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I do not knowingly go against God, and that is the definition of willful sin. However, we should always be in the process of being purged by the Spirit of God as He reveals the error of our ways. It's the Holy Ghost that will remove the spots and the wrinkles, but only as we yield to Him. If we don't yield, then we will at best remain in God's permissible will, and not His divine will. It's our choice which
Christians live or aspire to live in one of three states:
1. perfection -- free of sin. Impossible, of course since only Jesus led a sin-free life. This is the one that Christians are to aspire to. Jesus commanded: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." And when He said to the adulterous woman, "Go, and sin no more." Of course Jesus knew they would sin and sin again and sin again, but not willfully, just the second kind:
2. the occasional sinner: the kind we don't look to commit, but it just happens in day-to-day life: the anger that wells up when a driver cuts us off; the momentary lust we feel when someone attractive walks by; the small lie we tell when confronted with an unexpected situation; dwelling on past hurts someone has done to us. These all need forgiving, that's why John says, "If we sin He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is where the wise and faithful virgins will be. This is where I'd venture to guess you are, sc.
3. the carnal, habitual sinner: these are the foolish virgins. They have given themselves over to a state of habitual sin such as regularly viewing pornography; the pathological liar; the Christian who constantly loses his temper and does not try to change; the Christian who carries on an affair while married. Only God knows when they have crossed the border in unforgiveness i.e. rejecting the Holy Spirit's admonitions. Until then they are still Christians albeit it foolish ones.
Last edited by thrillobyte; 06-07-2009 at 12:25 PM..
Reason: typo
But a Jubilee represents a restoration of all things to its original state - like slaves being freed (we sinners being freed from our fallen state to perfection) It just seems so "incomplete' that Jesus would return half-way through a Jubilee cycle. 120 years (years allotted man) x 50 (Jubilee years) =6000 years, eh?
Hi Thrillobyte,
A Biblical account of a Jubilee celebration can be found in Ezra 7 & 8 when the King Artaxerxes of Persia issued a decree for the children of Israel to journey to Jerusalem. This event was confirmed by secular records to have happened in the spring of 457B.C.
Based on this information, the last Jubilee Year was 1996 and the next one (+49yrs) will be in 2045. A Jubilee cycle is 49 yrs... (7 Sabbath cycles X 7)... and the 1st year of the next cycle or the 50th yr is the Jubilee Year.
The reason I said JC is not likely to return in a Jubilee year because the next one in 2045 is too way off. The Bible says the generation that saw the return of Israel to its land will witness the return of JC. A generation is about 70 years... so 1948 + 70 = 2018! Based on my own conjecture I'm leaning more toward the Sabbath Year 2016 as the most likely target.
3. the carnal, habitual sinner: these are the foolish virgins. They have given themselves over to a state of habitual sin such as regularly viewing pornography; the pathological liar; the Christian who constantly loses his temper and does not try to change; the Christian who carries on an affair while married. Only God knows when they have crossed the border in unforgiveness i.e. rejecting the Holy Spirit's admonitions. Until then they are still Christians albeit it foolish ones.
This is an unsaved person, not a foolish virgin. Simply believing in Jesus does not save a person. The Church is filled with them; many believe being baptized in water or church membership will be enough to go to heaven; it's false teaching.
Not necessarily. An unsaved person is one who has never declared Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. A carnal Christian has declared Jesus their L and S, but live in a sinful state. It can be argued that a carnal Christian is just an unsaved person who has made a public declaration for Jesus, but there must be some sort of distinguishing the two. Both are definitely not the same. For sure the foolish virgins are not Christians who live in state #2 as I've described above. All Christians in state #2 strive for state #1. I don't look for the rapture because I know it to be a false doctrine, but I still strive for state #1 and sin occasionally and immediately ask the Lord's forgiveness when I do. So do millions of other Christians. Are you saying we will be left behind to face God's wrath because we don't subscribe to the rapture? Personally, I look for the Lord's one and only return as He stated in Matthew 24:30 I don't think He will return in my lifetime. Still, I pray for it.
i will forever give thanks and praises to the "unsaved" illiterate ones recorded by the faithful of their day, still awaiting the unsavoury literacy of latter-day generations to see that light....
... Legalists, their better than everyone else in their own minds. Salvation is a free gift, but you have to earn it! I love that! That is so awesomely hypocritical of Christians. My opinion is the foolish virgins are the ones who think they are righteous and do not sin. The ones looking down on everyone else. Thats my guess ...
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The good works after salvation belong to the Lord, as God has ordained that we should walk in them.
Not necessarily. An unsaved person is one who has never declared Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. A carnal Christian has declared Jesus their L and S, but live in a sinful state. It can be argued that a carnal Christian is just an unsaved person who has made a public declaration for Jesus, but there must be some sort of distinguishing the two. Both are definitely not the same. For sure the foolish virgins are not Christians who live in state #2 as I've described above. All Christians in state #2 strive for state #1. I don't look for the rapture because I know it to be a false doctrine, but I still strive for state #1 and sin occasionally and immediately ask the Lord's forgiveness when I do. So do millions of other Christians. Are you saying we will be left behind to face God's wrath because we don't subscribe to the rapture? Personally, I look for the Lord's one and only return as He stated in Matthew 24:30 I don't think He will return in my lifetime. Still, I pray for it.
An unsaved person is one who has never repented with godly sorrow while accepting Jesus as Lord; a backslider is unsaved, too.
It's the goodness of God that leadeth a man to repentance . Romans 2 verse 4 . In other words God leads you there, not all of a sudden you decide to show you are sorrowful .
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