Sin vs Sin, This Is Not A Play On Words

In a recent discussion among fellow believers, one of the believers posed several questions to the group.  The first set of questions posed to the group was:  Define the word all in the scripture; For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)?  Does all mean all inclusive?  The initial response by all who were asked these questions was one of two responses; All means all-inclusive or All means everyone.  The group of believers was then asked the following question; Does that mean everyone without exception?  The response from the group was collectively; Yes, all means all-inclusive without exception.

A Third Class – Part III

According to our earlier examination of Romans 8:1, we saw that there was therefore no condemnation for anyone who is in or belongs to Christ Jesus.  We determined that there were two groups, those who where in Christ Jesus, them being the believers, the saved, or the Christians and those who were not in Christ Jesus, them being the non-believers or the unsaved.  We also found that many translations omitted this part of the passage, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Up on further examination, we discovered this omitted text to be vital in the understanding and interpretation of this passage.  We can see from the omitted text that there be a qualifier for them which are in Christ Jesus.  A qualifier is something that has the ability to restrict, limit, alter, or modify the meaning of something else.  Imagine that, something in the word of God that actually restricts, limits, alters, or modifies the meaning of them who be in Christ Jesus.  It appears that there just might be another group amongst those that are in Christ Jesus.

A Third Class – Part II

Let us quickly summarize what we have discovered thus far.  In our initial examination of Romans 8:1, we determined that there appeared to be two groups, those who where in Christ Jesus (the believers) and those who were not in Christ Jesus (the non-believers), even though the passage only mentions one group.  We also placed these two groups or classifications on a finite line with two extreme endpoints, with those in Christ Jesus to the extreme far right and those not in Christ Jesus to the extreme far left.  We placed everyone else somewhere in between, depending on their association to the two extremes.  We also determined that Satan would go after those toward the extreme far right; them who be in Christ Jesus, the believers because them toward the extreme far left had already committed themselves to him.

We re-examined Romans 8:1 to discover that there are some who are in Christ Jesus that believe there is nothing they can do to lose their salvation and be plucked from the hand of Christ.  They live a lifestyle of their choosing and regardless of what they do; they believe they will always be forgiven as long as they get on their knees and confess their sins.  The phrase, carnal Christian was coined to define the believer who confesses and believes in Christ Jesus, but lives a lifestyle that does not appear to glorify God while claiming the forgiveness and acceptance of God.  Could this be that other group, that third classification we discussed earlier?