I do believe that. But the idea of repentance means to change ones mind. Basically, repentance is the act of deciding to follow God's ways instead of our own. However, it should be understood that there are some things we can struggle with for long periods of time. For those things, if we continually seek for God to help us change, He is faithful to help.
Where does addiction fall into this. For instance if I swear or lie or get angry these things are moments or slip ups that can be repented of after. But addictions are different I already know it’s going to happen. Even though I hate the sin and long for change and transformation and pray for it. Until that happens there is a certain amount of pre planning involved. Almost like saying well tonight I’m going to lie and angry. Or this weekend I’m going to swear. How can I repent of something that I plan for and know will happen. It feels like a lie. 😢
Hi there, thank you so much for your question. First, we need to understand that repentance is just the changing of the mind. It happens when we, for instance, hear God’s Word and realize within ourselves that what we are doing is in contradiction to what God says, and from that inward knowledge we change our minds. But it goes a step further because in realizing the need for that change we also need to turn our eyes to the solution because we have no power within ourselves to accomplish the task of breaking the power of sin. So we turn to Jesus. Whereby we diligently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Moreover, when we turn to Jesus we have to learn and know and also have faith that He is able. Sin and iniquity just is whether we plan for it or just happened to do it as a slip-up. It's about the solution Jesus offers by making us new creations through faith in Him and what He accomplished on the cross. The truth is that for the power of sin to be broken in our lives we need a life of obedience to the leading of God’s Spirit in our lives. This is what changes us from the inside out. Paul wrote this in Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV), “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” So, the issue of iniquity blocking our prayers from God is when we willfully choose to neglect the leading of His Spirit in our lives. You see, when we are learning and growing and following His leading, we are being transformed into His image, from one degree of glory to another. Repentance is sometimes a daily thing and not just in relation to a specific sin but a lifestyle of living apart from the leading of God. In my walk, I learned to listen to Christ through the Holy Spirit (my sheep hear my voice) on a daily, sometimes, minute-by-minute, experience. As I learned to listen to God, He would lead me. When I was obedient to Him in what He was leading, He was transforming me. For me, it wasn’t about keeping a list of ‘do nots’ as much as it was about just keeping in step with the ‘do this’s’. As I was doing the ‘do this’s,’ by the daily leading of God’s Spirit, I was not doing the ‘do nots,’ and so the work of sanctification was being done within me by His power. And His grace covered and kept me in His forgiveness because I chose daily to follow Him. Now, in saying that, I made a lot of mistakes and had to ask for forgiveness daily and also learned by His leading over time that my addiction was deeply seated in a lot of emotional trauma I had endured as a child into my teenage years. However, because of having a heart that truly wanted to follow God and not shying away from Him when He would point out stuff I would rather hide from, iniquity did not silence me, so to speak, from God. Once I learned to truly receive His forgiveness and also to allow Him to deal with the stuff in my past and in my heart, these changes just miraculously happened. And of course, because they are not instant in many cases, but take time, His grace covers that too. Really to sum it all up iniquity in a heart really means more than just sinning a sin but more about the posture of the person's heart. In saying that, if we live a life of half commitment or no commitment to God, He is not obligated to hear our prayers, unless it is to draw us to Him in full commitment. But if my heart is His and I am fully committed to Him and surrendered to His daily leading, His grace covers us and keeps that line of communication open because of what Jesus did and is doing for us daily in making us over time more and more like Him. To this idea, Paul wrote best in Romans 8:1-8 (ESV), “1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” So essentially, Christ’s forgiveness and also line of communication is open because we are daily learning to follow Him and His leading through His Spirit in our lives. And if we are choosing to follow Him, no matter how it feels or looks at times, that access to Him stays open. We walk by faith and not sight sometimes and trust in His faithfulness. I was a hardcore drug addict and atheist before Christ fully got my attention while I was serving many years in prison and have learned and am learning that Jesus Christ and the work of salvation that He offers us is so complete it is hard to fathom sometimes. Also, when He begins a work in us, He is faithful to complete it, but this is over time as sanctification is not a one-and-done event in our life, but takes place every day for the rest of it. Here is a little video I did recently about my personal battle with addiction: ruclips.net/video/cD0WWXGwwDw/видео.html And again, thank you so much for your comment and question, I know this was a loaded answer, but I hope it helps. May the Lord bless you and keep you, In Christ’s love, Chris
If you have believed that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day, you will be saved my friend. It is purely by grace through faith. But remember that this does not mean that overnight everything will change in your life. It truly takes a daily dedication and making different lifestyle choices. These new choices are made when we turn from other things to the things of God. Things like prayer, bible reading, etc. For me, it took months of solid dedication to these new things, and even then, my new dedication was highly imperfect. Its called the narrow road because many grow discouraged and turn away from it. If you stick with it and make those lifestyle changes along with your faith in what Jesus did for you, you will overtime begin to see those changes take root. But be patient with yourself my friend and trust the process. And remember, sometimes God works on one thing at a time. As you spend time praying and reading the Bible ask God to help you see those things He is working on and ask Him for the strength to do what He is showing you in it. I will be praying for you even as you read this. You will make it, in Jesus name.
@@lightsandperfection im so tired 😭. my flesh is extremely distorted. i feel pain everyday. my heart is black. and my mind is unclean.😔. it has been years and years have i over and over heard the gospel. but its like my flesh refuses to understand and believe. im glad you made it and glad that others made it also. but i feel like im just a waste of a human being. i feel both sides hate me. god and the devil/the world. i have nobody. sometimes i had wished not make those mistakes so that can at least have wife and have some joy. but that wouldve made me self righteous. i had made those mistakes because this entire time i wanted to be with god. but its been years with no answers from him. and now my mistakes are costing me double. how? when? will i become saved? or if at all.😔
You are definitely not a waste my friend and while yes the devil hates you God never hates you. And salvation never fixes the flesh. Paul said the flesh is always at war with Gods Spirit. Trust me, everyday I have to fight my flesh and all of its craziness. Some of the thoughts that come into my mind are downright scary. But I fight against them constantly with prayer, Gods Spirit, and His Word. Sometimes realizing that the battle is real and how it plays out can help us understand how to combat it. For instance, when a crazy thought comes into my mind along with a crazy feeling, I have a choice to make. Am I going to follow through with it, or am I going to get on my knees in prayer. Again, the battle is real and honestly has never ended for me. The only difference now for me, is I am learning to fight against the flesh with faith in what God says instead. All believers are still in the fight and sometimes the heat gets turned up. But no matter how bad it gets, nothing can separate us from Gods love. The devil would like you to believe that you can be separated from Gods love and in fact often attacks us right there. Then when we believe that lie, we falter. But when that lie comes to me, I choose to believe that nothing can separate me from Gods love, because that is what His Word says. It takes faith to believe beyond what we feel. Its honestly that simple. But the devil tries to get us in our feelings, doubting and confused. And when we succumb to it, we no longer have faith that God is eho He says He is. All believers everywhere are in this same battle. The flesh wants one thing, but God want another. But if we focus more on the simplicity of faith in Gods power to overcome and obeying Him, then we are by default not walking in what the flesh wants. Faith is way more than how we feel at any point in time. Many times I dont get big bright neon signs telling me which way to go. Sometimes its just in the quietness of my conscience where God leads me to what is right. But its always faith and trust with all of our hearts and not a religious work or performance. But at the end of the day it is by simply believing that you are saved and from there learning how to walk that faith out. We believe Jesus saved us, so no matter how much weakness, sinful thoughts, or doubt that enters your mind you have to believe. It can be challenging but that is why its called faith. Believe beyond how you feel about it and trust what God says.
Thank you for explaining this verse. It was very helpful and informative. Keep spreading God's words and god bless your ministry.
Thank you for your explanation!
THANK YOU
You are most welcome! Thank you for checking us out! Blessings!
Do you think we need to repent of our sins to be saved ?
I do believe that. But the idea of repentance means to change ones mind. Basically, repentance is the act of deciding to follow God's ways instead of our own. However, it should be understood that there are some things we can struggle with for long periods of time. For those things, if we continually seek for God to help us change, He is faithful to help.
But yes, in short, we must repent and turn from our ways unto God's ways through faith in order to be saved.
Where does addiction fall into this. For instance if I swear or lie or get angry these things are moments or slip ups that can be repented of after. But addictions are different I already know it’s going to happen. Even though I hate the sin and long for change and transformation and pray for it. Until that happens there is a certain amount of pre planning involved. Almost like saying well tonight I’m going to lie and angry. Or this weekend I’m going to swear. How can I repent of something that I plan for and know will happen. It feels like a lie. 😢
Hi there, thank you so much for your question.
First, we need to understand that repentance is just the changing of the mind. It happens when we, for instance, hear God’s Word and realize within ourselves that what we are doing is in contradiction to what God says, and from that inward knowledge we change our minds. But it goes a step further because in realizing the need for that change we also need to turn our eyes to the solution because we have no power within ourselves to accomplish the task of breaking the power of sin. So we turn to Jesus. Whereby we diligently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Moreover, when we turn to Jesus we have to learn and know and also have faith that He is able. Sin and iniquity just is whether we plan for it or just happened to do it as a slip-up. It's about the solution Jesus offers by making us new creations through faith in Him and what He accomplished on the cross.
The truth is that for the power of sin to be broken in our lives we need a life of obedience to the leading of God’s Spirit in our lives. This is what changes us from the inside out. Paul wrote this in
Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV),
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
So, the issue of iniquity blocking our prayers from God is when we willfully choose to neglect the leading of His Spirit in our lives. You see, when we are learning and growing and following His leading, we are being transformed into His image, from one degree of glory to another. Repentance is sometimes a daily thing and not just in relation to a specific sin but a lifestyle of living apart from the leading of God.
In my walk, I learned to listen to Christ through the Holy Spirit (my sheep hear my voice) on a daily, sometimes, minute-by-minute, experience. As I learned to listen to God, He would lead me. When I was obedient to Him in what He was leading, He was transforming me. For me, it wasn’t about keeping a list of ‘do nots’ as much as it was about just keeping in step with the ‘do this’s’. As I was doing the ‘do this’s,’ by the daily leading of God’s Spirit, I was not doing the ‘do nots,’ and so the work of sanctification was being done within me by His power. And His grace covered and kept me in His forgiveness because I chose daily to follow Him. Now, in saying that, I made a lot of mistakes and had to ask for forgiveness daily and also learned by His leading over time that my addiction was deeply seated in a lot of emotional trauma I had endured as a child into my teenage years. However, because of having a heart that truly wanted to follow God and not shying away from Him when He would point out stuff I would rather hide from, iniquity did not silence me, so to speak, from God. Once I learned to truly receive His forgiveness and also to allow Him to deal with the stuff in my past and in my heart, these changes just miraculously happened. And of course, because they are not instant in many cases, but take time, His grace covers that too. Really to sum it all up iniquity in a heart really means more than just sinning a sin but more about the posture of the person's heart. In saying that, if we live a life of half commitment or no commitment to God, He is not obligated to hear our prayers, unless it is to draw us to Him in full commitment. But if my heart is His and I am fully committed to Him and surrendered to His daily leading, His grace covers us and keeps that line of communication open because of what Jesus did and is doing for us daily in making us over time more and more like Him. To this idea, Paul wrote best in
Romans 8:1-8 (ESV),
“1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
So essentially, Christ’s forgiveness and also line of communication is open because we are daily learning to follow Him and His leading through His Spirit in our lives. And if we are choosing to follow Him, no matter how it feels or looks at times, that access to Him stays open. We walk by faith and not sight sometimes and trust in His faithfulness.
I was a hardcore drug addict and atheist before Christ fully got my attention while I was serving many years in prison and have learned and am learning that Jesus Christ and the work of salvation that He offers us is so complete it is hard to fathom sometimes. Also, when He begins a work in us, He is faithful to complete it, but this is over time as sanctification is not a one-and-done event in our life, but takes place every day for the rest of it. Here is a little video I did recently about my personal battle with addiction: ruclips.net/video/cD0WWXGwwDw/видео.html
And again, thank you so much for your comment and question, I know this was a loaded answer, but I hope it helps. May the Lord bless you and keep you,
In Christ’s love,
Chris
Thank you Christ, loaded but insightful ❤
im in habitual sin and i want to escape
If you have believed that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day, you will be saved my friend. It is purely by grace through faith. But remember that this does not mean that overnight everything will change in your life. It truly takes a daily dedication and making different lifestyle choices. These new choices are made when we turn from other things to the things of God. Things like prayer, bible reading, etc. For me, it took months of solid dedication to these new things, and even then, my new dedication was highly imperfect. Its called the narrow road because many grow discouraged and turn away from it. If you stick with it and make those lifestyle changes along with your faith in what Jesus did for you, you will overtime begin to see those changes take root. But be patient with yourself my friend and trust the process. And remember, sometimes God works on one thing at a time. As you spend time praying and reading the Bible ask God to help you see those things He is working on and ask Him for the strength to do what He is showing you in it. I will be praying for you even as you read this. You will make it, in Jesus name.
@@lightsandperfection im so tired 😭. my flesh is extremely distorted. i feel pain everyday. my heart is black. and my mind is unclean.😔. it has been years and years have i over and over heard the gospel. but its like my flesh refuses to understand and believe. im glad you made it and glad that others made it also. but i feel like im just a waste of a human being. i feel both sides hate me. god and the devil/the world. i have nobody. sometimes i had wished not make those mistakes so that can at least have wife and have some joy. but that wouldve made me self righteous. i had made those mistakes because this entire time i wanted to be with god. but its been years with no answers from him. and now my mistakes are costing me double. how? when? will i become saved? or if at all.😔
You are definitely not a waste my friend and while yes the devil hates you God never hates you. And salvation never fixes the flesh. Paul said the flesh is always at war with Gods Spirit. Trust me, everyday I have to fight my flesh and all of its craziness. Some of the thoughts that come into my mind are downright scary. But I fight against them constantly with prayer, Gods Spirit, and His Word. Sometimes realizing that the battle is real and how it plays out can help us understand how to combat it. For instance, when a crazy thought comes into my mind along with a crazy feeling, I have a choice to make. Am I going to follow through with it, or am I going to get on my knees in prayer. Again, the battle is real and honestly has never ended for me. The only difference now for me, is I am learning to fight against the flesh with faith in what God says instead. All believers are still in the fight and sometimes the heat gets turned up. But no matter how bad it gets, nothing can separate us from Gods love. The devil would like you to believe that you can be separated from Gods love and in fact often attacks us right there. Then when we believe that lie, we falter. But when that lie comes to me, I choose to believe that nothing can separate me from Gods love, because that is what His Word says. It takes faith to believe beyond what we feel. Its honestly that simple. But the devil tries to get us in our feelings, doubting and confused. And when we succumb to it, we no longer have faith that God is eho He says He is. All believers everywhere are in this same battle. The flesh wants one thing, but God want another. But if we focus more on the simplicity of faith in Gods power to overcome and obeying Him, then we are by default not walking in what the flesh wants. Faith is way more than how we feel at any point in time. Many times I dont get big bright neon signs telling me which way to go. Sometimes its just in the quietness of my conscience where God leads me to what is right. But its always faith and trust with all of our hearts and not a religious work or performance. But at the end of the day it is by simply believing that you are saved and from there learning how to walk that faith out. We believe Jesus saved us, so no matter how much weakness, sinful thoughts, or doubt that enters your mind you have to believe. It can be challenging but that is why its called faith. Believe beyond how you feel about it and trust what God says.