|
Post by Brother. Ross on Nov 16, 2009 15:17:17 GMT -5
First off, I agree with Romans 3:23, all have sinned. It is not saying all will continue in sin, can't stop sinning, sins everyday, or must sin. In fact it says the opposite about Christians, I John 3:6,9. 5:18. 1Peter 4:1, Romans 6:6,22
Luke 5:32 "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Sinners are those who have not repented yet. When you repent you turn away from sin.
Psalm 1:5 "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." The sinner will not be in the same congregation as the righteous at the judgment.
Psalm 51:13 "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." Here sinners are the unconverted, and in the same category as the transgressors. If you are transgressing then you are not a convert but a sinner.
Proverbs 13:6 "Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner."
Proverbs 13:21 "Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed."
1Timothy 1:9 "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,
1Peter 4:18 " And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
In all these verses there is a clear distinction and contrast between the sinner and the righteous. The sinner is evil, wicked, ungodly, disobedient, unconverted and will not stand at the judgment. These are not traits of a born again, obedient, lover and follower of Jesus Christ.
Luke 6:32 "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33: And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34:And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35:But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
This passage plainly shows that all are not sinners. If you only love them that love you and lend to receive again, than your no different than a sinner, BUT we are expected to do that which sinners don't do, because we are no longer sinners but children of the Highest, sinners are not children of the Highest.
Everyone is not a sinner, you cannot be righteous and a sinner at the same time, only those that have sinned and have not repented are sinners. Including professing Christians that have sin in their life, and refuse to live righteously by the grace and power of God.
1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; verse 10 states that all are not children of the devil but some are children of God. If those that are committing sin are of the devil, than those that are not committing sin are not of the devil, but of God. You cannot be committing sin and be a child of God, because you are of the devil, you cannot be a child of the devil (sinning) and be a child of God at the same time. The children of God are those that are not still sinning.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 22, 2009 11:27:58 GMT -5
Hi Ross,
You said that "It is not saying all will continue in sin, can't stop sinning, sins everyday, or must sin"
This brought a question to my mind:
Can someone stop sinning even without God?
|
|
|
Post by Jesse Morrell on Nov 22, 2009 15:15:43 GMT -5
What does "without God" mean?
We couldn't live or breath without God...
|
|
|
Post by Brother. Ross on Nov 25, 2009 17:55:16 GMT -5
I'm going to assume you mean apart from faith in Christ, can someone stop sinning?
I would say no.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 25, 2009 18:42:24 GMT -5
What does "without God" mean?
We couldn't live or breath without God... I'm going to assume you mean apart from faith in Christ, can someone stop sinning?
I would say no. Sorry, I guess I could have worded my question better. Let me try again: Is it possible for someone to obey God's commandments and stop being an active criminal towards him without having accepted him into their heart? (note: this isn't a question of forgiveness of sins, but of ability to obey) Thank You.
|
|
|
Post by jonathandwhitehead on Nov 27, 2009 14:44:49 GMT -5
What does "without God" mean?
We couldn't live or breath without God... I'm going to assume you mean apart from faith in Christ, can someone stop sinning?
I would say no. Sorry, I guess I could have worded my question better. Let me try again: Is it possible for someone to obey God's commandments and stop being an active criminal towards him without having accepted him into their heart? (note: this isn't a question of forgiveness of sins, but of ability to obey) Thank You. Yes and no. Yes, we have to stop committing sin and obey the commandments of God before we are able to be saved. and No, we cannot live a life of obedience without becoming a Christian because one of the commandments of God is to be baptized for the remission of our sin and no one can be baptized for the remission of their sin unless they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins. It is certainly possible for an unsaved individual to obey "this command" or "that command" before and without becoming a Christian. However, it is impossible for anyone to obey all of the commands and not become a Christian.
|
|
|
Post by Brother. Ross on Nov 28, 2009 22:15:40 GMT -5
Gibbor,
Apart from faith in Christ you cannot obey God, because that is disobeying God in itself, to not believe on his son. 1John 5:10
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 29, 2009 0:50:26 GMT -5
Gibbor,
Apart from faith in Christ you cannot obey God, because that is disobeying God in itself, to not believe on his son. 1John 5:10 What about jungle people who die and have never heard the gospel of Christ? If they obeyed their conscience and the law written on their heart and lived moral lives from their heart, will God honor that, or will they burn in hell for never hearing the gospel of Christ?
|
|
|
Post by logic on Nov 29, 2009 18:30:25 GMT -5
Gibbor,
Apart from faith in Christ you cannot obey God, because that is disobeying God in itself, to not believe on his son. 1John 5:10 What about jungle people who die and have never heard the gospel of Christ? If they obeyed their conscience and the law written on their heart and lived moral lives from their heart, will God honor that, or will they burn in hell for never hearing the gospel of Christ? God will honor that. Praise God for His goodness!!!
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 29, 2009 19:25:37 GMT -5
Rom2:6 God "will render to every man according to his deeds" not according to his creed. Rom2:7 "To them who by patient continuance in well doing" (not church going) "seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life" Rom2:10 "glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good", including jungle people. Paul's Letter to the Americans: "not the hearers of the gospel are just before God, but the doers of the gospel shall be justified. For when the jungle people, which have not the gospel, do by nature the things contained in the gospel, these, having not the gospel, are a gospel unto themselves: Which shew the work of the gospel written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." (Rom2:13-15)
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 29, 2009 20:57:23 GMT -5
Interesting. So, can someone obey the moral/natural law which is written on their heart (conscience) of their own powers and be upright in God's eyes without Him enabling them in some way, by grace or whatever?
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 29, 2009 22:00:07 GMT -5
If there is no enabling there can be no obligation. But we are already enabled naturally (being human). Regarding "grace", I was taught that grace means undeserved kindness. Giving people the ability to meet your requirements of them is a deserved kindness, not undeserved.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 30, 2009 8:34:17 GMT -5
If there is no enabling there can be no obligation. But we are already enabled naturally (being human). Regarding "grace", I was taught that grace means undeserved kindness. Giving people the ability to meet your requirements of them is a deserved kindness, not undeserved.
Then would you say this "grace", or "deserved kindness" which gives us the ability to meet God's requirements is something that we will need to be granted by some supernatural act sometime during our life if we are to obey God, or is it something that we are endowed with upon conception, thus by design we being already equipped to obey all that God requires of us?
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 30, 2009 12:00:59 GMT -5
In a simple sense, the first is true if God gives you a "supernatural" spiritual gift and then expects you to use it. However, it seems that we are built in such a way that God always intended for us to utilize and rely upon his "super"natural influence. In that sense it would be UN-natural to be without the "super"natural.
The second is what I was talking about. Natural ability from birth. The human will is naturally capable of rational intention and all sorts of decision making. However, as fascinating as our God given natural ability is, I often find it even more inspiring to consider the other side of the question: What does God actually expect of us?
Our ability to obey God can also be settled by asking whether God would require more of us than we are able. I prefer this approach because it appeals to the heart or character of God instead of leaving him out of the whole equation. Imagine an evil father walking hand in hand with his 4 year old son. If the father walks far too fast for the child to keep up, the child is likely to fall on his face and scrape his knees, hands, and elbows. What kind of devil of a father would then blame the child and mock him by offering him forgiveness? If God required more than we are able, that is exactly what he would be like and the sacrifice of Jesus would be only a mockery of our pitiable weakness. Obviously this picture is completely blasphemous and wrong because God is loving, reasonable, and patient.
Isa40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
|
|
|
Post by logic on Nov 30, 2009 12:32:37 GMT -5
In a simple sense, the first is true if God gives you a "supernatural" spiritual gift and then expects you to use it. However, it seems that we are built in such a way that God always intended for us to utilize and rely upon his "super"natural influence. In that sense it would be UN-natural to be without the "super"natural. The second is what I was talking about. Natural ability from birth. The human will is naturally capable of rational intention and all sorts of decision making. However, as fascinating as our God given natural ability is, I often find it even more inspiring to consider the other side of the question: What does God actually expect of us? Our ability to obey God can also be settled by asking whether God would require more of us than we are able. I prefer this approach because it appeals to the heart or character of God instead of leaving him out of the whole equation. Imagine an evil father walking hand in hand with his 4 year old son. If the father walks far too fast for the child to keep up, the child is likely to fall on his face and scrape his knees, hands, and elbows. What kind of devil of a father would then blame the child and mock him by offering him forgiveness? If God required more than we are able, that is exactly what he would be like and the sacrifice of Jesus would be only a mockery of our pitiable weakness. Obviously this picture is completely blasphemous and wrong because God is loving, reasonable, and patient. Isa40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to use your arguments in other forums. Thanx in advance.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 30, 2009 13:06:06 GMT -5
Our ability to obey God can also be settled by asking whether God would require more of us than we are able. Interesting. And I must agree (with all you said). But a question that comes to my mind, especially taking into consideration the form(s) of "repentance" so abundant today, is what does God require of us in repentance? Or even, what did God intend repentance to be? I have found many passages that imply that repentance is the turning away from wickedness of thought and deed, clearing oneself of wrongdoing and THEN coming to Him for mercy (and not before one stops open crimes against Him). This type of repentance is clearly outlined in the following passage (and many others). What do you (and others) think? Does God expect us to use the powers He has given us at conception and turn from wickedness before He will grant mercy (remission, regeneration)? Jonah 3:8-10 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? Then God saw their works (of repentance), that they turned from their evil way; and [then] God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Nov 30, 2009 13:08:44 GMT -5
I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to use your arguments in other forums.
Thanx in advance. Hey, well email us some links so we can watch/join! (well, at lease me please)
|
|
|
Post by logic on Nov 30, 2009 17:24:57 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 30, 2009 20:48:08 GMT -5
I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to use your arguments in other forums. Thanx in advance. cool.
|
|
|
Post by jonathandwhitehead on Nov 30, 2009 21:06:41 GMT -5
Gibbor,
Apart from faith in Christ you cannot obey God, because that is disobeying God in itself, to not believe on his son. 1John 5:10 What about jungle people who die and have never heard the gospel of Christ? If they obeyed their conscience and the law written on their heart and lived moral lives from their heart, will God honor that, or will they burn in hell for never hearing the gospel of Christ? No. Unfortunately, the Bible's very clear on this. Jesus said "...Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." John 8:24 David wrote in Psalm 9:17: " The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God." The truth of the matter is that there exists no "unreached" nations throughout the world. The Apostles were given the command to preach the gospel to the whole of creation. This was accomplished no latter than the date when Paul authored his letter to the the church at Colossae. Paul wrote: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;" If any individual can inherit the kingdom of God without first going through Christ, then the death of Christ was in vain. In fact, if an individual could be saved without obeying the commandments of God (believe, repent, confess, and be baptized, the Lord's supper, giving to the church treasury, assembling on the first day of the week - among many others) then there would be no reason in preaching to the nations which have forgotten God. It would have been better for us to leave them be. If anyone believes that anyone is exempt from these commandments, I'm inclined to believe that they are walking in darkness.
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 30, 2009 21:45:12 GMT -5
Regarding repentance, Jesse has some good writings, videos, and charts on this site. Charles Finney also has good writings about repentance.
People know deep inside that they have to stop fighting against God before he can receive them again into his merciful embrace.
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Nov 30, 2009 22:24:43 GMT -5
If any individual can inherit the kingdom of God without first going through Christ, then the death of Christ was in vain. What does "going through Christ" mean? If you mean Christ himself - the kingdom of God is the kingdom of Christ. No one would suggest that you can go AROUND Christ to get TO Christ. If you mean the atonement of Christ or the forgiveness made possible by it then you are mistaken. 99 percent of mankind could enter God's kingdom without ever sinning and Christ dying for a lone sinner, one in a million, would not be in vain. No reason? No benefit in hearing about Jesus at all? Is Christ only a ticket to heaven then? Or is Christian fellowship only valuable as part of the salvation package? This makes the gospel sound like a burden and a curse rather than good news.
|
|
|
Post by jonathandwhitehead on Nov 30, 2009 23:23:48 GMT -5
If any individual can inherit the kingdom of God without first going through Christ, then the death of Christ was in vain. What does "going through Christ" mean? If you mean Christ himself - the kingdom of God is the kingdom of Christ. No one would suggest that you can go AROUND Christ to get TO Christ. If you mean the atonement of Christ or the forgiveness made possible by it then you are mistaken. 99 percent of mankind could enter God's kingdom without ever sinning and Christ dying for a lone sinner, one in a million, would not be in vain. No reason? No benefit in hearing about Jesus at all? Is Christ only a ticket to heaven then? Or is Christian fellowship only valuable as part of the salvation package? This makes the gospel sound like a burden and a curse rather than good news. - How do we go through Christ? On his own terms. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:16 No one is exempt from the commandments of Christ: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God..." 2 John 9 Jesus said " No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him..." (John 6:44) "Ever man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." (John 6:45) This is what Jesus said about those who believe that individuals are exempt from the commandments of God. John 10:1 "Verily Verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but clibeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Jesus said "Verily, Verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." John 10:7 Let us be careful not to rob God of his holiness. - Of course there's earthly blessings to be found in Christ. The Gospel contains the plans for successful living, governmental structure, and satisfaction in being set free from error through the truth. To propose or even entertain the idea that these earthly blessings of the Gospel are good enough to risk the destruction of the heathen's souls is to forget what Jesus said in Mark 8:36 "For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?" To say that the heathen can be saved without hearing the gospel would only turn the gospel into an instrument of destruction. - The preaching of the Gospel would only be a "burden" or "curse" if it were non-essential to salvation.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Dec 1, 2009 2:18:44 GMT -5
Open Post:
"Repent" means to change your mind about your sin, decide to hate the sins you once loved, stop them and start to obey the Light the Lord is showing you through His word!
God will not come into someone's heart and help you unless you first stop committing crimes against Him (Acts 5:32; John 14:15-16). You must obey your conscience, humble yourself, take up your cross, die to self, deny yourself, and follow HIM. Repentance isn't simply agreeing with the "package deal salvation" and then progressively stop committing willful crimes against the Lord over time... the disobedient heart needs to die in the process of initial repentance and the new, obedient heart is then born. They cannot co-exist... Light and darkness do not mix, the double minded cannot receive anything from God, the EYE must be SINGLE.
Was your repentance experience from your heart? Did you truly clear yourself of the wrong that you loved? Did you truly feel a godly sorrow that led you to vehemently revamp your thoughts and deeds? Did you stop the crimes you were seeking forgiveness for? If not, you may be in some serious trouble because you have most likely not been forgiven!
The modern form of repentance is creating double minded "converts" who think they are saved but really aren't because they didn't truly ever repent. Then once Satan convinces them they are saved by the lying preachers and piles and piles of theological brain-mash, it's sealed, their consciences get seared and they are ripe for judgment. Trying to wake up one of these false converts is next to impossible... Are you one?
Eye = Heart Saved (Light = good eye) Unsaved (Darkness = bad eye) Think saved but NOT! (Light is Darkness)
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. -Matthew 6:22-24
Did you ever truly repent?
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.
Isaiah 1:16-20 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And [then] He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and [then] receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jeremiah 26:13 Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; THEN the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you.
Ezekiel 18:27-32 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
|
|
|
Post by Brother. Ross on Dec 1, 2009 19:20:30 GMT -5
Gibbor,
Apart from faith in Christ you cannot obey God, because that is disobeying God in itself, to not believe on his son. 1John 5:10 What about jungle people who die and have never heard the gospel of Christ? If they obeyed their conscience and the law written on their heart and lived moral lives from their heart, will God honor that, or will they burn in hell for never hearing the gospel of Christ? Men do not go to hell because they never heard the Gospel, but because of their sin and lack of repentance, I belive If a man seeks God the creator, and obeys their conscience, God will call them, But Jesus is the only way; John 14:6, apart from Jesus you cannot make it.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Chayil on Dec 9, 2009 12:07:11 GMT -5
If someone is repenting of lustful thoughts, will God forgive them before the lustful thoughts have been stopped?
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Dec 9, 2009 13:20:18 GMT -5
That depends on whether the thoughts are only temptations or deliberately sinful. We only need God's forgiveness for something we do wrong on purpose. A person can have lustful thoughts that are not on purpose. It's only sinful if we choose to entertain a thought for selfish reasons. "Two kinds of thought go through our minds. The first are thoughts which are clear and deliberate, which involve the faculty of reason. Such thoughts may stay within the mind for many minutes, hours and days; indeed this kind of thought may constantly recur over a whole lifetime. The second are thoughts which are mere impressions, flitting through the mind like insubstantial shadows. These thoughts may only remain within the mind for a few seconds. A person who wishes to do good has nothing to fear from the first kind of thought. There is ample time to hone and to shape such thoughts, to ensure that they conform to God's law. The second kind of thought, however, is potentially more dangerous. In the case of a person in the habit of doing good, impressions will tend to be benign; but even within a good person the devil can easily distort impressions to give them a malicious twist. In the case of a person with evil habits, impressions will generally be malign. A person who acts on impressions becomes the slave of them, failing to exercise freedom of choice. A person who truly wants to be free must never act on impressions; then he will become their master." - Pelagius"Even a mature tree can be induced to grow in a new direction by means of careful pruning. All actions which arise from bad habits or intentions must cease. At first the soul will cry with pain, just as a tree, if it had feelings, would cry with pain when branches are pruned. But if bad actions cease, then eventually the heart and the soul will change. The person will no longer have evil thoughts and emotions, and instead will begin to feel love and compassion towards others." - Pelagius
|
|
|
Post by Brother. Ross on Dec 9, 2009 16:14:44 GMT -5
If someone is repenting of lustful thoughts, will God forgive them before the lustful thoughts have been stopped? If someone has repented of a sin, they actively and consciously choose to turn away from it, then it has stopped, if it has not stopped than they have not repented of it. A lustful thought is a sexual thought that is a desire, (lust) that is sin. That comes from the heart. Thinking about sin or thinking about sinning is not necessarily a sin, temptations fall into that category. All sexual thoughts are not sin. Women flash their bodies when I am preaching, that is not sin for me, all though my mind processes it. When someone has memories that arise in their mind from past sexual sins, that person has not committed a sin. The sin of lust comes from the heart Matt. 5:28 When the thought becomes a desire it is sin because the thought has transferred from the mind into the heart. Full fledged lust. James 1:15
|
|
|
Post by benjoseph on Dec 9, 2009 18:41:34 GMT -5
That is a good point.
I agree with this but I wanted to offer some clarification about the words "desire" and "heart". Both words can be used to mean either something intentional or something unintentional.
Desire can be aroused by seeing a lewd woman for instance but only if you throw your will into the desire does it "conceive" like it says in James. So temptation can be a desire without being sinful. But a willful unlawful desire is sin.
The heart is used the same way. Sometimes when we talk about the heart we mean our natural emotions and desires. Like the idea of having a "broken heart." But the heart can also mean our will or the effects of our will on our emotions and thoughts. This second meaning can be the source of sin but the first meaning can not be.
It is easy for the devil to trick people into confusing these two concepts. If we get these confused then we could end up judging our righteousness based upon our feelings. This could mean a hypocrite thinking he is good, or a good man worrying that he is wicked.
|
|
|
Post by logic on Dec 9, 2009 19:28:20 GMT -5
That is a good point.I agree with this but I wanted to offer some clarification about the words "desire" and "heart". Both words can be used to mean either something intentional or something unintentional. Desire can be aroused by seeing a lewd woman for instance but only if you throw your will into the desire does it "conceive" like it says in James. So temptation can be a desire without being sinful. But a willful unlawful desire is sin. The heart is used the same way. Sometimes when we talk about the heart we mean our natural emotions and desires. Like the idea of having a "broken heart." But the heart can also mean our will or the effects of our will on our emotions and thoughts. This second meaning can be the source of sin but the first meaning can not be. It is easy for the devil to trick people into confusing these two concepts. If we get these confused then we could end up judging our righteousness based upon our feelings. This could mean a hypocrite thinking he is good, or a good man worrying that he is wicked. Desire is good unless it is for the thing which is tempting. Jesus desired to eat, but He did not desire to turn a stone into bread.
|
|