Fidei Defensor

I suggest we can only stop practicing sin through Christ in us (Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:15), For He became sin for us who commited no sin, and died on the cross for our sins. Only He living in us can lead us into habits that are not sinful, i.e. practicing sin. Do you make distinction between practicing sin and stumbling in sin? Is the goal you are setting forth to stop praticing sin? Practicing Sin: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9) “And envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21) To practice sin is to master it, to say even that it is not sin, which is calling God a liar, “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts”(1 John 1:10). Stumbling in Sin: ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) “1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2) Stumbling in Sin is we all fail, we make a mistakes and transgress, but then we confess the sin, are forgiven, and ask Christ to help us not sin again.

Worthy Christian Forums Statement of Faith: We believe in God, the almighty creator of heaven and earth. We believe in the triunity of God. We believe that God is eternally One, and also eternally the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — the three being distinct, but not separate. Each Person of the Godhead coexists from everlasting to everlasting. We believe in the Messiah, Jesus, God’s only begotten son, God come in the flesh. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified, died and buried. On the third day, He rose again. Soon afterward He ascended into heaven. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father and He will return to judge both the living and the dead and reign for evermore. We believe all mankind are sinful and are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. We believe that everyone is in need of God’s salvation. Mankind is absolutely unable to fulfill the heavy demands of God’s righteousness, holiness and glory. Therefore, God, in sending His Only Begotten Son, has accomplished redemption for us through the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Because of His Son’s death, God has forgiven us of our sins, reconciled us to Himself, and justified us by making Him our righteousness. We believe that salvation is a gift received by faith alone, in Messiah alone, and is expressed in the individual’s recognition and repentance of sin, and the acceptance of the risen Messiah as Saviour, Lord and God. We believe in the supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ, before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow. And that there is no other name under Heaven by which we can approach the holy throne of God. Jesus Christ is the one and only mediator between God and man. We believe that immediately upon death, the soul of the believer is absent from the body, and present with the Lord. We believe in the ongoing work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit after redemption for the purpose of producing life changing fruit — love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control. We believe that the 66 books of the Canon, from Genesis to Revelation are the exhaustive, inerrant and inspired word of God. Link: https://worthyministries.com/statement-of-faith/

Resist is one thing, Willpower to be sinless is another. Only Jesus Christ is sinless.

Actually it takes Christ working in us to help us die to sinful behaviors (habits). Just when you think you’ve mastered a sin (defeated it) on your own, you’ve done another one. Paul said of himself, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul wrote 2/3rds of the New Testament and yet described himself thus.

“Apostle’s Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;* the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (all over the world) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

You said earlier you can be sinless by Will power, I refuted that with Scripture.

“WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Substance with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.” (Nicene Creed)

“God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” (Heritage Singers)

Only Jesus can cleanses us of sin, only Jesus was sinless: “20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” - Hebrews 4:14-15 “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” - 1 John 3:5 “21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” - 1 Peter 2:21-22 Only Christ is sinless.

The Lord Jesus Christ is One with the Father and Holy Spirit (John 10:30, John 14, John 14:26, John 15:26, John 17:20-23, John 20:20-23, Matthew 28:19).

Willpower haz never worked or else we’d all be sinless: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiasties 7:20) We cannot even know what is good except God who is Good show us. The Council of Jerusalem settled this:, ”7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." (Acts 15:7-11, Holy Bible) Will power doesn’t work, on Jesus Christ the God Man, the only sinless man can cleanse us of sin: “21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:21-28)

The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is in the plethora of Scripture (Colossians 2:9, John 20:20-23, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19, 1 Peter 1:2, John 14:26, John 15:26, John 14:16-17, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 11:7, Ezekiel 28:10-28, Hebrews 1:1-24 and etc).

Did you just call me child of the devil? Well I am in good company Jesus was called the devil: “22And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:(Z) “How can Satan(AA) drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.(28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:22-29) Thank you for letting me share in sufferings of Christ: “13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” (1 Peter 4:13-14).

Do believe you can only stop sinning through Jesus, His sacrifice and His blood?

The Roman Road (Romans Chapters 1-8) are useful for this; as are The Ten Commandments, and the lists in Galatians and Colossians.

Confessing Sin: Forgive me Lord Jesus, He cleanses you of the sin and guilt. Repent: Turn from, reform, change the bad lifestyle like alcoholism, more akin to rehab (re-habit, form new habits).

My point is in the original language that the New Teatament was written, Koine Greek, repent reads “turn from sin,” oppose to confessing a sin.

Well, to repent from sin comes from the word: “metanoeó: to change one's mind or purpose, to turn from Original Word: μετανοέω Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: metanoeó Phonetic Spelling: (met-an-o-eh'-o) Definition: to change one's mind or purpose Usage: I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.” (Strong’s Concordance on Revelation 3:19). Sin in the Greek is “missing the mark [of God's glorious standard].” So put together is I missed the mark and now turn from my sin to God’s glorious standard; which is done through faith in Jesus Christ who has cleanses us of all our sins (1 John 1:7). Another way of putting it is I miss the mark (sin), I then turn to Jesus Christ for His forgiveness and let Him in me (Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:15) turn or change my thoughts and actions towards God’s glorious standard. Now a query is if Confessing Sins and Repenting of Sin are the same or are they different? Repenting of sin when examined in the Greek reads more like Regeneration, while confessing sin is admitting to Christ this is a sin He died for and being sorrowful for it and accepting His free gift of forgiveness. See the difference: “1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” ( 1 John 2:1-2) “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:19

Goes both ways, you can learn from others too.

If a minister is a watchman, it is in my view this, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you” (Hebrews 13:17) I agree that Spirit of Truth is our watchman, “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.” (John 15:26). But my pastor (he is retired now) who was an apologist and theologian would get up proclaiming Sola Scriptura and making sermons against error. He even boldy said in a service, “The Roman Catholic Church is the largest cult, not a church.” He then had a line of people after service screaming at him over their Catholic friends. Suffice to say he had guts to confront error.

“3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it too easily.” - (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

As he exclaims to his God, “no one is free from sin in your sight, not even an infant whose span of earthly life is but a single day” (Book I). ... Thus, Augustine concludes, “The only innocent feature in babies is the weakness of their frames; the minds of infants are far from innocent.” (The Confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo) Supported by: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me,” (Psalm 51:5) “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies,” (Pslam 58:3) “What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous,” (Job 15:14) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“But Peter and John replied, "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges” (Acts 4:19) “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) The Scriptures are God breathed: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16) “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things, For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) Ergo what Scripture says is what God said on these matters.

I take all Scripture as literal unless its clear its a symbol, I am a Biblical Literalist: “Biblical literalists believe that, unless a passage is clearly intended by the writer as allegory, poetry, or some other genre, the Bible should be interpreted as literal statements by the author.” (Biblical Literalism, Wikipedia) I believe the symbolic view or seeing passages as figurative, i.e. liberal theology, is dangerous because where does it end? Jesus did not die for me figuratively, Jesus died for me literally (actually, really happened in history). Too be clear, I am explaining my point of view (Biblical Literalistism) and why I do not agree with a symbolist (allegorical) interpretation of Scripture.

Yes Jesus is exalted about every name, “9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - (Philippians 2:9-11) But the Father and Spirit are in Jesus and He in they: “8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:8-11) “20 "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” ( John 17:20-23) “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26) “26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27) “21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)