Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: guilt

  • Follow After Me 8 – Carnal Ones

    And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.

    For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? – 1 Cor 3:1-3 NKJV

    How we would put ourselves above others. How we make comparison to another saying, “I am a Christian and you are a sinner,” while church-goers sometimes remain as carnal as anyone else.

    Outline of Biblical Usage

    1. fleshly, carnal

      1. having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites

        1. governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God

        2. having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature

        3. human: with the included idea of depravity

      2. pertaining to the flesh

        1. to the body: related to birth, linage, etc
    Strong’s Definitions (Strong’s Definitions Legend)
    σαρκικός sarkikós, sar-kee-kos’; from G4561; pertaining to flesh, i.e. (by extension) bodily, temporal, or (by implication) animal, unregenerate:—carnal, fleshly.

    Yet the Apostle cautions us that we do not know as much as we might think. We do not act as if we are mature in Christ Jesus, who set before us a perfect example and within us a desire for the spirit and not the flesh.

    We are torn in our new faith: young in the spirit, yet mature in the flesh as were we before. Our guilt now burdens us, though carnal things continue to do, sin which formerly did not bother our distracted minds. And seemingly to make our guilt worse, sermon after sermon convicts us of our continued love of the flesh.

    Romans 7:

    14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

    crushed by guiltGUILT! I do not want to commit the sin I do.

    19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…

    Along come former friends, family who claim to care for me and co-workers of different belief and they say, “See, you are just like us.”

    Listen to our wisdom learned of this world. Why should you feel guilty to a Law written thousands of years ago? Why not just be moral like most of us? You are smart enough and good enough to decide what is right and what is wrong. Why not return to our religions of tolerance? Why not choose to be as good as me?

    Then you return to the argument of the preacher for repentance, the plea of one who loves you in Christ for righteousness.

    Romans 8:

    5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

    6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

    What will it be then? Carnality? The constant cravings of the flesh?

    • Is it a reward in this life I seek?
    • Or do I look to the hope of the resurrection and eternal joy?

    Is the lasting reward of the love of God in Christ Jesus not worth some suffering at the hands of the wise of this perishing world?

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    12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…

    18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us…

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    Are you the prey of Satan? Or are you his bait for the snare of the Pit?

    Jesus Christ has saved you! He has all authority over sin and death.

    Let us look to Him who IS now looking over us, Christ who suffered and died for the very sins which burden us before the watchful eyes of the worldly.

    Let us follow after Him, who not only set forth the way, the truth and the life for all who willingly bear the weight of his Cross, but Christ Jesus our Lord who has called us in love in the beginning before time and conception.

    Our Lord has loved us before the knitting of our flesh in the womb and the spirit of life flowed though our beating heart for Him.

    “This woman is a sinner,” you say. “That man is a carnal man,” you say.

    And with the smile of Christ’s love you hear in the answer of a beloved of the Lord,

    “I know. That was once me. But now I am saved in Christ Jesus, my Lord.”

  • The Unspoken Question of our own Sin

    The Unspoken Question of our own Sin

    “How long will God contend with their evil?” we ask. Paul addresses many sins of evil-doers in his letter to the Romans. Yet Paul is more concerned with the state of the souls of those listening to God for answers to our own sin.

    Romans 2:

    Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

    “NOT all of them!” replies my self-righteous clouded guilt-free thinking… O.K., i’ve done a few. I do everything I can to make it right with God. … How am I doing?

    6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil…

    Did he say, ‘self-seeking?’

    I thought by watching out for myself as a Christian that I was seeking Christ. … Right? God wants the best for me in every instance… good over evil… right? … Self-seeking? Really?

    Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, no, not one;

    11 no one understands;

    no one seeks for God.

    12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”

    None? No one? Not even me, a Christian? (I’m starting to get a little guilt here.)

    “None is righteous, no, not one…

    Not even me.. guilt before church, guilt away from church, guilt for what is past, guilt for so many things, sin in my flesh, transgression of the Law and evil in my thoughts… None. Not even me.

    If not for Jesus and for the love of God sending our Lord to the Cross for my sins, I too would be dead at the Judgment seat of Christ! Condemned, (Christian or not.)

    And I know the truth of my guilt, as do you the guilt of your own sins.

    Let us own up to our own guilt and sin, confessing our unrighteousness before the Lord, Jesus Christ.

    How can we who died to sin still live in it? – Romans 6:2

    Do we hide our own guilt by wagging a finger of sin at unnamed sinners just like us? We would bury guilt by leaving it unconfessed?

    We look left and look right to find a sinner worse than ourselves, when we need only to look deeply into our own heart.

    In our many moments of the weakness of flesh, what Christian does not suppress the chilling words of our Lord telling a follower, “I never knew you?”

    Do you recall the story? It happens to be about judging ‘others.’

    Matthew 7:

    21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    Do you hear that, beloved brother or sister in Christ?

    NOT everyone who calls Jesus, ‘Lord,’ will enter His Kingdom!

    Christians will be turned away.. turned away to hell with the unbeliever. Can you imagine that it would be you?

    I do this… We do that… Our ministry is important to this church!

    Are you saying, dear friend, with your pointing finger, that your sin should be accepted by Jesus because you did a good thing or two for His church?

    Is your guilt alleviated by your service? Is your reward not Heaven?

    NO!

    Heaven and your salvation and mine are the gift of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, who took our sin upon himself and was crucified on a Cross as MY punishment (and yours, if you will humbly accept His love and grace).

    Isn’t the unspoken question of our own sin the one we must ask of the Lord to save us from our own self?

    Dear Heavenly Father, loving Lord and Creator of all mankind,

    I am a sinner.

    Thank you for taking your only Son, Jesus Christ, and giving Him to me and to many for the forgiveness of our sins. Not just their sins, Lord, but also mine.

    For I am a sinner, often unrepentant; yet for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, please, Lord, forgive me.

    Lord know my heart and form it into His righteousness… and not into anything right only in my own eyes.

    Amen.

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    This is the fourth Lenten message in preparation for Easter, 2016.

     

  • Follow After Me -1-Hope for the Guilty

    Follow After Me -1-Hope for the Guilty

    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

    – Matthew 4:19-20

    They’re after me. And after all, though I had better intentions, I’m guilty. I have trespassed the Law. I am, therefore, a sinner, deserving of punishment. Where is my hope?

    Do you see yourself as a fellow sinner who would like to flee this world?

    You know, it seems like in this 21st century that we can no longer do the right thing.

    I try. Really, I do. Yet someone or some situation seems to always come along and mess me up. My well-intentioned plans are always laid waste. I owe someone something I cannot repay. I have become a debtor with no redeemer.

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    In the 7th century Before Christ, the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the sins of Jews, God’s chosen people. Isaiah warns of the fall of Israel (740 B.C.) and of Jerusalem (607 B.C.), convicting by words even followers of the LORD in this 21st century A.D. Isaiah even describes how I sometimes feel.

    Isaiah 64:

    4 From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
    no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.

    … Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
    6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
    We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

     

    King David of a United Kingdom of Israel [Israel/Samaria & Judah] was guilty and deserved punishment from God for his sins. King David was not only an adulterer, but also a murderer. [2 Samuel 14]

    David pleaded to the LORD to show him mercy. [Psalm 38]

    O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
    Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!

    3 There is no soundness in my flesh
    Because of Your anger,
    Nor any health in my bones
    Because of my sin.

    4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
    Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

    Who will help us in our guilt?

    Most people who believe in God try do more good things than acts of evil. While Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others work to earn their salvation after death (as do many who are not certain about God {just in case},  only Christian followers of Jesus Christ have true hope of eternal life because of the forgiveness of our sins.

    You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. – Jeremiah 32:18-19

    What is my hope before Almighty God (since I am guilty)?

    Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

    Only Christian followers of Jesus Christ have true hope of eternal life because of the forgiveness of our sins.

    Acts 2:22b-24

    Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

    32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

    Repent!

    “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

    Guilty? Yes… many times over… MANY sins. I am a sinner! (just like you.)

    Forgiven? Yes… in Christ Jesus who was sacrificed on the Cross for my sins and the sins of the world.

    Hope? Definitely, for He was and IS and will be; and Christ Jesus has promised eternal life to all who follow after Him.

    Are you a Christ-follower with hope or a guilty soul waiting for punishment and death?

    To be continued…

    NEXT: Released from my prison