you dont stop the work of the Holy Spirit by acts of sin. you stop his work by walking according to the flesh. walking according to the flesh means living like you dont know who you are in Christ. it does not mean commiting acts of carnality, although those can be good signs that you are walking according to the flesh but they are not a guarantee of that.
Hi voltaire.
Spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive, and therefore are absolutes. A believer cannot be 80% spiritual and 20 carnal. When a believer is filled with the Spirit, he is spiritual, and he walks in the light (I John 1:7); when a believer sins, he is carnal and walks in darkness (I John 1:6).
A believer sins because of temptation. Temptation comes from the old sin nature, however sin itself comes from our own free volition (free will). Sin can be a thought, a motive, or an act of wrongdoing, all of which is a state of alienation from God.
Jesus not only paid the penalty for sin, but also destroyed the power of the old sin nature by His death on the Cross. The believer may have victory over the sin nature as long as he lives under “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh (old sin nature) , but after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4).
To operate under this “law”, there are three things you must always do when you sin:
1. Confess the sin 2. Forget the sin. 3. Keep moving forward.
Sins of Cognizance occur when a person recognizes a temptation as a sin and willingly does it. The person knows he is doing it and probably even enjoys doing it. This sin is a transgression involving human perception and or cognizance. Temptation, however, in and of itself, is not sin. It is not until we act on that temptation that it becomes sin. Second are the Sins of Ignorance. This is when a person is not aware that the old sin nature is tempting them to sin; but nonetheless, he or she desires to commit the sin and does so. An unknown sin is still sin. This is because divine knowledge is available to all. It is still a volitional decision, so it does not matter that the act is committed without one's perception or cognizance.
Because all sin is related to human volition, the believer is responsible for both categories of sin in their life. In both of these categories the believer is equally guilty. God doesn't excuse anyone. What a believer thinks about his sins doesn't matter, because God is not impressed by what anyone thinks about their sins. So volition is involved in both known and unknown sins
Since we are totally helpless to solve it, and responsible to God even for sins we are unaware of, how does a believer handle the sin problem? First of all the believer must understand that Jesus Christ was judged on the cross for both sins of ignorance and sins of cognizance. When the believer acknowledges or names a sin of cognizance in confession (1 Jo 1:9), he is simultaneously forgiven the sins of ignorance committed during the time of being out of fellowship. (Jerry said the same thing)
Again, this is all post salvation doctrine. This is all about spirituality vs carnality, walking in the light vs. walking in darkness.
