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If we are living by the Holy Spirit (by God's pure love), we will not expect people to not make mistakes. "Mistakes" are only counted as sin when a person knows before hand that what they are about to do is not in the will of God. In the case of them knowing the will of God before they act and they act against the will of God anyway, then these acts are not "mistakes", but willful sin against God. God only holds us accountable to our willful sins, which are against His known will. Otherwise if anyone doesn't know God's will in a certain matter, God can't and doesn't hold that against them as sins - then they are mistakes instead. Keep in mind, even our mistakes will have earthly consequences, even if we didn't know they were against God's will.
How should we treat sinners as they come to God. Sinners coming into the church that have a lot of imperfections and a lot of bad baggage in their past - well we have to understand, sinners are going to sin, that is their nature. Even if they didn't realized they were going against God's will in the past, they still will have the consequences in their life because of those sins, but we should not hold anything against them - because they did not know what they were doing.
Can anyone blame the body (flesh) for their willful sinful behavior. The body only does what the spirit inside it commands it to do. What ever spirit is master in that person, then that will be the fruit that the body will display. So if our selfish spirit is still in control of the body, then it will make the body do sinful things to fulfill the desires of the sinful (selfish) nature the body was born with. If it is the Holy Spirit that controls the body, then the body will only have the fruits (works) of pure love. We must help everyone grow in this knowledge concerning the spirit and body, because this knowledge can greatly help the ones still lost in the sinful (selfish spirit) nature they were born with. God says my people perish because they lack knowledge - knowledge of the truth. We need to bring God's truth to the lost so the truth can set them free of their own evil inside them.
God has provided the way to kill all of our selfish nature and only live by the power of His Holy Spirit (pure agape love). Then our body will be a slave to righteousness instead of a slave to sin. This spiritual perfection is what makes even our body righteous.
1 Thess 5:23-24 - May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. NIV
Mike
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