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Papa-san -> RE: Be Holy? (5/4/2008 11:58:20 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: CropDuster Nonetheless, it prevailed, thanks in large part to Martin Luther, and continues to plague Christianity today. Unfortunately one of the most destructive plagues upon Christianity is the RCC. More doctrines that require works to be saved have been created by them than anyone else. We cannot even be a part of this equation, as only a priest can go to Christ with our sins... We are not 'holy' enough to go to Him ourselves, so the priest takes our confession, and then in his 'increased level of holiness', he then goes to God. I wonder how many people confessed to the child-molesters... What happens to all those confessions? Obviously the priest wasn't very 'holy'. We know for sure that they didn't get caught with their pants down on day one of their 'dalliances'. Some of them had their 'little secrets' for decades. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of confessions were made to practicing pedophiles. What happens to all those confessions? Obviously a flawed system. Certainly nothing Christ would have instituted... Which leads us to the discussion at hand... None of us are perfect. If any claims to be without sin, he/she is a liar. This is why the blood of Christ covers all who call upon Him. Some of us come from a life that was so totally depraved and evil, that after ten years of the work of the Holy Spirit, we are still struggling with certain sins that had become a big part of our daily lives. Does this mean that we are not covered with His blood? RC would have us believe so. Fortunately the God of Grace has a plan of salvation for all who call upon Him. Being that He is such an awesomely great and powerful God, He has the power to actually 'customize' His work in every single believer in a one-on-one situation. I cannot count the years I struggled with the distinct possibility that I must not be saved because of the things I was doing and thinking every day. Go figure... That stress made me fall deeply into some of my worst sins very frequently. So now, how do I know that the Holy Spirit is working in me? By my fruit! Am I completely free of the bondage of alcohol? No, I am not. But the Spirit helps me to live weeks and months at a time without being drunk from 8 AM until whenever I passed out! Believe it or not, that IS proof of His work within me. (For seven years, the guilt that I must not really be saved because I would still drink every once in a while drove me to go on benders for weeks and months.) You go tell a fish that he cannot have water ever again, and you will understand what happens when you tell a true alkie he cannot drink ever again... My brain sends me the same signals telling me it needs alcohol that your brain sends telling you that you need air... Once you have overcome your need, come talk to me. The brain signals and chemicals are IDENTICAL. By definition, if I had any control in the matter, I wouldn't be an alcoholic. Once I came to see the truth that every time I picked up a drink didn't prove I was unsaved, I was suddenly drinking in a different manner. Now, when the brain signals get to be too much (after a few weeks or months) I willingly allow myself to have a couple. This is done prayerfully and results in a taming of the beast so that I can live comfortably without it for another extended period. I don't try to hide it shamefully, so the Spirit doesn't have to be forced to 'shut up' anymore. You cannot imagine the relief this has brought, nor the exponential increase in my usefulness to the Kingdom! Basically, as soon as I grew spiritually beyond the infantile mentality of "100% one way or 100% the other is all there is!", I became able to function in society and be useful to God. Go figure! Every single person's relationship with Jesus is 100% customized by Him! That's because it IS a relationship, not a set of rules... The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can become fully useful to Him. Until then, we limit our usefulness as far as our prejudices limit His working within us. This is why I am so 'un-useful' in dealing with Catholics. I am prejudiced against their false practices, beliefs, and heirarchy. However, His Spirit continues to work within me, and I have begun to see that their blindness is really no different than mine was as a drunk... In summation, I believe that the reason we are told not to judge unrighteously is because when we do so, we limit His potential to work through us. When someone sees me after a couple of drinks, they can either judge me as being unsaved, or they can realize that at least that on that day, the love of Christ and the Spirit of God have kept me from using six different drugs, stealing thousands of dollars, and sleeping with four different women... Be careful whom you accuse of not being saved... You might just have to answer for that before the Throne... You just worry about how Holy you are, Me and Jesus will take care of my Holiness! Enjoy your day!
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