Love God...

Maria Billingsley · Jun 23, 2019

TheSeabass said:
????????

????exactly.

TheSeabass said:
They wouldn't.

How can someone love God not having kept His commands?

I am supporting you in prayer.

Gideons300 · Jun 23, 2019

GOD Shines Forth! said:
True...

"...assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

—Ephesians 4

Yes, after that I’d say you could "do as you please".

This is an excellent scripture you have shared. We think that because we have warm feelings for God that we love Him. But those who have not put off their old man by a radical declaration of faith are still in their flesh, and cannot please God. Our old nature is enmity with God, for self ultimately is still on the throne of our hearts.

Until sin becomes exceedingly sinful to us and we see that our problem is not just certain sins like lust or covetousness, but a nature that is a sin "generator", we confuse warm emotions for love. And we are wrong.

But when a man steps out to actually put off his old
nature, reckoning that it did indeed die when Jesus died, it is then and only then that his mind is renewed as he also, by faith, puts on his new nature. Only then can one truly love and please the Father.

Is it then true that one can do as he pleases? Yes and no, depending on ones' understanding. At that point, our testimony is as Paul's was. It is no more I that live but Christ who now lives in me. Can I do what I want? Not if the "I" that I am referring to is the old me. But if I am new, then finally the father and I are one. So, to such a one, you can do what you want because Christ is in us, causing us to do His will.

I pray this makes sense. Multitudes stumble because they have never taken the step of faith and reckoned themselves dead to sin and alive unto Him. They have not yet come to the point of hating their flesh. They do not see it as a deceiver, a traitor, and love the false freedom they think God has given us so that no matter what we do, all is well.

Thank God, in these last days, God is awakening His own and showing them the path to walk in "the glorious liberty of the children of God". Nothing profits but a new nature. When we finally understand that, everything changes, most of all our hearts.

blessings,

Gids

fhansen · Jun 23, 2019

aiki said:
Whose will did Jesus come to fulfill? His own? No. The will of his Father in heaven. In Gethsemane, Jesus wrestled for a time with the tension between what his Father wanted and what he wanted. In the end, though, he submitted to the will of his Father, accepting the "cup" of suffering and death from which he would shortly have to drink. Where in these things is a "do what I want" attitude in evidence?

Jesus always loved, God and man. When we love we never do wrong; everything we want to do is right when motivated by love.

Hammster · Jun 23, 2019

aiki said:
Whose will did Jesus come to fulfill? His own? No. The will of his Father in heaven. In Gethsemane, Jesus wrestled for a time with the tension between what his Father wanted and what he wanted. In the end, though, he submitted to the will of his Father, accepting the "cup" of suffering and death from which he would shortly have to drink. Where in these things is a "do what I want" attitude in evidence?

What did Jesus say to those who wanted to be his disciple?

Matthew 16:24-25
24 ...if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same shall find it.

How do I do as I want while at the same time living in self-denial, in the crucified life, to which every believer is called? Death to Self, death to what I want, is fundamental to holy, deep fellowship with God. Paul explains this in detail in Romans 6 and mentions the crucified life repeatedly throughout his letters (Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:24; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 2:20; Colossians 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:11, etc.), the heart of which is a denial of one's own will and way, of one's own desires and goals, of one's rights and philosophies so that one may be a "living sacrifice" unto God a "vessel sanctified and meet for the Master's use."

Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

John 12:24-25
24 Truly, truly, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.
25 He who loves his life shall lose it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Are you saying that you don’t want to die to self?

TuxAme · Jun 23, 2019

If you love God, you will want what He wants (or at the very least, trying to want what He wants). You will unite your will to His.

ilovejcsog · Jun 23, 2019

Hammster said:
So you don’t want to follow His laws?

99percent of the time yes but there has been a time or two or three when I have struggled with what I wanted to do and what God wants of us.

Neogaia777 · Jun 23, 2019

Hammster said:
Love God and do what you want. Or variations thereof. It’s a quote attributed to Augustine. (We don’t need links to the original. I only want to discuss the phrase.)

True? False?

Let the discussion commence.

True only and as long as doing what you want is not getting in between your loving God, yourself, and others, equally and the same, ect...

God Bless!

Neogaia777 · Jun 23, 2019

Hammster said:
Do those who love God want to keep His commandments?

They want to keep his "commandment" that is and was before the Law and is from the beginning...

God Bless!

Neogaia777 · Jun 23, 2019

Neogaia777 said:
They want to keep his "commandment" that is and was before the Law and is from the beginning...

God Bless!

But are the two "in conflict" at all...? Or are they different at all...?

dms1972 · Jun 23, 2019

I think its true - Augustine of Hippo did say something like that.

Hammster · Jun 24, 2019

ilovejcsog said:
99percent of the time yes but there has been a time or two or three when I have struggled with what I wanted to do and what God wants of us.

So then you are doing what you want.

Bible Highlighter · Jun 24, 2019

Tree of Life said:
Those are interesting thoughts.

Now, back to my question. If a person truly loved God, would they want to keep his commands?

I think what your looking for is this:

"Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." (Luke 7:47).

It's why Paul was such a great man of God. His sins were many before coming to Christ in the fact that he persecuted the church of God (i.e. God's people). It's why Paul was able to labor more than all of the Corinthian church he was writing to (1 Corinthians 15:10). The grace of God was able to make him labor or to obey God's commands on a level that was so much more than your "average Joe Christian."

In other words, obedience to God's commands is directly tied to one's forgiveness in Christ. While the Belief Alone Proponent takes this to mean that future sin is forgiven them (and thus much sin is forgiven them and so they are thankful and loving), this is not what God's Word had intended or had in mind. God's grace was not intended to be used as a license to sin on some level by saying we have a safety net to sin in some way (See: Jude 1:4).

Also, God did not force or make the woman in Luke 7:47 to be more loving. Such a text would not make even any sense if such were the case. The whole point was that she was willing to admit her own sinfulness in coming to the Lord for the first time. When a person realizes their own sin in coming to the Lord for the first time, they will be broken and grieved and they will want to make things right with the Lord and they will not want to justify sin or anything. In other words, when a person is genuinely forgiven, they will want to love God and keep His commandments.

God's grace. It is tied to our obedience (or love) in keeping God's commandments. If there is no desire to keep God's commandments (vs. trying to justify some kind of sin), I would say they need to do a 2 Corinthians 13:5 check on themselves.

Hammster · Jun 24, 2019

Jason0047 said:
I think what your looking for is this:

"Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." (Luke 7:47).

It's why Paul was such a great man of God. His sins were many before coming to Christ in the fact that he persecuted the church of God (i.e. God's people). It's why Paul was able to labor more than all of the Corinthian church he was writing to (1 Corinthians 15:10). The grace of God was able to make him labor or to obey God's commands on a level that was so much more than your "average Joe Christian."

In other words, obedience to God's commands is directly tied to one's forgiveness in Christ. While the Belief Alone Proponent takes this to mean that future sin is forgiven them (and thus much sin is forgiven them and so they are thankful and loving), this is not what God's Word had intended or had in mind. God's grace was not intended to be used as a license to sin on some level by saying we have a safety net to sin in some way (See: Jude 1:4).

Also, God did not force or make the woman in Luke 7:47 to be more loving. Such a text would not make even any sense if such were the case. The whole point was that she was willing to admit her own sinfulness in coming to the Lord for the first time. When a person realizes their own sin in coming to the Lord for the first time, they will be broken and grieved and they will want to make things right with the Lord and they will not want to justify sin or anything. In other words, when a person is genuinely forgiven, they will want to love God and keep His commandments.

So, are you going to address the OP? Because the OP has nothing to do with this.

Bible Highlighter · Jun 24, 2019

The answer I gave gets to the heart of the problem of "doing what one wants" (in regards to sinning as described in the Bible) and also saying they love God. Nobody can continue in sin and or justify sin and also say they love God. The Bible repeatedly teaches this. I attempted to get to the heart of resolving this problem if somebody thought contrary to such a truth.

Granted, "Do what one wants" in context to something that is not sinful that the Bible does not explicitly condemn is acceptable as long as it is done in faith. For example: I can eat a burger and that would not be out of God's will if I give thanks to the Lord for it (Unless the Lord specifically told me not to eat of it). But we should do all things to the glory of God. We are to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). We are bought and paid for with a price and we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:20). For we are to offer our bodies as a sacrifice unto God (Which is our reasonable service) (Romans 12:1). Why would we offer our bodies as a sacrifice unto God if we are regenerated against our will to automatically do that? The Bible has many commands within the New Testament giving us specific instructions to obey. We are free to obey or not.

Bible Highlighter · Jun 24, 2019

In other words, "do what one wants and loving God" depends on the context of what a person is talking about. If a person to take that statement to the most extreme (which would include sin), then "no," it is not true. But there is a liberty in Christ to marry (and enjoy a relationship), to eat food, to enjoy sleep, to enjoy nature, etc. as long as they are all done to the glory of God. But are ultimate goal or purpose in this life is to keep God's commandments.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Jesus essentially says to love God is to keep His commandments (John 14:15).
Jesus says if want to abide in his love, we are to keep His commandments (John 15:10). So there is no other way around these truths. We have to keep His commandments if we love Jesus. Paul says if any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, he is accursed (1 Corinthians 16:22).

Bible Highlighter · Jun 24, 2019

God just brought this passage to my attention:

24 "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Hammster · Jun 24, 2019

Jason0047 said:
In other words, "do what one wants and loving God" depends on the context of what a person is talking about. If a person to take that statement to the most extreme (which would include sin), then "no," it is not true. But there is a liberty in Christ to marry (and enjoy a relationship), to eat food, to enjoy sleep, to enjoy nature, etc. as long as they are all done to the glory of God. But are ultimate goal or purpose in this life is to keep God's commandments.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Jesus essentially says to love God is to keep His commandments (John 14:15).
Jesus says if want to abide in his love, we are to keep His commandments (John 15:10). So there is no other way around these truths. We have to keep His commandments if we love Jesus. Paul says if any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, he is accursed (1 Corinthians 16:22).

Are you wanting to keep His commandments? Or is it out of fear or obligation?

Hammster · Jun 24, 2019

Jason0047 said:
God just brought this passage to my attention:

24 "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Looks like he loved God and did what he wanted.

Bible Highlighter · Jun 24, 2019

The answers you seek are in the posts I have provided.

May God bless you today.

Hammster · Jun 24, 2019

Jason0047 said:
The answers you seek are in the posts I have provided.

May God bless you today.

They aren’t, but okay.

Love God...

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Psalm 144:1

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Psalm 144:1

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Psalm 144:1

Psalm 144:1

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Psalm 144:1

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