I have been reading alot and i keep getting mixed messages my reading plan keeps going two ways one verse will say basically don't fear believe obey God be righteous. and says that some in heaven will be praised for their works while some will be called the least and it gives me hope that a horrible sinner like me would be accepted then the next starts saying that there is a place in hell for adulterers and murderers and Jesus says that anyone who even looks at another woman or gets angry at someone or has someone who has something against them is no better than them and i have done so much worse and i also read that many will be invited but few will be let in and i don't know what to do or think because with that in mind how will i ever be let in i am praying all the time now asking for forgiveness and trying to do right but i still fall so short God will never allow someone like me in he says so right in the bible
It Seems Impossible
- Thread starter bigman
- Start date
Glomung
Account Closed
When you become a Christian, a process begins, that of sanctification. It is a long painful process and depending on where or what you started with will determine some of the difficulty. It is true that looking at a women in lust is the same as adultery, if you do so and continue to do so, then you obviously support the practice and therefore are doomed to perdition . If you look at a women with lust in your heart, notice your error and repent, then your guilt is forgotten.
The more often you turn towards sin the more of a hold it gets on you, and the more hardened and evil you will become. The more you turn away from sin, the less of a problem it becomes and the holier you become.
Life is a process, just make sure that you are moving in the correct direction and don't get hung up on minor failures.
As to guilt, to paraphrase Padre Pio - there is guilt that humbles and make one endevour to do better, this is from God, and there is guilt that makes one berate themselves and lose heart, this is from Satan.
The more often you turn towards sin the more of a hold it gets on you, and the more hardened and evil you will become. The more you turn away from sin, the less of a problem it becomes and the holier you become.
Life is a process, just make sure that you are moving in the correct direction and don't get hung up on minor failures.
As to guilt, to paraphrase Padre Pio - there is guilt that humbles and make one endevour to do better, this is from God, and there is guilt that makes one berate themselves and lose heart, this is from Satan.
Without God, things are impossible....
With God, anything is possible.
With God, anything is possible.
Following God is a great life. I love it!
1. You need to get your foundation laid properly before you tackle too much scripture. All scripture has to be read in the light of what happened on the cross and how scripture defines God.
God is good Psalms 136:1. He is holy 1 Peter 1:16. He is loving 1 John 4:8. He is jealous and longs for the spirit He has caused to dwell within us James 4:5. He is patient, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and a God who relents from sending calamity Jonah 4:2. He is no respecter of persons Acts 10:34.
2. We tackled the fear and believing issue in your other thread.
3. Knowing the definitions of God, we can be certain that an environment of jealousy and envy will not be in heaven. In a good house, all the children have equal presents on birthdays / Christmas time and all get a mansion. But when it comes to entrusting, some have proven they are more dependable then others. I like to think of us all having cups in heaven. Everyone's cup will be full and overflowing. Some will have bigger cups and some smaller. Those with smaller will respect those with bigger but not be envious as theirs is already overflowing. They cannot contain anymore of God's goodness then what they already have.
4. God looks at the heart behind the action Mark 7:15. If your heart is right you will be able to sincerely repent 7 x 70 times a day and be forgiven each time.
5. There are two issues here. Firstly no sin will be in God's presence. If we are not covered by the blood of Jesus we will not be in God's presence as we have all fallen short (hence thinking of adultery = action). Secondly, ''adulterer'' is a wilful state of being. Ie, it is when we are wilfully continuing in sin with no desire of repentance. A Christian that commits a ''mistake'' of adultery is not an 'adulterer'. He is a Christian who made a mistake. Christians are going from glory to glory 2 Cor 3:18.
6. Jesus died for everyone, but not everyone wants to submit to Him and His ways. Since He searches our heart and examines our mind Jer 17:10, few of those who outwardly accept Him are chosen.
7. You are wise to be trying your best to make right with God. If we can't put God first and submit 100% to Him we don't deserve Him. The young rich man asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life, he had to sell everything he had Mark 10:17-31. Not saying we need to. But it must make us realize that we need to truthfully examine our hearts. You can be right with God in a second. Get on your knees and truly submit to Him. Not out of fear, but out of respect /approval of His ways / thankfulness and love.
The choice is not heaven or hell. It is God or no God. God's presence = heaven. Out of God's presence = hell. Suffering in hell is a debated subject as God is good and just. An un-debatable fact however is that our decision to accept or reject God from free will is sealed the moment we leave this earth. Those in hell will never be in heaven unless God over-rides their free will to reject Him, which He will never do, because He is good and impartial on all.
Ive always wondered about that, can God hear you in hell? wouldn't being in hell for but all of 1 second make you repent, and accept God? or is it too late at that point.
Seeing as when you knock on the kingdom of heaven you can be rejected simply because he did not know you, so my guess is if you are in hell, it takes a miracle to get out?
bigman,
For years I struggled with the same dilemma, this is what the Lord showed me.
Jesus said we must be born again, Peter explained the process in 1 Peter 1:23, the incorruptible seed (sperm) is the Holy Spirit, the Word of G0d is the ovum, when God starts drawing someone to Himself we start to become interested in "churchy" things, we might even participate in a church, but the moment of conception is when the Holy Spirit shines His perfect, righteous light into our spirits and shows us we are doomed to hell, it's our destiny, no if's ands or buts, however by that time the Lord has given us the Gospel, probably we've heard it many times, but this time we actually understand that Jesus died on the cross for you/me individually, at that point in time we can chose to receive Jesus as our Savior or reject the offer, if we chose Jesus then we are "born again," so..., the Holy Spirit is our father, the Word of God is our mother, ...what verse did He use to birth you, ...and we know when it happened, we can name our human mother and father and the day we were born, so can the children born of God, ....that's what Peter was alluding to in verse 24, the verse that the Lord used to cause him to be "born again," Is 40:6-7.
This verse is a "life" verse, it's the foundation on which we begin to build our lives, the Lord will add more verses the more we read His Word, verses that comfort, verses that encourage, verses that correct, verses that discipline, etc. I strongly suggest you start recording these life verses, if you haven't already, they are not only comforting, assuring and give us peace, but they are our defense against the fiery darts of the devil.
Now I realize there are probably lots of my brothers and sisters that have never heard this teaching, this wasn't "revealed" to me until a few years after I was born again, but the Lord is faithful and if we ask Him He will bring to our remembrance the life verse He used to birth us, ....for example, I can't pinpoint the date, but I know it was a Wednesday night in July of '86, but I know the verse because it's engraved on my heart (just like my momma) and it brought a repentance into my life, so much so it turned my life upside down, or rather, right side up.
Gene
For years I struggled with the same dilemma, this is what the Lord showed me.
Jesus said we must be born again, Peter explained the process in 1 Peter 1:23, the incorruptible seed (sperm) is the Holy Spirit, the Word of G0d is the ovum, when God starts drawing someone to Himself we start to become interested in "churchy" things, we might even participate in a church, but the moment of conception is when the Holy Spirit shines His perfect, righteous light into our spirits and shows us we are doomed to hell, it's our destiny, no if's ands or buts, however by that time the Lord has given us the Gospel, probably we've heard it many times, but this time we actually understand that Jesus died on the cross for you/me individually, at that point in time we can chose to receive Jesus as our Savior or reject the offer, if we chose Jesus then we are "born again," so..., the Holy Spirit is our father, the Word of God is our mother, ...what verse did He use to birth you, ...and we know when it happened, we can name our human mother and father and the day we were born, so can the children born of God, ....that's what Peter was alluding to in verse 24, the verse that the Lord used to cause him to be "born again," Is 40:6-7.
This verse is a "life" verse, it's the foundation on which we begin to build our lives, the Lord will add more verses the more we read His Word, verses that comfort, verses that encourage, verses that correct, verses that discipline, etc. I strongly suggest you start recording these life verses, if you haven't already, they are not only comforting, assuring and give us peace, but they are our defense against the fiery darts of the devil.
Now I realize there are probably lots of my brothers and sisters that have never heard this teaching, this wasn't "revealed" to me until a few years after I was born again, but the Lord is faithful and if we ask Him He will bring to our remembrance the life verse He used to birth us, ....for example, I can't pinpoint the date, but I know it was a Wednesday night in July of '86, but I know the verse because it's engraved on my heart (just like my momma) and it brought a repentance into my life, so much so it turned my life upside down, or rather, right side up.
Gene
tjon,
Once in Hell it's too late.
And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. Heb 9:27
God means what He says and says what He means, man's time to repent and receive Jesus is before the soul/spirit exits the body, after that it's too late.
I imagine the largest prayer meeting of all time is in Hell, the people thinking they were going to Heaven are praying their loved ones wouldn't come there. Luke 16
No one is knocking on Heavens door, that's just Dylan's imagination, Scripture teaches no one seeks after God, He seeks and chooses us and those that hear His calling will never be rejected or turned away.
Gene
Once in Hell it's too late.
And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. Heb 9:27
God means what He says and says what He means, man's time to repent and receive Jesus is before the soul/spirit exits the body, after that it's too late.
I imagine the largest prayer meeting of all time is in Hell, the people thinking they were going to Heaven are praying their loved ones wouldn't come there. Luke 16
No one is knocking on Heavens door, that's just Dylan's imagination, Scripture teaches no one seeks after God, He seeks and chooses us and those that hear His calling will never be rejected or turned away.
Gene
Its funny how the bible can do that when you have a low opinion of yourself.
I have to say I am so proud of you for asking this question and seeking truth and clarity. I'm very impressed with the wisdom you have been given in this thread from fellow believers. One of the things that became very clear to me after my own new birth is the deep grief that I have for those who don't understand the penalty of their sin and how permanent hell is.
In Luke 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. This shows the compassion Jesus had for His own persecutors. Keep reading His Word and praying for wisdom my friend. John 17:17b says God's Word is Truth.
As you continue on your own journey toward sanctification, like Glomung said, it will become even more clear. What appears to be contradictory or confusing has greater clarity.
It is because we all have the "old man" (Sin) still with us even after we accept Christ.
Sin clouds our minds and thinking and even our actions. It causes us to say and think things that we would not even consider.