You don't even
-
Tas-1010 — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 09:39 PM)
Culinary delights of LongpigLol!!
www.jw.org
or
https://tv.jw.org/#en/home -
Progressive-Element — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 05:59 AM)
Hope Tas doesn't mind
Mr. Gilley offered me a job, if I'd move to Branson, MO. Never did.
That would tag Tas to me as a citizen of the United States of America.
A non-Yank would not generally, automatically, write "Branson, MO".
It is not enough that I succeed. Everyone else must fail. -
smithjgs — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 06:14 AM)
Our efforts to atone, even if sincere, are no guarantee to be accepted.
This isn't necessarily true. I think Scripture gives a pretty good assurance that righteous people attain salvation, by definition a forgiveness of sins, despite their being sinful.
There's a basic outline to it that provides assurances. To worry about it without changing, repentant or not, though is a pointless endeavor.
Anyone sincere can be forgiven although it should be assumed there's no guarantee for anyone other than those who willingly choose to worship God.
Non-believers really only matter in relation to the devout.
If I were you, I'd wanna be me too. -
quyst — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 12:28 PM)
PotassiumMan,
Repenting means changing how you think on your life. If you see yourself as a sinner in need of a Savior, you have repented. Many people do not have that change of heart, mind and spirit and live their lives oblivious to the fact that they are sinners and need Christ.
And it is not that you were, or I was, a sinner. We ARE sinners, saved by grace.
If you trust in His promise and you believe that He is who He said He was, then you know that He has the authority to make the promise and He has the authority to keep the promise. And you can know how forgiving God is. Because Christ has taken on the penalty of ALL your sins, ALL your sins have been paid in full. He took upon Himself YOUR transgressions and imparted to you His perfection. The forgiveness of God is total and complete.
Now that's not to say that the Devil isn't going to try to convince you otherwise. Because you live in a corrupt and fallen world, some of your forgiven sins are ones you will commit today and many more you will commit in days to come. Satan will whisper to you and make you question because you commit and continue to commit sins. But you have repented from justifying those sins. You simply have to realize that those sins are real, those sins are serious, but those sins are paid in full by Christ. Grieve that you committed them after coming to a knowledge of Christ, try each day to be more like Him, but understand that you are forgiven in each and every time you fail, because your heart, your mind and your spirit have repented and know that they are wrong, but also that they have been covered by the shedding of His blood.
Hope that helps. If not, then please share your doubts with your congregation and let them pray for you, let them surround you and comfort you and encourage you. -
PoisonedDragon — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 04:25 AM)
According to the Bible, the only unforgivable sin is the denial of His forgiveness. Or as CS Lewis put it, "You must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can't give."
Except that the bible nowhere defines what it calls "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" in those terms (see Mark 3:28-30, where it's said in response to the charge that Jesus has an unclean spirit).
§«
Ȥ -
PoisonedDragon — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 08:11 AM)
In what terms do
you
define it?
You know I'm not a believer, right?
Since Mark 3:28-30 is the first appearance of the expression, I would defer to it, since the Markan author seems to have originated it. The other Synoptic authors copied nearly all of Mark into their texts but, not comprehending Mark's pattern, often broke up the pericopes and sayings and arranged them haphazardly, altering their meanings as they saw fit. The way the saying is juxtaposed in Matthew (repeated twice, in 12:31-32, immediately following 12:30 about 'gathering and scattering') suggests they may have interpreted it to mean anyone who didn't follow their specific sectarian view. The saying's positioning in Luke 12:10 seems to conflate the concept with denying Jesus (12:8,9), which would seem to contradict the saying's qualification that "whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him." Commentators have sometimes attempted to connect "the unforgivable sin" with different otherwise unconnected passages, but the Synoptics are the only place the expression occurs.
There's never been any agreement on what constitutes "blasphemy of the Spirit," the "unforgivable sin." A popular interpretation would suicide, although there's no biblical support for it. This article lists some three dozen of the other interpretations:
Ȥ -
gottaluvafriend — 9 years ago(January 28, 2017 04:28 AM)
Does God forgive our sins?
Our efforts
to atone, even if sincere, are no guarantee to be accepted. Although I believe God is merciful and forgiving,
there is no way to know for sure
, how much.
There is a way to know for sure: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9 King James Bible
"Our efforts" aren't enough to achieve forgiveness: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" - King James Bible -
PoisonedDragon — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 04:12 AM)
There is a way to know for sure: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9 King James Bible
"Our efforts" aren't enough to achieve forgiveness: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" - King James Bible
So which is it - through grace, or through confession? The passages you've offered have different soteriologies.
§«
Ȥ -
micCee — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 02:26 AM)
There's nothing to forgive, given that our 'sins' would have been part of God's initial design and therefore our sins are his. God should be the only one asking for forgiveness.
It could be a balloon. It could be Franky. It could be very fresh and clean. It could be those ways.