| Author | Message | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 73 Registered: 7-2007 |
I've learned more about the Holy Spirit since leaving the Seventh-day Adventist church then I've ever known before. I still have lots to learn! Galatians 5:16 says to "walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" and Romans 8:9 says that if anyone "does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." I'm thinking that people who have a false Jesus (like the false churches have), couldn't have the Holy Spirit, so how can they be saved? "...there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts. 4:12) River, you mentioned an aquaintance who "bothered" children. Also I've heard on the news about clergy who did the same thing. Such people certainly don't have the Holy Spirit! I think the devil tries every way he can, including starting up lots of false churches, to destroy people. (And concerning those "bothered" children; I think the Spiritual consequences far outweigh the heavy emotional consequences, because in a young child's mind, parents and clergy stand in the place of God.) Dianne | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 1157 Registered: 9-2006  |
Dianne, I want to give you my understanding of this, take a look at this. John I 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. John I 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. John I 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. John I 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. In the way of illustration to this which I have used before. Back when I was a little boy my uncles used to gather up the dogs in the fall to go coon hunting in the thick forested hill’s of Arkansas. Naturally me being the youngest it was the high point of my life to going tearing off thru those woods with those dogs and real guns. So after swearing up and down to them that I would be able to keep up, off we went about sun down. We would carry one Kerosene lantern, one of my uncles leading would carry that lantern and it was dark as a dungeon in those woods after dark. So I would try to position myself right behind whichever uncles had that lantern, I was fairly afraid of the dark. But as we climbed thru those steep hills I would grow tired and my short legs would begin to fail me and I would fall behind and out of the light of that lantern, I would trash around in the brush, run into limbs and by the time I cought up to my uncles I would be a mess, all scratched and bruised up and wishing I was back home safe. But my uncles foot would never falter, he would stop and listen for the dogs and then go on, he knew what it was about and where he was, I was totally lost. It is that way with walking in the light of the Spirit, we grow tired soon and we begin to look around and our footsteps falter and we get out of the light and then we get scratched up, bruised and tattered by this world and the sin in it, so we run to catch up to Jesus our blessed redeemer. We are not to judge those people for it may be us that gets out of the light next. If we walk in the light as he is in the light we are well, unfortunately we lag behind, so we get in and out of that light and that is when we get all bruised up dirty and bleeding. When I would go stumbling around and get in too big of a mess one of my uncles would pick me up and carry me on his broad shoulders for awhile, then after a while he would set me back down and say “there now” and it made me feel better because he cared. That is sort of like it is with Jesus, he sometimes just picks us up and carries us. If I could just walk in the Spirit, walk in the light as he is in the light, it would be great, but I don’t and so I get bruised, scratched up, worn-out, tattered and torn by the sins that so easily beset me while living in this flesh. Oh, my Spirit is all too willing, but the flesh is all too weak. So before we pass judgment on those that do awful things we best ask ourselves what we are subject to falling into. We are just big children and we are subject to falter, some just more than others. So, I believe it was Paul who said “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh” he knew he we would not always do that. So those that are walking in the Spirit pray for those who falter. That is my understanding of walking in the Spirit. River | ||
| Luzisbornagain Registered user Username: Luzisbornagain Post Number: 66 Registered: 7-2007 |
amen to that River. Just recently I was talking the Lord and realized that sometimes I'm unmerciful to my neighbor and judge them but then the very thing I judged them for I end up doing, too and realize that I should be merciful and look at myself anfd realize my weaknesses and what I might do and fall for before I look at others. It's pretty humbling. If not in the Spirit, I wouldn't notice that about myself or just brush it off and act self-rightous, which is frut of the flesh. | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 4050 Registered: 3-2004  |
"So before we pass judgment on those that do awful things we best ask ourselves what we are subject to falling into. We are just big children and we are subject to falter, some just more than others. So, I believe it was Paul who said “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh” he knew we would not always do that. So those that are walking in the Spirit pray for those who falter. That is my understanding of walking in the Spirit." River, You are not perfect right now???  We are humans and subject to human failings. That is why we have the Spirit and why Jesus died for us. Thanks River. Diana | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 6397 Registered: 12-2003  |
River, that is a wonderful picture of life in the Spirit. Thank you for sharing your insight, and praise God He has sent you to help us see in ways we haven't previously seen. Colleen | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 74 Registered: 7-2007 |
The pastor at the church I've been going to, says that "walking in the Spirit" is "practice, practice" but I'm still too new at this to really understand it very well. I don't feel I was really a Christian until after I left the SDA church. I know that we can't do any good ourselves, only that God does good in and through us. That's why we can't take credit for anything "good" that we do, like leading another to the Lord, etc. I also know that we have to lean on Him entirely because, of ourselves we can do nothing. The "power" comes from the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. He's the One Who carries us. Anyway, that's about all I know, so far. Thank-you for your illustration of how God carries us, River. That was good. Dianne P.S. Matthew 7:16 does say that we "will know them by their fruits" though. | ||
| Jeremy Registered user Username: Jeremy Post Number: 1982 Registered: 10-2004  |
Dianne, I thought I would point out that, in context, Matthew 7:16 is talking about false prophets, and that we will know them by their fruits. That text seems to get taken out of context a lot. I agree with you that those who have not trusted in the real Jesus, and Him alone, to save them, are not saved. Indeed, it is very dangerous to be in a false church, which has a false Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel. Even people who have been eternally saved are susceptible to being deceived and falling into acceptance (or at least tolerance) of such things:
Jeremy (Message edited by Jeremy on July 26, 2007) | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 78 Registered: 7-2007 |
Hi Jeremy, I have here a large dictionary and I looked up the word "prophecy." That word doesn't just mean telling the future. One of the meanings is "to give instruction in religious matters : preach" so anybody who preaches false doctrines are false prophets. Hi River, I know that none of us can say we're sinless. We all fall into sin and the Lord picks us up. I'm just saying that if someone deliberately does something evil over and over again, they don't have the Spirit. The apostle Paul (Corinthians 5) got quite upset with the Corinthian church for "putting up" with a man who was living in sin. I know of a man who lives in this area who was "bothered" by a priest when he was an alter boy many years ago. (He's nearly 60 years old now.) He's an athiest and full of anger and hatred toward God. If that priest would have known his Bible better he might have been alarmed by a text - or rather three texts; Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Dianne | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 1164 Registered: 9-2006 |
Hi Dianne, Forgive my rambling on there in that post and possibly causing misunderstanding in doing so. I will try to clarify. There are priest and preachers who probably aren,t saved in the first place. I know what you mean about not having Gods spirit in the first place. One thing I would like to point out is that one not ever having the Spirit in the first place cannot walk in the Spirit he never had to walk in. Then there are those, myself included, who have the spirit and has not always walked in the Spirit but in and out of the light as I indicated. So what I referred to is one who has been born of the Spirit but fails to walk in the Spirit. When we do not walk in the Spirit we begin to fulfill the lust of the flesh and we are capable of committing grave offences and even repetition of them. So to finalize, I was talking about what I understood you to be talking about, what I was not doing was rebuking you of passing judgment or rebuking you any other way for that matter. I am still somewhat confused by your post, there seems to me more than one line of thought. At any rate none of my post was in rebuke or correction or even in agreement with you. I just wanted to tell my understanding of walking in the Spirit Dianne I suppose I wanted to expound on this because of the Pentecostals penchant for demanding perfection from it’s congregation in some instances and by the time they get done it leaves a poor bloke in hopeless confusion about his salvation. They also believe once a person is saved that he is subject to be lost, so they end up getting saved one day and lost the next. So Dianne, maybe I was taking my frustration out on this forum, the Adventist IJ has the same effect on me. It frustrates me. Please forgive for any misunderstanding I may have caused. The problem with this mode of communication is that what’s intended is not always what folks read but we seem to get by in spite of that. River | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 86 Registered: 7-2007 |
Now I'm confused, but that's okay I was just refering to people who profess Christianity but who aren't Christians. Mainly I was refering to people in false churches who don't have the Holy Spirit. Actually, though, in a country like ours where it's so easy to be a Christian, a person could claim to be a Christian without being one - while going to a Bible believing church! I was remembering something you said about someone you knew of who was doing bad things - who kept on doing those things. That was on a thread, a few threads back. You're mentioning of that person reminded me of a person in this area. None of us are perfect. We're all sinners. I wasn't refering to us who ARE Christians. I was refering to those who either have the wrong Jesus or who just plain don't care to follow Jesus(though they claim to be Christians.) Anyway, I hope I've explained myself now. (Let me know if I haven't and I'll try to clear it up.) Dianne | ||
| Asurprise Registered user Username: Asurprise Post Number: 88 Registered: 7-2007 |
I consider myself pretty new at being a Christian because during those over 51 years of being an Adventist, I was in a false church with a false Jesus. Though I thought I was a Christian I really wasn't and I didn't know the Lord very well (it was like He was obscured by a cloud or something), and I had doubts as to my salvation. Looking back, I feel that the Lord was watching out for me and patiently waiting for the time when He would bring me out of Adventism. Now I'm learning all sorts of new things about God and the Holy Spirit. I'm learning to "walk in the Spirit" myself, though much prayer, Bible study and looking to Him. Anyway, let me know if this clears this up, River. Well, I'll "see" you-all after the week-end Dianne | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 1169 Registered: 9-2006 |
I think we pretty well cleared it all up. River |
