What's new
By:
Filters
Christian Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Chew That Cud!

A

Alabaster

Guest
Psalm 1:1-2 NLT
Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the LORD,
meditating on it day and night.


The fruit of righteousness is indeed joy—the joy of living! As Children of the Most High God, we must put aside our former associations, and choose to follow after righteousness. Emulating those people we know who are Godly is a benefit to us.

Hanging with the unsaved and those who deride and mock believers will only serve to hinder our spiritual growth and knock us off kilter in our spiritual direction. This is one of the very first acts that God often asks of us when we first come to Him for salvation: “Break free from your former associations.†Sometimes it’s a struggle, because they are people we love. Other times it is a natural release to God out of devotion and trust! God surely loves the latter! His heart is blessed by the obedient babe!

Getting into the Word of God is food for the spirit! It’s communion with our Father! Just as a baby suckles at his mother’s breast and finds satisfaction and happiness, so shall we, when we feed hungrily on God’s Word! As the nursing mother receives much joy in nursing her infant, so God is joyous when His children are nourished by His goodness!

Meditating is an important aspect of devoting time to God. Daily we must continually ruminate on the words of scripture. To ruminate is to do what “ruminants†do: chew cud.
cow.gif
A cow has numerous stomachs, so that she can digest and redigest her food, and her body can squeeze every last bit of goodness out of her diet for optimum health.

Let’s chew on God’s Word for spiritual health. Memorize it, so that it becomes part of our very fabric, just as all the nutrition of the pasture grass becomes one with the body of a grazing animal.

Let’s delight in our Father, who blesses us with such great joy!



NEW
11/19/07
 
Alabaster said:
Psalm 1:1-2 NLT
Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the LORD,
meditating on it day and night.


The fruit of righteousness is indeed joy—the joy of living! As Children of the Most High God, we must put aside our former associations, and choose to follow after righteousness. Emulating those people we know who are Godly is a benefit to us.

Hanging with the unsaved and those who deride and mock believers will only serve to hinder our spiritual growth and knock us off kilter in our spiritual direction. This is one of the very first acts that God often asks of us when we first come to Him for salvation: “Break free from your former associations.†Sometimes it’s a struggle, because they are people we love. Other times it is a natural release to God out of devotion and trust! God surely loves the latter! His heart is blessed by the obedient babe!

Getting into the Word of God is food for the spirit! It’s communion with our Father! Just as a baby suckles at his mother’s breast and finds satisfaction and happiness, so shall we, when we feed hungrily on God’s Word! As the nursing mother receives much joy in nursing her infant, so God is joyous when His children are nourished by His goodness!

Meditating is an important aspect of devoting time to God. Daily we must continually ruminate on the words of scripture. To ruminate is to do what “ruminants†do: chew cud.
cow.gif
A cow has numerous stomachs, so that she can digest and redigest her food, and her body can squeeze every last bit of goodness out of her diet for optimum health.

Let’s chew on God’s Word for spiritual health. Memorize it, so that it becomes part of our very fabric, just as all the nutrition of the pasture grass becomes one with the body of a grazing animal.

Let’s delight in our Father, who blesses us with such great joy!



NEW
11/19/07
Click to expand...


Nice thread


but did Jesus associate with sinners

wasn't everyone except him in the Bible a sinner?
 
The passage teaches not that we avoid sinners, but that we do not hang with them as our main sources of friendship and fellowship, which would lend to compromise of our faith at some point.
 
Alabaster said:
The passage teaches not that we avoid sinners, but that we do not hang with them as our main sources of friendship and fellowship, which would lend to compromise of our faith at some point.
Click to expand...

Uhm...I think you're talking about those who practice lawlessness. Who fail to recognise their own sin.

The point Oatsy is making is that everyone is a sinner, even you Duckie, so its impossible to avoid them.
 
Strangelove said:
Uhm...I think you're talking about those who practice lawlessness. Who fail to recognise their own sin.

The point Oatsy is making is that everyone is a sinner, even you Duckie, so its impossible to avoid them.
Click to expand...

Those who practice lawlessness are sinners. Those who are adopted into the family of God---Christians---are not known as sinners, but saints.

We cannot avoid sinners, as we are to love them. In fact, we are even to befriend them with the desire to bring them to Jesus. If, after persistent rejection of the truth, there really is nothing we have in common with them, and so the friendships must be let go, but not the loving.
 
Alabaster said:
Those who practice lawlessness are sinners. Those who are adopted into the family of God---Christians---are not known as sinners, but saints.

We cannot avoid sinners, as we are to love them. In fact, we are even to befriend them with the desire to bring them to Jesus. If, after persistent rejection of the truth, there really is nothing we have in common with them, and so the friendships must be let go, but not the loving.
Click to expand...

Oh my....

Do you sin Alabaster?
 
Strangelove said:
Oh my....

Do you sin Alabaster?
Click to expand...

I am seen as a saint, not a sinner, although I still sin at times. That is the miracle of salvation in which we become regenerated people, no longer considered sinners, praise God!
 
Alabaster said:
I am seen as a saint, not a sinner, although I still sin at times. That is the miracle of salvation in which we become regenerated people, no longer considered sinners, praise God!
Click to expand...

If you sin then you are by definition a sinner.

You should be proud of the fact that you are a sinner and are yet saved by the blood of Christ.

5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
​

2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid.
​


The Apostle Paul isn't ashamed to call himself a sinner:
​

1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

​


We are sinners by nature and Saints by the blood of Christ.
 
Strangelove said:
If you sin then you are by definition a sinner.

You should be proud of the fact that you are a sinner and are yet saved by the blood of Christ.
Click to expand...

I was once a sinner, and now am saved by God's grace, washed in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ! I am no longer considered a sinner by God, but one of His children, a saint.
 
Alabaster said:
I was once a sinner, and now am saved by God's grace, washed in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ! I am no longer considered a sinner by God, but one of His children, a saint.
Click to expand...

Where in God's Word does He tell you He doesn't consider you a sinner?

If you sin you are a sinner.

If you are truly Christian then you are simply a repentful and redeemed sinner.

Let's keep our feet on the ground Duckie. You can be a sinner and a saint at the same time.
 
Romans 3.23 says that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God' but the passage also says that the believer in the Lord Jesus is 'justified freely by His grace', which means that in the sight of God the believer is accounted just in God's sight.
 
Strangelove said:
Where in God's Word does He tell you He doesn't consider you a sinner?

If you sin you are a sinner.

If you are truly Christian then you are simply a repentful and redeemed sinner.

Let's keep our feet on the ground Duckie. You can be a sinner and a saint at the same time.
Click to expand...

Nowhere are the righteous spoken of as sinners again in scripture. When the word of God mentions the word, 'sinners', He is referring to those outside of Christ.
 
farouk said:
Romans 3.23 says that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God' but the passage also says that the believer in the Lord Jesus is 'justified freely by His grace', which means that in the sight of God the believer is accounted just in God's sight.
Click to expand...

Amen! We are in Christ and Christ is in us!
 
Alabaster said:
Nowhere are the righteous spoken of as sinners again in scripture. When the word of God mentions the word, 'sinners', He is referring to those outside of Christ.
Click to expand...

Well I guess if you consider yourself righteouss and not a sinner then Christs call is not for you:

9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance.

If you are not a sinner then maybe you have no need of repentance anyomore?

Do you consider yourself just?
​
15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which
need no repentance.

Is this a description of one who is outside of Christ?:
​
15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner that repenteth.
​
2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid.​

It is clear that we will be judged as sinners:
​
3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his
glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some
affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose
damnation is just.

3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
​
 
Praise God that we who were once sinners are considered righteous by God!

Romans 5:19
Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Philppians 3:9
and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
 
Alabaster said:
Praise God that we who were once sinners are considered righteous by God!

Romans 5:19
Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Philppians 3:9
and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
Click to expand...

Amen but where does it say that we cease to be sinners?
 
The New Testament makes it clear that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and that we no longer continually sin as sinners do. We are now free from the pull of sin whereas before, we were not able to stop sinning.

Mentions of sinners in the New Testament are mainly references to those outside of Christ...not those in the body of Christ.

Romans 8:1-16
 <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28078">1</sup> So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28079">2</sup> And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28080">3</sup> The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28081">4</sup> He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28082">5</sup> Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28083">6</sup> So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28084">7</sup> For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28085">8</sup> That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28086">9</sup> But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28087">10</sup> And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28088">11</sup> The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28089">12</sup> Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28090">13</sup> For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28091">14</sup> For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28092">15</sup> So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” <sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28093">16</sup><sup class="versenum" id="en-NLT-28094">17</sup> And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
 
Strangelove said:
Amen but where does it say that we cease to be sinners?
Click to expand...

It does not say any such thing. Paul stated a simple truth.

Timothy 1
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Not i once was chief, or was formerly chief, as in past tense, but I am chief as in the present tense when he was writing that very line. A saved sinner.


All Praise The Ancient of Days
 
If you know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, God doesn't see you as a sinner, but as His righteous child--a sheep and not any old sinning goat. We must change our minds (you know---renew them?) about how we view ourselves!

Sinners sin consistently. Saints do not. Paul calls the ungodly sinners and Christians are never characterized as ungodly or as sinners. We WERE sinners, but we are no longer---past tense!

Romans 5:7-8
<SUP>7</SUP> Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. <SUP id=en-NLT-28016 class=versenum>8</SUP> But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.


NOW we are friends of God!

Romans 5:9-11
<SUP id=en-NLT-28017 class=versenum>9</SUP> And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. <SUP id=en-NLT-28018 class=versenum>10</SUP> For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. <SUP id=en-NLT-28019 class=versenum>11</SUP> So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top