proud that I have great children, there is nothing wrong with it. In the bible the proud lifts himself up and says, "Look how great I am!".
Yep. That is why we need Christ.
Jesus is not a magic bullet for pride problem. The proud must repent.
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What do you think 'of the Devil' means? It means we are acting just like him - thinking of ourselves before others. It doesn't mean that we are demonic or in the Devil's army or that we are predestined for Hell.
One more thing; I usually put quite a bit of time and thought into my responses to your posts. I have noticed that you like to provide one or two sentences and 10 verses. I am sure you are doing this on purpose, with the intention of relying on the Bible rather than your own ideas so I am wondering; should I limit my responses to you to a sentence and a few verses? My fear is that we would simply provide one conflicting verse after another without processing any of the information. Perhaps, this scenario is ideal?
No point to provide a verse unless it is considered in context. It also helps when an exposition is given.
Absolutely! If you have grace you aren't living in sin. That is why grace covers sins and they are not imputed to us. Romans 4:7 and 8.
The person in Romans 4:7-8 is the one who repented and turned to God by living faithfully. His sins are forgiven and not counted.
These verses say nothing about people who did not repent from their sins and falsely claim that they are "under grace".
Even sinners are allowed to live because of God's grace.
The sinner that repents and lives faithfully shall not called a sinner any more, for he is righteous.