The Bible teaches repentance unto confession, not confession unto repentance

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Ritajanice

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We Repent then we believe.

Mark 1:15
Audio Crossref Comment Greek
Verse (Click for Chapter)
New International Version
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

New Living Translation
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

English Standard Version
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Berean Standard Bible
“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Berean Literal Bible
and saying, "The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near; repent and believe in the gospel."

King James Bible
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel
 

Ritajanice

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Romans 2

King James Version

2 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
 

CadyandZoe

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Of course I do. I've been a Christian sinner before, and you're still one now. There are no sinning saints in Christ Jesus, in whose body is no sin nor sinning nor sinners.
You know this by definition and a misconstrued text taken out of context. But your definition is not Biblical as I have shown you already.
All sinners must repent and come by faith to Jesus Christ the Advocate for the whole world and be reconciled with God, whether Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, Satanist, philosopher, etc...
Of course. All sinners must repent. But repentance is not what you think it is.

To repent is to change one's mind. If I believe that a stove won't burn me, and someone shows me that a stove will burn me, I repent and resolve to accept the truth and reality of the situation.

Jesus and John the Baptist called the people to repent. In that context, repentance involved changing the mind concerning God's favor. At the time, the people living in Israel believed that because they were Abraham's children, they had God's favor. Jesus told his people: You need to change your mind about this. You do not have God's favor. The people also believed that because they were dedicated practitioners of Judaism, they had God's favor. Jesus tells them to repent and change their mind, they do not have God's favor.

Understand? Repentance is not only a matter of changing our mind, it involves coming to accept the truth about ourselves. John tells us that if we say we have no sin, then we are walking in darkness. To repent is to admit and accept the truth about ourselves that we are, indeed, sinners. Christian faith begins with repentance. I thought I was a good person and that God would accept me on that basis. When I learned otherwise, I repented, changing my mind about my situation and agreed to trust Jesus for God's approval. Thus, contrary to your belief, authentic Christian faith includes repentance.

But even sinners can say, "We won't sin today." That's it. "We won't sin today." As Paul says, we can give our members over to righteousness. I want to sleep with a beautiful woman other than my wife. But I choose not to do that because I am submitting my members to serve righteousness. My desire for other women is clear evidence that I am fundamentally a sinner at heart, but I choose not to act on it today. And day by day, for the last 45 years, I have been faithful to my wife Zoe.

The point is, to deny that I am a sinner at heart is to deny reality. Repentance is to admit the truth about myself.
 
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Ritajanice

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Online source.

. True Christian repentance involves a heartfelt conviction of sin, a contrition over the offense to God, a turning away from the sinful way of life, and a turning towards a God-honoring way of life.
 

CadyandZoe

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Online source.

. True Christian repentance involves a heartfelt conviction of sin, a contrition over the offense to God, a turning away from the sinful way of life, and a turning towards a God-honoring way of life.
Christian repentance is more than that. The online source leaves out a significant aspect of Christian repentance -- changing one's mind concerning God's favor. Suppose a man said to himself, since I have a heartfelt conviction of sin, contrition over the offense to God, and I have turned away from my sinful lifestyle, and I have turned towards a God-honoring way of life, God must be pleased with me. Because I have done all of that, I am in God's grace and favor.

Would the man be right? Not necessarily. Christian repentance also involves a change of mind concerning Jesus. A Christian man or woman might have said, "I once believed that Jesus was merely a good teacher. But since then, I have changed my mind. I now think that Jesus is the central figure in all creation, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the basis of salvation, the source of eternal life, and the one who decides whom to save. Christian repentance is changing my mind about Jesus Christ, learning the truth about him and being willing to acknowledge his truth and to obey HIM.

The online source describes a good person, one to be commended. But sadly, not all good people will attain to eternal life.
 
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Ritajanice

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Christian repentance is more than that. The online source leaves out a significant aspect of Christian repentance -- changing one's mind concerning God's favor. Suppose a man said to himself, since I have a heartfelt conviction of sin, contrition over the offense to God, and I have turned away from my sinful lifestyle, and I have turned towards a God-honoring way of life, God must be pleased with me. Because I have done all of that, I am in God's grace and favor.

Would the man be right? Not necessarily. Christian repentance also involves a change of mind concerning Jesus. A Christian man or woman might have said, "I once believed that Jesus was merely a good teacher. But since then, I have changed my mind. I now think that Jesus is the central figure in all creation, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the basis of salvation, the source of eternal life, and the one who decides whom to save. Christian repentance is changing my mind about Jesus Christ, learning the truth about him and being willing to acknowledge his truth and to obey HIM.

The online source describes a good person, one to be commended. But sadly, not all good people will attain to eternal life.
That’s your own understanding of repentance @CadyandZoe , which you are entitled to voice.

All I know is from my own birthing in the Spirit.....it was all of God, I’m not saying I wasn’t searching within myself for many years....unbeknown to me at the time God was working in my heart, drawing me to Jesus, he also drew me to repentance and belief.....also Godly sorrow came from God..and no other.

2 Corinthians 7:10

King James Version

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.


It’s not up for discussion...as it’s my personal testimony....God is the one who chooses who he births in the Spirit....100% my belief...my miracle mind blowing birthed in the Spirit testimony.

All Glory Goes To God..in Jesus Name.. Amen.
 
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Ghada

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In Paul's epistle to Titus, where does Paul draw a distinction between deeds of righteousness we committed before our conversion experience and deeds of righteousness after our conversion experience? He doesn't.
Of course He does. That is the distinction between sinners doing their own righteousness without Christ, and saints in Christ Jesus doing His righteousness through Him.

The distinct difference is simple: One is with a heart of lust, and the other is with a pure heart without lust. No matter how many good deeds a man does, so long as the heart is still corrupt with lust, then it's still just filthy rags to God.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Only those repenting from the heart of lusting and sinning, can come to Jesus by faith to be wholly cleaned and given by God a whole new pure heart of Christ.

Spiritual blindness to this simple truth of Bible repentance from the heart, and not of the mind only, is because of still having an unrepented and darkened heart of lust.

Those who only want to have a change of mind about lust and sin, you do not seek a changed heart from lusting and sinning, will just never know the obvious difference between works of sinful man's righteousness and the works of God's righteousness.

Simple.

I now know the difference between doing something neighborly and good for someone, while still having a corrupted heart of any sinner, and now having a purified heart from lust. When I used to do good, like all sinners, I felt good about myself. But now I do good, and I love Jesus all the more with a pure heart.

Still having an old corrupted heart of lust, can certainly make us a neighborly Christian, just like a neighborly Jew or Muslim or Buddhist, but never a pure hearted saint in Christ Jesus.
 

Ghada

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A careful review of Paul's letter to Titus will reveal that Paul commends those who perform good deeds whether one is a Christian or not.
This is true with all sinners of the world, whether Christian, Muslim, atheist, woke, etc.... All their good deeds are still filthy rags to God.

It's not true for repented saints in Christ Jesus, who repent of lust and sin and now do all things that please the Father through the Son.

Those with unrepented hearts of lust don't see any difference, because they've never known any difference for themselves. Why not? Well, they haven't repented of lust and sinning yet. Like duh. They may have changed their minds about it, but not their hearts from doing it.

In light of that, Paul tells Titus that we are not saved on the basis of good deeds of righteousness.
There are no good deeds of righteousness by unrepented sinners with hearts of lust. Only continued filthy rags of religious conversion.

But Paul DOES draw an important distinction between mercy and merit, which is a common theme in all of Paul's writings.
Which is repent ye and be converted to Jesus Christ. Without first repenting of sinning, there is no mercy of God upon sinners, other than the longsuffering mercy to repent before dying in sin.

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
 

Ghada

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A review of Paul's writing will reveal the above distinction is very common.
The distinction between the dead works of unrepented sinners without Christ and the good done by repented saints in Christ, is always common in the Bible.

Dead works are any deeds of man done with an unconverted heart of lust. These are the filthy rags of man's own righteousness that are not justified by God.

Are good deeds valued, encouraged, and recommended? Yes.
In your Christianity, yes. In God's house and kingdom it is commanded and necessary to maintain doing good with a pure heart in Christ Jesus. And none of it includes lust and sinning.

Doing good should always be the course of our lives.
Which only begins with first repenting of sinning. Otherwise, the sinner is still doing no good toward God, nor is justified by Christ through filthy rags of their own goodness.

Even so, all aspects of salvation including justification, sanctification and glorification are acts of God's mercy -- something that HE DOES.
Not without us doing our part. Christ 'possessionism' is not the Bible. His saints are not 'possessed' by the Spirit of Christ, to do their works 'for them' without our whole hearted participation.

Jesus Christ does not come and forcibly 'take over' men's bodies and lives. He doesn't do all the work alone, neither inwardly nor outwardly.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.


We come to Him for His help of grace and power to do our part, so that we are not found lusting and naked sinners unto death.
 

CadyandZoe

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That’s your own understanding of repentance @CadyandZoe , which you are entitled to voice.

All I know is from my own birthing in the Spirit.....it was all of God, I’m not saying I wasn’t searching within myself for many years....unbeknown to me at the time God was working in my heart, drawing me to Jesus, he also drew me to repentance and belief.....also Godly sorrow came from God..and no other.

2 Corinthians 7:10​

King James Version​

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.


It’s not up for discussion...as it’s my personal testimony....God is the one who chooses who he births in the Spirit....100% my belief...my miracle mind blowing birthed in the Spirit testimony.

All Glory Goes To God..in Jesus Name.. Amen.
I agree with what you said, I'm not sure where we differ.
 
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Ritajanice

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I agree with what you said, I'm not sure where we differ.
We don’t differ.....sorry, if my wording was off...note to self....I am learning to communicate properly through the Spirit..apologies if I sounded off, it was not my intention...God Bless Sister.
 

Ritajanice

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Christian repentance is more than that. The online source leaves out a significant aspect of Christian repentance -- changing one's mind concerning God's favor. Suppose a man said to himself, since I have a heartfelt conviction of sin, contrition over the offense to God, and I have turned away from my sinful lifestyle, and I have turned towards a God-honoring way of life, God must be pleased with me. Because I have done all of that, I am in God's grace and favor.

Would the man be right? Not necessarily. Christian repentance also involves a change of mind concerning Jesus. A Christian man or woman might have said, "I once believed that Jesus was merely a good teacher. But since then, I have changed my mind. I now think that Jesus is the central figure in all creation, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the basis of salvation, the source of eternal life, and the one who decides whom to save. Christian repentance is changing my mind about Jesus Christ, learning the truth about him and being willing to acknowledge his truth and to obey HIM.

The online source describes a good person, one to be commended. But sadly, not all good people will attain to eternal life.
Excellent, Amen!
 

mailmandan

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The Greek word for "repent" is "metanoia" (noun) and "matanoeo" (verb) you see as defined in the Strongs #3340, 3341: to think differently or afterwards, reconsider. To change one's mind.

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Lexicon.show/ID/G3340/metanoeo.htm#:~:text=Strong's #3340: metanoeo (pronounced met-an-o-eh'-o) from 3326 and,i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction):--repent. Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

Repentance basically means a "change of mind" and the context must determine what is involved in this change of mind. Where salvation is in view, repentance actually precedes saving faith in Christ and is not a totally separate act from faith. It is actually the same coin with two sides. Repentance is on one side (what you change your mind about) and faith in Christ is on the positive side, the new direction of this change of mind. Repentance and faith are two sides of the same experience of receiving Christ. (Acts 20:21)

Certain people misunderstand the term "repentance" to mean "completely stop sinning" yet repent is not defined as and does not mean sinless perfection. The word "repent" basically means to "change your mind."

The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions. Acts 26:20 declares, "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." This is the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8) and not the essence of repentance (change of mind).

I have heard certain people say, "if you want to be saved, repent of your sins, turn from your sins." If turning from your sins means to completely stop sinning, then people can only be saved if they completely stop sinning and, in that case, none of us will be saved because none of us are sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, 100% of the time. (1 John 1:8-10)
 
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CadyandZoe

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Of course He does. That is the distinction between sinners doing their own righteousness without Christ, and saints in Christ Jesus doing His righteousness through Him.
The concept of "doing righteousness through him" is not a Biblical concept. That is a false doctrine. If that is what you think you are doing then it only happens in your imagination.

But I asked you about Titus, which clearly contradicts your point of view. I asked you to prove your point of view in light of what Paul said in his epistle to Titus. He tells you that we are NOT saved on the basis of deeds that we have done in righteousness. He does NOT say, as you suggest, anything about motive. His statement stands alone and unqualified. We are NOT saved on the basis of deeds. Period. Whether our motive is pure or corrupted, we are not saved on the basis of our deeds. The purity of motive doesn't enter into it.

Only those repenting from the heart of lusting and sinning, can come to Jesus by faith to be wholly cleaned and given by God a whole new pure heart of Christ.
We call this circular logic. In your view, a man must repent from a pure heart before God will give him a pure heart.
 

Ghada

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Jesus often referred to the Pharisees as "hypocrites", which essentially means "an actor" or a "stage player." In Jesus' opinion, the Pharisees were "righteous" in name only because their version of "righteousness" was for show. These men were acting the part of a righteous person without actually being righteous on the inside.
Exactly. Pharisees were religious Jews seeking to do the law, with hearts full of lust.

Thou blind Pharisee and Christian, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

What difference is there with religious Christians that preach doing good works with the heart still lusting??
 

CadyandZoe

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The distinction between the dead works of unrepented sinners without Christ and the good done by repented saints in Christ, is always common in the Bible.

Dead works are any deeds of man done with an unconverted heart of lust. These are the filthy rags of man's own righteousness that are not justified by God.
You are confusing your categories. James spoke of a "dead faith", by which he meant "non-functional". For example, if a man believes that he has comradery with a poor believer but does nothing to help him at times when he goes hungry, then the man's supposed comradery is "non-functional". James doesn't mention motive at all. It would be a mistake for me to add this qualification to his point, which is focused on those who claim to have faith.

There is really no such thing as "dead works" because the concept is oxymoronic, (i.e. the combination of two words that are opposite.) A "good work" is "good" if it brings benefit to others, regardless of motive. If I feed the hungry, I am doing good work, even if I do it for show or approval or for some other reason. The point is that the hungry got fed.

I agree with your general observation that God is not impressed by good works done from an impure motive. But works done from impure motives are not "dead", they are still good.

Even so, Paul teaches us that even good works, done with a pure motive are not the basis for our salvation. The basis of our salvation is God's mercy.
In your Christianity, yes. In God's house and kingdom it is commanded and necessary to maintain doing good with a pure heart in Christ Jesus. And none of it includes lust and sinning.
Whether a man has a pure and good heart is not up to him. Purity of heart is a gift of God. But lust remains until the last Trumpet as Paul has said. He also taught us that one is free to deny himself and to present his members to righteousness. Thus, we understand that lust does not automatically result in sinning as you seem to suppose.
Which only begins with first repenting of sinning. Otherwise, the sinner is still doing no good toward God, nor is justified by Christ through filthy rags of their own goodness.
You continue to use Christian-sounding phraseology seemingly without understanding. As we have said, faith in Jesus Christ includes repentance. Anyone who says he has faith but has not repented is uniformed of the Christian faith, which includes an admission of being a sinner.
Not without us doing our part.
Finally. We get to the heart of the matter. You are one of those who believe that we play a part in our salvation, which sets you at odds with Jesus and the apostles who disagree with that concept. Going back to Titus, Paul argues that we don't participate in our own salvation. Our purity of heart is a gift of God. We are washed by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit -- another thing that God is doing.

All of us naturally want to be the masters of our own fate. Some of us are resolved to accept reality the way it really is.
 

Ghada

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You want to say, I think, that faith and "repentance" (which you understand as "works)
Bible repentance is from dead works. Your doctrine of mind repentance only, is not Bible.

Having a change of mind about lust and sin, is nothing without the change of heart from lusting and sinning. Faith without works is dead.


And in order to maintain our salvation we must constantly prove our loyalty with obedience.
Of course. Proving our disloyalty by disobedience is your religion, not mine.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

You will not find your view in the pages of the New Testament. Why? The central message of the Gospel message is this, "Good news! One does not need to ingratiate himself (or herself) to God through meritorious works. Instead, salvation is by grace and granted as an act of his love."
Sounds pretty Christiany.

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.


False accusation again.
You're the one saying your good deeds as a converted Christian are no different from the unconverted.

Not me. I know the difference between man's good with hearts of lust, and God's good from a pure heart without lust.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

And for some reason, I assumed that you were familiar with another major theme in the Bible: proper inwardness.
The Bible calls is inward cleanness and spiritual purity, by repenting of lust and sinning from the heart.

'Proper' inwardness of accurately knowing one's religious doctrine, is not being spiritually pure with Christ.

So long as the heart still lusts with the world, the unrepented sinner is not reconciled with God in spirit nor in life.

The domain of lust is in the heart, hidden from view.
Not from God's sight, nor from your own. Which is why you still confess it. And He still knows it.

For this reason, a man's lust remains hidden until he decides to act upon it.
Exactly. Christian sinners call it still sinning 'from time to time'. The lusting heart remains unchanged, while the mind is only changed about how often.


The work of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said, is to convict us of sin and judgment. Thus, those in whom the Spirit is at work are learning who they REALLY ARE on the inside.
Perfect preaching of the gospel of changing the mind about sin, but not the heart from sinning.

Now knowing what you REALLY ARE inside, without changing it, is what you still REALLY ARE inside. An old unconverted heart of lust.


Here again, you fail to know or understand the difference between "inwardness" and "outwardness."
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But those who will not be truthful about inwardness is walking in the dark.
And so now being 'truthful' about your filthy inwardness, without repenting of it, is being in the light?

You indoctrinate yourself into the light, by only changing your mind about lust, without repenting with the heart from lusting.

By continues lust of heart and sinning with the flesh, you still walk in the light, but because you now 'rightly' know it, you say you are in the light.

This truly is a unique version of being saved and justified by your own faith alone, while still lusting and sinning in the dark world.

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
 

CadyandZoe

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Exactly. Pharisees were religious Jews seeking to do the law, with hearts full of lust.
That isn't what Jesus said. You are adding that part.
Thou blind Pharisee and Christian, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

What difference is there with religious Christians that preach doing good works with the heart still lusting??
Any man who denies that he has lust denies a fundamental aspect of his existence. Lust is not removed until the final trumpet and we are changed.
 
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CadyandZoe

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Bible repentance is from dead works. Your doctrine of mind repentance only, is not Bible.
You are incorrect. Those who repent from "dead" works are changing their mind that works is the means to God's favor. You must change your mind that God is granting his favor based on our deeds. You are the one who needs to change the mind.
Having a change of mind about lust and sin, is nothing without the change of heart from lusting and sinning. Faith without works is dead.
Once again you are putting words in the mouth of James, who spoke of a dead faith, not dead works. He specifically mentioned the fact that some who claimed to have faith were not helping a brother in need. James is dubious about such claims because an element of Christian faith is love for the brethren. Anyone who claims to love the brethren and yet doesn't feed a hungry brother is making an empty claim.

In my view, James would exhort that person to "repent" i.e. change your mind and decide to feed your hungry brother. Then your claim to faith will be vindicated. In this instance, faith is the motive for charity. The content of our faith includes the idea that we ought to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Based on that teaching, we support brothers and sisters of Christ who lack the necessary resources to sustain their lives.

James doesn't mention lust or pleasure in that context.
Of course. Proving our disloyalty by disobedience is your religion, not mine.
I never said anything like that and you know it. Instead, I was critical of your focus on outwardness when inwardness is the actual focus of the New Testament. Paul tells you that we are not saved based on our deeds. What does he mean? He means that salvation is always a matter of inwardness. He tells you that salvation is based on God's mercy, which includes, among other things, the inward transformation of the one whom he is saving. Our salvation is not based on the deeds of righteousness that we have done. Instead, our deeds reflect the inwardness that God has created in us.

I take note of Romans 2, where Paul asserts that we are going to be judged by our deeds. We are not saved based on our deeds but we are judged based on our deeds. And the critical aspect is the proper inwardness. According to Paul, God is going to grant eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality, the proper inwardness of those whom God is saving. In any case, as he writes to Titus, proper inwardness is a gift of God.

The apparent reason why you contradicted yourself earlier is the fact that while you recognize that purity of heart is a gift of God, in your view, purity of heart is something that we are required to supply, since we must participate in our salvation.

You're the one saying your good deeds as a converted Christian are no different from the unconverted.
The "goodness" of a deed is known by the result, not by the motive. If I feed a hungry brother with impure motives, the hungry brother is fed, which is a good thing. Take the requisite time to think about it and I think you will eventually agree.
Not me. I know the difference between man's good with hearts of lust, and God's good from a pure heart without lust.
Everyone does. We don't disagree on that. We disagree on what can be done about it. I don't have access to my heart. Only God can give me a heart that acts from a pure motive.
Now knowing what you REALLY ARE inside, without changing it, is what you still REALLY ARE inside. An old unconverted heart of lust.
At least I admit it.
And so now being 'truthful' about your filthy inwardness, without repenting of it, is being in the light?
No, admitting that I am a sinner at heart IS repenting.
 
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