- Jul 22, 2017
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Reprobates don't think they are reprobate. It's why repentance for them is so impossible.
The door to reconciliation with God is always open so long as any of us live - reprobate or no - but the reprobate has closed himself off from that "door," spurning the only way that there is to be reconciled to his Maker. As the saying goes, "There is no man so blind as he who will not see."
Thank you very much.
I've lived long enough now to have encountered those who try to set themselves apart from the rest, who manufacture significance for themselves, by presenting themselves as impossible candidates for redemption. It's something akin to Munchausen-By-Proxy, if you know what that is, except a person makes themselves the object of the concern of others by magnifying their own acute spiritual, moral and/or psychological problems, rather than the symptoms of one for whom they are caring. It's a sad thing to see; a desperate measure by which to obtain the attention and concern of others and by which to feel special. I'm not saying this thinking is necessarily true of you, but as I read your OP, it came to mind.
Yeah, that is sad. But that is not my motivation. I was afraid of God's wrath. Plus, I find relationships online extremely shallow since I don't know anyone on here. And using people on here, especially people you don't know, to make you feel special is going to end up someone disappointed.
I don't disagree that I try to get attention. But I don't do it online. They way I try to get attention is by telling people about my success, like at school or something. I do that with my teachers, friends, and family. It does make me feel special. But that may not be right as well. I don't usually go around talk about how miserable I feel and I want to die. That would seem to obvious that I was trying to get attention. So, I act happy and brag about my success, which is hard to come by in school because it is a struggle to become successful in school.
What do you think "destroying your reprobate mind" will look like, exactly? What is it you're asking God for in such a request, precisely? Are you expecting Him to step into your life in such a way as to wrest your mind and will to His own, to compel you to act and think as He wants you to?
To be perfectly honest, I did not understand what that would look like. I am looking for truth. So, I have been doing this Bible study with Benham Brothers. One of the things they said was that you can't pray away sin. It does not work like that. And so, I am now realizing that there is a remedy. The remedy is to hide God's word in your heart. Everyday I need to meditate on God's word and what he says.
I could be wrong about this. Am I wrong?
Indeed.
John 3:16-17
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Romans 5:17-19
17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
1 Timothy 2:3-6
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Revelation 3:20
20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
And so on.
With God, all things are possible. But what may be possible is not, therefore, probable. In fact, the picture that Scripture paints of the effect of willful, persistent sin upon a person indicates that at some point that person becomes so hardened in their sin, so deafened and blinded by their rebellious wickedness toward God, so swept along by the powerful, accumulated momentum of their sinful choices, that they can't escape. Think of evil Jezebel who was cast from an upper-story window to her death and then given to dogs to eat, or the wicked generations of the nation of Israel taken into cruel bondage to their enemies, or the vile people of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by heavenly fire, or the wretched people of Noah's day who drowned in the Great Flood. As Scripture warns,
Proverbs 29:1
1 He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
God's not fooling around when it comes to our sin. He hates it with a hatred we don't really understand, being comfortable in sin as we are.
Believers today often adopt a rather...soft attitude toward sin, downplaying its dangers, its power to bind and destroy, but Jesus gave us a very dire warning when he said,
Matthew 7:13-14
13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
God lets us have our way. If we are determined to live unrepentant in sin, defying Him, walking the Broad Way to destruction, He will allow us to do so - even though this means the majority of people end up in hell. Too often people imagine they can go on and on in sin, treating salvation lightly, thinking that they will always have the same capacity to turn to God regardless of how long and greatly they indulge in sin. But the Broad Way has a terrible, increasing current that in time becomes impossible to step out of.
And so, I urge you to "choose you this day whom you will serve."
Thank you very much. That is a lot there. So, thank you for taking the time to write that.
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