"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." Romans 7.19
My parents were raised in the Wesleyan holiness movement, the Nazarene Church. Aside from the fact I know I'd be a terrible Nazarene (I drink and smoke, but I don't chew. However, I might go with girls who do), I don't believe anyone would actually be good a Nazarene. I have a memory of conversation with my dad where he mentioned that if the second work of grace, where a believer attains freedom from all known sin, was true, he didn't expect to have it. He's certainly not alone. I think that the scriptures themselves militate against this idea. I hold Paul's experience in Romans 7 to be the experience of the post-conversion Paul, and then there's the
testimony of John that would seem to call this idea into question. I believe that repentance is the posture of the believer. From conversion to death, the life of the believer is gospel-oriented. Repentance and the forgiveness of sin is a daily reality for the Christian.
