I used to try not to sin, now I just go right ahead; I don't care.
My effort never yielded any results anyway.
When I cared, I'd feel terrible about myself all the time. By not caring, I don't feel so bad about myself.
For me, there is no "struggle." Life is hard enough. I'm not going to struggle against something that I'm never going to have victory over, it just makes life even harder.
I'm not a perfectionist, being a perfectionist is unhealthy.
Also it is not good to be too hard on yourself. Therefore, it is good not to care about sinning, since I will just do it any way.
I can't not sin, I have no power over it! So I see no point in making an effort in areas that have proved impossible to master in the past.
If God puts me in Hell, that's okay with me because his judgments are perfect.
Sounds to me like you are trying to save yourself through "works" and you find you cannot succeed. Faith given to us through Grace makes us a new Spiritual being with the indwelling Holy Spirit. None of us have ANY power over sin without the Holy Spirit.
__________________ For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. (Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers, W.W. Norton, New York, 1978, p. 116)
(sorry I'm not Baptist but I came across your thread)
If you're a Christian but have sinned willingly, it means you need to repent of that sin, confess it, or it would lead you to judgement possibly hell. God forgives, we just need to come back to Him after every sin, and try to not sin again. We should also try to not sin purposefully. Prayer helps...don't get discouraged if it's difficult. Try to put Bible verses together and not look at them in isolation and it might make more sense. It's true that Christ died for all sins but future sins won't be forgiven if we are unrepentant for them and leave God...this is rejecting forgiveness... in other words, the forgiveness He earned for us needs to be applied to us somehow, and one of the ways this happens is through repentance. God bless
Dear sister in Christ, with due respect, I've never..ever..stopped having faith in God, in spite of sin. How many times must Christ die to forgive sin? If we are in between sins, (happens on a daily basis), and not repentant before death..is our faith in Christ as our Saviour in vain?
__________________ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galations 5:14
Several posters have quoted the Scripture warning "...if we keep on sinning..." I have noticed that the people with problems were in bondage to a specific sin, got saved, went back to that sin, and now are under terrible conviction about it.
You people didn't "...keep on sinning.." You sinned, and God chastened you for your own good. God chastens every son whom He receives in order to bring in the peaceful fruit of righteousness. This proves that you are saved.
Last edited by Vince53; 4th November 2009 at 07:37 PM.
You Need to get it together, I have heard You post before but You are continually becoming more and more blatant and uncaring . What has happened in Your life to cause You to be so indifferant??? We are here for You Brother ... God bless You...Dave
I don't think anything particularly special happened in my life to make me this way. I'm not an oddity; indifference and apathy is a common pit that people fall into (the Slough of Despond). People just give up after a while.
First, you must understand that there is no middle ground. Like a lite switch, there's only two sides.
I'm trying to be balanced, take a middle road. All my life as a Christian I was always told there is no middle way. All things in moderation sounds more reasonable to me.
Originally Posted by JusSumguy
Second, you must understand that life is mainly a series of choices. Except for the autonomic nervous system, everything else we do or say comes from a CONSCIOUS CHOICE. We make no choices unconsciously. It may not appear that way, but it's true.
The only thing that can overcome the truth within a persons head is to use lame excuses. I've listed all your lame excuses in red.
To make lame excuses work in a persons head, they must be based on lies. I've listed your lies in orange.
I agree, everything I do is a choice. In some areas, I may have lost the sense that I have the ability to choose, but in reality everything i do is my choice whether i feel it or not.
Where we disagree is on your list of lies, eg, on perfectionism. I don't see how striving to be perfect is healthy. I also disagree on your 'no middle ground' statement. That's an example of 'all or nothing' thinking, which is a cognitive distortion.
I just fear some times that my repentance was not genuine and because of that I may be living a false profession of faith so then I will sin purposefully (I struggle with a previous addiction to pornography) thinking that perhaps all hope is lost and I give up and then after sinning I feel stupid for even thinking the way I did and seek forgiveness but I am not sure if I genuinely am seeking forgiveness or not.
Hi faceofbear.
You are not on your own, stats show 65% of Christian young men have intentionally viewed porn in the previous 12 months and (from memory I think 30% have an addiction to it.
Can I suggest a website that you might like to check out?
Visit WWW.THEFIGHT.COM.AU where you will find a place that you can get a hold of a 30 day devotional/program type dvd and handbook where you can hear from other Christians who have struggled and still struggle with porn. I have heard the guy who does the dvd at our church speak twice and his own testimony and the way he presents it is great. You will not feel judged but you will be motivated to seek God and ditch the porn.
I was a porn addict until 6 yrs ago. God stopped me instantly (some people it takes alot of time) and I have been 'sober' since. However when I am tempted or a little voice says 'look at some, no one will know', I turn the computer off and walk away (1 Cor 10:13). My choice is not to view porn now so I rely on God's strength and my own decision to remove the temptation and fill that void that was in my life with something less soul destroying.
YOU can beat the porn addiction - but you need to get serious with God to do it and be serious about changing your life.
Blessings
__________________ Theologian Karl Barth was asked once. What is the most profound piece of theology you have discovered? He answered "Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so."
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Melchizedek was a priest of the Bible's God who lived in Abraham's day prior to the birth of Levi, Moses, and Aaron; and subsequently prior to the Aaronic priesthood (Gen 14:17-20). Aaron's priesthood— along with its attendant retinue of under-priests —is the priesthood for people whose religion consists of The Commandments.
†. Heb 8:4 . . For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to The Commandments;
Aaron's priesthood then, is an earthly religion, while Christ's priesthood is an heavenly religion; and The Commandments are definitely an earthly religion because the Bible says that the man who does them shall live by them; viz: they are a code to live by but not a code to go to Heaven by.
†. Lev 18:4-5 . .You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am Yhvh your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them
†. Rom 10:5 . . For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of The Commandments: The man who does those things shall live by them.
†. Gal 3:11-12 . . But that no one is righteous by The Commandments in the sight of God is evident, for: The just shall live by faith. Yet The Commandments are not of faith, but: The man who does them shall live by them.
In contrast, Melchizedek's priesthood had no connection to The Commandments whatsoever; therefore, his constituents (which included Abraham) were not required to obey The Commandments because they didn't become law till a few hundred years later (Gal 3:17). So then it was, and still is, impossible for a Melchizedekian priest's constituents to be prosecuted for breaking The Commandments.
†. Rom 4:15 . .Where no commandments exist; there is no transgression.
†. Rom 5:13 . . For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
So then, what does this mean in practical terms?
Jesus is clearly stated to be a priest whose order is patterned after Melchizedek's.
†. Heb 5:4-6 . . So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to him: Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee; and also: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
ergo: People trying to earn salvation points via The Commandments, are mixed up with the wrong priesthood because Melchizedek's order doesn't mediate for people whose religion consists of The Commandments. They are inadvertently relying upon the now-obsolete Aaronic order rather than Melchizedek's; viz: Jesus is of no use to them whatsoever; and they are in grave danger of the wrath of God.
†. Gal 3:10 . . For as many as are dedicated to The Commandments are under a curse; for it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them. (Deut 27:26)
The Desperate Necessity Of A Melchizedekian Priesthood.
†. Heb 7:11 . . Now if perfection was through the Aaronic priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received The Commandments), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?
The answer to that question is quite simple. No flesh will be made righteous in God's sight by keeping The Commandments simply because no flesh can obey them consistently; and consistence is essential if one is to obtain eternal life by means of The Commandments (Deut 27:26, Rom 3:19-20, Gal 3:10). Therefore, a Melchizedekian priesthood is mankind's only hope of escape from retribution because Aaron's religion has never been designated a means of eternal salvation; while Christ's is.
†. John 5:24 . . I assure you, those who heed my message, and trust in God who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from Death into Life.
†. Heb 5:8-10 . . He became, to all those who heed him, the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
†. Heb 6:19-20 . .This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Religions that require their adherents to comply with The Commandments in order to be worthy to escape eternal suffering rather than depending entirely upon Jesus' priesthood; are religions that doom their members to a status that the Bible calls: fallen from grace and alienated from Christ.
†. Gal 5:3-5 . . For if you are trying to make yourselves righteous with God by keeping The Commandments, then you have been severed from Christ! You have fallen from grace.
†. Gal 2:21 . . I am not one of those who treats the kindness of God as meaningless. For if we could be spared by keeping The Commandments, then there was no need for Christ to die.
†. Gal 3:21-22 . . If The Commandments could have given us new life, then we could have been made right with God by obeying them. But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to rely upon Jesus Christ.
Rome's priesthood is actually an unholy amalgam of Aaron's and Melchizedek's because it attempts to mediate for people whose salvation depends upon obedience to The Commandments and upon trust in Christ's blood both at the same time; which is a man-made hybrid priesthood that cannot be found recommended anywhere in the New Testament.
PS: so why am I putting such an emphasis on the Melchizedekian priesthood? Because an understanding of that priesthood is an essential prerequisite to interpreting a difficult legal principle like Heb 10:26. But unfortunately, much of what I've posted typically results in a ping on internet forums because a comprehensive study of the Melchizedekian order is pretty much limited to Christians whose spiritual digestion is a cut above the average rank and file pew warmer. (Heb 5:9-14, Heb 6:1-9)
C.L.I.F.F.
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Last edited by Webers_Home; 6th November 2009 at 11:54 AM.
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