Justification and the Cross

[Robert]

19 hours ago, Samie said:

So, were all sins - past, present, future - forgiven on the cross?

And if a person continues to miss the mark, how is his being "in Christ" affected? Will there be people in heaven who never stopped missing the mark while on earth?

Read Romans 3:23 and 1 John 1:8.  Also, read the following:

So long as Satan reigns, we shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to overcome; so long as life shall last, there will be no stopping place, no point which we can reach and say, I have fully attained. Sanctification is the result of lifelong obedience (i.e., to the gospel, not the law).

None of the apostles and prophets ever claimed to be without sin. Men who have lived the nearest to God, men who would sacrifice life itself rather than knowingly commit a wrong act, men whom God has honored with divine light and power, have confessed the sinfulness of their nature. They have put no confidence in the flesh, have claimed no righteousness of their own, but have trusted wholly in the righteousness of Christ.

So will it be with all who behold Christ. The nearer we come to Jesus, and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly shall we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the less shall we feel like exalting ourselves. There will be a continual reaching out of the soul after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the heart before Him. At every advance step in our Christian experience our repentance will deepen. We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone and shall make the apostle's confession our own: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Romans 7:18; Galatians 6:14.

Let the recording angels write the history of the holy struggles and conflicts of the people of God; let them record their prayers and tears; but let not God be dishonored by the declaration from human lips, "I am sinless; I am holy." Sanctified lips will never give utterance to such presumptuous words.  [EGW AA 561-562]

[Samie]

On 05/02/2016 at 11:22 PM, Robert said:

Sanctification is the result of lifelong obedience (i.e., to the gospel, not the law).

How about this?

^NKJ Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

As to whether all sins were forgiven on the cross:

^NAS Colossians 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

[Samie]

We were all corporately justified on the cross:

^NAS Romans 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

But since people still commit sin individually, people need to be individually justified. And God has answered this need by the resurrection of Jesus:

^NIV Romans 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

This He does by NOT counting against us sins we currently commit, these sins having been forgiven on the cross:

^NAS 2 Corinthians 5:18-19   ¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

In fact, these sins God remembers NO MORE:

^KJV Hebrews 10:16-17  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; ¹⁷ And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

But the act of sinning reminds the person that instead of overcoming it, he is overcome of evil. And we are admonished to overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). The good news is there is hope while alive, for it is only after a person dies that judgment is rendered (Heb 9:27) whether to blot his name or not from the book of life. And overcomers will not be blotted out from it (Rev 3:5). God is the Judge as to who the overcomers are. We are in good hands. The Judge of all the earth will judge our final destiny.

[Robert]

40 minutes ago, Samie said:

How about this?

^NKJ Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

In Christ we already stand sanctified.  See 1 Cor 1:30 NASB also.   In fact "in Christ" we already stand 

1] justified

2] sanctified

3] and glorified (redeemed)

That's why our experience of these can't add to what has already taken place in the Holy history of Christ.  Those who make sanctification a condition to salvation are no better than the Judaizers of old. 

 

[Samie]

Made me wonder why you quoted that sanctification is a result of lifelong obedience when you believe Scriptures saying we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ.

[Robert]

3 hours ago, Samie said:

Made me wonder why you quoted that sanctification is a result of lifelong obedience when you believe Scriptures saying we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ.

We have already been made holy in Christ, but now as believers we begin to experience this truth.  Sanctification is a lifelong effort of endeavoring to walk in the Spirit.  Hence we grow, but we are never perfect as God is perfect.

[Samie]

8 hours ago, Robert said:

We have already been made holy in Christ, but now as believers we begin to experience this truth.  Sanctification is a lifelong effort of endeavoring to walk in the Spirit.  Hence we grow, but we are never perfect as God is perfect.

So I guess you are saying that since we have been made holy, we endeavor to live holy lives.  Or to put it another way, since we had been reconciled to God by the death of His Son, we are admonished to live reconciled lives.  This for me is endeavoring to overcome evil with good. And overcomers will not be blotted out from the book of life.

[Robert]

7 hours ago, Samie said:

So I guess you are saying that since we have been made holy, we endeavor to live holy lives.  Or to put it another way, since we had been reconciled to God by the death of His Son, we are admonished to live reconciled lives.  This for me is endeavoring to overcome evil with good. And overcomers will not be blotted out from the book of life.

Let me say it another way:

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. [Rom 10:16]

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. [2 Thessalonians 1:8]

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? [1 Peter 4:17]

BTW, obeying the gospel is not the same as obeying the  law....