What is the correct Christian moral teaching?

[McCulloch]

The situation:
Someone claiming to be a Christian does a wrong. It is not an error or a slip. It is a deliberate, premeditated and continuing act that he or she knows is wrong. A non-believer publicly accuses the Christian of doing the wrong act, but has insufficient evidence to prove the case.

Questions:
What is the correct response of a Christian who has done wrong to such an accusation according to Christians moral teachings and ethics? How should such a Christian respond to the non-believing accusers? How should such a Christian respond to the community of believers? How does the concept of being a light unto the world fit in? Is it your experience that the Christian community has effectively embraced their own moral principles on this? Is it that such activity belies the person's claim to be a true Christian?

Please do not answer this according to your own opinions. Cite the Christian Bible, Christian religious leaders and teachers, and Christian example to support your answer.

Edited for clarity.

[Amos]

Does a man get saved because of good works?
NO!

Does a man [strike]loose[/strike] lose salvation because of sin?
NO!

In debate it is customary to present more than a bare unsupported assertion of your position.

Is salvation conditional or unconditional? If conditional, can it not be lost? If unconditional, then is it universal?

Thanks for the spell correction.

I thought it was common knowledge that salvation is a gift,
not of works lest any man should boast.
And if we were saved while sinners,
why would we loose it due to sin?

I agree that salvation is a gift from God that, try as we might, we can never earn. It is not of works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:5-11). But the works that are excluded are not works of obedience to God. Obedience to God is essential to salvation (Matthew 7:21, Luke 6:46, Hebrews 5:9, 1 John 5:3, Romans 6:16-23, Galatians 6:7-8, James 2:14-26). Faith itself is a work of obedience to God (John 6:28-29). Salvation is by grace (God's part) through faith (our response to God's invitation). That's what Ephesians 2:8-9 is teaching.

We cannot continue in sin and expect to be saved (Hebrews 3:12-14, 2 Peter 2:20-22, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-20, Hebrews 10:23-31). We are saved while sinners, but that salvation is not apart from repentance (Acts 2:38, Acts 17:30-31, Acts 11:18, Luke 13:3, 2 Peter 3:9). We have to walk in the light as He is in the light if we expect the blood of Jesus to continually cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:5-2:6).

[InTheFlesh]

Amos,

Please stop pretending that you are righteous,
we both know that we are not.
The bible tells us that our thoughts are evil continually.
Do you know this, or do you need me to support this claim with scripture?

[InTheFlesh]

Does a man get saved because of good works?
NO!

Does a man loose salvation because of sin?
NO!

That's some powerful argumentation there - all caps and exclamation points. I am astonished at your teaching, for you teach as one having authority and not as the scribes.

What about the substance of the argument?
Will you comment on that?
Or you just commenting on my typing?
Did I share something unbiblical?

I was just using sarcasm to point out the lack of an argument in your post. You only made a couple of assertions, not arguments.

Are you saying that my assertions are not supported by scripture?

[Amos]

Are you saying that my assertions are not supported by scripture?

Cite the scripture that teaches man is saved by faith only, please. And then cite the scripture that teaches we can be saved while remaining disobedient to God.

[Amos]

Amos,

Please stop pretending that you are righteous,
we both know that we are not.
The bible tells us that our thoughts are evil continually.
Do you know this, or do you need me to support this claim with scripture?

By all means, let's search the scriptures to see whether these things are so (Acts 17:11).

1 Corinthians 6:9a Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

1 John 3:7-8a Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil,

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

Psalm 119:172 My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.

Are you unrighteous? If so, you cannot inherit the kingdom. The gospel teaches you how to get righteous:

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.�

The passage you allude to about our thoughts being evil continually is Genesis 6:5. But that passage is not talking about you or me. It's talking about the pre-flood world. And it's not even talking about everybody from the pre-flood world, because in verse 9 we're told that "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations."

What does Hebrews 11:7 say about Noah?

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). God extended His grace to Noah by warning him of the flood and giving him the instructions for building the ark. By faith, Noah did what God told him to do, and he and his household were saved (cf. Genesis 6:22, 7:5). Had Noah not done what God told him to do, he would have been lost along with everybody else. Had Noah's faith not caused him to move with godly fear, it wouldn't have done him any good. Noah became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith because he moved with Godly fear, obeying the commandments of the Lord. Noah was saved by grace through faith just like the Ephesians (Ephesians 2:8-9).

That's how we're saved today. God extends His grace to us through Jesus (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-11), inviting us all to respond by faith to the gospel (Romans 10:17, Matthew 11:28, Revelation 22:17, John 6:44-45, John 8:24, Luke 13:3, Matthew 10:32-33, Mark 16:16, John 8:51, Luke 9:62).

Please enlighten me. What is the proper exegesis of the scriptures I have been presenting to support my position. You would be my friend if you would show me the error of my ways (James 5:19-20).

[InTheFlesh]

Are you saying that my assertions are not supported by scripture?

Cite the scripture that teaches man is saved by faith only, please. And then cite the scripture that teaches we can be saved while remaining disobedient to God.

Do you not disobey God?
Are you saved?

Does salvation come by good works?
Under the law,
were not all guilty?

[cnorman18]

We are getting pretty far from the OP here. The question is not whether the offending Christian is "saved" (as a Jew, I prefer to leave that question to God anyway), but what is the right thing for him to do?

A Christian is suspected of committing a particular sin, which is relevant to and affects persons other than himself, and is called on it by an unbeliever. He is, in fact, committing that very sin and the unbeliever is wholly correct.

Should the Christian confess and repent, even though his accuser is not a Christian?

[McCulloch]

We are getting pretty far from the OP here. The question is not whether the offending Christian is "saved" (as a Jew, I prefer to leave that question to God anyway), but what is the right thing for him to do?

...Is it that such activity belies the person's claim to be a true Christian?

Can a person with any integrity claim to be dead to sin, having the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within him, plan and execute a deliberate act of sin, and perpetuate it even after initially being accused? Or is it that the fact that one is still capable of premeditated ongoing sin put his claim to be re-born into question?

A Christian is suspected of committing a particular sin, which is relevant to and affects persons other than himself, and is called on it by an unbeliever. He is, in fact, committing that very sin and the unbeliever is wholly correct.

Should the Christian confess and repent, even though his accuser is not a Christian?

Which is the better witness for the reputation of the community of believers? To deny the accusations until and unless solid proof is brought forth or to admit to wrongdoing without reservation?

[Goat]

Which is the better witness for the reputation of the community of believers? To deny the accusations until and unless solid proof is brought forth or to admit to wrongdoing without reservation?

It certainly take more courage to fess up, and I think show more honesty if they fess up, and learn from their mistakes.

[McCulloch]

Which is the better witness for the reputation of the community of believers? To deny the accusations until and unless solid proof is brought forth or to admit to wrongdoing without reservation?

It certainly take more courage to fess up, and I think show more honesty if they fess up, and learn from their mistakes.

The degree of courage is not relevant. The Christian's obligation to the reputation of his faith community is. We are not discussing a mere mistake, we are discussing deliberate and protracted wrongdoing, even in the face of outside suspicion.