Our Fallen Nature

[Coliseum]

 

 

"A man had a pet leopard. One day the leopard was licking the hand of the master, and as he licked, his razor-like teeth scratched the master’s hand. The leopard tasted blood for the first time, and immediately the ferocious nature of the animal went wild and he cut his master to pieces. Underneath is always that primeval and fallen nature.

Angels stood in the very presence of God, created just a little below the glory of the Lord Himself, and yet their high estate and their holy calling of praise and glory did not keep them from falling. Out of a seminary of the Greek Orthodox Church came Joseph Stalin; his mother had dedicated him to God as a priest. Out of the righteous home of Noah came the carnal son Ham. Out of the home of David, the man after God’s own heart, came the traitor Absalom. Manasseh was the only son of good King Hezekiah, yet God said that because of the sins of Manasseh He would destroy Judah from the face of the earth.

You may know homes today where the parents are godly and righteous but the children reject Jesus Christ. And O Lord, what of us? What of us? If an angel falls and is lost; Lord, what of us? But the Lord knows how to deliver those who place their trust in Him. God knows how to deliver those who believe in Him out of the ravages of trial and temptation. God knows how to deliver us, and He does."  [2 Peter 2:9].

...Pastor Criswell

"And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Luke 3:3

Edited June 11, 2020 by Coliseum

[Daniel Marsh]

Learn to walk in the Spirit daily.   Do not feed the flesh. 

[branchesofHim]

On 6/11/2020 at 7:00 AM, Daniel Marsh said:

Learn to walk in the Spirit daily.   Do not feed the flesh. 

Indeed. Amen. Shalom.

Colossians 3:[3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Edited June 12, 2020 by branchesofHim

[Who me]

On 6/11/2020 at 3:00 PM, Daniel Marsh said:

Do not feed the flesh

Explain please, am I to starve to death or do you have something else in mind.

[branchesofHim]

2 hours ago, Who me said:

Explain please, am I to starve to death or do you have something else in mind.

LOL …………….. good point. Shalom.

Romans 13:[9] For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
[11] And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
[12] The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
[13] Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
[14] But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

[Who me]

23 hours ago, branchesofHim said:

LOL …………….. good point. Shalom.

Romans 13:[9] For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
[10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
[11] And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
[12] The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
[13] Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
[14] But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

I was expecting Romans 12:1+2, not a legalistic responce.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

On 6/12/2020 at 1:45 PM, Who me said:

Explain please, am I to starve to death or do you have something else in mind.

examples of feeding the flesh, hang around loose women, people who swear,  TV,  putting anything above God, fighting people, enjoying violence,  hang out at parties where things that should not be going on, does.

 

feeding the positive nature, see II Peter 1,  Bible reading and study, praying, praising God, hanging out with other believers.

 

Gal 5 

The activities of the lower nature are obvious. Here is a list: sexual immorality, impurity of mind, sensuality, worship of false gods, witchcraft, hatred, quarrelling, jealousy, bad temper, rivalry, factions, party-spirit, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like that. I solemnly assure you, as I did before, that those who indulge in such things will never inherit God’s kingdom.

^22-25 The Spirit however, produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, tolerance and self-control—and no law exists against any of them. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their old nature with all that it loved and lusted for. If our lives are centred in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit.

²⁶ Let us not be ambitious for our own reputations, for that only means making each other jealous.

[Daniel Marsh]

Romans 12:1-8 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
We have seen God’s mercy and wisdom: how shall we respond?
12 1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

3-8 As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another. Through the grace of God we have different gifts. If our gift is preaching, let us preach to the limit of our vision. If it is serving others let us concentrate on our service; if it is teaching let us give all we have to our teaching; and if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others let us set ourselves to it. Let the man who is called to give, give freely; let the man who wields authority think of his responsibility; and let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows act cheerfully.

 

2 Peter 1 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
1 1-2 Simon Peter, a servant and messenger of Jesus Christ, sends this letter to those who have been given a faith as valuable as yours in the righteousness of our God, and saviour Jesus Christ. May you know more and more of grace and peace as your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord grows deeper.

God has done his part: see that you do yours
3-4 He has by his own action given us everything that is necessary for living the truly good life, in allowing us to know the one who has called us to him, through his own glorious goodness. It is through him that God’s greatest and most precious promises have become available to us men, making it possible for you to escape the inevitable disintegration that lust produces in the world and to share in God’s essential nature.

5-7 For this very reason you must do your utmost from your side, and see that your faith carries with it real goodness of life. Your goodness must be accompanied by knowledge, your knowledge by self-control, your self-control by the ability to endure. Your endurance too must always be accompanied by devotion to God; that in turn must have in it the quality of brotherliness, and your brotherliness must lead on to Christian love.

8-9 If you have these qualities existing and growing in you then it means that knowing our Lord Jesus Christ has not made your lives either complacent or unproductive. The man whose life fails to exhibit these qualities is short-sighted—he can no longer see the reason why he was cleansed from his former sins.

10-11 Set your minds, then, on endorsing by your conduct the fact that God has called and chosen you. If you go along the lines I have indicated above, there is no reason why you should stumble, and if you have lived the sort of life I have recommended God will open wide to you the gates of the eternal kingdom of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

Truth will bear repetition
12-15 I shall not fail to remind you of things like this although you know them and are already established in the truth. I consider it my duty, as long as I live in the temporary dwelling of this body, to stimulate you by these reminders. I know that I shall have to leave this body at very short notice, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. Consequently I shall make the most of every opportunity, so that after I am gone you will remember these things.

16-17 We were not following a cleverly written-up story when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ—we actually saw his majesty with our own eyes. He received honour and glory from God the Father himself when that voice said to him, out of the sublime glory of Heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’.

18-19 We actually heard that voice speaking from Heaven while we were with him on the sacred mountain. The word of prophecy was fulfilled in our hearing! You should give that word your closest attention, for it shines like a lamp amidst all the dirt and darkness of the world, until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts.

False prophets will flourish, but only for a time
20-21 But you must understand this at the outset, that no prophecy of scripture arose from an individual’s interpretation of the truth. No prophecy came because a man wanted it to: men of God spoke because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

[R. Hartono]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:45 AM, Who me said:

Explain please, am I to starve to death or do you have something else in mind.

Regular fasting is a must.

 Otherwise people fall easily into sins of flesh.

 

 

[Who me]

On 6/14/2020 at 1:42 AM, R. Hartono said:

Regular fasting is a must.

 Otherwise people fall easily into sins of flesh.

 

 

Now there is an oxymoron, I m starving to death and you suggest fasting ! ! !