SPELLING EDITED
F-18. How can I know if I SINNED into DEATH? WHAT IS THE SIN UNTO DEATH? The following Scripture references are the verses that I am aware of that are being used to MISLEAD Christians to become SO FEARFUL that they have somehow sinned TOO MUCH or they have somehow crossed a so-called line of never being able to return to God, and therefore God NO LONGER will FORGIVE them. These dear little ones of God are being DECEIVED by the sin of UNBELIEF, which will indeed LEAD to the second death or the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment of the WICKED who do NOT repent, IF SO BE, that these dear DECEIVED children of God CONTINUE in doubt and FEAR that God no longer LOVES them. Here are the references of the verse used by some well-meaning pastors who are wrongly misusing Scriptures out of context to try and keep their flock from sinning. Hebrews 6:2-6 Hebrews 10:26 2 Peter 2:20-22 Romans 1:28 Titus 1:16 1 John 5:16 Again the above verses are the controversial verses that are in question that we will be studying in-depth being left in their CONTEXT. Now it is sad to say that there are some well-meaning preachers with good, well-meaning hearts, who sincerely believe that they are helping Christians to stop sinning by using the FEAR of the Lord, but in truth, they are NOT preaching and teaching the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And SOME Christians, God's little ones, who are not rooted and grounded in the word of God, are being DECEIVED into wrongly believing that they have crossed some kind of, so-called, line of NOT being able to return back to God. These Christians have become so FEARFUL, that they have sinned so much that God no longer will forgive them because of what they have HEARD being WRONGLY TAUGHT by these well-meaning preachers and teachers of God's word, who have NOT RIGHTLY divided God's word of TRUTH. As I have said many times in the studies that I have written that ANY verse when it is taken OUT of CONTEXT and viewed ALONE and APART from the rest of God's word may SEEM to be saying something that it is NOT TRULY saying. And Hebrews 10:26 is one such verse that some preachers MISINTERPRET and FALSELY teach that once a person accepts Jesus as their savior and they CONTINUE to sin WILLFULLY, then there is NO HOPE or REPENTANCE for them ever again. First of all, let me ASSURE my readers that there is ALWAYS HOPE for any person to be saved or to return to God so long as they are yet ALIVE and they have not yet drawn their last breath of life. You see, one of my greatest fears was that this DANGEROUS Hebrew Roots Movement would lead SOME Christians into even greater ERROR. And that great error would be to eventually DENY Jesus as their Messiah. For you see, SOME seventh day of the week _Sabbath keeping Christians are REJECTING the entire NEW Testament. They have become completely DECEIVE to follow ONLY the OLD Testament to the letter of the LAW. And this has indeed happened in one of these Hebrew Roots Movement groups among the Black African Israelite Movement. Please read the study “ARE THE BLACK AFRICANS THE TRUE HEBREWS?” if you want to learn more about the DANGERS of the Hebrew Roots Movement and what their false teachings have LED some to become so deceived that they eventually DENY Jesus as their Messiah. Now let us go to the WORD of Almighty God himself so that your assurances rest in God's WORD and not in the INTERPRETATIONS and OPINIONS of man. Here is what Hebrew 10:26,27 says. “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more SACRIFICE for sins, 27. But a certain fearful looking for the judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” The CONTEXT of these two verses is speaking of Jesus being the ONLY SACRIFICE for sins. The book of Hebrews is written to HEBREW Christians or JEWS, who became BELIEVERS in Jesus being their MESSIAH or savior, to save them from their sins. The CONTEXT of all of Hebrews is about NOT going BACK to JUDAISM to trust in the Law of Moses and the offering of animal SACRIFICES for the covering of sins. You see dear children of God, at the TIME the book of Hebrews was being TAUGHT orally and then later WRITTEN down as RECORD of what was being taught verbally, that ANIMAL sacrifices were still taking place. So the simple truth is that the whole context of the book of Hebrews is about entering into the rest of JESUS being the ONE sacrifice, once and for all time as the cleansing from sin. Let us back up and read the CONTEXT of Hebrews 10:26,27 and read Hebrews 10:9-25, which says. “Then said he (Referring to Jesus reading a prophecy about himself), Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. (Speaking of the SACRIFICE of Jesus taking away the FIRST covenant where animal sacrifices needed to be made yearly each and every year while the FIRST covenant was in place or until the NEW covenant in the shed blood of Jesus was established by the death and resurrection of Jesus.) 10. By the which will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE and FOR ALL. (Meaning that it will NEVER EVER be required of God's people to have any need to every OFFER another ANIMAL sacrifice ever again. But NOT the once saved always saved teaching that preachers MISINTERPRET this verse to mean that once a person accepts Jesus as their savior then they are forever saved and therefore they can NEVER EVER LOSE their salvation. This is NOT what this verse means when it is KEPT in the CONTEXT of where it is found and then compared with the WHOLE word of God. It simply means NO more animal sacrifices under the LAW of the OLD covenant) 11. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (The old covenant acted as a COVERING for sins only for God's people, to be KEPT until the NEW covenant was established. This is why Jesus needed to PREACH the gospel to the spirits who were in the bosom of Abraham. For you see, Jesus descended down in the belly of the earth to paradise so that they could be saved BY the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ, the same as those who were alive were saved by the gospel. Please read the study “WHAT AND WHERE IS PARADISE?” for a deep understanding of this subject of the LAW not being able to save anyone) 12. But this man, AFTER he had offered ONE sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13. From henceforth expecting till his enemies are made his footstool. 14. For by ONE offering he has perfected FOREVER them that are sanctified (Or more correctly those of us who ARE BEING sanctified unto the day of our Lord's return). 15. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18. Now where remission of these is, there is no more OFFERING for sin. (This verse is NOT saying that there is no more FORGIVENESS of sins, but rather that there is no more OFFERING of animal sacrifices for sins. In other words, what the writer is saying to these HEBREW or JEWISH Christians is that the OLD covenant is NO LONGER in effect or accepted by Almighty God the Father. The whole context of Hebrews teaches us that God does NOT accept animal SACRIFICES any more. Now we as Christians today read these verses with the understanding of a Gentile Christian, who has never offered any animal sacrifices for sins. But the EARLY church had many JEWISH believers, who were constantly suffering persecution by JEWS to RETURN BACK to Judaism and the offering of ANIMAL sacrifices for sins by having to go to a PRIEST, because under the OLD covenant only the PRIEST was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies for the sins of the people every year. But now under the NEW covenant, ESTABLISHED in the shed blood of Jesus, we can come straight to the very throne of Almighty God himself without the need of an EARTHLY priest, because we have Jesus as our heavenly priest) 19. Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest BY the blood of Jesus, 20. By a NEW and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21. And having a high priest over the house of God; 22. Let us draw near with a TRUE heart in FULL assurance of FAITH (Now, we as Christians, because of the shed blood of Jesus, can come directly to Almighty God with a true heart in FULL ASSURANCE by FAITH. In other words, the writer was speaking to the HEBREW Christians saying that, we NO LONGER have to go to the PRIEST in the temple to get back into a right relationship with Almighty God, because we are under a NEW covenant, made by the ONE SACRIFICE of Jesus, whereby we can now come to God without an ANIMAL SACRIFICE made by the high priest. Also only you know whether or not your heart is true and you sincerely want to stop sinning. Almighty God himself has placed that DESIRE in you to HATE sin and that DESIRE in you to want to stop sinning. That is your NEW heart God has created in you. Yes, your FLESH still wants to rebel, but you do NOT have to obey your lower nature of the flesh. Please read the study “HOW YOU CAN LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!” for sound Biblical teaching that will TEACH you HOW to be an overcomer through God. This verse here is a promise that we can be ASSURED to believe that we can always draw near to God to ask for forgiveness of sin or any other help that we may need. So if you have the WANT TO or the DESIRE to come to God or to come back to God no matter what you have done, then this verse is a promise of God assuring you that you can draw nigh to God with FULL ASSURANCE that he will ACCEPT and FORGIVE you of your sins), having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23. Let us hold fast the PROFESSION of our FAITH without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (It amazes me how some Christians will believe ONE PART of God's word, but when it comes to them BELIEVING that God is FAITHFUL who PROMISES, they refuse to BELIEVE. Oh, they SAY that they believe, but their words and actions tell a different story of UNBELIEF. When you truly BELIEVE you will stop listening to the LIE of the devil. You will gird yourself with the TRUTH and FIGHT the good fight of FAITH resisting all doubt, fear, and unbelief until PEACE floods your whole being and you KNOW that you KNOW that God has NOT STOPPED LOVING you. And that he is the author and FINISHER of your faith. And that the work HE began in you HE will finish. You are HIS workmanship and you have need of PATIENCE trusting that ALL of God’s PROMISES are true. And that God himself will perform his word to those who BELIEVE) 24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.” These last two verses are teaching us to HELP one another through those trouble times of doubt, fear and even unbelief because it is NOT OVER until one draws their LAST breath in this present world. So AGAIN, the TEARS of weeping and grinding of teeth having NOTHING but the FEARFUL LOOKING of the fiery judgment that awaits will NOT be in this PRESENT world, but rather the seeking of repentance with NO forgiveness given will only be on the DAY of JUDGMENT or when you have DIED without REPENTING of your sins and in the GRAVE you realize that all HOPE is gone. So then, these verses being LEFT in their CONTEXT, are speaking about the ONE SACRIFICE for sins to HEBREW Christians warning them that if they SIN by GOING BACK to Judaism, to obey the OLD covenant, then there is no more SACRIFICE for TURNING AWAY from the FAITH of JESUS being the CHRIST, the savior. Verses 26 and 27 are NOT speaking of sin in GENERAL, but rather the CONTEXT clearly teaches us that the writer is speaking of the REJECTION of JESUS as being the ONE SACRIFICE for the sins of the whole world to save them that BELIEVE unto the END. Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, how the Devil DECEIVES Christians into THINKING that it is OVER for them and that they have crossed some kind of so-called line of no returning back to God to receive forgiveness of their sins? I do not know what the Devil is speaking to your mind dear child of God, who may be reading this study in God's word FEARING with great fear that you have somehow crossed some kind of so-called line of no returning to God and that God no longer loves you, and therefore you have come to WRONGLY believe that God will no longer forgive you of your sins, because I cannot read your mind. But in MY mind. in the past when I tried to reason away my sins, the devil tried to DECEIVE me by saying things like, “You might as well live it up now, because you WILLFULLY sinned and the WORD of God says that there is no more FORGIVENESS to Christians who WILLFULLY sin.” OR “You KNEW that was wrong to do and you WILLFULLY did it anyway, so therefore according to God's word no matter how much you beg God to forgive you he will NOT forgive you because you WILLFULLY sinned KNOWING that what you were doing was SIN.” LIES! All LIES from the enemy! I say to you No dear child of God! Many thousands of times NO! The WHOLE word of God does NOT say that there is no more FORGIVENESS of sins once a Christian WILLFULLY sins. I KNOW because I had to FIGHT through some of these same fears myself. Thankfully I had ALREADY learned to closely examine the teachings of MEN in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of God. So while my MIND was filled with FEAR, the Holy Spirit, deep inside, kept on saying something is not right, because I HATE what I am doing and I do NOT WANT to do what I am doing. We will get more in-depth on HOW I overcame these fears and doubts further on in this study, but first one step a time. So then, the truth of the matter is that the CONTEXT of these verses in question all teach of a TURNING COMPLETELY AWAY from the so great a salvation by the ONE SACRIFICE of God's Son Jesus and going back to the OLD covenant and the bondage of the LAW. Please understand that the COMMANDMENTS of God is NOT the LAW that I or Paul are speaking of, because clearly the WHOLE word of God teaches us plainly that we must keep the COMMANDMENTS of God in order to be given the right to eat of the tree of life in the world to come. But this does NOT mean that during our WHOLE life we may fall back into sin from time to time. It may be one sin on one day and another sin another day, and then when we have mastered to NOT do this or that, there will be the DO this or that which we fall short from time to time. God does NOT promise us that we will NEVER be tempted dear children of God. So what you must know is that TEMPTATION is NOT SIN! Having bad THOUGHT is NOT SIN! Do NOT believe the LIES of some well-meaning pastors who have WRONGLY taught you that even having a BAD THOUGHT is a sin. Again please read the study “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!” exposing the ERRORS of those who preach SIN, SIN, SIN, nothing but SIN and never teach you HOW to be FREE from sin. Once again the book of Hebrews was written to the HEBREWS or to the JEWS, who became Christians. The writer of Hebrews was simply saying that there is NO MORE SACRIFICE for sin if this so great a once and for all time sacrifice made by Jesus is REJECTED and a person turns back to the offering of animal sacrifices. In other words, if one WILLFULLY rejects this so great a salvation, then there is NO HOPE for them so long as THEY REMAIN in their UNBELIEF by trusting in the LAW of Moses to save them because Jesus is the ONLY name under heaven that has been given among men whereby we MUST be saved. So the SIN being spoken of here in Hebrews is that sin of denying Jesus and going BACK to trusting in the Law of Moses to be saved. If you really think about it through, then, in reality, EVERY sin is a WILLFUL sin and therefore NO Christian who has EVER sinned, since his or her conversion, has any hope of ever being saved, simply because they GAVE IN WILLFULLY to the temptation to sin. Can you not see my brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, that IF SO BE that the OPINION or the INTERPRETATION of some Christians concerning this verse was true, then we would need to throw out most of the New Testament where God is FAITHFUL, who PROMISED to FORGIVE us of ALL our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, IF SO BE that the INTERPRETATIONS and the false teachings of some preachers were indeed true. But I ASSURE you dear children of God that those preachers you have been listening to are NOT teaching you the WHOLE word of Almighty God, otherwise, you would KNOW that as long as you have the DESIRE to repent and come back to God no matter how far you have strayed away from God or how much you have sinned or how bad you have sinned that God WILL, without fail, FORGIVE you of ALL your sins EVERY TIME you REPENT of your sins even if you repent a 1000 times a day every day of your life. Have you FORGOTTEN the WORDS of Jesus teaching us about the prodigal son who RETURNED to his father and how this earthly father RAN in JOY to see his son returning home to him? How much greater LOVE does our heavenly Father have for us? Never doubt how GREAT God's love and MERCY are for you dear child of God. It is the LIE of the enemy of God who is putting that FEAR in you that there is NO HOPE left for you. God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL who PROMISED and God has PROMISED us as BELIEVERS that he would NEVER LEAVE us or forsake us. So as long as you BELIEVE that God is FAITHFUL who PROMISED, then you can always be assured that God's PROMISE to FORGIVE those who ASK him to forgive them is ALWAYS true. Therefore you can always KNOW that without fail you will be FORGIVEN each and every time you turn back to God and ask him to forgive you no matter how MANY times you sin so long as you humble yourself to REPENT and get back up and FIGHT the good FIGHT of FAITH. YES sorry to say, but there will ALWAYS be a FIGHT unto the END. This is why Jesus said ONLY those who ENDURE UNTO THE END shall be saved. This does NOT mean only those who NEVER SIN AGAIN unto the end shall be saved, but rather only those who STAY rooted and grounded in God's word of truth to FIGHT and RESIST fear, doubt, and even unbelief unto the END shall be saved. The CONTEXT of Hebrews 10:26,27 also says for us to HOLD FAST to the PROFESSING of our FAITH. So, SAY to the devil, get you behind me Satan in the name of Jesus. God's word says that he is FAITHFUL to FORGIVE me of ALL my sins therefore I AM FORGIVEN in the name of Jesus whose blood CLEANSES me from ALL unrighteousness. Let us now move on to the next verse in question and take a closer look at Hebrews 6:1-6 which is another passage of Scripture that has been MISUSED to teach Christians not to sin. Hebrews 6:1-6. “Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3. And this will we do if God permits. 4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6. If they shall FALL AWAY, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Keep in mind that the CONTEXT of the entire book of HEBREWS is being written to the HEBREW Christians or TO the JEWS, who became BELIEVERS in the ONCE and for all SACRIFICE of Jesus, to be forgiven of their sins, where SOME of these JEWISH Christians were turning BACK to keeping ALL the Law of Moses in order to be saved. Also, KNOW that the FALLING AWAY here in this verse is speaking of the REJECTING of this ONE SACRIFICE of Jesus according to the CONTEXT or the book of Hebrews. The falling away in this CONTEXT is the falling away from Christianity itself, the FAITH that Jesus is the ONE sacrifice once and for all and NOT falling into sin in GENERAL. Therefore the “being IMPOSSIBLE to RENEW them to REPENTANCE” is due to the UNBELIEF of those Christians in the ONE sacrifice of Jesus shedding his blood for the FORGIVENESS of sins, BY their TURNING BACK to JUDAISM, to go BACK under the LAW of offering animal sacrifices and keeping ALL the LAW of Moses. So, yes indeed, it is IMPOSSIBLE to renew those again to repentance because of THEIR UNBELIEF which will not allow THEY THEMSELVES to NOT REPENT. For you see, that they NO LONGER BELIEVE in the ONE SACRIFICE of JESUS and have turned back to keep ALL the LAW of Moses. HOWEVER, it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE for them to REPENT and come back to God if so be that the eyes of their understanding would be opened to see that they are being DECEIVED by the lies of FALSE teaching. So then, the impossibility lies in the fact that it is almost a certain waste of time to try and PERSUADE someone, who has already tasted of the heavenly gift of being filled to overflowing and partaking of the Holy Spirit, who have been DECEIVED by the enemy to DENY the TRUTH and openly REJECT Jesus as their Savior for them to come back to the TRUTH, which they themselves have DENIED and therefore have fallen AWAY from God. Now in some cases there MAY come a time that it does become a waste of your time to continue to preach the gospel to SOME people, because they simply have made up their mind to REFUSE to BELIEVE that Jesus has died for THEIR sins and that God will never leave nor forsake them and therefore they become SO deceived that THEY give themselves over COMPLETELY to believe the LIE that they are NOT sinning. To these I give my own personal OPINION that you turn them over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh and move on to witness to someone else, who WILL come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. For example, SOME gay people have been SO deceived that they have truly CONVINCED themselves that they were BORN gay or God MADE them to be gay and that homosexuality is NOT a sin. At TIMES, you cannot reason with SOME people who simply will NOT listen to reason. So what I do in cases like these when it is a Christian who is living in sin but they explain away their sin as NOT being a sin, is to turn them over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh in hope that they will turn from their wicked ways before it is too late and they DIE while living in a lifestyle of sin. But as for you dear children of God who HATE sin and you DESIRE to repent and come back to God, then the door is ALWAYS open to come back to God. Please know and understand that God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL to FORGIVE those who ask his forgiveness no matter how many sins they have committed sin. It is only those who are in UNBELIEF that their SIN is NOT a sin, And, therefore, they will not REPENT of their sin because they have REASONED their sin away by no longer humbling themselves to admit that they are sinning. While yet others have hardened their own heart so much that they do not care what people tell them is sin, they themselves say so what we are all sinners so why not enjoy your sin. Again some preachers MISUSE these verses in Hebrews 6:1-6 to teach against sin in GENERAL to try and use FEAR to persuade their congregation not to sin. But WHERE does one draw the LINE of WHEN a believer has “FALLEN AWAY”? WHO decides just how many sins a Christian can WILLFULLY commit BEFORE they cross this man-made LIE of NO REPENTANCE any more for YOU! So then, let us SUPPOSE that these verses were speaking of FALLING AWAY by WILLFUL sin in a GENERAL sense to include any and all kinds of sin. IF this was the case, then HOW can one EVER know when they have committed just one too many sins? We can not! The devil would LIE to every one of us to try and convince us that God will no longer forgive us. The truth of the matter is that this passage of Scripture is speaking of FALLING AWAY from the FAITH in Jesus being the atonement for their sins and does NOT have anything whatsoever to do with committing sins in GENERAL. Yes in a sense one does fall when one commits sin in general, but this does NOT mean that one has FALLEN AWAY from God once and for all time with absolutely NO way to REPENT and come back to God. NO! Many thousands of times NO! The FALLING AWAY here in Hebrews 6:1-6 is speaking of DENYING the FAITH. And the FAITH here is speaking of one BELIEVING that Jesus is that ONE sacrifice, once and for all time, for the FORGIVENESS and REMISSION of sins. Once again the writer of Hebrews is writing to HEBREW Christians laying the FOUNDATION of the GOSPEL of Jesus being crucified and the resurrection. In verse 1 the writer says, Let us LEAVE the BASICS and MOVE on. But the writer does not get to the MOVING ON to perfection until chapter 12. The whole CONTEXT of Hebrews until chapter 12 is laying and relaying over and over again and again the FOUNDATION of the FAITH of Jesus being the MESSIAH and the WARNING that if one FALLS AWAY from their FAITH in Jesus by DENYING that Jesus is their MESSIAH, then there remains no more SACRIFICE for them to be saved and receive eternal life in the world to come. For you see, they have DENIED and have REJECTED the ONLY WAY to the Father, which is through their FAITH in Jesus the Son of God being the ONE and ONLY SACRIFICE that Almighty God the Father will ACCEPT for the forgiveness of sins. In one sentence, the writer of Hebrews is saying “There is NO OTHER SACRIFICE OTHER THAN Jesus. So either chose to believe in the name of Jesus or perish in your sins”. God no longer ACCEPTS the OLD covenant, So, therefore, to you JEWISH Christians who FELL AWAY from your FAITH IN JESUS by your going BACK to the keep LAW of Moses contained in ordinances had NO MORE SACRIFICE for THEIR sin. You see, those Jewish Christians understood that God NO LONGER ACCEPTS the sacrifice of animals to cover their sins but yet they were DECEIVED to keep the Law of Moses contained in ordinances. They were placing their trust in the Law of Moses for their righteousness. Now let us move on to the next troubling verse to some dear little ones in Jesus Christ. Please read Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 through 17. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and THE SIN (Singular. NOT sin in GENERAL, but rather THE sin of UNBELIEF) which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2. Looking unto JESUS the author and FINISHER of our FAITH (Our FAITH goes beyond believing that Jesus died for our sins, to FORGIVE us of all our sins, to ALSO BELIEVE the PROMISES of Almighty God given to us to OVERCOME any and all sin. He who began a good work in you shall accomplish that good work unto the end, but YOU must BELIEVE that Jesus is not only the author of your faith, but Jesus is also the FINISHER of your faith); who for the joy that was set before him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (The joy that was set before Jesus was the promise of ETERNAL LIFE and to be highly exalted to sit at the right hand of his Father, on his Father's throne for becoming OBEDIENT unto death on the cross. And the JOY set before us is the promise of ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come for becoming OBEDIENT to the commandment of God and to rule and reign WITH Jesus on his Father's throne. If the JOY does not move you to OBEDIENCE, then perhaps the FEAR of destruction in the lake of fire never to rise again will wake you up to let your light shine to bring glory to God instead of shame. You can overcome sin with God and his word.) 3. For consider him that ENDURED such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. (In other words, consider what Jesus ENDURED to set you FREE from the DOMINION that sin once had over you so that YOU will ENDURE the temptation to sin and NOT be OVERCOME, to GIVE UP and sin. The battle is in the MIND and at times the mind grows weary and the argument in your mind says things like, “I cannot do this, this is too hard.” So consider Jesus sweating great drops of blood while FIGHTING AGAINST the TEMPTATION to obey his OWN will and NOT go to the cross and die for your sin, to set you FREE from the DOMINION that sin ONCE had over you. Jesus did not die in VAIN so BELIEVE God's word. The just shall live by FAITH and God's word said that he will NOT ALLOW us to be tempted ABOVE that which we are ABLE to BEAR and that with EVERY temptation he WILL make a way of ESCAPE. Where is your FAITH? You cannot do this in your OWN strength, but with God all things are possible. Use your FAITH, BELIEVE that sin has no power over you anymore.) 4. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (In other words, if you are still yet alive and breathing then you have NOT YET resisted sin unto the shedding of your blood unto death. Now keep in mind that the CONTEXT to which the writer has been dealing with all through Hebrews up to this point were HEBREW Christians FALLING AWAY from their FAITH in JESUS by going back to JUDAISM and therefore REJECTING and DENYING that Jesus was their MESSIAH. Another INTERPRETATION that I myself have used to teach against sin, in GENERAL, is that most Christians have not yet resisted sin to sweat great drops of BLOOD as Jesus did when he RESISTED the TEMPTATION NOT to die on the cross for our sins but eventually OBEYED his God and Father's WILL by denying his OWN will. In the world, speaking of worldly things, if we want something bad enough we WILL find a WAY to get what we want so it is a matter of HOW bad we want something. One thing that has also helped me overcome sin is that the Holy Spirit spoke to me one day saying, “that if YOU have resisted just ONE sin in your entire life and you were successful in NOT GIVING IN to that ONE temptation to sin, then YOU can overcome any and all sin each and every time by taking ONE temptation at a time”.) 5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: (Every time the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin we are being CHASTISED by God. Our flesh does NOT want to hear that we need to STOP what pleases the FLESH. There then becomes a WARRING within us between the FLESH and the spirit, both our spirit and the Holy Spirit within us. And at times this war or fight can literally be a hellish TORMENT in our MINDS. And at times we are overcome because we THINK that this torment in our minds will go away. And it does TEMPORALLY, but after the FLESH has been satisfied CONVICTION comes by the Holy Spirit and we must REPENT of our falling short of what God desires for us in order to be placed back into right relationship with God. Each time you repent of your sins you are made PERFECT in the eyes of God once again. This is what the WHOLE word of God means when it says be YOU PERFECT EVEN AS your Father in heaven is PERFECT. Walking free from sin is a PROCESS. You WILL get better at resisting temptation I ASSURE you. So HOLD FAST to fight with everything in you to have CONFIDENCE in your FAITH, because God is FAITHFUL who PROMISED. And ALL his promises are TRUE and God himself will without fail ALWAYS perform his word. Therefore when you read verses like 1 Corinthians 10:13, “There has NO temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is FAITHFUL, who will NOT suffer [Or allow] you to be tempted ABOVE that YOU are ABLE [To bear or overcome]; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that YOU may be ABLE to BEAR it.” BELIEVE his PROMISE!) 6. For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. 7. If you ENDURE chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? (In other words, if you suffer this WARRING between your flesh and the spirit, then you ARE a CHILD of God. Also if you ENDURE this warring to OBEY the Holy Spirit NOT to give in to sin, OR you ENDURE this warring to obey the Holy Spirit to REPENT if so be you do fall, then you ARE a CHILD of God. Please dear child of God never believe the LIE some preachers wrongly teach that God chastises his children with sickness and disease.) 8. But if you be without chastisement, whereof ALL (NOT speaking of ALL true born again Christians being WITHOUT chastisement, but rather speaking of those in the world who are NOT chastised by God. Therefore it is impossible for the chastisement to mean sickness and disease seeing that those who are in the world get sick and suffer all manner of diseases. In other words ALL CHRISTIANS) are partakers (Of chastisement by God, BUT those in the world who are WITHOUT chastisement are bastards. So then if YOU are WITHOUT chastisement), then are you bastards and not sons. (To say this another way, if there is NO WARRING in YOU between your FLESH and your spirit, then you are NOT a child of God, because in ALL Christians there will be this WARRING between the FLESH or the old man wanting to sin AND the spirit, or the NEW INNER MAN, who does NOT WANT to sin anymore. This is the chastising or the CORRECTING of bad behavior by the Holy Spirit within us speaking to our NEW heart that God gave to us when we first BELIEVED in Jesus as our savior. This verse clearly states that bastards are NOT the sons and daughters of God, meaning that those in the world are NOT chastised by God. Again I point this out because some Christians falsely teach that God chastises his children with SICKNESS and disease. But this cannot possibly be true seeing that those in the world are WITHOUT CHASTISEMENT and yet those in the world still are oppressed BY the DEVIL with SICKNESS and DISEASE. Therefore sickness and disease cannot possibly be a CHASTISEMENT of God. No, many thousands of times no. It is SATAN who oppresses mankind with sickness and disease and NOT God. That is for sure! Sometimes I get off track of the main subject at hand. It just rubs me the wrong way when Christians BLAME God for EVERYTHING bad in their lives.) 9. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us (Or chastised us), and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (In other words, we accepted the CORRECTION of our earthly fathers and eventually obeyed their desires for us, so then how much more should we YIELD to the LEADING of the Holy Spirit to RESIST the temptation to sin unto the END of the temptation and therefore OVERCOME the temptation to sin. OR, how much more should we YIELD to the LEADING of the Holy Spirit to REPENT speedily of sin when we give in to the temptation to sin.) 10. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11. Now no chastening for the present (Or no CORRECTING by the Holy Spirit to WAR against the FLESH during the temptation to sin or after our giving into sin no conviction or warring in us to prompt us to REPENT of our sin) seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (In other words, those Christians who OBEY the CORRECTING of the Holy Spirit or the WARRING in us to either RESIST the temptation to sin or to REPENT SPEEDILY when one falls into sin, then that Christian is EXERCISED to become STRONGER the next time temptation comes their way each time they OBEY the chastising or WARRING in them. Now the OPPOSITE of this is also true, in that, when one does NOT OBEY the Holy Spirit warring in you to RESIST the temptation unto the END to NOT GIVE IN to sin, then those who DISOBEY are NOT EXERCISED and therefore they become WEAKER the next time temptation comes their way. This is one of the reasons WHY it SEEMS to be so HARD to RESIST sin once we give in to sin even one time. It seems as if we have to start all over again to EXERCISE and BUILD UP our muscles of FAITH so to speak. The MORE you overcome sin the EASIER it becomes the next time. But of the other side of the coin the MORE one gives in to the temptation to sin, then the HARDER it becomes for then the next time to resist and overcome sin.) 12. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; (This verse is saying WHEREFORE or for this REASON of sin getting harder to resist the more you keep giving in to the temptation to sin, you need to NOT continue to mope around and wallow in your own self-pity, but rather lift up your holy hands and praise God. Stand up like a man, gird yourself with the TRUTH, repent and get back into a right relationship with God and FIGHT the good fight of FAITH,) 13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest (Or for FEAR THAT) that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. (What the writer is saying here is that there is indeed a DANGER and a real FEAR that needs to be heeded, which is that a Christian who REMAINS living in a LIFESTYLE of sin is in DANGER of FOREVER REMAINING in that lifestyle of sin, because the MORE a Christian LIVES in sin the more likely it MAY become that they will themselves NOT ever REPENT of their sins in order to be FORGIVEN of their sins. Neither this verse nor any other verse teaches us that Almighty God HIMSELF draws a LINE that once it is crossed then there is NO FORGIVENESS for that sin. The most that can be interpreted by this and other questionable verses is that WE ourselves MAY reach a point while LIVING in sin, that WE OURSELVES will NOT REPENT and come back to God. The truth of the matter is that God himself will NEVER LEAVE or forsake us and that any and all mankind have until they DIE or until Jesus returns to REPENT of their sins and come to God and God will ACCEPT their heart of REPENTANCE. We will talk about the REPROBATE mind when we get to that passage of Scripture. ALWAYS REMEMBER that the tears seeking repentance when no forgiveness will be given will NEVER take place in this PRESENT world, but rather ALL the verses that speak of NO repentance or NO forgiveness will ONLY take place on the Day of JUDGMENT upon those who did NOT repent while they were yet ALIVE in this present world. As the old saying in the opera world goes, it is not over till the fat lady sings. In other words, there is STILL HOPE and FORGIVENESS for ALL people, no matter what you have done, so long as you REPENT before you DIE in your sins.) 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Again every time you REPENT and ask God to FORGIVE you of your sin, he is FAITHFUL to forgive ALL your sins and CLEANSE you from ALL unrighteousness, therefore making you PERFECT in HIS eyes. So never let MAN heap condemnation upon you. God looks upon your HEART and I know I am talking to dear children of God who so desperately WANT to stop sinning, but because of BAD teaching, some FEAR that they have crossed some kind of so-called line of no returning to God. Be ASSURED dear child of God YOU have crossed NO SUCH LINE because it does NOT exist as long as there is a WANT to stop sinning remaining in you. Please understand that WHILE one is living in sin that wants to stop sinning may FADE, but when it comes back even ever so slightly it is GOD HIMSELF working IN YOU calling you back home, so OBEY that small still voice and REPENT of your lifestyle of sin.) 15. Looking diligently lest any MAN FAIL of the grace of God (I have heard some Christians keep saying that they do NOT have enough GRACE or that they cannot seem to FIND enough GRACE to overcome sin, but the word of TRUTH teaches us that the GRACE of God has appeared to ALL men teaching us to DENY the flesh or ungodliness. Grace will never fail you. It is a man who fails to USE the grace that God has already given to every man.); lest any ROOT of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (The problem is NOT that you do not have enough GRACE, the problem is that you do not BELIEVE that God is FAITHFUL who PROMISED and therefore you are not USING that grace that God has ALREADY given YOU. In other words, it is you, who chooses to believe false teachers, who have placed such FEAR in you as to why you struggle to BELIEVE me when I tell you the TRUTH that it is by FAITH that we are ENABLED and empowered to overcome sin. I am not seeking men to follow me, but rather I am desiring for you to BELIEVE the WORD of Almighty God himself who has PROMISED in his WORD that he will NOT ALLOW YOU, dear child of God, to be tempted ABOVE that which YOU YOURSELF are ABLE to ENDURE unto the end. God has FAITH in YOU that through his Holy Spirit YOU can OVERCOME each and every sin every time.The eternal Holy Spirit DWELLS IN YOU to EMPOWER you to live free from sin. Now, this may take some time, so you must have some patience. REPENTANCE is a LIFESTYLE that will EXERCISE your inner man to obedience to one day obey the Holy Spirit to NOT give in to sin. Never be ashamed to repent. Always run TO God and never run away from God. Always KNOW that if there is one tiny bit of WANTING to repent and come back to God that God is there WAITING for you with open arms. And as soon as he sees your turning back to him he will HASTEN to perform his word to forgive you of all your sins no matter how big or how many they may be! But if YOU fail to USE the GRACE that God has ALREADY GIVEN YOU, then there is that fear of dying in your sins as the following verses teach us) 16. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat SOLD his birthright (In other words, Esau GAVE UP doing things God's way by SELLING his birthright. To say this in terms of today, he gave up altogether following JESUS). 17. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” Now these last two verses are also MISUSED by some preachers to teach against sin. You see, Esau KNEW that he was giving up his BIRTHRIGHT of INHERITANCE. Esau KNEW that he was basically signing a written contract with his brother Jacob to give him something to eat in EXCHANGE for his BIRTHRIGHT. In fact, when God's people back then gave their WORD to do or not to do something it was even more of a contract than a written contract is today. Now the seeking of a blessing only to be rejected by God where God gives a person NO PLACE for repentance, will NEVER EVER take place in this PRESENT world, but rather takes place in those who do NOT REPENT of their sins IN this PRESENT world. So AGAIN, the place of NO repentance will ONLY take place in the world yet to come AFTER the 1000 year reign of Jesus on the DAY of the final judgment of the WICKED. You see dear child of God when a true born again Christian become SO DECEIVE to STOP FIGHTING the good fight of faith, to REPENT of their sin. They will harden their own heart to EXCUSE their sin as NOT being sin and therefore they will DIE living in a lifestyle of sin that THEY no longer see as being a sin. And THEY crucify to THEMSELVES Jesus afresh in their OWN heart just as if they were the ones who literally crucified Jesus. So then, this passage of Scripture is NOT about sinning in a GENERAL WAY where there is the chastising of the Lord WARRING in a believer, but rather it is about these HEBREW Christians GIVING UP their INHERITANCE of ETERNAL LIFE by going BACK to Judaism, which would be their DENYING that Jesus is the CHRIST, their Messiah the Son of the living God who they knew was prophesied to come, but now REJECT. The ONLY SINS that the Bible speaks about where there is no place of repentance is the sin of UNBELIEF and the outright DENYING that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who died for your sins, which in truth is the sin of UNBELIEF. Therefore the ONLY unpardonable sin is the sin of UNBELIEF, which would cause one to DENY Jesus or even DENY that God exists at all. It is the UNBELIEVING in JESUS who will not enter into the kingdom of God. The UNBELIEVING in that God no longer loves you and will no longer FORGIVE you is the sin of UNBELIEF. And the only CURE so to speak for UNBELIEF is the WORD of Almighty God. For you see, FAITH or BELIEF COMES from HEARING and TRUE hearing or true UNDERSTANDING COME from hearing the WHOLE word of God, so QUITE LISTENING to those FALSE teachers who keep telling you that you NEED MORE Grace or MORE of the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, then you have ALL the grace you need and ALL the Holy Spirit you need. The problem is that you are not USING the gifts that you have ALREADY been GIVEN. STIR UP the gift that is within you. FEED on the word of God. Start BELIEVING the promises of God, Be a DOER of the word and be NOT a hearer only. You ARE an OVERCOMER THROUGH Jesus Christ. GREATER is HE that is DWELLING IN you than the god of this present world. The Bible says we are NOT ignorant of Satan's device. BE a BELIEVER and stop feeding your UNBELIEF by listening to those FALSE teachers who instill FEAR in you that God no longer loves you. LIES, LIES and more LIES. QUITE listening to the LIES of the devil who wants you to GIVE UP resisting sin FIGHT the good fight of faith ENDURING unto the end and great shall be your reward. What trouble in this life can be compared with your reward of eternal life? Are you going to SELL your birthright by GIVING UP? God forbid that ANY of my readers EVER GIVE UP! AMEN! Now the phrase “though he sought it carefully with TEARS” applies to us in this day ONLY in relation to AFTER one DIES and they are facing their Day of Judgment. Jesus said many would come to him saying or PLEADING with him saying, have we not cast out devils in your name and have we not done many mighty works in your name? But Jesus will say to them depart from me you WORKERS of INIQUITY, which clearly teaches us that these Christians were LIVING in sin when they DIED or when Jesus returned. And THEN on the Day of Judgment, they will with TEARS seek to repent, but THEN it will be too late to repent for them. It is vital dear reader that you KNOW and UNDERSTAND that the ONLY place for repentance is NOW in this present life while a person is yet alive. TODAY is the day of salvation. So quit whining and crying that you CAN'T stop sinning! My dad used to always say, “CAN'T” can not DO ANYTHING! In other words, you have to BELIEVE you CAN live without sin BEFORE you will ever be ABLE to live without sin! Please read the study “HOW TO LIVE FREE YOUR LIFE FROM SIN!” You see, one is not actually JUDGED of “selling their birthright of ETERNAL LIFE”, UNTIL the Day of Judgment. As long as a person is living then they have HOPE. They still yet have a CHOICE. So if you have the desire to REPENT and come back to God, the door is OPEN, come on back. Also please understand that the door is OPEN to go EITHER WAY. So if YOU do not become a DOER of God's word to BELIEVE and STAY in the good fight of FAITH, then you are heading down that broad road of destruction. And the further you go down that wrong road the harder it will be to turn around and stay on the road to eternal life. I am just saying that living godly in this present world is a FIGHT of FAITH. Let me explain what I mean by this. You see the Bible teaches us in Ezekiel that a person can live their whole life IN SIN and then on their death bed REPENT of their sin and if their repentance is of a truly sincere heart, then they shall be FORGIVEN of all their sins and accepted by God as if they had never sinned. But consequently at the same time or the other side of the coin, so to speak, it is equally as true that a person can live their whole life as a godly righteous Christian and then at the very end of their life be DECEIVED by the devil by the deceitfulness of sin, to give in to the temptation to live in sin. And should they DIE while LIVING in that state of sin, then they shall be JUDGED by their LAST act before DYING or at the moment of Jesus returning. This is why Jesus will say at the MOMENT he returns, let the righteous remain righteous and let the unrighteous remain unrighteous. And why should we remain ready? For there will be NO TIME to REPENT at his coming. Also, many do not know WHEN they may die WITHOUT any notice again giving them NO TIME to repent. You could die in your sleep. So never try to excuse your sin away. Always be quick to repent and confess your sins. The truth of the WHOLE matter is that after a person becomes a Christian, then EVERY sin is a WILLFUL sin, but not all willful sin becomes a LIFESTYLE of LIVING in SIN WITHOUT REPENTANCE of living in sin. This brings us to God allowing those who CHOOSE a LIFESTYLE of sin to be turned over to a reprobate mind. So then, now let us move on to God turning some over to a REPROBATE mind who have made the CHOICE to NOT call what they ARE, in the present tense, DOING as being SIN. Please read Romans 1:28. “And even as they did not LIKE to RETAIN God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” You can clearly see that a true born again Christian would have to be SO DECEIVED by the enemy to ever take the stand of NO LONGER RETAINING God in their knowledge. Now this does NOT mean necessarily that one DENIES the EXISTENCE of God. It can mean this, but the context leads me to believe that the writer is ALSO speaking of Christians who have been DECEIVED by the enemy to LIVE a LIFESTYLE of SIN where SOME harden their own heart to DENY that they are SINNING, calling the evil they are doing as good. The writer of Romans starts out using the CONTEXT of HOMOSEXUAL sin, a man lying with a man, and a woman lying with a woman doing that which is against nature or against what God CREATED as the way things should be. But then the writer goes on to add all sorts of sin that can become ROOTED in any believer if left unchecked or not EXERCISED by RESISTING the temptation to sin and therefore obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Bible WARNS us as true born again Christians that ANY one of US, specifically speaking of BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ as their savior, can become DECEIVED by the deceitfulness of sin. You see dear child of God, most any sin can become a STRONGHOLD in a Christian's life and therefore become more and more difficult to overcome once and for all the longer they allow themselves to be continually overcome by that sin. I am sure every Christian, if honest to themselves and God, will bear witness that they have at least ONE sin that they have struggled with their whole life being a Christian. I have GOOD NEWS for you; you can be FREE from that struggle once and for all. Now I say once and for all, but this is not an entirely true statement, because any sin can creep back in if it is ALLOWED by a believer to do so. This is why the Bible WARNS us so much to be DILIGENT and guard our hearts against disobeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you want to hear this GOOD NEWS, then please read the study “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!” over and over until it becomes a part of you, a good treasure deposited in your heart so you will speak forth good in your life. Now I am not going to explain all of Romans chapter 1, but I do want to expound on the last verse, Romans 1:31, which some have again MISUSED to teach against sin, before I begin explaining the whole chapter. Romans 1:31 says. “Who KNOWING the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them.” As I said before ALL sin after we become born again is WILLFUL sin and is WORTHY of death, because the Holy Spirit prompts us NOT to sin BEFORE we give in to the temptation to sin. Even the sin of anger has a brief moment of warning from the Holy Spirit for us NOT to lose control. The Bible says be angry and sin NOT. So it is not the anger itself that is actually a sin, but rather what is wrong or sin is the bad or evil DEED or action that anger causes when one, out of CONTROL, causes one to DO. There is also RIGHTEOUS anger which causes us to respond in a POSITIVE good ways. So again anger in and of itself is NOT actually the sin. But rather it is our OWN arguing within ourselves against the leading of the Holy Spirit, saying things like “I do not care, I have every right to be angry. Everyone gets angry from time to time. Even the best of Christians get angry at times, and they deserve to be punched in the face or whatever your flesh is BEGGING you to do.” It is the giving in to anger to do an evil and bad thing that is sin. All the EXCUSES in the world do NOT make sin ALRIGHT. We all have a CHOICE to OBEY or to DISOBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit. So once again, sinning or NOT sinning is simply a matter of CHOICE or the obeying your OWN FLESHLY WILL or obeying the WILL of Almighty God, your heavenly FATHER. And, therefore, ALL sin in truth is a WILLFUL sin and worthy of death. So then, simple logical reasoning teaches us that all the verses that even remotely deal with WILLFUL sin as being UNPARDONABLE are NOT speaking of sin in GENERAL, but rather they are speaking of the sin of UNBELIEF, which is the ONLY sin that a person is NOT LIKELY to ever repent of doing. For you see, they do NOT believe that they are doing anything wrong, because they simply do not BELIEVE. They are in DENIAL. They are in UNBELIEF that they are doing anything wrong. You see dear child of God, an alcoholic is not going to get help to stop drinking if he or she does NOT BELIEVE that they are an alcoholic. So in the same way a Christian who has been DECEIVED by the deceitfulness of sin, to the point of NOT BELIEVING that they are SINNING, will most likely not REPENT of their sin simply because they do NOT BELIEVE that they are doing anything wrong anymore. Now, as God's CHILD by being a true born again Christian, you will ALWAYS have a WARRING in you between your FLESH and your REBORN spirit, your INNER man, that NEW creature created in Jesus Christ. BUT this warring can be made to stop over time by YOU. More on this in a moment, but for now this warring in you is Almighty God HIMSELF who GIVES us this DESIRE of our heart NOT to sin but the OLD man of the FLESH does not always want to OBEY your new INNER man. This NOT WANTING to sin is what lets you KNOW that you are God's CHILD. Paul teaches us of this WARRING in every believer in Romans chapter seven where Paul said that what he, speaking of his inner new man, WANTED to do he did not and what he WANTED NOT to do he did. And in another place the word of God teaches us that the OLD man of the FLESH is not the REAL us, but rather the lust of our FLESH is our OLD sin nature that wants to continue in sin or to go back to living in sin. But the REAL you, your NEW INNER man, is NOT OBLIGATED to obey your lower nature of the FLESH, to do what your flesh is BEGGING you to do. But sadly some preachers MISUSE this passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 7 to FALSELY teach that ALL Christians are SINNERS and that is just who you ARE. So, therefore, NO Christian can OVERCOME sin in their lives according to these false teachers. But you see Paul did NOT STOP with chapter 7 and went on to teach us in Romans chapter 8 that there is NOW no condemnation to THOSE who are IN Jesus Christ WHO WALK NOT after the FLESH, but who WALK AFTER the leading of the Holy Spirit. The LEADING of the Holy Spirit within EVERY believer will always be that leading of a believer to RESIST the temptation to sin unto the END. And, therefore, OVERCOME the temptation to sin each and every time so as to lead us as Christians to NEVER sin again after we have accepted Jesus as our savior. BUT at the same time the FLESH, the old habits of the OLD man of the flesh used to do WAR with the NEW man to disobey the Holy Spirit and go back to the way things used to be. So then the WEAK in FAITH, who are NOT EXERCISED in using their faith, are deceived into walking after their FLESH. Now, the next step of the Holy Spirit's leading is that IF SO BE that a believer DISOBEYS the FIRST leading of the Holy Spirit to RESIST the temptation of sin unto the END of each and every temptation, to NOT give in to sin, and they DO give in to sin, then the LEADING of the Holy Spirit will be to lead the believer to REPENT of their sin. Now, most ALL believers will YIELD to this second LEADING of the Holy Spirit and they will indeed repent of their sin. Yes some Christians seem to be more stubborn and they argue and REASON within themselves for a time, but eventually, they do OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit to repent of their sins. It is when this arguing and reasoning in a believer becomes more and more to the side of taking longer and longer to REPENT that the very REAL danger of being completely DECEIVED by the deceitfulness of sin is at their doorstep ready to devour them. It is NOT that they can NEVER EVER repent, but rather it becomes hard to CONVINCE them that they are living in SIN. They have EXCUSED the sin so long that to THEM it is no longer SIN. Now, this brings us to God ALLOWING people in general, speaking of both Christians and NON-Christians, to be turned over to a REPROBATE mind. A reprobate mind is simply God allowing mankind to have a FREE WILL to CHOOSE what they want to do without his Holy Spirit drawing them to repent every moment. God turns them loose to sow their wild oats so to speak. But WITH very undesirable CONSEQUENCES for CHOOSING to live ungodly and unrighteous lives in the EYES OF ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF. It is a FEARFUL thing to fall into the hands of the judgment of the Almighty if so be the DEEDS or the WORKS of a person are UNRIGHTEOUS and sinful works and they NEVER REPENT. So then, a REPROBATE mind is simply a mind or one's OWN WILL that OPPOSES what God himself DESIRES a person to do and not to do. Now in truth or in part, everyone who commits even ONE sin is of a REPROBATE mind at the TIME they are committing that one sin because they are OPPOSING God's WILL for them. But this is not what the writer of Romans chapter 1 is speaking of according to the CONTEXT. Also, the UNDERSTANDING of perhaps most Christians or at least many Christians of having a REPROBATE mind is that of a person having a mind that somehow CANNOT STOP sinning. But this is NOT a true meaning of this word at all. The word “REPROBATE” simply means FAILING the TEST. Just because one fails a test to see if they truly BELIEVE does not mean that they are completely and totally rejected by God, where God does NOT ALLOW them to NEVER EVER REPENT for failing the test or being DECEIVED. Jesus in the parable of the sower sowing seed said if you do not understand this parable then HOW can you understand any parable of teaching? We learn in the parable of the sower sowing seed that the seed is God's WORD and that Satan is AFTER the WORD of God sown in your heart, because the WORD is able to SAVE and KEEP us unto the end of our salvation to the receiving our reward of eternal life in the world to come. And, therefore, by us, as mere mortal men or mere human beings overcoming sin unto the end to receive eternal life, proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Satan is GUILTY of rebelling against Almighty God. It proves that God did NOT CREATE Lucifer as a REBELLIOUS being on the day that God created him, as Lucifer has falsely ACCUSED and BLAMED God for doing, as his EXCUSE for his REBELLION and has challenged God that God has NO RIGHT to judge and destroy him on the Day of Judgment. But BECAUSE Jesus was a MAN who OVERCAME all sin, he has PROVEN to God and Satan that it is right and just for God to execute his judgment upon Lucifer and the fallen angels who rebelled against him. Please read the study called “UNDERSTANDING WHY?” This is an in-depth study giving all the Scriptures to explain in detail what I just said, but for now, let us continue with this study on learning the sound Biblical definition of what it means to sin WILLFULLY so that there is NO PLACE for REPENTANCE. Now while it is true that any person who habitually ALLOWS themselves to LIVE a LIFESTYLE of sin that sooner or later they themselves MAY make the CHOICE NOT to RETAIN God in their knowledge. But this does not always mean that the will, without fail, will make the choice to deny Jesus as their savior or even deny that God exists at all. But rather all this passage of Scripture truly means is that they do indeed know or at least they did know at one time that God does indeed exist, but they have reached the point where they no longer want to stop sinning, because they have REASONED away their OWN mind and heart that what they are doing is not sin. They either grow weary and faint and say within themselves, what is the use of fighting against sin, this is who I am, it is not possible to not be who I am. This is why Gays say they were BORN Gay. They are deceived by the enemy to just GIVE IN to fight against being a homosexual. They REASON AWAY their sin NOT BELIEVING that it is sin. This is the sin of UNBELIEF, which will not likely ever be repented of UNLESS one can CONVINCE them they are living in SIN. The same is true of an alcoholic or a drunkard. Unless you can CONVINCE them to see their sin they will say that drinking and getting drunk is NOT a SIN. But the Bible clearly teaches us that NO DRUNKARD shall enter into the kingdom of God. Now surely most Christians will agree that any form of sodomy is a SIN. And I am quite sure that most true born again Christians who have NOT become DECEIVE with agree that Romans chapter 1 is clearly speaking about the SIN of HOMOSEXUALITY. Also, most of my readers will agree that in the world today that homosexuals are taking a STAND saying that this is WHO we are and some even say that they were BORN to be homosexuals and that there is NOTHING they can do to CHANGE who they are because Almighty God himself CREATED them as homosexuals. This is the SAME LIE that Lucifer is using to BLAME God for his OWN actions of rebellion. Do you think that God is going to forgive the devil of his sin of REBELLION against God? The devil is NOT going to REPENT of his sin of REBELLION and neither are SOME Homosexuals going to REPENT of their sin of rebellion to DENY the TRUTH that they are living in SIN. The truth of the matter is that ALL sin is REBELLION against God. But YOU, my dear reader and seeker of the truth, God has led you to read this study in God's word to show you the TRUTH that his door is STILL YET OPEN for you to come to him with a truly sincere heart of REPENTANCE to be ACCEPTED of him. From what I perceive by the Holy Spirit I know that deep down YOU my dear friend ARE a child of God who truly WANTS to STOP sinning. You have not reasoned away TOTALLY your sin saying that it is NOT a sin. You still yet WANT to RETAIN God in your knowledge. So REPENT and draw nigh unto God and he WILL draw nigh unto you. KNOW that it is Almighty God himself who has GIVEN you the DESIRE of your HEART, your inner man, NOT to want to sin anymore. This is God never leaving nor forsaking you whether you have never accepted Jesus as your savior or whether you are a Christian who is living in sin but desires to STOP sinning, so OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit. Only YOU can REASON AWAY God in your knowledge by ALLOWING yourself to stop FIGHTING against sin. You were not BORN to be a SINNER, but rather you BECAME a sinner by your OWN ACTIONS of DISOBEDIENCE to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if you have never heard the gospel before, you are without excuse, because the very creation around you proves to you that there is a God and your own God-given conscience teaches you right from wrong. Even every homosexual, if they are truly honest with themselves and with God, admit that at one point in their life they FELT deep inside that homosexuality was NOT right. They felt that something was WRONG with them. They wondered WHY they felt the things that they felt. They did not understand that those feeling were not their own feeling. They did not know that it was Satan placing those thoughts and feelings in their minds. So they believed the lie that they were born to have those feelings. And over time, they simply STOPPED FIGHTING the enemies call to them They did not know that it was Satan lying to them. And then, THEY made their own choice to NOT retain this CHECK in the conscious to NOT give into homosexuality. The same is true with an alcoholic. They convince themselves that there is nothing wrong with getting drunk. And the same is true of a drug addict. And it is especially true of a sex addict. Many people, including Christians that have a high sexual drive convince themselves that they were BORN with a high sex drive. All habitual sin can be blamed on something other than it is our OWN choice to sin. Yes, I realized that it SEEMS as if you cannot stop sinning, but this is what Satan wants you to believe with all your heart so you will give up completely, throw in the towel, so to speak, and keep on sinning, as if, sin is no longer a sin. Satan wants to steal what WORD of God is left in you and only YOU can RESIST his LIES. There is one more Scripture that comes to mind that some preachers have MISUSED to teach against sin. This verse by itself does not lead one to believe that they have crossed the line so to speak of no return, but along with these other verses we have looked at thus far, this verse can certainly add to the fear that one might have crossed some kind of so-called line of no return and therefore FEAR that God no longer loves them and that he will no longer FORGIVE them. So again I want to ASSURE you dear reader and seeker of the truth that this so-called line of no return does NOT EXIST in the WHOLE word of God UNTIL a person DIES or they are found to be living in sin when Jesus returns. THEN it will be TOO LATE to repent. Titus 1:16 says. “They profess that they know God; but in WORKS they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (Failing the test or doing what opposes God’s will for us to do).” Now the CONTEXT of this verse of Scripture is again speaking of the JEWS who profess that they ALREADY know the one true God and not about Christians who profess that they know God, but yet keep on sinning. Jesus taught us to do what the scribes and the Pharisees TAUGHT, but NOT to do what the scribes and the Pharisees DID, because they TEACH God's word, but they do NOT do what they teach. In other words, Jesus was saying that the scribes and the Pharisees do NOT PRACTICE what they PREACH, so therefore they were HYPOCRITES. Now please know and UNDERSTAND that Jesus was NOT saying for us as Christians to follow the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees to REMAIN UNDER the OLD covenant, but rather Jesus was speaking to those who were still yet UNDER the LAW of the OLD covenant to keep the law and NOT be as the scribes and Pharisees who teach the law but they themselves do not KEEP the law. This is a WHOLE other study in and of itself so please read all the studies related to the dangerous Hebrew Roots Movement listed in the menu bar to the left. Now while it is true that the INTERPRETATION of Titus 1:16 can be used to POINT OUT to a Christian to bear good FRUIT or to do GOOD works, because we are professing who we are BY the DEEDS, actions, and WORKS that we do. So it is true that the FRUITS a person bears tell us who that person is following, but this is not what this passage of Scripture is saying to us in its entirety when kept in its context. Let us read the CONTEXT so that you can see that the context is speaking of JEWS professing to know the one true God and that the deeds of the JEWISH leaders DENIED that they knew God. Please read Titus 1:10-16 which clearly teaches us that the writer is speaking about the JEWS who DENY God by their WORKS. “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision: 11. Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. 12. One of themselves, even a prophet of their OWN, said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; (Speaking of converting the JEWS to the TRUTH faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ.) 14. NOT giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the TRUTH. 15. Unto the pure (Speaking of true born again Christians who have been CLEANSED and made PERFECT in the eyes of God by the shed blood of Jesus) all things are pure (Speaking of Christians being set FREE from the BONDAGE of the OLD Testament LAW contained in ordinances meaning that as Christians we are NOT UNDER the LAW contained in the 613 ordinances written by Moses. Please read the study “ACTS 10---PETER'S VISION OF CLEANSED MEATS!” for a deeper understanding of what this verse is truly saying in the light of the WHOLE word of God): but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure (Or no one is pure among the Jews and of the world who do NOT believe on Jesus, because there is no name under heaven given among men whereby we MUST be saved and the JEWS did NOT profess Jesus as their savior. Yes, they did indeed profess to know Almighty God Yahweh, but the ONE TRUE God himself states in his word that if one does NOT believe in his SON Jesus, then they do NOT know Almighty God the Father EITHER. Yes the JEWS and the MUSLIMS may SAY that they know the God of ABRAHAM, but their DEEDS of DENYING that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God clearly shows that they are REPROBATE or that they OPPOSE God's WILL for them to BELIEVE that Jesus is the SON of Almighty God who died for their sins to make them PURE before the ONE TRUE and ONLY ALMIGHTY God the FATHER.); but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16. THEY profess that THEY know God; but in works THEY deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, that the CONTEXT of Titus 1:16 is NOT speaking of CHRISTIANS and GENERAL sin who are DENYING Jesus by their WORKS, but rather this verse is speaking of the JEWS who were DENYING God even though they PROFESSED to KNOW God. The word calls them abominable because they were DISOBEDIENT to the word of God that was being PREACHED to them to believe in JESUS as the Messiah who was promised to come, but THEY REJECTED so great a salvation. So no matter what GOOD WORKS they were doing, God himself considered and still does consider THEIR good words to be REPROBATE, in that, ALL good works that are being done in one's OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS are OPPOSING God's WILL for ALL men to come to him THROUGH his SON Jesus. It is the BOASTING of men exalting themselves above others, looking down on them, that God HATES. To me, this is why God established a NEW COVENANT in the shed blood of HIS LAMB that HE HIMSELF provided for HIMSELF so that WE would be HIS workmanship and NO man could BOAST that he saved himself by his OWN righteousness. Have you ever noticed dear child of God how good well-meaning Christians get caught up in their OWN good works? The Jehovah's Witnesses have laid so many of MAN'S works on their followers, things like it is a SIN to celebrate any holiday including a person’s birthday, that these man made works DRIVE people AWAY from God rather than lead people TO God. The Roman Catholics dogmatically demand that it is a SIN for a Catholic to miss even ONE Sunday mass or a Holy day of OBLIGATION. Those in the Hebrew Roots Movement dogmatically demand that in order to please God their followers must KEEP ALL the LAW of Moses, when the New Testament clearly teaches we are NOT UNDER the LAW. PLEASE dear child of God do NOT let man heap condemnation upon you, but rather simply OBEY what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do or not to do. Most every one of the groups who place WORKS upon you will dogmatically tell you that THEY ALONE have the truth so if you do NOT follow what THEY teach you, then you cannot be saved. LIES, lies, and more lies, nothing but lies. YOU, dear children of God have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and you do NOT NEED any man to teach you. So I implore you to search the word of TRUTH for YOURSELF so you will KNOW when you are being fed a LIE of the enemy. Now as I said before that it is true that the FALSE interpretation of Titus 1:16, to refer to CHRISTIANS, has a RING of truth to it, because we as Christians, who do indeed PROFESS to know God, do indeed SHOW the world whom we SERVE BY our DEEDS. Jesus said that you shall know what type of tree it is BY the FRUITS that a tree bears. So in essence PART of what some preachers are TRYING to say is true, that we as Christians should be walking our talk or doing what we teach and preach lest we are found to be a HYPOCRITE in the EYES of the world who is watching us. But again, the JUDGMENT we judge our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord and even those in the world are, in truth, PREMATURE. What I mean by this is to say that a person is NOT saved simply because they have sinned is not entirely true, because YOU do NOT know the HEART of that person. You do not see his or her REPENTANT HEART wanting so desperately NOT to sin, crying out to God for forgiveness. Now yes, it is true that if so be that you know the HEART of a person who has DIED while LIVING in a lifestyle of sin, then you may judge that particular person to be LOST and without hope of finding a place of repentance on the Day of Judgment no matter how many tears they shed in THAT day of JUDGMENT when they are resurrected. But even that judgment MAY still be premature. One thing is for sure, WE are NOT their judge. And for another thing, WE do NOT truly KNOW their heart, so we can not possibly know as to whether or not they REPENTED in their HEART for their sin at the moment of death. It is this HOPE that one of our loved ones who died MAY have repented at the hour of their death, so do NOT steal another person's hope. Make it CLEAR what you teach. LISTEN to the Holy Spirit as you speak from the pulpit who will CHECK what you are saying if it is not completely accurate or someone MAY misunderstand what you are saying. Well, I am getting off track again, but someone needed to hear this. ALWAYS REMEMBER that it is NOT OVER UNTIL you DIE, or until Jesus returns. So until that time of the DAY of Judgment you ALWAYS have the opportunity to REPENT and get right with God. Also always KNOW that if you have a loved one who has DIED while LIVING in sin that there is always HOPE that they REPENTED of their sin at the moment of death. It does no good to worry and fear over those who have already DIED, because there is nothing that we can do to change their state that they were in at the moment that they died. I am sorry if you had a loved one who has died while living in sin or a loved one who has committed suicide. Yes there is a good chance that they will be judged a sinner and cast into the lake of fire, but the truth is that we simply do not KNOW their HEART at the moment of death, so there is always HOPE that they repented of their sin at the moment of death. Now this study is focused on the LIVING who are LIVING in sin, but who WANT to be FREE from sin and come back to God, but they are being DECEIVED with FEAR that they have somehow cross a so-called line of no returning to God, so let us get back on track. It is to YOU, who has to WANT TO stop sinning, that I implore to ALWAYS REMEMBER that so long as you WANT to stop sinning, so long as you WANT to repent, then KNOW that this is God IN you who is the one who is WORKING IN you drawing you BACK to him. So OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit in you to REPENT and get back in right standing with God to FIGHT the good fight of FAITH unto the end. There is a BALANCE that I myself must admit that I have not always made crystal clear when teaching against sin and may have misled some to think that being PERFECT means to live completely without sin without ever sinning again after a person has accepted Jesus as their savior. Now while this is the ULTIMATE goal to be conformed to the image of Jesus himself who did no sin, please KNOW and UNDERSTAND that we ALL need to be PATIENT and know that our BEING SANCTIFIED is a continual PROCESS and that we are learning little by little as we PASS the TESTS of our FAITH, one test at a time from FAITH to FAITH. The truth of the matter is that we are tested almost every day. I say almost every day because the MORE tests you pass the FEWER and the EASIER the tests become. And eventually, at one point the Devil simply LEAVES OFF tempting you, UNTIL he sees an OPPORTUNITY where he may be successful. This is why the Bible says that Satan goes about as a roaring lion SEEKING WHOM he MAY devour, for you see Satan cannot OVERCOME those who are diligently watching and disarming the device or weapons that Satan uses against us to overcome us. I can with confidence say that before I began to PASS the TESTS, by overcoming the temptations to sin, that I was tempted EVERY SINGLE DAY and not just one or two times, but many multiple times each and every day I was tempted, but now it seems as if days, weeks and even months go by without my being tempted. I say seems, because I have to think really hard if there was even a slight temptation that one just shrugs off as if it was nothing. Please do NOT misunderstand what I am saying, I am NOT boasting in myself, but rather I am simply sharing with you my testimony of proof that Almighty God is FAITHFUL to PERFORM his word. I am also here to tell you that you have need of PATIENCE, because these victories over sin do not come overnight. It takes DILIGENCE and outright tenacity to prove God's word to yourself in SOME areas. What set me free was when the Holy Spirit told me that if I RESISTED just ONE sin, ANY sin whatsoever, just ONE time in my life where I did NOT give in to that temptation to sin, then I was able to resist ANY and ALL temptations each and every time by taking that one temptation at a time not looking at my past failures or any FUTURE temptations that may come my way. I am sharing all this with you dear child of God because I want to ASSURE you that YOU not only can but that you WILL OVERCOME any and ALL sin in your life if so be that you become a DOER of the WORD and not just remain a hearer only. Faith WITHOUT WORKS is dead. ONE meaning of this is that WHEN you are being tempted to ACT or be a DOER of the WORD, which states as a FACT or a PROMISE that God will NOT allow YOU to be tempted ABOVE that which YOU are ABLE to bear. So STOP calling God a LIAR saying you CAN'T stop sinning and BELIEVE God's word by ACTING on his word as though you BELIEVE his WORD by getting up and RUNNING AWAY from what is tempting you. Look at Joseph who RAN out of Pharaoh's house when Pharaoh's wife came on to him. If you are tempted to steal something get out of there. If you are tempted to lust after another woman then simply look the OTHER way. LEAVE that PLACE of temptation. CHANGE your THOUGHTS. YOU must BELIEVE that God is FAITHFUL who PROMISED. I can not do it for you. YOU must feed yourself on God's word in RELATION to FAITH. It does no good for you to read and study end time prophecy when what you NEED to be studying is on the area of FAITH. Not that studying prophecy is not needful, but rather what is it in your life that should be taking priority for the need you are facing presently. For example in the physical world when your car is broke and you NEED that car to go to work in the morning you do NOT go and cut the grass and say oh well I ran out of time so I guess I will have to miss work tomorrow so I can fix my car. No! Many thousands of times no! That choice is going to COST you. It may even cost you your job if you keep making those kinds of choices. PRIORITY! What is YOUR priority? Right now it should be on HOW you can overcome sin. You NEED to feed your FAITH by reading Bible studies teaching you HOW to USE and RELEASE your faith. I realize that some FAITH preachers today seem to focus only on FINANCES, give and it shall be given unto you, but you can use many of the same PROMISES in God's word to become victorious over sin. It is sad to say that some FAITH preachers have gotten a bad name so to speak because of their FOCUS on MONEY. But trust me when I tell you that the WORD of God in the area of FAITH is still the TRUTH. Just because SOME have MISUSED God's word to fleece the flock does NOT mean that God's word does not work. God is always faithful to HASTEN to perform his word. God is there waiting for you to BELIEVE and be a DOER of the word. So get over your lumping ALL faith preachers in the “name it and claim it” group of preachers who have abused God's word for their own personal gain. The reason I say this is because somehow some Christians have CONNECTED speaking FAITH filled words to those so-called faith preachers who are wrongly marked or labeled as “NAME it and CLAIM it” preachers. You see it is NOT that speaking RIGHT WORDS that is in error, but rather the MISUSE of this SOUND BIBLICAL teaching that is what is in ERROR. So I implore my readers and seekers of the truth to read the study I have written called “THE POWER OF OUR WORDS!” Along with another study that I have written, that is related SPECIFICALLY to overcome sin called “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE WITHOUT SIN!” And also, please read any of the studies that I have written on faith that can help you LEARN how to USE your faith to overcome sin in your life. Again dear child of God do NOT despair over your failures, but rather focus on your VICTORIES knowing that your successes will strengthen you to overcome future battles. Be PATIENT! Your time is coming! One day you will be teaching others what the Holy Spirit is teaching you right now by you obeying him to read this study in God's word. KNOW that in HIM or through him you are MORE than a CONQUEROR through Jesus Christ. This is what Almighty God himself says about YOU dear child of God, and it is YOUR CHOICE to either BELIEVE or to REJECT God's WORD. As I have said many times, in the above study that I again implore you to read, is that the ONLY way to overcome sin is to FIRST BELIEVE that you CAN! So no more PROFESSING things like, “It just seems as if I CANNOT do this or I just cannot resist the temptation to sin, or I tried and tried and nothing works, you may be able to resist temptation, but I cannot resist the temptation and I always give in eventually.” These are NOT the right words to be speaking in order to overcome sin in your life. So quit whining and become a BELIEVER who is a DOER of the word and not just a hearer only whereby you deceive yourself by SAYING you believe, but in truth, you do NOT believe because there is no ACTION on your part. You are not ENDURING to the end of the temptation to PROVE God's word to YOURSELF. Now, as far as the FEELING of HOPELESSNESS I again ASSURE you that there is ALWAYS hope to those who WANT hope, and who WANT to be forgiven, and who WANT to REPENT of their sins, and who WANT to stop sinning and who WANT to please God. And I KNOW that this is YOU dear reader and seeker of the truth for it is God IN you who is leading you in the way of righteousness by leading you to this study in God's word. Now if so be or HYPOTHETICALLY there comes a time that you ever lose the WANTING to be saved, then and only then you can start worrying that you have lost your salvation. But I can assure you that you will NOT worry if so be that the Devil deceives you to COMPLETELY throw in the towel so to speak and give up totally in your fight against sin because your sin will no longer be a sin to YOU. I only say this hypothetically, because, to me, a true born again Christian who is continually seeking God and wants to please him will NOT be likely to ever reach the point when they no longer retain God in their heart and mind. This is not to say that it does not ever happen, but rather I do not believe this is YOU now or in the future, BECAUSE you are OBEYING the Holy Spirit to read this study in God's word. You ALREADY have the WANT TO or the desire to please God in you. And this desire God is the desire that God himself has given you God is already leading you in the way of righteousness. God has brought you to this website to LEARN who you are in Jesus Christ so that you will ENDURE unto the end to receive eternal life in the world to come. Again, I know that there are some Christians who have indeed DENIED Jesus as their savior by converting to Islam or even becoming an atheist. But I believe that YOU, dear children of God are NOT that kind of a Christian who DENIES that Jesus is unable to save WHOSOEVER comes to him, otherwise you would not be reading this study in God's word searching for truth to help you overcome sin. God has heard your hearts cry to him and if you continue in the TRUTH. If you believe that it was God who led you to me to hear the word of truth then the TRUTH will make you FREE. Now, your OLD man of your FLESH may be saying to you things like, “I do not care that God does not want me to do this, or I want this and I am going to do this even though I know it is wrong, or I know it is wrong but I want to do it anyway”, but your FLESH is not the real YOU. KNOW dear child of God that your inner man DESIRES to resist your flesh that is being led by the evil spirit of Satan. This WARRING in you between your OLD man of the FLESH and your NEW inner man of the spirit is NORMAL. However, for your NEW inner man to always give in to the EVIL side of this warring in you is NOT the WILL of God for any Christian. You need to LEARN how to FIGHT the GOOD fight of FAITH so you will start WINNING the fight as opposed to just swinging punches wildly never given any damage to the enemy. He just backs up and laughs at you, because you are NOT fighting or resisting sin in FAITH. Romans chapter 8 teaches us that we do not have to obey our LOWER and INFERIOR nature of the FLESH any more. So do not keep feeding the begging of your flesh, because the MORE you feed the FLESH the stronger the flesh becomes. But on the other hand, the more you feed your spirit your inner man the STRONGER your inner man becomes. Every victory you win strengthens your inner man. But when you fail a test it is like taking a step BACKWARDS so you have to take that test all over again. You see when you first began to learn your ABC's you may have failed several tests while you were yet LEARNING, but AFTER you learned to PASS every test given to you, related to your ABC's, it became EASIER to pass each and every test related to your ABC's. Many things in the spiritual world are much like the physical world. In the physical natural world, we learn the basics first, like our ABC's, and then we advance to the next level or to another subject like math. The same is true in spiritual things. For example in the natural when we are LEARNING math we start with counting, then move to addition and then subtraction and so forth. We may pass one test right after test but sooner or later the math tests get harder and harder and more difficult to pass. Therefore you MAY start failing some test again. You may have found algebra to be easy and passed all the tests, but you may fail a few tests at calculus while you are LEARNING calculus. However, if you APPLY yourself to PASSING that test, by study and focus you will begin to pass the tests related to calculus. The more tests you pass, then the easier those tests become. The same is true in the spiritual realm of growing in the Lord. Now for ME, the first sin that God led me to overcome was that of lying, stretching the truth, exaggerating, not telling all I knew or withholding the whole story of what happened. God had his reasons even though to me I would have worked on the sins that to ME seemed more serious, like overcoming stealing or anger issues. Later I came to understand why God chose the sin of lying to be the first sin that God eradicated from my life. God wanted me to speak RIGHT WORDS. He wanted to teach me to mean what I say and to say what I mean and never to jest, tease, kid around, poke fun and use SARCASM. Now, this may sound odd to some of you, but I can testify that speaking only what you mean and meaning what you say is the only language that the spiritual world understands. When I say that God worked on me one sin at a time this is not to say that the Holy Spirit did not convict me of stealing when I stole something and prompted me to repent. But rather what God led me to STUDY in his word, that not only help me overcome lying and to speak only right words, but also showed me that speaking right words would help me overcome ALL other sins. Stealing was the next sin. The PATIENCE or the learning to be patient and learning to get control over anger was the next sin. I seemed to fly right through all these trials. With little to no trouble at all after mastering speaking RIGHT WORDS which at the same time eliminated lying from my life, but learning PATIENCE I must admit took a little longer than stealing. Now that I look back I can see that fellow Christians seem to tolerate the lack of patience more than stealing or some other kind of sin. But in truth learning patience is right there at the top to help you overcome all other sins. Now there are even some things that many of us will never be tested on because the enemy already knows that it would be USELESS to even try to tempt us in those areas. Things like murder, robbing a bank, and even committing adultery. I myself have never been tempted in any of these areas along with using drugs. I did try the drug called alcohol and I did try smoking before I became a Christian and I had already decided that neither appealed to me before I became a Christian. The truth of the matter was that I could not stand to be around smokers and I was told that if I became a smoker that it would not bother me. It did not make sense but I tried it anyway and it did not work. I hated it all the more and to this day I can smell a smoker two or three cars in front of me with my windows rolled up. As far as drinking, the drug alcohol, I first tried a beer and the taste, to me, was disgusting. Again a friend told me that beer was an acquired taste so I tried it again several times and even tried different brands of beer. I even got drunk on two occasions and both times I threw up and had a terrible headache each time the next day, which was not appealing to me. Even the light headed losing control feeling was not appealing to me either. So I reasoned to myself WHY drink beer at all. So then I tried mixed drinks. I never really found any that I could honestly say, WOW now that is GOOD! No not one mix drink ever really appealed to me especially compared to the cost of mixed drinks. I did like some of the sweet fruitiness, but the sharp burning of the alcohol was not appealing to me. So then I tried wine. Now some sweet wines I can tolerate, by WHY? Fruit juices are much better tasting to ME and they cost quite a bit less so WHY drink alcoholic beverages? So you can see that drinking and getting drunk is NOT a TEMPTATION to ME and the devil KNOWS this so why bother tempting someone that cannot be tempted in that area. I have observed people throughout my life who seem to have nothing but trouble and it almost always is the RESULT of their DRINKING. So I have concluded that absolutely NO good comes from drinking and getting drunk. So to me, any short lived good feeling that comes from getting drunk is NOT worth the COST both materially and emotionally. Now some of you may be thinking that I had it EASY if none of these things ever really tempted me. Well, you are wrong. It only takes ONE sin that we struggle with to make one's life difficult, and I did indeed have that ONE sin that frustrated me time and time again. I failed over and over year after year with this one sin never seeming to be able to overcome it. No matter how much I hated it at times the hate did not seem to be enough to keep me from giving in to the one sin. I can now say with confidence that the STRUGGLE with that sin and all sins for that matter are in the past because the Lord showed me a KEY to overcoming sin and addictions no matter what they may be and that KEY is to be TENACIOUS when fighting against sin. This is not the only key, but one key that helped ME overcome sin. To be tenacious means you take that final stand not to be moved no matter what. But to be tenacious against an enemy who is stronger and wiser, you need to KNOW that Almighty God is ON YOUR SIDE and if God is FOR you then no one can defeat you. So the second KEY is FAITH. You have to BELIEVE not only that you CAN overcome but also that you WILL without fail overcome any and all sin. True faith is ACTION or being a DOER of the word and not just a hearer only. So then, let's begin right now to overcome your sins. #1. You first have to ADMIT that you have an addiction. #2. Second, you must know and understand that you cannot overcome this addiction ALONE. #3. Third, you must team up with God and his word by asking God to help you overcome your addiction. You cannot do this on your own. #4. Fourth, you must BELIEVE that it IS possible for you to overcome your addiction to God's help. #5. Fifth, you must not put all the work on God. By this, I mean that you and God are co-laborers TOGETHER meaning that you must BELIEVE in the faithfulness of God to PERFORM his WORD. #6. Sixth, you must study God's word, read and reread studies like this and related studies. You must memorize Scriptures that promise you victory. #7. Seventh, you must be a DOER of the word and not a hearer only whereby you deceive your own self. #8. Eighth, you must have PATIENCE knowing that you are winning even when it FEELS at times you are losing. This is when SPEAKING RIGHT WORDS comes into play. #9. Ninth, you must occupy your mind with other things while getting out of the way of what is tempting you. #10. Tenth, an accountability partner would be a great help if so be they are like-minded to keep you on track. I say this because some well-meaning people are to SOFT and they will not PUSH you to overcome. How can two walk together lest they AGREE. It is important for an accountability partner to be on the same page so to speak as you wanting you to be free more than you yourself want to be free. #11. Eleventh, you must NEVER give up. Only those who fight the good fight of faith and endure unto the end of each and every temptation shall overcome that which addicts them. Do not focus on any of your failures, but rather repent and keep moving forward. Give praise and thanksgiving to God all through this process for all your victories. #12. Twelfth, share your testimony of victory over sin in your life and teach them what God has taught you to help you overcome sin. Before I conclude this study in God's word I want to assure those who came to this study with FEAR that God no longer LOVES you. Almighty God does indeed still LOVE you and he wants you to return to him more than you yourself want to return to him. So then, if the Holy Spirit lead you to read this study because of the reason that you FEAR that you may have sinned too much, or that you FEAR that you have moved to WILLFUL sin and now God will no longer accept your cries and pleas of repentance, or that you FEAR that you have committed an unpardonable sin, or that you FEAR that you have sinned a sin unto death, or that you FEAR that you have crossed some so-called line of no returning to God, then KNOW that there is no such line of no return and KNOW that you always have hope. Know without fail that you can return to God and he will, without fail, FORGIVE you of your sin no matter how many or how bad they may be if you ASK him to forgive you. I also want you to know dear children of God, that ALL the verses that produced the FEAR in you that God no longer LOVES you and that God no longer will FORGIVE you were MISUSED by well meaning preachers who were sincerely just trying to help you stop sinning. They are ignorant to the TRUTH of what these verses mean in the light of the whole word of God, so FORGIVE them for they know not what they do. Also, always remember that ANY CONCLUSION as to what any verse means must without fail AGREE with the REST of God's word. And if so be that whatever conclusion or interpretation that is concluded does not agree with the rest of God's word, then that interpretation is in ERROR and must be rejected as false teaching. So, therefore, the INTERPRETATION or what you have previously CONCLUDED that the above verses that we covered in this study is in error. In other words, what your church denomination taught you that these mean that, without fail, that a Christian can cross a LINE of NO RETURNING to God is in ERROR. For you see, that interpretation simply does NOT AGREE with the REST of God's word. You see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ one would have to blatantly ignore 1 John 1:9 which clearly and plainly teaches us that if we ask God to forgive us then he is FAITHFUL who PROMISED to FORGIVE us of our sins. “If we confess our sins, he is FAITHFUL and JUST to FORGIVE us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God's word in and of itself does not contradict itself, but the INTERPRETATIONS that MAN concludes as to what certain verses mean can and do at times CONTRADICT the rest of God's word. Ask yourself a simple question, “How can anyone ever BELIEVE that God will forgive them if one falsely CONCLUDES that another Scripture, like the ones we have thus far covered in this study, must. without fail, mean that on SOME sins God is NOT FAITHFUL to FORGIVE those who ASK his forgiveness by CONFESSING their sins.” Are you following what I am saying? To draw such a conclusion or interpretation that there is a so called LINE of no return or no FORGIVENESS any more is to DENY God's FAITHFULNESS and even to call Almighty God a LIAR for saying in his WORD that he IS FAITHFUL and JUST to FORGIVE us our sins IF we CONFESS our sins. Now dear reader and seeker of the truth it is time for YOU to become a DOER of the word and not a hearer only. Begin by printing out this study in God's word and ALL the studies that I have written of the subject of sin and overcoming sin. Then read and reread these studies over and over again and again to build your faith and KEEP your faith STRONG in the Lord and in the POWER of HIS might. Do this now rather than later. We do not know how long the Internet will remain as it is today. You do not know if your computer will be working, up and running, tomorrow or the next day or the day that you really need to read these studies. KNOW that simply failing a test does not mean you automatically fail the course. The course is set before you and the course does not end until you DIE or until Jesus returns. You are yet LEARNING and I am yet learning even more. The more you teach and share God's word the more God reveals to you to share. And if you keep God's word to yourself then you will LOSE what you have, so never be ashamed to give your testimony to others. Always get right back up if you fall or fail a test and get right back into the good fight of faith. ONLY those who DROP OUT will fail the COURSE because they did not ENDURE unto the END to receive their promise of eternal life in the world to come. So NEVER EVER believe the LIE that it is OVER for you or anyone else. There is ALWAYS HOPE by REPENTING and getting back in the good FIGHT of faith. The NUMBER of times you are tested and you fail those tests do not matter. All that matters is that you CONTINUE to BELIEVE unto the END by fighting against sin. It does not matter how many times you need to repent. All that matters is that you OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit to REPENT and get back into the race to finish the COURSE. There are just a few more points that I want to make and one last verse that we have not yet covered, which is 1 John 5:16 that tells us about a sin that is unto death that we should not ask God to forgive another brother or sister in the Lord who has committed this sin unto death. Please read 1 John 5:14-19, which says. “And this is the CONFIDENCE that we have in him, that, if we ask ANYTHING according to his WILL, he HEARS us: (This verse is one of the single most vital verses to know and BELIEVE in both everyday conversation with God and in praying to God making intercession for others or requests for yourself.) 15. And if we KNOW that he HEARS us, WHATSOEVER we ASK, we KNOW that we HAVE the petitions that we desired of him. (This verse leaves no room to BLAME God for not answering your prayer or request that is according to God's WILL. So all any Christian needs to do is to find in God's word whether or not what you desire is his WILL. Now there should be no doubt that it IS God's WILL for all Christians to live without sin. Therefore KNOW and have CONFIDENCE that God HEARS your request for him to HELP you overcome sin and then KNOW that as soon as you pray that prayer he sends the ANSWER. Never doubt that God hears and answers EVERY prayer that is according to his will.) 16. If any man sees his brother sin a sin which is NOT unto DEATH, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin NOT unto DEATH. There IS a sin unto DEATH: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (In this verse we learn that we can ask God to FORGIVE other brothers and sisters in the Lord and God will FORGIVE them at our request.) We also learn that there is a sin unto death that the writer does not say definitively as to whether or not we should or should not pray for it. So to ME this sin unto death is most likely a brother or sister who falls away from the faith. I, like John, also say that I am not always sure that we should spend the time on someone who has tasted the goodness of God and then DENIES Jesus as their savior seeing that once a person reaches this point it is highly unlikely for them to return to God, because they have WILLFULLY made the decision not to BELIEVE any more. They are in UNBELIEF. Please know that it is not impossible for them to return, just highly unlikely. Judge for yourself as what you should do in such rare cases knowing that there are so many others who need to hear the gospel. Now if one does chose to pray for a fellow brother or sister in the Lord, who has openly DENIED Jesus as their savior, then sharing God's word must not be neglected. I say this because some Christians rely ONLY on prayer for those they love while others rely ONLY on preaching for those they love. It takes BOTH along with your unwavering faith and who’s ever faith you can ADD to your faith, because you are in for a fight that most likely will not be won overnight. Please understand that I do not mean for it to sound like a waste of time, but rather that much patience will be needed to attain victory.) 17. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin NOT unto death. (ALL general sins are NOT unto death if so be that they are repented of before one dies or before Jesus returns by those who have committed any unrighteousness.) 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not. (This verse is not saying that a child of God NEVER sins whatsoever, but rather that a true born again child of God has a NEW inner man that does NOT WANT to sin and even hates sin and that this new inner man FIGHTS against sin to keep sin out of his or her life. This verse also gives us a promise that if we KEEP ourselves from giving in to temptation then God protects us from the evil one. This word “touches” also means to come close by and whisper in your ear. In other words, as we KEEP ourselves from sin the devil LEAVES OFF tempting us. The devil TOUCHES us NOT. Notice that the word “keeps” is a continually keeping ourselves from sin so WHILE or at the span of time in which we are keeping sin out of our lives we have a hedge of protection around us. But also please know and understand that sin always OPENS the door to the enemy to oppress us.) 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.” We know we are of God BECAUSE we have this WARRING in us NOT to want to sin. Being PERFECT before God has nothing whatsoever to do with being perfect before MAN, each and every time you REPENT of your sins you are made PERFECT in God's EYES. So REPENT speedily whenever you fall into sin. Again KNOW that as long as there is a WANT TO repent, or there is in you a DESIRE to come back to God, or there is in you a HATING of sin and yourself for giving in to sin, that this is God in you DRAWING you back to himself. The very fact that John did NOT definitively command us NOT to pray for a brother or sister that has committed a sin UNTO death teaches us that there is still yet HOPE for them to REPENT and come back to God. Now while it is true that any sin may lead a person away from God to the point that they push God away to continue in sin, that they become numb to the conviction of the Holy Spirit to their sinning. But again I myself still see only ONE sin that will almost always LEAD a believer unto death, because they will most likely never repent of their sin of UNBELIEF simply because they no longer BELIEVE that Jesus died for their sins. There is ONE type of sin of UNBELIEF in a fellow brother or sister in our Lord Jesus Christ that I myself do indeed believe that we should pray for them to have their eyes opened to the truth. For you see these Christians have been deceived by well-meaning preachers that they have crossed a so called line of no returning to God that simply does NOT exist. But because that they have been DECEIVED by false teaching to BELIEVE that this so-called line of no return does exist and that they have crossed this so-called line of no return, then they are DECEIVED to NOT BELIEVE that God will forgive them even if they do repent with tears begging for forgiveness. In truth, these Christians who have been DECEIVED that God no longer loves them are in the sin of UNBELIEF and it is unlikely that they will REPENT of their sins, UNLESS they can be PERSUADED to see the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So, therefore, for this kind of UNBELIEF, I would say YES definitely pray for that brother or sister in the Lord for them to REPENT of their UNBELIEF and SHARE studies like this with them so that they can clearly see the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God. I myself would even pray for those brothers and sisters in the Lord who have been DECEIVED to convert to Islam, because I myself can only see that weak baby Christians, who were NOT yet grounded and rooted in the word of God, ever converting to Islam. I am fully persuaded that there is always hope that more sound Biblical teaching and prayer will open their eyes of the truth to come out of Islam and back to the TRUTH of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the ONLY way to Almighty God the Father. But, those well-grounded spirit-filled Christians who have tasted of God's goodness who openly DENY Jesus as their savior for whatever reason I do not say that you should pray for them seeing that it is not likely that they will ever repent of their willingly denying Jesus as their savior. Another INTERPRETATION of 1 John 5:14-19 of sin unto or that leads to death is that “DEATH” would be better understood as “PHYSICAL DEATH” and NOT spiritual death in the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment. I myself do not agree with this interpretation, because ALL sin opens the door to Satan the devil to oppress us. Now while it is true that we should judge ourselves lest we are judged. And that we should correctly discern the Lord's body being broken for the HEALING of our physical bodies which is why some are sick and die prematurely BECAUSE they have not understood that with the stripes of Jesus they are HEALED is NOT what I myself would call SIN. To me, the LACK of Knowledge to know the BENEFITS of our salvation is NOT sin, so this is why I do not agree with this interpretation that the word “DEATH” in 1 John 5:14-19 is referring to PHYSICAL death and NOT spiritual death. Thanks for reading. I pray that this study will set your free from FEAR and free from SIN in the name of Jesus. May God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of God. Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark. RETURN TO HOME PAGE AT
|