August 23, 2007

  • Are you a Christian if?

     Are you a Christian if…………………

     You walk in the Flesh? In Sexual Immorality, lust, and perversion? Fornication? Uncleanness? Lasciviousness? Idolatry? Sorcery? Enmities? Strife? Jealousy? Wrath? Factions? If you cause division in the Body of Christ?  If you party? If you get drunk? If you take part in revelry?

     What does the scripture say?

     ”For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.  But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,  envyings, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  Galatians 5:14But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.”  Galatians 5:14-26

    Old Testament View of Backsliding:

     ”They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest. The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.” Jerimiah 3

    If we repent (Turn away) from our sin, yes God is gracious and Merciful to forgive us of our Sin, but if we are not then he will give us a writing of divorcement.


     

Comments (12)

  • I agree with this sentiment.  If you act that way… then maybe you should search your heart and see if you really are saved.  I am not saying you aren’t, because I slipped back into that lifestyle for a while and I was CONVICTED…  But we agree that if you don’t set yourself apart from the world then maybe you’re not a Christian in the first place.

    There’s a fine line there, though… don’t ever be hypocritical enough to say “I don’t sin anymore.”  That’s simply not true.  Even a random thought which is against the Lord is a sin.  I always say, “I strive not to sin, but I mess up.  I’m not perfect.  Just forgiven.” 

  • I don’t think Derek has ever said he is perfect, or doesn’t sin.  I think the point is, that perfection is the goal, and that if we purposely sin and don’t ask for his grace/power not to sin, that we are in trouble.  Also, we should have faith enough in God that he can and will perfect us, because he commands perfection.  Yes, we will mess up.  Hopefully we love God enough to repent quickly.  Yes, God’s mercy is available through Jesus, but ideally, we will walk uprightly, more and more every day.  God promises us that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness that we SHALL be filled.  Can’t we have a little faith in the scripture and the promises of God that we can be made into his image instead of declaring it “impossible”?

  • Sorry, Derek… that came across wrong.  I wasn’t calling you a hypocrit!! 

    We agree on the big thing… Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and we should always strive to be holy as him.  I simply don’t believe you can lose your salvation if it’s really there.  God promises us that…

  • Our internet is down, I think because of the thunderstorm we had yesterday, so please be patient if it is a while before I get back on here. I will answer your comments when I have time. :wave:

  • Amen hallelujah! I liked your lesson. Someone has to say it! I’m so glad you stepped up there & weren’t afraid to say it.

  • great wonderful post

    God bless

  • Good post, brother.  Absolutely right on.  We need to live our lives responsibly, putting our loyalty to God, and God’s Word first.  I would say that doing those activities shows a problem of the heart.  Doing them shows one to be a sinner.  None of us is perfected in this life, and we will occasionally choose to do the wrong thing, think the wrong way.  The secret is to not stay under the condemnation of sin, but repent and get back under God’s protective hand.  Then, we can live in a way that pleases Him.

  • hello my name is kimberly ann and im 35 years old and im a christain.. i love to talk a bout jesus with anyone who is willing to listen and i love going to chruch and spend time with my family and friends.. i also love reading the bible and my daily bread books it helps me a lot to know that god is awsome.. i hope that we can be friends.. kimmiekim_2005:shysmile:

  • Good post,-)Preach it brother!

  • You are right–you have a new heart, new passions—and you aren’t habitually sinning. Good post

  • Yeppers.  Keep it coming!  :heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat: I’m so glad you’re mine.  I am so blessed to have such a godly husband!

  • I just want to say how glad I am that God gave you to me.  I love the results of obedience.  I love getting the gift of you as a result of obedience.  Jesus has blessed us so much with his unending love.  :heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat:  I am my beloved’s and he is mine….YES!!

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