I find it disjointed and difficult to read. He is reaching all over and pulling in passages, but not much explaination about the context of those passages. I know that if I preach a sermon like that I feel confused. I am not sure if he is saying that if someone sins, then they will die, or if he is saying that Christian who is unrepentantly sinning, knows it is sin, has a hard heart and won't quit is going to die. It is obvious that sin leads to death according to scriputre. It is also obvious that those who are in Christ are covered, not by their good deeds, but by Jesus' blood.
I am not sure how to take the article, I think he does not develop his points very well, he just quotes people and leaves them hanging. This does not lend itself well to debate and discussion from what I can see.
Eric
All,
First of all, I did a quick 'net search and found the 'original', and the article above is, indeed, complete as posted.
Second, I have in the past brushed against Dan Corner on the 'net (his site, and on a board somewhere) - for what that's worth; but I'll let you form your own opinion of him and his work rather than bias you with my opinion.
Third, IMO, simply reading Romans 8 - the context - makes Paul's point clear. I find that pulling out one verse and then speculating upon it, by itself, is poor exegenesis - especially when the context of the 'pulled' verse speaks so clearly to the question posed.
Paul's style of building logical arguments from the ground up, like a drum roll leading up to a crescendo, makes the practice of 'pulling' a verse out of its context doubly dangerous; as you risk misplacing/misunderstanding his individual argument, and missing the overall point, too. Kind of like hearing a single pounding of the drum and speculating upon what a drum roll would sound like...
There's a poster to this board whose writings wander incompletely like that... I wonder if he's really Dan Corner?
We have a new member named Dan... but he writes quite clearly and entertainingly, so 't'ain't him.
Was he trying to point out the differences between spiritual death & physical death?
Or was he saying Christians, as long as they're faithful & don't get spiritually dead, will not physically die due to sin?
Or was he saying that a sinful person who dies a sin-related death wasn't really a Christian?
I know all death is ultimately sin-related, as it was sin that brought death into the cosmos... but you know what I mean, I'm talking about sin that brings on death, spiritual and/or physical.
I just really don't know how to take this article. If you can offer some feedback on it, I would appreciate it. I chanced upon this article on the internet.
How Will A Christian Die Because of Sin?
Dan Corner of Evangelical Outreach
May 27, 2002
[Permission to reproduce this article is hereby granted, but only in its entirety, including author's name and ministry name, and without any alterations.]
Paul taught Christians the following:
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (Rom. 8:13).
Some say this death is physical death, while others say it is spiritual death, like the kind Adam and Eve experienced after they sinned. Is there a way we can know for certain? By comparing Scripture with Scripture we can know what he is referring to. On three different occasions Paul taught Christians what would happen to them if they would live according to the flesh (or sinful nature)—the one just cited in Rom. 8:13 and the following two:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8).
By comparing these passages, we can see that Paul warns Christians they will "die
Shumby, when I read the article, I wondered if part of it didn't get printed. As Eric said it could have any of many conclusions. It doesn't appear finished to me.
Bill
Pretty much, "Yeah." Thanks for the feedback.
humans die whether christian or not, regardless of corner's view.
dj