Sins We Are Born Into, and Must Overcome

[Debp]

6 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

The secret and the Power of  Christianity is having the Indwelling Holy Spirit to change your  “wants”.

The above is the secret to the Christian Life.   Of course, we yield to the Holy Spirit, but we want to live a godly life...so yielding is easy.   The Christian Life is a good life...a life full of peace and love, God's peace and God's Love flowing out to others through us.   A blessed life in Christ.

[JTC]

17 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

 When I drive on the highway I don’t have to sustain a “ conscience effort” to avoid putting the car in reverse

In 50 yrs of driving a car I never heard of anyone intentionally putting their car in reverse when they were supposed to be going forward.

BB, you just don't understand what I'm talking about.

[Coliseum]

It is in our nature through Adam, to sin. We do not become sinners; we are sinners, and every prayer we ever prayed is tainted with sin. We sometimes think---wrongly---that if we can somehow reduce the number of sins between us and God, we can be closer to God, but no one ever tells us that tomorrow 30 more wheelbarrows full of sin are dumped into our laps. We can't do it. Jesus tells us that "Apart from me you can do nothing." Nothing! So we take our sins to Jesus and we ask His Holy Spirit to enable us to do what we cannot do. We confess them and repent of them, and He promises to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We think we do things to please God, but that is not what God desires. He wants us to trust Him; and isn't trusting Him pleasing Him?

[JTC]

34 minutes ago, Coliseum said:

pleasing Him

Et tu, Brute

   Let's look at the verses before & after what you quoted.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."

    That's not talking about sin because Jesus also called them clean already. So what is it talking about. The key word is abide & the key phrase is "abide in me". I already did a word study on abide but since you enjoy such things, don't let me stop you.

   Abide means to obey, and not just one thing but every principle God has ever given man. It doesn't mean we won't mess up from time to time, of course we will. And that's when we thank God for His forgiveness. (that much was milk) But there is much more. Jesus talks about producing much fruit which also glorifies the Father. Simple belief to get saved hardly sounds like Much Fruit. Exactly what the "much fruit" means isn't the topic of this thread. We can discuss that in another thread. But verses 4 & 5 have Jesus saying that without the "much fruit" we can't do anything, or not much. And Jesus isn't talking about believing unto salvation. That happened already.

    There's another dire warning Jesus gives, above. In verse 6 the Lord said, "6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." There's that word again, abide. Verse 2 also says those of us deemed worthy by God get pruned (that means corrected and/or punished) but those of us God doesn't see trying to bear fruit (that means attempting to live righteously) those folks may get cut out. When we get saved, yes God cleanses us from our past unrighteousness. But then God expects us to live up to being righteous. God would love it if we Christians would achieve perfect righteousness but I don't think he expects it to happen. Nevertheless, He expects us to try for it.

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

If you believe Jesus is the Son Of God, stop worrying about that “ abiding” burden some are trying to peddle .....you have met the definition of abiding.....  1 John4:15

[JTC]

BB, The definition of abiding in 1 John is only one way of understanding that word. Dictionary's usually have several definitions of a word. Unfortunately the Bible isn't a dictionary so one needs discernment to understand more. 

I've noticed certain topics scare you, based on how contentious you become. A year or so ago you fought with another regular member over repentance. That wasn't my thread so I left, but this is my thread. Why does it bother you because I confessed a few sins online, that's very strange. It also bothers you if someone talks of repentance, and many other advanced topics. I will appreciate it if you stop trying to start an argument with me.

[Blood Bought 1953]

7 hours ago, JTC said:

BB, The definition of abiding in 1 John is only one way of understanding that word. Dictionary's usually have several definitions of a word. Unfortunately the Bible isn't a dictionary so one needs discernment to understand more. 

I've noticed certain topics scare you, based on how contentious you become. A year or so ago you fought with another regular member over repentance. That wasn't my thread so I left, but this is my thread. Why does it bother you because I confessed a few sins online, that's very strange. It also bothers you if someone talks of repentance, and many other advanced topics. I will appreciate it if you stop trying to start an argument with me.

The word “ abiding” as far as our relationship with Jesus is concerned , was defined simply and directly as “ Believing Jesus was the Son Of God”. Some feel a need to complicate things that God has made so simple a 5 year old could understand it.Muddy up something I suppose , when you have been clearly proven wrong by the only thing that matters — Holy Scripture..

You mistake fear for Righteous Indignation. NO topic “ scares” me.........feel free to go back in my posting history and cut and paste  where I backed down on any subject .Too Many Posters have replaced Paul’s Gospel Of Grace with a  mistaken Gospel Of Repentance.Its “ by GRACE you have been saved” NOT “ by REPENTANCE  of Sins you have been saved”. To repent means “ repentance toward God ( turning to God) with faith in Jesus Christ.The “ sorrow for sin” type of repentance  Is THIS  side of Salvation and us a valuable Fruit Of The Spirit That  plays a big part in Sanctification. The preoccupation with repentance in too many posts exhibit a “Performance” mind-set Where Panic sets in between a sin and the asking for forgiveness of said sin.Its a  desperate reach for the wrong medicine.The correct tonic for sin is Grace- Knowing that ALL of your sins have been forgiven and even though repentance is a BIG part of the Sanctification Process , God is not going to cast you into Hell every time you sin and forget to repent over it.Grace has got you covered.100%. Until we make it to our Home.  REST in the Gospel Of Grace.Its a strange thing, all these Law worshippers  never seem  To mention God's latest Command which is to REST in the Gospel Of Grace, lest you have a heart of DISBELIEF ...... far more serious than most of the other Laws you try to drown people in...Preach on THAT command for a change...the one you disobey 24/7....if you do not understand Grace- and you don’t - you will always be in “ unbelief” because you’ll never be able to Rest as commanded without it. 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Blood Bought 1953

[JTC]

How many times do I have to tell you that this is not about salvation.                            I tried very hard to explain this to you in another thread. You just don't comprehend it. Fine.

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Sorry if I have misunderstood you.....who cares?.....look at all the great stuff that got posted.....at least from “ my” viewpoint......some may disagree — once again, who cares?    Lol.....God bless...

[Debp]

11 hours ago, JTC said:

Et tu, Brute

   Let's look at the verses before & after what you quoted.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."

    That's not talking about sin because Jesus also called them clean already. So what is it talking about. The key word is abide & the key phrase is "abide in me". I already did a word study on abide but since you enjoy such things, don't let me stop you.

   Abide means to obey, and not just one thing but every principle God has ever given man. It doesn't mean we won't mess up from time to time, of course we will. And that's when we thank God for His forgiveness. (that much was milk) But there is much more. Jesus talks about producing much fruit which also glorifies the Father. Simple belief to get saved hardly sounds like Much Fruit. Exactly what the "much fruit" means isn't the topic of this thread. We can discuss that in another thread. But verses 4 & 5 have Jesus saying that without the "much fruit" we can't do anything, or not much. And Jesus isn't talking about believing unto salvation. That happened already.

    There's another dire warning Jesus gives, above. In verse 6 the Lord said, "6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." There's that word again, abide. Verse 2 also says those of us deemed worthy by God get pruned (that means corrected and/or punished) but those of us God doesn't see trying to bear fruit (that means attempting to live righteously) those folks may get cut out. When we get saved, yes God cleanses us from our past unrighteousness. But then God expects us to live up to being righteous. God would love it if we Christians would achieve perfect righteousness but I don't think he expects it to happen. Nevertheless, He expects us to try for it.

We mustn't forget that when we are abiding in Christ, we will be exhibiting fruits of the Spirit.   These fruits can only be manifested when we have been born again, and as we yield to the Holy Spirit in our hearts/lives. 

Are we forgiving?   Do we love others unconditionally as the Lord has loved us?  Are we kind to others?  Are we gentle?   Do we have self control, etc?    A mature Christian will most usually exhibit more of the fruits of the Spirit as they have learned to yield to the Holy Spirit in their hearts/lives.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.

 

Also, this is an excellent, short message by Dr. John Piper about what it means to abide in Christ, the Vine and the branches.  (This video has already been approved at Worthy.)

https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/242521-what-it-means-to-abide-in-christ/?tab=comments#comment-3064347