How long can a Christian go without sinning?

[Utah]

I pictured you punching wileybob in the nose. If it could be done in love would it work?

That vile sin that disqualifies anyone from receiving the inheritance of the kingdom is unbelief. Otherwise the whole world would be saved...if only..

Thank you, dear sister! Thank you. You get it. Praise God someone gets it!

Well, others get it too, thank God, but still, the falsehoods just keep flying.

 

[Sirk]

The skill of empathy is an inoculation against mental health issues. At least the ones that are not totally genetic or the result of injury. And even those ones aren't out of reach from Gods hand.

The reality is that business's are learning that emotional intelligence is a far great quality to have in an employee than a high IQ. People with a high EQ make better employees, employers, coworkers, friends, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, students pastors etc etc.

 

[Depleted]

My issue with this line of reasoning is that we are told to not use our liberty or freedom as an opportunity to entertain the lusts of the flesh. So, how can we say that we sin EVERY DAY when God, through the apostle Paul, says to not do that? I see your point, don't misunderstand me, but consider the point I am bringing up.

If we sin every single day of the year, why are we told that we are dead to sin and that we shouldn't live therein? That we should walk in righteousness? Serve in the newness of life and in the Spirit?

Do you think its even possible to go a period of time without sinning (while awake)? Shouldn't this be the norm, as opposed to a rarity (at least at some point in our walk)?

It does die with repeated instructions by God, his needling us until we hear him, and keeping on keeping on.

When I was a kid, I shoplifted a candy bar. God needled me to great guilt and I repented. I didn't take the candy bar back or pay them the nickle, because I wasn't a Christian yet, and didn't know I should have. I never shoplifted again though. (Dead to shoplifting.)

When I was working as a telemarketer, X number of sales = one extra hour pay. X*.2 = two extra hours of pay. It was a good product and a good list, so if I plugged along, I usually averaged reaching those two marks 3/4ths of the way through the shift. Then I could goof off and play around. God needled me again and told me I was stealing time from my employers. I was hired for a certain number of hours, and if I didn't work those hours, they were paying for something they didn't get. (I was a Christian then, so got that.) A new lesson on the level of stealing. (More death to that sin.)

About a decade later, I pulled out a pen at the grocery store that I got where I got all my pens -- work. And God needled me again. Their pens. Who was I to take what belonged to them? (Part 3 on stealing, and more death to sin.)

A few years later, I needed resumes to look for a new job, so started to print them out on the company printer....

You get where this is going.

There is death to sin, but what we often missed is how deep the same sin is. And then God has to get needling on us. Oh. Forgot. The word is "conviction." We really don't get how deep sin is to put the sucker to death right off the bat. It takes God's detailed lessons over the years to get us through to the deep end on any given sin.

And then there is such a variety of ways on how to sin. (Also why I think it's easier to face The Mark, than to memorize any given list. Not stealing comes under "Love your neighbor.")

 

[stonesoffire]

We can measure our love of others by that counterbalance. We know what we want when we want to be loved, so it's a constant measurement.

Depleted

I will repeat to you what Holy Spirit told me years ago. Throw away your measuring stick.

Its taken all this time to understand. Do you see?

 

[Sirk]

Depleted

I will repeat to you what Holy Spirit told me years ago. Throw away your measuring stick.

Its taken all this time to understand. Do you see?

Ahh. The sin of comparison. It is a devious one. Comes in undetected and rots you from the inside out.

 

[stonesoffire]

All these coulda, shoulda, woulda thoughts...take our joy.

Our first love...a wonderful way to live if only...but we have an enemy. Now here is a good reason for having a bible.

 

[stonesoffire]

We aren't to measure ourselves either. Only He can do it this accurately...hint..."in Him".

 

[Depleted]

Because of progressive sanctification. This doesn't excuse the issue though. If a person doesn't even believe it possible (to even go a day without sin) then we've missed the grace of God that teaches us to deny ungodliness.

In discussing this I've had people grant me this answer. "Theoretically, yes." At least they granted the possibility. Yet to state emphatically that its not possible, it puts into question the whole nature of our rebirth.

The guy I've seen as an example of really-worked-it Christian is Paul. He seemed to have put his all into the effort of being most Christlike out of everyone in the book. He fell short.

I've met some mighty men and woman of God over the years. The one constant is they were willing to say they fell short. Even to tell how they fell short.

I'm not Paul. I'm not a mighty woman of God yet. I've never heard nor seen of anyone who has hit the mark.

That's my concept of "not likely." Admittedly, I'm more practical minded then theoretically minded.

 

[stonesoffire]

thank you for the rep Utah...blessings!

 

[valiant]

Thankyou for your open attitude.
Schizophrenia is a weakness, a genetic weakness which means patients who are in
a stressful environment often go on to show this illness.

It is not a genetic weakness. It is caused by lack of dopamine connections in the brain. which is a physical event not necessarily linked to genetics.

But you are being contradictory, Is it a genetic weakness, or is it the result of a stressful environment? You cannot have it both ways. It is clear that you are just repeating what people say.

LSD can cause schizophrenia as well as it is a dopamine drug.

LSD is not 'a dopamine' drug. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other grains. It can of course cause schizophrenia, as the misuse of many mind bending drugs can. But that is purely one of many causes for schizophrenia.

Now imagine this. We are built with systems in our brains that compensate for stress
or pressure but only to an extent. People who learn to stress relief and handle these
break points are much less likely to develop the illness than those who have no stratagies
at all.

Nonsense. You are simply basing that on hearsay. It is not factually true,

Families that repress emotions and do not recognise the emotional inter play, are most
vulnerable.

Rubbish.

So you valiant are probably from one such family.

If anything it is my wife's family. But the main causes of schizophrenia are not clear.

Now these are simple provable facts.

they are highly controversial hypotheses

I

see you are in denial and want to say nothing can be done to compensate for these weaknesses.

I have no need to be in denial, and nothing can be done to compensate for those weaknesses, which if they were true would not be discernible until too late.

Well there is a lot you can do.

Nonsense.

Once schizophrenia is displayed probably there is no way back.

the first true thing you have said.

It would not surprise me if part of this is developmental in early childhood, depending
on the environment the children grow up in, feeling loved and open to express whatever
they like with boundaries, or is a repressed and unexpressive environment where each
feels lost and alone. I know both environments, and I know which one works.

so you have a schizophrenic background? no wonder you swallow what 'they' tell you.

And this matters to me, because the statistical chance of serious mental issues in my
kids is high. But among my wider family, the ones with better social openness and caring
skills did much better. One family was totally devastated with 2 kids totally disabled and
one very withdrawn.

well I know nothing of your background, although it doesn't surprise me. But my family are all ok thank you apart from my wife. It seems she didn't know your theories LOL

So just to reiterate, in this world we have one shot and caring and growing, so let us do
it with love and in Christ with an open heart. Those who are closed down and shut out
literally stand little chance in this life or the next.

So you limit Christ. It figures. and I see you think men's eternal destiny depends on it. We have different views on that too. Too much atheistic psychology, that's your problem. I have seen it strike people of many ages, and quite unexpectedly.

 

[Depleted]

Something to consider, as strange as it may seem in light of what is written in scripture, we are not given at salvation the supernatural ability to live a sinless life. If we were, we would. We are given this treasure in earthen vessels. When I was first saved I made up my mind not to sin, ever, after a rather short time I found that I simply did not have the ability to live a sinless life. We are told that IF we follow the Spirit we will not fulfill the desires of our flesh nature. So the question is, do we have the ability to always follow the Spirit? In this area we are all different, theoretically we should, however in reality most of us do not. Knowing myself, I do not believe I have ever had the ability to always follow the Spirit, maybe someone else has that ability, I don't think that I know of any.

Well, actually, we were, very much, given that supernatural ability. We're natural. God is supernatural. God gave us God.

The problem is we want chocolate (whatever strikes our fancy) instead of broccoli (what's good for us, and taste good too.) It just doesn't seem not quite as good as chocolate. That's the war in us -- nature and supernature.

 

[Sirk]

It is not a genetic weakness. It is caused by lack of dopamine connections in the brain. which is a physical event not necessarily linked to genetics.

But you are being contradictory, Is it a genetic weakness, or is it the result of a stressful environment? You cannot have it both ways. It is clear that you are just repeating what people say.




LSD is not 'a dopamine' drug. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other grains.It can of course cause schizophrenia, as the misuse of many mind bending drugs can. But that is purely one of many causes for schizophrenia.




Nonsense. You are simply basing that on hearsay. It is not factually true,



Rubbish.



If anything it is my wife's family. But the main causes of schizophrenia are not clear.



they are highly controversial hypotheses

I

I have no need to be in denial, and nothing can be done to compensate for those weaknesses, which if they were true would not be discernible until too late.



Nonsense.



the first true thing you have said.



so you have a schizophrenic background? no wonder you swallow what 'they' tell you.



well I know nothing of your background, although it doesn't surprise me. But my family are all ok thank you apart from my wife. It seems she didn't know your theories LOL



So you limit Christ. It figures. and I see you think men's eternal destiny depends on it. We have different views on that too. Too much atheistic psychology, that's your problem. I have seen it strike people of many ages, and quite unexpectedly.

I have a question. And it's not a combative one. If God built into us all those systems and called them good. How can psycology be bad? How can the way the brain works be bad?

 

[Depleted]

Its funny that most people in discussing this will inevitably admit that "theoretically yes, its possible." The question now is, why is it only theoretical and not our actual reality?

Two reasons:
1. Although I know the Ten Commandments, I don't always get the depth of the Ten Commandments. (Story of how God got me past stealing over the long haul.) Now apply that same concept with one of the harder commandments... like say, the first one. How can I not have strange gods before him, if I didn't know X = more important to me today than God? X can be anything -- a thing, a personal preference, a POV I'm sure I'm right about, my husband, my dad. I've got no idea when X replaces God until God convicts me X is greater than him.
2. A good chunk of me really does enjoy being the center of the universe. (Me-firstism.)

 

[tourist]

Well, actually, we were, very much, given that supernatural ability. We're natural. God is supernatural. God gave us God.

The problem is we want chocolate (whatever strikes our fancy) instead of broccoli (what's good for us, and taste good too.) It just doesn't seem not quite as good as chocolate. That's the war in us -- nature and supernature.

I used to like broccoli. Now I'm into asparagus.

 

[Depleted]

I've already addressed the focus issue of this, its simply just an interesting discussion. Its not like I am like, "Okay, lets see if I can stop getting angry for six months" and then try to attempt that. If I notice that I am falling short in some area, I can simply bring it before the Father and ask the Lord to help me. To sanctify me. I don't think we need to strive in the flesh, but need to do this with a spiritual solution instead of simply so called practical steps.

Meh. My spiritual solutions need to be practical steps. If I don't know where I'm going or how to get there, I don't know how to approach it.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Jesus Christ! I can't take much more of this garbage.

I would say Jesus thinks it is VILE that people think their sin does not stink, and disqualifies them..

 

[valiant]

I have a question. And it's not a combative one. If God built into us all those systems and called them good. How can psycology be bad? How can the way the brain works be bad?

there is a great deal of difference between systems and man's theories on systems. The way the brain works is generally good, but sin has interfered with that as with so much else.

Psychology is mainly man's opinion without evidence. Are you with Freud, or with Jung ? LOL

 

[PeterJens]

It is not a genetic weakness. It is caused by lack of dopamine connections in the brain. which is a physical event not necessarily linked to genetics.

But you are being contradictory, Is it a genetic weakness, or is it the result of a stressful environment? You cannot have it both ways. It is clear that you are just repeating what people say.

This is not the place for this discussion. You obviously do not understand the effects
of both environment and genetics. And this is where I stop. I suggest you read a bit
more.

Current scientific opinion suggests that the illness is caused by a mix of factors.
https://www.rethink.org/diagnosis-treatment/conditions/schizophrenia/causes

LSD being a dopamine drug appears now to have been disproved. It does trigger
overload in the receptors, and I would not recommend it to any vulnerable groups,
but who knows.

What I do know is what I have experienced and that is enough for me.
The great thing about science is the more we know the more we can suggest ideas
and then discuss them. I am thankful there are drugs available to help.

And I do know emotional development and openness helps, walking in the Spirit
and knowing God holding your hand is everything. Halleluyah, there is always
hope.

 

[dcontroversal]

The closer your walk with Jesus the more evident your sin becomes.

In the Light of His perfection you begin to see sin you have previously overlooked or ignored. Walk in the darkness of your own will and you will see only your perfection not His.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

AMEN to this one......the more time you spend in the light of the righteousness of Christ the more you will see the sinfulness of the flesh.........this rings true for sure.....

 

[Sirk]

there is a great deal of difference between systems and man's theories on systems. The way the brain works is generally good, but sin has interfered with that as with so much else.

Psychology is mainly man's opinion without evidence. Are you with Freud, or with Jung ? LOL

Nope. I'm with tangeable seen before my eyes men learn to undo lifetimes of wrong thinking using the tools I have described all over this forum.