I know I have read where you have written posts like this before. I am trying to understand them.
My Questioned Discussion #1
- Thread starter TezriLi
- Start date
AMEN!!! Funny how you never hear anyone preach "cease from sin" anymore...
Seriously? This is a subject that MUST be taught!
My friend the bible says this in very clear and evident words..These are not my ideas, this is the truth of God.
Hebrews 6:1-2 (KJV)
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
But it seems all these subjects are being discussed over and over here... let us go on unto perfection!
Ro 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 ¶ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 ¶ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
I'm sorry, Mitspa! I still don't understand!! Sorry! Maybe I am a dimwit
but I need a clearer statement of what you mean.
One can not preach the Gospel without first preaching against sin, and then preach the mercy, and grace of God over sin. I like to call it the "one-two punch"
It means that the purpose of the law was to make sin come alive in such a manner as to make us see the corruption of the flesh...The law produces sinful passions in the flesh...this is why all legalist are hypocrites, they all are in bondage to sinful passions and lust, no matter how much white religious paint they try to use to cover up the flesh.I'm sorry, Mitspa! I still don't understand!! Sorry! Maybe I am a dimwit
Thank you, Mitspa. Saw this after I wrote my post to you.
But how are you saying this applies to my life? In what way are you using this to judge me?
Right the purpose of the law is to make all guilty and bring all to Christ, that they might accept His grace and the righteousness of faith.
Not "you" all of us...are judged by this truth and must accept this truth in order to walk in the light of Gods righteousness.
TezriLi, I think in your case, when you talk about how you are amazed at the sins you see in those who are in the Church, the problem stems from the fact that the preaching and teaching against sin was not done enough in the Church you went to. Conviction of the Holy to those who are living in sin should cause those to repent and trust more in the Christ that is in them to refrain from such activity.
My reference was about preaching it to Christians... not the lost, that's why I posted the verse.
I think maybe some in the Church might need to hear truth one more time. Maybe they have stopped looking at the man in the mirror and have forgotten what manner of man they really are.
Thank you for responding, Mitspa. I accept that you believe that this especially applies to me, because it has been written after my posts several times. But that is all right. For myself, I know that I am not perfect, because the Bible says that we all have sinned, and I know that I lust after approval; sometimes, I think things I shouldn't then act in a different way because I must in order to show a more righteous attitude; sometimes, I get irritated with my boss and need to repent; I get irritated with me a lot. These are part of being human, and I accept that. But Mitspa, I am sorry, but I have been very open here. Very open. I was just having a hard time accepting that your statements were so pointed at me, as I still believe they were.
Yes, I still obey the Ten Words: (1) I still accept that the L-rd G-d has delivered me from my own Egypt.
(2) I still do not want any gods before Him, but sometimes, I do put things ahead of Him and must repent.
(3) I still believe that I must not take His Name in vain and when I realize I have, I repent.
(4) I still believe that I must remember the Sabbath day, but I am not perfect at that either.
(5) I am still learning how to honor my father and mother but admit that I haven't figured that one out sufficiently. I need His constant help on this.
(6) I haven't actually murdered anyone yet, but see Word #5. I am working on this one, too.
(7) I have not committed adultery; the thought is suffocating.
(8) I used to be a thief, but I have been forgiven and am extremely protective about this one. I just don't do it, not even with regard to time at work.
(9) I don't lie. It is just something I've been delivered from, and while I am sometimes tempted, I find I can't do it.
(10) I am not covetous, but only because I continuously put up fences against it -- like I don't go to new car shows because I know me.
Are there some of these from which you believe the Messiah has delivered you, other than the 4th? Are you free from them, so that you may now covet, lie, steal, etc.? I seriously doubt it, Mitspa. I cannot see you as that kind of man.
But they did teach against sin, while hiding sin. It's just that they believed so much in their own personal holiness that they dared not admit sin, because if they sinned any sin at all, they believed that they lost their salvation and not only had to "start over," but in their "unsaved" state, they were in danger of going to hell. Unadmitted sin is unforgiven sin. They had to live with that!
Sure -- "Tez" or "Ezri" are both all right -- as is "TezriLi."
I feel really bad about not reporting that pastor and the others, but I had no background that gave me any idea that I could or that it was the right thing to do. I had learned a hard lesson when I told on a neighbor when I was eleven and was beaten for that. Therefore, I did not tell on my uncle or of the other man who came horribly close to raping me. How dare I? So when the pastors started their stuff, surely, I dared not tell. Father was a minister/pastor; Mother was a church-worker. I would have been beaten and annihilated for the rest of my life in the home. I would have lost my father, whom I loved. That's just the way it was in our home.
Write a book? I seriously don't know what good it would do -- there are so many hard-luck stories out here. The next book I want to see written, and I am not educated enough to do it, is a book of Boundaries for parents AND children. Some have told me to start writing it, but (1) I hope it is already out there and (2) as I wrote, I don't have the education.
Thank you!
Hi Tez, i must apologise, it's 10.40pm here in Scotland and Sharon and i have been watching a film (movie) and coming back-and-forth to CFS. I don't think you have anything at all to feel guily about considering your in-experience at the time and being in the belief system you were exposed to, I just feel so sorry you've had to ensure these experiences however, nonsense, you could eaily write a book and you'd have a lot to give to the Body of Christ. Seriously you should, there are many situations you've explained but few are willing to put it paper to share with the Church, you should really think about it. You've got an obvious zeal and personality in the Lord, it's very appealing to a Christian reader, including me!
I have to say it's an all too familiar mindset in past Christianity of holiness by your own works. My grandmother grew up in the Scottish Free Church where they would go to hell for thinking the wrong thing and it was and in some cases still is, a very oppressive form of religion. I know you know that these holiness by works teachers have oppressed Christians, robbed the gospel of it's power and worst of all, discredit the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Do you feel your free these days from that kind of mindsets or do you feel they are still present?
Then I will think about it. I have written small books and pamphlets before -- self-edited and self-published, but that was years ago. . . .