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I have put this question to many who believe that one must cease from all sin before one can be saved.
"Did you do it? Was your attempt to be "as perfect as the Father in heaven" successful?"
I do not recall anyone saying yes.
But the thing is. If you were successful, and you did behave prefect as the Father... why did you have to get saved? According to Paul, the purpose of the law was to show all men that they are lost and need to be saved by grace. If you successfully repent from all sin, then you must not be unregenerate.
Romans 3:20 Williams
20 Because no human creature can be brought into right standing with God by observing the law. For all the law can do is to make men conscious of sin.
The law is nothing more than a sinful test. It is a sinner revealer. Every attempt at repentance will fail and will do nothing but make one more aware of their sinfulness and need for mercy and grace.
Romans 3:28 KJV
28 Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Those claiming to have successfully repented from all sin essentially say they were justified by faith WITH the works of the law. This verse clearly says they did not. And the previous verse calls this claim to be a boast:
Romans 3:27 KJV
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Paul spoke to the Galatians in the same way:
Galatians 2:16 KJV
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
So yes, repentance is necessary, but it is intended to be unsuccessful. Your walk is not going to be as perfect as the Father in heaven, and that is the requirement if you include this in your gospel.
So if you turn around and claim you repented from sin, you are saying two things, first that you do not need to be saved because you are already are prefect as the Faither in heaven, and two, you accomplished something the entirety of the scriptures say you cannot accomplish. You passed a test that the scripture says you, as an unsaved person, could not pass.
"Did you do it? Was your attempt to be "as perfect as the Father in heaven" successful?"
I do not recall anyone saying yes.
But the thing is. If you were successful, and you did behave prefect as the Father... why did you have to get saved? According to Paul, the purpose of the law was to show all men that they are lost and need to be saved by grace. If you successfully repent from all sin, then you must not be unregenerate.
Romans 3:20 Williams
20 Because no human creature can be brought into right standing with God by observing the law. For all the law can do is to make men conscious of sin.
The law is nothing more than a sinful test. It is a sinner revealer. Every attempt at repentance will fail and will do nothing but make one more aware of their sinfulness and need for mercy and grace.
Romans 3:28 KJV
28 Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Those claiming to have successfully repented from all sin essentially say they were justified by faith WITH the works of the law. This verse clearly says they did not. And the previous verse calls this claim to be a boast:
Romans 3:27 KJV
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Paul spoke to the Galatians in the same way:
Galatians 2:16 KJV
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
So yes, repentance is necessary, but it is intended to be unsuccessful. Your walk is not going to be as perfect as the Father in heaven, and that is the requirement if you include this in your gospel.
So if you turn around and claim you repented from sin, you are saying two things, first that you do not need to be saved because you are already are prefect as the Faither in heaven, and two, you accomplished something the entirety of the scriptures say you cannot accomplish. You passed a test that the scripture says you, as an unsaved person, could not pass.
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