Your either all in for christ or your not in...

[Anihilus]

I saw this bible study excerpt a few months back and I was wondering what everybody's thoughts would be on it. It's around 9 minutes long.

You're Either All In for Christ or You're Not In - Tim Conway - YouTube

 

[tcr1223]

i loved it! and totatlly agree. most people dont want to go to hell but dont want to give up sin. But we have to allow God to do the transformation, we have to be willing vessels. He can do it!

 

[Navanich]

Exactly what my pastor has been preaching me. Thank you so much for such a good video.

Romans 8:6-11 (New Revised Standard)

6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

 

[thetower]

I disagree with this. Transformation is a gradual process. Most People do not just change. Many Christians still have a addictions and problems that still need to be overcome. He is almost saying that the people who are coming to Jesus are not doing it the right way; he said "They call to jesus, but he doesn't save them..."

The bible says that "for god so loved the world that he gave his only beggoton son, that who ever believes in him shall be saved"

that sounds pretty clear to me.

Also look at the example of the theif on the cross.

"Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" 43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."


He was sorry for his sin, but he accepted what jesus. I would guess that he was probably terrified of eternal punishment too. But Jesus saved him because he was humble enough to admit that he was a sinner.

This preacher didn't use much scripture, and is only making christians more worried and over-zealous that they need be.

 

[MacFall]

Scripture makes it clear that we cannot be perfect followers of Christ. If we were so capable, then we would never have needed Grace in the first place. Nobody is ever "all-in".

 

[Etherealember]

MacFall, it is not about being perfect, it's about keeping the perfection of Christ in our souls. It's about where our hearts are - whether we want to let go of sin. We should look at our lives and pray with determination towards things that God tells us are sins. God does not approve of us settling in a mentality of "I can't be perfect so I'll hang onto these sins.", or keep deliberately sinning and asking for forgiveness and grace. We are not trying to be perfect, we are letting Christ heal us to perfection. Never confuse it with any effort we make on our own towards perfection.

To thetower, you are right about the thief on the cross, and the key part of that was that he was sorry for his sins. The Tim Conway is referring to the sins we are not sorry for. Jesus cannot forgive us if we do not submit these sins to Him. As for transformations by God, they are unique for everybody, and some have actually been immediate and miraculous because that is how God chose to work in the life of the sinner he knows through and through. Most times God may chose to change us slowly (remember, God has no limits), maybe to build up our faith so that we are trained to keep turning to Him whenever temptation knocks on our doors.

Jesus doesn't promise that following Him will be easy, in fact we are called to suffer for Him if necessary. Some of that suffering may include giving up a pet sin. He does promise that He will be with us all the way, giving us strength to endure what we aren't capable of on our own. Because of our flawed flesh we will sin against Him (even the disciples did), but we must never fall into an attitude of complacency, and must continuously cleanse sin from our life by praying that Jesus cleanses us, and help us to sin no more. God revealed to me that I had been living a lazy faith where I did as I pleased then asked for forgiveness after. There is real danger in living this way...

I pray that God may teach us all through this video and this forum what His Will for us is.

 

[MacFall]

Okay, that does make more sense. However I'm not sure that not wanting to let go of a sin disqualifies one from forgiveness. We have our own wills, but those wills are corruptible. The very fact that we are unable to lift ourselves out of corruption indicates that it is only by God's grace that we can desire be lifted out of it. That's where the Calvinists go right, in my opinion. So if a person has a sin that he doesn't really want to get rid of, all he can do is ask God in a very general plea to change his will so that he does want it. But then, to say that that prayer is a requirement for salvation is extra-Biblical.

None of this excuses a person who does not want to change, but nevertheless I think that God's grace is powerful enough to cover even those sins that we do not want specifically to end, because that lack of desire for change is a sin in itself that requires grace. Accepting that grace is a life-long process, and I doubt that those who do not complete it before they die are damned because of that. I'm also pretty sure that everyone has something in their lives that they have convinced themselves is not sin, and probably never will truly repent from. I can identify at least one in the lives of everyone I know well, and I know I'm not special, so I must have them too! And we can't claim ignorance, because God is faithful to convict his own of their sin.

 

[Etherealember]

I think that just when we think we've got God figured out, He shows us more of His mysterious ways... I heard of a testimony of a man named Bob Lydiate who gave his life to Jesus, but still insisted on smoking. In fact he challenged God - "If you want me to quit, you're going to have to make me". Here's what happened:

"He did.
Shortly after my challenge, I came down with pneumonia. When I still didn’t stop smoking, I came down with strep throat and the pneumonia reached the point where I was told not even to get out of bed. Physically, I could not smoke. It hurt too much, and I was too weak anyway. By the time the strep throat disappeared, my body no longer craved nicotine.
Stubbornly, I still tried to light a cigarette. It tasted so awful that I stubbed it out and haven’t smoked since. That was over 16 years ago. I have had no desire to begin again, and it doesn’t bother me to be around smokers (beyond the smell, if there are too many of them!)"

In this case, this man was defiantly clinging on to his addiction while having no intention to quit. This doesn't mean that all of us should be this stubborn and be confident that God will respond the same way. And I don't know about you, but I would rather not dare God, lest he changes me the really hard way. There's a saying that goes "Don't hold onto anything tightly in a fist, or it may hurt when God pries it open"

 

[tomatopip]

Yes we are saved by grace in faith in Jesus but if we read the bible correctly we will knw the wage of sin is death but lets see wot the bible says: james1:15 and sin when its full grown brings death gal5:19-21 the works of the flesh...:.......................those who practice those things wont inherit the kindom of God