A Christian Contradiction

[MeMyself]

What's wrong with honkiedorri? (Actually, only the way it's spelled.) Hunky-dory is a very good place to be with God. Copasetic. Cool. On good speaking terms. I'm talking about perfect fellowship, with not anything standing in the way of that fellowship like "sin,

[The Third One]

What's wrong with honkiedorri? (Actually, only the way it's spelled.) Hunky-dory is a very good place to be with God. Copasetic. Cool. On good speaking terms. I'm talking about perfect fellowship, with not anything standing in the way of that fellowship like "sin,

[Beta]

The Third One ,

can I ask how you view 2Pet.3v9 ?
Has 'repentance' any meaning in your 'freedom ?
Why would God want us to repent if we are totally freed from sin ? 

[Teresa]

The Third One ,

can I ask how you view 2Pet.3v9 ?
Has 'repentance' any meaning in your 'freedom ?
Why would God want us to repent if we are totally freed from sin ? 

I have been skimming through the posts in this thread and finally a sensible one!

It is not very heartening that after so many responses only you came up with something that actually used the grey cells. (Though of course it is possible that I have missed some thoughtful ones as well).

Kudos.

Peace and All Good

Teresa

[p.rehbein]

Dear Third one,
Have you ever sinned after accepting the Lord Jesus into your heart?

I have "sinned

[MeMyself]

I see. It's the Holy Spirit Who convicts us of our wrongdoing? So in answer to God's question at Genesis 3:11, when the Father asks Adam, "Who told thee that thou wast naked?

[Talking Donkey]

Jas 4:6 ...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

1 Pet 5:5 ... for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

As long as we are humble and recognize we need a Savior, and repent and are aware we grieve the Holy Spirit every time we sin, his blood covers all our sins.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

But we stand fast in the faith, knowing our resume in the law cant cause us to love salvation.

Salvation can be lost if we lose faith.

Peace

[The Third One]

The Third One ,

can I ask how you view 2Pet.3v9 ?
Has 'repentance' any meaning in your 'freedom ?
Why would God want us to repent if we are totally freed from sin ? 

"Repent

[Hawkins]

I have yet to meet any self-proclaimed Christian who has accepted one hundred percent with no "if,

[The Third One]

*******************************************************************
As for being in the defendant's box/or not judging anyone, surely you passed judgement on the Apostle Paul.  Something God Himself did not do...............and, considering the wonderous miracles God wrought through his ministry, I find it quite odd that someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus the Christ would have such negative things to say about the person He chose to bring His Gospel to us. 
********************************************************************

MeMyself, is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul? 

Paul disagrees with himself MUCH more than I do. 

So far, in this room, I have been associated as being a "Paul hater

[MeMyself]

*******************************************************************
As for being in the defendant's box/or not judging anyone, surely you passed judgement on the Apostle Paul.  Something God Himself did not do...............and, considering the wonderous miracles God wrought through his ministry, I find it quite odd that someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus the Christ would have such negative things to say about the person He chose to bring His Gospel to us. 
********************************************************************

MeMyself, is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul? 
 

If you ask me this about the quote surrounded by ****  Its not my quote

[ChristNU]

*******************************************************************
As for being in the defendant's box/or not judging anyone, surely you passed judgement on the Apostle Paul.  Something God Himself did not do...............and, considering the wonderous miracles God wrought through his ministry, I find it quite odd that someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus the Christ would have such negative things to say about the person He chose to bring His Gospel to us. 
********************************************************************

MeMyself, is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul? 

Paul disagrees with himself MUCH more than I do. 

So far, in this room, I have been associated as being a "Paul hater

[PeterEnergy]

If you have truly accepted that Jesus Christ has died for your sins; therefore, your sins have been "taken away

[GaryMac]

The Third One ,

can I ask how you view 2Pet.3v9 ?
Has 'repentance' any meaning in your 'freedom ?
Why would God want us to repent if we are totally freed from sin ? 

Because you are in sin until you repent. Christ came to take away the sins of this world, 1John 3:5, not simply cover them over with blood. Repentance is the only way they will be taken and replaced with His righteousness. The price has already been paid all we have to do is repent from ourselves and put on the Christ who is without sin, Christ in you.

Gary

[terishere]

There is not one person who doesn't sin.

The only perfect one was Christ.

Christ died for our sins and the gift of salvation is there for whomsoever will..but we have to accept that gift and repent.

Once saved doesn't mean we'll never sin again.

When we accept Christ into our hearts, we do our best to live as Christ would want, but we all fall short. When we do fall short, we need to repent.

I don't know anyone who's perfect outside of Christ.

[Debbie_55]

I am one who believes 100% that Jesus took all my sins and placed them on the cross being made the final blood sacrifice for me and will always forgive me of my continued sin nature of the flesh until this corruptible flesh puts on that of incorruptible and this mortal puts on that of immortal when and only when Christ returns as the flesh will always sin as it is weak. We try to not sin, but occasion to the flesh we will sin as there is no one on this earth dead or alive that has never sinned even after being Spiritually born-again. Grace pardons our sin and mercy loves us even when we do sin, but grace does not give us a license to sin, but when we fall to the flesh Christ is always there to pick us up, dust us off and forgive us.

Grace -  unmerited favor, Gods willingness to give us His power and authority even though we do not deserve it.


Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

1 Corinthians 15:51-56

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

[The Third One]

I have yet to meet any self-proclaimed Christian who has accepted one hundred percent with no "if,

[gospel]

I have peace with God but I am at war with sin in my life.

Unlike what things used to be which was to be at peace with sin and struggle with trying to have peace with God.

Big time manna for that ....awesome response!

[Jimmy]

If you have truly accepted that Jesus Christ has died for your sins; therefore, your sins have been "taken away

[gospel]

If you have truly accepted that Jesus Christ has died for your sins; therefore, your sins have been "taken away

[The Third One]

*******************************************************************
As for being in the defendant's box/or not judging anyone, surely you passed judgement on the Apostle Paul.  Something God Himself did not do...............and, considering the wonderous miracles God wrought through his ministry, I find it quite odd that someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus the Christ would have such negative things to say about the person He chose to bring His Gospel to us. 
********************************************************************

MeMyself, is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul? 
 

If you ask me this about the quote surrounded by ****  Its not my quote

The heading and question went together-- sorry     I was asking MeMyself a question. Here's how it should have read:

MeMyself,

Is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul?

[Teresa]

Am I a Christian? That depends on what you mean by "Christian." Do you mean am I a follower of the letters of Paul to the letter? Then, the answer is no. If you are asking me if I Am a follower of Jesus Christ, then the answer is yes.

How do you know that you are a follower of Christ?  What would you say constitues a follower of Christ?

As I previously stated, I have yet to meet a Christian who has truly accepted that their sins have been taken away by what was done for them on the cross.  

Which sins? The ones they have committed before they repented or the ones they commited after they repented?

Why would Christ tell us to repent if repentance is not needed?

They all still see their sins in their lives.  

Perhaps because they see it with the Light of Christ.  Those who do not see their sins are in fact living in darkness.

When Isaiah was shown the glory of God the first thing that became clear to him was that He was a sinner. At the miraculous catch of fishes, confronted by the reality of Christ's mighty presence Peter said: Depart from me for a I am a sinful man.

Sin is a reality in our lives. To believe otherwise is to delude yourself.

So, it is difficult for me to include myself as a member of such a contradicting belief-system. I, myself, HAVE accepted 100% with no "if,

[MeMyself]

*******************************************************************
As for being in the defendant's box/or not judging anyone, surely you passed judgement on the Apostle Paul.  Something God Himself did not do...............and, considering the wonderous miracles God wrought through his ministry, I find it quite odd that someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus the Christ would have such negative things to say about the person He chose to bring His Gospel to us. 
********************************************************************

MeMyself, is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul? 
 

If you ask me this about the quote surrounded by ****  Its not my quote

The heading and question went together-- sorry     I was asking MeMyself a question. Here's how it should have read:

MeMyself,

Is disagreeing with Paul, passing judgment on Paul?

Why are you asking me to account for a post I never made?

[The Third One]

Am I a Christian? That depends on what you mean by "Christian." Do you mean am I a follower of the letters of Paul to the letter? Then, the answer is no. If you are asking me if I Am a follower of Jesus Christ, then the answer is yes.

How do you know that you are a follower of Christ?  What would you say constitues a follower of Christ?

As I previously stated, I have yet to meet a Christian who has truly accepted that their sins have been taken away by what was done for them on the cross.  

Which sins? The ones they have committed before they repented or the ones they commited after they repented?

Why would Christ tell us to repent if repentance is not needed?

They all still see their sins in their lives.  

Perhaps because they see it with the Light of Christ.  Those who do not see their sins are in fact living in darkness.

When Isaiah was shown the glory of God the first thing that became clear to him was that He was a sinner. At the miraculous catch of fishes, confronted by the reality of Christ's mighty presence Peter said: Depart from me for a I am a sinful man.

Sin is a reality in our lives. To believe otherwise is to delude yourself.

So, it is difficult for me to include myself as a member of such a contradicting belief-system. I, myself, HAVE accepted 100% with no "if,

[Teresa]

Hello Teresa,

Q. How do you know that you are a follower of Christ? What would you say constitues a follower of Christ?

A. Your first part is a very personal question, and so, as opposed to a textbook answer, all I can give you is a very personal answer. To begin with, Jesus KNOWS the same God that I KNOW. That was crystal clear to me the first time I read the Gospels. To love our God, the Father and His Spirit, with all our heart, soul and mind is an absolute perfect expression of what we as children of God should do. And, yes, the second thing is very similar: to love others as we love ourselves. 

That is a good answer: to love God and love others.

But the question is how do you know you love God? What does it mean to love God and others?

As to the second part of your question, that depends on the person. Little children are the best examples of followers of Christ.

When you say little children are the best examples of the followers of Christ, how does a grown person become like little children in terms of following Christ?

ALL sins. Sin is sin. .... Let's see, He died for venial sins, but not mortal ones. He died for unintentional sins, but not intentional ones, etc etc. 

Therein is the problem with your theology. Christ's dying does not mean that having died everyone is suddenly saved. Paul said we need to work out our salvation in fear and trembling.  Jesus said feed the hungry, clothe the naked.
The death of Jesus is not a talisman or magic.  What He has done is given us the means for the forgiveness of sins.  To accept it means to repent.  If one does not repent of one's sins then that is not forgiven. That makes a mockery of the cross.

A. Actually, Jesus didn't tell us to "repent.

[Teresa]

"Behold the Lamb of God Who takes AWAY the SINS of the world.

[Teresa]

Any thinking person is convinced of their sin. If we have the knowledge of good and evil then we face the problem of sin. That is the inherent 

Not quite.  Because any thinking person behaves in the same way our first parents behaved when confronted with their disobedience – they rationalize.  You have done that, I have done that. You just did that above when you said that we see that sin is nothing.

It is something – it is a disobedience and defiance of God. Until we face up to the fact that we are prideful and disobedient persons and stop rationalizing our faults away then the grace cannot penetrate.

That is why we need to accept that we are sinners and recognize and face up to that fact. But we also need to know that when we repent, all that is wiped away and we are once again reconciled to God.

I'm sincerely sorry to hear that for you. I'll pray for you, if you would like, and these others you're including with yourself.

And I am also sincerely sorry for you that you delude yourself in this way.  But that is understandable because your concepts derive from a flawed understanding of what Christ's life, death and resurrection meant.

If you wish to hold on to the concept of sin, you have every right to do so,

Not just a right to do so but one that must hang on to because it is a reality.  People who think they no longer sin delude themselves.

"ANYONE who sins is a slave of sin. But if the Son sets you free, you're FREE.

[DaveW]

"ANYONE who sins is a slave of sin. But if the Son sets you free, you're FREE.

[ChristNU]

I have yet to meet any self-proclaimed Christian who has accepted one hundred percent with no "if,

[Hawkins]

Hawkins,

Are you hearing yourself? “We will NOT pass the judgment of Law after believing in Christ.” First, in all fairness, I guess you would need to clearly define what you mean by “believing in Jesus Christ.”

Personally, the issue I am talking about is ACCEPTING, 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.  After TRULY doing THAT, if you (as a creature of God) do NOT pass the judgment of Law on THAT and THAT ALONE, then good luck to you in your complicated and endless endeavor of achieving it for yourself.

When did Jesus ever teach you that the cross can only get you so far, and then the rest is up to you? What is it then? We get closer to where we’re supposed to be by going BEYOND the cross? The cross only gets you your “salvation”? And that’s all? Then, YOU must IMPROVE (what has already been done for you) and go to WORK at the process of growing into “sanctification” and on to “holiness”? 

Actually, Jesus set the goal of where you should BE at much higher than mere “holiness.” Jesus set the bar at “PERFECTION.” Try achieving THAT with a process that goes BEYOND what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross.  “Well, ‘perfection’ is something we just cannot achieve on this earth,” is what rings throughout Christian circles.  “You can never be perfect.” “Now, don’t be too hard on yourself, nobody’s perfect.”   

But what does Jesus tell us?  Matthew 5:48  “BE perfect, therefore, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” 

Does He say AIM for perfection?  No.  Does he say WORK YOUR WAY TOWARD perfection?  No. Does he say our “LIFE GOAL” should be to “KEEP GOING TOWARDS” perfection “IN ORDER TO SEE HIM?  No.  He simply says we are to simply BE perfect. Period.

Does that happen to go against what your senior pastor says?   “None of us can ever achieve perfection in this world.”

Yes, we CAN do it in this world.  Very easily. 

NO, we can’t do it any other way than truly ACCEPTING what was done for us on the cross.

Everything Jesus taught us is that we are completely incapable of reaching that level by ANY human measure connected to our own righteousness or “sanctification” or possible degree of “holiness” that can be STRIVED for.  The Pharisees followed the letter of “the Law,” tithing down to their last grain of salt.  Sure, they had their hidden “sin areas” (mainly concerning justice, mercy and faith). BUT, they were considered within the Jewish religion to have achieved the upper level of “sanctification” and “holiness” that any godly man could ever imagine achieving in that day and age. And yet Jesus tells us, (Matthew 5:20) “Unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Would like to hear the remarkable Good News?  Jesus gives us a HUGE clue in the verse that precedes the one above:  (Matthew 5:19)  “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least IN the kingdom of Heaven…

Now— wait a second...   

You can’t even get IN Heaven unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the most sanctified people around you.  And yet, SINNERS will be “IN” the Kingdom of Heaven?

“Least” is certainly not the point. 

“IN” is. 

How can a sinner’s righteousness actually EXCEED the righteousness of the most sanctified and the most holy people around you?    By us ALLOWING the One Whom God has sent to us to do it for us. To put it in plain English:  By simply ACCEPTING 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s, what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. 

And exactly WHAT DID Jesus Christ do for us on the cross? He died for our sins; our evilness; anything we could ever do that anyone could ever consider to be displeasing to God; He died for our totally unsanctified nature; our totally unholy nature and every single one of our imperfections. 

Do you accept that?  Truly?

Well then, if you TRULY ACCEPT, 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s that the blood of Christ washes all these things AWAY, well then what are you left with? 

A PERFECT person in God the Father’s eye. 

Now THAT'S “metanoeo.”  Making a huge change of mind.

That’s how simple it is to do what Jesus has commanded you to do:  BE perfect.   

As a “Christian,” what is your response to all this? 

Hallelujah? 

Praise God?

Amen?

Or is it:  this guy is wrong?

This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about?

I think this guy has got a "complete wrong concept"?

This guy is giving WAY too much power to the cross?   

Just too radical, huh?  May I tell you something?  Jesus Christ IS radical!  God’s plan IS radical! 

God HAD to come up with something RADICAL to get us out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into.

Your response should be “Praise God!”  But I sense we are nowhere near there yet. 

Just keep thowin’ up all those “if,” “and”s and “but”s into the mix.  “Thowin’ up” is the perfect term.  Vomit them up.  Get them out and into the open.  The Holy Spirit says, ‘Get ‘em out of your system.  Please!”                     

I have yet to meet any self-proclaimed Christian who has accepted one hundred percent with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s what Jesus Christ has done for him or her on the cross.  Every Christian I have met still considers him/herself a sinner and still sees his/her sins.  If you truly see the cross, then you are blind to your sins.  If you still see your sins, then you are blind to the cross.

Here’s my question:  If you have truly accepted that Jesus Christ has died for your sins; therefore, your sins have been “taken away” (as in, “behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world”), then why are you still struggling with “sin” and why do you still see “sin” in your life?

I think you've got a complete wrong concept.

Sin is always a measure against Law. We are the sinners simply means without Jesus, we will be judged by Law and we will be dead. God doesn't count our sin against us in terms of Law. it by no means says that we are the dead in front His Law. We are still the dead, till we will be given the incorruptable spiritual body.

Jesus Christ takes away our sin simply means we will no longer be subject to the judgment of Law, it by no means says that we will pass the judgment of Law after believing in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ never said that after believing in Him will be automatically Holy. It is in the contrary that He warned us that we need to be Holy in order to see Him. Thus keep going towards holiness will be the life goal of each and every Christian.

Hawkins,

Are you hearing yourself? “We will NOT pass the judgment of Law after believing in Christ.” First, in all fairness, I guess you would need to clearly define what you mean by “believing in Jesus Christ.”

Personally, the issue I am talking about is ACCEPTING, 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.  After TRULY doing THAT, if you (as a creature of God) do NOT pass the judgment of Law on THAT and THAT ALONE, then good luck to you in your complicated and endless endeavor of achieving it for yourself.

When did Jesus ever teach you that the cross can only get you so far, and then the rest is up to you? What is it then? We get closer to where we’re supposed to be by going BEYOND the cross? The cross only gets you your “salvation”? And that’s all? Then, YOU must IMPROVE (what has already been done for you) and go to WORK at the process of growing into “sanctification” and on to “holiness”? 

Actually, Jesus set the goal of where you should BE at much higher than mere “holiness.” Jesus set the bar at “PERFECTION.” Try achieving THAT with a process that goes BEYOND what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross.  “Well, ‘perfection’ is something we just cannot achieve on this earth,” is what rings throughout Christian circles.  “You can never be perfect.” “Now, don’t be too hard on yourself, nobody’s perfect.”   

But what does Jesus tell us?  Matthew 5:48  “BE perfect, therefore, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” 

Does He say AIM for perfection?  No.  Does he say WORK YOUR WAY TOWARD perfection?  No. Does he say our “LIFE GOAL” should be to “KEEP GOING TOWARDS” perfection “IN ORDER TO SEE HIM?  No.  He simply says we are to simply BE perfect. Period.

Does that happen to go against what your senior pastor says?   “None of us can ever achieve perfection in this world.”

Yes, we CAN do it in this world.  Very easily. 

NO, we can’t do it any other way than truly ACCEPTING what was done for us on the cross.

Everything Jesus taught us is that we are completely incapable of reaching that level by ANY human measure connected to our own righteousness or “sanctification” or possible degree of “holiness” that can be STRIVED for.  The Pharisees followed the letter of “the Law,” tithing down to their last grain of salt.  Sure, they had their hidden “sin areas” (mainly concerning justice, mercy and faith). BUT, they were considered within the Jewish religion to have achieved the upper level of “sanctification” and “holiness” that any godly man could ever imagine achieving in that day and age. And yet Jesus tells us, (Matthew 5:20) “Unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Would like to hear the remarkable Good News?  Jesus gives us a HUGE clue in the verse that precedes the one above:  (Matthew 5:19)  “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least IN the kingdom of Heaven…

Now— wait a second...   

You can’t even get IN Heaven unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the most sanctified people around you.  And yet, SINNERS will be “IN” the Kingdom of Heaven?

“Least” is certainly not the point. 

“IN” is. 

How can a sinner’s righteousness actually EXCEED the righteousness of the most sanctified and the most holy people around you?    By us ALLOWING the One Whom God has sent to us to do it for us. To put it in plain English:  By simply ACCEPTING 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s, what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. 

And exactly WHAT DID Jesus Christ do for us on the cross? He died for our sins; our evilness; anything we could ever do that anyone could ever consider to be displeasing to God; He died for our totally unsanctified nature; our totally unholy nature and every single one of our imperfections. 

Do you accept that?  Truly?

Well then, if you TRULY ACCEPT, 100%, with no “if,” “and”s or “but”s that the blood of Christ washes all these things AWAY, well then what are you left with? 

A PERFECT person in God the Father’s eye. 

Now THAT'S “metanoeo.”  Making a huge change of mind.

That’s how simple it is to do what Jesus has commanded you to do:  BE perfect.   

As a “Christian,” what is your response to all this? 

Hallelujah? 

Praise God?

Amen?

Or is it:  this guy is wrong?

This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about?

I think this guy has got a "complete wrong concept"?

This guy is giving WAY too much power to the cross?   

Just too radical, huh?  May I tell you something?  Jesus Christ IS radical!  God’s plan IS radical! 

God HAD to come up with something RADICAL to get us out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into.

Your response should be “Praise God!”  But I sense we are nowhere near there yet. 

Just keep thowin’ up all those “if,” “and”s and “but”s into the mix.  “Thowin’ up” is the perfect term.  Vomit them up.  Get them out and into the open.  The Holy Spirit says, ‘Get ‘em out of your system.  Please!”                     

You said a lot here, but they all remain your own opinions or rather misunderstanding of what the Bible said. Use my explanation the contradiction shall be gone. However you insist on using your explanation to create the contradiction itself then to use this manifested (by you) contradiction to challenge others. First the exact purpsoe of Jesus Christ's sacrifice is that we cannot achieve sinlessness by ourselves to pass the judgment of the Law. Second the Bible by no means says that from the moment He's put on the cross, the followers magically became saints in a flash of seconds. If you insist on saying, you are twisting what the Bible is tryin to say. And in reality, no Christians are perfect unless what you are trying to say is that either the Christians in majority are not Christians or Jesus's magical sacrifice lost its effect and thus failed. Either way, your doctrine is a false doctrine and thus fails.

By and large, you failed to explain why Jesus Christ still urge us to be holy while the believers are already holy and even more than holy (according to you). As to your question of what is meant by "believe in Jesus Christ", it means we believe in Jesus Christ in accordance to what the covenant says and subject to Jesus Christ's judgment on whether our faith is qualified to be in Heaven or not. In order for us to see clearly what our faith could be, we need good work as such an indicator to tell ourselves about our own faith.

[The Third One]

Hello again Teresa,

You write, "Yes, indeed He takes away the sins of the world but not quite in the way you think.

[DaveW]

Third one - do you even understand what sin is?  ANYTHING that in any way misses or falls short of God's glory.   Every emotion, action, or even situation that you have no control over that you are involved in that is less that God's best is sin.

And you have the gall to say you have no sin? Are you already dead and in heaven?  If so you are making us sin by conversing with you.

[Teresa]

Hello again Teresa,

You write, "Yes, indeed He takes away the sins of the world but not quite in the way you think.

[Teresa]

The beginning starts with forgiveness, which is a one hundred percent two-way street, and simply trusting in what was done for me on the cross.

No, it requires an acknowledgement of the evil things that you have done wilfully and an acceptance of God's forgiveness.

If the Son sets you free, you're FREE.  I believe Him.  Who do YOU believe?

Jesus. And He said more than those. But it seems you are capable of understanding only a few lines from the Bible.

I'll ask you another question: Which is more important, what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross?  Or you accepting it?

Who said that there is gradation of importance? You make those kinds of dichotomies because you read teeny weeny bits of Scripture.

Who are you preaching to when you state: "Salvation is not just a matter of being plucked here from earth and transported to heaven just because Christ has died.

[The Third One]

Third one - do you even understand what sin is?  ANYTHING that in any way misses or falls short of God's glory.   Every emotion, action, or even situation that you have no control over that you are involved in that is less that God's best is sin.

And you have the gall to say you have no sin? Are you already dead and in heaven?  If so you are making us sin by conversing with you.

Hi DaveW,

SEEING sin, your definition of sin is a very good and accurate one.  It is an impossible thing for a thinking creature who has the knowledge of good and evil to ever be able to shed himself from sin.  Here's MY "BUT