Fighting the Sin Beast #2
Welcome back to my blog and thank you for visiting. I hope they are helpful to you in your Christian knowledge and walk.
How do we deal with sin? This is a big question and plagues each of us in our lives. The understanding of a proper answer, based in scripture, is so important to our mental health and relationship with God. Teleios just completed a survey on two Instagram sites frequented by adolescents and millennials one evangelical and one Catholic. We asked participants about handling sin in their life. Click here for the full results.
We had 516 participants of whom 61% were less than 18 and 32% between 19 and 30. Two-thirds indicated they were evangelical and almost 50% Catholic.
How did respondents handle sin? Most commonly,
- 90% ask for forgiveness
- 45% indicated they would recognize the sin and be obedient
- 37% would ask for absolution from a priest
- 47% would feel guilty
Further, 54% recognized that sin did not block our prayers with Christ although almost 2/3 recognized it could negatively affect how we pray.
How does a Christian handle the problem of continual sin which often produces guilt? Although controversial, here are some tips from scripture and what is not in scripture:
Unpardonable sin – This important passage is in Matthew 12:31-32. These verses are often misunderstood and Christians apply them to themselves.
- Remember, you must interpret the gospels through Jewish eyes! In this passage Christ was teaching the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders. They had the witness from the Holy Spirit, descending upon Christ at His baptism (Matthew 3), which indicated He was the promised king bringing salvation prophesized in the Old Testament (Isaiah 59:20-21; 2 Samuel 7:12-16).
- The Pharisees rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit and so rejected the message of the kingdom and the gospel. Of course, this was unpardonable (rejecting the gospel).
- For true Christians, we have not rejected the gospel but are saved through faith in Christ. Accordingly. the passage does not apply to Christians.
Recurrent sin or a “bad” sin – The epistles indicate the following:
- We are forgiven (Romans 3:23-26; Colossians 2:13) – We do not need to ask for forgiveness because Christ covers our sins by our faith. Some view 1 John 1:9 as saying we should ask for forgiveness; if so, it’s the only such passage in the epistles. Although controversial, I understand this passage presents a foundation for the fellowship among believers through our salvation in Christ before discussing in chapters 2 to 4 how a believer acts and believes.
- Nonetheless, we should recognize our sin before our great Father and change (please see next point), but forgiveness is not in view.
- Obey – This is the predominant response to sin for Christians in the epistles: is simply to obey (Romans 6:12-16; 12:1-2). We are to be God’s worthy servant! Importantly, we love God and others by obeying Him (1 John 5:1-3).
- Hate sin – God hates sin as it is contrary to His righteousness (Hebrews 1:9). Sin ultimately hurts us. Part of maturity as a person of God is understanding the ill effects if sin and to hate it as God does (Proverbs 8:13).
- Defeat sin – and we are to destroy it in our lives. We can do this for two amazing reasons:
- The Holy Spirit – God gave us his powerful Spirit to help us defeat sin (Romans 8:13).
- Regeneration – The Holy Spirit regenerated us at salvation to a new person who is not bound by sin (Ephesians 2:1-3) but it’s free to serve God (Romans 6:2-16).
- What not to do – There is no need to feel guilty, kick yourself, and act defeated. Instead get up on your feet and obey the word of God! Otherwise, get over it and get busy allowing God to use your good service.
These mental disciplines, are critical to a healthy mental mindset which God has graciously given us through our forgiveness in Christ and as a helmet of a secure salvation which protects us throughout our lives (Ephesians 6:17). We do have a great and gracious Savior.
Next week we will look at the differences in response by age to the above questions, seeking more specifics of our life with Christ. Please join us then.
Fighting the Sin Beast: Part 1
Welcome back to my blog and thank you for visiting. I hope the blogs are helpful to you in your Christian knowledge and walk.
How should a believer deal with sin? This is a big question and plagues each of us some time in our lives. To develop a proper perspective of sin, based in scripture, is important to our mental health and relationship with God.
The last several weeks we dealt with guilt and that the New Testament doesn’t provide a provision for this emotion in the believer. Therefore, don’t do it!
However, sin is a different issue and how do we handle it? Teleios just completed a multiple-choice survey on two Instagram sites frequented by teenagers and millennials, one evangelical (godsholyscriptures) and one Catholic (catholic_teen_posts). We asked participants about handling sin in their lives. Over the next two weeks we will examine their responses as a group, and then we will divide them out between Catholic and Protestant evangelicals.
We had 516 participants of whom 61% were less than 18, and 32% were between 19-30 years. Two-thirds indicated they were evangelical and almost 50% Catholic.
Almost half stated they would go to heaven because Christ had forgiven them for their sins through faith, whereas 21% said they would go to heaven based on good works or sacraments from the church. Another 20% were unsure.
Further, 30% believed they were secure in their salvation because of Christ’s sufficient sacrifice on the cross, whereas almost 50% said they had to make Jesus Lord of their life to maintain salvation. In contrast, 20-25% indicated, for each of the following choices, they could lose their salvation by: not following scripture, or committing the unpardonable sin, a heinous sin, or the same sin too many times.
However, 57% stated there was no sin that Christ’s gracious sacrifice on the cross could not cover.
How did respondents handle sin? Most commonly:
- 90% asked for forgiveness
- 45% indicated they would recognize the sin and be obedient
- 37% would ask for absolution from a priest
- 47% would feel guilty
However, 54% recognized that sin did not block their prayers to God although almost 2/3 recognized it could negatively affect how they pray.
The participants properly identified the biblical elements of a Christian life including: prayer, praise, fellowship, Bible study and reachout (approximately 70-80% for each answer). However, important minorities thought that:
- They should follow the rules and sacraments of the church – 67%
- They should obey the pope – 37%
- They should feel guilty – 30%
- They worry about their salvation – 20%
What can we learn from the above information?
The good news is that many young Christians believe that salvation is by grace. They’re secure in their salvation and are attempting to be obedient in their Christian lives. Teleios has shown in past surveys that such a Christian has better wellbeing and serves more in their community and church than those who do not adhere to biblical beliefs.
Nonetheless, the survey also demonstrates some confusion in terms of the knowledge of salvation, eternal security and how to handle sin. Indeed, this data points to the need of capable teachers to instruct the next generation, especially regarding the elements of the gospel, the meaning of Christ’s precious sacrifice, believers’ secure position before God, and dealing with sin following salvation.
We should think in a healthy and true fashion, realizing the benefits of scripture, by knowing accurately what the Bible teaches.
Next week we will look at how to biblically handle sin; seeking more specifics of how to better walk with Christ. Please join us then.
Full results of the survey are here.
Feeling Guilty? Stop it!
Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting. I hope you find the information in these blogs useful.
As we discussed last week, Christians feel guilty almost routinely. It is an important affliction that affects our lives and our view of God. Last week we examined the problem. Today let us discover the solution.
What is the biblical response to feelings of guilt?
Guilt is not required – For a true believer who is saved by grace alone the answer is simple ‘Don’t.’ Why is this? Let’s take it to the source, the Bible.
The Bible does not teach guilt for the believer. I find no scripture in the New Testament epistles, the part of the biblical text that provides us guidance in our Christian lives, to feel guilty for acts of sin or any other reason.
As an example, I’ve been fortunate to have studied the Bible in Greek (the original language of the New Testament) for over 25 years and realized several years ago I did not even know the Greek word for ‘guilt’! Since I used this example several times, I ended up memorizing the word (ἔνοχος, enochos). However, my loving wife, noted that, in the few times the word is used in the New Testament, it is not done so in the way that Christians use it, as their response to sin.
Christians are forgiven by Christ’s gracious sacrifice for us by faith; His offering was fully sufficient to cover all our sins. It is given to us as a free gift. Guilt is not part of the package (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-26).
God wants our obedience – This is the New Testament response to sin, is simply to obey and become the worthy servant that God wants us to be. In this way we can get good things done such as spreading the gospel and serving others, while not being self-focused, tied up in knots over insecurity of salvation, wondering about our relationship with God, and burdened by our guilt (Romans 6:12, 6:16, 12:1).
So if you feel guilty, what steps should you take?
- Make sure you are a believer – (1 Peter 1:10) Otherwise, assure that you recognize your glorious salvation is based completely on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross by faith alone and not mixed with works. There is nothing that you can do to help God save or keep you. He does it all!
- Realize you are secure – God provides protections, both legal and morphologic, by declaring us righteous, adopted, sealed by the Spirit until Christ’s coming, and changed irreversibly into a new person. (Ephesians 1:4-5, 1:13; 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-26; 6:2-9; Hebrews 6:1-8).
- We are forgiven – Certainly, in our precious relationship with God it makes sense to recognize our day-to-day sin with regret. However, we must realize with God that those sins graciously are forgiven already by Christ’s sacrifice.
- Access – We have bold access to God! Our only limitation is ourselves by sin that would keep us from approaching God or hindering our prayers (Hebrews 4:14-16; 10:19-22)
- Realize the truth about guilt – The Bible doesn’t tell us to feel guilty but it tells us to have joy and peace.
I hope this information helps. As my wife and I often say about our Christian life, ‘We should live by facts (i.e., the Bible) and not emotions.’ Believe scripture, and not your emotions that you or others place on yourself. God is great and gives us such wonderful biblical wisdom to enrich our lives.
Thanks again for visiting this blog. I look forward to having you back next week.
Why Christians feel guilty?
Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for joining me today. I hope you find the information in these blogs useful.
Christians feel guilty, seemingly almost routinely. Guilt is practically accepted as a part of the Christian life. Should we feel guilty and why? If not, how do we stop?
Let’s spend several weeks talking about guilt. It is worth it as it is an important affliction that affects our lives and our view of God.
How common is it?
Teleios surveys have shown that approximately 70% of evangelical Christians feel some level of guilt. Indeed, in almost all the Bible studies my dear wife, Jeanette, and I have been privileged to teach, the students almost all suffered from guilt. Our studies have indicated that, fortunately, it appears to be mild and so usually it can be controlled.
Why do Christians feel guilty?
Well we do not know exactly. Teleios has examined this question among evangelicals on three levels (full report http://stage.teleiosresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Guilt-and-wellbeing-data.pdf):
· A person is not a believer (5%) – This was a very small percent, but recognizes that there are people within the church community that really do not understand salvation by grace and the Spirit is probably convicting them (John 16:8-11). In this case, the guilt is appropriate and perhaps will lead to their salvation.
· Fear of effect of sin (28%) – In this instance the Christian knew they were saved by grace, but they had some sin, past or present, that would cause God to retract their salvation. We have written in this blog many times about the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to cover all sins. For a Christian, saved by grace alone, all sins are forgiven (Ephesians 1:4-5,13; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-26; Romans 6:2-9; Hebrews 6:1-8).
· Fear of God’s displeasure (41%) – The greatest percent were those who knew they were saved and secure yet somehow felt some sin, or lack of good work, would cause God to reject them, producing the guilt. This idea is also unbiblical in that we have direct access to God through the ripped veil based on Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 10:19-22).
For the third most common type of guilt (God’s displeasure), what are the triggers
that cause it? I do not know precisely, but here are some suggestions:
· Lack of knowledge of God’s word – This is key! If we don’t know God’s word then we are left defenseless in determining if we hear or read something that suggests we are sinning. So not knowing, the nagging doubt if we are wrong, leads to guilt.
· Not meeting others’ expectations – Family, friends and even pastors may have expectations for us, that even may be dressed up in Christian jargon, that can produce guilt if we do not meet them. This issue relates directly to the first point in that if you do not know the Bible then you cannot determine if their expectations are correct. Several years ago, I was having coffee with a very fine, evangelical pastor and we were discussing guilt. He thought guilt was useful as a motivating factor! He was surprised when I said it was not biblical, but ultimately agreed.
· Self-expectations – Again, this is related to the first point that we may place burdens on ourselves which we fail to meet, but may not be biblical.
· Wrong response to sin – Even if we know that we are in sin, we may not respond to that sin in a biblical way. Our response may be based on social Christian tradition or expectations, such as priestly or work-based absolution, re-dedication or re-baptism, or pleading for forgiveness from God. These efforts may resolve immediate guilt but are not biblical and would not solve most likely a long-term guilt problem.
Thanks for joining my blog today. Next week we’ll deal with the guilt issue regarding a Biblical response. Join us then.
WC Stewart
https://teleiosgrant.com/
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Response policy – The purpose of the comment section is to promote
discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and
raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may
feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate
language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane,
pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent
with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and
you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.
We have a great response for our society!
our last blog we discussed how a Christian, fearful about sharing the gospel,
should correct their thinking beginning with the awareness that even though they
are correct the opposition, who hate God, will try to silence them.
we continue this important discussion by examining what the secularist, statist
offers in contrast to Christianity and how we should respond.
society offers a godless, globalist government to replace the living God and
Christ. This replacement god has the following characteristics:
institutions which destroy Christianity in the culture, e.g., in education, marriage,
and the US constitution.
Christianity clears society of burdensome obstructions for its own rule.
Consequently,
it becomes against the law to speak about Christianity or against government
principles.
the replacement god.
Even
as unbelievers scoff at weak Christians for needing to depend on God, they themselves,
in great faith, seek a powerful government to be their god in the hopes of
having their desires met.
government operates in a dark world of suppression preventing you from meeting
your dreams and goals, finding love, expressing your Christianity or your ideas.
Each
person, instead of being embraced by their family, their community or church is
tethered directly to the state for employment, a place to live, family and education.
Extreme
examples, at the end of the statist totalitarian process, are North Korea, Cuba
and Venezuela where the people are reduced to nothing and have nothing.
A
more realistic, near-term example is modern Europe which is a model for the for
globalist and statist state in the US. In much of Europe the government:
thought, including: Christianity, freedom of speech, education and expression.
individual achievement through high taxes so individualism, savings,
entrepreneurship and advancement is difficult. Job creation comes through the
government or large government supported industry.
seek to blend in, not to stand out in their job, by their opinions and often
avoid marrying and having children. They accept what the government offers, even
in the face of grave dangers to society such as rampant Islamatization, crime
and the illegal migration.
fall for the statist religion! Now is the time to stand and express the things
we have and how good they are. How can we do this simply?
right and should not be shy about your faith.
about the benefit of our faith, from our website (www.teleiosresearch.com) or other
locations. Learn to express the gospel! It is written at the bottom of this
blog.
friends that the scriptures are true and good for people in contrast to what
secular society offers. This will have the advantage of encouraging them and allowing
you to learn to articulate your beliefs.
friends and colleagues the benefits of your faith. Listen to their responses. If they cannot
respond an open a reasonable way, move on to those who can. This will give you
practice and perhaps some will come to faith in though Jesus Christ as Savior.
other young people our Christian heritage, history and the benefits of a
Christian society.
children the Bible.
officials to protect our freedoms and Christianity; Christianity is the most
persecuted religion in the world.
victory is at the end of the world and the ultimate war has been won! But until
that final victory, we face battles which can be lost. Historically there are places
where Christianity all but disappeared in name or practice due to despotic
regimes. Don’t let that happen here! Fight and pray in faith for what is right
and good, for your future and your children’s.
all for today, Thank you for joining me.
gift from God?
(sin) that deserve punishment from a perfect and just God.
his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross to take the punishment
we deserve.
accept, through faith alone, the forgiveness that Christ provided by his death
and resurrection, we receive a permanent relationship with God and eternal
life!
and Romans 3:21-26).
discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and
raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may
feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate
language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane,
pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent
with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and
you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.
Christians are correct in their worldview for sure!
Over
the past several weeks we’ve discussed a recent Teleios survey regarding
attitudes among young Christians in sharing the gospel and found that they
often were fearful in the face of society and chose to use other measures to
express their faith as opposed to explicitly sharing the plan of salvation.
are often taught not to offend people with their faith and when we do share
we’re told that we are judgmental and how can we say that our way is the only
true way to God. Consequently, we frequently may feel good about our faith in
church, but bad before unbelievers and society.
the Good News we offer is right and good for the listener. Stand firm and be
proud of what you believe. Why is that?
are several points to consider:
are true and the Bible says it (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 3:16; John 1:14,17).
that young Christians overwhelmingly support this fact (>90%) so you are in
good company.
well as other medical research has shown that Christians generally have better
wellbeing than non-Christians.
Bible provides us a way to salvation, a great hope and eternal security.
Teleios Research shows believing in eternal security also helps wellbeing.
lifestyle principles (prayer, praise, fellowship, Bible study, outreach) provides
even better wellbeing.
Christian principles helps wellbeing such as: forgiveness, hope, thankfulness.
give more (than unbelievers) to society which contributes further to good wellbeing.
is based on Christian principles which provide a basis for fairness and justice
not generally seen in historically non-Christian countries. Just read 1 Peter
or 1 Timothy to get an idea of the roughness and violence of the Greco-Roman culture
into which Christianity was brought and ultimately tamed.
us a robust formula for a successful life and helping others and society.
contrast, what does secular society and their institutions believe? Their beliefs
have been clarified over the past few years:
hate Christians.
and take Christianity out of the public square using: intimidation, violence, and
name calling.
institutions that built our society because they are Christian:
They
started with education, marriage and sex gender roles in the past generation
and more recently have attacked gender itself. Now they minimize our glorious history
starting with memorials, the founding fathers and soon it will be their words,
with the goal of destroying the constitution itself including voting and
property rights, and the freedom of self-expression.
Then,
without a basis of government, Christians will be at the mercy of a secular,
despotic, globalist, one-world state.
This currently comes mostly under the mask of climate issues and racism.
does the statist, globalist, humanist communist offer society in return? We
will discuss this next week as well as a Christian response. Please join us
then. We have a great and powerful God who preserves us to salvation and helps
us in our time on earth.
showing the benefit of Christianity in our lives https://teleiosgrant.com/.
discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and
raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may
feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate
language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane,
pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent
with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and
you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.
How to share the gospel and not be a social pariah!
of our Christian walk we have the privilege to participate in God’s plan for
other people’s lives, which, depending on the situation, includes sharing the
gospel.
recently evaluated attitudes in sharing the gospel in young Christians by
surveying visitors on Instagram accounts SpiritualWord (n=100) and
GodsHolyScriptures (n=357). The complete results are at http://stage.teleiosresearch.com/index.php/spreading-the-gospel-survey/.
results showed that these young Christians recognized the need to share their
faith. However, many feared sharing the gospel generally, mostly because of social
awkwardness, not knowing what to say, how to answer questions, and the contents
of the Gospel itself.
verbally expressing the gospel to others was their fifth favorite way to share
the plan of salvation (7%) whereas lifestyle, encouragement, praying and loving
others were the preferred choices.
do we share the gospel without necessarily being a social outcast? This may not
be easy to avoid always because Christ says that “they will hate us as they
hated Him” (John 15:18-25). However, here are some tips that might help.
preparation
message
– Remember the Bible is true and good for anyone who hears it (please see our
website for scientific proof https://teleiosgrant.com/). What the world has
to offer as a replacement god, for example humanism, statism, and atheism is
hateful, bigoted, anti-freedom and very dark.
be legalistic –
Do not tell people the plan of salvation through guilt producing legalistic
schemes. We have a great message which we can tell others with joy.
feel guilty –
The epistles tell us to be obedient (just do it!) and does not mention guilt.
We have the joy to tell others about salvation. It is the hearer’s
responsibility to accept God’s message. Further, it is God Himself, not us by
our efforts, who brings people to faith (John 6:44; John 16:8-11)
the gospel
– It is short and easy (Please see bottom of page).
to share
busy to remember this share the gospel. Therefore, think ahead of time about who
might be responsive and plan an approach to tell them about salvation. I
usually allow about 6-12 months to accomplish this goal.
the conversation
– If you haven’t already, take time to get to know the person with whom you
wish to share the gospel. People generally like to speak about themselves. They
want to know that you like and respect them. This means first listening to them
about their life. Then ask questions about things that are important to them.
Listen!
God into the discussion – Over time, hen begin to ask how they were raised
religiously, about church background, and what they think about God. Ultimately,
you can ask them what they perceive their church teaches about Christ and what
they believe about Christ. Our Savior is the key issue!
point, you know what they think and their needs. You can then tailor-make your
message to meet their needs. It can be as simple as after they tell you their
beliefs about Christ, you can say ‘this is what scripture says is His message’,
then simply tell them the plan of salvation.
them the gospel –
Be direct and do not be confusing. The gospel message is simple so be succinct.
It ultimately requires a ‘yes/no’ response or ‘I’m thinking about it.’ Often, I
will use the offer of a 4-week Bible study to discuss the claims of Christ and
let them see it for themselves.
– If
the person with whom you are sharing accepts Christ as Savior, then follow up
with them in a Bible study (such as in the book of Ephesians) or refer them to
your church or somebody who can teach them. Make sure they have fellowship.
Remember, it is God who causes a new believer to stand and it is not our work
(Romans 14:4). So be responsible but don’t be personally responsible.
say no or if they’re thinking about it, then follow up with them over weeks or
months and ask them what they’re thinking.
privilege to share the gospel and be a part of God’s plan in people’s lives,
and to see its power to change lives!
you for visiting my blog; today please come back again next week.
God?’
(sin) that deserve punishment from a perfect and just God.
his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross to take the punishment
we deserve.
accept, through faith alone, the forgiveness that Christ provided by his death
and resurrection, we receive a permanent relationship with God and eternal
life!
and Romans 3:21-26).
discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and
raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may
feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate
language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane,
pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent
with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and
you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Our duties towards the Spirit
back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today.
recently surveyed the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives in 475 young
participants in visitors to the Instagram account, InstaPray. All the findings,
as well as other exciting Teleios research, are on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).
Spirit is a very important yet controversial topic. However, there is often a
general lack of knowledge of what scripture
teaches about the Spirit. We are covering these pertinent topics.
generally breakdown the Bible’s handling of the Spirit for the New Testament church
into three basic realms:
our Christian walk
to the Spirit
week let us cover the last point, our duties to the Spirit. What our survey
participants thought is in the below table.
What
the Bible says:
actions towards the Spirit are nicely divided into two subcategories, what to
do and what not to do. According to scripture, the Spirit dwells in us
permanently from the time we believe unto the day of our redemption (Ephesians1:13-14) and we have full use of the Spirit’s power available to us throughout
our lives.
how not to grieve or suppress the Spirit, but we might assume it’s related to sin
that would make the Spirit sad, or suppress His actions in our lives, because
we are seeking our own desires.
verses are mostly related to our seeking God and being obedient. Again, scripture
does not tell us the specifics, giving us great freedom to live our lives in
faith.
The word ‘walk’ (peripateoo, περιπατεω) indicates our manner
of life, especially in the moral realm.
The illustration in this great verse is not to be drunk. Alcohol literally can
control brain cells by its chemical effect. In contrast, for mature Christians,
their old actions are no longer possible as they have been changed by the Spirit.
of the flesh
(Romans 8:13) – Last week we learned the Spirit helps us defeat sin but this verse
also indicates that it is by our initiation towards obedience that we facilitate
the Spirit’s gracious help.
Do not commit the unforgivable sin by blaspheming the Spirit (Matthew12:31-32) – Importantly, this verse often is taken out of context. In this
passage Christ is directing His wrath towards the Jewish Pharisees. At Christ’s baptism, at the initiation of his
ministry, the Pharisees had rejected the witness given by the Holy Spirit when He
came down from heaven on our Savior.
to blaspheme the physical manifestation of Christ on earth is forgivable but to
reject God’s approval (signified by the Spirit) of his spiritual mission to
bring salvation to man is unforgivable, otherwise by rejecting the salvation
message.
Christians are not in view in this passage as we to have the Spirit’s sealing
until the day of our redemption, having accepted Christ as Savior (Ephesians1:13,14 and 4:30).
you for joining me today. Please join me again next week as we continue to
explore fascinating results from Teleios’ research.
Stewart
– The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is
encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and
thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree
with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve the
right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I
do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above.
By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an
unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.
Ways the Holy Spirit helps our Christian walk!
back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today.
recently surveyed the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives in 475 young
participants in visitors to the Instagram account, InstaPray. Wow, we received
some amazing answers! All the findings, as well as other research, are on our
website (www.teleiosresearch.com).
Spirit is a very important, yet controversial and often emotional, topic. However,
often people generally lack knowledge of what scripture teaches about the
Spirit. We are covering some pertinent topics over the Spirit, examining what
scripture alone says.
generally breakdown scriptures handling of the Spirit for the New Testament into three basic realms:
our Christian walk
to the Spirit.
examine the most common responses from our InstaPray participants regarding how
the Spirit helps in our Christian walk (please see table).
the Bible says:
The scripture states that the Spirit plays a vital and active role in believers’
lives, and can divided into two basic types:
constant roles not dependent on us:
glorifies Christ, and gives and teaches us the information our Savior has given
to him (John 16:13-14; 1 John 2:20,27)
learned last week that the Spirit indwells us completely until the day of our redemption
so we have full access to His power and help.
great truth indicates the Spirit prays on our behalf to God. What better source
of prayer could we have?
there are roles for which the Spirit assists us that are variable and depend upon
our obedience. Two passages are critical to understand the Spirit’s help for
us, Romans 8:13-16,26 and Ephesians 6:10-17:
Stops sin (V.13) – As we are obedient the Spirit helps
us put to death the deeds of the flesh.
Leads us (V.14) – Christians commonly believe this
biblical concept but we should understand how He leads. In short, the Spirit
use God’s word (please see below passage in Ephesians 6). Indeed, the Bible
often tells us to be people of knowledge and understanding, for example in
Paul’s prayers for us (Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:9).
We are God’s children (V.16) – The Spirit comforts us that
we belong to God and not to be anxious over our eternal security
magnificent armor of God passage is critical to understanding our Christian
walk because it instructs us how to access God’s power by describing a Greek
hoplite soldier and his armament. Often Christians wonder how they can know the
power of God. These great verses describe it! However, it is also important in
showing the role of the Spirit because His mighty actions are linked to each of
the pieces of armor in other scripture.
fruit of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:9) and prepares our mind to making proper
decisions and actions.
breastplate V.14) – A
fruit of the Spirit is a holy heart that is set apart to serve God and
perceives and rejects sin (Ephesians 5:9)
us to battle V.15) – By telling others the message of salvation we see the
power of God to change others and positively affect our society, which is
assisted by the Spirit (Romans 1:16-17; 2 Timothy 1:7; John 16:8-11).
fruit of the Spirit also is faith in which we make all decisions and God
desires from us (Galatians 5:22,23; Romans 14:23).
protects our heads as we face troubles in this world and its function is from
the Spirit (Romans 15:13).
– The power of God we experience in our Christian walk is through the action of
the Spirit in accordance to the Bible.
how the Spirit acts in our lives to cause us to please God and to experience
His power.
are our responsibilities are to the Spirit so He’s free to act in our lives as
described above. Join us again then. Thank you for visiting this week.
Stewart
is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting
and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to
disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve
the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous
or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy
stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting
me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
reserved.
What young Christians believe about the Holy Spirit
back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are exploring relevant
research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our
website (www.teleiosresearch.com).
recently examined the important role of the Holy Spirit in Christians’ lives in
visitors to the Instagram account, InstaPray. We had 475 participants, 68% were
adolescents (<18) as well as millennials (18-34), 78% evangelicals and 71%
female. Wow, we received some amazing answers!
Spirit is a very important yet controversial and often emotional topic. Opinions
vary widely about the role of the Spirit, from traditional orthodox to
charismatic beliefs. However, in all groups there is often a general lack of
knowledge of what scripture teaches. Let’s cover some pertinent topics over the
Spirit examining what scripture says and perhaps we can all better shape our own
thinking based on the truth of God.
generally breakdown scriptures handling of the Spirit for the New Testament
Church into three basic realms:
our Christian walk
to the Spirit
examine what our participants said regarding the Spirit and salvation (please
see table).
the Bible says:
Indeed, the Spirit in salvation in scripture is key. He performs the following
vital functions.
sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8) – This role is vital because left
to our own resources, as fallen man both physically and mentally, we would not
come to faith and salvation by our own reckoning (Romans 3:10-12). Therefore,
the Spirit is central to help unbelievers recognize their faults, coming
judgment and God’s demand for righteousness.
Ephesians 2:4-7; Colossians 2:12-13) – In the epistles the word ‘baptism’
signifies spiritual baptism which occurs at our salvation by the Spirit. The
actual meaning of the word baptism (βαπτιζω, baptizoo) is ‘to
identify with’. Therefore, the Spirit baptizes us by identifying us with
Christ’s death and resurrection.
our old person and resurrecting us to a new living person. ‘Regeneration’ and ‘born
again’ are other concepts in Scripture signifying this important event (Titus3:5; John 3:3). These wonderful verses demonstrate to us the profound
importance of the resurrection because there is no eternal life without the resurrection
and regeneration (1 Corinthians 15:13-19).
water baptism may symbolize) gives us surety for our great salvation as a new
creature that cannot be slain and re-created our old dead self.
2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14) – This great promise indicates that each
of us has the Holy Spirit from our time of belief in salvation until the day we
die and go to be with God. Indeed, one of the definitions of a Christian is
that we have the Holy Spirit for we if do not have it we are not yet a believer
(Romans 8:9).
church (1Corinthians 12:13) – The spirit graciously has placed us at salvation into the
universal church of Christ for which he is the head.
can see, the Spirit is integral in bringing us to Salvation, completing salvation
and bringing us to our eternal life. What a fantastic blessing that we have
such a gift from God as the Holy Spirit.
join us next week as we continue the scriptural discussion of what the Spirit
does for us. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope it is an assistance to you.
Stewart
is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting
and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to
disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve
the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous
or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy
stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting
me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
reserved.
