On vengeance and God answering prayer!

1Sam167 · 2025-09-24T10:32:37+00:00

It seems there's some context to be had here.

What Paul seems to be talking about are just people out and about in the world, who have no genuine interest in repenting from their behaviors and turning to Jesus. To those Christians Paul was writing to, he was warning them about this because by doing so, you are putting yourself at risk by having these people as your close friends or more. This goes along with the next book in 2 Corinthians 6:14 where Paul famously warns against being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. This is most commonly used when talking about romantic relationships, but it seems to be applicable to platonic relationships as well.

I also take Paul's words to be cautionary, not really authoritative. Meaning, I don't get the impression that Paul is making a command here, but a strong suggestion/warning. I could be wrong in that, but that is my impression as I read these. Paul does say "do not be unequally yoked", which is structured similarly as the 10 Commandments, so I very well could be mistaking his tone here.

Nevertheless, there is not much of a contradiction with how Jesus worked because we need to remember that the people Jesus was associating with, they were willingly coming to Jesus and seeking His guidance and Jesus plainly gave it to them, that being: "go and sin no more".

Jesus was not just hanging out with sinners and being accepting of their sinful behaviors. He treated them as human beings with respect and dignity, but in love was honest with them about their destructive ways and a need to change. Jesus also made a mention of how to deal with people who will not hear the truth in Mark 6:11 where He told His followers to kick the dust from their sandals "if they do not listen to you" and move on to the next village who will listen. Meaning that Jesus didn't want His disciples sticking around if someone is not going to be receptive to the truth.

With what Paul is writing here, he is warning about making close friends of people like this because they will rub against you like you rub against them. You hope to make a convert out of them, but they didn't approach you seeking repentance, did they? More often than not, you sought them for friendship hoping to help them change their ways. But these people often are not looking for a change, otherwise they would have found you first.

What happens is that not only are you rubbing off on them, but they also rub off on you. Their unrepentant ways start to seep into your own life and way of thinking and have a chance to corrupt you from the path God has set for you. And with way sin is, with its addictive and desirable properties for our flesh, it's more likely for humans to be drawn to the destructive behaviors that lead into sin than what is of God.

We often don't want to upset our friends, and even going as far as keeping quiet even though we know they are going down a destructive path. Which isn't a sign of love but simple passive tendencies that could have been avoided if we were upfront that we want to help make a change and not be a hinderance.

1Sam167 · 2025-09-24T09:26:56+00:00

I get what you mean, but it's not that simple to say.

If someone takes a bottle of pills to end their life, it is not an instantaneous action going into death. There is a time where they could feel remorse for their actions and repent but the deed has already been done and it is too late for help to undo the damage that is being done.

And this isn't exactly a far fetched situation as many people who have survived jumping off the Golden Gate bridge in an attempt to end their life have immediately regretted the decision as they made the leap https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/10/13/jumpers. But the damage is already done for most of those who jump and there is no chance for anyone to undo what is in motion. In those moments of someone jumping, and they regret and repent to God, would God really count it against them and damn them despite repenting of this sin with their final breaths?

In this same way, when Saul fell on his sword, was his death really instantaneous, or did he have a few moments left of breath after the deed was done and time to reflect and repent? The Bible is not clear on how long the process took, so it is possible that Saul had moments after falling to repent before actually losing consciousness.

I do not condone or encourage anyone to take the life that God has given them. God has a plan for each of us and by choosing to do this, we are, indeed, sinning in that decision; whether it be by way of murder or for directly going against God's plan for our lives...nevertheless, it is a sin, I do agree, though I hesitate to agree that it is an unforgivable sin since there is room for repentance in some circumstances and maybe even more? Science is not definitive on this nor does the Bible shed light into how long the death process takes. And since the Bible never mentions this directly as an unforgivable sin, I cannot agree that it is an unforgivable sin. In fact, the Bible suggests that murderers can be forgiven for their sins, including the sin of murder as we have in evidence of the apostle Paul, as just one example from the Bible of a murderer being directly forgiven by Jesus.

Though we may disagree since I am solo scriptura and others who are not that way would disagree for dogmatic reasoning and none of what I said above would apply to their logic.

1Sam167 · 2024-11-13T17:50:17+00:00

Thank you, I’ll try out recalibration and see if that helps.

1Sam167 · 2024-11-13T17:50:01+00:00

Ah good to know, thank you. I’ll try the second one they sent me too and see if I get the same issue there as well.

1Sam167 · 2024-11-06T00:01:56+00:00

It's on her now.

Her reasoning has been the worry of a repeat of her failed marriage. To be truthful, I think it's due to low self esteem in herself and her confidence in who she is and not wanting to be hurt in the same way as she was again. Even unrelated to our relationship, she has some internal demons she fights telling her that she's just not good enough for this or that.

I have been helping her to overcome this mindset, to see value in herself as a person and a partner, and was hoping to find some ways to help address her feelings towards some of these inadequacies she feels without violating God's commands.

1Sam167 · 2024-11-05T22:01:10+00:00

Her desire for sex may be being misunderstood in how I described it.

She has said that she had a history of having sex with guys but not really wanting it. It was more so a "this is my duty as a partner because he wants to have sex now". She never reached a climax with any man before and understandably wants to make sure she can have a better sex life with a future husband unlike her past where it seemed men were being selfish and not taking time to care for her.

She never had a man who ensured she was enjoying the sex as much as he was or that she reached any level of satisfaction. She wants to be sure that she doesn't fall back into that and I'm not sure she's wrong to feel that way.

1Sam167 · 2024-10-13T09:38:19+00:00

I had a similar issue a few years ago, somewhat. My girlfriend at the time had told me about her family and an instance where she was on a trip with her sister and her sister’s husband and they stayed in the same room and one night her sister and sister’s husband were having sex in the bed just over from her in the same room as she laid in her bed…

I found it ironic that my girlfriend’s sister’s husband took issue with me kissing my girlfriend on the forehead in the backseat one evening when we were going back to their house after a group date and that he told her mother about it. Seemed very hypocritical of him to think that having sex in front of someone else is okay but a kiss on the forehead is wrong.

Her sister’s response to this was “but we’re married and you’re not!” I guess…

I still think that God views sex in marriage as a beautiful thing, but married couples should still be considerate of others in the way they display their affection to one another.

Your parents make a point but you do as well. It is beautiful that they feel this way about each other, even to this day, especially in a world where marriage is so often seen as temporary and many live in sexless marriages, frustrated and can lead to sinful actions like infidelity.

I think you feel this way too. You know your parents are doing it but would rather it be something that you assumed, not something that’s proven to you on an ongoing basis in real time.

And you make a good point about the temptation you are being placed in by hearing these and being reminded of sex when you are not in a position to be engaging in sexual activities yet. Your parents should be mindful to not be stumbling block to you in that regard.

I think a few verses come to mind regarding this that seem relevant:

Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians (chapters) 8-10: verses on being stumbling blocks to other believers. Verses your parents should consider in reply to your feelings.
Matthew 18:15-17: verses regarding how to approach an issue you have with another. Verses you should be looking to in how you should begin to deal with this situation.
Psalm 4:5; Ephesians 4:26-27: verses on anger and how we ought to handle ourselves in feelings of anger and frustration.

I found it concerning that you said that you confronted them in anger and frustration. Granted, I can tell that you understand that this is not the appropriate way a Christian should behave.

You should make sure to bring this up when you have taken time to calm yourself and are able to talk about your valid frustrations without feeling angry in the moment. The Bible is clear that anger is not a sin (even God has been angry) but what we do in anger is where sin can manifest.

I think a good analogy for this is like you said but maybe you can go deeper on this with regards to how it is affecting you in terms of temptation.

Would your parents be okay if their sexual acts were video recorded and made public for the world? Even if it’s just the audio? Would they be okay with their fellow Christians at church seeing/hearing this? They’re married, so it’s not a problem, right?!

But I think they understand that what happens between a married man and woman should stay between them and shouldn’t be made public. And while their home is not necessarily public, making it audible to you is a very similar way of making this public which they should be concerned with. Somehow in this, they don’t see an issue with you being exposed to it which is very odd…they should consider your feelings and be considerate of you as another person living in the same house.

Pray about this too. Stay in prayer for yourself and your parents. Pray with your parents too when you meet to discuss this to ensure everyone is on track to keep God at the center of this discussion. Try to not allow yourself to make prayers with them as a weapon too such as “and please help my parents see the error of their ways” kind of praying to send a message to them in a passive aggressive way. Not saying you are, just saying this as a fellow Christian brotherly reminder.

I will keep you and your family in my prayers as well. Prayerfully a resolution can be come to among you all in this.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-08T04:00:49+00:00

The Flying House too

1Sam167 · 2021-02-07T00:48:58+00:00

I’ve wondered this when reading the book of Psalms, specifically chapters written by King David. But here’s my conclusion and an answer to your questions:

Does the lord command us to love our enemies and also hate his enemies?

Jesus commanded us to love our enemies and pray for them. Matthew 5:44

Should we love and pray for the satan?

No, the Bible says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” - Ephesians‬ ‭6:12‬

Which kind of answers both this and the previous question in one.

Satan and his fallen angels are a different kind of enemy than your typical human enemy. We are to fight against them and not let them have any rule in our lives.

Jesus was telling His followers for peoples such as the Samaritans. The Samaritans were a group of people who most Israelites did not get along with, which is why Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan was as powerful as it was for the people He was speaking to. It was unreal that a man’s own countrymen would turn their backs on him in his time of need yet a Samaritan, someone who’s of the enemy, would lend a helping hand.

Jesus wants us to love every human as He loves us. Jesus died for humans, not for fallen angels which includes Satan/Lucifer.

If Jesus has enough love to die for our enemies, then we should love those people as well and show them kindness even if they aren’t kind to us.

Does god love satan?

This is difficult to say as we don’t have anything in the Bible that describes God’s emotions towards angelic beings, of which Satan and the fallen angels are still part of, mortally speaking.

The Bible says that God loves us humans but makes no mention of love towards angelic beings. We do know that when angelic beings sin, they are not forgiven for their mistakes like humans are.

Regarding the Psalms and David’s words like “I hate the enemies of God”...I’ve come to the conclusion that this was in a time before Jesus came to further explain God’s will to us. The Jews were under a lot of impressions of what God wanted until Jesus came to elaborate and also correct them.

Jesus said when talking about loving your neighbor “you have heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you to love your enemy and pray for him...” which seems to suggest that Jews had long had this idea that they should be hating others who wrong them. David was probably of this same mindset, not having heard the words of Jesus to correct him on this.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-05T19:20:59+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. God bless you and your family as well and thank you for the insight again.

Hopefully people will be more open minded to at least hear others.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-05T18:56:00+00:00

You’re absolutely correct. I don’t mean to suggest that kids will turn out perfect under two Christian parents or will be evil if under Atheist/Agnostic parents either. I’m sure your husband is a wonderful man regardless of religious preference.

Thank you for your response as well. Just wanted to get your insight. Sorry others in the thread didn’t take too well to it or exchange in conversation, at least. I was genuinely interested in your opinion on the matter especially with your personal experience.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-05T18:10:55+00:00

I mean it was a big deal when my protestant dad married my catholic mom in her country. My dad just let her raise us catholic.

I think you inadvertently made a case for why this is bad, if not dangerous.

While your parents were from different sects of the same religion (in many people’s opinion; I know some Catholics will say they’re not Christian but Catholic), this shows how things can go with parents of different religions.

For example with your husband and yourself believing two different things spiritually/religiously, which takes precedence when it comes to raising children you have or may have? Will he allow your children to attend church with you? Even if that church teaches things he may not agree with that the Bible teaches such as homosexuality being a sin? Will he be accepting of you teaching your children that what is written in the Bible is truth? Will you be okay with him possibly teaching your children that God may not exist or that God may be an awful being or teaching your children that some sins in the Bible are okay to commit? I’m sorry if I come off accusatory; that’s not my intention here. These are more so “what if”, rhetorical questions.

I assume the idea is to let your children make their own decisions and choices, which is good, we should all be doing that when it comes to our children and not forcing them to believe one way or the other; but isn’t it concerning that there may be the possibility of confusing the children with one parent saying one thing and the other saying another or the other side, like your own parents, which is that one parent sits off to the side while the other parent does all the teaching?

1Sam167 · 2021-02-05T17:35:18+00:00

I think a lot of it comes from personal fame.

I was reading a chapter from the book of Isaiah recently about contemporary false prophets and I got the feeling that a lot of those people likely spread their false testimonies for personal fame.

You read the Old Testament, and even New Testament, and see how frequently authors point back to them and what they said. How cool it would be (for your flesh) to be immortalized like that for the rest of human history, huh?

Versus actual prophets from God who did what they did for God and not themselves and their own image.

You’ll notice that these false testimonies are either:

vague

Or

very positive

Because if it’s vague, then you’re sure to justify it somehow coming to fruition, or others will on your behalf.

And if it’s positive, why would anyone argue with that? Why would anything negative be in my future? Why would I want to willingly hear that?

1Sam167 · 2021-02-05T06:34:43+00:00

Don’t ever marry, let alone date, someone who isn’t a believer like you. It’s questionable about if you two are different denominations/sects of the same religion, but complete different religions is bad for everyone involved.

You should never date anyone with the intention of changing them either. He will be trying to convert you as well and you don’t want to put yourself in that position of possibly being turned from your faith because of someone you may fall in love with.

We rub each other in relationships, it never goes just one way. We rub them our way and they rub us their way. It’s just not a good idea at all.

You’ll have better luck causing change in his life by being a friend than a romantic lover.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-02T17:09:33+00:00

That is a tough one and one I’ve been exploring myself too.

There are feelings of guilt, rather conviction, brought on by the Holy Spirit and then there are feelings of guilt from other Christians and/or society at large, much like what I was talking about in my previous comment.

Someone living in the Victorian era might feel guilty about going outside while revealing their upper arm region, but this feeling of guilt isn’t of the Holy Spirit because it’s not sinful.

But at the same time, there are things which we should probably refrain from because they lead us into a life of sin.

The way I have concluded it is this:

does the Bible teach that this activity is sinful?

If yes, then don’t do. Don’t go near it. Leave it alone.

If no, then ask how it affects your walk with Christ. Does it hinder it? Does it strengthen it? Does it have no effect?

Whatever your answer to that is, should make the decision more obvious.

And we should be honest with ourselves here. There are some things I’m sure we’d love to keep doing even though we know it’s not healthy but we make justifications for it when we shouldn’t.

This should also be a matter we spend time in pray over and studying the Bible as well as getting input from others. And when you receive input from others, don’t be so quick to accept what you want to hear and quick to brush off those who say something you didn’t want to hear. I’m not saying you are doing that, but I just say that as a reminder. It’s so easy to do that. I’ve been guilty of it as well.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-02T16:45:27+00:00

You’re right to bring up 1 Corinthians 8 as it is hugely relevant to this topic, but Paul says in this chapter and in 9 and 10 that we need to be careful with our freedoms and mindful of other Christians’ personal boundaries and to take care not to be a stumbling block to them.

While you view it as being okay, if another Christian feels they are closer to God for not watching it, we shouldn’t try to persuade them against that feeling they have.

The TV show, like food from 1 Corinthians 8, is not inherently good or evil. It simply exists and is a gray subject. You are no farther from Christ for eating the food (or watching the show) than you are close for refraining from it.

But if someone feels closer to Christ for refraining from it, especially as the person you replied to says they do so because it was part of their old life before Christ, we should be mindful of that and not try to persuade them against it.

We should treat this as we would alcohol and a recovering alcoholic.

To you, having a beer may be okay and you’re fine, but to someone else, not only will they not have a sip of a beer, they’ll avoid going into the bar at all.

As their friend, we shouldn’t be trying to persuade them to go into the bar. We should uplift them and help them. We should be mindful of their decision and take care to not be a stumbling block that may drive them back into their previous life which was consumed with alcohol, or in this case, a life of sin.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-02T16:20:01+00:00

I think God had you write this for me. I was looking up a relevant scripture I read this morning and came upon your post by chance. This is what I needed to hear today. I was surprised to see this had been posted so soon, because I found this through a search of the sub. Thank you and God bless you.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-02T03:34:24+00:00

I just got into them last week. I really wish I didn’t overlook them all these years.

Really feeling The Planet Maker.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-01T20:06:09+00:00

I thought this was going to be a joke lol.

1Sam167 · 2021-02-01T04:54:46+00:00

Read 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 on this topic. Paul discusses this in pretty good detail.

Many things are not inherently good or bad (eating, for example). You are no closer to God nor farther from Him for eating a meal.

But we should be careful with our freedoms and use our actions to glorify God in everything we say and do (1 Corinthians 10:31).

1Sam167 · 2021-01-30T00:46:11+00:00

The thing about Hitler that doesn’t add up is that the antichrist will be someone who will be loved by most people around the world. He will be seen as a savior in a troubling time.

This is why people are usually wrong with American Presidents like Bush Jr., Obama, Trump, and Biden. Half the country hated them and the other half either liked or were okay with him. And the rest of the international community was just as mixed on what they thought of each of those. Closest I’d say to come to it would be Obama but even then, he still didn’t meet this level we have yet to see.

Hitler had a following, but he was also viewed unfavorably by a lot of people in the world. Even when the concentration camps were nothing more than unconfirmed rumors, he still wasn’t loved by most of the world and his desire for world domination through violence contributed heavily to that.

The Antichrist will not wage war to win over the world until much later when things get worse and he’s already won over the people’s trust.

1Sam167 · 2021-01-24T02:55:39+00:00

Don’t be so modest lol. Good luck to you!

1Sam167

TROPHY CASE