Tag Archives: sin

Mutiny

Before Christ, sin is not an alien power. Sin is our preference for anything over God. Sin is our disapproval of God. Sin is our exchange of his glory for substitutes. Sin is our suppression of the truth of God. Sin is our heart’s hostility to God. It is who we are to the bottom of our hearts. Until Christ.

–Piper

Knowledge is Power?

Knowledge is power, so the pitch goes. Therefore, education is the key to success, the passport to the future, the door to a career. Bow down to us, and we shall give you the objective science, the value-free technology, and the business savvy to plunder the world of its goods. Enter the fold, and we shall give you the capacity and the skills to surround yourself with nice things. You will be respected, admired, and envied. Thus administrators, teachers, and above all students have been placed on a market of exchange, where the things bought and sold are not only the idols we pass off as consumer goods but also human souls. All too often the schools deemed to be the “good” ones are those that are good for the economy, attracting industry, grant money, and droves of bodies. The more numbers we have entered into our computers–indeed, the greater the number of the computers we have–the better we think we are. Hence we have fallen into a terrible confusion between quantity and quality: numbers mean everything. “Successful” programs are those that demonstrate “growth,” and growth is nearly always measured quantitatively. And so the numbers numb us into the sleeping sickness of complacency, where we bask in the illusion of knowing something for having increased our stores of information.

–David Patterson

Am I Basically a Good Person?

No, you have chosen a perverted violence against all creation, whether you sense/realize it or not. Furthermore, you have betrayed your Maker. Despite being given the marvelous, patterned displays of His creation (natural revelation), His Gospel (special revelation; a chance for redemption), a conscience, etc., we have rejected reality in favor of our own interests–these “interests” are not even our own, but a perversion handed down from Satan as the “natural inclinations” we experience! You have not understood the full ramifications, yet are culpable enough, of joining Satan’s universal mutiny. Having sided with his zombie army, you’re continually driven to lunge at God, choosing your own deity as you chew, destroy, pervert, twist, gnaw, feed on, and do violence toward God and His creation. You’ve broken His law of love, and instead chosen complaints, gossip, lies, worry, fear of people’s opinions, frustration, anger, exclusion of others, selfishness, pride of life, emotional fits, filthy language, sexual perversion in all its forms from eye/mind/body, money enslavement, prejudicial humor, concealment of truth, manipulation, passive-aggression, self-promotion, etc.. We’ve raped relationships and the earth in our quest for self-deity. For this, all creation cries out for your condemnation.

This Water

This water (see the story below) will leave you thirsty. Wanting. Seeking any kind of release will soon turn to a need to return to the release. We’re enslaved to releases.

The Samaritan woman knew only the kind of fulfillment which would soon leave her empty. She knew how to find the well, but to the well she must return. She knew water, but thirst would return. She knew men, but she would need new ones. To what wells do you continually visit to draw something to quench your desires?

The Physical Wells:

  • sexual (people, pornography, self-indulgence)
  • chemical (food, drink, drugs, alcohol)
  • adventure (thrill, experiences, entertainment)
  • toys (ownership, technology, brands)

The Emotional Wells:

  • validation
  • anger
  • power
  • selfishness
  • humor

The Social Wells:

  • gossip
  • maneuvering/power struggles
  • acceptance
  • fame

After reading the passage below, after all the diversion the Samaritan woman tries to throw in to get attention away from Jesus’ exposure of her own sinful tendencies, what was Jesus’ message to her? What is Jesus’ message to you?

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.a )

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” (John 4:7-26)

True or False: I Can’t Help It

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30. List at least twenty specific biblical steps a person should take to overcome a life-dominating sin.

  1. Consider thoroughly the issue of your salvation
  2. Remember that God has promised to care for you and has broken Satan’s power through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
  3. Confess all sinful thoughts to God and ask for His help in overcoming the sinful pattern
  4. Rejoice and give thanks in every situation, knowing that endurance in trials conforms you to the image of Christ
  5. Use the forgiveness of God as the springboard from which you forgive others
  6. Realize that your love for others demonstrates the love you have for God
  7. Focus your thoughts on glorifying and pleasing God and on being a blessing to others in all situations
  8. Say and sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
  9. Think of ways to consider and encourage others
  10. Do not: speak about past accomplishments, sorrows, or defeats; sins of others, worries about the future, comparison to others, boastful promises, slander, gossip, argue, use pointless humor, speak foolishly, accuse, speak vengefully, etc., but rather edify others with God’s truth about His goodness, loving kindness, mercy, and grace
  11. Identify all danger signals (e.g., situations, places, times, and personal contacts that bring temptation) and take immediate steps to eliminate, flee, or resist temptation
  12. Fill all voids created by putting off old ways with a vigorous plan of living righteously, putting on the new ways
  13. Spend much time with other believers and wholeheartedly put on the full armor of God in order to stand firm against the devil
  14. Memorize Scripture verses and study Scripture passages specifically related to facing and dealing with the problem by taking advantage of the overcoming power that is yours in Christ Jesus
  15. Pray always with thanksgiving
  16. Seek reconciliation with those you have offended (go beyond confession)
  17. Correct deficiencies in your life that exist because of a lack of discipline or neglect
  18. If you need help, ask Christian friends to hold you accountable
  19. Ask God for help if you fail
  20. Review memorized Scripture and others
  21. Immediately seek God’s perspective again by returning to His Word, allowing the Spirit to convict you, shunning the evil, and reestablish a disciplined, Godly lifestyle again

True or False: Satan is the Opposite of God

false. God has no opposite. Satan was created by God, and is therefore subject to Him: Colossians 1

29. Write a brief paragraph describing how God has broken Satan’s power.

Jesus demonstrated power over the devil in his ministry on the earth (Gen. 3:15; I John 3:8) through sinlessness (Matt. 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13), truth (red letters), healing (see all healing cases), deliverance (Mark 3:22-27, Matt. 9:32-33, 12:22, 17:14-18; etc.), sacrifice (see crucifixion), and resurrection (Acts 26:14-18, Hebrews 2:14-15), thereby defeating temptation, lies, sickness, bondage, sin, and death. This is not to say we do not still experience what Christ defeated, but if we believe in Him, His power through His Spirit, enables us to conquer some elements now, others eventually (II Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:10-18; Rom. 8:31-39; Jas. 4:7; I Peter 5:8-10; Rev. 12:10-11)

True or False: That’s Just the Way I Am

false. There is only one “I Am” who is unchangeable. You and I? We are to be conformed to His image.

29. Write a brief paragraph describing how God has broken Satan’s power.

Jesus demonstrated power over the devil in his ministry on the earth (Gen. 3:15; I John 3:8) through sinlessness (Matt. 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13), truth (red letters), healing (see all healing cases), deliverance (Mark 3:22-27, Matt. 9:32-33, 12:22, 17:14-18; etc.), sacrifice (see crucifixion), and resurrection (Acts 26:14-18, Hebrews 2:14-15), thereby defeating temptation, lies, sickness, bondage, sin, and death. This is not to say we do not still experience what Christ defeated, but if we believe in Him, His power through His Spirit, enables us to conquer some elements now, others eventually (II Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:10-18; Rom. 8:31-39; Jas. 4:7; I Peter 5:8-10; Rev. 12:10-11)

True or False: Depression is a Real Condition

true

27. What are five key areas for discussion with someone suffering from depression?

  1. The symptoms which comprise what is labeled “depression” may need to be treated medically, and may often be precipitated by sin (living to please self rather than God). Me slamming my thumb with a hammer may also need to be treated medically, and I would need to understand that just as the cause of the medical treatment was the condition of my thumb, so also the cause of my jacked-up thumb was me slamming it. While depression may require medical intervention, it may often be necessary to examine the actions leading to the symptoms/feelings.
    How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!– Psalm 32

  2. There are actions which may need to betaken in order to deal fully with depression.Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. – 1 Peter 3:10-12
  3. There is great hope in that Jesus has overcome, and he is able to work all things out for our good (though it may not make sense at the time).“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

     …we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. – Romans 8:28-29

  4. Whether symptoms of depression are experienced or not, we all must recognize the need to put off disobedience to God’s ways, and put on His truth.“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” – Genesis 4:7

    Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires…Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? – Romans 6:12, 16

  5. Do it. Once you have examined the pieces of your depression (medical and/or sin), researched God’s view, recognized your hope, conceded your need for change, it’s time to practice actively (includes speaking truth, singing, thanksgiving, confession, prayer, working as unto the Lord, etc.)!Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:15-20

True or False: You Don’t Know What I’ve Been Through…

false

15. List at least five biblical steps that must be taken in order to walk again in a manner worthy of the Lord after a person has sinned and has recognized it. (Give the supporting Scripture verses).

  1. Identify your failure; recognize the “put-off” components (Matthew 7:1-5)
  2. Confess your sin and pray (James 5:16)
  3. Recognize the “put-on” components (Eph. 4)
  4. Construct a plan for accomplishing the “put-ons” (Philippians 2:12-13)
  5. Live God’s way again (Revelation 2:12-13)

True or False: My Problems are Too Much To Handle

false

6. How does the Holy Spirit help you face and deal with your problems? List at least three scriptural references to support your explanation.

There are two choices when facing problems in life. The first employs our own thoughts, feelings, and desires–which lead to more problems. The second option, however, is to live by the Spirit, which gives us new passions and desires which are in line with God’s pure goodness rather than our perception of what we think is good. The outcome of the Spirit’s influence on a person’s life– love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control – is entirely different than the natural passions that people pursue in life– the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things remind you of everything I said. John 14:26

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:1-17

 

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The sinful nature desires what is contrary, in the spirit was country later. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you were led by the Spirit, you Are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, actions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I want you as it did before, that those who live like This will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit. Galatians 5:16-25

 

True or False: Eternal Life is Earned by Being a Good Person

false

2. Explain how a person can receive the gift of eternal life, citing at least three scripture references to support your explanation.

A person receives the gift of eternal life when they turn from their own ways and follow Christ.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming pages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:1-10

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because she has not received in the name of God one and only son. This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen that what he has done has been done through God. John 3:16-21

 

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel. Colossians 1:21-23