Until sin is bitter...

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,the Creator of heaven and earth,and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heavenand sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic [universal] church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting.

Amen.

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When is it good to hate?  Is it ever good to hate? Why do people hate?  Are there things that you loathe and would not bat an eye if it were destroyed before your very eyes never to be seen or heard from again?

Romans 7:15-19

English Standard Version (ESV)

"15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So nowit is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing."

When we confess Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that he was born of a virgin, died on a tree,  and rose again - we will be saved!  We then are a new creation in Christ, but we still have the old self (the flesh) battling against our new self in Christ.

think-on-these-things-2We were dead in sin and when we are saved, we are raised with Christ.  Therefore, God calls us to a new level of understanding (a call to action:  Read Romans 12 & Colossians 3).  We need to set our minds on thing above.  We need to put away the earthly things.  We need to clothe ourselves with love and kindness and putting on the love that binds and give thanks to God.

We need to train ourselves to hate the very things that God hates and that can it is wellturn us away from him.  For me, idols can be television, lust, pride and selfishness.  These things stand in my way and become idols that can separate me from God.  Therefore, knowing these things, I have to input his Word daily in my life and pray continually (throughout the day).  As we read in James, draw closer to God and he will draw closer to you.  The rest becomes a lot easier as then our old self and its desires is further away from our heart and the new self is being guided by the Holy Spirit.

Why should we hate sin:

  1. We should hate sin because of the suffering that sin causes.
  2. We should hate sin because not everyone will be rescued from the effects of sin.
  3. We should hate sin because the consequences of sin are even worse in the life to come.
  4. We should hate sin because of the way sin prevents us from benefiting from the mercy of God.
  5. We should hate sin so that we will stop sinning.
  6. We should hate sin because it diverts us away from the display of the glory of God.

When we focus more on him and less on us then we find his abundant life for us (Jeremiah 29) and we find his favor and peace.  He will not withhold the good and promised blessings that he has in store for us.  Please don't confuse this with the "perfect life" without trials and tribulations.  Remember that Jesus told us that those that bear his name will be persecuted.  Christianity was never promised to be easy street.

So what do you think on this?  Let us know some of your thoughts?

Blessings,

Dante

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