Once one believes...

Emsmom1

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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?
I'm a bit confused on this topic. Does the gay person become straight? Is the alcoholic no longer dependent on alcohol? Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds? What about the person who is fervently pro-choice? And does an Darwinist suddenly believe in creation?
Also:
Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?
 

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This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?

Well, yes, but slowly over time.

Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds?

Well, no. Healing from a physical disease isn't promised.

What about the person who is fervently pro-choice?

I would hope that they come to realise that their position is wrong.

Do Christians sin?

Yes. We spend a lifetime working on that.

Do Christians ever doubt?

Yes, on bad days. Many Christians have cried out the words of Mark 9:24 at one time or another.
 
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coffee4u

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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change? I'm a bit confused on this topic. Does the gay person become straight? Is the alcoholic no longer dependent on alcohol?

Some beliefs and feeling will change right away. Others will change over time, perhaps after prayer, reading the Bible or hearing some teaching.
Some will continue to hold fast onto old beliefs but will twist scripture to try and reconcile them together. Still others issues you may always wrestle with as your thorn.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Struggle makes us grow, having everything easy tends to breed sloth.

Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds?

No. If they are healed it's because its in God's plan to heal. God is far more interested in spiritual growth than anything else. What we see as a weakness could be a blessing to someone else or be part of a larger plan or it could simply be for their own growth. The person with schizophrenia should thank God for their meds.

What about the person who is fervently pro-choice?

scripture says abortion is wrong. This is one area that some will try and reconcile scripture to their own views rather than changing their views. Let's hope after some prayer, Bible reading and prayer they change.

And does an Darwinist suddenly believe in creation?

Well I believed in evolution when I first became a Christian. Some teaching completely changed my view. I am a YE creationist now.

Also:
Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?

Yes and yes.
As a Christian you should hate sin and you should sin less, but we are not perfect in this life. Who doesn't lose their temper sometimes or take that extra piece of cake? Minor things for sure, but still sin. Some people only view sin as larger things like violence but all sin is sin. The only perfect person was Jesus.
It's also a journey, your faith should grow but people have setbacks as well. Something comes along that tests your faith and you struggle. People who tell you they never sin, never struggle and their life is health, wealth and prosperity all the time are either lieing or fooling themselves.

Even Paul struggled in Romans 7
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
 
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Aussie Pete

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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?
I'm a bit confused on this topic. Does the gay person become straight? Is the alcoholic no longer dependent on alcohol? Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds? What about the person who is fervently pro-choice? And does an Darwinist suddenly believe in creation?
Also:
Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?
Really good questions. I hope we can help you.

When an individual gets born again (check this link if you are not sure Are you absolutely sure you are born again? - Christian Life Frankston) he/she receives a new spirit. The spirit is the real you. We are born with a dead spirit, dead to God and usually dormant. Instead, we learn to live from the soul - what we think, how we feel and what we decide. The activity of the soul is at enmity with God. That is because the soul operates according to the principle of good and evil. Adam and Eve were warned against choosing to live by the tree of knowledge. They disobeyed. The rest is history.

The new spirit is alive to God and is where Lord Jesus is able to dwell. We receive direction from God in our spirit man. Very often, there is a dramatic change. I knew someone who was a karate champion. He gave it up the moment he got born again. His conscience warned him that Karate is wrong. He still had to choose to give it up.

Other issues may take time to resolve. We have the answer in our spirit man, but we may still be reluctant to follow the answer. For example, I was psychologically addicted to alcohol. It took me several months (and a really bad time) to realise that the alcohol was not doing me any good. I was no longer dependent, but it was a part of my lifestyle.

Some sins seem to drop off immediately. Others take time, especially if we don't see much wrong in the sin at first. Beliefs do not automatically change. People with mental issues need to be very careful about stopping medication. The Bible says that we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. That means that attitudes need to be compared with the Bible and adjusted accordingly. It is a process - never automatic.

Christians sin. God's standard is Jesus. No one matches up! One day we will be like Him, but not in this lifetime.
Some of us wrestle with doubt. Before I was saved, I was sure that I was a Christian. I had absolutely no basis for that belief. After I got saved, I had many doubts for years. Eventually I decided that God's word was true, God was faithful to His word and God was perfectly good and just. I started to "doubt my doubts" as a friend of mine put it.
 
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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?
I'm a bit confused on this topic. Does the gay person become straight? Is the alcoholic no longer dependent on alcohol? Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds? What about the person who is fervently pro-choice? And does an Darwinist suddenly believe in creation?
Also:
Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?
The long and short of it will be that the born again person will have a new heart that would want to please the Lord at all costs.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?
Well, Jesus said that to come to Him, to BE His Disciple, you must give up everything.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?
Do Christians WANT/desire/willingly sin?
Yes, too often.
So do they doubt? They're not supposed to, or don't have to (not all do) , but even Thomas who saw Jesus doubted.
"be anxious for nothing, but in everything give thanks " helps, I think.
 
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Emsmom1

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Really good questions. I hope we can help you.

When an individual gets born again (check this link if you are not sure Are you absolutely sure you are born again? - Christian Life Frankston) he/she receives a new spirit. The spirit is the real you. We are born with a dead spirit, dead to God and usually dormant. Instead, we learn to live from the soul - what we think, how we feel and what we decide. The activity of the soul is at enmity with God. That is because the soul operates according to the principle of good and evil. Adam and Eve were warned against choosing to live by the tree of knowledge. They disobeyed. The rest is history.

The new spirit is alive to God and is where Lord Jesus is able to dwell. We receive direction from God in our spirit man. Very often, there is a dramatic change. I knew someone who was a karate champion. He gave it up the moment he got born again. His conscience warned him that Karate is wrong. He still had to choose to give it up.

Other issues may take time to resolve. We have the answer in our spirit man, but we may still be reluctant to follow the answer. For example, I was psychologically addicted to alcohol. It took me several months (and a really bad time) to realise that the alcohol was not doing me any good. I was no longer dependent, but it was a part of my lifestyle.

Some sins seem to drop off immediately. Others take time, especially if we don't see much wrong in the sin at first. Beliefs do not automatically change. People with mental issues need to be very careful about stopping medication. The Bible says that we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. That means that attitudes need to be compared with the Bible and adjusted accordingly. It is a process - never automatic.

Christians sin. God's standard is Jesus. No one matches up! One day we will be like Him, but not in this lifetime.
Some of us wrestle with doubt. Before I was saved, I was sure that I was a Christian. I had absolutely no basis for that belief. After I got saved, I had many doubts for years. Eventually I decided that God's word was true, God was faithful to His word and God was perfectly good and just. I started to "doubt my doubts" as a friend of mine put it.
Thanks; that makes sense. Except for the karate part-that didn't make sense. Karate is a sin (I know it's off topic but now I am curious)?
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Thanks; that makes sense. Except for the karate part-that didn't make sense. Karate is a sin (I know it's off topic but now I am curious)?
May be, yes. If someone has a pure heart, for them would it be sin ?

Or would someone with a pure heart not go that direction ?

I went a worse direction once, down the wrong path on particular job, for four years.
Found out after three years it was wicked, and as soon as possible got out.

Repented , oh boy, repented of the serious evil it was, but I had had no idea at all ! no, none. no one had EVER warned me. (and a lot of people still proclaim the sin as good - they uplift and exalt the sinfulness of it!!!) (world wide) ...


I could only fall down and thank God over and over (and still to this day) for His Mercy and Grace in Christ Jesus - (I was saved all along - and still had no idea of the deceptiveness ) .... but all along, my heart was stayed upon Christ Jesus , and /or for His Own Reason He Redeemed me from that job, and cleansed me, and made me whole/ better/ healed / good to go.
 
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Emsmom1

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Some beliefs and feeling will change right away. Others will change over time, perhaps after prayer, reading the Bible or hearing some teaching.
Some will continue to hold fast onto old beliefs but will twist scripture to try and reconcile them together. Still others issues you may always wrestle with as your thorn.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Struggle makes us grow, having everything easy tends to breed sloth.



No. If they are healed it's because its in God's plan to heal. God is far more interested in spiritual growth than anything else. What we see as a weakness could be a blessing to someone else or be part of a larger plan or it could simply be for their own growth. The person with schizophrenia should thank God for their meds.



scripture says abortion is wrong. This is one area that some will try and reconcile scripture to their own views rather than changing their views. Let's hope after some prayer, Bible reading and prayer they change.



Well I believed in evolution when I first became a Christian. Some teaching completely changed my view. I am a YE creationist now.



Yes and yes.
As a Christian you should hate sin and you should sin less, but we are not perfect in this life. Who doesn't lose their temper sometimes or take that extra piece of cake? Minor things for sure, but still sin. Some people only view sin as larger things like violence but all sin is sin. The only perfect person was Jesus.
It's also a journey, your faith should grow but people have setbacks as well. Something comes along that tests your faith and you struggle. People who tell you they never sin, never struggle and their life is health, wealth and prosperity all the time are either lieing or fooling themselves.

Even Paul struggled in Romans 7
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Thanks- I was wondering because some people on the forum claim that true Christians don't sin (or that they have the ability to be sinless).
 
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Aussie Pete

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Thanks; that makes sense. Except for the karate part-that didn't make sense. Karate is a sin (I know it's off topic but now I am curious)?
Karate has two aspects, the physical and the spiritual. The physical gives people the ability to hurt someone badly. All sports rely on competition to some degree. The competitive spirit can lead to really ugly attitudes of hate, arrogance, pride and a domineering thing as well.

I have some interest in boxing as my dad was briefly professional. One famous heavyweight was a preacher. One person, who knew him well, described how the boxer changed when he got in the ring. I believe that an evil spirit took him over.

Karate has a religious aspect, which is demonic. I was waiting for someone to pick me up. It was a Sunday, very quiet. Every now and again, I felt something like being prodded in my spirit. It was quite odd. I could also hear like a grunt every time I got the prod. I looked around and saw the source of the noise. It was a karate fight in a second floor gym.

It is not impossible to be an athlete and a Christian, but it is extremely difficult. In order to win, someone has to lose. That is not God's way. He wants everyone to win!
 
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Aussie Pete

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May be, yes. If someone has a pure heart, for them would it be sin ?

Or would someone with a pure heart not go that direction ?

I went a worse direction once, down the wrong path on particular job, for four years.
Found out after three years it was wicked, and as soon as possible got out.

Repented , oh boy, repented of the serious evil it was, but I had had no idea at all ! no, none. no one had EVER warned me. (and a lot of people still proclaim the sin as good - they uplift and exalt the sinfulness of it!!!) (world wide) ...


I could only fall down and thank God over and over (and still to this day) for His Mercy and Grace in Christ Jesus - (I was saved all along - and still had no idea of the deceptiveness ) .... but all along, my heart was stayed upon Christ Jesus , and /or for His Own Reason He Redeemed me from that job, and cleansed me, and made me whole/ better/ healed / good to go.
We come to Christ with all kinds of issues that need dealing with. Some people get instant deliverance from addictions. Some struggle for a time. I had a terrible attitude towards what I knew as church, but I also realised that I needed to go. Some entertainers see that the industry is corrupt and get out immediately. Others stay in. For some, they should have quit. Others are staying out of the worst of the industry and are a good witness. We have to be led by the Lord.
 
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Sketcher

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A post from a few days ago asked: Did you have to give up any moral principle or belief when you found Christ? This led to some wondering on my part as a new believer: if one believes/comes to saving faith (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology) do one's beliefs/feelings automatically change?
I'm a bit confused on this topic. Does the gay person become straight? Is the alcoholic no longer dependent on alcohol? Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds? What about the person who is fervently pro-choice? And does an Darwinist suddenly believe in creation?
I'm not going to say that beliefs and feelings cannot and will never change right there. But it often doesn't happen right away.

Case in point, there's a gal I knew in college. She came to the Lord out of a life of sleeping with her boyfriend, getting drunk, dabbling with drugs, getting into the occult. She still smoked for a year or two though, and with much prayer, was able to quit in a weekend. But in the interim, she still smoked while she had long gotten rid of the drugs, the alcohol, the occult, and completely changed her outlook on relationships. Not all change happens at once, and not all of it has to happen at once.

I've known a lot of faithful believers who haven't changed as much as she had, as quickly as she did, too. I do not expect all Christians who smoke to stop smoking as fast as she did. If someone is changing faster than you, good for them, just keep moving forward yourself. God still loves you and has much to teach you.

A couple of important points, though:
Does the gay person become straight?
Again, not impossible, but there are faithful gay believers who will remain single for life until and unless they fall in love with a suitable member of the opposite sex. Their orientation isn't sin - saying "yes" to its temptations is. Therefore, it shouldn't be counted against them in any way.

Should the person with schizophrenia toss their meds?
No, that's irresponsible. When you don't need meds anymore, you titrate off of them according to the doctor's advice, so you don't crash your system. Crashing your system is harmful. Plus, when the doctor sees what happened if Christ really healed you, you can tell him/her about it.

Do Christians sin?
Do Christians ever doubt?
Yes and yes. We don't stop needing God's grace.
 
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carp614

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Such great questions! Seeing you give thought to these questions blesses me more than you know!

One of my pastors tells a story of a man who said when he got saved he lost 90% of his vocabulary. As soon as he was saved, he was convicted regarding his language and strove to change it. In another story he tells of a couple who were living together but not married who both received Christ. As soon as they got home from being baptized they both felt convicted of their sinful living arrangement. They chose to live separately until after they were married.

That same pastor says when one is Saved, God changes ones "Want To's". I used to want to sin, but now I fight it.

In my own walk the concept of sanctification has been really important for me to understand. After I was Saved I still had a lot of problems...a...lot of sin in my life. It seems now, looking back a little, the Lord has been handing me sin problems to solve at a pace that is proportional to my level of surrender to His Will. At first I was picking which issues to address. But very quickly I found that the Lord was showing me which sin I needed him to help me with next.

To be clear, All Christians sin. There are none who are worthy. What we do is sin, repent, and work on becoming more Christ like.

Christians doubt too. Even the disciples of Jesus, who personally witnessed his miracles, had moments of doubt. Just read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John and you will see Jesus gets frustrated with their unbelief more than once.

May God bless your inquiring mind richly!
 
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Nobody's experience is necessarily the same as another. When God comes to us, when Christ calls our name, we are each and every one of us in our own place. And it's there which God has found us. And it is there that Christ says to each of us, "Come and follow Me." And it is a lifetime of faith into which we are called. A lifetime of struggle, a lifetime of repentance and work from God. And every moment in this life we are at our own place, and it is always right here that God finds us, it is always right here where Christ calls to us, the Shepherd calling.

There is no "perfect" Christian life, not in this world. No singular way in which the Christian life exactly looks like.. We are all sinners. We are all beggars before the God, with our open hands of faith. We are all with our own unique struggles and circumstances. But the calling is the call to live our faith here. It is a life of carrying our cross and having faith here, in this moment, right now. Wherever and whatever and however it is.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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