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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#112410
04/29/09 04:09 PM
04/29/09 04:09 PM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
20000+ Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
Southwest USA
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Bump. You seem to be saying the sinless experience you described above is not possible now. Did I understand you correctly? Do you think only the 144,000 are capable of reaching this kind of sinlessness? If so, what makes it possible for them then but not for us now? What is lacking that prevents us from being like Jesus now?
You asked, "So when I ask you if you are sinless, I'm asking if you never commit a sin." According to 1 John 3:6-9 I do not and cannot commit a sin while I'm abiding in Jesus? Are you also asking if I ever neglect to abide in Jesus and that if I do it is proof I cannot be like Jesus until the day He returns, that only the 144,000 can? I'm not saying it isn't possible. I do believe it's possible. But I'm saying I don't know anyone who is sinless, beginning with myself. I really don't know what is lacking for us to abide 100% of the time in Jesus. Maybe a special endowement of the Spirit (the latter rain)? Anyway, I consider that reaching this experience is reaching "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" which Ephesians 4:13 speaks about. If it requires the Latter Rain to reach the point where we can be like Jesus all the time, doesn't that imply it isn't possible without the LR? And, doesn't Ellen say the LR will be poured out in the future during the Sunday crisis? (I realize it began to fall in 1888 but things stopped. It resume will again during Sunday laws.)
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#112411
04/29/09 04:13 PM
04/29/09 04:13 PM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
20000+ Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
Southwest USA
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But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3), He lived a sinless life. (DA 311)
Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was. (DA 664)
Christ’s overcoming and obedience is that of a true human being. In our conclusions, we make many mistakes because of our erroneous views of the human nature of our Lord. When we give to His human nature a power that it is not possible for man to have in his conflicts with Satan, we destroy the completeness of His humanity. (OHC 48)
If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us. Therefore Jesus was “in all points tempted like as we are.” Heb. 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God. (DA 24)
If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came – a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man. (7BC 930)
Unless there is a possibility of yielding, temptation is no temptation. Temptation is resisted when man is powerfully influenced to do a wrong action; and, knowing that he can do it, resists, by faith, with a firm hold upon divine power. This was the ordeal through which Christ passed. (3SM 132) "If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came – a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man." Isn't having a sinless nature like Adam had before he sinned a power and an advantage? "But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome. Made “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3), He lived a sinless life. Since partaking of the divine nature does not make sinners a God, why, then, do some people seem to think partaking of fallen human nature made Jesus a sinner?
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#112421
04/29/09 06:49 PM
04/29/09 06:49 PM
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SDA Active Member 2023
5500+ Member
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,636
California, USA
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Isn't having a sinless nature like Adam had before he sinned a power and an advantage? Yes. It is like two firemen battling a blazing oil refinery, and one of them has the advantage of having a wet napkin in his shirt pocket.
By God's grace, Arnold
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: asygo]
#112424
04/29/09 09:44 PM
04/29/09 09:44 PM
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Active Member 2012
14500+ Member
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,795
Lawrence, Kansas
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Arnold, a while back I stated the following: I'm also interested in your response to my observations regarding the unlikelihood of Ellen White alone being a postlapsarian as well as knowing being able to understand her until 40 years after she died (see post #112340) So you don't have to go back and hunt for it, here is post #112340: Here's something I don't understand regarding the prelapsarian position. Supposedly the entire church was postlapsarian, except Ellen White. However, she endorsed postlapsarians, endorsed postlapsarian theology, and never corrected postlapsarians publicly. What I really, really don't understand is the idea that she supposed corrected Baker privately on the same subject she was publicly endorsing postlapsarians on.
Another thing regarding this that doesn't make sense to me is supposedly no one understood her correctly until 40 years after she died, although she was living when discussions on this actual topic were going on! (e.g. the Holy Flesh controversy) If she really agreed with the Holy Flesh people, like Donnel and Davis, that Christ's humanity is as Donnel and Davis said it was (which is the same position prelapsarians today have), I just cannot fathom that nobody during the time would be aware of this. This just boggles the mind.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: Tom]
#112425
04/30/09 12:54 AM
04/30/09 12:54 AM
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SDA Active Member 2023
5500+ Member
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,636
California, USA
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Thanks for pointing that out. I only have time to peek in now and then, and with a dozen interesting posts between peeks it's easy to miss some important ones. Since you brought up several points in the post, I'll address it in pieces. Here's something I don't understand regarding the prelapsarian position. Supposedly the entire church was postlapsarian, except Ellen White. However, she endorsed postlapsarians, endorsed postlapsarian theology, and never corrected postlapsarians publicly. I thought I already addressed this some time ago. If by "postlapsarian" you mean that Jesus took upon Himself fallen flesh, but not a fallen spiritual nature, then I don't know anybody today who is not a postlapsarian. But that is a very broad brush. If we are going to delve into the details that Willy hates, we cannot afford to be that clumsy. Did the entire church believe that Jesus experienced the strong tendency (propensity) to sin? Did the entire church believe that such tendencies to sin were outside the realm of the spiritual nature? When speaking of Christ's human nature, did the entire church agree that His spiritual nature was not part of the topic? This is where I believe modern postlaps part ways with your favorite authors of a century ago. As you have pointed out, they often, if not always, had Christ's spiritual nature in mind. In contrast, today's postlap theologian wants to separate His spiritual nature from His body. Plus, the postlap camp is a bit fragmented today, as opposed to the alleged unanimity of the 19th century. For example, take this simple statement, "There were in him no corrupt principles." Some postlaps say it was true for Jesus; others say it applied to unfallen Adam, not Jesus. Anyway, if we are going to limit "postlapsarian" to describing His flesh, not His spirit, then there is no disagreement. That is, except for the Holy Flesh people, who live to this day in the minds of some. What I really, really don't understand is the idea that she supposed corrected Baker privately on the same subject she was publicly endorsing postlapsarians on. She told Baker that "not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity" while the rest of us were "born with inherent propensities of disobedience." Did EGW ever teach a different position than this? Did EGW ever say directly that Jesus had tendencies to sin? Did she ever say directly that we have tendencies to sin? Her warning to Baker was to avoid "making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves: for it cannot be." I don't think she said anything differently to anyone else. It would, however, be good for us to remember that today. If she really agreed with the Holy Flesh people, like Donnel and Davis, that Christ's humanity is as Donnel and Davis said it was (which is the same position prelapsarians today have), I just cannot fathom that nobody during the time would be aware of this. This just boggles the mind. Did Donnel and Davis teach that Jesus was sinless? Did they teach that His spiritual nature was like unfallen Adam's? Did EGW ever teach these things?
By God's grace, Arnold
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: asygo]
#112428
04/30/09 01:07 AM
04/30/09 01:07 AM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
20000+ Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
Southwest USA
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"If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came – a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man."
M: Isn't having a sinless nature like Adam had before he sinned a power and an advantage?
A: Yes. It is like two firemen battling a blazing oil refinery, and one of them has the advantage of having a wet napkin in his shirt pocket. When you compare yourself to Adam before he fell do you really only see his advantage over you as no better than the firefighter with the wet napkin in his shirt pocket? I don't understand your analogy.
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: Mountain Man]
#112433
04/30/09 02:18 AM
04/30/09 02:18 AM
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SDA Active Member 2023
5500+ Member
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,636
California, USA
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"If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came – a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man."
M: Isn't having a sinless nature like Adam had before he sinned a power and an advantage?
A: Yes. It is like two firemen battling a blazing oil refinery, and one of them has the advantage of having a wet napkin in his shirt pocket. When you compare yourself to Adam before he fell do you really only see his advantage over you as no better than the firefighter with the wet napkin in his shirt pocket? I don't understand your analogy. The analogy is that compared to the power we have when we have the mind of Christ, it is irrelevant whether or not you have the body of Adam. In terms of arguing about Christ's body, it would be like the 2nd fireman saying to the 1st that it is impossible for him to fight the fire because he lacks the wet napkin. Any advantage it may have it inconsequential except for microscopic conflagrations. People need to understand that sin is not a matter of the flesh; we are not fighting against flesh and blood.
By God's grace, Arnold
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
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Re: Christ Desired and Lusted to Sin?
[Re: asygo]
#112446
04/30/09 01:53 PM
04/30/09 01:53 PM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
20000+ Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
Southwest USA
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"If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came – a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man."
M: Isn't having a sinless nature like Adam had before he sinned a power and an advantage?
A: Yes. It is like two firemen battling a blazing oil refinery, and one of them has the advantage of having a wet napkin in his shirt pocket.
M: When you compare yourself to Adam before he fell do you really only see his advantage over you as no better than the firefighter with the wet napkin in his shirt pocket? I don't understand your analogy.
A: The analogy is that compared to the power we have when we have the mind of Christ, it is irrelevant whether or not you have the body of Adam. In terms of arguing about Christ's body, it would be like the 2nd fireman saying to the 1st that it is impossible for him to fight the fire because he lacks the wet napkin. Any advantage it may have it inconsequential except for microscopic conflagrations. People need to understand that sin is not a matter of the flesh; we are not fighting against flesh and blood. Are you saying the only difference between born again believers who have the mind of Christ and pre-fall Adam is physical? What about the internal foes and evil propensities we inherit at birth? Isn't not having them a power and an advantage? Isn't having them a disadvantage?
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