arunangelo

To be married is to share a common life with your spouse. In order to share this life there must be sharing of physiology, because life is physiological. Though we have different types of physiologies in our body, sharing of physiology can occur in reproductive physiology between a male and female through their reproductive organs. Therefore, marriage is only possible between a man and a woman; and any other type of physical union between two human beings is either a perversion or an aberration, because they are not physiological.

To sins is to go against God and our fellow human beings. To fight temptation therefore, we must trust God because when we trust Him we will feel secure; and when we feel secure we will not seek sinful ways to solve our problems. To trust God we must believe in His infinite love which propelled Him to sacrifice His own life to free us from sin. To believe in His love is to desire that love in our heart. When we have that love in our heart we will love our fellow human beings. This would prevent us from offending them. Furthermore, when we love God we will avoid sin because we will not want to offend God by sinning. To love God we must meditate on His love which He expressed by dying on the cross (in order to compensate for the sins we committed against Him); and ask Him to make His love the life of our heart. Furthermore, we must accept His will unconditionally in all matters of our life. We must always be on guard against temptations that look good on the outside but are intrinsically evil. The simplest way to decipher if an act is against God is to find out if it is against God's laws and His natural order. If it is, it is never right, irrespective of how attractive it may look. If the temptation is very strong and hard to resist, we must pray for a pure and obedient heart.

God

Jesus said,

God is love. Therefore, faith in God is faith in love (which is God

We should forgive because: 1) God commands us forgive. 2) God forgave us by dying for the sins we committed against Him 3) Even sinners are God

Do we believe that God loved us enough to die for our sins? Do we believe that God is infinitely wise? Do we believe that God keeps His word? Can we take a chance with God and go along with every thing He has in His mind for us?

Some of the parameters are as follows: Keep God

Some of them are as follows: Do we have resentment or hold grudge against our offenders? Do we pray for those who hurt us? Do we focus on the hurt our offenders have caused their soul by hurting us, rather than the hurt they have caused us? Are we willing to sacrifice our own interest in the process of serving those who have offended us?

Some of them are as follows: Are we patient and kind? Are we boastful or conceited? Are we jealous, rude or selfish? Do we keep grudges or are resentful? Do we give others the benefit of the doubt, or do we judge and condemn them in our heart? Do we forgive our offenders unconditionally and sacrifice our own interest in the process of helping them. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

God forgave us by compensating for the offenses we committed against Him (1John 2:2). He compensated for our offenses by sacrificing His life. Furthermore, by His act of forgiveness He bought us eternal life and healing to our spirit. True forgiveness, therefore, consists in compensating for the offenses that our offenders caused us; and bringing them healing by our prayers and acts of sacrifice. God did this for us because He loves us (John 3:16) and wants us to have His joy (John 15:11). Forgiveness is therefore the ultimate act of love. Jesus commands us to forgive (Luke 6:37) and love one another as He loves us (John 15:12). Many may feel that it is impossible for us forgive in such a fashion. However, if we have faith in Jesus

We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and have his spirit imprinted on our heart (Ezekiel 36:27). Therefore, we will find peace only when our spirit resonates in unison with His spirit and we live a life that is attuned to His life (which is a life of selflessness and sacrifice). When we do not live His life or are not in unison with Him, we are like fish out of water; because, then, we are not what we are created to be. This suffocates our spirit and deprives us of peace. To live a life attuned to His life we must have faith in Him. If we have faith in Him we will obey His commandments. He commands us to forgive without any limit (Matthew 18:22) and love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34). He loved us by forgiving us and compensating for the offenses we committed against Him. He compensated for our offenses by sacrificing Hs life. It is difficult for us to forgive like God does; but if we have faith in Him, we will obey Him.

To remove fear from our heart we must have perfect love (1John4:18). To have perfect love, is to have perfect faith in God; because God is love. When we have perfect faith in God, His love expressed through His sacrifice on the cross (in order to expiate for the sins we committed against Him) becomes a reality to us. We, therefore have an absolute confidence that He will protect us from evil. This frees us from anxiety and fear. Furthermore, because of this faith we too will forgive those who have betrayed us and have been unfaithful to us; and compensate for their offenses by sacrificing our pride and feelings, and by staying faithful to our commitments to them. In addition, because love is selfless, if we exercise love, we would be concerned about the pain and suffering of others, rather than our own. These would free us of jealousy, lust, hate and revenge.

Eternal life is to know God (John 17:3). To know Him and love Him is to obey His commandments (1John 2:3: John 14:15; 1John 2:5); and whoever says he lives in God will live just as Jesus Christ did (1John 2:6). To know God is different, from to know of Him. Even the devil knows of Him. To know Him is to be His friend (John 15:15). We must therefore remove everything that is an obstacle to our friendship with Him-which is sin. We must, therefore, repent for our sins (Luke 24:47). To repent we must be sincerely sorry for betraying God

We are saved by grace through faith-a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). True faith is however not in mere words but in deeds. Jesus tells us,

By repenting of our sins and putting our faith in Jesus alone. NEXT! so you're saying it's just by grace we are saved? yes. That is exactly what I am saying. We can do nothing to earn our salvation in any way. not by being kind to those who treat us cruelly? not by keeping the commandments? not by forgiving others? not by loving our enemies? not by keeping our marriage vows sacred? not by being humble? or non-judgemental? or cheritable? or merciful? ...boy, that wore me out just writing all those down! can't imagine having to try do all those to be accepted by God! think i'll take the grace thing! It is not about God accepting us; rather it is about us accepting Him. When we are unkind, or do not keep the commandment or hate our enemy or break our marriage vows or are proud or are judgemental we reject God.

God gave life to our soul (Romans 8:13) by gifting it with His Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27). When we rebelled against Him and rejected His Spirit our soul lost its life. This brought eternal damnation upon us. However, because of this infinite mercy, God reinstalled His Spirit in us by sacrificing His own life for our sins. This free gift of God to us is His grace. All we have to do to be saved from eternal death is to accept His Spirit. We can accept it by knowing it and then living it (Galatians 5:16). To know it we must believe in Jesus

God loved us first (1 John 4:11) although we rejected Him, were unfaithful to Him and killed Him. Love therefore is a one-way street-it is unconditional. When we are nice to some one because they are nice to us, it is not love; because, our niceness is conditional to the other party being nice. On the other hand, if we are nice to others irrespective of how they treat us, then it is love (Luke 6:27, 35). Therefore, when we exercise true love, we love, because, to love is our heart

By His sacrifice on the cross God showed us that His love for us is pure, selfless and sacrificial. When we believe in His love we will find complete peace, because the love He expressed for us makes us confident of His help to us in time of trouble. It also gives us consolation to know that He is with us in our suffering because He too went through our suffering, and a feeling of rejection and loneliness. Even when it appears that we are receiving absolutely no help and are in mortal danger, we will still find peace knowing that He already has a place for us in heaven for all eternity. Furthermore, when our spirit is one with Him we will find rest because He alone is the consolation to our spirit (Matthew 11:29). Furthermore, when we trust Him, we will be free of fear; and freedom from fear will make us selfless; and selflessness will bring us peace by freeing us of fear, jealousy, hate and revenge.

Suffering is redemptive because Jesus redeemed us from sin through His suffering. Jesus invites us to join Him in His redemptive work by allowing us to enter into His suffering (which we encounter while doing His work) (Colossians 1:24). Therefore, to be worthy of Christ we must deny our self, take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 10:38 & 16:24; Mark 8:34; & Luke 9:23 and 14:27). Even the personal sufferings we encounter in life when suffered with faith in Christ (which means that we believe that God will bring out of our suffering) is redeeming because it produces endurance, character and hope (Romans 5:2-3); enables us to overcome sin; and enables us to share in His life (1Peter 4:1-2 and 1 Peter 2:19-21). Quite often we are afraid of suffering, however we must remember that Jesus will lighten our burden (if we trust Him) (Matthew 11:30); and that the sufferings of the present is nothing compared to the glory that awaits those who trust Him (Romans 8:18).

We are living beings that are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Since God is love (1 John 4:8), we as His image are created for love. In creating us, therefore, God invites us to a life of love with Him and our fellow human beings (Matthew 22:36-40). Love, therefore, is at the very center of human existence and the life of our soul. Without it we are devoid of joy and peace; and without love our spirit is dead (1 Cor. 13:1-4). Furthermore, because, God is love, we can never have true love for anyone unless we are free of every form of hate and are in communion with God. Because, we are created for love, love makes us truly human, gives meaning to our lives, fulfills the innermost yearning of our hearts and brings us peace. All our acts of love are God

Those who have repented and placed their faith in Jesus alone. Amen To repent we must be humble (Matt. 18:3), to be forgiven we must forgive (Matt 18:33) and to faith our faith in Him to believe in His way of life (by living His life of forgiveness, charity and humility). Therefore Jesus tell us that in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

Those who are humble (like little children) (Matthew 18:3), forgive others from their heart (Matthew 18:35), take care of the needy (Matthew 25:34-36), listen to the words of God and act on them (Matt 7:21-24); and keep their faith (Ezekiel 18:21) will enter God