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Niceness vs Redemption...

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BlessedDisciple

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“Niceness — wholesome, integrated personality — is an excellent thing. But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world — and might even be more difficult to save.

For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now — and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better — but like turning a horse into a winged creature.” (C.S. Lewis)


https://loonwatchman.wordpress.com/
 
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brinny

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This is DEEP.

He has a point about those "content in their own niceness" being actually more difficult to convert and having more closed hearts and minds than the rip-roaring sinners who are so very "visible" with their sins and don't "hide" them.

Profound.

Amen.
 
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brinny

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yeshuaslavejeff said:
God is not nice, and never tells His people to be nice.
Someone could find a lot of warnings against being nice in Scripture.
Especially concerning evil or self-righteous motives from the heart.
Click to expand...

Would you care to elaborate, brother?
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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The world has many people pretending to be nice, or trying to be nice, or trying to get along 'nice' ("play 'nice' with others") , and so on.
Perhaps goes along with "beauty is VAIN, and charm is DECEITFUL"* ... ... (vanity and deceitfulness are sins).

God's Word says to beware such (and when appropriate, repent at once)
He has His Own Reasons, if any, why He never says to be "nice", also.
Ask Him also (He answers those who seek the Truth) - His Revelation is Truth and Full and Complete and Sufficient.


*Proverbs 31:30 Parallel Verses ... Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. New American Standard Bible
 
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BlessedDisciple

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A lot depends on our definition of "nice". For his purposes, in the above quote, Lewis narrowly defines niceness as human niceness coming forth from self-effort ("their own niceness"). But in a broader sense and definition, niceness means "pleasantness" -- and this could be mere human pleasantness or it could be God's pleasantness, because, at times, God is very pleasant to be with (and at times, He is not )
 
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BlessedDisciple

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Yes!
 
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brinny

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It seems we're all coming from the same place, brother.

This is an excellent study, in that "nice-ness" needs to be defined, for "niceness", especially the kind that many are "content" in is "self-righteousness" and when someone in inundated with their own "niceness" (self-righteousness), what do they need God for?

Amen?
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Seems so. I wouldn't even try to define 'nice' or 'niceness' - it's just what society promotes, what people say
is important to be, for society's reasons(i.e. flesh, carnal, worldly),
and
it "looks good" in and to society, but not in reality or truth.

A little comfort for little children - some may have a pure heart and graciously be nice in a way not at all like the world or the world's motives. Someone might actually be nice, without sinning , as God sees it, because their heart is pure and without deception and without guile or subterfuge.

A great comfort for sinners: Many people have repented of dwelling in sin that is approved of by society and even by churches.
God simply says that if anyone becomes aware they sinned in the past up to today, and didn't know it was sin,
to repent - "turn to God" and seek His Way of what to do. He has made full and complete provision to set
everyone free from sin and from the power of sin , and from the power of the world,
and He gladly provided full atonement for sin through Jesus death in being crucified.(yes, even for 'vanity', because the penalty for any sin is death, not just for 'big' or vile sins) ...

The complete deliverance from sin, and from all the consequences of sin,
are in God's Plan and Purpose in Christ Jesus, freely revealed for all who seek Him in Truth.
 
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