Can Salvation give a 2nd chance for sinners?

[Corpfox]

I was watching an episode of The Twilight Zone and it got me really interested.

Though, it may not be true, it COULD be.

At first, it looked like some kind of alien invasion, very cool twist, turns out, they're Angels giving people a 2nd chance to live from a Doomed world.

Went to look at the word, Salvation, it says you have to believe in it as you would with Jesus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation

Though, I don't think I see any reference saying Salvation can give sinners a 2nd chance.

Okay, IF a doomed world, our world, was about to be destroyed, do you think it is possible Angels, or a similar/related form, can ask sinners (that haven't chose in believing Jesus, the whole religion stuff), that they can give them a 2nd chance in Salvation?

 

[Zeena]

Salvation is not for sinners Corpfox, they cannot comprehend the Love God has for us if they've never recieved Him..

Being born again and being saved are actually two different historical events..You can't have salvation without being born again, and once born again salvation is assured..

Being born again is first agreeing with God by humbly admitting you deserve to die instead of Jesus Christ, then choosing to accept the sacrifice of His Life on the cross as your just substitute for all sin, past, present and future.. Seeing how He is sinless, He is able to forgive ALL sin

Salvation is the work of God It's God's blessing for those who chose to deny themselves, take up thier cross and follow Christ Jesus wherever He goes
It's God transforming the life through the witness of His Holy Spirit reminding us of who, what, where, when and why..All pointing to the Life of Jesus both within and without, thereby edifying us in all things so that we may partake of His Holy Spirit

A born again Christian may never chose to submit to the Life of Christ Jesus as the only true life..But they are still saved by that very life, through His death..Instead they will weep in Heaven for a season, but Jesus will wipe away every tear! They will see Him face to face, as He really is and be transformed then and there, instead of now and here..

 

[kraniac]

Your second chance, Corpfox, is the life you're living. The Twilight Zone is an interesting show to be sure, but it's just a show. But as long as you're breathing, it's never too late to turn to God.

 

[PapaToad]

Salvation is not for sinners Corpfox, they cannot comprehend the Love God has for us if they've never recieved Him..

I liked what you wrote, but I have to say, Salvation was designed with the intent purpose of sinners (You and I) in mind. Christians tend to forget that. And even once saved, Sinner and saved alike hold no weight difference to the Lord.

Yes, He may rejoice in your salvation, But the Bible says He will leave the 99 to look after the 1 lost. Salvation is for sinners, and just because you’re saved and given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, does not make you free of Sin. It just gives you the tools and the knowledge that you will be received in Heaven. You are no more sinless than any non believer.

You just realize what you need to be working on.


.

Though, I don't think I see any reference saying Salvation can give sinners a 2nd chanceOkay,

IF a doomed world, our world, was about to be destroyed, do you think it is possible Angels, or a similar/related form, can ask sinners (that haven't chose in believing Jesus, the whole religion stuff), that they can give them a 2nd chance in Salvation?

In the Bible somewhere it does prelude to the fact that all will hear of the Lord Jesus Christ and All will know something to the fact that He is the king of Kings and will be granted the gift of salvation. (Of course everyone will have to make the decision to believe or not)

I could not reference this passage, but I am sure there are many here who can, been a long time since I studied that part of the word. I believe it is in Revelations

 

[aka Ash]

Salvation is not for sinners Corpfox, they cannot comprehend the Love God has for us if they've never recieved Him..

Being born again and being saved are actually two different historical events..You can't have salvation without being born again, and once born again salvation is assured..

Being born again is first agreeing with God by humbly admitting you deserve to die instead of Jesus Christ, then choosing to accept the sacrifice of His Life on the cross as your just substitute for all sin, past, present and future.. Seeing how He is sinless, He is able to forgive ALL sin

Salvation is the work of God It's God's blessing for those who chose to deny themselves, take up thier cross and follow Christ Jesus wherever He goes
It's God transforming the life through the witness of His Holy Spirit reminding us of who, what, where, when and why..All pointing to the Life of Jesus both within and without, thereby edifying us in all things so that we may partake of His Holy Spirit

A born again Christian may never chose to submit to the Life of Christ Jesus as the only true life..But they are still saved by that very life, through His death..Instead they will weep in Heaven for a season, but Jesus will wipe away every tear! They will see Him face to face, as He really is and be transformed then and there, instead of now and here..

I'm really not sure I understand your view here Zeena. Are you saying that once someone is "born again" that no matter what they do at that point is irrelevent? Even if they fall away from their walk with God after being "born again".They could go on a murder spree and kill hundreds of people. then start doing Crystal Meth. Then sleep with their mother and father. Then they Blaspheme God. All the while never feeling bad for what they are doing. Suddenly, on their way home from cheating on their spouse, smiling because they enjoyed themselves, they then decide to see if they can fly off the highest building, just for kicks and kill themselves. Never having repented for those sins, they are still saved, still assured a place in heaven, because they once were born again?

 

[Zeena]

sinners (You and I) in mind. Christians tend to forget that. And even once saved, Sinner and saved alike hold no weight difference to the Lord.

I was a sinner, I am now a Saint, by the Grace of God in Christ Jesus..

I may sin, but I confess my sin and look to Jesus for His Salvation..

1 Corinthians 6:11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

John 13:14
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

Revelation 7:9-17
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Also, God looks on Jesus with favoritism..

Matthew 3:17
And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
2 Peter 1:17
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Ephesians 4:10
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.

We are Holy and Blameless in the Lord Jesus!

Romans 11:16
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Greet one another with an Holy kiss

 

[Shyfroggy]

We are far from Saints, even if we have been saved.

Just my two cents.

 

[Zeena]

I'm really not sure I understand your view here Zeena. Are you saying that once someone is "born again" that no matter what they do at that point is irrelevent?

No, it is quite relevant, to the Glory of God in Christ Jesus to be revealed both in Heaven and here on earth.. Our JOY in the Holy Spirit is dependant on our submitting to the command of Christ..

Hebrews 1:9
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
Revelation 3:10
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

Even if they fall away from their walk with God after being "born again".They could go on a murder spree and kill hundreds of people. then start doing Crystal Meth. Then sleep with their mother and father. Then they Blaspheme God.

Even if, even, even, even, even, EVEN IF!

1 Peter 1 23:b-25
you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

And again, for God is Faithful!

1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

I cannot stop there! I must continue to sing the Praise of our God!

Ephesians 2:4-6
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
Romans 9:15-16
For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

All the while never feeling bad for what they are doing.

Romans 6:1-3
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
1 John 3:9
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
1 John 5:18
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

No, at first they would feel guilty, becuase thier conscience would condemn them.. But this would grow less condemning as they continued to sear thier consciences by quenching the Holy Spirit, who comes to reveal the Life of Jesus in us!

Romans 5:9
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Acts 24:16
So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
2 Corinthians 1:12
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.
1 Thessalonians 5:19
19Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
1 Timothy 1:19
19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
1 Timothy 4:1-3
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Hebrews 13:18
Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

But just becuase they feel guilty does not make it so!

John 5:21-23
21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
John 16:14-15
He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Suddenly, on their way home from cheating on their spouse, smiling because they enjoyed themselves, they then decide to see if they can fly off the highest building, just for kicks and kill themselves. Never having repented for those sins, they are still saved, still assured a place in heaven, because they once were born again?

They already HAVE repented, remember, they were washed, they were cleaned of a guilty conscience by the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ.. They are assured a place in Heaven for eternity, for when they made the good confession of the punishment and death of Christ Jesus as just propitiation for thier sins God accepted them, for eternity. Don't get me wrong, there is a price to pay for all sins..

1 Corinthians 6:20
you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Jesus paid that price for us, for the sins of the ENTIRE world!

1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Notice the plural "sins"..Not dealing with the root issue of "sin" (singular), inherent in all mankind since the fall..
Here, God speaks in the singular..

2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

But, the Lord desires to see us walk in the FREEDOM He came to give!

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Ephesians 3:12
In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Jude 1:12
These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

Salt and Fire bro!
Praise JESUS!

2 Corinthians 1
21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Other relevant scriptures in particular order..

Revelation 14:7
He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:16-18
16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 5:3
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

 

[aka Ash]

ok...quick and simple because I still do not understand what you are saying.

once you are born again you cannot rob, cheat, kill, steal, lie, etc.?

or

once you are born again if you do sin rob, cheat, kill, steal, lie, etc. and not feel bad for it you will still make it to heaven?

 

[Atown]

check the sig, i think halonic said it best

 

[Zeena]

ok...quick and simple because I still do not understand what you are saying.

once you are born again you cannot rob, cheat, kill, steal, lie, etc.?

or

once you are born again if you do sin rob, cheat, kill, steal, lie, etc. and not feel bad for it you will still make it to heaven?

A born again believer CANNOT continue to sin..
It's impossible!

And IF he/she did sin he/she would most definately feel bad for a season, but if they continued to quench the Holy Spirit these feelings would diminish and they would then feel cut off from God..

And God has sanctioned this as a method of dealing with the flesh of believers..

They are still saved..

 

[aka Ash]

check the sig, i think halonic said it best

I agree with you...and Halonic, Atown...I am just tryiong to understand what Zeena is saying.

 

[Zeena]

check the sig, i think halonic said it best

I thank God for His Holy Light on your Life ATown!
Good news!

I came back with the express purpose of expounding upon the differences between saved, salvation and unsaved...

Matthew 25:46
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Who are the Righteous you ask?

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 13:49
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

If a child of God is not mature [1 Corinthians 13:10, Mathew 5:48], he cannot please the Father [Romans 8:8, Mathew 3:17], instead He is taken care of and nurtured until the time comes for him/her to take posession of the estate [Galations 4:1-7].

In this diagram, it shows a picture of a child of God who is not mature..

This diagram printed without permission from the Grace Fellowship International website
Notice the big "S" in the center.. Well this is a selfer-Christian, living out of his own resources.. See the big "C" in the spirit of the believer.. Well this is Christ Jesus, the Ascended Lord come to buffet the believer [John 10:7] into full submission to His authority [John 15:5] over life and death..

While the child is not grown up as yet, His Holy Spirit buffets the believer by revealing truth [John 16:14-15] by experience in the sufferings of Jesus Christ [Mathew 17:12, Luke 24:26, Acts 9:16, 2 Corinthians 1:6, 1 Peter 5:10-11], to mature in, and communicate effectively the message of identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension [Ephesians 4:8] in their various spheres of influence, so that all may know Christ as Savior, Lord, and Life [1 Peter 3:22].

Identification truth, also known as the Exchanged Life, is based on the doctrine of sanctification as summarized in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me".

Most Christians have been taught that Christ died for their sins; few have been taught the truth that they died with Christ. Consequently, few Christians find victory in their lives. Although they know that they have been set free from the penalty for their sins, they have not been taught that they have been set free from the power of sin in their lives. Romans 6:6-7 states, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." Abiding in Christ is the essence of discipleship. Christ declared, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). To cooperate with the indwelling Christ, the believer must appropriate the deeper work of the Cross (Luke 9:23).

Christians often try and live the Christian Life in thier own strength, out of thier own puny resources! Jesus came to give His Life [Galations 5:5], not only as a ransom for many, but that we might have Life more abundantly [Ephesians 2:14-16, John 6:51]! His Life, His Holy, Blameless, Perfect, Righteous, all encompassing Life!

Galatians 4:27
For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."

Galatians 3:24
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Zechariah 4
Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?"
I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

He answered, "Do you not know what these are?"
"No, my lord," I replied.

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

"What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' "

Then the word of the LORD came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

"Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
"(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"

Matthew 12:42
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

John 9:39
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Just a few random links I noticed and visited, agreed and posted for your edification ..
Bema Seat of Christ Jesus, where believers in His Holy Name recieve thier reward
The Great White Judgment Throne of God, for those who rejected the Salvation offered in Jesus Christ
Are YOU going to Heaven? (Windows Media or Real Audio Video file)

 

[Zeena]

Oh!

How can I forget my dear brother Mike Wells!
Who has sown seeds of the Lord in my Life!

PLEASE visit this link! --> http://www.mikewellsdownload.com/16k.htm
And do recieve the ministry of the Lord Jesus through our most excellent brother in Christ!

 

[tjguitarz]

We are far from Saints, even if we have been saved.

The bible says we're all saints.

 

[aka Ash]

A born again believer CANNOT continue to sin..
It's impossible!

So A person that thinks they are born again, and does sin is not born again?

Someone that may be jealous of another for a moment, or bitter about the man that murdered their baby, or thinks for a brief moment "wow, I what a beautiful woman/man. I'd like to date them." Or curses once, etc.
These people are not truly born again? They have sinned, and sin to a born again Christian is impossible you said.

 

[Shyfroggy]

I have a hard time with the fact that we are all saints.

 

[Dark Virtue]

A born again believer CANNOT continue to sin..
It's impossible!

Then you are not a born again believer, nor is any other Christian in the world according to your definition.

 

[Genesis1315]

Wow, based on what I have read, I am tending to lean towards agreement with DV.

A born again believer CANNOT continue to sin..
It's impossible!

Scripture reference?

Gen

 

[Zeena]

So A person that thinks they are born again, and does sin is not born again?

Someone that may be jealous of another for a moment, or bitter about the man that murdered their baby, or thinks for a brief moment "wow, I what a beautiful woman/man. I'd like to date them." Or curses once, etc.
These people are not truly born again? They have sinned, and sin to a born again Christian is impossible you said.

Only believe ShyFroggy, my friend
I spoke only as the Holy Spirit gave me utterance..

I've expressed to the best of my ability and now call forth God as my witness, that as a believer in the name of the Lord Jesus you are totally loved, unconditionally accepted and called according to the Grace God has for us in Christ Jesus..If I did not state it quite so eloquently before it was for your benefit

1 John 3:9
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Please remember my exhortation earlier, when I asked you to differentiate between the singular and plural.. The singular deals with the inherant nature of sin in all mankind, that is, sin passed down from Adam... But while sin is used in the plural or as a verb it deals with sins that we do out of the flesh (mind, will and emotions under the power of indwelling sin)..PLEASE take note these are both singular, ergo, inherant in Adamic nature references..

1 John 5:18
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

Remember when I said before "neigh IMPOSSIBLE!"
And I did not say WITH God all things are possible, for it is ONLY the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Living God who EVER conquered sin

4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

They had thier backs to the Temple of the Lord..Too preoccupied and blinded by the prince of the power of the air to even notice WHO was behind them!

Oh! But Mighty is our God!
"What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' "

Like I said earlier, those who are walking after the flesh CANNOT please God..

Romans 8:1-27
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

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