Dual Sin Thing

[dseusy]

1 John 5:16-17

God has been laying some radically freeing things on my heart through His Word... I think Hebrews 4:12 (Scripture divides between flesh and spirit), Romans, and 1 John are keys that unlock the mystery of the Gospel and make sense of so many passages that have baffled me for years. Things like, "when I am weak, I am strong", "for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works", "God has bound/shut up all men to disobedience that He may show/have mercy on all", Jesus' defense of Mary to Martha, Jesus' answer to the question, "What must we do to do the works which God requires", and the like are very different from the laws of God throughout scripture (O.T. & N.T.) which state things like what is written in James 2:10 & 14-26, and Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5. I have doubted the sincerity of my faith before because of my misunderstanding of 2 Corinthians 5:17, that I am a new creation and the old stuff is gone and all things are new. I've wondered inside, as I've considered all God's calls to righteousness throughout the Bible, "Why can't I pull myself together... what is wrong with me... why can't I just return God's love and shine a little brighter... why can't I stop all my sin?" The world might say I've got things together, maybe even a model citizen (Air Force veteran, father of five, lover of God and His righteousness, etc.), but deep down inside God's Holiness has shed bright light on my motives. God looks at the heart, and my friends... my outward actions look a lot better than my deep selfish and prideful motives. I am in desparate need of Jesus.

So, to get to the point, the dual sin thing in 1 John 5 seems contradictory... Romans 6:16 states that sin leads to death. James 1 states that full grown sin gives birth to death. I've always thought of sin as leading to condemnation, but here John is making an exception.

My question, which I feel makes sense of James' description of God's law as one of liberty, is what kind of sin does not lead to death?

I posted a 95 Theses in the New Forum category (not sure if this was the best place... I'm new to Theos.org) which I feel answers the question.

Thoughts?