What is the standard for your belief system, and what does it say about this subject?As far as I know, unbelief is unbelief. I know not whether it is a sin...
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What is the standard for your belief system, and what does it say about this subject?As far as I know, unbelief is unbelief. I know not whether it is a sin...
... God doesn't give you faith, He gives you salvation. Everyone has faith. Even little children have faith...
There is much more than the one verse in the Bible. It is important not to build so much on one verse, or one simple statement that is misunderstood by most people these days.
Many other verses, spoken by our LORD, and by those who followed Him, seem to shed light on what it means to believe, to have faith, to follow the LORD, etc. It is important not to minimize the significance of those verses.
The early evangelists (1st Century AD) emphasized REPENTANCE. Many great preachers since then have done this as well, but there is not much emphasis given to it over the last hundred years. That is something that concerned General William Booth of the Salvation Army 115 years ago.
There are many like these. This was written by the Apostle Peter:
II Peter 3The Apostle Paul said:
9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Acts 17
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 26The Gospel of Luke, has these words from John the Baptist, the LORD Jesus Christ, and what he had written about what our LORD had said:
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
II Corinthians 7
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Luke 3
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Luke 5
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 15
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luke 24
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Mwood
On the question regarding unbelief...you say that you wonder if it is sin.
You declare that your source is the Bible and claim to accept what it says.
The Bible informs us: "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
The Bible tells us plainly that "unbelief is the unforgivable sin."
Unbelief calls God a "liar."
Unbelief is what caused the Israelites to forfeit entering into the promised land.
"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:18-19).
"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:12-13).
You should give a scripture that backs up this belief.... But we all will sin and will continue to sin as long as we are in the flesh...
Our pastor used that passage in his sermon today. Thank you for your post.... "Jesus said to His disciples, 'It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble'" (Luke 17:1-2). You will be held responsible for all those you led astray...
Thanks for this very good reply, and the good list of scripture to back your point.Here are about 15 verses which show that faith is a gift...
Hi Mwood
You said, "Don't worry yourself about your sins. Focus on your witness for Jesus. When we are in Jesus He is also in us. We are ambassadors of Jesus, we need to go about our work as an ambassador and quit worrying about the things that we can do nothing about."
Yikes! Say what??? Let's clarify some things.
We had better worry about our sins and confess them and repent of them. Sin is serious to God. Our sins put His only begotten son on the cross.
If we have sin in our lives, we need to worry about them and get right with God.
"If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27).
"Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:7-9).
There is a heretical teaching called, "hyper-grace" which claims that all our sins past, present and future are paid for and covered -- no matter how we live. But, it presumes upon the grace and mercy of God as if God turns a blind eye to our behavior now.
To be clear: yes, our confessed & repented of sins are washed away.
But, salvation does not give us a blank check to live as we choose. In fact, authentic salvation causes us to choose NOT TO SIN.
If, Mwood, you are referring to past sins which the Holy Spirit has not yet brought to mind, then yes, we need not carry a false guilt and give Satan a club to beat us with. We can claim the blood of Jesus. Period.
But, we do not have God's "favor" in order that we might live lives as we please. As redeemed Children of God, we hate sin.
Before we were saved, we loved sin and jumped into it. But, after we are saved, we loathe sin. We may lapse into it, but we hate it and don't live there.
God says, "Be holy, for I am holy." He doesn't say, "I understand, you have a sin nature and you are just a sinner saved by grace. Do the best you can." No, He expects us to "put on the new man, created in Christ Jesus" and to "flee youthful lusts."
Our witness is tarnished by the degree to which we have unconfessed sin in our lives. We lose our power to live as authentic Christians if we just "name and claim it" but disregard what God has said. "Obedience is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).
Hyper-grace is a slippery slope. And, we quench the Holy Spirit by not listening to Him. He calls us to a life of holiness.
It may seem as if there are two Gospels, and it is ANOTHER Gospel, for certain, that is causing your concern. The idea of nothing being required of a seeking sinner may have a partial basis in the true Gospel. Let's be careful, though, not to base all of our doctrine on a few verses....I am confused! Are you saying that there are two different gospels? One preached by Jesus and the disciples and another one preached by the apostle Paul who wrote 3/4 of the New Testament?
There can be only one true gospel, and all others therefore, are heresy by definition. So, either Jesus taught a false gospel or Paul taught a false gospel -- if I understand correctly what you are postulating. Which then is the true gospel?
Didn't Paul say that he preached Christ and Christ crucified and if he preached another, let him be accursed?
So how do you reconcile God loving the unbeliever when faith comes from God? If He loved everyone, wouldnt He give faith to everyone?
Interesting how this doctrine cannot be reconciled with what we know of God by His council to man, the BIBLE.I can't reconcile God in anything. God is God...