Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts

Thursday 24 October 2019

A prayer for this week: Asking forgiveness and thanking God

 
 
Father forgive me for I have sinned:

There were several occasions in the week when I was selfish or mean;
Or careless or uncaring or slow to reach out to those who are ill
I have given less than I could to those in need;

There were days I did not pick up my Bible
or remember to say thank you;
And when I brought all this to you for your mercy and grace
I received it.
Because you welcome sinners so that you can
love and forgive them.
 

Thank you, Lord.
I wish I was more like you.
 
 
prayer for this week

Monday 1 February 2016

Credo of the Christadelphian

There is only one God, the Father.
This is the Almighty God above all gods, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus and his followers.
The only true God who tells no lies, created the world and has given mankind His infallible Word.
The whole universe came into being by the Power of the God (the Holy Spirit)
The Holy Spirit is the Power of God.

The Bible is the only true message of the only true God, creator of heaven and earth.
The Bible or Holy Scripture is God's inspired word.
It is His message to us. 

By the original sin man is doomed to die, wherein his life completely ends.
Man is mortal and all life ends at death.
The gift of God for the faithful is immortal life on earth after Jesus' return.

People are responsible for their sins.

Jesus is both the Son of God and a human being or a son of man, born about 2,000 years ago, of his mother Mary.
Christ has transcended human nature and was sinless.
By a sinless life Jesus lead, he has opened the way to salvation from death for all those who believe in him.

Through Jesus' sacrificial death, we have the opportunity to be saved and to obtain eternal life.
 
Jesus, who rose from the dead, will come back to earth to judge the living and the dead and to give the faithful eternal life.
Jesus is now in heaven at the right hand of God his Father.
Jesus will soon return to earth.
When Jesus returns, he will rule the world as king of the restored Kingdom of God.
He will give immortality to all those who have faith in him and his father and who follow him. 

Baptism is an outward sign of following Jesus.
Jesus followers will also prevail in peace on earth.

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Monday 22 June 2015

Good and bad things in this world

There are many good things in this world, but also many bad things; Thee are also many things which may seem good but which are not so go for us. There are many tempting things which may bring us in situations where we are going to do things which are not always so good for us.

Those things which may bring us in temptation do not always show their true face. When we give in we call such an action sinning.

In the old times already warnings were given. Everything got notated in a Book of books, in which people could find advice and guidance.

We ourselves do have to be aware that we just can not be perfect, but also can not expect others to be perfect.  We also have to be careful how we look at others and do not judge them. By judging others we ourselves could be doing wrong. No man, except Christ Jesus was or is sinless. We may not have any illusion about that.
The one who makes us well and gives life was born long ago and after his death taken out of the dead, as an example to what can happen to us. To Jesus was authority given to to give eternal life.
We may wonder if we 'Can we not do what Jesus did?' but should know it seems to be impossible, but there is no reason not to try it.

It all started very early at the beginning of times, in the garden of Eden, when the fall of man pulled us all in a terrible situation and got many people doubted God's right to have dominion over us and to judge us.

Some may say that
a thing is good when on its own account it ought to exist, and bad when on its own account it ought not to exist. If it seems to be in our power to cause a thing to exist or not to exist, we ought to try to make it exist if it is good, and not exist if it is bad.
Though many try to bring things in existence which are not good at all. When a thing is good, it is fitting that we should feel pleasure in its existence. When it is bad, it is fitting that we should feel that there is something wrong with it. Somehow each person, like animals, has some inner feeling or instinct, of what is good or bad.

For many good means the same as desired, so
that when we say a thing is good we mean that it is desired.
 but man has many desires which are not at all good for him.Therefore we do have to be careful with such a definition of "good" and "bad".

You also might say
ethical preferences are a mere matter of taste,
and in a certain way they are and they can change by the standards of time. What might be considered the right way in one period of time may be considered the wrong way in an other period.

When people would listen much more to their inner voice, they would much easier know what is good and what is bad. Also when they would read the Bible and keep to its instructions there would be less difficulties in the world about the concern of doing good or bad, than everyone would have a correct guiding or measuring unit for goodness and badness.

This article is not meant to go deep into the matter, but is only provided to introduce the question and to present some interesting articles.

  1. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 1
  2. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 4
  3. A Living Faith #4 Effort
  4. Let not sin reign in your mortal body
  5. No time for immorality
  6. Integrity of the fellowship
  7. Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness
  8. A voice and a Word given for wisdom
  9. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation
  10. The one who makes us well and gives life
  11. Authority given to him To give eternal life
  12. We are redeemed; we are “bought with a price”
  13. Can we not do what Jesus did?
  14. Salvation and Righteousness
  15. Atonement And Fellowship 4/8
  16. Atonement and the race been bought
  17. Missional hermeneutics 5/5
  18. May the Lord direct your hearts to …
  19. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
  20. What Is Sanctification?
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Thursday 10 July 2014

Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness

What can be the truth and what do we understand under ‘the truth’? Are we speaking of man made sets of concepts and beliefs, or the accumulation of scientific knowledge, or mathematical certainties?

How can we find the truth and do we need to examine only all the NT writings or do we have to look at the OT writings also?

How can we get the full story of early Christianity and how much interest do we have to have for theological writings or to church letters and books written after the gospels and epistles?

Are you not curious what those Christians in the Old Times believed and how believes changed and churches found ways to grow? But those growing churches did they keep to the Truth? Did they not bring in teachings to become more popular and to have more people who could find their traditional events integrated in the church?

With education, we are able to discern between right and wrong, good and evil, and make what we might term moral choices. The human being is privileged that it has a brain which can be used to get such an insight. We as human beings can have a level of awareness and with it an ability to come to a natural expression of our physical organisation or being, and that it is an innate capacity or potential that we are uniquely born with.

The 21st century has brought us to an age of increasing complexity and sophistication, which is being driven by scientific advancements on a scale never seen before. These advancements are coupled in a strange way with a veneer of rationality that is difficult to reconcile with the advances in science. As science seeks to explain and explore every detail of the material world, the media and entertainment industries bombard us with increasingly puerile levels of information, often delivered in oversimplified sound-bites backed by expertly crafted graphic imagery for easy acceptance. The outcome is a society which has generally lost the ability to think and reason critically on the deeper questions of life.
On the net you shall be able to find a new website which shall look at the way how we can look and interpret the Bible. There are numerous teachings in the Bible, but it can be good to now and then just to look at some basic elements which are not so hidden in that book that it would be to difficult to find.

In any case are there 5 teachings in the Bible which stand out and upon which all the others are based. Each of these are intimately connected, and none stands fully alone or independent. Other important teachings such as Law, sin, righteousness, faith, grace and salvation are all connected to these central themes and in some measure they are built upon them. These core teachings stand therefore in some measure as a foundation, and upon them and around them can be built a fuller understanding of the ways of God.

At the new website you may find core concepts for your investigation.

  1. God’s revealed purpose with both mankind and with the earth: God's Plan
  2. The revealed Creator of heaven and earth: the Elohim Allah God: Jehovah
  3. God His Revelation – God has spoken and revealed Himself and His ways. This is in His Word, in the book we commonly call the Bible.
  4. Human being, animals and plants, the elements in the universe.
  5. Jesus Christ – God’s son, whom God raised up to be a saviour. He is the completion of God’s purpose, the very image of the invisible God.  The Nazarene man whom was called Jeshua, but of whom people changed his name in Jesus 'Hail Zeus' and made him a god of a threesome.
  6. Self-Awareness – and the Choices this Awareness Brings?
 Most of us don’t really seek for answers but are somewhat satisfied by the consensus of opinions advanced by the experts and thought leaders we follow, whether consciously or subconsciously. The added complexity to the question of existence is the self-evident fact that total objectivity is rarely possible, since every one of us has prejudices that colour our reasoning and conclusions. This often works in ways that we are not even aware of. This is a peculiar quirk of the human condition. Our ability to be totally objective is often challenged by our education, culture, peer group or simply our preferred group’s prejudices. Most of us have an innate bias or need to conform to the consensus position of the particular group that we most closely identify with. This causes most people to rely upon the conclusions of those they respect and identify with, and who are often experts at articulating their positions. We rationalise, that if they cannot get it right and tell us the answers, who really can? 
Many may be looking for a long time in their life for true knowledge and wisdom. Do you have any idea where you or others can find it?
Where is the source of true meaning? Is it found in the world; in its philosophy, science, education, religions, or worldly wisdom?

While all of these fields are capable of helping us in our day to day struggles, they are not able to give us an answer to the larger question of purpose. They certainly may be treasured, but they are not that which really counts, which is more valuable than the sum total of all else. The Bible informs us many times that this treasure can only come from above, i.e. from God.  
 


Find more about it in:

  1. Chapter 1 - General Introduction to the Blog Basic Bible Teaching: The Core Teachings of the Bible.
  2. 1.The Core Teachings of the Bible 1.      TheCore Teachings of the Bible
  3. The Core Teachings of the Bible Chapter 2 - Self-Awareness – and the Choices this Awareness Brings?
  4. The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
  5. The Core Teachings of the Bible Chapter 2 - The Common Human Experience: 1.      The Common Human Experience
  6. Is There a Greater Purpose to Life?
  7. Yes – Purpose and Wisdom can be found.

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Monday 3 June 2013

Why do we need a ransom?

A ransom is the price paid to release a person from the threat of death. (Exodus 21:29, 30) Death and old age were not part of God’s original purpose for mankind. How do we know that? God told the first man, Adam, that if he committed what the Bible calls “sin,” he would die. So if Adam had not sinned, he would never have died. (Genesis 2:16, 17; 5:5) According to the Bible, death “entered” the world of mankind through Adam. Thus, Adam passed on to all his descendants sin and its penalty, death. We need a ransom to release us from the penalty of death that we inherited from Adam.—Read Romans 5:12; 6:23.

Who could pay the ransom to free us from death? When we die, we pay the penalty only for our own sins. No imperfect man can pay for the sins of others.—Read Psalm 49:7-9.

- taken from the “Good News From God!” brochure. I love this Bible aid.
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Sunday 2 December 2012

No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation


“now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;” (Romans 4:23 Webster)

 “20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 for prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of god spoke [as they were] moved by the holy spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 Webster)

 “and thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law, very plainly.” (Deuteronomy 27:8 Webster)

 “for whatever things were written formerly, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 Webster)

 “write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” (Revelation 1:19 Webster)

 “the spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word [was] on my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:2 Webster)

 “but those things which god before had shown by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.” (Acts 3:18 Webster)

 “and by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.” (Hosea 12:13 Webster)

 “24 he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but that of the father who sent me. 25  these things have I spoken to you, being [yet] present with you. 26 but the comforter, [who is] the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you. 27 peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth, give I to you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28  ye have heard that I said to you, I go away, and come [again] to you. if ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the father: for my father is greater than I. 29 and now I have told you before it cometh to pass, that when it hath come to pass, ye may believe. 30 hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 but that the world may know that I love the father; and as the father gave me commandment, even so I do. arise, let us go hence.” (John 14:24-31 Webster)

 “and when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after Paul had spoken one word, well spoke the holy spirit by Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,” (Acts 28:25 Webster)

 “whom the heaven must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which god hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began.” (Acts 3:21 Webster)

 “thus saith the lord GOD, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” (Isaiah 7:7 Webster)

 “16 all scripture [is] given by inspiration of god, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of god may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 Webster)

 “believest thou not that I am in the father, and the father in me? the words that I speak to you, I speak not from myself: but the father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10 Webster)

 “and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of god:” (Ephesians 6:17 Webster)

“1  now therefore hearken, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you, to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD god of your fathers giveth you. 2 ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [aught] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your god which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:1-2 Webster)

 “and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his god, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:” (Deuteronomy 17:19 Webster)

 “thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalms 119:11 Webster)

 “LAMED. for ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalms 119:89 Webster)

 “NUN. thy word [is] a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” (Psalms 119:105 Webster)

 “119 thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth [like] dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. 120 my flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments. 121  AIN. I have done judgment and justice; leave me not to my oppressors. 122 be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. 123  my eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. 124  deal with thy servant according to thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. 125 I [am] thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. 126  [it is] time for [thee], LORD, to work: [for] they have made void thy law. 127  therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold. 128 therefore I esteem all [thy] precepts [concerning] all [things to be] right; [and] I hate every false way. 129  PE. thy testimonies [are] wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. 130  the entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.” (Psalms 119:119-130 Webster)

 “so shall my word be that proceedeth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11 Webster)

 “16 all scripture [is] given by inspiration of god, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of god may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 Webster)

 “6 the words of the LORD [are] pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psalms 12:6-7 Webster)

 “5 every word of god [is] pure: he [is] a shield to them that put their trust in him. 6 add thou not to his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6 Webster)

 “18 for verily I say to you, till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do, and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19 Webster)

 “heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Mark 13:31 Webster)

 “and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than one tittle of the law to fail.” (Luke 16:17 Webster)

 “for whatever things were written formerly, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 Webster)

 “but the word of the lord endureth for ever. and this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:25 Webster)

 “18 for I testify to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add to these things, god will add to him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, god will take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19 Webster)


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Read also:
  1. Absolute Basics to Reading the Bible
    English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Min...
    English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Miniature of Saint Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
  2. Finding and Understanding Words and Meanings
  3. Bible in the first place #1/3
  4. Missional hermeneutics 1/5
  5. Missional hermeneutics 5/5
  6. Comparisson Bible Books in English, Dutch and French
  7. The Importance Of Scripture
  8. Incomplete without the mind of God
  9. Loving the Word
  10. Condemnation of the World and Illustration of Justification
  11. The Bible and names in it
  12. The importance of Reading the Scriptures

Monday 6 June 2011

Church is a Hospital for sinners

Rosemary Hard has seen on a church notice board

 " Church is not a museum for saints, its a hospital for sinners!"

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Dying or not

Are there people who have no death in them? According to Scriptures nobody is going to escape death. Since what happened in Eden we all have to face pain, ageing, deterioration, dying. Immortality is not given to us worldly people.

We are all going to die, which means that we are going to cease to exist until resurrected.  In death, the grave, there is no knowledge, no remembrance, no praise. There is no extra element of us, an extraordinary being or sort ghost which is going to live on. Man is dust and to dust he returns (see Genesis 3:19; Job 10:9; Psalm 90:3).
A separate soul was not joined to a prepared body when we came into existence on this earth. We were born by receiving the breath of life.  Man became a living soul (being RSV) when the breath of the spirit of life was breathed into his nostrils. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7, KJV).


All our live we may have chosen to follow God, but this even lets us not live on after our death. Once we come to that point we also shall not be able to feel or do anything anymore. Even not praising God.
"For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give you praise?" (Psalm 6:5)
"What profit will thee be in my blood when I go down to the pit?  Shall the dust praise thee?  Shall it declare thy truth?" (Psalm 30:9) "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence" (Psalm 115:17). We shall not be able to do anything, even not praise God. Because we would be like in a deep sleep. And we have to wait until we got woken up by Jesus like he called Lazarus (John 11:11). In "the last days", when God will show His power once more on the earth, at "a time of trouble such as never was "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:1-2). Some people will be raised from the dead when Jesus comes and others will sleep forever in the dust of the ground.

We die and return to the earth. If we have died "in Christ" we have that marvellous hope that we will rise again to eternal life. But that is not going to happen straight ahead after our death. That's why believers who have died in the new testament are said to be "asleep" while those who "understand not" as the Psalmist puts it have been destroyed.
Subjectively the dead have no sense of time between the moment of death and that of the resurrection. Objectively, thousands of years may have passed before they shall get resurrected.

“If (God) should set his heart on it, if he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath, All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (Job 34:14,15) and stay dust, but He has given His promises and by those we do find life.

Whilst it is easy to focus on the mention of dust, and to think of the bodily corruption that occurs when anybody dies, think instead about what is being told us about life.
Life is a gift from God. He energised Adam in the Garden of Eden and made it possible for mankind to come into existence and He has perpetuated the race that Adam and Eve fathered.
Someone once said about God: “He gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25), and that generosity is evident all around us, all the time.  Life is the most marvellous thing we
possess: it is God’s free gift to all of us.

He gives and we receive. He is the source of life and we are creatures dependent upon Him. When our breath leaves the body, try as we might, we cannot get it back. Nobody can bring a dead body back to life: when it is dead it is dead. So here is a stark reminder of the difference
between God and mankind: He is immortal and we are not. The Bible often makes that  distinction and that is hard for some people to accept, but see for yourself.

It is our Almighty God who has given immortality to His angels and to only one man. Namely Jesus who at his return to earth will manifest in his own time.  It is this Jesus who shall appear "our Lord Yahshua the Messiah: Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting.  Amen." (1 Timothy 6:14-16 KJBPNV)

If we want it or not, we are the lesser one. We are always given up to death. “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11); “Here mortal men receive tithes…” (Hebrews 7:8).

God alone has inherent immortality. He is the only one who is eternal. Though certain Christian denominations proclaim that we become eternal, this shall always be impossible because we always had somewhere a beginning. And a person who had a beginning can not be eternal because that is one of the implications of eternity, having no beginning and no end.

We are mortal – dying creatures. But God, who first gave mankind the breath of life, can also give us life that lasts forever. The Bible calls this “eternal life” or “immortality” but there you have to be careful how you want to understand that immortality. Please do have before your eyes that you have two forms of immortality: 1. having no way to die or 2. the one (how I would put it and believe in) were we have the possibility in us to die but are give (by grace) the possibility to stay for ever, which is to stay a life in eternity. Here’s one of God’s promises about that wonderful
prospect: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). It is that life for eternal what we can get, because Jesus brought his Ransom Offer. "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concernmg them which are asleep (he means in death), that ye sorrow not, even as the rest who have no hope .... For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven ... with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise . . ." (1 Thessalonians 4:13,16) Christ personally (note "himself") will descend from heaven; and the faithful dead will rise-from the grave of course. Here are basic teachings which are found throughout the New Testament. They are foundation truths of the Gospel. ". . . The hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his (Jesus') voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29).

The bad news is that we could earn death; the good news is that there is an alternative. We could be given eternal life: the chance to live forever in a perfect world. What a choice and
what an opportunity!

The reward of the righteous does not consist of some "spirit existence" somewhere; it will be the granting of an incorruptible body, one that will not waste away and perish as our present one does, but will no longer be subject to death.

Not having to endure pain or to be frightened to hurt ourselves or to die we shall be able to enter the "paradise" of the new Kingdom of peace and joy which Christ will establish when he returns to the earth.

Those who have listened to what God has to say, have taken the time to understand it, and who have made those promises their life’s aim, they shall, when they have repented and chosen to keep God's Commandments, be able to trust the Lord and shall receive the opportunity to live for eternal in God's Kingdom as true members of the family of God .

The Bible explains that we must be baptised if we want to enter the Kingdom of God and start to live with Him, here and now. It was the Lord himself who said: “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) and he went on to explain that this means that we must be born again “of water and the Spirit” (3:5). do not postpone it, because you never what tomorrow brings.

Dutch version / Nederlandstalige versie: Al of niet onsterfelijkheid

Monday 14 June 2010

Angry but not sinning


“but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” (Jas 1:14 NIV)

 “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1Jo 2:16 NIV)

 “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (Jas 1:15 NIV)

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1Pe 5:8 NIV)

 “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,” (Mr 7:21 NIV)

 “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” (Ge 6:6 NIV)

 “who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up dissension.” (Pr 6:14 NIV)

 “O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbour wicked thoughts?” (Jer 4:14 NIV)

 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9 NIV)

 “How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?” (Jer 23:26 NIV)

 “[For the director of music. A psalm of David.] Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear. They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, "Who will see them?" {Or us} They plot injustice and say, "We have devised a perfect plan!" Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.” (Ps 64:1-6 NIV)


On the Biblestudentsblog I wrote an article in Dutch about our anger  and when it is sin or when it is no sin to be angry. > Boos zijn en toch niet zondigen.
Also of interest is the thought of our brother John Aldersley: Being angry and not sinning.

Voor een Nederlandstalig artikel over het al of niet zondig zijn van het boos zijn, vind Boos zijn en toch niet zondigen

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Find also
Be ye angery and sin not
A learning process for each of us
Doest thou well to be angry
He who smiles rather than rages

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Thursday 10 June 2010

Be ye angry and sin not



"Be ye angery and sin not"

The Greek philosopher Epictetus said many years ago that "any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him."

When talking to my staff at work over the years, I often used Epictetus’ observation after a client had really upset them. I would tell them that no one can make you angry without your permission. One day a gentlemen came into my office, and we had a discussion with my door open, and they heard his conversation with me. Later, after he left, I walked out and they all looked up at me smiling and reminded me that no one can make you angry without your permission. I replied, "That is true and I just gave him permission." We all had a good laugh.

We are in control of our emotions, and we must control them if we hope to please our heavenly Father. Anger itself is not a sin. We are told that "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." We know that God cannot sin, so His anger is righteous, His judgments are just, and it is right for Him to feel indignation over the failings of mankind. Our anger is not always justified, and often we sin when we react while we are angry.

We know that what made the Lord Jesus angry on many occasions was the hardness of the hearts of those he had come to save. In one instance, a man with a severely deformed hand was brought before Jesus by the authorities who hoped to use the man’s deformity to discredit Jesus. Mark tells us, "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other." Jesus was angry but he did not sin. We need to take care not to sin when we are angry.
What should we do when we begin to feel the flush that anger brings, when our heartbeat quickens and our temper rises? We must take immediate action to take control of ourselves, and many times the action to take is to retreat and not respond. Back away, turn around, bite the tongue, but do not react. It is when we respond too quickly to the anger that fills us that we use inappropriate words and excessive actions that are sinful.

We can do something in anger that cannot be undone. They tell the story of Alexander the Great who in a fit of anger grabbed his spear and threw it at his best friend. It hit a vital spot and the friend fell down dead. Overcome with grief, Alexander fell on the dead body weeping, bitterly regretting not having controlled his fit of anger. We know that King Saul many times cast his spear at David as he was playing the harp trying to soothe Saul’s feelings of depression. In a moment of anger, Saul even attacked his own son, Jonathan, with a javelin. Fortunately the LORD was protecting David and Jonathan and they were able to escape the fate of Alexander’s best friend.

When angry, we can say things that hurt, we can act in a very un-Christlike way, and sadly, we can do it towards those we love the most. We need to learn to be in control of our emotions. While anger is not a sin, we must be very careful that we do not react in anger and sin in the process. We must be in control of our emotions at all times. We need to plan how to bring our emotions under control when we feel anger.

There is a story about a time when Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was accused of inappropriate actions by a general. Lincoln suggested that Stanton respond by writing the general a letter. When Stanton finished the letter, he showed it to Lincoln who praised him for the strong, direct language he used in the letter. "What are you going to do with it?" Lincoln asked. "Send it," Stanton replied. Lincoln shook his head. "You don’t want to send that letter," he said. "Put it in the stove. That’s what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. It’s a good letter and you had a good time writing it and feel better. Now, burn it, and write another."

Abraham Lincoln’s method for avoiding an angry knee-jerk reaction was to write a letter, which gives cooling off time and a chance to plan a more balanced response. It has been said, Speak when you are angry and you will give the best speech you will ever regret. Rather than blurting out our thoughts, we need to walk away from a situation when we’re angry, count to ten, take some deep breaths, and perhaps write a letter so that we don’t react hastily and sin. Usually, as Lincoln found, that letter written in anger should never be sent. We should rip it up and then rewrite it to soften our language, remembering as Solomon tells us, "A soft answer turneth away wrath." So often the actions we contemplate when angry are actions we would later regret if we acted on them.

We can read in the book of James how to control our emotions by listening more and slowing down our reactions: "My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry." Let us keep in mind this good advice, and remember the words of Paul who tells us, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath".
Robert J. Lloyd

The Christadelphian
TIDINGS
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
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Tuesday 25 May 2010

Christendom Astray The Devil Not A Personal Super-Natural Being


Christendom Astray

Lecture 7

By Robert Roberts



The Devil Not A Personal Super-Natural Being,


But The Scriptural Personification of Sin

In Its Manifestations Among Men


IN THE religion of Christendom, the devil figures almost more prominently than God. If we have found Christendom astray as to the nature of man, it will not be wonderful if we find it astray on the subject of the devil, with which, scripturally, man has so much to do.


The theology of Christendom places the devil in juxtaposition with God. As the one is presented for worship as the source and  embodiment of all good, so the other is held up for detestation and dread, as the instigator and promoter of all evil.
Practically, the one is regarded in the light of the good God, and the other as the bad god. It is the polytheism of paganism in its smallest form: and the philosophy of the ancients embodied in names and forms supplied by the Bible.



Wednesday 17 March 2010

Sinning because being a sinner

You are no sinner because you do some sins.  It is the other way round: you do sins because you are a sinner.  That is the meaning of the fact that each individual is in Adam .

Because you descend from Adam you are a man fallen in sin.   

Dutch original / Nederlands origineel > Zondigen omdat men zondaar is