Results 1 - 3 of 3
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Are our hearts HOLY or Wicked? | Eph 3:17 | Mommapbs | 138172 | ||
Angel - please note Paul's discourse in Romans 7:14-25. He declares that he knows that no good thing dwells in him, where is this? (v 18)It is not his heart- it is in his flesh. By Christ's death and resurrection and indwelling Spirit upon our confession of faith, we have been freed from the penalty for sin and we have been freed from the power of sin. In heaven we will be free from the presence of sin. My sense is that we are ignorant of or complacent about the power that is in us, by the indwelling Spirit of God. Our hearts have been regenerated, they have been circumsized by God. "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live." Dt 30:6 Apart from God's enabling we cannot keep His commands. In no way am I claiming that we do not still sin! Our old nature is still resident as Paul declares in Romans 7. Evil dwells in our flesh; yet, God can not exist with evil( No evil dwells with You. Ps 5:4). . . God's dwelling place is holy (Ps 46:4) Although we have sin dwelling in our flesh, the Spirit of God dwells in us: For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; 1 Cor 6:16; Christ dwells in our hearts thorugh faith (Eph 3:17) This is the realization of Lev 19:2 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.Lev 19:2 Our hearts of stone have been changed, transformed by God."Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezek 36:26 As believers, our hearts have been changed, though once wicked and dead to God, He has made them to be His dwelling place: clean,good and holy, Through the power of Christ, we can resist sin. Daily we have a choice, to live from the heart or live from the flesh. (Rom 8:1-14) Think of it, this is the effect of the Incarnation - God with IN us! We have been crucified with Christ, we are dead to sin and it's penalty and we CAN be freed from its power if we allow Christ to live through us.(Rom 12:1-2) What potential we have - we can be all that God desires us to be. Blessings, mommapbs |
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2 | Are our hearts HOLY or Wicked? | Eph 3:17 | JCrichton | 138236 | ||
Hi, mommapbs! The cleansing is there, the renovation is there... yet if we return to the vomit, like the dogs do, how can we shine in purity? Jesus told the disciples that they were all clean--with the exception of Judas, of course--(John 13:10-11)... yet when the test came for them to stand, they all fled--they feared for their own lives instead of owning the words they recently spoke (dying for their Master: Matthew 26:33-35); none of Christ's loyal disciples remained loyal... true Peter followed at a distance, but eventually he failed again as he repeatedly bold-facedly lied about known the Master... and the other disciple was guiding under the built-in guise of being one of the "crowd!" His familiarity with the place and the people where Jesus was being held and judged remained his cover--which he never broke, not once, in defense of Jesus... It is not enough to claim Jesus (John 15:5-6)... if we do not remain in Him and He in us, when we transgress against God which part of our proclaimed rightousness keeps us from the wages of sin?, or does our transgression only count if we do not claim to have a righteous heart? Paul explained it this way: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. (Romans 6:15-17) When we obey the flesh (heart, mind, body--pick your choice word) and sin (trangress) against God, which rightous part of us is doing this? If God cannot hold us accountable because we claim to be have a righteous heart, how does God hold others accountable to their transgressions? As long as we stay in Jesus we can do anything, including humbly obeying God's Will, but when we sidestep the Lord and surrender our will to the flesh our "choice," tainted by the desires of the flesh, cannot please God (Romans 8:4-13). Paul called himself the least of the Apostles (1 Corinthians 15:9), not because the others sinned less than he did but because he recognized how he persecuted the Church... he clearly understood that outside of Jesus we are all sinners, wicked trees who cannot produce good fruits (Matthew 7:17-18), so he thanked God that Jesus came to rescue us from ourselves: We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:14-25) Consider this, if we are free and clear of unrighteousness, on our own--meaning not abiding in Jesus and Jesus in us, why would we suffer the internal struggle between the desires of the flesh and God's Holy Spirit? If we are new creatures in the Holy Spirit and we are not being lead by unrighteousness, what need do we have of Jesus mediating for us in front of the Father, would our righteousness not keep us from sinning: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:8 thru 2:2) As Paul said, we do the wrong that we seek to avoid, and we do not do the good that we yearn to do... thanks God for Jesus! He is our righteousness in God! God Bless! Angel |
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3 | Are our hearts HOLY or Wicked? | Eph 3:17 | Mommapbs | 138247 | ||
Part 1 of 2 Angel, you asked: "The cleansing is there, the renovation is there... yet if we return to the vomit, like the dogs do, how can we shine in purity?" We can't. "Apart from ME you can DO nothing. Angel, you stated: "It is not enough to claim Jesus (John 15:5-6)" You're right, Jesus claims us as His own- "Apart from Me you can do nothing. He saves us by His Grace and keeps us saved. His grace is sufficient for us! Angel, you asked:"... if we do not remain in Him and He in us, when we transgress against God which part of our proclaimed rightousness keeps us from the wages of sin? First of all the wages or penalty for sin HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL. My sin is no longer counted against me for God's wrath was satisfied (propitiated) by the death of Christ! God has promised never to leave or forsake us. We can "ignore His presence in our lives" but He does not depart from us. Secondly, I do not proclaim my righteousnss, for I know that no good thing lives in me, that is in my flesh (Romans 7:18) I am declared righteous by God. Those He justifies, He also glorifies. The just shall live by faith . . .("Apart from Me, you can do nothing.") Angel, you asked: "does our transgression only count if we do not claim to have a righteous heart?" God tells me I have a new heart. He has created a new heart within me. Does God create anything that is evil or unrighteous? Yet, because my sin nature is still resident in my flesh, there is indeed a war for control taking place. I still sin and I reap the consequences of my sinful choices but I am no longer condemned, for my life is hidden in Christ. Angel, you asked: "When we obey the flesh (heart, mind, body--pick your choice word) and sin (trangress) against God, which rightous part of us is doing this? A house divided cannot stand. My heart is holy, on the basis of what Christ has done for me and in me I declared righteous by God, yet in my flesh I continue to sin. As Paul said in Romans - the reason I still sin is because sin still lives in me. I am freed from the penalty of sin but not from the presence of sin. But the most encouraging aspect of having a clean heart is that by the presence of God, I CAN be free from the power of sin. "Apart from Me, you can DO nothing." On my own, I cannot resist sin. If I think I can, this thought is sinful for it is contrary to God's Word. Angel, you asked: "If God cannot hold us accountable because we claim to be have a righteous heart, how does God hold others accountable to their transgressions?" God allows us to suffer the consequences of our sinful choices, but He no longer holds us accountable for the penalty of our sin - that was charged to Christ. Christ died ONCE FOR ALL. Christ's death was sufficient to pay for ALL my sin and ALL the sins of others. The "good news" is that the sins of believers are no longer counted against them! Angel, you stated: As long as we stay in Jesus we can do anything, including humbly obeying God's Will, but when we sidestep the Lord and surrender our will to the flesh our "choice," tainted by the desires of the flesh, cannot please God (Romans 8:4-13). Apart from Me you can do nothing. It God who is at work in you for His good pleasure.Phil 2:13 When we choose to cooperate and work with Him, we live out Ps 37:4. The spirit is willing because it is united with Christ's but the flesh is weak . . . yet how often do we rely upon the Spirit? We choose to live from the flesh, from self effort. Part 2 to follow |
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