When a person believes on Jesus Christ and what he did and what he is yet to do, the person becomes saved. He gets his sins washed away and forgiven.

Jesus Christ has paid the price for his sins so the person does not have to pay the ultimate price of sin which is death.

His old and sinful nature is changed and he gets a new nature.



Look at what  1 John 3:1-10 says:



1 John 3:1-10

(1)  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

(2)  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

(3)  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

(4)  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

(5)  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

(6)  Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

(7)  Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

(8 )  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

(9)  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

(10)  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Now, we see what the bible says about those who are born of God. So, does it mean from what was specifically mentioned in verse 9 of the above chapter that a Christian is perfect and not prone to sin?

Of course not!!

Christians are people who are striving towards perfection; they are not yet perfect. Perfection is only attained when it is no longer possible for them to sin anymore and that is only when Christ shall come the second time.

But for now that Christ is yet to come, the sinful nature which is embedded in human flesh will always continue to war with the new nature that is of Christ within the Christian.

That is why Christians are prone to fall into sin once in a while. This is expressly communicated by apostle Paul in:



Romans 7:14-25

(14)  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am mere flesh, sold as a slave to sin.

(15)  I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t do what I want to do, but instead do what I hate.

(16)  Now if I do what I don’t want to do, I agree that the law is good.

(17)  As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

(18)  For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out.

(19)  For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do.

(20)  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

(21)  So I find this to be a law: when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me.

(22)  For I delight in the law of God in my inner being,

(23)  but I see in my body a different law waging war with the law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.
(24)  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

(25)  Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.



As long as we inhabit this human flesh, we will always war with the sinful nature imbedded in it. But the difference between the Christian and the unsaved person is that, the Christian now possesses the nature to do the things of God and that provides him with a choice to either accept the prompting of the sinful nature or to overcome them with the nature of Christ within.



Therefore, this is to show that the statement saying, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” does not mean a Christian is not prone to sin, but it means that a Christian does not live a life of continual sin or continue a life of sin habitually.

It means that a Christian would definitely make effort not to give in to sin’s demands. It means that a Christian will live a different life from that when he was not yet saved. It means that sin will not habitually be a part of his life like before.

It means that if sin does find its way one way or the other into his life, he would be convicted by his conscience(through the Holy Spirit), he would be grieved in his spirit, he would be remorseful. And he would make effort to repent of that sin and be forgiven by God.

A Christian possesses the ability to either choose to give in to sin or to resist the promptings of sin because of his new nature.

An unbeliever has no choice; he would always give in to the promptings of sin because he is completely controlled by his sinful nature which is embedded in his flesh.

A Christian will always want to obey the instructions of the word of God and that would make him curtail his desire to sin. That is why it was stated in Romans 12:1-2 that:



Romans 12:1-2

(1)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

(2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.



By renewing his mind with the word of God constantly, the Christian is able to build stronger resolve against the promptings of sin. With this as a constant practice in the life of the Christian, resisting sin will become very easy ; thereby cutting down the occasion of falling into sin into a very bare minimum.



Also, it is also worthy to note that even if the Christian does fall into sin; which is supposed to be a rare occurrence, he has the assurance of having that sin forgiven and wiped out by God when he repents and asks God for forgiveness. But this is not an excuse to practice sin willfully;…… Romans 6:1-23 has enough information on this.



Now another point to note is this:

If a person claims to be a Christian and sin is a constant and habitual feature in his life, it is very possible that that person is not saved and is not a Christian;…, 1 John 3:6, 8, and 9. Jesus Christ said that a Christian would be known by his fruits. The fruits of a Christian are the fruits of the Holy Spirit and sin is not one of them.



Stay blessed in Christ.

Good write-up ttalks.

 

Is it possible for anyone to be without sin at any point in time in his life? I mean according to biblical standards?

That would be when the sins have been forgiven and thereby wiped off. 

ttalks:

That would be when the sins have been forgiven and thereby wiped off. 

Ok so the only time is just as soon as you finish praying right?

Not quite.

When God looks down at a christian who's been saved and transformed by the belief and faith in Christ, God sees Jesus' sacrifice instead of our sins.
Heb 10: because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

  One the other side we're still human and still sin and make mistakes - the difference is those sins are not held against us becos Jesus already paid for them.

@poster

An unbeliever has no choice; he would always give in to the promptings of sin because he is completely controlled by his sinful nature which is embedded in his flesh.


Do you mind explaining further this your quote, because I can point to numerous "unbelievers" and they are better in behavior and morals than 'christians" I know around me and in the public generally.

Chrisbenogor:

Ok so the only time is just as soon as you finish praying right?

No, between that time and the next sin.  

Sin is no longer a major issue in a Christian's life as regards getting forgiveness for it. That has been done by Christ.
But, when a Christian still falls into the petty clutches of daily/regular sin, there is a bite to the conscience which can only be relieved by tapping into the grace provided by God through Christ which provides forgiveness of sins.
This is achieved by genuine repentance of the act which is regarded as sin.

JeSoul:

Not quite.

When God looks down at a christian who's been saved and transformed by the belief and faith in Christ, God sees Jesus' sacrifice instead of our sins.
Heb 10: because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

  One the other side we're still human and still sin and make mistakes - the difference is those sins are not held against us becos Jesus already paid for them.

Fascinating

ttalks:

No, between that time and the next sin.  

Sin is no longer a major issue in a Christian's life as regards getting forgiveness for it. That has been done by Christ.
But, when a Christian still falls into the petty clutches of daily/regular sin, there is a bite to the conscience which can only be relieved by tapping into the grace provided by God through Christ which provides forgiveness of sins.
This is achieved by genuine repentance of the act which is regarded as sin.

How about you do something wrong without knowing it?

macIB:

@poster

An unbeliever has no choice; he would always give in to the promptings of sin because he is completely controlled by his sinful nature which is embedded in his flesh.


Do you mind explaining further this your quote, because I can point to numerous "unbelievers" and they are better in behavior and morals than 'christians" I know around me and in the public generally.

The unbelievers being better in morals and behaviour than 'christians' does not mean they are free from the clutches of sin. they still sin one way or the other.it's just a function of the human nature.
The Christian possesses a nature that enables him to be able to overcome the normal human  tendency to sin.

You know, what u might see in public doesn't guarantee that it's all rosy in private.

Chrisbenogor:

How about you do something wrong without knowing it?

Well, as a Christian, when we do something wrong or sin, our conciences judge us.This is due to the holy Spirit within.
So i guess it's quite unlikely to sin without knowing it.

But if that does become the case, we can still seek forgiveness of all known and unknown sins when we pray.

The unbelievers being better in morals and behaviour than 'christians' does not mean they are free from the clutches of sin. they still sin one way or the other.it's just a function of the human nature.
The Christian possesses a nature that enables him to be able to overcome the normal human tendency to sin.

You know, what u might see in public doesn't guarantee that it's all rosy in private. Grin

I see your point, but DO NOT AGREE with it though! you do not need to be a christian to be free from the tendency to sin. The best person I have met in my life is a Sikh and the worst person I have met in my life is a christian who attends a "living church", how about that!

macIB:


I see your point, but DO NOT AGREE with it though! you do not need to be a christian to be free from the tendency to sin. The best person I have met in my life is a Sikh and the worst person I have met in my life is a christian who attends a "living church", how about that!

Most probably, that "christian" is not a Christian but a very probable church-goer.

Probably maybe, just maybe; but the ability to discern good from evil is not a function of being a christian or unbeliever. The God of Abraham, Jacob, Moses (who were all Jews and not Christians) during creation breath into us His Spirit (which I know to be the Holy spirit). It is now up to us as human beings to listen to this spirit of God in us or ignore it. God gave us the free will to be whatever we want. So therefore, to sin or not is not a function of being an unbeliever or a Christian, but a function of listening to the Spirit of God within us, the Spirit God gave us all (black, white, yellow, half-cast, Nigerians, Europeans, Ameriacans, Caribbeans, Asians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, traditionalist,, etc) during creation.

macIB:

Probably maybe, just maybe; but the ability to discern good from evil is not a function of being a christian or unbeliever. The God of Abraham, Jacob, Moses (who were all Jews and not Christians) during creation breath into us His Spirit (which I know to be the Holy spirit). It is now up to us as human beings to listen to this spirit of God in us or ignore it. God gave us the free will to be whatever we want. So therefore, to sin or not is not a function of being an unbeliever or a Christian, but a function of listening to the Spirit of God within us, the Spirit God gave us all (black, white, yellow, half-cast, Nigerians, Europeans, Ameriacans, Caribbeans, Asians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, traditionalist,, etc) during creation.

(Rom 3:10)  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

(Rom 3:11)  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

(Rom 3:12)  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

This was the state of people before Christ came and the state of those without Christ currently.

The Holy Spirit never resided in any person before Christ came.The breath of life from God to Adam was just that; the breath of life and not the Holy spirit residing in him.
The holy Spirit only came upon a few indidviduals once in a while in the old days for specific purposes but never resided in them.
Without Christ, u don't have the Holy Spirit. Simple!

(Eph 1:13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

(Eph 1:14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.


Doing all the good in this world without Christ doesn't make anyone right or acceptable before God.Such people;no matter the good they do or live,without Christ,are still in sin.
That's not my opinion but what God's opinion states.

(Rom 3:20)  God doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin.

(Rom 3:21)  Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses.

(Rom 3:22)  God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ.

(Rom 3:23)  All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.

(Rom 3:24)  But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.

(Rom 3:25)  God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.

Will God Overlook
Our Weaknesses?

'I am not wicked! I have tried very hard to give up my bad ways, but I am just too weak!'


DO THESE sentiments echo the way you or someone you know feels? Many conclude that it is virtually impossible for ingrained moral weaknesses to be conquered. Some people are dependent on alcohol, tobacco, or drugs. Greed dominates the lives of many others. And there are those who have given in to sexual misconduct, alleging that they are hopelessly addicted to sex.

As indicated at Matthew 26:41, Jesus kindly expressed his understanding of human weaknesses.* In fact, the entire Bible record clearly establishes that both Jehovah God and Jesus are indeed merciful toward humans. (Psalm 103:8, 9) But can we expect God to ignore all our defects?

Moses and David
Consider the account of Moses. He was known as "by far the meekest of all the men who were upon the surface of the ground," and he strove to conserve that good quality. (Numbers 12:3) As the Israelites trekked through the wilderness, they often acted unreasonably and showed disrespect for God and his representatives. Through it all, Moses humbly looked for divine direction.—Numbers 16:12-14, 28-30.

Just as the long, tiring journey was ending, however, he lost his temper before the entire nation and disobeyed God's instructions. God forgave him, but did He overlook that incident? No. He told Moses: "Because you did not show faith in me . . . , you will not bring this congregation into the land that I shall certainly give them." Moses would not enter the Promised Land. After a 40-year struggle for that splendid privilege, a serious human failing caused him to lose out.—Numbers 20:7-12.

King David was another godly man with a weakness. On one occasion he gave in to passion and had sexual relations with another man's wife. He then attempted a cover-up by having her husband killed. (2 Samuel 11:2-27) Afterward, he deeply regretted his crimes, and God forgave him. But David had destroyed a family, and Jehovah did not shield him from the devastating calamities that followed. David's baby boy got very sick, and Jehovah did not intervene, despite David's prayers in behalf of his child. The boy died, and thence followed a string of tragedies in David's household. (2 Samuel 12:13-18; 18:33) David paid a very high price for yielding to moral weakness.

These examples show that God holds humans responsible for their conduct. Those who want to serve him must shore up weak areas in their spirituality and become better Christians. In the first century, many did that.

The Fight to Throw Off Sin
The apostle Paul is rightly considered a model of Christian living. But did you know that he had a constant fight against his weaknesses? Romans 7:18-25 vividly describes this conflict, or, according to verse 23, this "warring." Paul fought without letup, for he knew that sin is unrelenting.—1 Corinthians 9:26, 27.

Some members of the Christian congregation of ancient Corinth had formerly been habitual wrongdoers. The Bible says that they had been 'fornicators, adulterers, men who lie with men, thieves, greedy persons, drunkards.' But it also says that they were "washed clean." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) How? They were strengthened to stop their wicked practices by accurate knowledge, Christian association, and God's spirit. Eventually, they were declared righteous by God in Christ's name. Yes, God extended forgiveness, thus giving them a clean conscience.—Acts 2:38; 3:19.

Paul and the Christians of Corinth did not minimize their sinful tendencies. Instead, they battled them, and with God's help they triumphed. Those first-century worshipers became morally beautiful, despite their surroundings and imperfect inclinations. What about us?

God Expects Us to Fight Our Weaknesses
Battling a weakness may not result in eliminating it completely. While we need not surrender to our imperfection, we cannot destroy it. It spawns weaknesses that may be very persistent. Yet, we should not give in to our weaknesses. (Psalm 119:11) Why is this so important?


Because God does not allow imperfection to be a constant excuse for bad conduct. (Jude 4) Jehovah wants humans to clean up, to get their lives in good moral order. The Bible says: "Abhor what is wicked." (Romans 12:9) Why does God take such a strong stand?

One reason is that yielding to weakness is harmful. "Whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap," says the Bible at Galatians 6:7. Those giving in to addictions, greed, and promiscuity often reap a terrible harvest in their lives. But there is a more important reason.

Sin offends God. It causes "division" between us and Jehovah. (Isaiah 59:2) Since those practicing sin cannot gain his favor, he exhorts such ones: "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; . . . cease to do bad."—Isaiah 1:16.

Our Creator is loving and merciful. "He does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) Constantly giving in to weakness hinders us from attaining God's favor. Since God does not ignore our weaknesses, neither should we

I truly do not understand why the END does not occur today and settle all these arguments once and 4 all.

lagerwhenindoubt:

I truly do not understand why the END does not occur today and settle all these arguments once and 4 all.

The "END" will come at the time when God chooses. The scriptures only give us signs to look out for as indications hat it is near.

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOvZk8aWm4&hl=en&fs=1&[/flash]


[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBYQ1zIqCVw&hl=en&fs=1&[/flash]

I wasn't going to respond but what the hell, I have some disposable time today. Now I know the non-christians will like to jump on this post with their personal opinions, before you do so recgonize I will answer solely and only from the biblical perspective.

Krayola2:

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOvZk8aWm4&hl=en&fs=1&[/flash]

What the clip says:
   Lie #1: The Doctrine of Omnipotence is not a biblical doctrine note- Omnipotent means - 1. almighty or infinite in power, as God or 2. having very great or unlimited authority or power


What the bible really says about Lie #1:
Revelation 19:6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for [b]the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. One verse should suffice but here are a few honorable mentions that also speak on God's omnipotence
Luke 1:37
Jeremiah 32:17,27
Job 42:2
Genesis 17:1
Matthew 19:26

---

Lie #2: "If you say God has no power, it means He has no power at all because power is relational" paraphrased translation: If God cannot control the behavior of human beings then He doesn't have real power.

  Do I even need to address the fallacy that is the above attempt to deny or reduce to insignificance the power of the biblical God? So because God gave man freewill and chose not to control us like zombies, it means He doesn't really have 'true' power?

@Jesoul,

God bless you front and back for that response!

petres_007:

@Jesoul,

God bless you front and back for that response!

  And may He bless you top, down and all around for that   

JeSoul:

  I wasn't going to respond but what the hell, I have some disposable time today. Now I know the non-christians will like to jump on this post with their personal opinions, before you do so recgonize I will answer solely and only from the biblical perspective.
What the clip says:
   Lie #1: The Doctrine of Omnipotence is not a biblical doctrine note- Omnipotent means - 1. almighty or infinite in power, as God or 2. having very great or unlimited authority or power


What the bible really says about Lie #1:
Revelation 19:6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for [b]the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. One verse should suffice but here are a few honorable mentions that also speak on God's omnipotence
Luke 1:37
Jeremiah 32:17,27
Job 42:2
Genesis 17:1
Matthew 19:26

---

Lie #2: "If you say God has no power, it means He has no power at all because power is relational" paraphrased translation: If God cannot control the behavior of human beings then He doesn't have real power.

  Do I even need to address the fallacy that is the above attempt to deny or reduce to insignificance the power of the biblical God? So because God gave man freewill and chose not to control us like zombies, it means He doesn't really have 'true' power?

Now we're gettin somewhere. That is the type of response I've been waiting for. Now we can have a debate. 


The question of omnipotence is not whether God has power to do everything or not, but how the power is expressed in his relationship with humans.

Is it a supernatural interpretaion of omnipotence, where God just has his will because he has the power to do it and there is nothing we can do about it; or is his power expressed in his ability to persuade us, by appeal to the good in all of us, to choose a right path. i.e Is God's infinite power expressed through coercion, or persuasion. Does God insist that we do good just to please him and get to "heaven" instead of "hell", or does he appeal to us to do good for the good of all of us. Is it an appeal to our fate or an appeal to our conscience? Are we doing good because we are afraid of God's power, or because God's power is being express thru us. It is that power that makes us to choose to do good when the immoral or bad option might have favorable results that is the expression of God's power, and not that God's power is going to punish us in hell if we don't do good. God's power persuades us, and does not coerce us. That is the argument he is making, not that he is saying God doesn't have infinite power.   

I'm not home right now and I don't have a Bible on me so i can't look up those verses u wrote, but I will.

This is the foolishness and absurdity of paul, how and why should he open a gateway to criminals,

Abuzola:

This is the foolishness and absurdity of paul, how  and why should he open a gateway to criminals,

Abuzola,

I don;t understand your post. What do you mean by the "foolishness and absurdity of Paul"? "And why should he open a gateway to criminals"?

What's your beef with Paul?

Krayola2:

The question of omnipotence is not whether God has power to do everything or not, but how the power is expressed in his relationship with humans.

That's likened to trying to do the electric slide around the issue. The omnipotence of God is explicitly taught in the bible. Now if you want to discuss what qualifies as "true power" to you or to the speaker in the video - that is an entirely different issue. The bible explicitly teaches that God is ominpotent - I wanted to make sure I pointed out that huge lie the speaker told.

  The video dude should not be projecting his own flawed idea of what omnipotence should mean and asserting that to be biblical truth. That is intellectual dishonesty of the highest degree.

Is it a supernatural interpretaion of omnipotence, where God just has his will because he has the power to do it and there is nothing we can do about it; or is his power expressed in his ability to persuade us, by appeal to the good in all of us, to choose a right path. i.e Is God's infinite power expressed through coercion, or persuasion.

  Again the going by the established definition of omnipotence - the bible teaches that God is. And I don't see why that definition should suddenly become subjective and reduced to what we want to choose or accept is true power.

Does God insist that we do good just to please him and get to "heaven" instead of "hell", or does he appeal to us to do good for the good of all of us. Is it an appeal to our fate or an appeal to our conscience? Are we doing good because we are afraid of God's power, or because God's power is being express thru us. It is that power that makes us to choose to do good when the immoral or bad option might have favorable results that is the expression of God's power, and not that God's power is going to punish us in hell if we don't do good. God's power persuades us, and does not coerce us. That is the argument he is making, not that he is saying God doesn't have infinite power. 

  And it is a highly flawed argument, most espcially when he starts with the blatant lie and totally and completely false assertion that the "doctrine of omnipotence is not a biblical one". - That is a LIE, LIE, LIE!!!

JeSoul:

And it is a highly flawed argument, most espcially when he starts with the blatant lie and totally and completely false assertion that the "doctrine of omnipotence is not a biblical one". - That is a LIE, LIE, LIE!!!

Tell them JeSoul, tell them!!!

God does not expect a christian to keep committing sin. However if by carelessness he 'fall' into sin and he repents and asked for forgiveness he has the priviledge of forgiveness. If a christian dies with a sin he has not repented from, he will be judged as a sinner. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. God does not just see a sinning christian thru Jesus only. We are saved by Jesus to go and sin no more. That ias why the bible say work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. If you as a christian toy with sin, you have the chance of perishing with the world.
God does not tolerate sin in any form or anyone.
Whosoever commits sin is of the devil, whosoever is born of God (Born again) does not commit sin (i.e keep sinning), for His seed reamin in hinm and he cannot sin because he is born of God'. And whosoever hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he (Jesus) is pure.
It is possible to live everyday without committing sin. Enoch walked with God for 300yrs. We too can work with God for 8oyrs. It takes taking a day at a time and living in the spirit.
However do not create 'sin' for yourself that God did not say is sinful and do not wish away as trivial any of God's commandments.

@questioner. Paul said anybody who accept christ as his personal saviour and die for ur sin no matter ur crime you will never go to hell. A gateway to commit all kind of atrocities.
Check 1corin 21:1 and see his craziness

Abuzola:

@questioner. Paul said anybody who accept christ as his personal saviour and die for ur sin no matter ur crime you will never go to hell. A gateway to commit all kind of atrocities.
Check 1corin 21:1 and see his craziness

I couldn't find the verse o! There's no 1 Corinthians chapter 21.

Please give me the correct quotation. Thanx

2 corinthians 11:21 paul said 'to my shame, i must say, we were too weak for that ! But whatever anyone dares to boast of - I am speaking as a fool- I also dare to boast of that'