Do the Saints Have Sin?

Do the Saints Have Sin?

Not according to Korsets Seier! They believe that we only have sin before we have been justified, but after we have been saved, we no longer have sin. The body is merely weakened from the time we had sin. Korsets Seier believes 1 John 1 has been incorrectly interpreted.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8. Notice that the expression to “have sin” is in the present tense. It does not say “had sin.” If this were the only Scripture that referred to sin in the flesh, it could be open to misinterpretation by a person devoid of spiritual understanding. However, we have dozens of Scriptures that show that no matter how holy we are, we still have sin in the flesh. The cleansing does not consist of getting rid of sin in the flesh, but getting rid of sin in the mind, so that we can serve God’s law with our mind. Rom. 7:25. An adulterer serves the law of sin with his mind, and that is why there is sin and condemnation. If sin had stayed in the flesh and had not influenced his mind, he would have remained without condemnation.

Korsets Seier poses the question, “What happens to sin when we walk in the light and the blood of Christ cleanses us from ‘all sin’? How much is left then?” This statement is supposed to be evidence that all sin has been removed from the flesh. Read 1 John 1:7.

Notice that this verse refers to walking in the light. The light will convict us of all sorts of things in our lives that we have to cleanse out. The blood of Christ will do this if we walk in the light and are faithful to the light. Consciousness of sin will be removed from our mind, but not from our flesh. At some point a greater light will shine and illuminate even greater areas of my self-life. The blood of Christ will cleanse us from this as well. This gives meaning to the verses that speak about going from light to light and from strength to strength, until we appear before God in Zion. We become cleansed from all consciousness of sin.

Korsets Seier’s interpretation suggests that whoever walks in the light today will become free from all sin today. If that person were to walk in the light tomorrow, the blood of Christ would no longer be able to cleanse him, because all sin was already cleansed away yesterday. We can see where such teaching leads. Nevertheless it is, according to them, “true and biblical.” Thank God that we have our own Bibles—and the Spirit as an interpreter and instructor in righteousness.

“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Rom. 8:10. What does this mean? It means that we are not to live according to sin in the flesh or according to the lusts in the body. Instead we are to be led and driven by the Holy Spirit. Solomon allowed himself to be overpowered by the lusts in his body, and we all know that this can happen—even after we have been baptized with the Spirit. Or is it just physical weakness that causes the sinner to be taken captive? Isn’t it sin itself that does this? Don’t be afraid of calling things by their rightful name. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We are writing these things because we don’t want Korsets Seier to be deceived.

This is not salvation of the body, but rather salvation of the spirit. That is why the body without the spirit is dead. James 2:26. God jealously desires the spirit, which He has allowed to dwell in us. James 4:5 (Norw.). Concerning the salvation of the body, we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, from heaven, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body. Phil. 3:20. This will not take place until Christ’s return.

As long as we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, because sin dwells in the flesh. But when we leave this body, we go home to the Lord.

We must reckon ourselves dead to sin but alive to God. Rom. 6:11. If there was no sin in the flesh, we would have no need to reckon ourselves dead to it. “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” We cannot prevent sin from dwelling in the flesh, but we can prevent it from reigning. Sin cannot accomplish anything without my consent. This is where the law of the mind comes in, and the cross is active in everyone who resists temptation.

For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. Therefore, if I do what I hate, against my will, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Once again the apostle states that sin dwells in him. Of course, Korsets Seier would maintain that they never do anything that they should hate. This is a pathetically poor acknowledgment of the light in which they should be walking. Each of us does many things we should most certainly hate. He who walks in the light hates these things. Consequently, the blood of Christ cleanses him from all sin, that is, conscious sin.

Paul says, “I see another law in my members.” Rom. 7:23. If only Korsets Seier could see this law! James saw it too, and asks, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” James 4:1. Don’t we still have these desires? How many more foolish deeds have to come to light before their eyes are opened? Will the Pentecostals have to end up being split into individual atoms before Korsets Seier discovers that there is a law of sin in their members? Has the baptism of the Spirit and the gift of tongues gone to their head to such a degree that they are utterly blind to all the truths the Spirit leads us into? Doesn’t Korsets Seier know that the baptism of the Spirit is only the beginning and that the Spirit will now guide us into all truth? John 16:13. A pupil is not fully educated the first day the teacher steps into the classroom. Nevertheless, even after all these years, Korsets Seier really seems to love the teacher, and yet stubbornly refuses to receive any instruction from Him. If this is the case, do they really love the teacher??

God said to Cain that sin was lying at the door, and that its desire was for him, but he should rule over it. Gen. 4:7. Is sin still at the door? Maybe it is lying in wait outside the body, ready to force its way into this “weakened body” at the first opportunity? I assume that is how Korsets Seier would like it to be. If that is the case, sin certainly pays frequent visits to this “weakened body,” because we have found this troublesome guest to be ever-present, not only with ourselves but also with the Pentecostals, and even with the editor of Korsets Seier himself—since he often goes beyond his allotted boundaries, explaining things about which he has absolutely no clarity. This is ample evidence that the “weakened body” is indeed visited by sin.

Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. We don’t need to look beyond our own lives to find what draws and entices. This drawing and enticement is the sin that is bound to our flesh. If we give in to these lusts, we will fall—we will commit sin. We must distinguish between having sin and committing sin. There is no condemnation for having sin, only for committing sin.

The bride says in Song of Solomon, Chapter 1, “I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.” Imagine, dark, but lovely. Not “weakened,” as Korsets Seier would say. The sun had burned her. Is this not a comfort and joy for all of us? Dark, but lovely. This was the bride herself. She carried her treasure in an earthen vessel under a dark covering.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile. If we are without guile in our spirit, then God will not impute iniquity to us. But don’t try to say that we have no sin. Not even heaven is pure in God’s eyes; it, too, needs to be reconciled by the blood of Christ.

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Rom. 6:10.

Was this death to sin only active in Jesus? The apostle Paul always carried about in the body the dying of Jesus. 2 Cor. 4:10. If he carried about the dying of Jesus in his body, it must have been because he had sin in his body, since the death that Jesus died, He died to sin. Paul did this so that the life of Jesus would be manifested in his mortal flesh. But Korsets Seier has no need to carry about in the body the dying of Jesus, because sin has already been removed, they say. The only thing left is a “weakened body,” so Korsets Seier must have come further than the apostle Paul. He was always being delivered to death. What becomes of the new and living way through the veil—that is, His flesh—if sin has already been removed? The children of Israel entered a land full of enemies. But according to Korsets Seier’s theory, the land had merely been damaged and weakened from the time the enemies dwelt there. But is that biblical?

Korsets Seier repeatedly uses the expression “under the blood.” It sounds right, but it is merely an expression taught by human wisdom. The Spirit never teaches anything that is vague and sloppy. Anyone willing to think about this will find it meaningless. Surely you’re not going to stand under the blood just as you would under a waterfall? The blood works within you; it is the death of Christ. You cannot be “under the blood” unless Jesus is outside of you. When Jesus is within you, you also bear His death within, and thus have His blood within. Anyone who puts himself “under something,” proves that he is still living. But if we want to live, we must first die.

Korsets Seier uses Adam and Eve before the fall as evidence that it is possible to be completely pure and still fall in sin.

Let us take a closer look at this. God said to man that he could freely eat of every tree in the garden, but that he must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 2:16-17. Then the serpent came and said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Gen. 3:1. Notice that the serpent confused Eve by saying “every tree.” The woman answered, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

At this point, the woman started to doubt God and believe Satan. Sin had already been planted in her before she took the fruit of the tree. She was like the man that looked at the woman to lust for her. Sin had already been committed in Eve’s heart. The woman believed more in Satan than in God. This was unbelief, and unbelief is sin. Then the woman looked at the tree and realized that it was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and that it was a tree desirable to make one wise. All this happened before she took of the tree and ate the fruit, because sin had already been planted in her. How then can Korsets Seier say that she was pure?? Wasn’t it sin in her body that gave her the power to take of the fruit of the tree and eat? Of course! Satan had gone his way by the time she took of the tree. What he had planted in her gave her enough power to commit sin. She was drawn and enticed by her own desire—the desire that had been planted there by the serpent.

Korsets Seier refers to 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

They use this Scripture as more evidence that the body has no sin. Doesn’t Korsets Seier know that being sanctified is not the same as being holy? An unbelieving husband can be sanctified because of his believing wife, but is he thereby holy? No, he is far from holy; he may even be a drunkard. So being completely sanctified is not the same as being completely holy. Being holy means that I must be totally surrendered to everything that can make me holy.

Our body, soul and spirit are to be preserved blameless. This means being preserved in such a state where nothing is done that is worthy of blame. But going from being blameless to being holy is a big leap. When we always present our body as a sacrifice acceptable to God, we are perfectly blameless. This is our spiritual service (Norw.). However, if our body were without sin, it would be out of the question to present it as a sacrifice.

Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and we know that “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

Here it says we are hanging on a tree (are crucified according to the flesh) and are cursed. If we don’t have sin, how can we be cursed? I don’t think it’s the weakened body that is cursed, is it? If there is no sin in the body, then it should be “very good,” because God said of everything He had created that it was “very good.” But is the flesh very good?? What kind of experience does Korsets Seier have in this area?? God told Satan that he was cursed. He did not say this to the weakened body. By the way, where in the Bible is it written about a “weakened body” anyway? This expression is nothing more than a product of human fantasy.

If only Korsets Seier could agree with us and acknowledge sin in the flesh. We could share so many good things, because His flesh is food indeed and His blood is drink indeed. But Korsets Seier maintains that they do not have sin, and therefore we must believe the Scriptures that say that they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them.

Korsets Seier does not wish to be regarded as a publication that teaches “sinless perfection.” We can easily understand that. However, when this publication teaches that a person neither commits sin nor has sin, we have no choice but to believe that it nonetheless does teach “sinless perfection,” despite the fact that they believe in a weakened body that formerly was used in the service of sin.