Posts by paul from cleveland

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

You have to believe

Maybe you aren't ready yet

How can faith be required for salvation if faith is a manifestation of God's spirit as the following scripture shows:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

It seems like a "catch 22". Faith is required to receive God's spirit and be born again yet that faith is impossible without the spirit in the first place. Does that seem logical? It seems that God has to take the first step and "choose" me or I'll never be able to "overcome the flesh". I can pray all I want but it's not up to me.

Are you born again? Without being a new creation you are unable to overcome the "flesh", the sinful nature.

This is speaking to people who have received the knowledge of the truth and rejected it. What is the truth? Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for sins for those who believe in him. If a person rejects him, there is no sacrifice for sins left for them to rely on.

This is another point that seems nonsensical to me. Why would anyone reject the truth? It's like telling someone that they have two choices: 'You can be happy, have a wonderful life and live forever OR you can be miserable and have nothing to look forward to but eternal death. No one who has an accurate "knowledge of the truth" is going to choose option 2. This really isn't a choice and there must be another explanation. Everyone wants to live unless they're really depressed. If faith is a gift from God, how can someone be faulted for not having it? (please don't say that I've got to ask for it')

47

Jehovah's Witnesses - Trained to Argue

by AllTimeJeff in

although a cult, jehovah's witnesses should not be underestimated as to their smarts.

sometimes, exiting jw's, due to indoctrination, feel a lot of guilt for leaving.

of course, the governing body wouldn't have it any other way.. upon leaving, many for the first time feel a freedom to express themselves, which is as it should be.

paul from cleveland

After being wrong so many times, it's embarrassing to think about it. I try not to argue with people anymore. Now I'm more interested in trying to understand why people interpret their postion the way they do. If I disagree with them, I'm obviously not seeing something they see. I would like to know what that is so I can understand their point of view. That's a lot more interesting to me than being right.

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

(It wouldn't hurt to keep it in your pants and save it for a treat once in awhile.)

I'm sorry I ever mentioned it.

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

Ynot, Envisioning you lying on the kitchen floor crying is painful to me. I know that kind of pain. I hope it didn't last long.

I'm glad you've always felt God's love. I know you're a very loving person. I'm happy you're at peace now.

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

Are you born again? Without being a new creation you are unable to overcome the "flesh", the sinful nature.

Have you invited Jesus directly through prayer into your heart?-- Have you accepted his invitation in return ?)

No, I'm not born again but I've prayed very hard for this for years. What does it feel like? How do you know? How can you know? Are you sure?

Masturbating?????

Hi Mouthy (My new Grandma). I didn't say I necessarily have a "problem" with it... I just wrote that "someone once asked" about it. (I won't say who)

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

Thanks for all your answers. Forgive me for not quite getting it. I think my problem is with the idea of 'deliberate sin'. Isn't all sin deliberate? Don't we know we're sinning when we do it? If we didn't, wouldn't it just be a mistake? To me, trying not to 'sin deliberately' is an impossible task. I never know if there is some 'cut off' point where it's okay. For example, I know that when I'm driving down the road and going even one mile over the speed limit, I'm sinning by not obeying Ceasar's law. When I keep doing it, there is no longer any sacrifice left for my sin. To even look at a woman with lust, I've committed adultery in my heart yet I keep doing it. I know this may seem ridiculous but I really think about these things all the time. When I was a Witness, I always felt I had to do more. Enough was never enough. Now, it's kind of the same thing. I just can't stop deliberately sinning.

47

A question for Christians

by paul from cleveland in

jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of god as an excuse to sin'.

however the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of god'.

this means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless.

paul from cleveland

Jesus said to 'go your way and sin no more' and the bible also says not to 'use the grace of God as an excuse to sin'. However the bible also says that 'all sin and fall short of the glory of God'. This means that we can only partially obey the commandment to be sinless. This fills me with as much anxiety that I had while being a Witness. How can I know if I'm being "good enough" for God? Since I can't be sinless, there must be some arbitrary cut-off point where I'm just not good enough. There's got to be a point when I've just committed one to many sins. As someone once asked 'am I going to die because I masterbated one to many times'?.

21

The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

by hooberus in

on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

paul from cleveland

In the natural world, every event has a cause. Therefore, the first event must have been caused by something outside of nature. Something supernatural. This supernatural cause is what I call God.

21

The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

by hooberus in

on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

paul from cleveland

Existence just "is". The foundation of everything is built upon an illogical paradox. Until this is explained, I'm not going to rule anything out.

21

The Probabilty of there being an Intelligent Designer part 2. (some responses)

by hooberus in

on the thread "the probabilty of there being an intelligent designer" the poster "elsewhere" wrote:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/187282/1/the-probabilty-of-there-being-an-intelligent-designer.

here is my basic reasoning on why i reject id:.

paul from cleveland

The way I see it is that existence itself is a paradox. Using natural, observable laws, nothing should be here in the first place! Why is there something rather than nothing? The paradox of existence itself leaves a lot of room for the supernatural.