Let
me suggest to you that we can live perfect lives. Now that may sound
like the most outrageous thing you have ever heard, because one of the
few things you'll get both Christian and non-Christian to agree on is
that nobody is perfect!
What the New Testament teaches, as I
understand it, is that once the Holy Spirit comes into my life, once I'm
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, I have living within me the power to obey
God. The Holy Spirit gives me the power to obey the commandments of God,
and the New Testament says there is no temptation that has ever
befallen me that isn't common to every person, and with the temptation
God always provides a way of escape. I don't think anybody does, in
fact, live a perfect life. But I think that God's grace makes perfection
a possibility.
I would say that I have opportunities to sin
literally thousands of times a day. Every time I'm confronted with an
opportunity to sin, there is a battle within my soul. The indwelling
Holy Spirit is inclining me toward righteousness and obedience. But
remember that the Holy Spirit is living in me, in R. C. Sproul; he's
indwelling an imperfect creature, one who has not been totally cleansed
of evil inclinations. So given the manifold opportunities to sin that I
have and knowing that there's warfare with every one of those
opportunities between what the Bible calls my flesh and the Spirit,
statistically it's virtually inevitable that I'm going to sin and be far
less than perfect. If we look at them one at a time, we realize that in
each single circumstance the power has actually been provided by God to
resist that temptation. That's why I can never stand before God and
say, "God, you will have to excuse me; the devil made me do it" or, "The
Holy Spirit was not powerful enough within me to have resisted that
sin." So even though I believe that not even the apostle Paul ever
achieved perfection in his life, it's not because of any lack of power
or ability or inclination of the indwelling Spirit.
~ RC Sproul, Now - That's a Good Question!
2 comments:
"If the Holy Spirit lives in us, why can't we live perfect lives?"
Because I insist on arguing with Him.
As do we all, PH. As do we all.
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