He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

Corey,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” ~1 John 1:9

God is great; He has saved us from condemnation. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23) He sacrificed His Son so we could be saved and He forgives our sins. Not only does He forgive our sins, but He washes us pure with His blood. But at the same time, we need to repent of our sins. 1 John 1:10 says, “If we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.” One of the best prayers in the Old Testament is Psalm 51. It’s a long passage, so I won’t put it all in here, but it is the prayer David prayed to ask forgiveness for taking Bathsheba and killing her husband. It is a great example of the type of prayer we should pray to ask forgiveness for our sins. David admits his sin, he regrets his sin, he pleads for forgiveness, and he believes God will forgive and forget his sins. While we know God will forgive our sins, we need to repent of doing them.

Your brother in Christ,

Nick

Cut off Temptation

"And have no Fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." ~Ephesians 5:11

Take a moment and do a general evaluation of you life as to whether or not it falls into one of the following categories.

"But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them." ~Ephesians 5:3-7

Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." ~Titus 2:6-8

(There are other passages that speak of what is good and what is bad, but they are too many to mention.)

Now think on these questions:

1. Take a specific point from your life.
2. Does Scripture commend or condone it?
3. If you're unsure, ask for others' opinions
4. If this is a good habit or trait, keep and cultivate it. If it is a bad trait, immediately seek to destroy it.

Many people, including Christians, struggle with earthly things. Still more struggle with the thought that their things are "harmless". What this really means is that it is useless. Now I'm not talking about kitchen utensils. I don't think that the rich young ruler would have classified them in his wealth.

"Yes, I have 45,692 Cutco knives, 61,783 Pampered Chef serving spoons, and 101,101 Oxo cheese graters."

Other things may not necessarily be habits or traits, but they can be a temptation. For instance, our family decided to not have TV. We still watch videos, but we felt that being able to choose what went on screen was something that TV didn't have. Now some things like TIVO gave this trait. We were also watching a show in our car the other day. But after the bible study we were at was over, (which is where I got the topic) my mom asked us about the show. We decided that the show wasn't very good and actually fell into some of the "bad" categories. Many things evade our gaze for a long time. Sometimes I have thought something was okay, but then some passage or something that someone says, "Jumps Out" at me and shows me that what I thought was good, is actually the opposite. We must constantly evaluate what will encourage us to become more like Christ. If anything is a stumbling block we must get rid of it, or in Paul's words, "Cut it off." May you always be evaluating your activities and may you always know what will be profitable and what won't. God bless!

Your Brother in Christ
Corey