What if we have all been wrong when it comes to our understanding on this false premise that the apostle Paul continued... to live as a struggling ‘sinner’, or as in his words...as the ‘worst’ or ‘chief’ of sinners?

Just hear me out on this as I circle back once again and address this grossly misleading notion that the one who wrote nearly two thirds of the New Testament...continued to struggle with overcoming sin.

There are two specific passages that we’ve always been taught and reminded of when it comes to Paul’s writings and his ‘apparent admission’, and they are found in Romans 7:13-25 and 1 Timothy 1:15.

And let’s be honest here - if this notorious converted Pharisee who was once imprisoning and overseeing the execution of new Christians back in the early days of the church’s inception...continued to live as a ‘sinner saved by grace’, who are we to think we could fare any better and actually ‘go and sin no more’?

I mean, this talk about ‘those who abide in Jesus no longer sin’ (1 John 3:6), or those who have ‘been born of God no longer continue to sin’ (1 John 5:18), along with Peter stating that ‘those who have suffered in the flesh have ceased from sin’ (1 Pet. 4:1-2) is either idealistic, yet unattainable goals to strive for, or just outright heresy.

And for every pastor/preacher who stands behind a pulpit and continues to reinforce this notion that we will always continue to sin...’on this side of heaven’, using their own public admissions that they too...continue to ‘sin’ and ‘blow it’ on a regular basis...are only convincing the very ones they have been called to lead out of darkness...to remain in darkness and bondage. (“If my pastor continues to sin, who am I to think I can live any differently?”)

You do realize that is what sin is...it’s bondage (John 8:34); and if I read my Bible correctly...Jesus came to ‘set us free’ from the bondage of sin. (John 8:32-36; Luke 4:18). Oh...and here’s a news flash for us all: Even Paul makes it clear that we were indeed ‘set free from sin’ (Rom. 6:18;22). So why would we continue to do something that is destroying us...IF...we’ve been set free from it? Are we then ‘sinning willfully’? Because if that’s the case, you might want to check out Hebrews 10:26-27.

When you read through that portion in Romans 7, what Paul is simply doing here is explaining and/or identifying with the struggle that everyone of us have had to come to terms with: that ‘in us is no good thing’ (18). We ‘all...have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory’ (Rom. 3:23)...which is why we were all in such a desperate need of a Savior. Paul talks about ‘wanting to do good but evil is always present’...and how he seems to ‘do the very things he does not want to do’ (19-20) because of the ‘sin that dwells within’.

So we’ve been taught that we too...will continue to live like this and struggle as Paul did, all the while we continue to ‘serve the Lord’ and sing our hymns how Jesus ‘set us free’.

No wonder Jesus asked us: “Why do you call me Lord and not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46)? Did He not tell us to ‘go and sin no more...or something worse will happen to you?” (John 5:14; 8:11).

If you are going to believe this false narrative, then you must also include Paul’s statement that not only was he a ‘sinner’, but he is the ‘chief’ or ‘worst’ of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). Forget the fact that only a few lines prior to that statement he mentions being a ‘former... blasphemer...persecutor and insolent man’ (who obtained mercy -13); but he is the ‘worst’ of them. Take a moment and think about some ways in which the ‘worst of sinners’ might continue to live; you know...the ‘big ones’ like murder and adultery and raping children and harming people and stealing from them’, etc.

IF...Paul continued to live and struggle with such sins, then why on earth would he admonish ‘believers’ to ‘follow his example as he follows Christ’? (1 Cor. 11:1)

Why would Paul admonish ‘brethren in following his example and note that we have him for a pattern’ to follow? (Phil.3:17)

Is Paul not being a tad hypocritical by telling “all who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’ (2 Tim. 2:19)...if he has failed to ‘depart from iniquity’?

And how do you suppose Paul must have felt when he reminded the Galatians that ‘those who continue to live this way will NOT...inherit the kingdom of God’? (Gal. 5:21)

Was Paul guilty of spewing out the very ‘empty words’ that he warned us not to be deceived by in Eph. 5:3-6?

Oh...what about his instructions to ‘hand that sinner over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord’...there in 1 Cor. 5:5? Why not hand himself over to Satan if he continued to live as the ‘worst of sinners’?

Do you not see a problem with this faulty thinking and mindset?

Now, go back to that passage in Romans 7, where Paul finishes up with his ‘real life’ illustration, lamenting the conflict we all face. He knows he/we have a problem with this inner ‘wretched man’, crying out...”who will deliver me from this body of death’? (24). And that...is where most of us stop reading and find false comfort as we wallow in our own sins...with the ‘chief of sinners’, Paul.

But wait...don’t stop there! He answers his own question in the very next line: “I thank God- through Jesus Christ our Lord! (25). He then continues on telling us exactly...how we are set free in order to go and ‘sin no more’. Want to guess how we do that? We surrender to Jesus and begin to follow Him as He leads us to ‘put to death...that wretched man’; adding that if we continue to live according to this nature...we will surely die (Rom. 8:13).

You thought I forgot about that passage, didn’t you? Join me tomorrow?