i always find myself messed up in sin. like i cant get away and im almost drawn to it. :( i hate sin, it ruins my life. i feel like god hates me bc i keep messing up. =/
anyway, one of the most rewarding parts of our faith and relationship with Christ is understanding this grace and what it means to you. how much He values and loves us, what our lives can truely be through Him, and LIVING in faith and in grace. it sounds like your on the right path. keep going and keep growing.
The Dave this is adressed to you. Sin is just a word used to describe something that is against his principals for creation. God created the universe and just like a machinist that builds a machine he knows exactly what it takes to make it work, to maintain it and what is harmful to it, thats it. This is the basis for everything god does in a mans life to try and get him to turn away from sin, he loves his creation and he knows that sin goes against his principal laws for creation and it will eventually destroy not only you but all of creation as well. God doesnt make up rules just to keep us unhappy or submissive to him he loves us and doesn't want to see any of his creation destroyed.
When satan won control over the earth he uses sin to cause the destruction of man. he knows that god respects free will so if we don't listen to him and disobey his laws then he has no choice but to give man his choice and turn away from him, that is what happens when we sin. When god turns away from us satan and his demons have free runs at us, cause were not protected so they execute gods judgment for sin.But god doesnt really desire to punish us at all, he loves us, its really not his punishment but what he allows to happen as a result of a choice we make.
As for the Abraham thing yes god commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac because god made the original covanat with Abraham. Abraham is the father of all whom believe in christ, he was the original vessel god used to save the entire human race, so god had to test him to make sure he would do anything he said. No other race of people even knew gods name, so he had to test him, and at the same time show his rightousness to Abraham by stoping him from comiting the act. God has only commanded one human sacrifice ever since, how many other people have been sacraficed in the name of other gods, what an awsome god we serve.
theDave brought Abraham in, which I think he should not have, as this particular story has nothing to with struggle against sin. Also it is not fair mentioning cheap grace in reply to ImEllie�s post, as once again, one has nothing to do with the other.
God never punishes us for sinning. He took care of that a long time ago, actually in the very beginning just after Adam & Eve had fallen, God made a clear reference that even living "before christ", man could look and hope upon a redeemer for the forgiveness of sin. In fact, God showed Adam & Eve that they themselves could not cover their nakedness, consequence of them eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Only God could do that. And He did by clothing them with skins of animal, which refers to the substitutional sacrifice of animals to purify; a presign of the crucifixion of Christ the Redeemer.
And we, living after Christ, also know that God has taken care of our sins a long time ago. To God, the big issue in the relationship between Him and his children is not sin but LACK OF FAITH.
By the way, this is also the case with Abraham sacrificing Isaac. We all know that Abraham had great, exemplar faith, as he left his family and country behind and followed God on a promise only. The bible describes in detail the faith and life of Abraham
But Abraham also slipped in faith. He did not believe no more he would still get a son. Believing that was truly against all odds and we see that he makes it happen on his own.
The story of the sacrifice of Isaac, is not about obedience nor a test. It is an opportunity to heal, make it straight. How many people actually get the chance to "undo" what they have done or at least show that they have learned from it.
God "wants" Isaac back because he was not received in faith, but given as God never breaks His word. But God�s promise was based on having a son. This lack of faith is not a small detail in the relationship between God and Abraham. Now, Abraham has the chance to reset this lack of faith.
He goes as God tells him to. He says to Isaac when the boy asks about the lack of animal: God will provide. This is faith with a capital F. The faith God needs to make Abraham the father of all. In that particular story, God reconfirms his promise to Abraham since this was the issue in the first place. Abraham had shown to God the same great, exemplar faith he had when he left the land of Ur.
We struggle with our sinn. And we should. But in a healthy way. Never we need to feel so bad about ourselves that we think ourselves worthless not to pray or to live... Because then we are still captured in sinn. And God provided us to be released from it. As the sin has been taken care of by God, we are called upon to focus on a new life in Christ, by faith, as Jesus keeps telling us.
Hey, keep you head up, we ALL sin daily, it's important that we just realize that we are sinners, and we make mistakes. A person who says they don't sin is a liar and the truth is not in him.
We'll never be free from the bondage of sin untill the Lord gives us our glorified bodies free of the sinful nature that we are born into now. God knows you're a sinner, and called you as a sinner. More and more you learn to hate the things God hates, and love the things God loves, but this takes time. And is all done according to HIS purposes. Remember the Lord is the author and finisher of our faith, not us.
Just be patient, regeneration and sanctification is a PROCESS, it takes time. And just the fact that you feel 'dirty" and unworthy inside because you sin is evidence that you have a part of God inside you that make you aware of when you falter.
Struggling in sin usually has a focus between the sin and the sinner, but really it is an internal struggle. If I do not have a desire to sin, than the sin is not an issue. When I find myself struggling with a sin, I know that the actual issue is something that I am trying to get out of the sin. It causes me to take a good look at myself because I know the sin ain't going anywhere. I must move from it.
