Please do not change the subject and avoid the matte being discussed.
Post 9 asserted the position that someone not knowing the Law made the Law nothing (at least when it came to taking every woman fancied to wife). God's word says otherwise. This op is about the prospect a person can stop sinning on this side of the "Second Coming." I find Post 7 just as problematic as Post 9 (because of its selective use and misuse of scripture) because sin is not measured solely by the Law (which was noted in Post 6).
The reality that governs all four posts is that everyone, including the Law-ignorant polygamist, is measured by Jesus, not the Law, and all fail.
Part 1:
Salvation is by grace, not by works, and it is not of ourselves, so no one can boast.
1 Corinthians 15:28-34
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink [or take as many wives as we desire], for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." Become sober-minded as you ought and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
Isaiah 22:9-16
And you saw that the breaches in the wall of the city of David were many; and you collected the waters of the lower pool. Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore down houses to fortify the wall. And you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you did not depend on Him who made it, nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago. Therefore, in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die." But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts. Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household, 'What right do you have here, and whom do you have here, that you have hewn a tomb for yourself here, you who hew a tomb on the height, you who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
Ecclesiastes 2:12-26
So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done? And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. Then I said to myself, "As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?" So I said to myself, "This too is vanity." ............So, I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. Thus, I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? ............For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity. There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Luke 12:16-21
And he [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
Matthew 24:37-41
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Luke 17:26-30
And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
They ate, drank, made merry, and took to wives as many women as they fancied but they were all taken away and destroyed, even the ones ignorant of the Law.
Genesis 7:19-23
The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered........... All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land............... and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.
Hebrews 9:27-28
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him.
How is your upbringing relevant to the discussion of this op? Appeals to anecdotal experience are always and everywhere logically fallacious, so I hope that was not the intent of that comment. If that were the case, btw, that would mean you have not yet attained sinless perfection.
