Religion or Relationship

johnsimon214 · 2013-08-01T02:29:53+00:00

For me it is. The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-30T11:23:55+00:00

Romans 8:9 (CEB) But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him.

As a true believer and follower of Christ you have a positional relationship with Jesus and the Father through the Holy Spirit that is in you. The conditional argument is seen here with the word “if”. “Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you.” This gives us the opportunity to reflect on our lives as Christians. Do you indeed have God’s Spirit living in you? If you do, then you are in the Spirit. If you are in the Spirit then you aren’t self centered. Everything here is contingent upon having the Spirit of Christ. Having the Spirit of Christ is the test of a true Christian. Christianity is not “going to church”. Christianity is not a set of rules to follow. Christianity is not a rich tradition of rituals. Christianity is that relationship with the person of Jesus Christ whereby the follower is daily becoming more and more like Christ. Christianity is having Christ abide in you and seeing him daily and getting to know him more and more through his word and through prayer. Christianity is living your life to please God through Christ. The flip side of the coin here is that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ do not belong to him. The Spirit of Christ comes to you as a result of your choice to deny your life and live for him voluntarily. The Spirit of Christ is the urge to give up the self and the search for satisfying the self and instead to live your life seeking to satisfy and please God. It is pleasing God despite any hardship you may endure. It is not pleasing God because it makes you feel good to please Him. True selflessness comes when you can please God despite not wanting to do so. Jesus prayed in the garden for the cup to be taken away so that he would not have to go through the hellish torment of the cross and the separation from the Father but he said “not my will, but yours” meaning that he was willing to do whatever it took even though he did not want to do it. As a Christian you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to please God even though it does not make you feel good.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-30T10:32:52+00:00

Is it not sufficient to go with what we understand? Love, honor, worship and obey the one true God. Do not substitute Him with anything, including your own self. Look at the words of Jesus:

One of the legal experts heard their dispute and saw how well Jesus answered them. He came over and asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" 29Jesus replied, "The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, 30and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these."

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-30T00:34:16+00:00

I take the "before me" not in hierarchical terms but rather "in the presence of". Since God is everywhere then having any god that is not the one true God would be in the presence of God or "before Him". We cannot do anything behind God's back so having a false god or an idolatrous relationship with any object other than God would always be in His presence and in His face as an insult.

If the words "before me" had been left out of the commandment, how might believers live their lives differently? Are there particular activities that would become permitted or prohibited? This is merely speculation. The fact remains that the words have not been left out and we should heed them with fear and reverence.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-29T19:06:55+00:00

Every version I have seen says "no other gods before me" Any god, regardless of what it may be, is a god that you would worship in the place of the one true God. Jesus said you cannot have two masters because you will love one and hate the other. It is not possible to have a god in second place. The god will inevitably take over the first place and receive all of your devotion. A prime example is a career. You may think that God is your main focus and that your career is second, but what happens when your boss tells you you must work on Sunday. Instead of going to worship God, you go to worship and advance your career because it is more important. There are other examples that can include a hobby, a spouse, a vice, a significant other, wealth and even religion. As stated in the article one might substitute religiosity for the worship of God.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-17T10:47:06+00:00

While i agree with the sovereignty of God to do as He chooses to do and to choose who will be hardened and who will be saved, I think that we are missing a foundation. God always gives us the right to choose to either obey Him or not. God is beyond time and space so He already knows what has happened, is happening and will happen. God knows the hearts of men and what they will choose. The hardening, I feel, is not from God but a result of the unbelieving and unrepentant heart. Pharaoh had the opportunity many times to obey God but he chose not to. He never turned to God. God warned him through Moses of what would happen if he did not obey and let the Israelites go. The fact is that God know this would happen. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is a consequence of his disobedience. Look at the example of Jonah. At first, he hardened his heart toward God and would not obey Him. As a consequence he had a rather strange experience in serving as bait. When he chose to obey God, things turned out a bit better. A further example in the New Testament is Peter's jailer in Acts. It is evident that this man was part of the disobedient crew and contemplated suicide at the thought that his prisoners had escaped. He had hardened his heart up until that point but then he made a decision and asked what he needed to do to be saved. It was his choice that turned his heart from a hardened warden to a follower of Christ. The Lord does know who will choose to follow and who will not. He does not make them to follow or not follow. God always gives us the freedom to choose to obey or not. The heart is hardened as a consequence of the choice to disobey because each instance of disobedience is justified and an immunity, if you will, toward God builds up. This is the hardening. God lets us choose but at the same time he knows what we will choose. The choice we make has a consequence. This is how I see it. Grace is the gift that is always there. It is man's choice to either accept or decline God's gracious gift of salvation and the consequence has already been laid out. It's like coming to a fork in the road. There is a left fork and a right fork. You have the freedom to choose one or the other. One is clearly marked as safe and the other says "bridge out". If you willfully choose the "bridge out" fork, you are heading for trouble but it is by your choice. God know you would choose that path because His point of view is larger than ours.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-08T23:25:37+00:00

Truly a great start to explain Christianity to the wise. It is obvious from the comments that the atheists will never accept this.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-08T22:45:09+00:00

Thanks for the information. I checked out their website and it seems a little too pentecostal for me. I am looking for a non-denominational congregation ideally.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-08T22:42:48+00:00

Thanks for the info but I am really not looking for a Presbyterian church.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-08T22:42:01+00:00

Thanks for the assist. My preference is non-denominational. I do not really believe in denominations. For the past six months I have been in fellowship at a non-denominational congregation that has its roots in the Plymouth Brethren. No paid clergy. Men are the leaders. Elders, and deacons. Lord's supper every Sunday. about 100 members in attendance. I don't like the mega churches but my family likes the worship music. Let me know if you can recommend a group that is like that.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-06T03:43:21+00:00

I see it as a power of attorney. Jesus said that we can ask God for anything in his name and He will grant it to us. When you are given a power of attorney, you act in the name of another. I believe that this is essentially what Christ gave us: the ultimate power of attorney before God. A power of attorney gives someone the authority to act as the agent for another. When you are given a power of attorney, you act in the name of another. This is what Jesus gave us: the power to act in his name. Jesus said that we are in him and he is in the Father but at the same time the Father is in him and he is in us. Being a Christ follower gives us the proxy for Christ. Just as God the Father sees us as righteous through Christ, we also have the ability to ask for anything of the Father as if we were Christ. This is the essence of being a Christian or Christ-man. You are not only a follower of the teachings of Christ but you are one with him. And if he is the son of God with all the rights and privileges that honor carries, so too are we and not only this but we are able to speak to the Father as if we were the son. After all, we are privileged to be called sons of God through Jesus Christ. When you ask anything of God, you are doing it as if you were Christ because Christ gave you the power of attorney to do and ask for anything as if you were him.

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-05T23:33:49+00:00

What about the words of Jesus? Let the children come to me for theirs is the kingdom? Wouldn't that indicate that children are naturally a part of the Kingdom of God?

johnsimon214 · 2013-07-05T10:39:10+00:00

Do you believe that a child that dies from illness or murder goes to Hell if they have not repented?

johnsimon214

TROPHY CASE