Doctrines of Demons???

[1stCenturyLady]

So you do admit to sin not unto death, a point I was trying to make earlier.

Yes, dear. But at my age and practice we can even overcome those. As I said. 1 John 3:4 is the type of sin Jesus takes away from us. 1 John 3:5. As you said, you've never murdered anyone. If you did that would be a sin unto death - lawlessness.

Sins not unto death are trespasses, and the only type of sin found in the Lord's Prayer, and also what Jesus is our Advocate for. Jesus is not our Advocate for murder and adultery. Understand?

Being a Christian is very easy, and only one thing we have to remember - to forgive.

So I don't sin because my conscience is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit and I obey it - walking in the Spirit. But forgiveness is the Church's downfall. It is so important for Christians to forgive each other and remain reconciled and in unity. Forgiveness of each other is the silent key to 1 John 1:7.

I've also been yelled at, and I don't open my mouth in return. It may take a while, but I will eventually forgive them. But I can still get my feelings hurt, and hate when I am misunderstood. I do try to be clear and teach the meaning of Scripture. But there are so many false teachings out there that people are raised in, they can be hard to overcome and see the opposite of what they've been raised with.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7-9

Ron, you are still thinking that Jesus leaves us with a carnal nature. No. He kills it, and gives us a new one that doesn't want to sin. Thus THEN if you say you are without sin, you are recognizing that Jesus DID what He claimed to and you are now a child of God. 1 John 3:1-3 But before, none of us are born sinless 1 John 1:10. Remember, this was TO Christians, but ABOUT Gnostics.

Christ's forgiveness covers a lifetime of our sins. It has to, we can't remove them otherwise. Why do you think Catholics go to confession? Because God told us to confess our sins to one another. I confess my sins and thank God for His forgiveness. I didn't just thank Him once.

This sounds like "Jesus forgives our "past, present and future sins." That is not scriptural and a DoD (OP). Only our past sins. A clean slate. 2 Peter 1:9. Then Jesus gives us His Spirit, the seed to rebirth, 1 John 5:18; 1 John 3:9.

These are the steps to perfection - the maturing of all the fruit of the Spirit, the last to mature being love.
2 Peter 1:5-7 (adding to 9 for your benefit)
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Also, 1 John 1:9 is a sister verse to Luke's Acts 2:38. It is how to receive the necessary Holy Spirit of Christ - a necessity; otherwise we do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9

Just remember when asking forgiveness (and I know they are just trespasses), but remember to FORGIVE, otherwise God won't forgive your own and won't answer that prayer if you hold on to unforgiveness. And I'm talking about between brethren. Unity in the Church. But just as 1 John 1:8 is not talking about trespasses, but about lawlessness, 1 John 1:9 is not an excuse to sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent. It is to BECOME a Christian. How many times must we BECOME a Christian and receive the Holy Spirit? Forgiveness is the key to the cleansing of trespasses, not 1 John 1:9.

A lie is still a lie. If you steal, covet, commit adultery, murder or worship yourself, your car, your job , that is idolatry. You can relabel sin as a trespass but it is still a sin.

A lie is bearing false witness and is lawlessness - a sin unto death. And so is coveting, committing adultery, murder, stealing, all the sins of Galatians 5:19-21. Those are NOT trespasses. Here is the difference from our schoolmaster, so lets go back to grade-school

Numbers 15:22-29 (trespasses that require our forgiving others, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all of them 1 John 1:7) Catholics venial sins.

Numbers 15:30-36 (sin unto death) major sins, like the Catholic mortal sins. Not being Catholic, I don't know what the penance would be for murder! Do you know? I'm curious now.

If you sin ir trespass once, you are not walking in the Spirit when you did it.

I'm not talking about committing a trespass. Trespasses can even be unknown to us. Scripture is mainly talking about FORGIVENESS, and then if you HAVE committed a trespass, our Advocate cleanses it. We don't have to know a trespass to have it cleansed. All we have to do is keep up with FORGIVENESS of our brethren's trespasses against us, even if they don't ask for it. And that is NOT talking about us having to forgive mortal sins against us. It is limited to venial sins against each other. God doesn't demand we forgive sins that He, Himself, doesn't forgive without repentance. The wages of sin is death.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Innuendo? Wanted to make sure I didn't miss it?

Much love!

Right. I know how much you like to look up the Strong's meaning of words. But sometimes you miss the spiritual meaning that can be more fruitful than the wisdom of man.

 

[Tong2020]

Yes, dear. But at my age and practice we can even overcome those. As I said. 1 John 3:4 is the type of sin Jesus takes away from us. 1 John 3:5. As you said, you've never murdered anyone. If you did that would be a sin unto death - lawlessness.

Sins not unto death are trespasses, and the only type of sin found in the Lord's Prayer, and also what Jesus is our Advocate for. Jesus is not our Advocate for murder and adultery. Understand?

Being a Christian is very easy, and only one thing we have to remember - to forgive.

So I don't sin because my conscience is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit and I obey it - walking in the Spirit. But forgiveness is the Church's downfall. It is so important for Christians to forgive each other and remain reconciled and in unity. Forgiveness of each other is the silent key to 1 John 1:7.

I've also been yelled at, and I don't open my mouth in return. It may take a while, but I will eventually forgive them. But I can still get my feelings hurt, and hate when I am misunderstood.

So, have you just admitted that you hate?

Is that sin not unto death or sin unto death?

Curious.

Tong
R4589

 

[1stCenturyLady]

So, have you just admitted that you hate?

Is that sin not unto death or sin unto death?

Curious.

Tong
R4589

Oh, yes, I have the mind of Christ and hate sin, but even more, the false doctrines of tricksters that will kill any chance of eternal life for their followers and themselves.

I hate when I am misunderstood. Not that I hate THEM, but my own inability to get across my point, but know it is the spirits of Leviathan, the twisting serpent, that twists the words of the Holy Spirit in the minds of others so they cannot understand, and actually hear the opposite of what I'm saying.

Tong, from your loaded question, you too misunderstood my words. Go back and read it again.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

So, have you just admitted that you hate?

Is that sin not unto death or sin unto death?

Curious.

Tong
R4589

The guy who yelled at me, his sin against me was NOT unto death.

 

[Tong2020]

Oh, yes, I have the mind of Christ and hate sin, but even more, the false doctrines of tricksters that will kill any chance of eternal life for their followers and themselves.

I hate when I am misunderstood. Not that I hate THEM, but my own inability to get across my point, but know it is the spirits of Leviathan, the twisting serpent, that twists the words of the Holy Spirit in the minds of others so they cannot understand, and actually hear the opposite of what I'm saying.

Tong, from your loaded question, you too misunderstood my words. Go back and read it again.

quote @1stCenturyLady :

“I've also been yelled at, and I don't open my mouth in return. It may take a while, but I will eventually forgive them. But I can still get my feelings hurt, and hate when I am misunderstood.”

And you say here: “I hate when I am misunderstood. Not that I hate THEM,”

Nice that you clarified. I misunderstood you then. Perhaps you hate me for that, that you were misunderstood by me.

Tong
R4602

 

[Tong2020]

The guy who yelled at me, his sin against me was NOT unto death.

And you do get hurt when he yells at you especially if he does it repeatedly, right? And is there a point that you’d hate him?

Tong
R4603

 

[marks]

Right. I know how much you like to look up the Strong's meaning of words. But sometimes you miss the spiritual meaning that can be more fruitful than the wisdom of man.

Strong's, OK. He's easy for a quote to show a definition, yes. And easy to use, and beneficial, although his definitions can sometimes get one into trouble if they think it's saying something other than their otherwise reliable translation. Without a little more understanding of the Greek and Hebrew Strong's can make you think you've got something, and lead you down a path.

I don't know Hebrew much At All! I've had some training in Koine Greek, with subsequent years of self-study. This I know. If we think we understand some certain doctrine, but it doesn't match with the exact wording of the Bible, it should be questioned, and maybe revised, so it does match with every Word.

Much love!

 

[Ronald David Bruno]

1st Century Lady,

It is evident that you have this view that Christians do not sin (though you admit they trespass and that it is not sin unto death). You claim to have Bible scholarship. From where what university and what degrees do you hold?
Most Christians describe themselves as ‘forgiven sinners’, ‘sinners saved by grace’, and ‘not good, just forgiven’.

Protestant Reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) once stated that a Christian is “at the same time, both righteous and a sinner“. Sounds like two natures to me, a new spiritual nature and the flesh filled with sin. We died to our old self but remember our old ways, there are remnants and we sometimes return to them. Apparently we have to die daily to those ways, mortify them and learn to control our flesh.

His point was that Christians remain righteous in God’s sight (identity) even when they commit sin (actions).



Dr. John MacArthur is a trusted theologian I go to now and then. Here is what he says about the matter of sin in the life of a Christian:
IF THE BELIEVER HAS ONLY ONE NATURE, THE NEW NATURE IN CHRIST, THEN WHY DOES THE BELIEVER SIN?

This is an important question for Dr. MacArthur to answer. If a believer possesses only a new nature in Christ and not an old sinful nature (as he teaches, then it would seem that the believer would never sin because the new man "is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24). MacArthur himself says, "man's new nature is holy, pure, and destined for heaven". But MacArthur does not believe in sinless perfection while still alive on earth. Commenting on Romans 6:12a, MacArthur says, "Paul was not saying that sin is no longer present in the believer. Sin is still a force to be dealt with". How then does he explain sin in the life of the believer who has only a new nature? Sin must have a source. It must originate and come from somewhere. If its source is not the old nature, then where does it come from? Here is Dr. MacArthur's answer:


1) THE BELIEVER SINS BECAUSE OF THE FLESH.

"Christians sin because of the vestiges of sinful flesh, not because they have the same old active sinful nature".

"It is not a remaining old nature but the remaining garment of sinful flesh that causes Christians to sin".

Although the flesh no longer makes you its slave, you still possess an unredeemed body, which remains susceptible to sin" (Freedom From Sin, p. 112).

"Christians and sin don't mix. Occasionally we sin because we still live in the flesh".

"The reason believers still sin is their unredeemed flesh" .

"Although the old self is dead, sin retains a foothold in our temporal flesh or our unredeemed humanness".

"He [the Christian] is a new, redeemed, holy creation incarcerated in unredeemed flesh" .

**"Our new nature within, which according to 1 John 3:9 does not sin. When we go against our new nature, it isn't the law that's responsible, but the sin that still resides in our frail human flesh". "After salvation, sin no longer resides in our innermost self, which is recreated to be like Christ. Yet it finds its residual dwelling in our flesh. That's why Paul said nothing good dwelt in his flesh (v.18)".

"The apostle confesses, `I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh' (Rom. 7:18). Even as an apostle of Jesus Christ he possessed a remnant of the sinfulness that characterizes all human beings" (Romans 1-8)

"This residual fallenness—the flesh—is what drags us repeatedly into sin, although we hate and despise sin".

"Paul is saying in Romans: 'Look. The old man is done away, the old nature is destroyed. Now you are free from sin's bondage.' Oh, you will mess up because of the problem of the flesh that still exists, but sin cannot lay a claim on you".

"The real believer will obey. Because we all retain the vestiges of sinful flesh, no one will obey perfectly".

"Paul longed for the day when he would be rescued from the last vestige of his old, sinful, unredeemed flesh" (Romans 1-8).

2) THE BELIEVER SINS BECAUSE OF HIS BODY.

"What happens when a believer sins? The new nature within him is not to blame; the sin that dwells in his body is the culprit"

"The question then arises as to why believers sin if the old self is gone. They do so because the new self lives in the old body and must contend with the flesh".

"Even though we believers are limited by our earthly bodies and can therefore experience only imperfect holiness, we will nonetheless obey because we are new creatures in Christ" .

"The physical body [is] the headquarters from which sin operates in the believer" [ Romans 6:13].

"[The moral body is] the only remaining repository where sin finds the believer vulnerable. The brain and its thinking processes are part of the body and thus tempt our souls with its sinful lusts".

"Sin no longer controls the whole man (as with an unbeliever) but it does hold captive the believer's members, or his fleshly body" [Romans 7:14].

"THE FLESH=Our unredeemed humanness—that complex of sinful passions that sin generates through its one remaining domain, our bodies".

Sin "does not reign in your new creature, your new nature, it reigns in your mortal body" ( Romans 7).

"It is only the believer's body that remains subject to sin and death" (Romans 1-8).

"A true Christian battles with the flesh because his mortal body still hangs on and tries to lure him back into the old sinful ways" (Romans 1-8).

"The apostle Paul made a connection between the believer's physical body and sin....The body in Paul's terminology is the vehicle by which sin manifests itself in the believer. It is where temptation strikes first....Although sin is not the product of our new self, we're still bound to some degree by the body we dwell in".

"You say, 'But if we have had our fallen nature put away, if we have put off the body of the sins of the flesh (human nature in its fallen condition), and if we have a new nature, then why do we still sin?' The answer is that you not only have a new nature, but you also have an old body. You have a new inside and an old outside...The new nature that is in me has been purified, but the body that it lives in is a mess. When I go to heaven I don't get a new inside, I get a new outside. If I could just remove my good inside from this bad outside, I could really live...' In my new creation life the new nature is there, but surrounding it is the flesh'".


3) THE BELIEVER SINS BECAUSE OF HIS HUMANNESS (HIS UNREDEEMED MORTALITY)


"Even though regeneration produces a new disposition with holy longings, that new life force remains incarcerated within the old, unredeemed human flesh, precipitating an ongoing battle between the spirit and the flesh" ( 1 Pet. 2:11).

"When you sin it isn't the new you, it's your flesh, your humanness...sin is in our humanness" ( Romans 7).

(Note: According to MacArthur the source of sin has nothing to do with the old man or the old nature. The reason we sin is because our new man is connected with our FLESH and the flesh refers to our "vile body", that unredeemed part of us which MacArthur likes to call our "humanness" or our "unredeemed humanness."

"The problem is 'sin that dwells in me'--its our humanness (that is the problem)"(Romans 7).

"Scripture uses the term FLESH in a morally evil sense to describe man's unredeemed humanness, i.e., that remnant of the old man which will remain with each believer until each receives his or her glorified body" [ Romans 7:5].

"His sin does not flow out of his new redeemed innermost self, but from his unredeemed humanness, his flesh" [ Romans 7:17].


"But as long as he (the Christian) remains in his mortal body, in his old unredeemed humanness, he remains subject to temptation and sin" (Romans 1-8).

"A believer's unredeemed humanness remains with him until he is transformed to heavenly glory. And, as both Scripture and experience clearly teach, the remaining humanness somehow retains certain weaknesses and propensities to sin. The tyranny and penalty of sin both in and over the Christian's life have been broken, but sins potential for expression in his life has not yet been fully removed.

SIN HAS SOMEHOW SURVIVED (BUT ONLY A REMNANT)!

According to MacArthur, the old nature is dead and gone, and the believer is a new creature and possesses only a new nature. Most of sin is gone and removed, but some remnants have survived and remain. Notice the language MacArthur uses to describe this:

"This RESIDUAL FALLENNESS--the flesh--is what drags us repeatedly into sin".

"There's a big difference between SURVIVING SIN and reigning sin".


If this is really true then why did Paul say, "Oh wretched man that I am!"? Why didn't he say, "I am not very wretched. I no longer have that old active sinful nature which I once had. I now have only a new nature. Yet I must admit that I still have RESIDUAL wretchedness (not much wretchedness but a little of it). Only VESTIGES of wretchedness have survived, otherwise I'm a wonderful person!"

 

[marks]

"This RESIDUAL FALLENNESS--the flesh--is what drags us repeatedly into sin".

I didn't realize MacArthur taught that, thank you!

Much love!

 

[ChristisGod]

Right. I know how much you like to look up the Strong's meaning of words. But sometimes you miss the spiritual meaning that can be more fruitful than the wisdom of man.

So provide an example from the Bible where the definition of the word has a different meaning that is spiritual.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

So provide an example from the Bible where the definition of the word has a different meaning that is spiritual.

The problem isn't with the definition of the word, but the context of how it is used. 1 John 1:6, 8 and 10 is a prime example. Romans 7:18 is another taken out of context.

 

[ChristisGod]

The problem isn't with the definition of the word, but the context of how it is used. 1 John 1:6, 8 and 10 is a prime example. Romans 7:18 is another taken out of context.

I see you made it up.

 

[Enoch111]

You claim to have Bible scholarship. From where what university and what degrees do you hold?

She has a doctor's degree from the University of Confused Christianity (UCC). Graduates are very sincere, but sincerely mistaken.

 

[Ronald David Bruno]

She has a doctor's degree from the University of Confused Christianity (UCC). Graduates are very sincere, but sincerely mistaken.

It must be difficult being a self appointed Bible scholar. But when you are old and disabled, with apparently no family or friends to check up on you and no dog, there is just no one around to sin against, therefore, nothing to confess ... she may think. "I didn't do anything to hurt anyone Lord, I mean there is no one around, my heart is pure and so because of my condition, all I can do is just send out my love teachings through the net. Thank you that I am not like all those sinners".
I think sin is still a present battle in us because we need to continuously be aware of and in need of His grace and forgiveness. We yearn for the time when we will be redeemed entirely and perfected.

 

[Ronald David Bruno]

Part 2. In my previous post of John MacArthur's teaching, he taught that we have only one nature.
Here is a slightly different teaching, but with the same conclusion - we are still sinners!
Study 3 THE TWO-FOLD NATURE OF EVERY BELIEVER - Words of Life Ministries

 

[Desire Of All Nations]

@GodsBeloved11 If ppl want to give a tenth or more than a tenth, more power to them, but strictly the tithe was linked to the Levites in the OT, of course.

This is another false assumption held by mainstream Christianity. Moses recorded in Genesis that Abraham and Jacob were tithers:

"And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all." Gen. 14:20

“And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” - Gen. 28:22

Those passages clearly shows that tithing was regularly practiced by God's many generations before the Levitical priesthood or the former covenant was ever established.

I believe it is impossible to live by the spirit 100% of the time like Jesus had done. Unless it is possible… then wouldn’t you and me never make mistakes anymore… that would be awesome.

The thing is, it is possible. God has never once asked anybody to do the impossible. If being sinless was inherently impossible, the Word wouldn't have done it as a human being. Being sinless only seems impossible because we aren't as dedicated as Christ was to being close to the Father and a lot of "Christians" find it easier to believe God has to lower His standards and accept them for who they are.

When "Christians" today talk about how impossible it supposedly is for God to demand that they strive towards moral perfection, they sound like Luke Skywalker from Empire Strikes Back when he said Yoda demanded the impossible by telling him to use the Force to lift his X-Wing fighter out of the swamp. When Yoda reluctantly obliged Luke's unbelief and lifted his fighter out of the swamp for him, it became apparent to Luke that Yoda didn't ask the impossible, no matter how difficult or impossible it seemed in his mind. It turned out Luke couldn't lift the fighter out of the swamp because he already convinced himself from the beginning that it was impossible to do such a thing.

Every time i see that scene i'm reminded of "Christians" today acting like it's an impossible demand when the apostles taught it as being a standard Christians can meet with God's help and effort on their own part. To borrow Yoda's words, their failure to believe it can be done is why they fail. If someone claims to have the same Holy Spirit Christ did as a human being, there is absolutely no reason for them to believe it is impossible. The original apostles cast out demons, healed the sick, and resurrected people just like Christ did during His ministry because they didn't follow Luke Skywalker's example.

Why are so many Christians still stuck in the old laws?

hope you do nothing and dont walk too far on Sundays …or wear mixed clothing…..and perform every single one of the old laws …for he who breaks ONE breaks them ALL!

Why on earth did Jesus come, live , walk, and die , if we are still under the old law!

Come on people, get a grip of The Good News that Jesus came and paid for!

Those "old laws" will be practiced by the world once Christ returns. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habbakuk, Micah,Zechariah, and Ezekiel with an open mind and see it for yourself. No honest person will find a single passage that legitimately teaches Christ came to free people from law-keeping because Christ Himself clearly said in Matt. 5:17 that He didn't come to abolish any part of the Law's authority. The thing that makes this prevalent assumption so exceedingly foolish is that Isa. 42:21 says the Messiah would magnify the Law's importance, not diminish it's importance.

A lot of "Christians" today talk so much about "the gospel" like they know what the Bible says, but it becomes increasingly more apparent in their theology that they really don't since they think Christ getting beat up and mercilessly executed means every obligation to live life God's way magically disappeared into thin air.

You shall love your neighbor. But the Ten Commandments only says not to murder them, nothing about hate. What Romans is saying is that when you love, which is the New Covenant commandment, you are not breaking the Ten Commandments, only going deeper to the source.

Christ taught in Matt. 7 that the spirit of the commandment prohibiting murder involves hating somebody without a cause. The "spirit" of the commandments are underlying principles that are meant to govern someone's attitude and thinking, and thus help them avoid commit the action. The problem with your theology here is that you don't realize OT Israel was only held responsible for keeping the 10 commandments in the letter because most Israelites were not given the Holy Spirit, so they were only capable of keeping and understanding the commandments on a carnal level.

The message behind Paul's statement in Rom. 7:6 is that all true Christians have the Holy Spirit, so they're being held responsible for keeping the letter and spirit of the 10 commandments. God specifically told Cain to restrain his resentment of Abel because it was leading him towards committing the actual act, so it's 100% clear that there were spiritual principles to all of those commandments before God ever gave Israel the codified version.

Actually, the Ten Commandments were fashioned after Love, but could not measure up. The New Covenant Commandments actually do. In fact, they are harder than the surface commandments of the Old Covenant. But easier in that the indwelling Holy Spirit causes us to keep them.

Anyone who confidently implies or even outright argues the OT laws weren't perfect can only do so if they are ignorant of the Bible teaching that God is completely incapable of giving imperfect laws:

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him." - Psa. 18:30

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;" - Psa. 19:7

Grasp what David said in the second passage: God's laws were so perfect under the former covenant, they could make even the most simple-minded person wise if they lived by them. Paul taught in Heb. 8 that the problem with the former covenant wasn't the laws the Israelites were given but the people's failure to consistently obey them:

"Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—" - Heb. 8:8

If God was capable of giving imperfect laws, there would be no logical reason to believe He can be implicitly trusted as a moral authority on anything. This would be especially true if He knowingly rigged the game with imperfect laws He knew people wouldn't be able to live by. The OT God lowered Himself to being a human being to reinforce the exact same laws, principles, and reasons to religious Jews in the NT, and all but 120 of them refused to listen even though they claimed to believe what Moses wrote! It's exponentially sadder that a lot of professing Christians possess easy access to the completed set of God's revelation to mankind and they also refuse to appreciate the perfection of God's laws, even though the Bible is supposedly the source of their beliefs!

 

[MatthewG]

You know the Bible says if we have no sin we make him out to be a liar, @Desire Of All Nations. So you have the choice to react in the spirit or the flesh. Maybe you are someone who lives perfectly and has perfected your flesh brother.

How can I know? God does though.

 

[farouk]

This is another false assumption held by mainstream Christianity. Moses recorded in Genesis that Abraham and Jacob were tithers:

"And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all." Gen. 14:20

“And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” - Gen. 28:22

Those passages clearly shows that tithing was regularly practiced by God's many generations before the Levitical priesthood or the former covenant was ever established.
The thing is, it is possible. God has never once asked anybody to do the impossible. If being sinless was inherently impossible, the Word wouldn't have done it as a human being. Being sinless only seems impossible because we aren't as dedicated as Christ was to being close to the Father and a lot of "Christians" find it easier to believe God has to lower His standards and accept them for who they are.

When "Christians" today talk about how impossible it supposedly is for God to demand that they strive towards moral perfection, they sound like Luke Skywalker from Empire Strikes Back when he said Yoda demanded the impossible by telling him to use the Force to lift his X-Wing fighter out of the swamp. When Yoda reluctantly obliged Luke's unbelief and lifted his fighter out of the swamp for him, it became apparent to Luke that Yoda didn't ask the impossible, no matter how difficult or impossible it seemed in his mind. It turned out Luke couldn't lift the fighter out of the swamp because he already convinced himself from the beginning that it was impossible to do such a thing.

Every time i see that scene i'm reminded of "Christians" today acting like it's an impossible demand when the apostles taught it as being a standard Christians can meet with God's help and effort on their own part. To borrow Yoda's words, their failure to believe it can be done is why they fail. If someone claims to have the same Holy Spirit Christ did as a human being, there is absolutely no reason for them to believe it is impossible. The original apostles cast out demons, healed the sick, and resurrected people just like Christ did during His ministry because they didn't follow Luke Skywalker's example.
Those "old laws" will be practiced by the world once Christ returns. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habbakuk, Micah,Zechariah, and Ezekiel with an open mind and see it for yourself. No honest person will find a single passage that legitimately teaches Christ came to free people from law-keeping because Christ Himself clearly said in Matt. 5:17 that He didn't come to abolish any part of the Law's authority. The thing that makes this prevalent assumption so exceedingly foolish is that Isa. 42:21 says the Messiah would magnify the Law's importance, not diminish it's importance.

A lot of "Christians" today talk so much about "the gospel" like they know what the Bible says, but it becomes increasingly more apparent in their theology that they really don't since they think Christ getting beat up and mercilessly executed means every obligation to live life God's way magically disappeared into thin air.
Christ taught in Matt. 7 that the spirit of the commandment prohibiting murder involves hating somebody without a cause. The "spirit" of the commandments are underlying principles that are meant to govern someone's attitude and thinking, and thus help them avoid commit the action. The problem with your theology here is that you don't realize OT Israel was only held responsible for keeping the 10 commandments in the letter because most Israelites were not given the Holy Spirit, so they were only capable of keeping and understanding the commandments on a carnal level.

The message behind Paul's statement in Rom. 7:6 is that all true Christians have the Holy Spirit, so they're being held responsible for keeping the letter and spirit of the 10 commandments. God specifically told Cain to restrain his resentment of Abel because it was leading him towards committing the actual act, so it's 100% clear that there were spiritual principles to all of those commandments before God ever gave Israel the codified version.
Anyone who confidently implies or even outright argues the OT laws weren't perfect can only do so if they are ignorant of the Bible teaching that God is completely incapable of giving imperfect laws:

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him." - Psa. 18:30

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;" - Psa. 19:7

Grasp what David said in the second passage: God's laws were so perfect under the former covenant, they could make even the most simple-minded person wise if they lived by them. Paul taught in Heb. 8 that the problem with the former covenant wasn't the laws the Israelites were given but the people's failure to consistently obey them:

"Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—" - Heb. 8:8

If God was capable of giving imperfect laws, there would be no logical reason to believe He can be implicitly trusted as a moral authority on anything. This would be especially true if He knowingly rigged the game with imperfect laws He knew people wouldn't be able to live by. The OT God lowered Himself to being a human being to reinforce the exact same laws, principles, and reasons to religious Jews in the NT, and all but 120 of them refused to listen even though they claimed to believe what Moses wrote! It's exponentially sadder that a lot of professing Christians possess easy access to the completed set of God's revelation to mankind and they also refuse to appreciate the perfection of God's laws, even though the Bible is supposedly the source of their beliefs!

So where are the Levites now to give supposedly compulsory tithes to? (again, if ppl want to give freewill offerings of more than a tenth, more power to them...)

 

[farouk]

Why are so many Christians still stuck in the old laws?

hope you do nothing and dont walk too far on Sundays …or wear mixed clothing…..and perform every single one of the old laws …for he who breaks ONE breaks them ALL!

Why on earth did Jesus come, live , walk, and die , if we are still under the old law!

Come on people, get a grip of The Good News that Jesus came and paid for!

Hi @Helen Hebrews 7 says that the law was changed (v.12) and what we now have is better than the law (v.19)....