PreciousMessage

Hi Adam,

"For a righteous man man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity" (Prov. 23:16).

In this case the number 7 is a symbolic number. Remember the case of Peter?

"Then Peter cam to Him [Jesus] and said, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" (Matt. 18:21).

The Jews had a tradition that 3 times was the limit; Peter thought he was being generous with the number 7. But Christ reproved him saying,

"I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven" (vs. 22).

Take heart dear brother, continue to "let" Jesus have you, and if you stumble 100 times today, get up and ask forgiveness, don't let the enemy of righteousness tell you it's hopeless. When you sense the sinfulness of your flesh, be sure that the Holy Spirit is striving with you.

Christ Jesus will transform you and this is a process of a lifetime. Don't get discouraged after a few months or after a few years, the miracle of transformation will happen, it just may not be in the time you wish it to be.

"Having been justified by faith we have peace." This does not necessarily entail a good "FEELING." (eirene--to join). It means that you have been "joined" with God, regardless of how you feel. Yes, there will be peaceful feelings, but that is God's gift to give, not something we try and "make happen." The Holy Spirit works us, we cannot work the Holy Spirit.

Now that we have peace with God "we have access by faith into this grace ... rejoice in hope ... tribulation produces perseverance .... character; and character, hope ... hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom. 5:1-5).

"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God," let the word of God transform you, in it is creative and redemptive power.

John

ArielL

That's right. Every sin can be forgiven, except the sin of rejecting Christ. Even then, that sin can only be committed by someone who knows fully what they are rejecting, Heb. 6:4.

As for sin itself--God does give us the victory. As you grow in Christ, as you repent and turn from sin again and again, and as you learn to hate that sin, you will find yourself sinning less often.

There will be fewer sins to confess which were things you did. Then the Holy Spirit makes you sensitive to the things you say. And then also to things you think, and especially attitudes.

Remember that temptation itself is not sin. Jesus was tempted and yet without sin, Hebrews 4:15. When thoughts, etc, come to mind these are not sin unless you pick them up and feed them. So, it is possible to resist sin, resist the demon behind that sin, James 4:7-8, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5.

Onwards to victory! We can do this!

ArielL

Adam, you will never be at a point where you are beyond redemption as you continue in Christ. All things can be forgiven.

Don't let Satan steal your joy. You are on the upward path to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is calling you to victory, Col. 3:1-4. You will win!

As long as we are in Christ, we win! Sin shall not have dominion over us, Romans 6:14. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us, Romans 8:37.

Here are three things which help us grow as Christians:
1. Focus on Jesus Christ, Heb. 12:2
2. Spend time in the word because God's word converts our soul--our mind, will and emotions, Ps. 19:7
3. Walk in obedience to the Lord, James 1:25


There is a story about a man who told a pastor that he had two dogs within him fighting each other. One was evil, one was good. The pastor asked which one was winning. The man said, "The one I feed."

Feed the good side, beloved in Christ! You will win!

PreciousMessage

To receive Christ also means to believe the teachings that He brings to the forefront. Many claim to believe in Christ and have a "relationship" with Him and do not necessarily "deny" Him in general principle, but when He brings a teaching that he or she or a particular church does not believe, many reject certain teachings.

It is more than the idea of the "moral influence theory." In other words, "be of good character" and you'll be saved at last. It is more than the idea that "Jesus is Lord" and chanting the same over and over again without actually, genuinely, believing everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Many will be lost at last because they have deliberately, persistently really have rejected Jesus, not because they have said no to him in general principle but they have rejected His will concerning the doctrine.

He does not reject anyone if they do not know certain doctrine, God is fair with us, He ultimately will let one go because they continually reject His will, that is, His doctrine (teachings).

blessings in Christ,
John

Adam Plancke

Thank you for your words of encouragement. It can be hard especially if you were to be pedantic and say that by watching a film with killing, for example, you are committing the act of killing. But while I may feel guilt over this I feel that God does speak to me about what I do, and sometimes I feel that I shouldn't be involved with this or that (this or that being something as innocent as a film with killing), so yeah, I try and be respectful of what God wants of me.

spiritlead

knows you and what you are capable of. you can not surprize Him. James 4:17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
to you it is sin not God all sin is paid for past present and future.

violet

ArielL

I agree with you, Violet.

I believe that it is possible for a Christian to sin and continue in that sin, thereby having no victory in their life.

I don't believe that they lose their salvation. But their sin can keep them from living the life God wants them to have.

To sin and say, "Oh well, it's all forgiven" and then not confess that sin is foolishness. I had a teacher SS teacher once who pointed out that sin is like seed. The longer we entertain it, the more it will grow, the deeper its roots, and the more room it will take in our lives. Finally it will bear seed--more sin, including sin in other people's lives.

As the saying goes, sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and make you pay far more than you wanted to pay.

We must be done with sin!

1 John 1:9 was written for Christians. Let us remember that we are told "If we confess our sin" that we are forgiven--but not until then.

Adam Plancke

I think what is meant future sin already being forgiven is that everything, all our lives, all our downfalls, have been predetermined, if you believe in that line of thinking. I could be completely wrong, but I think there was something about it all being planned out.

PreciousMessage

Glad Tidings Violet,

I agree with you. .... and I respectfully differ with you also. Let us examine the comforting truth of the Bible.

I believe the Bible teaches two phases of forgiveness. At the cross the whole human race was granted a judicial pardon (Rom. 3:23, 24, 4:5, 5:9, 5:18). However, there is also an experiential aspect of forgiveness (Ps. 51:1-3;51:2-10).

We can see this objective aspect of forgiveness in the reconciliation analogy used in 2 Corinthians: "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, NOT imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

The legal aspect of the reconciliation which was accomplished at the cross is presented: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, NOT imputing their trespasses to them." The sins which should have been charged against us were charged against Christ. " ... but now ONCE in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26).

The sins of the past, present, and future, at the cross, were charged against Christ, otherwise He would have to die again. The condemnation which we deserved was cancelled and our trespasses are not counted against humanity. The passage then proceeds to highlight the experiential aspect of the process: "We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20).

The first half of the passage says God already reconciled us to Himself at the cross. However, that is a legal reconciliation. It demonstrates the justice of God and vindicated the mercy of God in treating us as though we had not sinned.

As wonderful as that may be, until we respond to what God has done, we still have a "heart problem." As individuals, those who are justified by faith and ask forgiveness are simply responding in the light and the work of the cross. In another words, we recognize our depravity, our unrighteousness.

No doubt, there is a clear biblical evidence in which God's forgiveness is conditional upon our confession and repentance (1 John 1:9). We must remember, one Bible truth does not cancel out the other. When taken together as a paradoxical whole, if you will, this shed's great light into the loving character of God for the whole human race in the light of Calvary.

The full effects of sin have been stayed, preserving our temporal life so we might have sufficient opportunity to embrace His forgiveness UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. Certainly forgiveness must already reside in God's heart before it can penetrate our hearts. The Lord's prayer is perfect for understanding this glorious concept.

When we see "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" then we are moved, deeply and heartfeltly, to a repentance born of love. Self is forgotten and now we can serve Christ Jesus from a true and sincere motive. The Good News is better than we think!

blessings in Christ,
John