Are Negative thoughts Sin?

[Runmyramble]

Grace Road Church?

I listened to a young man talk about about Paul Washer..

Saying something to these likings
That the negative thought was the same as doing it.

So He was saying in likeness, you can get rid of all negative thoughts...

But if negative thoughts come to your mind...All I can see is to cast them out.
But he seems to be saying they should never come.

Where does scripture ever say negative thought would stop coming to the mind?

And if people who are negative come with negative thoughts how do you rid people from bringing them when they brought them.

He used Enoch and Elijah as those who reached that point...but does scripture say they never had negative thoughts come into their mind because they were taken up?

Does a person who overcomes the works of the devil......never have negative thoughts enter their mind again?

Or does He overcome the thoughts because He has cast them out?

In my opinion to overcome thoughts means you do not heed to them...

Why then does the scripture speak about a table in the presence of your enemies...If the enemy is to never come after you?

Why is it that we be careful we think we stand are we may fall?

 

[for_his_glory]

Negative thoughts are just that, thoughts. We can not control what pops in our mind, but we can control what we do with those thoughts as in either taking action on them, or just ignoring them. Sinful thoughts are not sin unless one acts on them and they become sin in their life. The mind is Satan's playground and we need to learn to guard it.

 

[hawkman]

Or does He overcome the thoughts because He has cast them out?

In my opinion to overcome thoughts means you do not heed to them...

Words from another Paul , verse 5 is key !

2 Corinthians 10​

1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 

[Edward]

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he...

Anyone can have a negative thought, but what do you do with the thought? Cast it down? Or do you consider it? Do you entertain the thought? Do you dwell on it.

Having a negative thought is not sin. A negative thought can become sin if you entertain the thought and dwell on it. Dwelling on negative thoughts or lust or whatever allows it to go into your heart and become part of who you are.

In that way, would the man who looks upon a woman with lust and continues to think about it will in fact become guilty of Adultrey in their heart. It would be the same way with any evil thought about anything.

How do we stop negative thoughts from coming to us at all? Good question.

By totally immersing oneself in the word of God and meditating upon it. Then the word of God fills your heart and becomes who you are. Your heart will overflow with the word of God and what runs over and out of your heart is the sin within it. Purged out.

So don't feed your mind ungodly thoughts.

 

[Tenchi]

Grace Road Church?

I listened to a young man talk about about Paul Washer..

I got a to the 5-1/2 minute mark of the video and had to stop listening to the young fellow holding forth on God's word for a bit. He had so many errors in his thinking and handling of Scripture that it was making me cringe and wince. Yikes.

Saying something to these likings
That the negative thought was the same as doing it.

So He was saying in likeness, you can get rid of all negative thoughts...

But if negative thoughts come to your mind...All I can see is to cast them out.
But he seems to be saying they should never come.

If sinful thoughts should never come to a Christian's mind, what, then, of Paul's words to believers in 2 Corinthians 10?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

If sinful thoughts should never enter a believer's mind, why does Paul command believers to take every thought captive? Paul also instructs the Philippians Christians concerning their thought-life this way:

Philippians 4:6-8
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Why would Paul have to tell Christians to be "anxious for nothing" if no sinful thought ever enters their mind? Why would the peace of God need to "guard the hearts and minds" of the Christians at Philippi if their hearts and minds were without a single wayward, unholy thought? Why would Paul have to tell these same Christians what to think about if their thinking was completely ordered and controlled by God? Obviously, it is not the case that Christians never have thoughts that are wrong. Every temptation a person faces, they face first in their thinking and so, if such thinking is not possible for a Christian, why are there so many commands in Scripture to born-again Christians to resist temptation, to forsake the lure of the World, the Flesh and the devil?

James 1:12-14
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted of God": for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Romans 6:12-13
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Matthew 26:41
41 "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Romans 7:14-25
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

And so on.

The young man in the video is, I strongly suspect, a Seventh-Day Adventist, which is a cult that, among other things, denies the deity of Christ. According to SDA folk, Jesus is the first among created beings, but not co-equal with God the Father. This is exactly what the young fellow in the video asserted. In light of this denial of the deity of Christ, you ought to dismiss everything else he has to say about Christian doctrine which he badly contorts in several places, as you'd expect from a member of a cult.

 

[for_his_glory]

2Cor 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Cor 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Cor 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

 

[jaybo]

2Cor 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Cor 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Cor 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6, NRSVue, "Indeed, we live as humans but do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete."

 

[Free]

Grace Road Church?

I listened to a young man talk about about Paul Washer..

Saying something to these likings
That the negative thought was the same as doing it.

So He was saying in likeness, you can get rid of all negative thoughts...

But if negative thoughts come to your mind...All I can see is to cast them out.
But he seems to be saying they should never come.

Where does scripture ever say negative thought would stop coming to the mind?

And if people who are negative come with negative thoughts how do you rid people from bringing them when they brought them.

He used Enoch and Elijah as those who reached that point...but does scripture say they never had negative thoughts come into their mind because they were taken up?

Does a person who overcomes the works of the devil......never have negative thoughts enter their mind again?

Or does He overcome the thoughts because He has cast them out?

In my opinion to overcome thoughts means you do not heed to them...

Why then does the scripture speak about a table in the presence of your enemies...If the enemy is to never come after you?

Why is it that we be careful we think we stand are we may fall?

He understands neither what Paul Washer nor the Bible is saying, even denying that Jesus is God (7:27). Paul Washer is a good, solid teacher.

Wow! He is even saying the reverend Okjoo Shin (see below) is the "Another Helper" (lol) promised by Jesus to guide us into the truth (about 9:36-10:36). Utter blasphemy.

This is a sketchy cult church:

"Reverend Okjoo Shin is the true servant of God, who has been proclaiming the voice of the Spirit of Truth since 2008. She interprets the breadth, length, height, and depth(Eph 3:18) of the will of God by discerning spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (1 Cor 2:13) that no Bible scholars, Hebrew and Greek experts, and theologians dared to solve. She was the only one to state that the mysteries of the kingdom of God can only be revealed by interpreting the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation as one whole. Reverend Shin has been shedding light on the lies that differ from the Bible, which have been rampant even 2000 years after Jesus Christ died on the cross, resurrected and ascended to heaven. She is the one who has taken action to carry out the perfect biblical reformation (Heb 9:10)."

https://gr-church.org/about-en/our-reverend/

 

[Runmyramble]

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he...

Anyone can have a negative thought, but what do you do with the thought? Cast it down? Or do you consider it? Do you entertain the thought? Do you dwell on it.

Having a negative thought is not sin. A negative thought can become sin if you entertain the thought and dwell on it. Dwelling on negative thoughts or lust or whatever allows it to go into your heart and become part of who you are.

In that way, would the man who looks upon a woman with lust and continues to think about it will in fact become guilty of Adultrey in their heart. It would be the same way with any evil thought about anything.

How do we stop negative thoughts from coming to us at all? Good question.

By totally immersing oneself in the word of God and meditating upon it. Then the word of God fills your heart and becomes who you are. Your heart will overflow with the word of God and what runs over and out of your heart is the sin within it. Purged out.

So don't feed your mind ungodly thoughts.

So you agree with their statements that negative thoughts will not come into your mind and unto you? Well you can focus on the word but people will come to you with negative thoughts and even be negative. SO THE THOUGHTS HAVE COME UNTO YOU....I AM NOT SURE I AGREE...FOR I DO NOT BELIEVE I FOCUS ON NEGATIVETY YET IT COMES...

 

[Runmyramble]

I got a to the 5-1/2 minute mark of the video and had to stop listening to the young fellow holding forth on God's word for a bit. He had so many errors in his thinking and handling of Scripture that it was making me cringe and wince. Yikes.



If sinful thoughts should never come to a Christian's mind, what, then, of Paul's words to believers in 2 Corinthians 10?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

If sinful thoughts should never enter a believer's mind, why does Paul command believers to take every thought captive? Paul also instructs the Philippians Christians concerning their thought-life this way:

Philippians 4:6-8
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Why would Paul have to tell Christians to be "anxious for nothing" if no sinful thought ever enters their mind? Why would the peace of God need to "guard the hearts and minds" of the Christians at Philippi if their hearts and minds were without a single wayward, unholy thought? Why would Paul have to tell these same Christians what to think about if their thinking was completely ordered and controlled by God? Obviously, it is not the case that Christians never have thoughts that are wrong. Every temptation a person faces, they face first in their thinking and so, if such thinking is not possible for a Christian, why are there so many commands in Scripture to born-again Christians to resist temptation, to forsake the lure of the World, the Flesh and the devil?

James 1:12-14
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted of God": for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Romans 6:12-13
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Matthew 26:41
41 "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Romans 7:14-25
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

And so on.

The young man in the video is, I strongly suspect, a Seventh-Day Adventist, which is a cult that, among other things, denies the deity of Christ. According to SDA folk, Jesus is the first among created beings, but not co-equal with God the Father. This is exactly what the young fellow in the video asserted. In light of this denial of the deity of Christ, you ought to dismiss everything else he has to say about Christian doctrine which he badly contorts in several places, as you'd expect from a member of a cult.

Tks for sharing, I do not believe He is 7th Day, more so I wanted to challenge his statement..in which you did..

He is saying if Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil then one should not have Negative thoughts including murder in the heart......

Murder in the heart then is a sin....
Because if you could do it and get away with it you would...

But is that true? Something could be in the heart but quickly casted out.

So to me then the sin might be to be carried away by it in the heart with intent to follow......

It seems like desires that drag us away and trap us is the sin.

When Jesus said to God, and don't quote me on the wording...if you can remove this cup from me, but then if it be your will let it be done. He certainly had a thought....and a thought that was not the will of God. BUT JESUS OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T SIN.

So then is that passage...."Tempted by our own desires....." mean that all negative thoughts come from our desires?

If so then our desires WOULD be the issue.
Our desires would then have to align with God's will. But in Jesus situation did his?
And I believe His did when He said but not my will your will. But it more sounds He turned His Will over.....

Not that He did not have a Will. I do not know how will relates to desire...but that can be looked up.

 

[Who Me]

Elijah as those who reached that point

Elijah suffered sever negative thoughts, read about him, he ran off into the desert after his contest on mt carmel.

The speaker does not know his bible, ignore him.

 

[Edward]

So you agree with their statements that negative thoughts will not come into your mind and unto you? Well you can focus on the word but people will come to you with negative thoughts and even be negative. SO THE THOUGHTS HAVE COME UNTO YOU....I AM NOT SURE I AGREE...FOR I DO NOT BELIEVE I FOCUS ON NEGATIVETY YET IT COMES...

What I was saying is that, if you absolutely overflow your mind with the word of God, spending much time in it by thinking it, reading it, praying it, eating it and living it, that there will not be room for negative thoughts in your mind.

That is the awesome thing about God's word. it will bring you closer to God. And when we draw closer to God, then God draws closer to us. When that happens graces are increased so evil seeds introduced into our thought stream are quickly recognized and rejected. Sort've like a quick draw, lol. How fast can you give it to the Lord? And then evil thoughts can not stay long.

Even though we are born again we have not yet been perfected and we do live in an evil world in a fleshbody so, yes, bad thoughts will come to us until we leave this flesh body. So I was speaking rather loosely by saying they wont, but in a practical sense, God is with us and so these thoughts will be instantly recognized by our conscience and rejected or given to the Lord so they are not in our thought stream long enough to do any damage.

The key is to remember Peter. When he was getting out of that boat to walk on the water, you bet he had his eyes on Jesus! It was only when he took his eyes off of Jesus to look upon the rough seas that he began sinking. Help!

I hear about so many people even Christians that are tormented by a porn addiction. I've never had a problem with porn. Want to stop being addicted to porn? Stop watching it 14 hours a day! Stop thinking about it. These things leave a residue in the mind and have a half life. That's why you wake up with the song in your mind that you listened to last night. So to paint over that residue with spiritual-Kilz (Lol), try spending 14 hours in the word instead!

The ones who embrace the bad thoughts are making the choice to do so. To use the time thinking on whatever evil you would is essentially turning your back on the Lord at that time. There are consequences for that. You lose the flow of graces and spiritual protections one normally gets when seeking and abiding.You begin to sink, just ask Peter, he'll tell you.

 

[D-D-W]

There have been a lot of great points already made. But I would like to add another perspective. Many define "sin" too narrowly. They think it is ONLY about willful open disobedience to God and His commands. It is a lot more than just that. Paul here is talking about something as common and mundane as eating food:

Romans 14:23
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Emphasis mine. Are "negative thoughts" a product of Faith in God? No. Faith comes from hearing the spoken Word of God. (Romans 10:17) The word for "word" in that verse is rhema - a spoken word as opposed to it being written or read. In Hebrews, the author 3 times quotes Psalm 95: "Today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart ..." So if and when God speaks to us we have 2 choices: respond in the positive which produces faith, or respond in the negative (including ignoring it) which produces a hardened heart.

Negative thoughts are NOT a product from hearing God and responding positively. So yes, they are sinful.

On another note, the definitions of the main Biblical words translated "sin" are archery terms: both Chatah (OT Strongs H2398) and Hamartia (NT Strongs G266) at their root mean to aim at the target but miss the bulls eye. "... all have sinned and fall short ..."

So if what you think or do falls short of God's will and glory, it is sinful.

 

[Edward]

So if what you think or do falls short of God's will and glory, it is sinful.

The Lord does not expect us to be perfect. He does expect us to stand up again and return to Him in repentance when we do stumble and fall.

You're right though. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Whatever is of faith will glorify God. The Lord calls the earth His University, but I have been known to call it a Carnival of Horrors where every fun house brings death. That muct be why the Lord told us to not look at the world, but only to look at Him. But we are also charged with a commission to save some souls for the Lord! So we have to wade through the world to even have a chance at helping bring a soul to the Lord. Pretty fun, Huh?!

Today is a day that the Lord has made, so I rejoice and am glad in it.
Now I wonder what funhouse awaits me today?

 

[Tenchi]

The ones who embrace the bad thoughts are making the choice to do so. To use the time thinking on whatever evil you would is essentially turning your back on the Lord at that time. There are consequences for that. You lose the flow of graces and spiritual protections one normally gets when seeking and abiding.You begin to sink, just ask Peter, he'll tell you.

A person can be motivated to forsake evil out of a fear of painful consequences, or they can be moved to abandon wickedness out of a positive motive which, in the case of the Christian, is their love of God. In fact, Paul wrote that no matter what a Christian says, or knows, or does, if the motive for these things isn't love, first for God and then for others, it is all useless spiritually.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Paul's words here are in full accord with Christ's teaching:

Matthew 22:35-38
35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.

Christian living springs out of a love for God; love is the necessary predicate of the believer's obedience to God. Acting in moral ways, in obedience to God, from a motive of fear of painful consequences, is contrary to the Scripture above. Such fear is Self-focused, not Christ-centered, rising from self-preservation, rather than a deep desire (love) for God. Fear-motivated obedience is a kind of selfishness and serves, therefore, to corrupt rather than strengthen a believer's fellowship with God.

1 John 4:16-19
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.

 

[jaybo]

A person can be motivated to forsake evil out of a fear of painful consequences, or they can be moved to abandon wickedness out of a positive motive which, in the case of the Christian, is their love of God. In fact, Paul wrote that no matter what a Christian says, or knows, or does, if the motive for these things isn't love, first for God and then for others, it is all useless spiritually.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Paul's words here are in full accord with Christ's teaching:

Matthew 22:35-38
35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.

Christian living springs out of a love for God; love is the necessary predicate of the believer's obedience to God. Acting in moral ways, in obedience to God, from a motive of fear of painful consequences, is contrary to the Scripture above. Such fear is Self-focused, not Christ-centered, rising from self-preservation, rather than a deep desire (love) for God. Fear-motivated obedience is a kind of selfishness and serves, therefore, to corrupt rather than strengthen a believer's fellowship with God.

1 John 4:16-19
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.

Great post!

 

[Edward]

Christian living springs out of a love for God; love is the necessary predicate of the believer's obedience to God. Acting in moral ways, in obedience to God, from a motive of fear of painful consequences, is contrary to the Scripture above. Such fear is Self-focused, not Christ-centered, rising from self-preservation, rather than a deep desire (love) for God. Fear-motivated obedience is a kind of selfishness and serves, therefore, to corrupt rather than strengthen a believer's fellowship with God.

I'll buy that. WHile it is true that the beginning of wisdom is fear of the one who can destroy both body and soul, it's sort of Kidnergardner level and in 1st grade we begin to learn about God loving us and we learning to love God and our neighbor. And the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear at all so the presence of the spirit of fear would indeed be corruptive in nature towards our faith.

As I understand it, our good deeds on earth are our spiritual garments in heaven. It's been said that the Lord rewards obediance, and that every dollar that we help the poor with on earth is multiplied to our account 100 fold in heaven on our account. SO no wonder He told us to build up our treasures in heaven. The best part of it is the feeling of peace and satisfaction in our heart that we were able to help someone in need. And that's what the Lord wants us to do, walk in love.

 

[Dorothy Mae]

Grace Road Church?

I listened to a young man talk about about Paul Washer..

Saying something to these likings
That the negative thought was the same as doing it.

So He was saying in likeness, you can get rid of all negative thoughts...

But if negative thoughts come to your mind...All I can see is to cast them out.
But he seems to be saying they should never come.

Where does scripture ever say negative thought would stop coming to the mind?

And if people who are negative come with negative thoughts how do you rid people from bringing them when they brought them.

He used Enoch and Elijah as those who reached that point...but does scripture say they never had negative thoughts come into their mind because they were taken up?

Does a person who overcomes the works of the devil......never have negative thoughts enter their mind again?

Or does He overcome the thoughts because He has cast them out?

In my opinion to overcome thoughts means you do not heed to them...

Why then does the scripture speak about a table in the presence of your enemies...If the enemy is to never come after you?

Why is it that we be careful we think we stand are we may fall?

Negative thoughts are not necessarily sinful. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, that is a pretty strongly negative thought. Jesus had plenty of negative words let alone negative thoughts.

Unholy thoughts you either think or RECEIVE are wrong. Now it needs to be clear that the ENEMY puts thoughts into us and we need to rebuke them same as Jesus rebuked Peter for suggesting something different than God’s plan. Those thoughts are not ours.

But holy is the standard, not negative. Jesus was, in a sense one negative dude, but he was every inch holy. There’s a difference.

 

[Tenchi]

I'll buy that. WHile it is true that the beginning of wisdom is fear of the one who can destroy both body and soul, it's sort of Kidnergardner level and in 1st grade we begin to learn about God loving us and we learning to love God and our neighbor.

When Christ spoke of fearing Him who is able to cast both body and soul into hell, he was speaking to spiritually-unregenerate people, not to saved folk. No such fear exists for one who has been saved. It is from such fear, in part, that they have been saved, which is what the apostle John points out:

1 John 4:16-17
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

No one who "abides in God's love," who is saved, need fear the Day of Judgment when God will cast the unrepentant wicked, body and soul, into hell. Instead, the born-again child of God may stand confident on that Day, knowing that God abides in him/her in the Person of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13; Romans 8:9-14; Titus 3:5-8, John 14:16-17), having adopted them into His family for Christ's sake.

And the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear at all so the presence of the spirit of fear would indeed be corruptive in nature towards our faith.

Amen! 2 Timothy 1:9.

As I understand it, our good deeds on earth are our spiritual garments in heaven. It's been said that the Lord rewards obediance, and that every dollar that we help the poor with on earth is multiplied to our account 100 fold in heaven on our account.

I'm not sure where you get all this from... God said to Abraham that He was Abraham's "exceeding great reward." Everything is downhill from God, lesser, inferior, to Him. When God gives to us Himself, we have the greatest possession in all of Creation. Thoughts of a "heavenly account," then, seem odd to me, appealing to a desire for material gain, as though God alone is not sufficient reward for our service to Him on earth.

The best part of it is the feeling of peace and satisfaction in our heart that we were able to help someone in need. And that's what the Lord wants us to do, walk in love.

It is a joy, and a very satisfying thing, to serve others in love, being the hands and heart of God to them, isn't it? But the best part of this service, for me, is the knowledge that God has used me to communicate Himself to others. Now that really rocks my socks!

 

[D-D-W]

The Lord does not expect us to be perfect. He does expect us to stand up again and return to Him in repentance when we do stumble and fall.

Indeed. But remember, our lack of perfection is in itself sin.

There are 3 things that commonly get lumped together by most christians:

sin - aiming at obedience but missing it.
transgression - intentional disobedience
iniquity - the transgenerational effects of sins and transgressions