Results 21 - 40 of 69
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: ChristLifer2001 Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | is masterbation a sin explain thxs | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47765 | ||
Emmaus, Sin happens in the mind. Jesus made this clear. It bears fruit in the body but it originates and happens in the mind. Are you telling me the an adolescent going through puberty (a normal bodily function) is an idolator? Do you know what the punishment for idolatry is under the Law? Do you wish to be under the Law? ChristLifer2001 |
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22 | is masterbation a sin explain thxs | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47764 | ||
Inmyheart, I'm neither condemning masturbation or nor am I defending it. As the Bible does not speak specifically to this ACT, I am not going to be dogmatic on it. If others want to be, that is their option. The woman who was brought to Jesus, caught in the act of adultery, should have been stoned. That is what the Law said. Did Jesus break the Law? As you have said, the Bible does speak to issues like lust. Is it possible to engage in masturbation without lusting? Yes it is. But satan and the world tempt us to sin in almost every area of our lives and they will use this area to cause us to sin through lusting. They will also use this area to condemn other brothers and sisters in Christ without mercy. Have you ever looked at another person with lust? Then, according to Jesus' standard, you have already masturbated in your mind, haven't you? The problem is that we love to rate sins. That way, my sin of worrying is not as bad as your sin of lusting. My sin of a critical spirit is not as bad as your sin of masturbation. My sin of running another brother or sister down with my tongue is not as bad as what you may do with the other parts of your body. Sin is sin in God's eyes. Did you ever tell a lie? Then you are just as guilty as a cold-blooded murder in the eyes of God (James 2:10). Popular Christianity is so consumed with what is a sin and what is not a sin that we never get around to finding life in Christ. We're too busy rating sins and trying to judge ourselves against others. Hebrews says that whatever is not of faith is sin. By the time the legalist piles the 10 Commandments, the Mosaic Law, the sins of omission, and the sin of living life apart from faith in every act on top of people, the "good news" of the gospel is nullified. We spend our whole lives trying to keep short accounts with God and trying to keep our sins (which God says He no longer remembers - Heb 10:17,18) confessed. The goal of the Christian life is not to stop sinning. The goal of the Christian life is to abide in Christ and let Him live it. As we do, we will sin less but, while on earth, we will never be sinless. Sure God wants to renew our minds. This is how He changes our thinking and therefore our actions. As we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But the flesh is not just "evil" deeds. It is self. The flesh can look very good: self-discipline, self-confidence, self-effort, self-achievement, self-righteousness. But it is all evil in God's eyes. It is only when we come to see that our righteousness comes from God alone that we will be set free to "think on these things." Christ in us will cause us to fulfill the law of love. You write: "we are not to associate with those who call themselves Christians who are idolaters (1Corinthians 5:11)" I wouldn't believe how judgmental Christians can be if I wasn't being set free from it myself. Anything you put before God makes you an idolator. You can stick the word "habitual" in there is you want to, but the scriptures don't. We do it so that we can say, "Well, I'm only occasionally idolatrous. I'm not like so-and-so who is habitually idolatrous." Even the church at Ephesus who was doing everything right had left their first love. We would do well to teach people about how much Jesus loves them and how He has shed His blood to forgive them. His perfect love casted out all fear of punishment. As I said, I'm not going to be dogmatic on an issue that the scriptures to not speak directly to. And even the ones where scripture is definately clear on call for us to restore others in a spirit of love, not condemnation. Let the one without sin cast the first stone. Any sin. Don't rate them. There was only One who was not and He didn't condemn. Neither will I. ChristLifer2001 |
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23 | is masterbation a sin explain thxs | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47728 | ||
Emmaus, Without entering into this debate, I wanted to comment on your statement: Yes, let's get real here! In the context of your statement above, can you imagine Jesus performing this act? I hear this often within the context of "What would Jesus do?" or "Would you do that if Jesus where standing here?" The reality is, HE IS HERE. If we are believers in Christ, He is ALWAYS here, no matter what we are doing. Even if we sin, He never leaves us or forsakes us. As I said, without entering into this debate, there are certain bodily functions which we participate in as physical creatures. Our Lord came in the flesh and therefore had all the physiological functions that we are subject to. So let me ask a couple of questions: Can you imagine Jesus eliminating waste from His body? He did so. Was He still God when He did this "socially unacceptable" thing? Can you imagine Jesus occasionally passing gas or emitting a belch? If He was indeed human, then He must have done so. Can you imagine Jesus entering puberty with those associated changes manifesting themselves in His body? He did so. When we strip Christ of His humanity, we diminish who He really is. We have no right to attempt to remove either His deity or His humanity - He was completely both. No, I do not imagine Jesus masturbating. Neither do I imagine Him eliminating waste from His mortal body. There are more important aspects of Christ to dwell on. But in closing, if you want to use that "What would Jesus do" analogy, let me ask: Would you eliminate waste from your body with Jesus standing there watching? Would you make love with your wife with Jesus standing there watching? How REAL do you want to be? He is more REAL. The truth is that He is there. He always is. As long as we have submitted our bodies as living sacrifices to Him to live through (Rom 12:1), I don't believe He is repulsed by our humanity. Let's be careful of this "Can you imagine Jesus..." mentality. He is a real Person, He lived in a real flesh and blood body with all its functionality. If He had been married to a woman during His earthly life, I'm sure He would have been passionate with her. And I'm just as sure that He is passionate today with His bride. I can't wait for the honeymoon! ChristLifer2001 |
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24 | How are we to understand? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47639 | ||
Hank brings up some excellent points here. I would like to add one more if I may. We must never lose sight that it is primarily the Holy Spirit's job to teach us the meaning of scripture. John 16:13 makes this abundantly clear. He wrote it, therefore He is prime interpreter of it. Knowing what the scripture says does not inheritantly guarantee that we know what it means. If knowing Greek were the only prerequisite to understanding God's truth, then the entire Greek world would have been saved :) and all Greek scholars would be saved (which is certainly not the case). Am I saying that it is not helpful to understand the source languages? Not at all. It is very helpful to be familiar with the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic languages, especially in biblical passages where the meaning of the text is not immediately apparent. But the fact of the matter is that most people are NOT going to learn the ancient languages. Therefore, as Hank says, they need to be educated in what criteria makes a translation a "good" translation and where a particular translation may have problems. Lastly, people need to be taught good Bible study methods. There are way too many self-proclaimed Bible scholars that take the text out of the context and do more damage than good. If we combine a good English translation with good Bible study methods and the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit Himself, most of the time we will arrive at very similar understandings of what the scripture means. If this 3-legged "stool" becomes 1 or 2 legged, then there is more potential for problems. I know many people who claim that the Holy Spirit has given them "revelations" that either aren't found in the Word of God or contradict God's Word out-right. I know a few who have made a particular translation their "god" and will not consider any other (including the Greek and Hebrew). And I also know of a few Greek scholars who can cross every Greek 't' and dot every Greek 'i', but know nothing of the love and compassion of God. In the end, our understanding must come down to God revealing Himself to us. He does this through the scriptures, through others and their gifts, and through circumstances. The scriptures need to be our primary "plumbline" for truth. But I am not entirely convinced that the majority of interpretational problems stem from not knowing the original languages. I believe that most of the problems arise from "hearsay" interpretation ("my pastor says"), poor Bible study methods, and little reliance upon the Holy Spirit to do what He promises. Let's endeavor to give the Holy Spirit as many "tools" as possible by advocating good translations and excellent Bible study methods. Great topic, saints! ChristLifer2001 |
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25 | What does the world presently think abou | 2 Sam 13:1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47601 | ||
Iheukwumere, The bottom line is that it is irrelevant what the world thinks about it. The world's standards may or may not reflect God's righteousness depending upon culture and time period. To force ANYONE to have intercourse violates the law of love that Christ demonstrated and taught about. If we truly love others as Christ does, forcing them to have intercource is a sin, whether that person is your wife, a sister, a half-sister, or a stranger. The issue is not whether we are following the 10 commandment or Jewish cultural law. The issue is are we being led by the Spirit (which we should be if we call ourselves Christians). Anyone led by the Spirit of God is NOT going to purposefully hurt another person whether it is through a sex crime, lying, verbal or physical abuse, stealing, and any other means the man can find to damage his neighbor. This is why we must walk in the Spirit and allow the living Christ to fulfill the law of love in us. If we don't do this, then we inevitable fall into categorizing what is a sin, what is not a sin, what is a worse sin, etc. From God's viewpoint, all sin deserves death - period - Rom 6:23. If we allow Christ to live out through us, then it is clear that He will fulfill the Golden Rule and keep the two greatest commandments. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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26 | Jesus said PRAY THIS PRAYER | Matt 6:9 | ChristLifer2001 | 47594 | ||
Dosaquies, Actually, Jesus did not say, "Pray this prayer." He said, "Pray in THIS WAY." Is there a difference? I think so and a BIG one at that. You have listed some of the themes in what we have named the "Lord's Prayer." Those themes reflect the intimate relationship that our Lord has with His Father and that we should have with our Father. But, in many cases, we have done exactly what the Lord has told us NOT to do. He says in verse 7, "When you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." The Gentiles thought that the more often they repeated a prayer, the more likely that their gods would sit up and take notice. Christians, on the other hand are heard, not because of repetition, but because God is our Father. Now, I am not saying that the Lord's prayer in this passage is meaningless repetition. It certainly is not. But we only have one record of our Lord using these exact words and phrases this one time. He did not use this particular "formula" in His High Priestly Prayer. No where does Jesus say to use this prayer as a mantra. In fact, He is teaching the exact opposite. But it is human nature to substitute religion for reality of relationship, so now in many churches people just go through the motions of mouthing these words falsely believing that they are "praying." Prayer is, and should be, first and foremost an expression of the heart, never meaningless repetition. The church has done the same thing with the prayer of Jabez. What was one man's petition to God, we have taken and turned it into a chant to try to get God to do something for us. So while our Lord's prayer in this passage does reflect an intimate relationship, we must be careful that we don't take the letter and turn it into the law. Pharisees loved to do this. Legalists love to do this. They love formulas and endless lists of do's and don't's, thinking that it is what a person does or does not do that makes them holy. Jesus is not a formula nor is He a list. He is a real Person and He lives inside us. The Holy Spirit is faithful in leading us to pray as we should. We have no need for a mantra, we have Christ. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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27 | How can God (Jesus) increase in wisdom? | Luke 2:52 | ChristLifer2001 | 47452 | ||
Bob R., My post is not designed to prove that Jesus is God. There are many scriptures and other posts here on the forum to address that issue. I simply wanted to express my understanding of the incarnation. One of the things that we need to understand about the incarnation is that though Jesus was (and is) fully God, when He came to earth, He did not function out of His Godly attributes. He functioned as a human male except without sin. Phil 2:5-11 explains this concept. Jesus was fully God but He chose not to exercise all His divine attributes AS God. Instead, He gave us a pattern for how we should live as God's creations - with God as our source for life. This is why Jesus made statements like: "I do nothing unless the Father tells Me to do it. I say nothing unless the Father tells Me to say it. My works are not My own but My Fathers. I do nothing of My own initiative but only what I see the Father doing." All of these statements demonstrate that Christ source for EVERYTHING was drawing upon His Father. And Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, so send I you." As the Father was Christ's source for everything He said and did during His earthly ministry, Jesus is now our source for everything that we should do or say. Jesus expressed this to His disciples: "Apart from Me, you can do nothing. As I abide in the Father, you should abide in Me. Paul expressed this concept also: "I can do all things THROUGH Christ." "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. The life that I live in this body, I live BY FAITH in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Yes, Christ was fully God. But He set aside (emptied Himself) His abilities to live and act out of His divine attributes. Instead, He was a channel for His Father to live and work through. He calls us to do the same. We are not God. He is forever the Creator and we are forever the creations, but as Christ abided in His Father, we abide in Christ. He is our life. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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28 | What day did Adam and eve sin? | Gen 2:17 | ChristLifer2001 | 47337 | ||
G ZAZ, Sorry, friend, but the Bible doesn't tell us how long Adam and Eve existed in a state of innocence. It could have been a week, it could have been thousands or even millions of years, we just don't know. But the important thing to know is that they died that day they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And all who now eat from the Tree of Life (Jesus Christ) live forevermore. ChristLifer2001 |
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29 | after death, right then, what? | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 47330 | ||
Farout, This is an interesting question. I think that answer may be open to a some speculation. But I also think that there are a few givens: The Bible does say that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So the question becomes, when are we absent from the body? Does our soul sleep in our body (or it's eventual decayed remains)? I think that maybe part of the answer lies in understanding the spirit and the soul. Do this components of man remain with the body after death? Consider Acts 8:59: Stephen was being stoned and, somehow, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. (Obviously, the crowd could not see this as they stoned him anyway.) But Stephen also cries out, "Lord Jesus, recieve my spirit." So it is implied that, at death, our spirit immediately is received by Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus cried out the same thing from the cross, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." So there is pretty solid biblical evidence that our spirit goes immediately into God's presence. What about our souls? Rev 6:9 seems to speak of dis-embodied souls under the altar (in heaven) waiting to be avenged and clothed with their bodies again. There are given white robes to wear in the meantime. Well, Farout, that's just a couple of my thoughts. If we are most fundamentally spiritual beings with human experiences, instead of vice-versa, then it would seem that who we really are goes directly into God's presence at physical death. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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30 | Do the Old and New Testaments Agree? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 47266 | ||
Evan, Excellent answer, brother. While God does not change, His covenants with man did. This is reflected throughout the Bible. Where many Christians get tripped up is trying to blend the Old Covenant with the New. There are trying to mix Law and grace to try to make sense of the whole Bible. But as you have correctly stated, we need to view the Old Covenant through the New - it was a shadow of the reality of Christ. At my website, we are doing a verse-by-verse study of Romans 5-8. If you would like to participate, please email me and I'd be happy to give you the link. ChristLifer2001 |
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31 | What the scripture say about morality? | Ps 119:1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46768 | ||
Makarios, Amen, bro! Is the Law sin? Certainly not! It is indeed holy, righteous, and good (a reflection of the perfection of God). And it is certainly necessary to bring sinners to a knowledge that they are dead and require a Savior. As you have rightly stated, the sinful flesh uses the Law to cause us to sin. This is why Christians must not try to live under the Law. If we do, we will certainly be walking in the flesh. Thankfully, God has placed us under a higher law - the law of love - and He fulfills the righteous requirements through us! What a wonderful salvation we enjoy! Thanks for the correspondence, bro! ChristLifer2001 |
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32 | What the scripture say about morality? | Ps 119:1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46594 | ||
Makarios, I remembered this verse also: Romans 5:20 - "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." How's that for motivating to sin? The Law causes us to sin all the more so that we would run to Christ and be saved and sanctified by grace! ChristLifer2001 |
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33 | What the scripture say about morality? | Ps 119:1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46592 | ||
Makarios, I found your statement, "One cannot be motivated to sin from reading the Bible," to be interesting. While I understand what you are saying, have you considered Paul's statements about the Law (contained in the Bible) in Romans? There he writes in Rom 7:4: "For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, WHICH WERE AROUSED BY THE LAW, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death." He writes in verse 8: "But sin, taking oportunity through the commandment (the Law), PRODUCED IN ME coveting of every kind..." And in verse 10: "And this commandment (the Law) which (I thought) was to result in life, proved to result in death for me." The Law is indeed holy, righteous, and good, but it's effect in us is to stir up sin. It is not the Law that is the problem. It is indwelling sin that uses the Law to cause us to sin. ChristLifer2001 |
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34 | Can we say that all of the scriptures | 2 Tim 3:16 | ChristLifer2001 | 46559 | ||
Faithfolk, We would also do well to remember that though Paul talks about ALL scripture in reference to the Old Testament, he was concious that what he preached was directly from the Lord. Consider Galatians 1:11,12: For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul's writings in the New Testament carry just as much weight as Jesus' words in the gospels. Why? Because they had the same Author. After his conversion, Paul did not immediately go to Jerusalem to visit the other disciples and apostles of our Lord to get the "scoop". He was not taught what he knew by men. He was taught be direct revelation from Christ Himself. Therefore, even Paul's writings are just as inspired as the OT or any other portion of scripture. ChristLifer2001 |
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35 | People want answers! | Prov 3:5 | ChristLifer2001 | 46546 | ||
Inmyheart, Of course our Lord can and will give a right answer. Trust Him to do so as you seek the answers. The Holy Spirit promises to lead you into all truth and your quest will ultimately lead to Christ, for He is God's answer for our every question. 2 Peter 1:3 says that God's divine power has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness through truly knowing Jesus Christ. Romans 8:32 says that God freely gives us ALL THINGS in Christ Jesus. Christianity is a person, Jesus Christ, and God will be faithful to finish what He has begun in you. Trust in that relationship. Your Lord did not leave you alone. He is in you and will lead you. Unfortunately, here at this forum you will, much of the time, get conflicting answers. If you ask a question like, "Are Christians under the Mosaic Law?" you will get 3 different answers: 1) Yes 2) No 3) Some parts of it. This is because everyone views scripture through a particular "lense." There is nothing wrong with this lense as long as it does not take the place of scripture. In the end, you must be a Berean, my friend, and study the scriptures for yourself. We seldom argue about what God says but we'll debate until the cows come home concerning what He means. Christian's are all members of Christ's body, the church. There is unity in Him but it is not always prevalent. This doesn't mean that we will always see things the same way. When we don't, the best we can do it to state what we believe God is saying and let the Holy Spirit do what He does so well. Paul did the same thing on Mars Hill. Some sneered at what he had to say, some said that they wanted to hear more, but some accepted what He said about God and joined Him. May you find the answers in Christ, my friend. ChristLifer2001 |
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36 | Raven, do you want ALL the Law? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46267 | ||
So what is the purpose of the Law? To show sin exceedingly sinful so that manking would turn to Christ. Paul says that the Law is indeed holy, righteous, and good. Why? Because it reflects God's morality. James says that it is a mirror that reflects just how sinful mankind really is. But man, full of do-it-yourself religion and performance-based acceptance, grabbed the Law and said, "I can do THAT! I'll clean myself with it." When you look in a mirror and see yourself with all your imperfections, do you grab the mirror off the wall to clean yourself? Of course not, the mirror can do nothing to clean you up, it just shows you reality. The Law is the same. Paul says that it was a schoolmaster (a discplinarian) to lead us to Christ so that we would be made right, not by keeping the Law, but by faith in Jesus alone. So the Law was given to drive man back to God as his source for righteousness, holiness, sanctification, love, etc. When we acknowledge that all these things are found in Christ and receive them in receiving Christ, we call it "grace." It is a gift. The confusion arises when Christians would claim that Christ is indeed our righteousness, our life, our holiness, our sanctification, then return to the Law as our standard. Christ is our standard and He fulfills it in and through us. The just (righteous) shall live (walk, perform) by faith, not the Law. In Christ, we can once again look to God alone as our source for everything we need for life and godliness - 2 Pet 1:3. The problem with much of modern Christianity is that we think that grace is an EVENT, not a life-style. We think we received grace at salvation and not WE maintain our righteous standing before God. But grace is just as much a process as an event. That is why Paul urges us to grow in grace (never Law) and "as you have received the Lord - by faith through grace - so walk in Him. This is why Paul as the Galatians, "You foolish people! You were justified and born again by faith in Christ! Are you trying to be sanctified by the flesh (trying to keep the Law)?" They were being told by the Judaizers that salvation by grace through faith in Christ was fine, but that now they needed to go back to the Law to find out how to live, how to be "sanctified." God has a better way, walking by faith in Christ fully expecting Him to live out God's righteous requirements in us each day: Romans 8: 3- "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh (self-performance), God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh (self-performance) but according to the Spirit." Hope this helps, brother. You may not agree with me. That's okay. But I hope you understand my viewpoint better. ChristLifer2001 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on (6) the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, (7) the things of the Spirit. |
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37 | Raven, do you want ALL the Law? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46265 | ||
Joe, You wrote: "The best way to look at it is that the moral law of God, his righteous demands of His creation, precede and transcend the Mosaic Covenant." This is exactly right, my friend. So even if someone could PERFECTLY keep the Mosaic Law, they would not accurately reflect EVERYTHING in God's character. But Who does? Who is our faith in? When Adam was created, he was created to look to God alone as his source for life and everything he needed. He was in an intimate relationship with His creator and, I don't believe, ever once looked at himself or his performance until the fall. Upon eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, his eyes we opened and he forfeited relationship in favor of performance. Suddenly, from his perspective, a relationship with God was no longer based upon faith and love - it was based upon performance - what he did and did not do. His focus shifted from his Creator to meet all his needs to relying upon himself to meet all his needs - love, acceptance, peace, joy, etc. His relationship became performance-based instead of faith based. Without God as his resource, man strove to re-establish the relationship with God through achievement. He was so convinced that he could do this if he just tried hard enough that God gave the Law (Mosaic) to show man the kind of perfection that was required in order to be acceptable by God. But, instead of being honest and admitting that they couldn't do it, the Jews exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, everything that the Lord has commanded, WE WILL DO!" How long did that last? The Pharisees thought that life was found in the Law. Jesus said that they searched the scriptures thinking that the Law would give them life but they wouldn't come to Him for it. They thought that they could be saved and sanctified by keeping the Law. There were so angry at being told that man could never attain God's standard in himself, that they ended up crucifying our Lord. They thought that because they kept the "externals" they were as righteous as God. This is why James says that if you believe that you can be made righteous by the Law, you have to keep ALL the Law - 99.44 percent just won't do. See part 2, please. ChristLifer2001 |
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38 | Raven, do you want ALL the Law? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46249 | ||
Joe, Actually, in the law of Christ, you're performance will surpass the moral code of the Mosaic Law and the 10 commandments, brother. Yes, love does fulfill the Law, but it also goes beyond it to exhibiting God's character. The Law says don't kill. The law of Christ leads you to love others unconditionally. The Law says don't commit adultery. The law of Christ says to love your wife as Christ does the church. The Law says not to steal. The law of Christ says to go to work with your hands so that you may give to those in need. So the love of Christ in us not only fulfills, but surpasses the moral code of the Law. The confusion lies in that people will look at the law of love being fulfilled in the believer and mistake it for the Law. From an external viewpoint, the performance looks much the same. But there is a fundamental difference. Under the Law System, man is always performing to achieve God's standard. Under the law of Christ, man has, in Christ, already achieved and therefore is free to perform. God has declared me to be holy, righteous, and blameless in His sight. By walking in the Spirit, I get to experience in the here and now what I have been declared. The commands of the Old Testament are a reflection of God's morality. But instead of looking at those demands as the things that stirs up sin in us, the Jews took them as rules to achieve. And they never could. The commands of the New Testament are reflection of what it looks like to live under the law of love, not goals to achieve. Will it look like we are under Law when we abide in Christ and walk in the Spirit? Yes, it will. But the motivation is now internal instead of external. Christ is us will still fulfill the royal law of love today as we abide in Him. God is pleased by faith in walking, not in the flesh(performance), but in walking in the Spirit and love. ChristLifer2001 |
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39 | Raven, do you want ALL the Law? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46231 | ||
Tim is correct. The Holy Spirit dwells within our newly created human spirit - 1 Cor 6:17. He is still distinct from our human spirit but there is a union there, similar to marriage. Our new human spirit has been created in righteousness and holiness - Eph 4:24 - so the "Holy" Spirit has no problem at all dwelling there. We are born of the Spirit of God. Spirit gives birth to spirit. So radical is this change that Paul calls us a "new creation" - 2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:15. Now, granted, our spirits and our souls still reside in earth-suits which have the power of indwelling sin in them. But this is not incompatible with the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit anymore than, while God now dwells in human "temples", He is also omni-present. Scripture makes it clear that we are now His temple - He dwells IN us. To refute that fact has no scriptural support according to the New Testament. In the OT, with few exceptions, God dwelt AMOUNGST. In the NT, God dwells IN. Praise Him forever! ChristLifer2001 |
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40 | Raven, do you want ALL the Law? | Bible general Archive 1 | ChristLifer2001 | 46225 | ||
Joe, My short answer is that there is law for Christians - the law of love found in Christ. Christ is God and therefore He is the purest reflection of God's moral character. If He is in us, yes, He will reflect God's character - it would be impossible for Him to do otherwise. Love fulfills all the law. My point is that the believer is no longer under any of the Mosaic Law. I believe you agree with that. As new creations in Christ, we should reflect His moral perfection. But it is a result of who we are in Him, not a striving to obtain something to make us acceptable. Therefore, when a Christian sins, he is going against the Spirit of Christ in him and against the new creation he is in Christ. But the Mosaic Law is not the answer. The Law was never given to make men perfect, it was given to show that God alone is perfect and, if we are going to be, we must be united with Him. The Mosaic Law is a negatively-based explanation of the royal, the perfect law of love. If I loved perfectly (as God does), I will worship God alone. If I love perfectly, I will not commit adultery. If I love perfectly, I will not lie. If I love perfectly, I will not steal from others, etc. But because we are not born with this capability to love, God had to state His character as a negative reflection of who His is. That Law, which Paul calls the ministry of death and condemnation, was given to show man his spiritual deadness (separation from the life and love of God) and his inability to be like God. This should force him to come to Christ so that Christ, through the law of love written on our new hearts, can manifest the character of God in us. So the Christian is under law - the law of love. But it is not the Law of Moses. Hope this helps, brother. ChristLifer2001 |
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