Admit that you are a sinner?

[Commander]

The ABC's of becoming a Christian: A-admit that you are a sinner. Did you know that when you admit that you are a sinner, God does not hear you! "Now we know that God heareth not sinners" John 9:31. That sinners are ungodly- Jude 15. Sinners are seperate from Jesus Christ- Hebrews 7:26. That a sinner is the servant of sin-John 8:34. If you commit sin, you are a transgressor of the law-1 John 3:4. If you sin you have not seen neither known Jesus Christ- 1 John 3:6, and if you commit sin you are of the devil- 1 John 3:8. Are you a sinner? Where do sinners go? Better repent(change your mind) if you are a sinner, Jesus Christ said in Luke 5:32 that he did not come "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance". As for me, I will believe the word of God(If you can't quote it from the Bible, don't bring it) and not that of a man. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, for I have the mind of Christ-1 Peter 4:1.

 

[98cwitr]

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

To become a real Christian you must be reborn of Spirit - John 3

 

[Commander]

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

To become a real Christian you must be reborn of Spirit - John 3

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth- John 4:24. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind- 2 Timothy 1:7. You must be reborn? "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration(cleansing of being born again), and renewing of the Holy Ghost"-Titus 3:5 It does not say that Jesus saves, it says that Jesus saved us. Do you not known or have you not read, that we are made free from sin- Romans 6:18 and 6:22, that you do not and can not sin- 1 John 3:9, that you have ceased from sin- 1 Peter 4:1?

 

[beforHim]

You said "ABC's", but only gave A. What's B and C? Or did I miss them?

 

[ViaCrucis]

You said "ABC's", but only gave A. What's B and C? Or did I miss them?

I would also argue that he got it wrong with his 'A' as well.

If it were me I would put it this way:

Steps to becoming a Christian

1) Jesus Christ died for your sins and has been raised from the dead, He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in glory until He comes again on the last day to restore all things.

2) Believe the good news.

The unspoken between 1 and 2 is that 2 is the gracious work of God by the power of His Word, by the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments the Holy Spirit takes us sinners and grants faith to our hearts that we might trust in the Christ who did all these things and on whose account we are freely justified before God and delivered to the promises of God that are in Christ.

We can't do it, God does it, it is the gift of God.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[jerry kelso]

The ABC's of becoming a Christian: A-admit that you are a sinner. Did you know that when you admit that you are a sinner, God does not hear you! "Now we know that God heareth not sinners" John 9:31. That sinners are ungodly- Jude 15. Sinners are seperate from Jesus Christ- Hebrews 7:26. That a sinner is the servant of sin-John 8:34. If you commit sin, you are a transgressor of the law-1 John 3:4. If you sin you have not seen neither known Jesus Christ- 1 John 3:6, and if you commit sin you are of the devil- 1 John 3:8. Are you a sinner? Where do sinners go? Better repent(change your mind) if you are a sinner, Jesus Christ said in Luke 5:32 that he did not come "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance". As for me, I will believe the word of God(If you can't quote it from the Bible, don't bring it) and not that of a man. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, for I have the mind of Christ-1 Peter 4:1.

commander,
1. You quoted the scriptures, but I think you misunderstood the context.
We admit we are sinners in recognition of our need for a savior.
2. God told the jewish nation to call upon him and he would hear and answer their prayers. Jesus said he would never cast out any that call on him.
3. If God didn't hear sinners they could never be saved.
4. Sinners in a general sense God will not hear for they are not believers and don't savor the things of God and cannot understand his ways. Read 1 Corinthians 2.
5. If a sinner admits he is a sinner with a motive of being saved God will hear him. If he is saying in context of ridicule then God will not hear him.
6. If you are just trying to say that admitting we are sinners God will not hear us because we are to believe in our hearts and just repent is a little more than trifle and seemingly an overboard of semantics. Food for Thought. Jerry Kelso

 

[Emmy]

Dear Commander. No matter how hard we try not to sin, we cannot control our thoughts, they come unwanted, and can be very sinful. Jesus has good advice for us in Matthew 22, 35-40: Jesus tells us: " The first Commandment is: Love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." In verse 40: we are told this great truth: " on these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters.
We are told in Matthew7: 7-10: " ask and you shall receive," we ask for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. We keep asking for Love and Joy, then we thank God and share all love and joy with our neighbour. ( neighbour is all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends)
The Bible tells us: " Repent and be Born Again," we change from being selfish and unloving to love and care/be always friendly. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us. A Christian`s weapon is love, with love we will overcome all enmity and anger. People will treat us the same as we treat people, and we will gradually find that our thoughts will change also.
We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God for forgiveness, and carry on loving and caring. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY. We can now prove to God that we are still sinners, BUT WE ARE TRYING TO CHANGE OUR THOUGHTS for the better, and God will see and bless us.
I say this with love, Commander. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[Celticflower]

In much the same way the first step to recovery by an addict (of anything) is to admit they have a problem, the first step to salvation is to admit to yourself that you are a sinner and in need of being saved.

 

[Tallguy88]

MOD HAT ON

Thread moved from Christian Apologetics to here.

MOD HAT OFF

 

[jerry kelso]

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth- John 4:24. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind- 2 Timothy 1:7. You must be reborn? "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration(cleansing of being born again), and renewing of the Holy Ghost"-Titus 3:5 It does not say that Jesus saves, it says that Jesus saved us. Do you not known or have you not read, that we are made free from sin- Romans 6:18 and 6:22, that you do not and can not sin- 1 John 3:9, that you have ceased from sin- 1 Peter 4:1?

commander,
1. Paul was talking to people who were christians already. This is why he used saved us in the past tense.
2. When we believe and repent in the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus saves us at that present moment. Once saved we have been saved according to mercy.
3. We have been made free from sin and we have a new nature and are not to have the desire to sin and Peter did say we have ceased from sin so we wouldn't fulfill the things of the flesh and this was in the context of the arm of suffering for tribulations are to worketh patience, patience brings forth hope and hope maketh not ashamed. The old man is crucified when we get saved. The old man is the spirit of disobedience that worked in us when we were sinners and would like to steal, kill, and destroy your life.
4. I do not believe the old man is within a christian such as some may think as in the dual nature theory.
5. As far as 1 John 3:8-9 being scriptural proof of christians never being able to sin is not the context. As christians we do not sin if we forsake the flesh. Paul said in Galatians to walk in the Spirit and you won't fulfill the things of the flesh. Our nature is not to sin but there is always a condition to most everything in life and that is freewill choice of obedience by abiding in Christ.
6. If you were right that there is no possibility for a christian to sin then that would contradict with John saying in the 2nd chapter that we have an advocate who is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only but the sins of the whole world. Jesus is our intercessor and he does forgive sins of christians. Many go overboard with the sin issue in "I can't help but sin" doctrine from a wrong understanding of Romans 7 and the other is the perfectionist doctrine that believes there is no possibility for a christian ever to sin. Both of these are wrong and dangerous. John also said, all unrighteousness is sin and that covers alot of ground.
7. I used to work with guys who believed in that doctrine of complete perfection and eventually one of them sinned an open sin and he was excommunicated from the church and I never heard much anymore that a christian couldn't sin at all.
8. The bible must be understood in proper context even when there are plain statements that seem to be an open and shut case. I love the KJV but it is still from the 16 century and the idioms and expressions and etc. must be understood properly. Jerry kelso

 

[Blood]

In much the same way the first step to recovery by an addict (of anything) is to admit they have a problem, the first step to salvation is to admit to yourself that you are a sinner and in need of being saved.

Ain't that a fact, look what the apostle Paul admits, he knows all about a broken and contrite heart.


This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.(1 Timothy 1:15)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.(Psalm 51:17)

 

[Open Heart]

I like to give the analogy of the 12 steps; it works because the founders of the 12 step program borrowed from Christianity.

Step one is to admit I am powerless over X. X can be any habitual sin. Eventually we get to Step Four: I must make a searching and fearless moral inventory. IOW, I write down ALL my wrongs. That answers the OP.

But it doesn't stop there. Admitting my sins is only the beginning. Step five is to admit to God, myself, and another human being the exact nature of those wrongs. IOW confession. Step 7 is to ask God humbly to remove my shortcomings. And mustn't forget step 9: to make amends to those I've hurt.

That may be the basics, but there is maintenance work to be done. Step 11 is that through prayer I improve my relationship with God, seeking knowledge of his will and the power to carry it out. Step 12 is about evangelization, carrying the message to those who still suffer.

You can see how these steps are short cuts for the nuts and bolts of the gospel.