ARose88

Kwik. That is not the same thing. When unmarried couples live together in sin, they are mimicking what married couples do, so they are committing evil but giving out the appearance of good. When a pastor raises his glass to the bride, he is doing good but looks like a drunkard and is therefore giving out the appearance of evil. Couples have always lived together. It's called marriage! Does that mean that every married couple with families have to display their marriage certificates in the window of their houses, just so that people know that they are married? After all, they don't want to give the wrong impression do they? People may think they are living in sin. Now I'm not saying that the OP should continue living like this. It may be better that her and her partner live separately. All I am saying is that this is not an appearance of evil. An appearance of evil would be if a former Satanist finds Jesus but still insists on keeping Satanic symbols around his house and still dresses like a Satanist for nostalgia's sake. An appearance of evil would be a gay man who finds Jesus, becomes celibate, but still insists on walking down the street holding hands with his ex-boyfriend. Two people of opposite sex living together could be any number of possible and likely scenarios. 1/ They could be single but having sex with each other. Everybody knows this. 2/ They could be single but having a sexual relationship. Everybody thinks they are married. 3/ They could be single and celibate. 4/ They could be married and having a fulfilling sexual relationship. 5/ They could be married but not had sex in years because they hate each other, but stay together to keep up appearances. One of them is having an affair. 6/ They could be a gay man and a lesbian who live together as friends. 7/ They could be brother and sister. Men and women living together is normal. They are supposed to (especially in marriage). Men and women living together gives out no message other than the message of tradition. Grown men walking down the street holding hands (no matter how harmless) only gives out one message (in our culture), and that is a message of evil. Now if the OP separates from her partner and moves out, people may think "oh look, they've split up. I wonder why. Perhaps he was cheating on her and she found out." Messages of evil can't come from behind closed doors. What goes on behind closed doors is private! While I think it's the appearance of evil for any man and woman who are not related or married to live together, I think what specifically puts the OP's situation into the context of "appearance of evil" is that they are in a relationship. Yeah, we can say people will judge us no matter what, and they probably will, but as Christians we are responsible for doing our best to give them nothing to judge us about. When you are living with someone with whom you are in a relationship, the fact is that temptation is present-- that's why it appears evil. Fornication is just as much a sin as satanism, so what is the difference between not removing satanic symbols from your house after getting saved, and not moving out after living in sin with your boyfriend? To me they look the same. The same would go for a porn addict not getting rid of his porn videos, an alcoholic not getting rid of his alcohol, a drug addict still hanging out with others while they're doing drugs. All of these things leave the door to falling back into sin wide open, when it needs to be locked, and the key destroyed. As Christians we have to draw a distinct line between ourselves and the world, otherwise, to the world's point of view, nothing will set us apart. Christ should be evident in all areas of our life. "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." Titus 2:7,8 We also need to remember that the appearance of evil isn't just about me, it's about people who are watching me, particularly younger Christians who are weaker in the faith, and may look up to me. If they see me living with my boyfriend, whether or not we are sexually involved, they in turn may use that to justify themselves moving in with their boyfriend/girlfriend, and while they may not intend for it to go too far, being weak in the faith they fall. In such a case, I have become a stumbling block to my brother/sister. "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Rom. 13:12,13 I say this because I believe your POV may be harmful to the original poster. If she is feeling convicted about living with her boyfriend, I admonish you in respect and love, don't put a stumbling block before her, brother.

To clarify, are you saying that it is impossible for anyone not to sin (thus, impossible to keep God's commandments); or that it is impossible to reach a point where we cannot sin; or both? Thanks.

I agree. I don't think we can expect anything too deep from Hollywood, nor should we. It's obviously meant to be a blockbuster, and it likely will be. Of all the movies Hollywood has produced, I do have to say that this is not at all a bad choice. did you notice the "heresy" of that fallen angel banging the flaming sword into the earth, and sending a shockwave towards the men? i bet this movie will twist the Biblical story and suggest that fallen angels try to "help" Noah. Also, if you look very carefully at the preview, for a split second your can see white lights (angels) flying to earth. Yes, no doubt they've changed the story. In fact, I saw a disclaimer on an ad for it, stating that it strives to stay true to the spirit of the story, but artistic license was taken. The fact that fallen angels are in the story at all is not biblical-- sadly that's a misconception drawn from a misinterpretation of Gen. 6:4. I do not expect the story to be 100% biblically accurate (I don't think I've seen a movie that is), but I am curious to see whether it has any facets of truth to it, which is why I'll withhold further judgment until I see it.

Hey Douggg, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is very common in scripture for singular context to sometimes refer to a body of people. This is especially true for the church, which is referred to as the "body" the "bride" the "lady", etc. In the book of Daniel a single statue is used to represent several nations. I don't believe there is a contrast in those scriptures that refers to many antichrists and one antichrist, I believe John is saying "You heard that antichrist was supposed to come, I'm telling you he's here now!" In Revelation, especially, the language is spiritual and figurative. A little horn can refer to many people, just as, again, back in Daniel, horns on a beast are used to refer to nations. Hi Arose, the comparison is to the one with many. 18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Actually John is talking about them who departed Christianity. Likening them to the Antichrist. As they we exhibiting the spirit of Antichrist. The Antichrist is one person, the "another" that Jesus told Nicodemus that they the Jews would unfortunately temporarily embrace as "the" messiah. "the" messiah, in context of its true meaning means the special King of Israel, son of David, anointed that God promised to send to lead Israel and the world into what we would call the messianic age of peace and harmony. The Anti-messiah, or Antichrist, is the person who the Jews will embrace as their king instead of Jesus, who they rejected, as Jesus told Nicodemus they would. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why would you think the little horn is anything but one person? The Antichrist goes through 4 stages of his career (for lack of a better word). His rise, then his fall. 1. the little horn politician of Daniel 7 and 8 2. the prince who shall come, illicit perceived King of Israel, son of David, anointed (messiah) of Daniel 9. 3. the revealed man of sin, son of perdition, of 2Thessalonians2 4. the antichrist-beast of Revelation. Hi Doug, sorry it took me so long to get back to this! I don't believe the antichrist is just one person because I don't find solid scriptural evidence for the idea. I believe scripture does give us a clear indication as to who/what the antichrist is: "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." 1 John 2:22. What is antichrist? Anything that opposes Christ, it is anti-Christ. Concerning the little horns in Daniel 7 & 8, why would we jump ahead thousands of years and suppose that that little horn is someone yet to come, when all of the beasts and horns mentioned represented nations that would be in authority, chronologically, following Babylon's rule (Medes and Persians, Greeks, Romans, then Christ's eternal kingdom which was established at the cross)? Yes, all of those nations were a part of the anti-God system which, after Christ's coming, became the anti-Christ system, but no single facet of them is exclusively "the" anti-Christ. The Daniel 9 prophecy (24-27) does not mention an antichrist. The prophecy is about the first coming of Christ (it gives us a precise timeline for His coming), and the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in 70 AD. It is not indicated here that "Messiah the Prince" is referring to anyone but the Messiah and Prince, Jesus Christ.

beautifulmarilou, I realize you asked this question a couple weeks ago, so an answer may now be irrelevant, but if you have not yet confronted your friend about the issues, I advise you to leave your personal feelings out of it. Don't go to her out of anger or because she hurt you by using you, but out of love as a sister in Christ. Pray about it, of course, and ask the Lord if it's the right thing to do, and to give you the right words to speak. If it's still on your heart to address the issue, then do it humbly and out of love for her soul because you don't want to see her lose her relationship with God. She may not like what you say, and she may accuse you of many things, but "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Proverbs 27:6

Excellent verses. It's so important for us to realize that through Christ we can resist all temptation to sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

I agree. I don't think we can expect anything too deep from Hollywood, nor should we. It's obviously meant to be a blockbuster, and it likely will be. Of all the movies Hollywood has produced, I do have to say that this is not at all a bad choice.

Thank you for the encouragement. My husband and I have been seeking opportunities to share the gospel more. We've both done open air preaching, and were so blessed by it, hopefully we will get the chance to do more again soon! To clarify, I'm not afraid of the world, but I do fear for them, and that's why I want to share the gospel with them.

Hey Douggg, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is very common in scripture for singular context to sometimes refer to a body of people. This is especially true for the church, which is referred to as the "body" the "bride" the "lady", etc. In the book of Daniel a single statue is used to represent several nations. I don't believe there is a contrast in those scriptures that refers to many antichrists and one antichrist, I believe John is saying "You heard that antichrist was supposed to come, I'm telling you he's here now!" In Revelation, especially, the language is spiritual and figurative. A little horn can refer to many people, just as, again, back in Daniel, horns on a beast are used to refer to nations.

Thanks for the warning. I certainly don't want to invoke too much wrath. With so many people from so many denominations and schools of thought, we're bound to have disagreements, but I just enjoy discussing the scriptures and their meaning. It's always a challenge for me and gives me the opportunity to sharpen my knowledge of God, and hopefully does the same for others. As for my part, I intend to keep wrath out of it, and should any be hurled my way I'll try to counter it with cute pictures of kittens or something... I agree.

Hi, blessings to all! I would like to point out that the bible does not indicate that there will be a single antichrist, but a spirit of antichrist which is already present in the world, and will be present until the end of the world. We are not looking for any one man. 1 John 2:18 - Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 1 John 4:3 - And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 2 John 1:7 - For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Homosexuals can and have repented and come to a relationship with God. There is no sin out there that the world can commit which God won't forgive if they sincerely repent and turn their lives around (the unpardonable sin can only be committed by people who are saved, and even then is very rare). 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I fear God! In the biblical sense. Also, I fear for the world, I fear for people who are bound for hell, especially if they are people I know. Prayer is so important, as well as sharing Truth. I want to demonstrate the love of Christ and point as many people to Him as possible, because time is surely short.

I think of tares as anyone who is not in a true relationship with God, be they within the churches or in the world, but there are definitely "false brethren" within the churches who may appear to be wheat but are actually tares when you look more closely. As scripture says, "you shall know them by their fruits", and we have the works of darkness and the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5. Another verse that comes to mind is 1 Jn. 3:10, "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Yeah, I'm not sure how many churches deal with such situations biblically. "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Matt. 18:15-17 Those are my thoughts. Hope it answers your question!

I think the tares know they are tares, because we all know our spiritual state at any given time-- our conscience bears witness. So, rather, the tares can turn into wheat and the wheat can turn into tares. When God created all things he said "it is good", He sowed good seed, but the enemy has come along and planted seeds of sin in God's creation. God is patient and merciful with the world, waiting for as many of those tares as possible to turn into wheat, before he comes to reap them. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9