Repentance before Baptisim...really?

[sculleywr]

Everyone who has been following this Post has a decision to make, either they can accept God’s own definition on what GOD says SIN is :

1 John 3:4
Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.


Romans 6:14-15
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we sin (transgress the law) because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.


Or they can ignore God’s own definition and pretend it doesn’t exist and instead blindly follow the teachings of MEN that contradict GOD himself.

We cant blindly follow MEN but we MUST confirm every teaching against the Word of God, and if that teaching contradicts God’s own teaching than we must REJECT that teacher. God may have appointed some people to be teachers but Satan is out to corrupt and destroy the Truth of God so we should always test everything any teachers teaches against God’s Word. History is full examples of Teachers that are supposed to teach God’s Word but instead they lie to the people. (indulgences are a great example of this)

If you blindly follow tradition you are no different than the Pharisees, as Jesus said:

“Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.8 For laying aside the commandment of God.”

The Holy Spirit will NEVER convict you to think that it is OK to go against God’s own teachings. If it does.. it is not the Holy Spirit.. If you love God with all your heart you will want to do what he says and if God says XYZ is SIN than you should NOT do those things, doesn’t matter what you think or what anyone else says.

One day when you stall stand before the throne of God and he asks you why you didn’t listen to HIS own definition of what SIN is but instead chose to purposely live a life of SIN, your explanation :

- I chose to follow the teachings of MEN instead of you God because I thought that they knew better than you God of what You considered SIN.-

Than Jesus will turn to you and say “Depart from me you workers of LAWESSNESS, I never new you”
“For you SINNED willfully after you received the knowledge of truth and there remains no more for you a sacrifice for SIN.“

This is very serious Brothers and I urge you to repent and turn from what GOD defines as SIN.

Problem is that you're only peddling your personal interpretation of Scripture, not necessarily what God is saying. Why should I listen to you over the men who died for Christ, refusing to reject Christ after months of being tortured and raped? You who have only ever suffered minor inconvenience. "Oh poor me! I can't use the government to bludgeon people into following Scripture!"

I only imagine that you complain about your inability to use government to follow Scripture because you're so busy bashing people over the head with your personal definition of sin, which doesn't include slander.

 

[sculleywr]

No wonder this website is so contentious and lacking respectability. Posters like yourself don't respect it.

You who embody contention and refuse to obey Scripture, lecturing us about not obeying your personal commands. If we have a trunk in our eyes, you have the entire Amazon Forest in your eyes.

 

[W2L]

You who embody contention and refuse to obey Scripture, lecturing us about not obeying your personal commands. If we have a trunk in our eyes, you have the entire Amazon Forest in your eyes.

No sir. I'm not the one claiming my church is the head of all churches, that's your arrogance and contention, not mine.

 

[W2L]

Bows out before it turns into another ugly battle of dominance.

 

[sculleywr]

No sir. I'm not the one claiming my church is the head of all churches, that's your arrogance and contention, not mine.

Did I say head of all churches? No. So you've just been caught in a lie.

What I said is that the Orthodox Church has the fullness of the Truth. And your refusal to believe that God is even capable of doing that, claiming that somehow YOU have come to the fullness of the Truth.

You are making the same EXACT CLAIM I AM. The only difference is that you say it about your Eminence, the Pope W2L, and not the Church.

 

[W2L]

Did I say head of all churches? No. So you've just been caught in a lie.

What I said is that the Orthodox Church has the fullness of the Truth. And your refusal to believe that God is even capable of doing that, claiming that somehow YOU have come to the fullness of the Truth.

You are making the same EXACT CLAIM I AM. The only difference is that you say it about your Eminence, the Pope W2L, and not the Church.

A lie you say? Paul says in Christ we have fullness. Do you arrogantly deny that other Churches have Christ? It makes no sense to say they have Christ but lack fullness. Is the Lord not enough for them? Are your church leaders greater than the lord? No? Then you admit that other churches have Christ and fullness, its one or the other. You dug a theological pit for yourself. Its not my dishonesty on display here, but yours.

 

[sculleywr]

A lie you say? Paul says in Christ we have fullness. Do you arrogantly deny that other Churches have Christ? It makes no sense to say they have Christ but lack fullness. Is the Lord not enough for them? Are your church leaders greater than the lord? No? Then you admit that other churches have Christ and fullness, its one or the other. You dug a theological pit for yourself. Its not my dishonesty on display here, but yours.

The fullness you speak of is not the fullness of the Truth. Besides that, it isn't fullness, it is WHOLENESS that Christ promises. He does not promise that an individual will ever be the arbiter of the fullness of the Truth. He promises to make us whole. The fullness of the Truth is in the Church, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth. What GOD makes to be the Pillar and Ground of the Truth will ALWAYS be so. What God establishes, only God can take down. And God has not taken it down and will not take it down until the Second Coming.

You claim to be greater than the Lord when you disobey Christ's commands in Scripture by refusing to gather. Are you greater than the Lord? No? Then you admit that you do not have the fullness of the Truth and therefore need a teacher.

 

[W2L]

The fullness you speak of is not the fullness of the Truth. Besides that, it isn't fullness, it is WHOLENESS that Christ promises. He does not promise that an individual will ever be the arbiter of the fullness of the Truth. He promises to make us whole. The fullness of the Truth is in the Church, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth. What GOD makes to be the Pillar and Ground of the Truth will ALWAYS be so. What God establishes, only God can take down. And God has not taken it down and will not take it down until the Second Coming.

You claim to be greater than the Lord when you disobey Christ's commands in Scripture by refusing to gather. Are you greater than the Lord? No? Then you admit that you do not have the fullness of the Truth and therefore need a teacher.

Now you're flip flopping definitions with no regard for truth. Do you have a conscience?

I don't refuse gathering. You make reckless judgment about people you know nothing about. Besides you don't go to church yourself, as you previously admitted to me. Don't dare accuse me again with your foul words. I wont stand for it any longer. Do you hear me? Don't dare judge me again.

 

[W2L]

...

 

[W2L]

Forgive my anger. Im leaving CF. I have enough problems without this.

 

[W2L]

As if you cared anyway. Both Having troubles which prevent proper fellowship, we should be brothers instead of what we are. You dont care for me and i dont care for your church as a result. Even these words are useless. So useless. I give up.

 

[sculleywr]

Now you're flip flopping definitions with no regard for truth. Do you have a conscience?

I don't refuse gathering. You make reckless judgment about people you know nothing about. Besides you don't go to church yourself, as you previously admitted to me. Don't dare accuse me again with your foul words. I wont stand for it any longer. Do you hear me? Don't dare judge me again.

Not flip flopping definitions. You are talking of a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TOPIC ALTOGETHER. Fullness of the Truth is not fullness of the spirit.

And I don't choose not to go to church. I CAN'T go to Church. You can go to Church. You have the ability to go to church.

So don't YOU judge me. You have nowhere to stand, for you create a double standard. You do not do something you can do. I want to do something I can't. You may as well judge a quadriplegic for not lifting the fallen log off of the person it fell on while you're a fireman who was next to the same victim. The quadriplegic isn't expected to live up to that standard, but he would be right in judging you, the fireman, for not doing what you not only can do, but are expected to do.

 

[I Witness]

I'm not one for long winded replies but has this been addressed?

1. The Spirit from God
2. The Spirit of man
3. The Spirit of the world


Now and forever, as the Lord wills; Light will be shone upon the "spirit at work" in hope of a new creation-the sons of light to whom the Lord reveals and to whom he gives the kingdom to the Son in whom he is well pleased. Amen

 

[I Witness]

How can we as men identify sin? What is it exactly?

The scripture says,

"Anything that is not of faith is sin."

"If anyone knows the good he ought to do and does not do it is sin."

"Sin is unbelief in Jesus."

"Sin is the spirit at work in the disobedient."

"Sin living in the members of your body that you obey its desire."

It is lawlessness.
It is the man of lawlessness.
It is rebellion against God.

The whole world is a slave to sin! The whole world us under the control of the evil one.

Yet they will persist, "we are son's of our father's and slaves to no one."

 

[I Witness]

Here is the clear distinction between the living and the dead

Made Alive in Christ

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Saved:
set free from:

*sin,
*the spirit of disobedience
*self gratification
*natural desires of flesh
*cravings
*wrath

 

[I Witness]

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin (the devil) might lose its power in our lives.

We are no longer slaves to sin. (The devil)

For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. (The Devil)

And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

John 16:8-11 Guilt in regard to sin defined as "unbelief in Jesus"

 

[I Witness]

So use your whole body as an instrument of righteousness in the hand of God.

Sin (The Devil) is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the written code.

Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning?

Of course not!

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?

You can be a slave to sin, (The Devil) which leads to death, or you can obey God, which leads to righteousness.

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, (The Devil) but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.

Now you are free from your slavery to sin, (The Devil) and you have become slaves to righteousness.

 

[sculleywr]

I'm not one for long winded replies but has this been addressed?

1. The Spirit from God
2. The Spirit of man
3. The Spirit of the world


Now and forever, as the Lord wills; Light will be shone upon the "spirit at work" in hope of a new creation-the sons of light to whom the Lord reveals and to whom he gives the kingdom to the Son in whom he is well pleased. Amen

1. You will spend the rest of your life exploring all the deep complexity and rich character of the Spirit of God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or at least you will if you truly pursue Him.
2. The spirit of man is made in the image of God, but tarnished by sin.
3. the spirit of the world is Satan, and he is the enemy. The only needed knowledge of him is the knowledge needed to know his tactics.

 

[I Witness]

If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

 

[JacksBratt]

So if someone wants to follow Jesus the person needs to Repent and be Baptized.
I'm sure everyone here will agree with this statement.

Ok so tell me, what is the person repenting from?
How does he know he did something wrong?
How does he know what IS WRONG?

Do pastors just accept someone just saying, "i repented" ?
Doesn't the person need to know what they are repenting from?
So that they don't start doing things that are WRONG all over again?

Do people really think that telling someone that they need to repent but not tell them what repentance really means and where THEY can find out what IS WRONG, what is SIN... do people really think this is actually OK?

There is one source that tells a person what they need to repent from - The Bible.
God's instructions tell us what is SIN, what is WRONG.

To tell a person they need to repent but not point them to God's instructions so that they can actually see for themselves what God says SIN is, is really deceiving a person.
Making anyone think that they repented when they really have no idea what they are repenting from is just plain wrong.

In my opinion, you cannot repent unless you are aware that you have done wrong or sinned. However, this is an instinctive trait. Everyone knows when they are doing something wrong. Even from a young age. A three year old pulls another childs hair and hears them scream, they look right at the parent, fully knowing that they have just hurt or caused discomfort and that they should not have done it. They know they wouldn't want it done to them, yet they did it and look right at their judge and dicipliner with that guilty glance to see if they were caught.

God has written the law on our hearts. People know you should not take something that is not yours, hurt someone, bully, lie, even kill. It is common in all cultures.

So, how do they know they did wrong? They know, they are aware.
Repenting is not the "knowing" that you did wrong. The demons, Satan and his fallen angels know they are doing wrong, sinful things.
It's the caring that you have done something wrong and the desire to stop doing these things. The desire to be forgiven, to get a clean slate.
That is repentance. Changing your direction from doing wrong and not caring, to trying to change, admitting you did wrong and knowing that you need to own up to your actions.

Some have said that this takes time..... not by my view. This can happen in an instant. As soon as you are tired of carrying the load of guilt, whatever it is, no matter how great, and being forgiven, turning around and striving to be like Christ. Humbling yourself before your creator, admitting your wrongs, asking for forgiveness and your desire to walk a new road.... Then it is done.

This can happen in a car, on a boat, in a tent in the middle of the forest. In your bedroom, friends kitchen, on a ski lift...... the place does not matter. The state of the heart is what matters. It happens in an instant.

Baptism seals the deal. It is not a prerequisite for salvation but is a public profession of your new life, direction and attitude. It is done in obedience to Christ's call for you to do so.