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Sin - how do I stop?

Questor

God’s word can be literal and Spiritual as in the case of the wedding in Cana. The wedding represents the Spiritual being the union between Jesus and his bride whom are the children of God through repentance. Jesus brings his disciples to the wedding to show them the wonders of God through the renewal of his Spirit. I want you to see the relationship we have between the old self in the flesh and the new Spiritual rebirth in Christ. We are called the bride of Christ and I could not find any better example of this as in the story of the first wedding Jesus attended with his disciples,
(John 2:1-11).

The word marriage represents our relationship with Jesus. We are called the bride of Christ which means when we ask Jesus into our life through repentance we become one in the Spirit that is in Christ and have communion with his life, death and resurrection. We are united with Jesus as one body that has been renewed through the Spirit that is God. We become as a bride to the bridegroom as we are joined together as one.
(Matthew 9:15; Revelation 21:9)

The word call means that we do not just happen to fall into a relationship with Jesus as we are called of God or predestined before the world began for Gods purpose and grace. Jesus and his disciples were called to the wedding to witness the testimony of Gods power and authority through the miracle of changing water into wine, which was Jesus first miracle. The water and the wine represent the word of God and his Spirit as a renewal of our body and soul through the salvation of Jesus.
(Jeremiah 1:5: 2 Timothy 1:9; John 3:5-7)

Wanting wine meant the disciples wanted understanding of those things Jesus was teaching them as they could not understand with their carnal minds, but did know that Jesus was a prophet sent by God. When Jesus said to his mother my time has not come yet he was speaking of his death and resurrection. Spiritual understanding could not come until Jesus ascended unto the Father and the Holy Spirit that is the Spirit of God be brought down from heaven to open our Spiritual eyes and ears to understand those teachings of Jesus while he walked the earth with his disciples.
(Romans 8:5-8; John 14:26)

The water pots in themselves are a Jewish tradition of placing these pots outside the wedding feast so everyone could wash their hands and feet before entering into the feast. The significance of there being six water pots of stone is that the number six represents the number of the beast or sinful nations that are being controlled by Satan using others to deceive man like he used a serpent to deceive Adam and Eve as Satan is a spirit that has no form and has to use whatever or whomever he can to work through to deceive man.

When Jesus asked the servants to fill the water pots with water and then he changed the water into wine is a Spiritual representation of the water being the word of God and the wine being the Holy Spirit as it is only by the word of God and his Holy Spirit that we can see the kingdom of God through a renewed Spiritual rebirth through repentance.

The governor asked Jesus why was the good wine served last after everyone was already drunk as he could not understand such a thing. In the beginning man was pure and knew no sin until they allowed themselves to be deceived by Satan who used the serpent to deceive them thus the knowledge of sin was revealed to them and extended to all generations. The good wine (Gods Spirit come to flesh in Jesus) was sacrificed for the atonement of sin as through repentance we now have the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God – new wine) that renews our inner man through the word of God that we can now have life eternal with the father.
(Rev 13:18; John 1:14; Colossians 3:1-17; Genesis 3:6-7)

Before the dispensation of grace (Jesus) men were bound by the laws and traditions enforced by the Priest and the Scribes. The laws that were established by God were changed daily by the Pharisees so they could justify their own deeds of unrighteousness, By changing the laws this put men under bondage and they ended up dying in their sins for if you broke even one you were guilty of breaking them all because the law had no saving provisions in it and became a curse to men because they could not e justified by the laws.
(Galatians 3:10-12)

Jesus gave a parable about the old garment and old bottle which represents our old sin nature. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior through repentance this created a new Spiritual inner man and old things are passed away (sin) and remembered no more by God and all things become new once again. You have two masters you can choose to serve as one is God and the other is self. If we have truly died to self (old garment, old bottle) and serve God then he clothes us in his robe of righteousness and we drink from the new bottle from the fountain of living water. There is no fence riding when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. You either trust him in all things or you deny him in all things. You can not put a new piece of garment on an old piece as it ruins the new garment if you cut into it. (Note: wine bottles were made from the hide of animals and if used to much the hide would wear out and split.)
(Luke 5:36-39; Matthew 6:24)

When the Pharisees saw Jesus sitting with such undeliverable type of people in their opinion they question his disciples why he would waste his time on those they deemed unworthy and Jesus overhearing their conversation told them that he came to call the sinner not the righteous back to the grace of God through repentance as the righteous already hold that which is of God in their hearts. The Pharisees could not understand what Jesus meant as they felt that anyone who did not support their interpretations of the laws of Moses would become an outcast forever. Their interpretations of the laws, as they changed them daily, became more authoritative than the original ones God gave to Moses. The laws had become bondage and caused many to die in their sin for they could not keep all the laws as there were over 613 of them as I said before the Pharisees added to them daily to try and justify their own deeds. Jesus was sent of God to make an end to the curse of the law as he was made the final blood sacrifice to redeem us all from sin through repentance to bring us back to the grace of God.
(Matthew 9:10-13; Galatians 3:10-14)

Once again the Pharisees came against Jesus and his teachings for what he was teaching came against their own interpretations and traditions of the laws and as he was also teaching to the gentiles who were thought to be heathens as they worshipped other gods this angered those who held high office in the Priesthood in the Jewish nation. The Jewish people were bound by the laws as they were taught by the Priest and Rabbi in the Synagogue they also questioned Jesus about why his disciples did not fast as fasting was part of the law of purification and Jesus told them why would one fast for something they already had. He also told them that he would not always be with the people and they would fast again, but it would be another type of fast that the disciples of Jesus (us) would loose the bands of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke of bondage. The fast Jesus was talking about was to feed the hungry, help the poor and clothe the naked.

Fasting was not afflicting the soul as what would that bring about, but only ones own emotions of pain. Fasting is to take the word of God out to those who need to hear of Gods salvation and showing the actions of the word of God by helping those in need. The old bottle or the old wineskin (man under the law) was bound by the law or the interpretation of it, which only brought Spiritual death and literal death, but the new bottle or new wine skin (man under grace) has been set free from the curse of the law as the Holy Spirit has been given to us that renews Gods Spirit in us and teaches us the true knowledge of Gods spoken word.
(Matthew 9:14-17; Isaiah 58:5-8)

We have to be careful for what we are being taught by others so we will not fall into the bondage of traditional interpretations and preach a deceptive gospel that will cause others to stumble and separate themselves from grace, but rather we need to be teaching the acceptable word of God in all truths no matter what tries to come against us. You might think that anything taught from the pulpit is truth because after all these people are our teachers and they should know what they are speaking, but we are warned many times in the word of God to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing because Satan as a roaring lion is seeking to whom he can use to devour us. Learn to discern what is being taught to you so you can rightly divide the word of God to know what is truth or what is error as we will stand before God individually to give an account for what we have learned and taught others and there will be no excuses before the father as he has given us truth by his Spirit, but it was up to us to accept it or reject it.

Never take anyone’s word for what they teach unless they can back themselves up with scripture and you study it for yourself by asking the Holy Spirit to confirm if what you have been taught is truth or error and if you find error in those teachings it is up to you to go to them in love and compassion to show them where they have erred as when you do this you gain a brother, but if they refuse to hear you then shake the dust from your feet and move on. Never argue or debate Gods word for this will only bring foolishness on you and is not pleasing to the Father, but in all things let us bring glory and honor to the Lord by living in his will of love and show forth the good fruits of his grace. 1Timothy 1:4-7
(Acts 13:38-39; 1 Peter 5:8; 1Timothy 1:4-7)













 
That is nothing more than an excuse. I was never taught love from the cradle and it took me 44 years to learn what love, especially the love of God is all about. I surrendered all of myself to Christ in 1998 as only He could teach me how to love others and myself. Christ Jesus also taught me how to forgive those, especially my dad in whom I hated until the day he died.
Questor,
This is the gospel correctiy interpreted, besause here's a believer who points the Torah at himself for hating, instead of someone who maybe gave him a reason to hate. Like spitting on him for no good reason. Like your Messiah did.

Of course the true King of Israel gave no one a any reason to hate and forgave them anyway. He conquered the biggest for ever to plague mankind...without doing anything other that what the real Jewish God does every day,

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Heb.1:3 NIV

Do you understand why Aaron sprinkled the blood of the lamb on the ark of the covenant?
 
It seems under the law both sinners "confessed how sorry they were over the lambs blood. Aaron and and Caiaphas sprinkled the blood on the ark where the law was kept. Your Prophet Isaiah said,

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isa.8:20 KJV

Aaron didn't know if their repentance was sincere. He had to leave the presence of God then.

The Messiah as High Priest sat down with God,

For we must allappear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
 
This is the gospel correctiy interpreted, besause here's a believer who points the Torah at himself for hating, instead of someone who maybe gave him a reason to hate. Like spitting on him for no good reason. Like your Messiah did.
Not sure what you mean here?
 
Not sure what you mean here?
I mean it sounded like you hated someone for good reason and asked the Lord to help overcome the hate and love that person in obedience to Christ and He did. That's Godly counsel.

The Messiah went beyond your example and forgave sinners who treated Him much worse than any man ever could...because of Who He Is, Was and you know the rest. 🙂
 
I am being overwhlmed by my sin nature, and know not how to stop a repeating sin, and worse, one where I am aware of sinning even as I commit it.

Why do I keep deciding to repeat an action that I know is offensive to G-d? How do I stop?
Hello Questor, first off, since I see that you are pretty new around here, welcome to CF 🙂

As far as your ongoing struggle with sin goes, here are some of the things that help me in the midst of this battle (the following assumes that you are indeed a true believer, and it sounds as if you are).

Fighting against sin which, first and foremost, comes down to fighting against all of the temptations to sin from the very moment that they enter your mind, is both tiring and frustrating, especially when our common enemy keeps attacking us and it just won't stop 🙁 Still, continually turning temptation away, even when you have to do so over and over and over again, is far better than giving into it and allowing it to become sin instead (of course).

So, where I begin (practically speaking), whenever a temptation to sin enters my mind, is with the command (that is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5, see below) to take that thought "captive" and give it over to the Lord to deal with instead. IOW, I REFUSE to accept the thought in the Lord Jesus' Name from the moment that it first enters my mind, again and again and again, as often as necessary.

2 Corinthians 10 (NIVUK)
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

I believe that this is also the principal way that we not only obey another command (to "resist the devil") but also receive the wonderful promise from God that comes along with that command, ("and he will flee from you") :amen

James 4 (NASB)
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

BTW, unless I'm reading your OP incorrectly, your struggle seems to be with one, particular sin, yes? If that's true, and if that is a temptation that most often begins because of something that you see, then you should start learning to turn your gaze away as soon as you see it (whatever it is) entering into your peripheral vision. This is a practice that will take some time and effort on your part to become proficient at and comfortable with, just like the command in 2 Corinthians 10:5 will, so you will no doubt fail at first, and sometimes often.

The good news (as I believe some have already mentioned here) is that the Lord has provided us with a remedy for the sins that we, as believers, continue to commit, and that remedy (as I'm certain that you already know) is found in 1 John 1:9.

1 John 1 (NASB)
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This post is already long enough, so the most important part/the thing that makes the biggest difference in our ongoing battle against temptation and sin (what has made, by far, the biggest difference for me anyway) I'll leave for my next post.

I will provide you with a preview however (which you'll find in the Scripture passage below).

Praying for you!

God bless you!!

--David

Psalm 119 (NASB)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.
11 Thy word I have treasured (hidden/laid up) in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.
.
 
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Being in Yeshua seems to have brought me under attack, and the more so that I live attempting to do better. The Adversary is quite adept at using me against me. And so, I have simply gone to Yeshua, and asked him to break the cycle. I am not capable of it.
Two things: 1. Evil goes after the strong because the weak will follow. 2. When you sense evil working against you simply cast it out as follows: I cast you out right now in Jesus Name. Amen.
Evil knows you have power to do that through Christ so unless you actually are in Christ and cast it out, it will continue to lead you down the wrong path.
The only thing evil understands and will respond to is strength. Never forget that, because dealing with evil is a life-long job whether you like it or not.
 
I am being overwhlmed by my sin nature, and know not how to stop a repeating sin, and worse, one where I am aware of sinning even as I commit it.

Why do I keep deciding to repeat an action that I know is offensive to G-d? How do I stop?
The Son must set you free. Ask Jesus in prayer as one who believes in Him if you are sincere in your desire to live a godly life before God. A pledge of a good conscience towards God. Your desire should be to know Him as well. As in, "I want to know you" and you can ask that as well.

God desires to bless not punish and He is pleased with those who believe He exists and those who call on Him.

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
 
I am being overwhlmed by my sin nature, and know not how to stop a repeating sin, and worse, one where I am aware of sinning even as I commit it.

Why do I keep deciding to repeat an action that I know is offensive to G-d? How do I stop?

 
I am always a bit surprised that some Christians are not aware that Yeshua (Jesus) was a Jew, and still is.

??? This is a dangerous diminishment of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. The Incarnation is so far beyond human labels, and organizations, and cultures it is impossible to explain just how far. Read Revelation 1:12-18 and then ask yourself what Jewish person has ever occupied such a state of being. Jesus is, in his essential nature, not a Jew but God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of Everything. In him we "live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28); without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3); in him was life and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4); in him exists all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9); in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).

No Jew comes anywhere close to who Jesus actually is. And so, when Paul wrote of those "in Christ," he pointed out the following:

Galatians 3:24-29
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all
sons of God, through faith.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.


All those "in Christ" are "heirs" of God's promise made to Abraham and so are a kind of Abrahamic "offspring"; not genetically, of course, or culturally, but only as beneficiaries of a divinely-made and fulfilled promise. And so, Paul doesn't emphasize that the born-again Gentile believers in the province of Galatia were now adopted Jews, spiritually. In fact, he denies that this is the case very particularly in the passage above. Instead, all Christians are not only free of the death-dealing burden of the law given to the Israelites in the OT, but have a spiritual identity that is "neither Jew nor Greek (aka Gentile), neither slave nor free, and not male or female."

Jesus, then, does not unite Christians within a human context confined to a culture, or institution, or denominational label, to station in life, or even gender, but in the divine, entirely non-human context of himself, the Creator and Sustainer of Everything.
 
Romans 9:4,5 directly calls Jesus an ethnic Jew under the laws and covenants.

??? This does nothing to address what I explained from Scripture. It's just simple contradiction, which is not an argument against my explanation, or an argument for your point of view. It's just contradiction - like the boy who argues with his playmate saying, "Yes, it is," when his playmate says, "No, it's not."
 
I mean it sounded like you hated someone for good reason and asked the Lord to help overcome the hate and love that person in obedience to Christ and He did. That's Godly counsel.

The Messiah went beyond your example and forgave sinners who treated Him much worse than any man ever could...because of Who He Is, Was and you know the rest. 🙂
Yes, when we know the pure love that God has for us no matter what we have done His forgiveness is the greatest of all. There is nothing that He will not forgive if we come to Him in pure repentance. Sometimes it is harder to love our self, but when you allow God to show you the greatest love and to show you are worthy then it's a game changer. :)
 
Romans 9:4-8
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.


As I already pointed out from God's word, Jesus is the God-Man, taking on for a time the same sort of fleshly "vessel" in which you and I presently live, but is now ascended to heaven, assuming once again his full, heavenly, divine glory and power which was his long before the Jews - or the world - existed. Was this glorified, heavenly Jesus, existing timelessly before the Chosen People were chosen, existing as a Jew? Obviously not.

Jesus, according to the flesh, is of the race of the Jews, in fulfillment of divine promise/prophecy, but he entered into that race as the Creator-God, timelessly pre-existing all of humanity, including the Jews. His being of the Jews, then, is much like an actor assuming the identity of a character in a movie, entering into the role already having a completely distinct, true identity that is subjected only for a time to the movie-character identity. When the business of performing the role is concluded, the actor does not continue to be the movie-character but sets it aside and is who he truly is once more. There is much similarity to this in how Christ, for a time, assumed the role of promised Messiah, but, when the purposes of that role were accomplished, returned to his true, heavenly, full-glory state that is not human, and certainly not Jewish, but something quite alien to human nature and experience:

Revelation 1:12-18
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.


And so, it is not the person who is a "child of Abraham" by way of the flesh - a biological, cultural Jew - but it is the one who is, as Paul wrote, an "heir" of the spiritual and eternal benefits of the divine promises made to Abraham through trust in the God-Man (not merely a Jewish man) who is the "offspring of Abraham." As a result, Paul could say to the Galatian believers that there is, for those who are in Christ Jesus, "neither Jew nor Greek" but only a spiritual identity in God.
 
Yes, when we know the pure love that God has for us no matter what we have done His forgiveness is the greatest of all. There is nothing that He will not forgive if we come to Him in pure repentance. Sometimes it is harder to love our self, but when you allow God to show you the greatest love and to show you are worthy then it's a game changer. :)
To see how our Lord continued to love in spite of what "we have done to His (offering) forgivness" is the greatest demonstration of the love of God ever witness by sinners.
You are dead on the money interpreting the scriptures His way.
God speed.
 
Questor

I just came across this on Facebeook:

“The secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship. You need worship. You need great worship. You need weeping worship. You need glorious worship. You need to sense God’s greatness and to be moved by it—moved to tears and moved to laughter—moved by who God is and what He has done for you. And this needs to be happening all the time.” – Timothy Keller

How true. To be busy worshiping God leaves one no time or desire to sin.
 
Romans 9:4-8
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.


As I already pointed out from God's word, Jesus is the God-Man, taking on for a time the same sort of fleshly "vessel" in which you and I presently live, but is now ascended to heaven, assuming once again his full, heavenly, divine glory and power which was his long before the Jews - or the world - existed. Was this glorified, heavenly Jesus, existing timelessly before the Chosen People were chosen, existing as a Jew? Obviously not.

Jesus, according to the flesh, is of the race of the Jews, in fulfillment of divine promise/prophecy, but he entered into that race as the Creator-God, timelessly pre-existing all of humanity, including the Jews. His being of the Jews, then, is much like an actor assuming the identity of a character in a movie, entering into the role already having a completely distinct, true identity that is subjected only for a time to the movie-character identity. When the business of performing the role is concluded, the actor does not continue to be the movie-character but sets it aside and is who he truly is once more. There is much similarity to this in how Christ, for a time, assumed the role of promised Messiah, but, when the purposes of that role were accomplished, returned to his true, heavenly, full-glory state that is not human, and certainly not Jewish, but something quite alien to human nature and experience:

Revelation 1:12-18
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.


And so, it is not the person who is a "child of Abraham" by way of the flesh - a biological, cultural Jew - but it is the one who is, as Paul wrote, an "heir" of the spiritual and eternal benefits of the divine promises made to Abraham through trust in the God-Man (not merely a Jewish man) who is the "offspring of Abraham." As a result, Paul could say to the Galatian believers that there is, for those who are in Christ Jesus, "neither Jew nor Greek" but only a spiritual identity in God.
They didn't have English punctuation in Greek so they could just as easily put the commas and periods anywhere that helps the context.

Here's the correct version of Romans 9:4,5 from the RSV.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.
 
They didn't have English punctuation in Greek so they could just as easily put the commas and periods anywhere that helps the context.

Here's the correct version of Romans 9:4,5 from the RSV.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.
Any idea why they changed the order of the words, from the KJV ?
 
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