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[ned]

Quoted from Yellowstone (in red):

Coming right back to the beginning. Are they truly serving themselves, when in fact they are unwittingly, following to the letter, the full purpose of God from the beginning of time?  Can anyone say that this "serving the beast within" is contrary to God's plan. Also, "they think...." Are they truly thinking on their own, free and willingly outside of the will of God. If yes, then God is not all knowing; however, if no, then once again, each thought is according to God's supreme purpose.


Good point, they are serving themselves, AND yes, this is God's will for them. No, I agree, they cannot do anything outside God's purpose/will for them.


What then is sin? Of what benefit is it to us? Thankfully, we are more than puppets on a string and for some strange (carnal) reason, I still "feel" like I have control of "my" thoughts and that "I" can still fathom complex issues on my own (with the help of God.) God has so graciously allowed us to feel emotion and feel proud for our accomplishments, even though all of them are according to his will.

What is sin?  What beneift is it to us? What about James 4:17, "If you don't do what you know is right, you have sinned." I also "feel" like I have control over my thoughts, and actions. And when I do what I know is wrong, I know I have sinned. Because I know I sinned, I repent. Is that not a benefit? That we know what it is and when we do it? I bet many don't know that!

If God's purpose is for some of us to sin more than others, it has to be more than for the "righteous" of us to judge. That is pure foolishness, at least to my level of understanding. Why then are some people difficult to love? Is it because we are seeing their actions as personal to us, instead of seeing them as players in Gods grand plan for us all. How then can we not love each and everyone of them, for they are not different than anyone of us, for each of us lives according to the enlightenment that God has personally bestowed on each one of us. Instead of being hurt and angered over some event, we should rather ask God for understanding so that we may garner some understanding from the event/s so that our knowledge and love for him and all around us, (even terrorists) can grow according to his will.

Eph 6:12 (CEV)  "We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world."
I agree, Darren, we definitely should ask God for understanding with all people/events that hurt us. We should be loving each and every one of God's children, if we remember that our fight is not with THEM, we can probably love them alot easier. I have many times pushed my emotions aside when trying to love those who hurt me, for example. It's not about me and how I feel. It's about Jesus first, then others, than me.

Marie, does this make sense to you? Comments always welcome.
Yes, your comments make sense to me....and mine to you?

In God we trust...
Amen!

Peace to you Darren.
Marie

[YellowStone]

Quote from Marie:

What is sin?  What beneift is it to us? What about James 4:17, "If you don't do what you know is right, you have sinned." I also "feel" like I have control over my thoughts, and actions. And when I do what I know is wrong, I know I have sinned. Because I know I sinned, I repent. Is that not a benefit? That we know what it is and when we do it? I bet many don't know that!
I will not argue against James nor will I argue against you

However, I believe that there is more to sin than sinning and then asking for repentance.

For example, what if Jim (fictitious) wrongs me. Slanders my name, lies and discredits me; however, he asks for forgiveness, for he knows he has sinned. Is that all? What about me??

It is I, who must also learn to forgive Jim, and I will not be able to do this whileever I see Jims actions as an personal attack on me. I mean, after all, am I not as God, how dare he bad-mouth me, why that ignoramus.....!!!!  How many still ride this high, wide road of self-righteousness in the name of God?

This cannot be what God wants? How could it be, he wants us to love our neighbors, our enemies just as we love ourselves.  It my understanding that "we" can only achieve this when we use sin performed against us as a lesson instead of a reason to attack or question God.

To your point, repenting of sins is always beneficial, but who inspires one to repent, oneself or God.  Is the unrepenter any less forgiven than the repenter? Not accoding to thje scripture where we are told that Christ wants all to be saved. I have realized that scriptual truth is not a race to the finish line, it is not a contest; for each and everyone of us, those who wish to harm me included are all winners in the sight of God. It is so surprising how refreshing it is, knowing that everything is going perfectly to God's plan.

Thanks Marie, have a great day and walk with love (God)

Darren

[ned]

Hi Darren,
I hope you don't think I was arguing with you, I was merely letting you know my thoughts on the subject, and as anyone can see, am not the expert on it. 
In my eyes, we're having a friendly conversation.

Definitely God inspires one to repent; this because of His kindness.  There is no doubt in my mind that God is in control of everything and all is going perfectly to His plan.

(I just went back and read my original post).  So yes, even though the "many called" are serving themselves, the beast within, they are in fact doing what God has purposed them to do, and so it's a full circle back to Him......Darren, I'm just glad His thoughts and ways are way above mine!

Peace & Love,
Marie

[YellowStone]

Marie,

Gosh I hope you don't think that I was arguing with you either.

I did not take offense and I apologise for perhaps making you think I did.

I think we covered a lot of ground in thi thread and I know I feel better because of it. Thanks so much for helping me align "my"  thoughts.

Much Love to you,

Darren

[Shane]

I have always understood sin and evil to be two distinct yet similar things. Like two sheets of paper are alike they are not the same.

According to strongs (not the definitive source i know but helpful to the discussion)

Sin is 0817 asham (trespass offering, trespass, offering for sin, sin, guiltiness)

and evil is 07451 ra (wickedness, wicked, mischief, hurt, bad, trouble, sore, affliction, ill, adversity, favoured, harm, naught, noisome, grievous, sad)

Seems that if one does evil they are guilty and therefore have sinned. But if they sin they are not neccesarily guilty of evil. One could sin without being evil but whether one could be evil and not sin is the tricky part.

However to be evil and to create evil are not the same.


To be true to scripture- we have to say that God creates evil but we also have to say that God does not sin.

I have also heard different definitions for sin and evil but cannot point to a source.

Sin is "missing the mark"

Evil is "crushing"

God could create evil (crushing) events, nations, people but not sin (miss the mark) by doing so. In other words he does not miss the mark (sin) when he crushes (does evil) to a nation as a way to chastise that nation.

I think when we do evil (crush things) it is for our gain not God's and therefore sinful (missing the mark by not doing things out of a Godly heart and mind)

I also think that God did not sin (miss the mark) when he created the perfect satan (adversary). This adversary (satan) then is God's perfect (not missing the mark) created being with the sole purpose of doing crushing things (evil) and tempting others to do the same. Without satan in the world (without adversity) we could not grow, become knowledgeable in good and evil.

Does God cause us to sin? we cannot not sin because we always miss the mark the bulls eye. Does God cause us to do evil? No i think thats the adversary's job to tempt us. So God is not accountable for our evil but he is responsible because He created the adversary. At the end the adversary will be thrown into the LOF to be purified and sanctified and be given a different job description.

Shane