what's the point in trying?

dawnsday said:

When I believed in God/Christ, something inside me made me want to do what He wants, listen to Him, but I always fail...always.

Then I get told that I can't live up to God's expectations so I shouldn't obsess over it and just live my life.

But how can I just "live my life" and do things that are sinful, knowing they are sinful?

And if I do these things, will I not have to ask forgiveness?

It says in the bible we all fall short. It also says one who believes does not sin. I sin. I also believe.

So, if you can sin after believing and be forgiven, why try to live right? I haven't been "blessed" for living right, in a way that my life is easier or my struggles are gone...It's gotten even crazier in my life, the struggles greater...

The questions I suppose are: If you sin after accepting Christ, were you ever saved to begin with?

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Yes: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Rom. 10:9, 10)

If you were, do you need resaving every time?

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No: John 10

If you don't need it, do you still ask forgiveness?

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Yes, 1 John 1:8-10

And if it's all defaulted and once saved always saved, why worry about what you say or do, why not just do what you want?

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Why would you want too? Your first statement really says it all. Once our lives are given to Christ, we are changed. We are brought from death to life; our hearts are circumcised; we are given a heart of flesh; we are a new creation.

I am not into "cheap grace" but we need to remember if it was not cheap (in fact free) we could not afford it. That being said, Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments.

We need to remember that when we come to Christ, what is changed is our hearts. Our flesh is still weak and we will continue to fight it until the next life when we are with Him.

Do not be discouraged, we are justified by faith in Christ, who completed the works and did what we could not, keep the law. It is by His sacrifice, the propitiation of His blood that we are saved completely.

Do not forget, you are now in a spiritual fight. Eph. 6 makes this clear, we are in a very real struggle. Where we were once part of the world, we fought against God; now that we are God's children, we are enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil and they will do everything to hinder our following Christ.

Peter and Paul both tell us that we are going to be persecuted because we are no longer the world's. But, He who began the good work in us will bring us to completion in Christ Jesus.

I hope this helps.

Mike

Jesus never said that the life of a Christian is easy. We have to rely on Him to guide us with His loving hand and to touch our hearts when things go bad.

Forgive us our sins, (just)-as we forgive those who sin against us.

hang in there!

Dawnsday - ask for God's help with losing your bad habits. My cursing disappeared almost overnight. The more I watched what I was saying, the less I was tempted to use bad words. I would have to say I'm almost 90% there - depends on the company I'm keeping!

Also, when you look back on your life, aren't you "sinning" less than you did before? Isn't your life cleaner? I bet it is, but the change might be so gradual that you just haven't noticed. I suppose if we lived in these skins forever, we would be perfect. Thankfully, we won't have to wait that long!

Keep running the race!

dawnsday said:

but i don't keep his commandments. I am trying to. For example, i do one at a time, breaking habits. Right now I am working on not taking the lord's name in vain.

This is how my day goes:

g-d d----it, i mean gosh d---it, i mean gosh dangit i mean aw geez, sorry, sorry, sorry.

and i do this out loud and ppl look at me funny, but i don't care.

and i am working on the others, especially trying to love my neighbors even when i want to shake them out of their ignorance, selfishness, and hatefulness. So, it goes like this:

who does she think she is, i swear i don't know where she got her brain, she is so out of line, i mean i mean, uh, sorry, sorry, i'm sure she has personal things going on and i mean to say, i would like her to communicate more effectively and not lie, when she knows i know she is lying, sorry sorry sorry, lord please help me not yell at her, help her stop lying, sorry sorry sorry.

etc etc etc.

so since i can't seem to break the habit in an instance, does that mean i am still not saved. i am trying, with great effort, but i am falling short.

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Why would it mean you are not saved?

That is why I pointed out in my post above that we are in a spiritual fight. Our hearts arer regenerated, not our flesh, not even our minds (which are being transformed). And yet, we are a new creature. Things that were once common for you, you even note you do not want now. You, just as the rest of us, are being renewed by Christ.

We all have a long road ahead of us and we will only be made complete in glory. Remember, now that you are in Christ, there is nothing that can separate you from the Lord (Rom. 8:31-39).

You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who overcame the world. That should be a comforting thought.

Mike

Read Romans 7 - 8. Paul talks about his battles with the flesh. The thing I want to understand is this even though once we are saved and become new creatures our flesh is still with us. The flesh will be with us unitl we die. We are always going to have some problems we must deal with. Before I was saved I used to curse like a sailor but the Lord delivered me from that. The same way he did it for me he can do the same for you. When Jesus died for our sins it was for all of our sins not just the ones we committed before we were saved. Also being a Christian is not always easy Jesus tolds us that in this world we would go through trials and tribulations but he also told us that he would always be with us even unitl the end of the world. Cheer up you're not going through anything that any other Christian has not faced at one time or another.

dawnsday said:

actually yes, there is a huge difference. i suppose the concern was so many seem to think it just goes POOF! and i'm an entirely different person with entirely different behaviors. Not so, my desire/heart has changed, kind of...i was alway a bleeding heart type (save the children, save the poor, right the wrongs etc), so that was consistant, but now i actually don't WANT to WANT the things i used to...the actually habit or momentary desire is not gone...nor am i sinlesss....but it does say to keep the commandments (though some say this was for jews only) and to turn from sin, sin no more, which i try...but doesn't work.

is there any scripture that can tell me if the sin should go POOF! or if it's a gradual thing.

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I would encourage you also to keep pressing on. Gal. 5:17 says that the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, so that you may not do the things that you please. The fact that you desire to obey Jesus, and that you have sorrow and frustration when you stumble is an indication that He is living in you. Habits don't happen POOF!, and they usually don't disappear POOF! When you stumble, tell the Lord you messed up and ask for His cleansing and healing. He is faithful and He will help you, but it also takes determination and perserverance on your part. Discipline/practice isn't always a pleasant thing, but over time with the Spirit's guidance, it yields pleasant fruit. My son took up guitar a couple years ago, and as he applied himself, listened to the advice of others, and spent hours playing, I have been amazed at where he is now compared to where he was. I know that was my experience with my walk of faith. On one hand I simply didn't find the same satisfaction in doing things(that didn't please God) that I had done previously; on the other hand there were things that didn't please God that have taken me years to put to death, and they still rear their tempting heads far too often. Those take diligent prayer, confession to fellow believers along with a request for their prayers, and a conscious effort to press on towards perfection in Christ as Paul mentions in Philippians 3:12, "Not that I have already attained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus."

In Christ
Russ

Remember that God goes out of His way to save the worst of the worst.

Read 1 Cor. 1:26-31

He gets more glory out of doing this; but it's a long process.

Glory to God for saving you

Who are you, o' man, to say to the sovereign, omnipotent God, "you couldn't have saved me, cuz I still have a potty mouth"

You've been saved by the grace of God. That's who you are now. Quit whining and get used to it

dawnsday,

One more note;

stop trying to cure the symptoms; your potty mouth: go after the root of the problem; the heart......

Mat. 12:35 "a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things"

Mat. 15:18 "but those things that proceedeth out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man"

Dealing with the symtoms in the power of the flesh will never cure you. Go to the root, the heart, with confession and repentance, and He has promised to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. In HIS time, not yours.

God bless,



.

dawnsday said:

but i don't keep his commandments. I am trying to. For example, i do one at a time, breaking habits. Right now I am working on not taking the lord's name in vain.

This is how my day goes:

g-d d----it, i mean gosh d---it, i mean gosh dangit i mean aw geez, sorry, sorry, sorry.

and i do this out loud and ppl look at me funny, but i don't care.

and i am working on the others, especially trying to love my neighbors even when i want to shake them out of their ignorance, selfishness, and hatefulness. So, it goes like this:

who does she think she is, i swear i don't know where she got her brain, she is so out of line, i mean i mean, uh, sorry, sorry, i'm sure she has personal things going on and i mean to say, i would like her to communicate more effectively and not lie, when she knows i know she is lying, sorry sorry sorry, lord please help me not yell at her, help her stop lying, sorry sorry sorry.

etc etc etc.

so since i can't seem to break the habit in an instance, does that mean i am still not saved. i am trying, with great effort, but i am falling short.

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You're human and struggling with many sins that everyone struggles with every day. All you can do is keep trying. You stumble on your path, and you get yourself back up and continue down it. Salvation is a life-long journey, bringing you closer to Christ. It takes time to grow spiritually and to overcome sins that one has had the habit of doing for years and years. Believe me, I'm in the same boat as you (I have my own sins I'm trying to work on and overcome). You've just got to keep at it. One day, when you overcome at least one of your sins, you'll feel much better that you made the effort and are one step closer to Christ and being the servant He wishes us all to be....Christ-like. Not an easy journey, but worth it for our souls.