I have a few questions

[Tadhg]

I keep hearing give you life to Jesus or live your life for Jesus.How would someone do this?
Or look in the bible for the answer how do you look in the bible for answers?

 

[Greg J.]

It's best to read the New Testament (NT) in the Bible and learn how to study it. Your overall goal should be to know Jesus, and the two biggest ways to do that are to study the Bible and to be obedient.

Giving your life for Jesus means willing to do whatever he wants you to do. Nothing he wants you to do will conflict with behaviors that are taught as good in the Bible. When you read the NT, you will find all sorts of things he wants you to do, especially in regard to how you behave. One example is to be baptized. Another is to meet regularly with other Christians (often accomplished by attending church to learn more about Jesus). Another is to pray regularly. Other are to be forgiving and kind.

It is good to ask the pastor of your church for someone to help you learn how to study the Bible and answer your questions. Sometimes there are smaller groups (such as Bible study groups) at your church that you can attend (other than the Sunday service).

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:24-27, 1984 NIV)

Taking up Jesus' cross means doing what he wants you to do instead of what you want to do. It means dying to the way of life you are used to and following Jesus and his ways.

 

[~Anastasia~]

The Scriptures don't say "give your life to Jesus", which would be hard to understand. They are more specific in their direction.

Believe (meaning also to place your trust) in Christ.
Repent from your sins (which means don't do them anymore - begin on the path of acting, speaking, and thinking like Christ)
Be baptized.

And then enter a community of believers and live a Christian life, which includes loving others and God and receiving Communion. Many things are part of this life - going to Church, reading Scriptures, giving alms to the poor, prayer, turning continually from sin, and so on - which helps you to be formed into the likeness of Christ.

 

[YCGP]

Good stuff right here. Thanks a lot.

 

[crossnote]

I keep hearing give you life to Jesus or live your life for Jesus.How would someone do this?
Or look in the bible for the answer how do you look in the bible for answers?

You start by sincerely telling the Lord something like, "Jesus please take my life and use it for your glory".
When I was new in the Lord, I would take a certain topic and use a concordance to look up as many verses as I could on the topic.

 

[longwait]

Submit to the Lord's will and not your own. That means you have to rid yourself of the pride of life, lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh.

 

[NJA]

I keep hearing give you life to Jesus or live your life for Jesus.How would someone do this?
Or look in the bible for the answer how do you look in the bible for answers?

This is because many modern preachers have learned their "gospel" from college, or books or just listeneing to well-spoken-of preachers.
Paul said he was different, he preached what The Lord revealed to him ... what actually changed him and other people.

"the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:11-12)

Jesus says we neet to "receive him" by receiving His Spirit, which was not given until Pentecost:

"I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; ...At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you"
(John 14:16-20, see also John 7:37-39)

They would "know the day". Acts 2:4, 33 shows how:
"they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance
... being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he (Jesus) has shed forth this, which you now see and hear."


Since there is only "one gospel" it is the same today.

You have been left with questions concerning your salvation. Jesus says that if you receive and His Spirit, he wikll give you andswers, you will know the truth and be free indeed!

 

[7trees]

...turning continually from sin...

Could you please clarify the above statement for me so that I understand you better.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Could you please clarify the above statement for me so that I understand you better.

I will be happy to try.

What that looks like is going to vary in each person's life. Protestants usually refer to at least part of it as "sanctification".

It may be that one is continually presented with temptations - to act in ways or say a thing that is not Christlike, or even being tempted only to think in ways that are not Christlike. Those temptations should be brushed aside. Not acted on, certainly, but not even mentally engaged with, because that in itself can lead to sin, even if one's intent is to "argue against" such temptations. We turn from them instead, and even better, occupy our minds with prayer, with contemplation of the holy, or something else spiritually beneficial.

Or it may be for some person, especially one who is recently converted, or more so maybe one who has become lax, or for some other reason - such a one might actually have habitual sins they are actively fighting against - habits, addictions, or whatever - those should be continually turned away from as well.

Those are the two more extremes of the spectrum. There are many people, many kinds of sins and temptations that fall between those two - those should be turned away from as well.

If the way I said it was confusing - I meant - people are tempted - they should ideally turn away from those temptations without giving in to them at all - without sinning.

But people have varying degrees of definition of sin. Taken to the fullest understanding - which if one considers sin to be anything that falls short of Christ Himself - then we all sin constantly as we all fall short of Him. And for that sensitivity, we ought to repent, confess, and get up and keep trying. Others (Again the opposite end of a spectrum) consider only grosser outward sins - lying, stealing, adultery, and so on. For that sensitivity, a Christian should not be doing those things, certainly. But again, if they do, they should certainly repent, confess, and seek not to do them again, getting spiritual help if necessary.

If that doesn't answer your question, let me know. There are so many things that go into it that I wasn't sure what exactly you might be asking about.

 

[7trees]

If that doesn't answer your question, let me know. There are so many things that go into it that I wasn't sure what exactly you might be asking about.

Thank you as you have answered me.
What then about unintentional sin- such as an angry outburst? Or unconscious sin that falls below a person's recognition of the sinful?

Also, do any Eastern Orthodox saints claim to have been perfect in regards to no longer sinning?

 

[~Anastasia~]

Thank you as you have answered me.
What then about unintentional sin- such as an angry outburst? Or unconscious sin that falls below a person's recognition of the sinful?

Also, do any Eastern Orthodox saints claim to have been perfect in regards to no longer sinning?

No, neither the Saints (if you mean the canonized ones) nor the Orthodox faithful do not claim to be perfect, and no longer sinning. We consider sin as falling short of Christ, which we all continue to do. Paradoxically, the closer one gets to God (and the more Christlike), the more one sees the pure holiness of God and the more sinful they see their own selves as a result. A new convert is much more likely to think of himself as "good" than a Saint who has spent many years praying many hours a day.

When we ask forgiveness (my geronda has directed self-reflection every day, though we also may ask forgiveness as soon as we recognize a sin), we also ask for forgiveness of any sins unknown to us, as certainly there are some. Unintentional sins are not treated differently - ideally any sin we actually commit is unintentional. We still ask forgiveness, and repent, and hope to do better.

Some sins are very difficult though. You mention an angry outburst - that can generally be controlled with some practice, but then what of the anger rising up that is unexpressed? It is still sin, and we certainly may not intend it. But we seek forgiveness for it. And we work on overcoming it entirely.

Usually anger finds its root in pride. We are offended because we feel we have been slighted in some way, and our self-importance is offended. So we cultivate humility in that case (with the help of God). But depending on the sin and its cause, and the person, it can be a lifelong struggle. Indeed, if one passion is overcome, there is usually another to work on. And the enemy never gives up tempting and fighting us, so we expect it to be a lifelong struggle.

But in this way, with God's help, we go from glory to glory, slowly being made into the likeness of Christ. This is taking up our cross and following Him.

 

[~Anastasia~]

All that I have said - it might be important to remember that some denominations tend to see God as being very punitive and view sin very much in legalistic terms. I just wanted to say - what I have said would probably make a person neurotic if they went too far in that understanding of God.

Certainly, God IS holy, and hates sin. But while there is a legal aspect to the Gospel within Orthodoxy, it is not the only or even the main way we view it. We view God as good and loving - He is our Creator and loves His creation and wants to redeem it, and He becomes our Father, who loves us. Sin is more like a disease that disfigures us, led to death so in that sense kills us, brought everything bad into the world. God desires to heal us, to cure us of this disease that we have, so that we can live, so we can be children of God. He helps us in this process - we certainly don't view Him as disgusted by us in our sin, or as watching with eagle eyes for any slip-up on our part by which He can condemn us. That is not at ALL how we view God.

But in the context of Him desiring our total cure and release from sin, our total redemption, we understand that He helps us in this process, and we trust His great mercy in our weakness. Our job is to be open to His help, keep asking forgiveness and accepting it, and keep trying.

We don't expect condemnation for some forgotten, unintentional sin.

 

[7trees]

All that I have said - it might be important to remember that some denominations tend to see God as being very punitive and view sin very much in legalistic terms. I just wanted to say - what I have said would probably make a person neurotic if they went too far in that understanding of God.

Certainly, God IS holy, and hates sin. But while there is a legal aspect to the Gospel within Orthodoxy, it is not the only or even the main way we view it. We view God as good and loving - He is our Creator and loves His creation and wants to redeem it, and He becomes our Father, who loves us. Sin is more like a disease that disfigures us, led to death so in that sense kills us, brought everything bad into the world. God desires to heal us, to cure us of this disease that we have, so that we can live, so we can be children of God. He helps us in this process - we certainly don't view Him as disgusted by us in our sin, or as watching with eagle eyes for any slip-up on our part by which He can condemn us. That is not at ALL how we view God.

But in the context of Him desiring our total cure and release from sin, our total redemption, we understand that He helps us in this process, and we trust His great mercy in our weakness. Our job is to be open to His help, keep asking forgiveness and accepting it, and keep trying.

We don't expect condemnation for some forgotten, unintentional sin.

Thank you. I do find your reasoning more sound than say a typical Protestant evangelist. I was brought up in a rationalistic household and was taken to church once in my life to be christened. My conversion therefore seemed very sudden and dramatic but I think God had been influencing me for a long time. I became therefore a Christian with little idea of Christianity, a long time ago. Most of what I learnt I think came from reading and I soon learned I had a very strong affinity with Christian mystics.

Would you recommend reading an Easter Orthodox saint- and if so who?

 

[~Anastasia~]

Thank you for your kind words, but I can't take credit for anything I wrote. It wasn't out of my own reasoning, but I have had experience that bears it out as true. It is the benefit given by centuries of men and women seeking God though - not my reasoning.

As to who to read - it depends on what a person's needs are. And I should say - I'm not in any way a spiritual guide or anything like that.

But my preference lately has been for some of the more recent Saints.

St. Porphyrios is wonderful for contemplating the love of God - Wounded By Love.

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (not canonized but I suspect he will be someday) is very good for an understanding of dealing with thoughts - Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives.

St. Paisios the Athonite - everything I've read by or about him is wonderful, but the books that are out of print are difficult to get copies of.

St. Seraphim of Sarov is several centuries back and a little deeper, also very good.

I think these make a better introduction than some of the other good works on prayer (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov -The Jesus Prayer), or asceticism (Tito Collander - The Way of the Ascetics), or the sayings of the desert fathers, for example. Those are good too, but by themselves can seem too severe or be easily misunderstood, but they make good reading after the others I mentioned.

I hope that helps.

 

[7trees]

Thank you for your kind words, but I can't take credit for anything I wrote. It wasn't out of my own reasoning, but I have had experience that bears it out as true. It is the benefit given by centuries of men and women seeking God though - not my reasoning.

As to who to read - it depends on what a person's needs are. And I should say - I'm not in any way a spiritual guide or anything like that.

But my preference lately has been for some of the more recent Saints.

St. Porphyrios is wonderful for contemplating the love of God - Wounded By Love.

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (not canonized but I suspect he will be someday) is very good for an understanding of dealing with thoughts - Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives.

St. Paisios the Athonite - everything I've read by or about him is wonderful, but the books that are out of print are difficult to get copies of.

St. Seraphim of Sarov is several centuries back and a little deeper, also very good.

I think these make a better introduction than some of the other good works on prayer (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov -The Jesus Prayer), or asceticism (Tito Collander - The Way of the Ascetics), or the sayings of the desert fathers, for example. Those are good too, but by themselves can seem too severe or be easily misunderstood, but they make good reading after the others I mentioned.

I hope that helps.

I will take a look at these authors, thank you.

 

[crossnote]

I keep hearing give you life to Jesus or live your life for Jesus.How would someone do this?
Or look in the bible for the answer how do you look in the bible for answers?

First off, 'our life' is a gift from God, we are stewards of it.
As good stewards we want to glorify God with our lives.
As fallen men void of His Holy Spirit this would be impossible as it would end in defeat or it would be like a man trying to extricate himself from quicksand (power of sin).
For the redeemed though, those who have been born again, it is God's Holy Spirit doing the heavy lifting, we cooperate in His process of sanctification. He is called Holy Spirit and one of His purposes is to sanctify (set apart for His own) His people.
Too many people are substituting methods, gimmicks, programs, techniques, teachings from the 'experts and ancients for God's living Word and Spirit, Who abide in us and lead us into His truth.
Much of God's growth in us is painstakingly slow.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I would submit that this:

First off, 'our life' is a gift from God, we are stewards of it.
As good stewards we want to glorify God with our lives.
As fallen men void of His Holy Spirit this would be impossible as it would end in defeat or it would be like a man trying to extricate himself from quicksand (power of sin).
For the redeemed though, those who have been born again, it is God's Holy Spirit doing the heavy lifting, we cooperate in His process of sanctification. He is called Holy Spirit and one of His purposes is to sanctify (set apart for His own) His people.

And this:

methods, ... programs, techniques, teachings from the 'experts and ancients for God's living Word and Spirit, Who abide in us and lead us into His truth.
Much of God's growth in us is painstakingly slow.

Are not mutually exclusive and do not contradict one another.





(This does not mean that Scripture is insufficient, it means that we live out our Christian lives in a context, and as Scripture itself says, wisdom can be found within the counsel of others, iron sharpens iron, and teachers are given to the Church, and so on. Please forgive any offense I may have given.)

 

[~Anastasia~]

I will take a look at these authors, thank you.

You are most welcome.

 

[crossnote]

I would submit that this:



And this:


Are not mutually exclusive and do not contradict one another.

This is a 'new' Christian board so I don't want to get into a debate between our settled convictions. I will only say that if the other 'things' (methods, gimmicks, programs, techniques, teachings from the 'experts' and ancients) are equally necessary, then God's Word and Spirit is insufficient, which I don't believe is the case.

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
(2Ti 3:15-17)

 

[hedrick]

I keep hearing give you life to Jesus or live your life for Jesus.How would someone do this?
Or look in the bible for the answer how do you look in the bible for answers?

Jesus doesn't use exactly those words, but what he says is similar. He talks about following him. I'd suggest reading the Gospel according to Matthew. It's the most explicit in talking about what it means to follow Jesus. Various people ask Jesus what it means. He says on varying occasions following the commandments (probably meaning the 10 commandments), loving God and your neighbor, and forgiving people.

If you look at what he criticizes people for, it's not "sins." (If you look through an index of how he uses words, he almost never criticizes people for sin. He mostly uses the term "sin" in the context of forgiveness of sin.) He's most upset at leaders who mislead or abuse their followers, and people who don't do anything that matters. Somewhat surprisingly, he never holds out purity or holiness as ideals. Rather, his ideal is obedience. (There's a subtle difference. Purity is something we achieve and can take pride in. Jesus says we can never do that. We're just doing what we're told.)

Of course he sees these actions as coming out of our love for God, as reflecting thankfulness for what God has done for us. He teaches us to think of God as our Father, who loves us, and and pray regularly. He himself clearly has a very strong relationship with his Father, established through constant prayer and doing what God wants him to do. This would be the ideal for us as well.

He calls us to be part of his Kingdom. His followers aren't just individuals, but a community, just like his first disciples were. He speaks a bit about leadership of the community. We are to bring others into the Kingdom in his name.

All of this is pretty explicitly in Jesus' own teachings.