A question for Christians only please

[BluePhantom]

Interesting to me is the comment about the advice against masturbation was really nothing more than a misinterpretation.

Well unfortunately there is a great deal of Christian belief that comes from tradition and not the Bible. Sometimes it's innocent misinterpretation, sometimes it was quite intentional (as with Paul in 1st Corinthians). Sometimes they flat out just made shit up. And they got away with this especially in the Middle Ages because eventually the Bible was translated into Latin (into what is known as the Vulgate) and that became the dominant language used for reading the Bible. So what the Vatican did was to decree that it was a crime punishable by death for anyone but clergy and nobility to be able to read Latin. So the peasants just had to take the church's word for it because if they tried to learn to read Latin so they could read the Bible for themselves and check to see if what they were being told was true, they got a quick trip to the stake where a fiery, horrible death awaited. Those executions were done publicly as well so everyone would know: "try to read the Bible yourself and this is what will happen to you".

So in the Middle Ages especially a lot of these traditions were started by the church in order to control the actions of the people and keep the church's total dominance over the western world. Meanwhile, of course the Popes and Cardinals had lovers and children while in office and were screwing everything in sight. But those traditions became so ingrained in Christian dogma that many of them remain to the current day and a lot of Christians are quite shocked to learn that a major element of their faith has nothing to do with what it says in the Bible.

 

[September]

I have been a Christian since 1997, accepted Christ as my Savior back then. I have been dealing with the same sin for years and years. I blame it 100% on myself, no excuses. I feel hopeless many many times partly because of this same sin I keep committing. I pray each day for forgiveness from this sin, and all my others.


Have any of you guys (Christians please) deal with one sin over and over again, repent or at least try to and keep falling into the same sin? Honest answers please and please do not judge me. I trust God and have faith we will get through this but it has been years. I actually have been committing this sin since I was a child in the 80's.

Would like to hear your stories, advice and thoughts. Whether you have come through it to the other side or still "stuck" in it. Thank you. I guess the Holy Spirit convicting me still after all this time is a good thing? Otherwise I would be even in deeper trouble?

eta- I'm not asking for pity or justification as I know this particular sin is wrong (all sin is wrong but you know what I mean). I feel daily like there is an internal struggle to do good and not bad, but often I do the bad anyway KNOWING I'm doing bad and hurting myself and disappointing God

Get up off the computer, go become familiar with anaerobic exercise and strength training, drink your protein shakes, eat healthy, practice excellent hygiene, buy some new clothes and some nice cologne, and get out there and find yourself someone hot to ****.

​

 

[ninja007]

hey Godless (IGNORED MEMBER) your words don't harm me in the least. Words cannot harm. I pray that soon you will come to the truth and realize that Jesus died for you too. Have a nice life and God Bless you.

 

[BluePhantom]

I have been a Christian since 1997, accepted Christ as my Savior back then. I have been dealing with the same sin for years and years. I blame it 100% on myself, no excuses. I feel hopeless many many times partly because of this same sin I keep committing. I pray each day for forgiveness from this sin, and all my others.


Have any of you guys (Christians please) deal with one sin over and over again, repent or at least try to and keep falling into the same sin? Honest answers please and please do not judge me. I trust God and have faith we will get through this but it has been years. I actually have been committing this sin since I was a child in the 80's.

Would like to hear your stories, advice and thoughts. Whether you have come through it to the other side or still "stuck" in it. Thank you. I guess the Holy Spirit convicting me still after all this time is a good thing? Otherwise I would be even in deeper trouble?

eta- I'm not asking for pity or justification as I know this particular sin is wrong (all sin is wrong but you know what I mean). I feel daily like there is an internal struggle to do good and not bad, but often I do the bad anyway KNOWING I'm doing bad and hurting myself and disappointing God

Get up off the computer, go become familiar with anaerobic exercise and strength training, drink your protein shakes, eat healthy, practice excellent hygiene, buy some new clothes and some nice cologne, and get out there and find yourself someone hot to ****.

​

AHHHH...but according to Paul in Corinthians you should never **** at all. Not even your wife. You shouldn't marry, divorce, or ****....EVER. Because you know....the world is about to end, so what would be the point? At least according to Paul.

That didn't work out so well did it?

Damn

 

[ninja007]

I have been a Christian since 1997, accepted Christ as my Savior back then. I have been dealing with the same sin for years and years. I blame it 100% on myself, no excuses. I feel hopeless many many times partly because of this same sin I keep committing. I pray each day for forgiveness from this sin, and all my others.


Have any of you guys (Christians please) deal with one sin over and over again, repent or at least try to and keep falling into the same sin? Honest answers please and please do not judge me. I trust God and have faith we will get through this but it has been years. I actually have been committing this sin since I was a child in the 80's.

Would like to hear your stories, advice and thoughts. Whether you have come through it to the other side or still "stuck" in it. Thank you. I guess the Holy Spirit convicting me still after all this time is a good thing? Otherwise I would be even in deeper trouble?

eta- I'm not asking for pity or justification as I know this particular sin is wrong (all sin is wrong but you know what I mean). I feel daily like there is an internal struggle to do good and not bad, but often I do the bad anyway KNOWING I'm doing bad and hurting myself and disappointing God

Get up off the computer, go become familiar with anaerobic exercise and strength training, drink your protein shakes, eat healthy, practice excellent hygiene, buy some new clothes and some nice cologne, and get out there and find yourself someone hot to ****.

​

AHHHH...but according to Paul in Corinthians you should never **** at all. Not even your wife. You shouldn't marry, divorce, or ****....EVER. Because you know....the world is about to end, so what would be the point? At least according to Paul.

he does not say that bro.

That didn't work out so well did it?

Damn

 

[September]

hey Godless (IGNORED MEMBER) your words don't harm me in the least. Words cannot harm. I pray that soon you will come to the truth and realize that Jesus died for you too. Have a nice life and God Bless you.

It was honest advice. Why did you choose to feel insulted by it?

​

 

[BluePhantom]

I have been a Christian since 1997, accepted Christ as my Savior back then. I have been dealing with the same sin for years and years. I blame it 100% on myself, no excuses. I feel hopeless many many times partly because of this same sin I keep committing. I pray each day for forgiveness from this sin, and all my others.


Have any of you guys (Christians please) deal with one sin over and over again, repent or at least try to and keep falling into the same sin? Honest answers please and please do not judge me. I trust God and have faith we will get through this but it has been years. I actually have been committing this sin since I was a child in the 80's.

Would like to hear your stories, advice and thoughts. Whether you have come through it to the other side or still "stuck" in it. Thank you. I guess the Holy Spirit convicting me still after all this time is a good thing? Otherwise I would be even in deeper trouble?

eta- I'm not asking for pity or justification as I know this particular sin is wrong (all sin is wrong but you know what I mean). I feel daily like there is an internal struggle to do good and not bad, but often I do the bad anyway KNOWING I'm doing bad and hurting myself and disappointing God

Get up off the computer, go become familiar with anaerobic exercise and strength training, drink your protein shakes, eat healthy, practice excellent hygiene, buy some new clothes and some nice cologne, and get out there and find yourself someone hot to ****.

​

AHHHH...but according to Paul in Corinthians you should never **** at all. Not even your wife. You shouldn't marry, divorce, or ****....EVER. Because you know....the world is about to end, so what would be the point? At least according to Paul.

he does not say that bro.

That didn't work out so well did it?

Damn

wow I finally left you speechless. That's a first

 

[ninja007]

lol, no- I was saying he did not teach what you said; I hit the wrong button...

 

[ninja007]

Interesting to me is the comment about the advice against masturbation was really nothing more than a misinterpretation.

Well unfortunately there is a great deal of Christian belief that comes from tradition and not the Bible. Sometimes it's innocent misinterpretation, sometimes it was quite intentional (as with Paul in 1st Corinthians). Sometimes they flat out just made shit up. And they got away with this especially in the Middle Ages because eventually the Bible was translated into Latin (into what is known as the Vulgate) and that became the dominant language used for reading the Bible. So what the Vatican did was to decree that it was a crime punishable by death for anyone but clergy and nobility to be able to read Latin. So the peasants just had to take the church's word for it because if they tried to learn to read Latin so they could read the Bible for themselves and check to see if what they were being told was true, they got a quick trip to the stake where a fiery, horrible death awaited. Those executions were done publicly as well so everyone would know: "try to read the Bible yourself and this is what will happen to you".

So in the Middle Ages especially a lot of these traditions were started by the church in order to control the actions of the people and keep the church's total dominance over the western world. Meanwhile, of course the Popes and Cardinals had lovers and children while in office and were screwing everything in sight. But those traditions became so ingrained in Christian dogma that many of them remain to the current day and a lot of Christians are quite shocked to learn that a major element of their faith has nothing to do with what it says in the Bible.

the "church" you are probably referring to is the RCC? Yeah, we totally agree on the fact they are corrupt and have basically tried to rewrite the Bible though the RCC Catechism. So MANY FALSE TEACHINGS IN THE RCC.

I'm a Sola Scriptura type of Protestant.

 

[ninja007]

and as far as interpretation, culture and history/hermeneutics


I have studied and go by this as one of my sources. SOLID INFO here bro.

entire post.


Hermeneutics - The Art of Interpreting the Bible Correctly

 

[BluePhantom]

lol, no- I was saying he did not teach what you said; I hit the wrong button...

Dude that is exactly what he was teaching. Paul was an apocalypticist. He was teaching his followers that the end was close so there is no need to change your status because it's all about to end anyhow.

1 Corinthians 7 lays it out completely. Don't **** unless you have to, don't get married, don't get divorced, don't try to get freedom from slavery, etc. He justifies this position in two places.

1 Corinthians 7:26: "Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is." There isn't a good English translation. The Greek word translated into crisis means....uh....trials, tribulations...it is an apolcalypitic word that refers to the coming apocalypse.

1 Corinthians 7:29: " What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short." In the Greek it would be better translated as "the season is approaching" which fits perfectly into the idea of Jesus being the "first fruit". It is an allusion to the harvest where the first fruits would be gathered, there would be a celebration and a feast and the next day the rest of the crop would be gathered. According to Paul Jesus was the first fruit so he was telling everyone to just sit tight because they're next.

He is telling the people of Corinth: "don't bother getting married, getting divorced, or doing anything to change your status. There is no point. The apocalypse is almost here. We are going to be gone soon so it doesn't make any sense to change your status because we will all be in heaven shortly".

 

[Avatar4321]

I have been a Christian since 1997, accepted Christ as my Savior back then. I have been dealing with the same sin for years and years. I blame it 100% on myself, no excuses. I feel hopeless many many times partly because of this same sin I keep committing. I pray each day for forgiveness from this sin, and all my others.


Have any of you guys (Christians please) deal with one sin over and over again, repent or at least try to and keep falling into the same sin? Honest answers please and please do not judge me. I trust God and have faith we will get through this but it has been years. I actually have been committing this sin since I was a child in the 80's.

Would like to hear your stories, advice and thoughts. Whether you have come through it to the other side or still "stuck" in it. Thank you. I guess the Holy Spirit convicting me still after all this time is a good thing? Otherwise I would be even in deeper trouble?

eta- I'm not asking for pity or justification as I know this particular sin is wrong (all sin is wrong but you know what I mean). I feel daily like there is an internal struggle to do good and not bad, but often I do the bad anyway KNOWING I'm doing bad and hurting myself and disappointing God

yes. Several. The Lord eventually gave me power over them after years of trying. Now im Working on others

 

[teddyearp]

Great. Something must have picked up the keyword 'porn' and now I have t and a all over my banners.

Adblocker Plus. Works with many browsers . . . . . hehe.

 

[teddyearp]

OK, technically not porn. Still tasteless.

That was just bad, bad, bad, LOL. You should delete that pic man. Or not.

 

[teddyearp]

Dude that is exactly what he was teaching. Paul was an apocalypticist. He was teaching his followers that the end was close so there is no need to change your status because it's all about to end anyhow.

1 Corinthians 7 lays it out completely. Don't **** unless you have to, don't get married, don't get divorced, don't try to get freedom from slavery, etc. He justifies this position in two places.

A quick comment on this. I wonder how much time went by between the writing of 1 Cor and 2 Cor? I was very apocalyptic when first saved in 1983, now I do not know if I will be on this side when the end comes.

 

[Sherry]

As long as it's not kiddie porn, then I don't understand the issue. You said you're single...if you were in a relationship, I still wouldn't see it as a problem as long as you didn't choose it over your SO.

 

[Avatar4321]

If you want a greater portion of the spirit you will get all porn out of your life.

 

[BluePhantom]

Dude that is exactly what he was teaching. Paul was an apocalypticist. He was teaching his followers that the end was close so there is no need to change your status because it's all about to end anyhow.

1 Corinthians 7 lays it out completely. Don't **** unless you have to, don't get married, don't get divorced, don't try to get freedom from slavery, etc. He justifies this position in two places.

A quick comment on this. I wonder how much time went by between the writing of 1 Cor and 2 Cor? I was very apocalyptic when first saved in 1983, now I do not know if I will be on this side when the end comes.

Well that's a more complicated question than it appears. The writing of 1st Corinthians scholars place at around 55ish CE give or take a few years. There is a place in 1st Corinthians where it seems Paul refers to an earlier letter he wrote as well. I would have to look up exactly where that is if it really matters to you. 2nd Corinthians on the other hand...most scholars believe that it is actually several letters that have been spliced together and some argue that only certain parts are from Paul while other parts are pseudopigraphic. That's a bit controversial and it's not a theory I subscribe to at this point, but it's out there. But that's why 2nd Corinthians seems to jump around rather abruptly and changes tone dramatically without warning.

So the time between the two varies depending on which part of 2nd Corinthians you are referring to. Some parts came later than others.

 

[teddyearp]

ninja, what a thread! I could be very much like you, do not really go to church as often as I should, and although I have read the word many times, it has been several years. I was saved in 1983 or so.

I have fought with sin(s?) as well since. But in Romans(?) it says we all fall short, we are all sinners. I used to beat myself up (no pun) but now I have learned that even salvation does not make that stop. I am glad that (Max?) brought up where Paul (in 2 Cor) talked about the thorn in his side, because that is the first thing I thought of to help assuage your guilt. It has helped me over the years. If Paul can admit that he was still struggling with sin, than so can I; a much lesser soul. It is written that we are saved by grace and faith, NOT works. Sure we should strive to be Christ like, but we are not Christ.

Your relationship with God and Jesus Christ as you know is a personal one. So every man's 'thorn' is different. And the 'message' that every man gets about their sin will be different. You are obviously filled with the Holy Spirit. therefore you are saved. Otherwise, Satan wouldn't be going to the Father like he does (and did with everyone from Job on down) to try to pull you down (and or 'punish' you in worldly ways). And you wouldn't give a crap, and would never even created this thread, am I right?

So I hope this helps you brother. For those who say that going to church and surrounding yourself with more Christians, etc., well that is probably good advice; but I can almost guarantee you that every single person in any congregation that you fellowship with is fighting the self same fight with sin. It doesn't go away. And once one thinks it has, well then they could almost become like the Pharisee when they pray, "thank you God for giving me the strength to not be a sinner like this guy over there".

Get it? It is a tough thing to struggle with. when we were young, all we were fed was milk; now I pray you are getting fed the meat, brother.

God bless.

p.s. just wait another 10-15 years and porn will not be a problem, lol.

 

[BluePhantom]

Dude that is exactly what he was teaching. Paul was an apocalypticist. He was teaching his followers that the end was close so there is no need to change your status because it's all about to end anyhow.

1 Corinthians 7 lays it out completely. Don't **** unless you have to, don't get married, don't get divorced, don't try to get freedom from slavery, etc. He justifies this position in two places.

A quick comment on this. I wonder how much time went by between the writing of 1 Cor and 2 Cor? I was very apocalyptic when first saved in 1983, now I do not know if I will be on this side when the end comes.

Well that's a more complicated question than it appears. The writing of 1st Corinthians scholars place at around 55ish CE give or take a few years. There is a place in 1st Corinthians where it seems Paul refers to an earlier letter he wrote as well. I would have to look up exactly where that is if it really matters to you. 2nd Corinthians on the other hand...most scholars believe that it is actually several letters that have been spliced together and some argue that only certain parts are from Paul while other parts are pseudopigraphic. That's a bit controversial and it's not a theory I subscribe to at this point, but it's out there. But that's why 2nd Corinthians seems to jump around rather abruptly and changes tone dramatically without warning.

So the time between the two varies depending on which part of 2nd Corinthians you are referring to. Some parts came later than others.

Just a follow up thought that's worth tossing out there. We have to be a little careful with Paul. We don't have any of the letters that were written to him that he is writing in reference to. It makes it a little like sitting in a room while someone is on the phone. You might get a decent idea of what they are talking about but it can be confusing and a lot of the time when they hang up we ask "what were you two talking about?" We can extrapolate based on a lot of things, but sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what he is discussing.

Another problem is that Paul tends to use words in Greek that he seems to have coined. Scholars have never found them in any other ancient text and they have no idea what they mean. Sometimes they can take a guess based on the context and word roots, but sometimes Paul is laying out a list of totally unrelated things and there's a word in there he uses and no one knows what it means. Unfortunately instead of just writing the Greek word with a footnote that says "we don't know what this word means", translators through the centuries have quite literally just made something up. After centuries of tradition those translations usually remain to the present day.

Lastly, there's some evidence that Paul and the remaining disciples didn't quite see eye to eye. They were concerned with very different things, and viewed things quite differently. Paul's philosophy eventually won out and was adopted by the church, but there's an argument to be made that what Paul preached and what Jesus preached may have sometimes been quite different.

I usually like to warn people when they read Paul to keep those things in mind. Paul has some good things to say, in my opinion, but I urge caution and...you know...just being a little careful about what he has to say.