Thats just the problem, all I can see are my sins and for the life of me I cannot see the way of escape and without the Holy Spirits presence in my life I guess I should not expect to be able to see the light because unless the Holy Spirit is striving with a person they cannot and will not be able to see or understand the light because its only by the power of the Holy Spirit that anyone see's the light.
Robert, you are coming under condemnation, these are marks of the enemies work, of Satans work, this is something you may need ministry into, The enemy is lying to you. Lets break this down:
1# Do you believe you are a sinner?
Obviously the answer is yes, without reservation
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23, NIV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
2# Do you know that your Sins have seperated you from a Holy and Righteous God?
I believe you do, from what I have seen you write and your reponses.
"All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law." (Romans 2:12, NIV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
3# Do you know that those who are seperated from God will do so for an eternity?
I am making the assumption that you know this.
What I have described here is the condition of all mankind, lost without hope, under the legal requirement of God, to face an eternity without God.
Here is a problem Man is sperated from God because of his sin. Man cannot bridge such a gap not even with their good works.
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6, KJV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Now because God is holy, and must judge sin we all stand condemnd under His pronouncement, "you are guilty"
We therefore are without any hope of bridging this gap!
So, will God leave us to our fate?
By no means
Although we stand condemed before God, there must be punishment meeted out for our sins, we must be punished.
But look at what God did for Adam and Eve when they sinned (the original sinners)
"Unto Adam also and to his wife did
the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21, KJV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Originally Adam and Eve clothed themselves with Fig leaves to try to cover their own sinfullness this was not sufficient and God Himself showed that this was not sufficient, so he made coats of skins for them and God Himself clothed them. Now in order for their to be skins there had to be a death made so that they would be covered with those skins, so God sacrificed an animal (possibly 2) in order to cover their sinfulness. This is why when Cain and Abel presented their sacrifices to God that God rejected Cains, and accepted Abel's. Why? Because God showed their Parents what was an acceptable sacrifice. And what was an acceptable sacrifice? A life. So God from the beginning has shown what is the only acceptable sacrifice and covering for Sins, is the life of another creature. Why?
"But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is,
its blood." (Genesis 9:4, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Life is in the blood, and so the life of one is given for another.
Then God calls out a nation from Egypt, He saves the children of Israel from Gods judgement by what?
"Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lords Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:3-13, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The blood, the sacrifice saved Israel from the sure judgement of God.
God then delivered this nation and gave them the Law which contained within it the sacrificial system. Now why did God give these Israelites, the sacrificial system with the law? Because He knew that they where not going to keep the Law and so He gave them a way to obtain forgiveness from God when they transgressed the Law. However there is a problem as the book of Hebrews points out
"But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:3-4, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Why then did God give them something that would not truely take away sins?
" For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near." (Hebrews 10:1, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Law itself was a shadow of things to come, what are these things to come?
" But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:11-14, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
And what does John the Baptist testify about Jesus
" The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel. And John bore witness: I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said,
Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:29-36, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Why the Lamb of God? Think back to the redemption that was wrought to the Israelites when they sprinkled the blood to the doorposts. Jesus is the sacrifice that has taken away the sin ofo the world, and again as afirmed by the Apostle John.
" My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but
also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Now what does it mean for the whole world but that Christ died for all, freely giving His life so that all may be saved. Now will all be saved? No not all will be saved, what is the difference between those who will be saved and those who will not be saved. Let us explore the options:
1# Christ only died for the Christian?
Not at all, as I have shown to you, Christ died for the world, not just for the Christian
2# Only those who are good enough, and have no sin?
Not at all, for the scripture declares that all are under sins condemnation and that even their own rghteousness is as filthy rags, there is not one who has the ability to stand under their own merit.
3# Those who accept the sacrifice of Christ for their Sins in order that they may obtain through faith salvation?
Yes, read Romans, and Galatians, it is through faith in Christ, in His sacrifice that we obtain salvation, or have you not read
"It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just
and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:26, ESV)
[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Infact the entire book of Hebrews was written to Jews who, because of persecution where turning back to their Judaism to save them, and turning away from the sacrifice of Christ. Yashua's sacrifice is the centrepiece of the book to the Hebrews.
It is not your sins that are seperating you from the Lord, it is your lack of faith in His sacrifice. Christ died for the ungodly for the sinner for the reprobate, in order that He way save them to the uttermost.
Does a Christian sin after recieving Christ, indeed, infact it is a worse struggle in some ways for Yashua works within us in order to bring more of our own sinfulness to the surface to refine us and discipline us. It is His love that disciplines us, not His wrath.
Robert, picture Jesus on the cross, He is looking at you, and He is saying to you, "Robert, I have done this for you, so that you may live, so that you may walk in relationship with the Father. My Father is not like your father, my Father loves you to the very core of your being and has given my life to you as a ransom, to buy you back from kingdom of darkness, and translate you into the kingdom of light. But Robert, you must believe, I cannot believe for you, you must step out of the boat, and trust me that I have done what I purposed to do from before you where knit togehter in your mothers womb"
Robert, I pray that our precious Father would grant to you, revelation knowledge, that you would see with your heart what the Father has done for you through Jesus, that you would knwo the meaning of Calvary.
Give over your mind and you thoughts to the Father, and let Him change your understanding in these things.
I pray for all of these things and for you in the mighty name of Yeshua.