The entire notion of all of these arguments revolves around some believers evil being better than another believers. It's quite ridiculous.
Paul taught with regards to sin that our sin, lesser as it may be depending on who is doing the measuring, is no better than anyone else's.
Romans 3:9
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for
we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are
all under sin;
This alone should permanently set aside any debates about who's the better (least) sinner.
Then we can look at how Paul measured himself:
1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners;
of whom I am chief.
Not was, am. That shows Paul's fact about his own sin.
Paul sets out the measure, of the only thing that counts regarding faith. If there is a measure of any sinner/believer, it will only be this:
Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Perhaps rather than figuring out "how" to vainly, futility dodge the fact that we are sinners, we should be keeping a different scorecard?
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because
love covers over a multitude of sins.
Believers say, IF there is no record of sins THEN I can do what I want. The fact that believers "want" to sin serves to prove they are and remain sinners, even if it doesn't show up on the outside.
No persons evil present is better than anyone else. At least on this ground if people want to be "equal" there it is equal. Equally evil. Romans 7:21.
Paul never tried to make his evil present disappear, cover it up, justify it. It simply can't be done. What can and does happen is that evil present can turn any believer into a hypocrite at the drop of a hat. That's how powerfully deceiving evil present IS. And no amount of repentance or forgiveness exercises/rituals make evil present be gone or evaporate.
There's an old Christian saying about sinners falling deeper into the sin/evil ditch that goes like this: "There but for the Grace of God go I."
That statement is made in the recognition of what we all contend and wrestle with,
internally. We can lose that match very easily from many directions. One of those losses is by lying about the fact of evil present with us. Another is hypocrisy, thinking it's not true, that evil is present with us. Another is thinking that evil doesn't come from within, and defile us regardless.
When Jesus said evil comes from
evil thoughts, which
defile us,
it was not a maybe.
Matt. 5:28, Matt. 15:19-20 and Mark 7:21-23
The lesson of the religious hypocrite and the "justified publican" are abundantly clear from Luke 18. God is not in the habit of entertaining religious liars who don't think they are sinners because of their check list of Godly in their mind actions.
God does justify an honest sinner who knows there is no escape of the obvious and his very real needs of Gods Mercy.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:
for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
There is no more of a humbling experience than to know and understand that evil is present with(in) us. And that we can't dodge the obvious.
Every honest person in this thread will know this is true. So how much "better" are we? ZERO. Even in honesty we still have evil present with us, that defiles us. But at least we can be honest about it and not put ourselves on any false high horses, and thereby lose the game of LIFE to evil, hypocrisy and lies.
Honest hearts that can take on the fact of their own evil present are more apt to produce good fruit. I might think of it as spiritual fertilizer that springs up the fruit of honesty. What did the vine dresser of the master call for when the tree did not produce fruit?
More DUNG! Luke 13:9
There are O.T. scriptures that reference taking root downward and bearing fruit upward. What we find in the roots is our own darkness planting, with fertilizer. From there springs up honesty and hope. It's a beautiful thing, as any common flower knows by experience.
We are a planting of our Lord. Not only is there darkness beneath the surface, in the ground called our flesh, there are weeds that spring up from that same ground.
Flowers get plucked, fruit gets harvested, weeds get burned. And even good trees get pruned, and their dead, unproductive, unprofitable branches, burned.
Appreciate your life as a plant. It only lasts a short time.
1 Peter 1:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
