Hello everybody, it's me, MrTol23, back with another video, and once again, if the microphone
cracks up or has problems, I apologize, the microphone on my computer is not working as
it should be.
But anyway, I want to talk about the subject of sin in this video, and why it is that we
cannot totally be without sin, why we can never be perfect, why we can never be as holy
or as righteous as Jesus Christ.
Some people have this false doctrine of sinless perfectionism, and some people think that
you can just live a life just 100% free from sin, and I'm going to explain in this video
why it is that we sin and why we cannot be free from sin.
Now this is something that is, I believe, a very complicated doctrine, there's many
different aspects to it.
Some of these things I've discussed in other videos.
I want to go over several aspects of this concept in this video today, and talk about
what sin is, why it is that we as human beings sin, and why it is that after we get saved
we still sin.
So first of all, defining what sin even is, typically we give a very clear definition
based on 1 John 3-4 that sin is the transgression of the law, and that is obviously correct
because that's what it says, but there's more to sin than that.
I think sin is a concept that is not just the transgression of the law because there's
other verses which indicate that it's other things in addition to that as well.
Let me show you what I mean by that.
So 1 John 3-4 says, whosoever committh sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law.
So number one definition of sin is transgressing what the law says, so when God has his commandments
within the word of God, when you break those commandments, that's a sin.
The Bible also says in Romans 14 verse 23, and he that doubteth is damned if he eat,
because he eateth not of faith, whosoever is not of faith is sin.
This is not something which is particularly mentioned in the law, but the Bible just says
if you do anything that's not of faith, then that makes it sin.
So even just doing something like eating, as the example is in this chapter of Romans
14, if you do that without faith, then that itself is a sin.
Now it's not like eating is a sin regularly, it's not, but if you eat without that faith,
if you doubt, the Bible says, then that makes it a sin.
It also says in James 4 verse 17, therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
not, to him it is sin.
So those who don't do what the Bible says, even in other parts of the Bible, because
there's other instructions, other guidelines, other instructions that the Bible gives that
are outside of the law of God, even just not doing what God says to do, like for example,
not preaching the gospel, not going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every
creature, technically that's not part of the law of God, but that is still something that
Christ told us to do, and is something that we should do as Christians, so if you don't
do that, the Bible says that's a sin as well.
Now the Bible teaches that everybody of course is a sinner, it says all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, and most people will agree to that and recognize that, but
there's some people who think that after you get saved, then all of a sudden you can just
become without sin.
Now the Bible does teach that there is a difference between the flesh and the spirit.
The Bible says of the spirit in 1 John chapter 3, whatsoever is born of God cannot sin, for
his seed remaineth in him, and he doth, wait hold on, whatsoever is born of God doth not
sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
Now that is only talking about the spirit or the inward man, because the Bible says
that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, he must be born again.
So when we're born again, when we're born of God, that is a spiritual birth.
So when you got saved by believing in Jesus Christ, there was no change to your physical
flesh, there was only a change to your heart, to your spirit.
The Bible calls that the inward man, or the new man, or the new creature.
You see that new creature which is born of God, the Bible says, is without sin, right?
But it contrasts that in Romans 7 with the flesh, Paul says it is no more I that do it,
but sin that dwelleth in me, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing.
So Paul says that when he sins, when he does, that which he allows not, that which he hates,
that's not him, like the inward man, doing those sins, but it's rather the sin that is
dwelling within his flesh.
His flesh is still sinful, because he says within me that is in my flesh dwelleth no
good thing.
So after you get saved, there is a change to your heart, your heart wants to do that
which is right, as taught in Romans 7 and other places, but the flesh is still subject
to sin.
And so the Bible says in 1st John chapter 1 verse 8, if we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
That's, let me put the emphasis on the word we, because this is the Apostle John writing,
and he says we, meaning you and I, or you and this group that I'm writing to, he's saying
that him and these Christians that he's talking to, if they say that they have no sin, then
that would be, you're deceiving yourself basically, right?
So even Christians can still have sin, and will still have sin, and if you say that you
don't have sin, the Bible says you're a liar, you're deceiving yourself, and the Bible says
if you say that you have not sinned, you also make a god a liar, in 1st John chapter 1 verse
10.
Now the Bible teaches that this is because of the fact that our flesh is incapable of
following the law of God, okay?
So like I said before, when you get saved, there's a change to your heart, there's a
new creature within you, that is the inward man, the spirit.
The spirit is without sin, but the flesh, the Bible tells us, is incapable of serving
God.
It says in Romans chapter 8 verse 6-7, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, okay?
And carnal means fleshly, it means of the flesh, okay?
So your flesh, the Bible says, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,
meaning it is impossible to be subject to the law of God, because of the sin nature
that we as human beings have, our flesh cannot submit to the law of God, and that is why
one day our flesh, when we die, will be buried in the earth, and it will have to be changed
at the rapture, when we're raised up, it has to be changed to be fashioned like unto Christ's
glorious body, okay?
That is why the Bible tells us we are still waiting for the redemption to wit, or sorry,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body, because our body has not yet
been redeemed, it will be redeemed when Christ returns, that's something we're still waiting
for.
But as of right now, your flesh is still subject to sin, there still is no good thing dwelling
within your flesh as taught in Romans 7, so your flesh is still going to sin, and therefore
on this earth, we will still disobey the law of God, okay?
So the flesh cannot be without sin, but I want to talk about scriptures which seem to
indicate that it is possible to stop sinning, okay?
This is one verse that I was trying to memorize recently, 1 Peter chapter 4, where the Bible
says, very clearly it uses the phrase, cease from sin, it says 1 Peter chapter 4 verses
1-2, for as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise
with the same mind, meaning the same mind as Christ, for he that hath suffered in the
flesh hath seized from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh
to the lust of men, but to the will of God.
So this scripture, with just a quick glance at it, might seem to indicate that it is possible
to 100% live without sin, okay?
But the thing is, like I mentioned before, sin is more complicated than we typically
think, it's not just transgression of the law, but I think there's more to it than that,
okay?
That's what we're talking about when he says, cease from sin and live no longer the rest
of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Now of course that is possible because that's what it says, but what does it mean by that?
Does that mean that you will live a perfect life like Christ?
Is that possible?
Well first of all, we want to look at how does sin happen, or the progression of sin
according to the Bible.
In James chapter 1 verse 13-15, it tells us how sin is brought forth.
It says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.
For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth
forth death.
So the Bible tells us in James chapter 1 right here, the progression of how sin comes about.
It says every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, meaning the lust that
belongs to you or to your flesh, right?
Remember we mentioned earlier how the flesh is still sinful.
There still dwells no good thing within the flesh.
The flesh has its own sinful desires.
The Bible calls these things the lusts of the flesh.
And it says when the man is drawn by that lust and enticed, or tempted basically, then
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and when it is finished bringeth forth
death.
So there's some sort of temptation, and then it leads you into lust and sin and death.
Let me give you an example.
One example that would be pretty common for most men would be like, for example, if you
look at a woman to lust after her, right, then that woman is the temptation, but the
lust or the desire of that woman is the lust, right?
That's what it means when it says lust.
But when you give into that lust, when you fulfill the lust of that flesh, then that
could lead you into sin, meaning actually committing fornication or adultery or whatever.
And I'll go into that more as we look at especially Galatians 5, which gives a lot more detail
on this.
I want to define what the word lust even means according to the Bible.
And it uses this word lust interchangeably with two words, and those words are covet
and desire, because essentially that's what lust is.
It's desiring something that doesn't belong to you.
It's synonymous with covetousness in the Bible.
It says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3, among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
So you see how the Bible uses these words lust and desire interchangeably.
It says the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
So he says in time past, we fulfilled the desires or the lusts of the flesh.
You'll see this phrase, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, several times in the Bible in
Galatians 5 and Romans 13.
I'll get into that later.
But basically he's saying in time past, you walked according to the prince of the air,
the ruler of the darkness of this world, I forget how it's phrased in the verse before
that, the prince of the power of the air, talking about the devil, they're saying you're
by nature the children of wrath, right?
So by nature, that was just how we lived, right?
And of course, now that we have the Holy Spirit, we have the power to overcome that.
And again, I'll get into that in a second.
But it says in Romans chapter 7 verse 7, this is another interesting verse which sheds some
more light on this.
What shall we say then?
Is the law sin?
God forbid.
May I had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known lust, except the law had said,
Thou shall not covet.
So we saw in James chapter 1, this is pretty interesting, that it says that lust, when
it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin.
So in that example, it seems that lust and sin are two different things, because it says
that lust leads to sin, right?
But in this verse, Romans chapter 7, it says, I had not known sin, but by the law, and it
gives the example, I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shall not covet.
So in this example, it tells us that lust is a sin.
And of course, we know that it is, we know that it's wrong, because Jesus even said,
if you look at a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery with her already
in your heart.
And he said that is enough to send you to hell if you're not saved.
So that itself is a sin.
So one example, James chapter 1, seems to indicate that lust is something that we just
have as, you know, our sinful flesh.
Our sinful flesh has these lusts, these desires.
The flesh wants to do things that are against the law of God, for as we saw, it's enmity
against the law of God.
So the flesh has these sinful desires, and that leads us into sin.
But this seems to indicate that lust itself is a sin.
And that's why I said that sin is more complicated than just the transgression of the law.
Now let me explain what this is, or why this is.
You see, the Bible tells us in Galatians chapter 5 that there are the works of the flesh and
the lusts of the flesh.
I'm going to explain what the difference between these two things are.
It says in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 11, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims
abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul.
So again, this verse indicates that it is possible to abstain from fleshly lust.
Now what does that mean?
Does that mean that our flesh will never desire anything?
No, because we know that that's impossible.
We already read some verses that show us that there's no good thing that dwells within the
flesh.
So the flesh just automatically, by nature, has this desire to do what's wrong.
And that's why there's the fight between the spirit and the flesh talked about in Romans
7 and Galatians 5 and a few other places.
The flesh has the desire to do what's wrong, but the Bible says that it is possible to
abstain from those fleshly lusts.
Now what does that mean?
It means to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, leading to the works of the flesh.
Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 to 21, the Bible says, This I say then, walk in the spirit
and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
For the flesh lustest against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are
contrary to the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
So here's an example of this battle between the flesh and the spirit.
It says, The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
These are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Meaning, the things that you desire to do, whether it's the spirit wanting to do what's
right or the flesh wanting to do what's wrong, there's this battle where your new man
wants to serve God and obey God and keep his commandments, but the old man, the flesh,
wants to serve the law of sin, as it puts it in Romans chapter 7.
But it says right here in verse 18, But if ye be led of the spirit ye are not under the
law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell
you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God.
And then it says in Romans 13 verse 14 as well, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
So the Bible tells us that the way that we don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh is to
walk in the spirit.
That's what it says in Galatians 5 16, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh.
Now the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh would be to commit the works of the flesh
as stated in Galatians chapter 5, that it lists all these different sins in verse 19
to 21, it lists all these sins and it says that these are the works of the flesh, this
is what your flesh does.
But it says if you walk in the spirit you won't do these things.
So essentially what I believe James chapter 1 is talking about when it tells us that lust,
when it conceives bring forth death, that the lust there is the lusts of the flesh,
but then the sin is the works of the flesh, that are talked about in Galatians 5.
That basically your flesh has these desires, when you are tempted, if you're not walking
in the spirit, then your flesh will fulfill those desires, fulfill the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, fulfill the lusts of the flesh and that will lead to the works
of the flesh.
So let me go back to that example I gave earlier just to kind of hammer this in.
So it tells us that adultery and fornication, those are the first two that are listed in
the list of the works of the flesh.
So again, the flesh has the desire, the sinful desire to commit those acts, those sinful
acts.
The flesh cannot be subject to the law of God, so the flesh wants to do these things
which are wrong, right?
So when you're not walking in the spirit, then when you see some woman or something,
then your flesh will be tempted by that, and if you're not walking in the spirit, then
your flesh which has that desire, has that lust, could be led to then commit that work
of the flesh, meaning actually physically committing the act of adultery or fornication.
So I think the works of the flesh is more referring to actually physically committing
these acts, like adultery, fornication, murder, drunkenness, witchcraft, those sort of things,
versus the lusts of the flesh are just the sinful desires that your flesh has.
So I'm hoping this makes sense.
The point I'm trying to make is that is the reason why we cannot be without sin.
You can be without the works of the flesh if you walk in the spirit, because that's
what the Bible says.
It says if you walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
And of course we saw in 1 Peter 4, it talks about if you suffer in the flesh, then he
that has suffered in the flesh has seized from sin.
So it is possible to seize from sin, but I think that that definition of sin that is
stated in 1 Peter 4 is referring to the actual physical act of committing a sin, a transgression
of the law, the works of the flesh.
But the lusts of the flesh themselves, according to Romans 7.7, the actual desire or the coveting
of something that is wicked or that doesn't belong to you, that in of itself is also sinful.
So I'm hoping this makes sense, that no matter what, your flesh, it cannot be subject to
the law of God.
No matter what, as long as we're on this earth, the flesh is going to have these sinful lusts
and desires.
And that of itself is a sin.
And we don't have the ability to completely just stop having those desires.
That's impossible because the flesh is not subject to the law of God.
But what is possible is to put off the flesh and to put on the spirit and walk in the spirit
so that you don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh, so that you don't actually commit the
works of the flesh.
It's impossible to go through life as a man and not lust after a woman, and not think
those thoughts.
It's impossible.
But what is possible is to not actually go and commit adultery and fornication.
You can go your whole life and be just with one woman.
Just get married and have a relationship with your wife, and that's it.
That is possible.
But it is not possible for your flesh to just not have that desire.
That's just absent.
That's just not a thing.
Because of the fact that our flesh is naturally against the law of God.
And it tells us in Romans chapter 7 verse 22 to 25,
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, which members is referring to your physical body,
your body parts, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with the mind I myself serve the law
of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
So he's saying, the flesh is going to serve the law of sin.
The flesh is warring against the mind.
It's not like you can just, you know, get rid of your flesh.
I mean, until you die and your spirit goes to heaven, you're stuck with the flesh.
So what our choice is in this life is whether we walk in the spirit or not.
If you walk in the spirit, you won't fulfill those lusts of the flesh, and you won't commit
these actual works of the flesh.
But if you don't walk in the spirit and you feed the flesh and you make provision for
the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof, then you're going to commit the works of the flesh.
That's what it's saying.
Okay, Romans chapter 6 verse 12 to 13,
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts
thereof.
Now, it's very interesting, the choice of words here, how it says reign in your mortal
body, right?
The thing is, sin exists in your mortal body no matter what.
We just saw that in Romans 7, that it tells us that in the members there is this law of
sin that's warring against the law of the mind.
That's just there by nature of the fact that our flesh is sinful, you know, the nature
we've inherited from Adam.
So he says don't let it reign in your mortal body, meaning don't let it take control, basically.
That you should obey it in the lusts thereof, right?
So the thereof means of that which was just mentioned.
So the lusts of your mortal body, the lusts of your flesh, don't obey those lusts of the
flesh, meaning don't fulfill those fleshly desires and fall into actually physically
committing the acts of sin, right?
Verse 13,
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God, as those that are live from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.
Okay?
And that commands us that we should yield our bodies, yield ourselves, to the service
of God.
Okay?
And if we do that, then we can put off the flesh and the desires of the flesh and not
let sin reign in our mortal bodies, okay?
But again, that's a choice that we have, that's not something you can just do automatically
just because you're saved, like you're just going to live a clean, holy, godly life.
That's not automatic, you have the choice of whether you want to put off the flesh and
not let the flesh control you and walk in the spirit instead, okay?
So basically, the whole conclusion or summary of what I'm trying to get across here is that
the lusts of the flesh are the desires or the wants or the coveting of the flesh itself.
That's just automatically within us and that in and of itself is sinful, okay?
So no matter what, you're going to have, you know, bad thoughts in your mind sometimes.
There's going to be desires for sinful things, okay?
That's going to happen.
But you have the choice to resist that, to resist the devil and to put down the spirit
or to give into that, okay?
So the flesh desires to do one thing and the spirit desires to do another thing.
We know that, we've seen that in several verses and we know that the flesh is not reformable
so the only way to escape the lusts of the flesh, meaning to not fulfill them, is to
walk in the spirit, which the Bible says, they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh and they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit, okay?
In Romans chapter 8.
So walking in the spirit means basically just to mind the things of the spirit, to focus
on spiritual things, to meditate on the word of God, to preach the word of God, to sing
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, to pray unto the Lord, you know, do spiritual things,
focus on those things.
And it talks about that in Colossians chapter 3 and a few other verses and chapters in the
Bible, I'm not going to go into a great detailed explanation of that, but if we do those things
then the Bible says we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
So that's what I think it's talking about in 1 Peter chapter 4 when it says cease from
sin and a few other scriptures which seem to indicate that we can put off sin and live
a godly and righteous life, okay?
So basically the order of sin is our flesh has a desire to do something sinful, right?
We saw in James chapter 1, right?
And when we are tempted, we're drawn away by that lust, right?
We then sin, which again, James chapter 1, when it talks about the sin that is conceived,
that is talking about the works of the flesh.
However, the Bible does plainly say it is possible to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh
by walking in the spirit, okay?
The Bible commands us don't let sin reign or don't let it control your body.
Don't let it control your life, okay?
It's still going to be there.
Sin is in our flesh, you know?
Is sin that dwells within me as the Bible says in Romans 7, but don't let it reign in
your mortal body.
That's what the Bible teaches.
So hopefully this answers the question of why it is, I dropped my Bible, why it is that
we cannot be without sin and that is because in of itself, lust is a sin, but the lusts
are always going to be there.
So the only thing that you can really be without is the works of the flesh.
Those things listed in Galatians 5 and it says, and such like.
So it's not like those are the only works of the flesh, right?
But that is even something that is difficult and it takes a lot of time because walking
in the spirit is not something that people just do all the time 24-7 as Christians.
I know personally, I haven't been walking in the spirit every single day since I've
been saved and there's many days when I'm in the flesh, okay?
It's a choice daily to put off the flesh and to put on the spirit.
When the Bible says to mortify the members of your uncleanness, Paul said, I die daily.
So you have to, you reckon your body is dead to sin, you have to die, mortify the old man
daily.
That's a daily process, it's not just one time you decide, well I'm not going to live
a life of sin anymore and then you just are perfect for the rest of your life.
That's impossible, okay?
You have to make the choice to put off the flesh and to walk in the spirit every single
day, okay?
And theoretically, hypothetically, if you were walking in the spirit all the time and
focusing on spiritual things all the time, then you would never commit the sins that
are listed in Galatians chapter 5.
Now again, that doesn't make you perfect, that doesn't mean that you're like Christ
because you still have those fleshly lusts, okay?
So that is still wrong, that is still something that's against God's will for your life, but
you can at least not fulfill those lusts.
You can at least live a life where you're not actually physically committing adultery
or physically committing fornication or actually going out and killing somebody or actually
causing some kind of sedition or worshiping idols, witchcraft, hating your brother, all
these sort of things that are listed here, drunkenness, things like that.
You can live a life free of these things, meaning the physical actions of committing
these sins, but you cannot live a life without the lusts or the desires to do these things
because that's just by nature what the flesh has.
So I hope this makes sense, I try to break it down as simply and as clear as possible.
If you have any questions about a verse or a scripture concerning these things then just
post it in the comments below.
So I hope this answers the question of some of these verses which maybe you've read and
maybe they've been kind of cryptic.
Also I hope it answers any questions you had about the difference between the spirit and
the flesh, the old man and the new man, and I hope it answers the question of why we cannot
be without sin because again some people think that you can just be perfect and like Christ.
That's impossible because the Bible says that all have come short of the glory of God.
So if you say that you're just like God and you're just perfect in everything then you're
a liar and you're denying what the Bible clearly says.
So yes, you can live a clean and holy and righteous and godly life, you can yield your
body to Christ, but you cannot be without the lusts of the flesh.
That's the point I'm trying to make in this video.
So thank you everybody for watching, God bless you and goodbye.