How do we deal with it?
- Thread starter Bob Estey
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1stCenturyLady
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You missed the previous verse. Obeying the commandments of Jesus - to believe on Him and love one another, keeps us safe from the devil. He cannot touch us.
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
Also, when you know this and know who you are and your authority in Christ, you can walk right up to a demon and cast him out. And he must obey.
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bbyrd009
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God says that the Christian can RESIST THE DEVIL and he will flee from you. So you have nothing to worry about as long as you refuse to let the devil tempt you into doing what is clearly a sin.
bbyrd009
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well, you might also point out that if you are a religious believer (who paid money for your salvation iow) you might also get your ass handed to you when you try that "casting out" jazz with your mouth, as Paul (?) also pointed out
I find verse 18 interesting. It says a person born of God does not sin. So if a person tries to walk with God but occasionally sins, is he not, then, born of God?
bbyrd009
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well, Paul surely said it better than i, but i think basically "dont do it like the world does," whatever "it" might be
Ronald Nolette
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We live under his physical domination for the time being. but though He may inflict all sorts of evil upon us- we are still more than conquerors through Him who loves us. He may harm the body- but can never steal our joy if we do not let him.
1stCenturyLady
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We all have to work out our own salvation. That means studying the Bible and testing ourselves if we are really born again of the Spirit - a MUST! The key to salvation after coming to know about Jesus is based on our initial repentance. It cannot just be to go to heaven, but to recognize we are far from being like Christ and want Him to come inside us to work his righteousness in us. "We hunger and thirst after righteousness." He then fills us with His Spirit which is being born again. The change is immediate and powerful. There are many people going to church all their lives who have never been born again and still have their sin nature and sin against God. They lack power. If those are who you mean, they are not actual Christians. But hold on. Even born again believers are not perfect. That can take a lifetime.
Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Romans 1:16-17 is KEY.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
What that means is a baby Christian, say like I was at 30 years old, will receive from the Spirit level-one commandments to keep and the power to keep them. Phil. 3:16 shows us if we live up to the level of obedience we are given, then we are living by that level of faith (for whatever is not from faith is sin.). Once we live up to that level, the Spirit adds another level, more faith and commandments of righteousness, and He releases more power to keep those. REVEALED FROM FAITH TO FAITH. During that time, there will be sins you commit your conscience is not even aware of called unintentional sins. You are not responsible for those until a future level when those will be added to your conscience, and 1 John 1:7 shows that they are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Your conscience is your heart where God writes His laws. What is not mentioned in that verse on the New Covenant is they will be in increments. That is what is so great about the New Covenant, unlike the Old Covenant. In the Old, you had to memorize 613 laws and were immediately responsible for them all. But the yoke of Jesus is light and not heavy.
From glory to glory. Therefore, a born again Christian does not sin intentionally, only unintentionally. But we are not the Author and Finisher of our faith; Jesus is.
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1stCenturyLady
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Yes, that is what "keep themselves" means in 1 John 5:18
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
You said, "The key to salvation after coming to know about Jesus is based on our initial repentance." It sounds like you and I have followed different paths.
The Lord made his presence known to me in 1973. In 1985 he began bringing certain sins of mine to my attention. We would deal with one sin, and then he brought to my attention another, and then another, until apparently we had dealt with them all. It was a tremendous joy being free from sin.
And then there came a time it became more difficult. I was faced with boredom. Resisting temptation was no longer such an easy task.
1stCenturyLady
Well-Known Member
It appears you were going through levels of obedience, but your boredom was a God ordained wilderness experience in which you didn't pass the test and instead grieved the Spirit. But seeing as you seem to be still trying, make sure that you are filled with the Holy Spirit and not just practicing righteousness by your own will-power. That would just be like the Old Testament Jews under the law. I know many of today's denominations are like that. They can be very strict, but without the Spirit and just will-power. They are constantly struggling with sin because they are not born again of the Spirit like I was growing up and through my 20's. OR they have never matured the fruit of the Spirit which Peter says of some "is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins." 2 Peter 1:9. One of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. And that one fruit can cause many embarrassing moments.
I didn't have the Spirit for the first 30 years of going to church. And because of never receiving an answer to prayer, I began to doubt if God even existed! Also I didn't believe in the gifts of the Spirit, mainly because of not recognizing that we are in our New Covenant with covenant rules: nothing inside a covenant ceases until the covenant, itself, ends. That is why in Matthew 5:18 Jesus says, "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
The Law is still in existence for sinners. But the basis of the New Covenant of the Spirit is freedom from sin. Plus, pruning our fruit of the Spirit so they will grow.
You said, "make sure that you are filled with the Holy Spirit." But doesn't God decide whether or not to fill me with the Spirit?
I just tell people I don’t believe the devil or his minions are running around due to the victory of Christ; but that doesn’t mean we do not wrestle around with spiritual forces that come from the world and infect the soul.
The reason I believe the devil has been defeated and done away with is because it is revealed in revelation.
Most will disagree with this premise but I stick to anyway; as people can continue to believe Satan is still around if they wish; but the lust and thoughts that come from our own desires lead forth to sin which can lead in the end to either actually dying or you can cause spiritual death by quenching the spirit; it’s never the devil; and the world only gives the pride of life, the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh. All things that bound in the world and not in heaven.
The reason I believe the devil has been defeated and done away with is because it is revealed in revelation.
Most will disagree with this premise but I stick to anyway; as people can continue to believe Satan is still around if they wish; but the lust and thoughts that come from our own desires lead forth to sin which can lead in the end to either actually dying or you can cause spiritual death by quenching the spirit; it’s never the devil; and the world only gives the pride of life, the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh. All things that bound in the world and not in heaven.
It seems to me Revelation is about things to come, not things that have happened.
What people think doesn’t mean it must be true.
Have you ever considered checking out the Greek words written in revelation; to a seven churches that aren’t even around anymore today; seems strange to say it’s written for future things (which pertained to the nation of Israel)for today but that is all that who believe in the future of those things fulfilling before a time that is now seems just unreasonable and implausible.
However a study may prove one to be wrong; and perhaps I am.
I suspect the prophesies of Revelation come true in each or our lifetimes.
Behold
Well-Known Member
We deal with it by not being a part of it, Bob.
"In the world but not OF...the world".
To be "OF" the world, is to be "sensual, having not the spirit"
To be "OF" the world is go along with the course of the world.
The world says we are to concern ourselves with what the world says is the human agenda.
This is to be worldly minded and not heavenly minded.
Philippians 4:8 says we are to think on the pure, the holy, the righteous, the good.
The world says we are to get more Cable TV channels, download porn, and live inside NetFlix., and similar.
Paul teaches that : "Christ always gives ME (that is any born again person) the VICTORY".
Paul can't do it for Himself, and neither can we, reader.
Christ is able to "always" give us Victory over what?
1.) The WORLD
2.) The FLESH
3.) The Devil
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