Are you a Christian?

[Johnlove]

I'm sorry but I had to laugh please forgive me but a sinner is not a "demon" a sinner is a person who has sinned. a Demon is not a sinner because a demon has NO possibility of Redemption unlike a " sinner no where in the bible have I ever saw that a demon is a sinner in the context of the following scriptures shows a sinner is a person not a demon :

Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner

Jas 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
there is no scripture that says a person who is a sinner is a demon.

A sinner is of the devil, and is being led by the devil, and the devil is a demon.
(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

(1John 3:8) “Whoever lives sinfully belongs to the devil, since the devil has been a sinner from the beginning. This was the purpose of the appearing of the Son of God, to undo the work of the devil.”

 

[seed_time_harvest]

I'm a misfit

Paul said "In me,that Is In my flesh there Is no good thing" but In the spirit there Is a good thing for the reborn Christian created In CHRIST unto good works.

 

[SteelToedKodiak]

Do you have they Holy Spirit with you? What evidence do you have that makes you believe you have the Holy Spirit, if you do believe that?

I haven't read through each and every comment, so forgive me if this has already been answered. What EXACTLY does one need to do or not do to inherit eternal life~salvation? Please be very specific and list every "Do" and every "Don't" because there is no greater question that requires absolute and ultimate precision. It should go without saying, that the itemized list you provide no matter how small or enormous will only be vetted with the respective scripture.

 

[rdbseekingafterhim]

Ok for one Jesus never committed a single sin.

Point two we are saved when we accept Jesus's sacrifice

Point 3 we as Christians are to not live in sin. We are still human and will sin from time to time, but deliberately living in sin is another matter all together.

We are to repent of sins we commit after we are saved. You are still in the flesh and the flesh can be weak and possibly sin. Everyone still sins no matter what.

If you don't keep God first in your life that's a sin.
If you don't treat your neighbor with love that's a sin.
If you don't serve Him as God requires sin again.
If you don't go to church regularly that's a sin
If you don't read your bible that's a sin
If you don't pray that's a sin too.

The list is endless honestly. It's impossible to stop sinning entirely. We can do anything we want but not everything is good or beneficial. Paul spoke that to the Corinthian churches. Which means they were still sinning. One point of contention was over eating meat that was sacrificed to an idol. The church didn't do the sacrifice so they could in theory eat the meat. However, some Christians had many issues wwith it and deemed it was wrong. So to keep a stumbling block from occurring Paul suggested not to eat the mmeat. Paul also advised against marriage so that you can devote yourself to the church without distractions of having a spouse. He said you can marry it's not a sin but I don't advise it. The early churches had many issues. They tried to adhere to the laws of Moses and become circumcised among other issues. The early Churches needed guidance as to what to do to stay pure. The early church had the holy spirit yet they still sinned. When Jesus spoke of sinners He meant people who refused His gift. Once the gift was accepted things changed.
Remember when the disciples asked the Lord how to pray? In the Lord's prayer it had the phrase forgive us of our debts and forgive our debtors. Another word for debt is you guessed it SIN. It's in the Lord's prayer the blueprint Jesus gave the disciples on how to pray. Why would Jesus need to add that in there if they would no longer be able to sin when they received the Holy Spirit. The issue here is verses being taken out of context. You need to view much more than a few verses in a chapter. People have interpretations vary greatly due to this. I suggest further study into the Bible. Also to your point earlier about we won't get tempted more than we can withstand tthat's true.

Assuming you have a good close walk with God and keep Him first always then yes you could withstand the sin. However, many of us regrettably fail to keep this standard up reliably so we run the risk of failing. That's where grace comes into play. Plus everyone gets worn down from time to time. Say you get angry that anger can grow. Before you know it it's turned into bitterness let it go and it becomes hatred. In our hatred we can lash out and do things we don't normally do. Same thing with stress and worry. Of left unchecked it can spiral out of control and we lose ourselves. Now does this mean we love God any less? Does God now love us any less for us sinning and failing Him again? The answer is no. Pick yourself up brush off repent and continue your walk with Him. So ultimately we will all misstep from time to time. The key is not living in your sin but practicing true repentance and turning away from that sin. If you have trouble give it to God.

 

[disciplemike]

So your identity is tied up in what you do? Good luck down that road of condemnation and guilt.

Statements like this is why the church is so weak. Of course it matters what you do.

 

[Johnlove]

I haven't read through each and every comment, so forgive me if this has already been answered. What EXACTLY does one need to do or not do to inherit eternal life~salvation? Please be very specific and list every "Do" and every "Don't" because there is no greater question that requires absolute and ultimate precision. It should go without saying, that the itemized list you provide no matter how small or enormous will only be vetted with the respective scripture.

To go to the kingdom of Heaven with Jesus one has to keep God’s Word.

(John 12:47-48) “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world: he who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.” Jerusalem Bible

(Matthew 7:21) “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, who will enter the kingdom of Heaven but the person who does the will of My Father in Heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?’ Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!”

 

[BeyondET]

Paul said "In me,that Is In my flesh there Is no good thing" but In the spirit there Is a good thing for the reborn Christian created In CHRIST unto good works.

Yes this is true, do you know what I meant by misfit

 

[Ahwatukee]

Yes people quote that part of John’s letter, and how they can do so without feeling totally dishonest, I sure don’t understand.

Do you believe John was telling those Children of God who can’t sin, that they need not tell anyone? Do you believe that John was saying they were liars if they shared they no longer sinned?

I don’t believe people, when they quote 1 John 1:8-10 they expect any intelligent person to use that as to believe everyone still sins.

(1 Corinthians 4:4-5) “True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes: he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men's hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.”

Also the way you are reading John’s Word, it only say if one tells someone they no longer sin they are lying. So you don’t know what John is truly saying at all.


(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who has been begotten by God sins; because God’s seed remains inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God. In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil: anybody not living a holy life and not loving his brother is no child of God’s.”

(1 John 1: 8-10)[SUP] “[/SUP]If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

If one reads the above scripture as you want to read it, then all it says is, if one says: he or she has no sin, then they are liars. Your understanding of the above scripture does not say one no longer sins.

Also rewriting scripture and adding habitually does not make any sense, because John said in the same letter the following scripture.

(1 John 2:6) “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did”

Jesus did not just keep from habitually sinning. We can’t be in Jesus if we sin at all.

(1 John 3:5-6) “Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin; anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.”

(John 14: 23) “Anyone who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.”

(John 14:21) “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.”

Notice John said anyone who lives in God does not sin. No way can one put habitually sinning in the scripture.

Also Jesus said that he would show himself to those who proved they love him by keeping his Commandments. Just how many of the people that just don’t habitually sin do you think have seen Jesus?

Hello Johnlove,

The scripture above means exactly what it says. When we received Christ we were credited with righteousness. God imputes righteousness to the believer because of faith in Christ, not because we are without sin. Through Christ the Father sees us as perfect because He met the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and paid the penalty for our sins. From the time we received Christ God began the process of sanctification, i.e. the process of being made holy, which is life-long.

(John 14:21) “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.”

The commandments of God in the verse is to believe in the One he sent and to love one another.

(1 John 3:5-6) “Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin; anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.”

Regarding the above, I would have to say then that not one single person has every seen him or known him, for we all sin. He is speaking about the person who willfully sins, i.e. continues sowing to the flesh. There is a difference between the believer who is wrestling with sin to overcome it vs. the person who claims to be in Christ and who is not wrestling to overcome sin, but is willfully living according to the sinful nature. Believers are all sinners who are in the process of being perfected, which will come to its fulfillment when we are changed into the immortal and glorified bodies when the Lord appears. Until then we are covered sinners. Yet, the Father sees us as being perfect and that because He is looking at us through Christ, who is perfect.

 

[rdbseekingafterhim]

So let me get this straight then OP according to what you are saying from the highlighted verses no one will go to heaven. Just standing on what those verses say by themselves means no one will go to heaven because NO ONE but Jesus can stay sinless period. Can you show me a Christian in the bible who stayed pure and sinless after being saved? I am going to say no. So by your belief system we are all hell bound. So therefore I name you a False Teacher. I mark Johnlove as a false teacher in the name of Jesus.

 

[mpaper345]

Do you have they Holy Spirit with you? What evidence do you have that makes you believe you have the Holy Spirit, if you do believe that?

If one is a Christian he or she has the Holy Spirit.

Remember a Christian is a Child of God.

(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

A Christian is a person that acts like Christ,anything short of that the Bible describes as a hypocrite,which Jesus said the hypocrites will not dwell with Him.

We can only act like Christ if we are led of the Spirit.

The man Christ Jesus,who is human,had to act a certain way,and we as a human has to act the same way,and there is no excuse for the same Spirit that caused the man Christ Jesus to do right,is the same Spirit that is available to us.

That is why God has committed all judgment to the Son,for He is a righteous man,representing goodness,who ascended in to heaven,so nobody has an excuse for why they cannot do the same,and all people have to measure up to the man Christ Jesus.

That is why the saints shall judge the world,for they made it to heaven,so the world has no excuse why they could not make it.

Jesus said you will know them by their fruits,which their lifestyle will testify whether they are a Christian,or not,which some may sin behind closed doors,trying to hide it from public view,but they cannot hide it in public view all the time,for they will slip up,especially in the loving people department.

But we should try to not be so hard on people,when saying be led of the Spirit,as if being harsh like we are holier than thou,for God said He does not like that attitude,and Peter had a problem after He received the Holy Spirit,which Paul got in his face,and told him to stop doing it,which Paul would only get in someone's face if God did not approve what that person was doing,but we know that Peter was saved,and will be with Jesus.

The truth is if we could not sin after we are saved,or we would be lost,who would be saved,which I believe one of the biggest sins of the saints,is being provoked,or somebody disturbed them,and then handling the situation wrongly.

 

[SteelToedKodiak]

To go to the kingdom of Heaven with Jesus one has to keep God’s Word.

(John 12:47-48) “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world: he who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.” Jerusalem Bible

(Matthew 7:21) “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, who will enter the kingdom of Heaven but the person who does the will of My Father in Heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?’ Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!”

Oh see, now that's not precise. We are talking about salvation, we will stand before the Most High and He will examine us to the micro cell within our spirit. If I am to meet your expectation without fallibility I'm going to need terabytes of data regarding each and every word of God I am to keep. I'm a doer, I was raised a doer. No one does anything for me and I don't ask anyone for help. That's me, so now you're speaking my language. Lay it on thick I can't wait to start mapping out processes and techniques to perfect the doing of every Word of God. LET'S DO THIS. Where do we start?

 

[Chester]

Johnlove wrote: "What does your translation say about the following scripture?
(1 John 2:5 -6) “Whoever says, 'I know him' without keeping his commandments, is a liar, and truth has no place in him. But anyone who does keep his word, in such a one God's love truly reaches its perfection. This is the proof that we are in God. Whoever claims to remain in him must act as he acted.” Does your version say Jesus just sinned once in a while?"

Response: I go straight back to the text: "whoever claims to remain in him must act as he acted": This means what it says, yes, but don't make it mean what it doesn't say. Does it mean we need to do everything that Christ did - that is - go to Israel and follow what he did, where he went, talk to the same people, etc. I don't think so!
"act as he acted" can be taken to mean that Jesus did not commit a single act of sin, and so you must do the same. But it is just as fair then for someone else to pick out a certain part of what Jesus did or said and put the "act as he acted" line to their interpretation. If the text said "whoever claims to remain must never commit a single act of sin just as he never committed a single act of sin" then it would be clear - and I would agree with you that the Christian would never commit a single act of sin. But as it is written it says that we are to ongoingly be walking (present tense) in the same manner as Christ walked when he walked on this Earth. In other words, look to Jesus' life and words and examples as our model for how you live.

Johnlove wrote: "(1 John 3:5-6) “Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin; anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.” Now tell me how a sinner can even say they know Jesus, even if one just does not have a life style of sin?"


Response: I go straight back to the text: It says the one who lives in God (the Christian) does not keep on sinning, and the one who does keep on sinning has not ever seen or known God. This text does not say that a Christian will never commit a single act of sin.

(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

John said a Child of God cannot sin. He did not say a Child of God just did not have a lifestyle of sin. A sinner is of the devil, and it only takes one sin for one who has been given the knowledge of the truth to never ever enter the kingdom of God.


Response: You say: "He did not say a Child of God just did not have a lifestyle of sin" -- but that is exactly what he did say! I just showed you that above very clearly from the Greek text.-



Johnlove wrote: (Acts 5:1-11) The Fraud of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter said they lied to the Holy Spirit, and they will never be forgiven.

Response: Scripture is clear - they died and are gone! I will let God decide their eternal destiny. I am not arguing with you that sin is a big issue - we should not sin - sinning is not congruent with being a Christian! Amen! I agree with that! But I take issue when you say that Scripture says a Christian will not or cannot sin.

 

[LiJo]

So how long has it been since you last sinned? Can I have your autograph?

That's my man!!

 

[resurrection33]

Do you have they Holy Spirit with you? What evidence do you have that makes you believe you have the Holy Spirit, if you do believe that?




If one is a Christian he or she has the Holy Spirit.




Remember a Christian is a Child of God.




(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

Anyone who loves the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul has the Holy Spirit in them.

 

[rdbseekingafterhim]

We are to be Christ like. We are to strive to be pure as Christ was. We are not to habitually sin like everyday look at porn that's being sexually immoral. However, say you lash out at someone when you are upset. It's still sin yet if it's not a habit then you are not living in that sin. Does that make sense to you. Paul warned of habitual sinners if any among you is a drunkard cast him out. Does that mean the person has a drink every so often but doesn't get drunk. No that means that person becomes drunk. A drunkard gets drunk continuously. See the difference? This is but one example Johnlove. You need to get your facts straight. While it would be great to stop sinning implying we become able to stop can create a problem because there will be believers that sin from time to time and now they are worried oh no I sinned I lost my salvation. You seem to be under the mentality of that belief if you sin either you lose your salvation or you never had it to begin with. Now you will have many people worrying about their salvation watching their back in fear because if they sin they're going to hell. You see the ubsurd expectation here Johnlove? Jesus never once said you'll stop sinning. I would love for you to point that out to me. It has to say a believer must never sin again.

Oh and don't try to throw up the woman at the well when Jesus told her to go and sin no more. You know what Jesus meant when He said that? She had 5 husbands and the man she was with now was not her husband therefore she was living in sin. Jesus asked her to stop living in sin.

 

[breno785au]

Do you have they Holy Spirit with you? What evidence do you have that makes you believe you have the Holy Spirit, if you do believe that?




If one is a Christian he or she has the Holy Spirit.




Remember a Christian is a Child of God.




(1 John 3:9-10) “No one who is a child of God sins because God's seed remains in him. Nor can he sin, because he is a child of God. This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil: whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God” New Jerusalem bible

Do you think I'm a Christian?

...

 

[UnderGrace]

Here is what Jesus told Nicodemus when Jesus was asked the same question.

Being born again is the only way to have eternal life.

To be born again, you believe and accept that you fall short of God's perfect standard.

Believe ON the work that Jesus has done on YOUR behalf. To believe is to be in agreement with what God says is true and changing your mind about trying to obtain your salvation by your own works.

You believe and accept this truth with your heart and mind completely and fully.

Remember no one puts their hands to the plow and looks back, you are sold out on this truth or you are not. This is what makes your change of mind (repentance) acceptable to God.



1 Now there came a man of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a member of the council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could do the miraculous signs that you do unless God were with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?”


10 Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”



16 For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.[SUP]146[/SUP]

I haven't read through each and every comment, so forgive me if this has already been answered. What EXACTLY does one need to do or not do to inherit eternal life~salvation? Please be very specific and list every "Do" and every "Don't" because there is no greater question that requires absolute and ultimate precision. It should go without saying, that the itemized list you provide no matter how small or enormous will only be vetted with the respective scripture.

 

[Johnlove]

Anyone who loves the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul has the Holy Spirit in them.

Yes and Jesus told us what it takes to love him, and if one does not do as Jesus said they love Satan.

(John 14: 23) “Anyone who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.”

(John 14:21) “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.”

 

[resurrection33]

Yes and Jesus told us what it takes to love him, and if one does not do as Jesus said they love Satan.

(John 14: 23) “Anyone who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.”

(John 14:21) “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.”

Well, yes, but we are still learning.

 

[Tintin]

The holy spirit didn't seem to permanently dwell in the disciples, rather, it seemed to come and go as needed.

I say that Jesus Christ is Lord, that makes me a Christian.

The Holy Spirit now permanently dwells in all Christians. But during the Old Testament times and prior to Jesus' ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon God's people when He chose.