First I want to say, thank you for asking the question! I will answer you to the best of my ability.
For everyone reading, I will quote the scriptures the writer made a reference to. First from Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus speaking: "You have heard it said by those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The second scripture is from 1 John 3:15 "Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."
As humans, obedience to God has come to be regarded as a thing of mere outward constraint or mechanical conformity. We hardly ever consider the spiritual condition of our heart. Being a Christian, a believer in Jesus, a follower of His ways is more than "thou shalt not" to regulate conduct. More importantly, it is to regulate our heart and mind. Jesus points out two particular things throughout the scriptures. First, NO MAN can or ever has kept the whole law because we are spiritually flawed. Secondly, the mind & heart are the control center of our actions. To control one's thoughts (mind) or actions (body) there must be a heart change. That's where Jesus comes in. Nothing we can do by our own power or goodness can spiritually fix our mind, heart, or actions. If you lust after a woman with your thoughts (mind) and you desire her with your body (actions) you need a complete heart makeover to arrest those behaviors. You need a pure heart. Matthew said a pure heart was possible. So much so he said in his 5th chapter, verse 8 NIV, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Having a pure heart requires a commitment to wanting God plus the desire to want to change, Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart. O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
Jesus also taught that to physically keep the laws He has set forth (not to fornicate, commit adultery, to hate, steal, etc) requires the indwelling of His Holy Spirit because we haven't the strength, the will, or the human power to overcome these temptations of sin. Jesus calls us to "holiness" (to be separated from the world) and that holiness can and will take place in us to affect a great change on our temper, conduct, and actions. When people are outside of true Christianity they are without understanding and are mostly concerned only with wrongdoing but not the attitude that led to the sin (the attitude of the heart). Jesus went further to say, "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." That statement sounds even more impossible to abide by than not hating your brother! Now it seems he's adding you can't even be angry without a cause! Though you may not have committed a deliberate or willful homicide, or ever intend to, have you ever practiced the indirect 'murder' of cruelty or meanness, vehement anger that you wanted to hurt someone? Our mind and heart dispositions have to be under consideration. Why? We must realize we cannot go to heaven with hatred for people in our hearts - be it racial, social, for a preacher, a homosexual, your ex-spouse, family member, etc. Understand, Jesus did not teach that anger was intrinsically wrong, but being angry without a righteous reason is, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26). Anger has to be guarded carefully that it doesn't turn into sin because of hate which will lead to hurting others by our words or even taking the life of another.
The same holds true when lusting after a woman with your eyes. It's all about the disposition of your mind and the spiritual condition of the heart. Matthew 6:22-23 says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. (*your eyes are the pathway to your mind, which affects your hearts attitude). If your eyes are healthy (*refusing to look upon sin, evil, what tempts you), your whole body (*your actions) will be full of light (*understanding, goodness, and right living). But if your eyes are unhealthy (*always looking at sin, considering sin, giving into sin), your whole body (*your being) will be full of darkness (*wrong-doings, offences, transgressions). If then the light within you (*what you let into you through your eyes) is darkness (sin and transgression, wrong-doing), how great is that darkness." The entire key regarding Christianity is a change of heart, a rebirth, becoming a new man. But since this cannot be achieved by our own goodness, strength, or works, it requires accepting the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Expressed simply, it is God's Life in us ... CHRIST IN YOU. It is a miraculous mystery! Paul told us in Colossians 1:27 NIV, "To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." When you give your life and your will to Jesus Christ in a commitment to follow Him, He comes to live in your heart. He will guide you, comfort you, give you strength to overcome and walk away from sin. He changes you little by little. He molds you into a new vessel, 2 Timothy 2:21 KJV, "If a man, therefore, purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
Coming to Christ, asking forgiveness for prior sins, and committing to learn about Him to walk in His way is not a religion as has been said by the world, rather it's a relationship with the One True God. It's a choice ... salvation or religion, Truth or tradition, heaven or hell. If you read the Bible you will see that Jesus actually rebuked the most respected "religious" people of his day: the Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the LAW. He called them fools, foolish, hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, snakes, serpents, vipers, and children of hell! Refer to Luke 11:40, Mark 7:6, Matthew 23:15-17, Matthew 22:33. Christianity is NOT A RELIGION! Religions are made-made theologies and doctrines. Christianity is being born-again by the Spirit of God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Why is it so difficult for the world to understand this? 1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." Do the things of God, His Word or Christian beliefs seem foolish to you? Are they difficult or impossible to understand?
Only Jesus Christ can take away your sin and give you eyes to understand. How? You must be born-again and become complete to understand the knowledge of God and have your understanding enlightened. Being born-again guarantees life eternal in heaven with God. As born-again children of God, we have access to Him. We have the ability to know Him and His will for our lives and to have our understanding flooded with the Light of His Word. In turn, He gives us the power to overcome temptation and fight the good fight of faith. When born-again of God's Spirit we become children of God with incorruptible seed within: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever" 1 Peter 1:23.
Finally, as you have probably already realized, it will be impossible for you to keep from lusting, or from any sin for that matter if you make the attempt through your own power or strength. You cannot stop these things on your own. If you ask Jesus into your heart, to be your Master, to vow to follow Him by reading and learning His Word and thus being born-again, He will teach you, guide you, and give you the Holy Spirit power to live a decent, upstanding Christian life. The longer you dedicate yourself to reading and learning God's Word, the more your old nature, the old character will change. You'll get a new heart, a new attitude, a new outlook. Our lives are lived one decision at a time. We don't live a day at a time; but rather, one decision at a time. Decide today whom you will serve. God or yourself.
Until next time,
-Pat-
P.S. If anyone has more questions on becoming a Christian, I welcome you to write to me and we can discuss it personally through email.
this is so true. at least is has been for me. my walk in Christ, my walk of faith, has been an ongoing process for me. when I first made a commitment to accept jesus as lord, this was after my 1st wife died of breast cancer, I waan't a good example of a christian. though I tried to stop some old habits-drinking sleeping with several women, I just couldn't do it and I felt christianity was failing me. it wasn't until I met a certain strong, mature christian who told me I needed to read the bible because it was God's word that would re-new my mind- even change me - and I would find more strength to not only stop my habits but that they would lose their appeal. in short what i'm saying is, once you commit to Christ, believe he died and rose again, your journey begins at that point. it's not instantaneous! you need to read his word because it's his instruction book but it also has this power to change you, to renew your thinking, and when it does, you find yourself no longer interested in doing the wrong things. i don't know how it works it just does. i can't explain it. it didn't happen overnight. jesus stayed with me even when I was disappointed him on several occasions. but I stayed committed to reading, learning, and understanding that bible. it's been years but I understand so much more now. it has become clearer and I don't mind being a reflection of what I've learned. my flesh doesn't gfight me anymore. it's easy to turn away from sin now. it's a free-feeling experience. God's word truly does break the bonds of sin, the desire to sin, and the need to do the wrong thing but you have to read the word. it is power! the bible says jesus was the word who was made flesh and became man. so jesus is that word. it is truth, power, life, etc. I hope i'm making sense. thanks again for another powerful message, pat! my family looks forward to every blog you write.
ReplyDeleteAmen!!
DeleteJesus has changed this drunkin wild girl and I am so grateful, Jesus has takin my colorful past and uses me to help so many others.I love who I am now, Jesus is the vine and I am one of His Branches...and like Dan said, reading His word...it would help me stand back up after I fell down. I Love walking with my Lord. I love you all..
ReplyDeleteonly through jesus! we are all sinners saved by grace, Nancy.
DeleteHe is a life saving God, Nancy! I desperately needed to be saved from my lifestyle and myself. I was on self destruct! Praise Him for changing our lives! :-)
Deleteamen
ReplyDeleteI have been reading the Bible for over 40 years. I'm still learning, still growing. Thank goodness for God's patience and grace! We've all experienced it!
ReplyDeleteIf you look soley on the rules and regulations it would be hard not to feel overwhelmed and think "I just can't do that!! The rules and regulations make it religious and as Pat said, Christianity is not a religion. I too, have been a believer for over 40 yrs and was so grateful to receive this type of teaching as a young Christian. The God of Christianity is a relational God, not a religious God. He actually wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us! Sounds hard to believe and many denominations within the "religious" sectors of Christianity will teach that this is absolutely not true! They will attempt to teach people that God the Father is not interested in us or our daily lives, stuggles and joys. He doesn't come down to our level. That's interesting...because the Bible says, that He knows how many hairs each one of us has on our heads; it also says, that OUR names are written on the palms of His hands!! To me, that sounds like a very involved God! What we come to understand from serving Him for a while is He is quick to forgive, His mercies are new every morning, He loves us unconditionally and He gets we are human and we will fail. The joy of coming to know His character, means [we] don't have to worry about being perfect, He knows we are not. However, when we sin against Him, even in those two areas mentioned by the writer of the email, if we are quick to repent He forgives us! The Bible also says, He throws our sin as far as the east is from the west and remembers them no more! He chooses not to! Just like the rest of us who commented, we were all sinners and sinned in all kinds of areas but His love was big enough to wash them away through His Son, Jesus' blood sacrifice! There is nothing to keep you from following Him, He is good, merciful, His love is everlasting and most of all we can overcome sin, not in our own power but in His, Who lives in us once we submit our lives to Him. Give Him a chance, dear friend, to change your life, we here will all tell you it is more than worth it!!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you, Pat!!
Amen
DeleteGod is a loving, merciful, and a forgiving God indeed. One other thing I want to mention is regarding the two scriptures I quoted in the 2nd paragraph the emailer made reference to. Notice that each scripture is referring to the HEARTS condition, not focusing on the act per se'. With adultery Jesus said the man who looks upon and lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his HEART. And the other scripture referring to murder, Jesus said about the person who hates is a murderer BECAUSE no murderer has eternal life abiding in him- in his HEART! Jesus changes our heart! It's a process. Slowly over time a transformation takes place. The desire to commit sin wanes. Sin actually becomes uninteresting as well as detestable. It's a miraculous transformation really. When you come to the Lord, He lives in your heart and what offends Him begins to offend you. THAT is the key that turns your actions around. As was said in another blog, a clean heart makes clean hands. Thank you for your input, Diane. Well said as always.
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