Serial Sin
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Can't stop sinning
Q: Will God forgive me of a sin (adultery), even after I promised more than three times not to do it again? Richardo
A: There's something wrong here Richardo.
Have you been born again, or are you just religious?
I ask firstly because you call him God, rather than Father. Are you perhaps a Roman Catholic? If so, you are not a Christian, you need to be born again, and become a child of God.
In addition, you ask as though the Lord has set a limit to His forgiveness, when the point He made to Peter (Mtt. 18:21-22) was that His disciples should be willing to forgive a repentant person, not seven times, but seventy times seven. This is a figure of speech meaning "keep on forgiving", not a literal limit of seven, seventy seven, or 490 times.
Since the Lord has told us to be so forgiving, would He be less forgiving Himself?
Finally, you seem to lack power over temptation to sin. So either you are not born again, or you have not received the power baptism. You can have both today Richardo, and begin a new life of victory instead of sin and serial defeat. You choose.
How to win friends and influence people
Q: Can you explain Luke 16:1-8 to me? I can't remember hearing a sermon on it, and I don't understand.
It seems a dishonest manager is commended for being "shrewd", and we are instructed to use worldly wealth to gain friends. Is this sarcasm, or are we supposed to take this passage literally? Angela
A: It tilted my head the first time I read it, but of course the Lord wasn't teaching us to be slippery, nor was He being sarcastic. Here's how I understand it.
Incidentally, it's rendered better in the NIV than the KJV.
Keep in mind, both the corrupt steward, and his master are in the world, ungodly.
Even though the steward sold his master short, the master could see he had acted 'wisely' by preparing a safety-net for after he was kicked out of his job.
The point Christ was making in this parable is summed up in verse nine. Please re-read that verse now.
It was not a commendation of corruption, rather an exhortation to use the wealth God has given us to expand His kingdom on Earth, so that when we are promoted to Heaven we will be commended by our Lord and Master as faithful stewards.
That is how I see it, and long ago devoted all my wealth to God, I'm merely a steward of it, and I use it all to expand His Kingdom.
Now read the passage again, and it should make good sense.
A further depth of meaning arises when you expand "wealth" to include more than finances, but the spiritual wealth each Christian has, Christ in us. Use those resources to win friends, and you'll never be lonely or homeless.
Interpreting dreams
Yulonda asks; Please interpret my dream. The scene was Wisconsin, neither of my children were there...
A: Hold on a minute! Read this about interpreting dreams, and the danger of asking people to do so.
Do Christians agree with organ donation and Heart transplants?
