Amy VanGerpen (7 Apr 2012)
"RE: Greg"
 
"Amy, the next time you are confronted with a temptation, ask yourself: If I give into this temptation am I loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?
You're still waiting for Him to empower you, but you need to realize He's already given that power to you for you to exercise it, IF you truly love Him!
Renew your mind of incorrect doctrine because it's presumptuous, and leading many to hell."

What then of what Paul said of the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit, even for himself:

Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Romans 7:13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Here is a good explanation to 1 John 3:1-10:

What about teachers/prophets who teach and practice rebellion against God? (I John 3:1-10)

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

The groundwork is laid in verses 1-3 to establish the norm for Christians - the pursuit of a godly lifestyle. Because the world (Greek: kosmos i.e. world order) does not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, they won't identify with those of us who do. We are in pursuit of Jesus, knowing that one day we shall be with him and like him. For that reason, Believers who are focused on this future outcome pursue a lifestyle pleasing to Christ.

What about the Gnostic-style teaching of these false prophets that lifestyle doesn't matter? That's dealt with in verses 4-10. Gnostics felt a need to supplement commonly established orthodoxy with components of Judaism, oriental mysticism and philosophy. Many scholars maintain that Gnosticism existed before the ministry of Christ. Gnosticism infiltrated Christianity with their doctrine that actually held the deity and Messianic mission of Jesus of little or no value. That's the point of chapter 2 when John says in verse 22, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." So, before we deal with verse 4 here, let's establish the big sin that is being dealt with in John's epistle here - THE DENIAL THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH).

Understanding that sin of Jesus-as-Messiah-denial, let's deal with verse 4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." The original construction of verse 4 in its Greek format is important here. First of all, let's do a word-for-word substitution from Greek to English, and then polish up the sentence in English. Here it is: "Each one doing THE sin, also the lawlessness does, and THE sin is the lawlessness." You may find the occurrence of the definite article ("the") in front of "sin" each time to be kinda weird by English standards. That definite article used here with the singular form of "sin" (Greek: hamartia) is unique in this epistle in this respect: Except here and in verse 8, all other occurrences in this epistle of "sin" with the definite article are plural i.e. "the sins of us." In other words, John is here (verses 4 and 8) identifying a particular sin, the sin of denying the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the Greek word "anomia" means lawlessness, a common New Testament term indicating a disregard for God. I am completely confident that a reference to the Mosaic Law IS NOT to be found in this verse. So, here's the polished and enhanced version of what is intended in verse 4, "The one who practices the sin of denying the Messiahship of Jesus Christ is lawless, because this denial is lawlessness."

But wait...there's more! That sin is revisited in verse 8. The one who is "doing THE sin" of denying the Messiahship of Jesus Christ is "of the devil." Whoa! It's devil doctrine! To thwart Jesus' mission was Satan's intent from the very beginning, and Jesus was manifested to put away Satan's deception once and for all.

Now, sandwiched in between verses 4 and 8 are some qualifiers regarding this lawless doctrine:

Verses 9-10 follow the same theme. This sin of verses 4 and 8 of denying the Messiahship of Jesus Christ is not compatible with the born-again experience. When you have Jesus ("his seed") in you, you have acknowledged that Jesus is exactly who he said he was, having been born of God. Verse 10 sums it up: Satan's doctrine denies the identity of Jesus, God's doctrine acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah.

http://www.bibletrack.org/cgi-bin/bible.pl?incr=0&mo=12&dy=3

Maranatha!
Amy Van Gerpen