David, what would I say if you were to ask me - How long have you been dead? I would answer - The Holy Spirit influenced me to completely crucify and bury my old man habits of sin in 1995, which is when He was finally able to reach me with the truth as it is in Jesus.

Unfortunately I have resurrected the old man from time to time. But praise God the Holy Spirit does not abandon me. Instead He offered me the gift of repentance, which when received and exercised it immediately restores me to the mind of the new man, and then the Holy Spirit resumes empowering me from within to live without sin and to mature in the fruits of God's power and praise.

God faithfully fulfills His promises in my life so long as I remain connected to the Vine - Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. With Paul I am happy and glad to report - "I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal 2:20.

And how about you? How would you answer your question?

Isn't Christ our mediator in the Heavenly Sanctuary David?

Wendy wrote:

"It is not the sin that we commit daily that we need to confess. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. Rather the sin the must be confessed daily is WHO WE ARE. We must crucify the man of sin daily and hide ourselves in the merits of Christ or there is no hope."

Can you please elaborate on this statement? 1) Are you saying that being human is a sin? 2) And what do you mean by - We must crucify the man of sin daily? 3) What is the man of sin? 4) And do we sin daily?

I don't have all my books with me, but what I am saying is:

Yes...humans are innately sinful. It is not only the sin we do, but the sin of who we are. We are born into bondage. We are at complete enmity with God when we are born. At conversion we confess that we are sinners and crucify the "old man" of sin. We come up newly resurrected people with the ability to walk in the image of Jesus Christ and live as He lived.

Every day, if we feel that the "old man" is trying to take over our lives and actions we need to fall on our knees and confess this to Jesus Christ our mediator. Hide ourselves in Him and His righteousness. For as long as the "old man" is still alive and has not been crucified, the "new man" cannot live. You cannot serve God and mammon.

No. We need not sin daily. This is a faith issue. With proper faith we can walk hand in hand with Jesus Christ daily and not fall to sin. But if we should, we know that immediately we need to go to Him and confess that we are a sinner and that we have sinned. When Christ steps out of the mediatorial role there will be no more confession. Sin cannot enter the Most Holy presence of God. Therefore if we have unconfessed sin we cannot enter heaven.

Let me know if there is anything further I can explain.

Thanks Wendy! I agree with your posts. "Every truly converted soul will carry the unmistakable marks that the carnal mind is subdued." 1 T 163; 2 T 479. "When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ... and the life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God's law." C.O.L.314,315. This last statement expresses what God expects from His people through His grace. This is the goal of the Christian which is attained only through daily appropriating the merits of the Lamb that was slain.

"Through the virtue of the merits of the blood of Christ we may stand unscathed amid the fire of temptation and trial." F.W.86,87. "We must daily apply to the merits of the blood of Christ that we might become fit vessels for the Master's use." Ibid,86.

We may be "more than conquerors" through the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in us with no modified energy but in the fullness of divine power to subdue all our inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil and to impress Christ's character upon us! D.A.671

Having said that, Mike: There is nothing unfair about the fact that Christ has been waiting for a generation that would live the life of holiness. This is the standard and we should not lower it but exalt it: "Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." C.O.L.69.

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: adventbeliever ]

Amen AB!!! And may we be that generation! Praise the Lord!

Maranatha!!!

Wendy! "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord." Ps.102:16-18.

"Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created." Ps.104:30.

Wendy, thank you for clarifying those points. However, I'm quit sure being a human is not a sin. That is the basic premise of original sin. If it were a sin to be a human then Jesus was guilty of sin, thus being a human cannot be a sin. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.

"New theology" (whatever that entails) teachers invented or borrowed the idea that sin is either 1) a state of being, and/or 2) a state of doing. Whereas the Bible makes it clear that sin is any thought, word or deed that violates the law of God, the word of God, or the sinless example of the Son of God. There is no biblical basis for the new theology view.

The "old man" is sinful character, and "sinful flesh" is fallen nature. The two are not one and the same thing. We only inherit sinful flesh nature, but we cultivate sinful old man traits of character. Sinful flesh cannot sin. It can only communicate sinful suggestions via our central nervous system. These sinful desires, cravings or clamorings are only temptations. We develop old man sinful character as we act out the sinful suggestions generated by our fallen flesh nature.

Jesus possessed fallen nature the same as you and I. But unlike you and I He never once acted out the sinful suggestions that tempted Him. Thus Jesus never formed old man habits of sin. When we crucify our old man and experience rebirth we begin where Jesus began. Our fallen flesh nature tempts us to sin but in Christ we resist unto the honor and glory of God our Father. Born again believers, walking in the Spirit and mind of the new man and partaking of the divine nature, need not repent for being a human any more than Jesus needed to repent for being a human.

It is not a sin to possess fallen nature, and it is therefore not a sin to be tempted. Thus we need not repent for possessing sinful flesh nature, and we need not repent for being tempted. Otherwise, Jesus is guilty of sin. "God cannot be tempted" James 1:13. Thus, it was necessary for Jesus to inherit fallen human nature in order to experience being tempted "in all points like as we are." Heb 4:15.

S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 7A, page 452, paragraph 6
"Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature."

Do you see what I mean? Do you see a difference between sinful character and sinful nature? or do you believe they are one and the same thing?

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lowe ]

AB, I agree with you that there will be a final generation of saints who, in the last days, will be corporately free from the burden of sin and who perfectly reflect the moral image and likeness of sweet Jesus.

My only point in light of this discussion is that on an individual basis each and everyone of us may right now be free from the burden of sin and perfectly reflect the moral character of Christ. Moral perfection is not something that God is reserving for the final generation of saints (the 144,000), rather it is available now, and has always been available since Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden.

Do you see what I mean?

The Great Controversy, page 489, paragraph 2
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Proverbs 28:13. If those who hide and excuse their faults could see how Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ and holy angels with their course, they would make haste to confess their sins and to put them away. Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in their behalf His wounded hands, His bruised body; and He declares to all who would follow Him: "My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Corinthians 12:9. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matthew 11:29, 30. Let none, then, regard their defects as incurable. God will give faith and grace to overcome them."