Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality > Christianity
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-07-2013, 06:49 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,315 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

You said a part of you knew you were deceived and a part of you was fearful. Then of course, there is you. Please look into DID. Caused by severe abuse. Satan uses abuse to put deep seated fears, rejection, etc in children. With DID, you grow up fine and feel everything is OK until all of a sudden, everything seems to spill out of you. Mostly self internal conflicts. Believe me, there is a root to the fear, you probably just don't remember. Ask Jesus to show you where it comes from, when he heals the root. The fear will be completely gone. I used to say scripture over and over again but I never seemed to believe it until God healed that area, then I believed it from my heart. A lot of DID on the outside appear obsessive compulsive. This is an excellent christian website [url=http://www.net-burst.net/sex_abuse/alters.htm]Help for people traumatized as children. Dissociative identity disorder: healing your inner child / alter / insider / inner pain[/url]. There are others out there but they do not seem to be christians and promote antichristian philosophies. He is the only one I found as a great source and a christian with a real love for people. Above all, ask Jesus, he loves you so much, he will always tell you the truth when you ask and greatly desires your healing and deliverance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-07-2013, 07:45 PM
 
794 posts, read 841,046 times
Reputation: 124
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
I'm a Christian but I have to admit I'm not always very faithful. Anyway, for awhile now I have been suffering from anxiety, partly caused by obsessive religion thoughts. They main centered on God's character; I would obsess about his justice, the fact he would send people to hell, ideas like pre-destination, the evil in the world, the fact when Christ returns he will judge the world violently, as in Revelation. Sometimes I would get so fearful I would forget the loving part of his nature and he would appear almost like an ogre in my mind. I always tried to dam up these thoughts before they would drive me insane.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago I was in a depressive mood when I thought about God I could only see him as being angry, and wrathful; i.e. that part of his personality. I felt he was merciless and hard to talk to. I know I shouldn't have been dwelling so much on it, but I continued to. Anyway, it got to the point where I thought that maybe God wasn't essentially good. Now I know he is, and believe that fully, but at the time, the Devil used fear to trick or try to convince me into believing otherwise. It's hard to explain; a part of me knew I was being deceived, yet a part of me - the fearful part - had the FEELING I was convinced it was true. This led to me thinking about the verses in the Bible where Jesus talks about the sin that will not be forgiven, and then I thought about the Holy Spirit. If God might not be good, and even evil, what if the Holy Spirit was? At the time I seemed to be convinced the Holy Spirit was somehow sinister; not that he was the Devil or anything, but that he wasn't all good and all Holy. I knew, deep down, these thoughts were false, and it seemed like someone else was putting them in there. For what seemed like 10 whole minutes I thought I believed this dreadful lie. I prayed to the Lord to deliver me, and after those 10 minutes I seemed to recover and the thought seemed so absurd and unbelievable. Yet there still remained a seed of doubt: 'what if?'

I was mortified that I had somehow thought something so offensive, so false and abominable about the Holy Spirit, that I had commited blasphemy in thought. I worried and worried, until the fear returned the next day, and the same thing happened. If I worried I did it and was damned forever the Devil would put the idea into my head that 'God is Evil'; it seemed so because he would cause me so much pain. Yet still I realised his holiness and his omnipotence; yet because of the fear he caused, the fearing part of my mind associated him with a sort of dreadfulness; I almost felt like one opposing God, even though I have never, ever wanted to or even felt tempted to, always understood who he was and his essential goodness. It was like I was experiencing the fear of his wrath. That flash when I felt God seemed evil made me think I had commited the sin. I feared that the Holy Spirit might have left me because I had become His enemy!

This, too, seemed to last about 10-15 minutes. Then the thoughts largely left me; but would still nag me from time to time. The attacks seemed to come out of the blue, and cause me to panic.

Even though I had no control over the thoughts, I sincerely repent of them and having the negative thoughts that preceded them. I prayed and tried to calm myself by reading the Bible, and don't THINK I have, but I still worry about WHAT IF? I can honestly say I had no control over my thoughts; it was like, when I was having them I couldn't believe I was having them. I sincerely believe Satan was using them to doubt my own attitude towards God; what I worry is, that even if I did it out of ignorance or fear (like the Pharisees) it would still be unacceptable and unforgivable. I think it would grossly unfair because I really didn't do it willfully at all, and all I want is to feel the same love and the dwelling of the Spirit. Yet I feel I have so shamed him that he would not dwell in me anymore, and I can't have the same love anymore.

I apologize if this was a bit long. I can't concentrate or think of anything else, it is tormenting me. I read up alot on the websites, and sometimes fear my case is different because I seemed to be convinced of my thoughts. Once again, they did not seem my own; in my heart I fought against them, resisted them, but evil powers seemed to overwhelm me at that point. I still held on and held out through the power and grace of God, yet I am still paranoid that that single THOUGHT was unforgivable. I feared it reflected some deep seated belief in my heart. I have read many interpretations of what the sin is, but I am paranoid that thinking something blasphemous about the Holy Spirit, even if you didn't mean it, is unforgivable. Please put my mind to rest!

Thankyou and God Bless,

John
Let me assure you, you did not commit the unpardonable sin. In fact, believers cannot commit this sin.

c. What is the "unpardonable sin"? How do I know if I have committed the "unpardonable sin"? -

The unpardonable sin is often misunderstood for lack of context. There is no sin that is greater than the blood of Jesus. It is only when someone willfully rejects Jesus as their savior knowing full well that He is the Messiah, for their whole life without changing their mind.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-07-2013, 09:08 PM
 
63,385 posts, read 39,639,230 times
Reputation: 7776
Quote:
Originally Posted by jvb123 View Post
Well, Trust me.....you know when the Holy Spirit has left.There is a pain, and hole there there cannot be filled. Nothing will go right, and it is misery with no rest. Not day or night. Your health will more than likely decline along with it. The joy will be gone. Make your relationship good with the Lord today. Pray that He will restore me, but it has been a year, and it has made me sicker than any illness ever has.. Be careful with your thoughts and words, and actions. Follow the Bible and commandments as closely as you can, and seek Him in everything that you do.
The Holy Spirit (Comforter) does not leave, period. IF you feel its absence . . . it is because you have left it. All carnal minded thoughts and fears interfere with your connection to the Holy Spirit . . . but it is always within your consciousness. Fear is incompatible with love and the Comforter is Love. You just need to be sincere enough to want to listen to and follow His guidance.

Take care in listening to those who would invoke fear within you. They are invoking satanic thinking that divorces you from the Holy Spirit. They may think they are Christians promoting the Gospel . . . but the Gospel is Good News, period. There is no fear in Love and no fear in Good News. It is not their fault because Satan has used our human ignorance and fears to corrupt Christ's Gospel into an anti-Christ one of fear and damnation and it has become the majority belief of Christianity as prophesied for the latter days. Jesus will not be happy with their iniquity.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-07-2013, 10:05 PM
 
284 posts, read 305,674 times
Reputation: 51
Trimac 20

I agree with those who are reassuring you that you did not deny or "blaspheme" against the Holy Ghost. Perhaps the experience describes a bit of obsessive thinking or perhaps anxiety but most of us have similar experiences episodically in our lives on some subject or other. If similar experiences are happening as a predominant thought pattern that disrupts a normal pattern of daily living or deprives you of happiness, perhaps you might want to see your health clinician to discuss it in a health context or someone else whose opinion you trust. I hope you can be at peace on this specific incident.

Clear
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-07-2013, 11:28 PM
 
18,185 posts, read 16,750,104 times
Reputation: 7418
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
for awhile now I have been suffering from anxiety, partly caused by obsessive religion thoughts.

John
That is your first mistake. It is a prescription for disaster. Get them out of your mind. I'm serious.

As someone said earlier, if you are capable of worrying about it, you definitely haven't committed it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-19-2013, 02:43 PM
 
3 posts, read 7,543 times
Reputation: 11
Please continue to pray for me, as I can't get passed this spiritual emptiness, and physical sickness.
Thank you
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-21-2013, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Somerset, Kentucky
473 posts, read 817,029 times
Reputation: 119
[quote=Trimac20;12733267]I'm a Christian but I have to admit I'm not always very faithful. Anyway, for awhile now I have been suffering from anxiety, partly caused by obsessive religion thoughts. They main centered on God's character; I would obsess about his justice, the fact he would send people to hell, ideas like pre-destination, the evil in the world, the fact when Christ returns he will judge the world violently, as in Revelation. Sometimes I would get so fearful I would forget the loving part of his nature and he would appear almost like an ogre in my mind. I always tried to dam up these thoughts before they would drive me insane.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago I was in a depressive mood when I thought about God I could only see him as being angry, and wrathful; i.e. that part of his personality. I felt he was merciless and hard to talk to. I know I shouldn't have been dwelling so much on it, but I continued to. Anyway, it got to the point where I thought that maybe God wasn't essentially good. Now I know he is, and believe that fully, but at the time, the Devil used fear to trick or try to convince me into believing otherwise. It's hard to explain; a part of me knew I was being deceived, yet a part of me - the fearful part - had the FEELING I was convinced it was true. This led to me thinking about the verses in the Bible where Jesus talks about the sin that will not be forgiven, and then I thought about the Holy Spirit. If God might not be good, and even evil, what if the Holy Spirit was? At the time I seemed to be convinced the Holy Spirit was somehow sinister; not that he was the Devil or anything, but that he wasn't all good and all Holy. I knew, deep down, these thoughts were false, and it seemed like someone else was putting them in there. For what seemed like 10 whole minutes I thought I believed this dreadful lie. I prayed to the Lord to deliver me, and after those 10 minutes I seemed to recover and the thought seemed so absurd and unbelievable. Yet there still remained a seed of doubt: 'what if?'

I was mortified that I had somehow thought something so offensive, so false and abominable about the Holy Spirit, that I had commited blasphemy in thought. I worried and worried, until the fear returned the next day, and the same thing happened. If I worried I did it and was damned forever the Devil would put the idea into my head that 'God is Evil'; it seemed so because he would cause me so much pain. Yet still I realised his holiness and his omnipotence; yet because of the fear he caused, the fearing part of my mind associated him with a sort of dreadfulness; I almost felt like one opposing God, even though I have never, ever wanted to or even felt tempted to, always understood who he was and his essential goodness. It was like I was experiencing the fear of his wrath. That flash when I felt God seemed evil made me think I had commited the sin. I feared that the Holy Spirit might have left me because I had become His enemy!

This, too, seemed to last about 10-15 minutes. Then the thoughts largely left me; but would still nag me from time to time. The attacks seemed to come out of the blue, and cause me to panic.

Even though I had no control over the thoughts, I sincerely repent of them and having the negative thoughts that preceded them. I prayed and tried to calm myself by reading the Bible, and don't THINK I have, but I still worry about WHAT IF? I can honestly say I had no control over my thoughts; it was like, when I was having them I couldn't believe I was having them. I sincerely believe Satan was using them to doubt my own attitude towards God; what I worry is, that even if I did it out of ignorance or fear (like the Pharisees) it would still be unacceptable and unforgivable. I think it would grossly unfair because I really didn't do it willfully at all, and all I want is to feel the same love and the dwelling of the Spirit. Yet I feel I have so shamed him that he would not dwell in me anymore, and I can't have the same love anymore.

I apologize if this was a bit long. I can't concentrate or think of anything else, it is tormenting me. I read up alot on the websites, and sometimes fear my case is different because I seemed to be convinced of my thoughts. Once again, they did not seem my own; in my heart I fought against them, resisted them, but evil powers seemed to overwhelm me at that point. I still held on and held out through the power and grace of God, yet I am still paranoid that that single THOUGHT was unforgivable. I feared it reflected some deep seated belief in my heart. I have read many interpretations of what the sin is, but I am paranoid that thinking something blasphemous about the Holy Spirit, even if you didn't mean it, is unforgivable. Please put my mind to rest!

Thankyou and God Bless,

I don't know where to start. Would you forgive someone who had these thoughts about you? Of course you probably would. Know your own heart, you can't be better than God. God is all forgiving. God is love. Man leaned on his own understanding of what Jesus said and then wrote it in the Bible. Jesus himself SPOKE everything. Hell is merely the absence of love in our own hearts that separates us from our Lord. The devil is after you trying to cause you to doubt love. Love is perfected in forgiveness--Jesus is all forgiving. Never doubt it. To blaspheme the holy spirit is to set out to purposely abuse or destroy those who love you while deriving delight, pleasure or satisfaction from doing so. To purposely teach hate and destruction. Otherwise, you are fine. Stop worrying and obsessing about it--the devil delights in fear, pain and suffering. He's the universes greatest blasphemer. Our God is a big God and can take anything. The fact that you feel guilt and are suffering shows repentance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2014, 02:52 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,730 times
Reputation: 10
Hi All:

This is an excerpt of a letter written to a friend of mine and I would like commentary. I know that many have posted to the effect that the unpardonable sin cannot be committed today or that God will forgive everything if one repents or asks for forgiveness. However, I think it can be committed today and I believe in my case at least it came about through twisting the passage of 1 Corinthians 7:15 for the intent of lording it over my wife. It is a night that horrifies me to this day. Please read and comment. As I said, this is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a brother. Thank you all.

Brother Terry:

Having a Christian testimony is priceless. There is no amount of money that can buy it for the precious blood of Jesus is the price. He paid the price for all and offers it freely to any that would simply believe and receive. However, there is a price to be paid and that price is to be obedient to the gospel by repentence. Unfortunately, I missed the repentence part to quite a degree.

I wish to God that I had such a testimony, but alas I am like Esau:

Hebrews 12:17

Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

You see Terry I thought I was saved. I had become involved with a fundamental dispensational church that preached the gospel of the saved by grace doctrine in which the believer is eternally secure. I attended faithfully and tried to put what I learned into practice although I continued to sin in certain areas of my life, particularly with regard to lust.

I had been engaged to my wife for 6 years and we were finally married in 1991. I married my wife at the time because I sincerely, wanted to do the right thing. I knew we were living together without the covenant of marriage and I truly wanted to “get right” with God about it and so we were married on February 16, 1991. It seems like a lifetime ago.

We moved to our home in 1993 after my wife had become pregnant with my son. Things were going pretty well. I was going to church faithfully, reading my bible, and working at my job faithfully. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked with a pornography addiction and I really struggled with it. I realized it was sin but somehow I thought that God's grace was limitless and that I didn't have to worry about it because I was “eternally secure”. Well, let me tell you I was so WRONG. Cheap grace is not the way that God wants us to live.

Romans 6:1

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase
GOD FORBID.

This is what happened to me and I was headed for a train wreck because of it. I know that Christians fall into temptation and will sin occasionally, but I sinned repeatedly. I tried to stop the lust thing, even attending a sexual addiction support group. I really struggled with it and I tried to stop, but it was something that I got stuck in just like:

2 Peter 2:22

Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud."

I was really self decieved thinking that everything was okay because I prayed for forgivness. I went to church and I was trying to live right, but I really wasn't walking in faith and whatever is not of faith is sin. So I was/am in trouble, but I couldn't see because I was blind to the truth of my condition.

Things went on like this for quited sometime. I kept trying to convince my wife to come to church, but she really didn't agree with the strictness of the church that I was attending. They preached against everything like watching TV, going to the movies, having strict discipline in the home with the wife being in subjection to the husband. It was really a messed up situation because I was self-decieved and my wife wanted no part of the church thing. It was a mess.

Anyway one night I had enough and I gave my wife an ultimatum based on 1 Corinthians 7:15.

*But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

I really twisted this to my own damnation. There is no way that this means that I would be free if my wife left me. I told my wife that I couldn't leave her but that she needed to leave me if she wouldn't submit and do things my way. When she said she would leave, I got in her face and cursed her at which point something inside me snapped. I don't know what it was, but the next day at work I had a terrifying experience. I actually saw something come out of someone's eye and come into me. I knew at this point that I had committed the unpardonable sin of blasphemy. Some would say it was a psychotic break, but I think it was a spiritually dark entity that invaded my person.

Terry, I have discussed this with several pastors and counselors who have said that this wasn't the unpardonable sin, but that I had just said a bad thing to my wife. It was a sin, but not the unpardonable sin. All I know that at that point, I could no longer sleep nights and was diagnosed as having a psychotic depression. I was “mentally ill”. At that point I started to get treatment with antidepressants. Since that night, however, I have not been able to have peace with my faith which became really faithless. I continue to go to church and I try to seek God, but I feel like a trapped animal. I am haunted by the horrific nature of this experience and what has transpired since. I find it very hard to talk about this with anyone. Most people think I am just crazy, but I truly believe I am demonically possessed.

What does a man do when they commit an unpardonable sin? Who can he turn to if he, in fact, has committed the unpardonable? If God has given up on a man, who can he turn to?

Hebrews 10:26,27 26

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

You see, I believe I had a head knowledge of the plan of salvation. I knew the scriptures (Al least I thought I did). I knew the importance of repentance, but I was self deceived into thinking that God would forgive me no matter what I did. I know that you said the only unpardonable sin was rejecting Jesus which I never really did, but I just feel that the heinous nature of my self-deception and pride in the church I was attending was misplaced and it has cost me my peace with God. I don't know if there is anything I can do. I have gone through many psychiatric hospitalizations. I have been on all kinds of medication but to no avail. I don't have any peace with this and I don't know if there is any hope for me.

At first my wife was supportive of me. She stood with me and was willing to forgive me at first for the sake of the children and for the sake of the family. I went back to school and worked for a time, but I have been disabled by the insomnia and by the effects of the medications I have had to take. It came to the point that my wive reached the last straw when I had a couple of suicide attempts. She asked me to leave the house in November of 2011. Since then we have been separated. She hasn't divorced me yet but at this point, it is just a formality. Needless to say I was devastated at the loss of my family. I miss them more than I can say, but I have gone beyond all hope of finding any peace with them over this. I have been on my own ever since this date. I have offered to reconcile, but she will have none of it.

Terry, to make matters worse, I have since become involved with another woman. I have been living in sin with her for the past couple of years. I tried to move out and break away from this unhealthy alliance in July of this summer. I moved out for a couple of months and moved into a boarding house for a time. However, I became very lonely and was having a really tough time making it on my own financially. The woman's name is Noreen and we have been having a really tough time of it.

I guess my question to you is this. What do I do now? Do I move away from this woman? Do I face eternal damnation no matter what I do? Is it really too late? Do I ditch the medication? How can I find forgiveness when it just seems so hopeless? You have seen some pretty tough cases I am sure with the prison ministry, but have you ever met anyone who has so thoroughly forsaken the spirit of grace as I have?

Hebrews 10:29

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

I mean want more than anything to make peace with God in this situation. As I started this letter off to you. A Christian testimony is SO important and there is no price that can be affixed to it. It is truly priceless. I wish more than anything that I had one. I don't know what I can do. I know that there is a God and that he exists. Please warn people that there is a timeline for salvation. There is a day coming for everyone. There is a judgement waiting. Warn people that now is the day of salvation. Don't trivialize the importance of it. For whatever we sow we will reap.

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Ken Johnson
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2014, 03:16 PM
 
Location: Outside of the United States
107 posts, read 153,748 times
Reputation: 82
Quote:
Originally Posted by romans519 View Post
In fact, believers cannot commit this sin.
I agree with this. We should carefully work out our salvation and fear about it (whether we agree with reformed soteriology or not), but this we should fear not. Christ might in pardoning our sin is mightier than ours in commiting a sin. Nevertheless every true belevier indeed not want sin and know what is the sin when coomiting it. That's the triumph of Holy Spirit. In the new nature you fear God, and do not want sin, so even when old nature contemprorarily wins and you if you even be in might to sin aginst the Holy Spirit, new nature already is born again in Christ and free of that sin. Christians has been pardoned before the creation of the universe. Christ death was only the final act of mercy and love of the Father.

In the other words: How are you, poor sinner and just human, to jugde what God in His Almighty is able to justify, and what He is not.

Quote:
Originally Posted by romans519 View Post
The unpardonable sin is often misunderstood for lack of context. There is no sin that is greater than the blood of Jesus.
This. No sin of ours grater than His blood. Every sin calls for condemnation, every sin is deadly, but because of Son's death, when before the Father, we are seen as holy and pure, washed by the Lord's wish and blood.

Quote:
Originally Posted by romans519 View Post
It is only when someone willfully rejects Jesus as their savior knowing full well that He is the Messiah, for their whole life without changing their mind.
Not exaclty. More complicated matter I think.

Last edited by Yenisey; 12-09-2014 at 03:17 PM.. Reason: Wrong word
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2014, 04:56 PM
 
Location: El Paso, TX
32,884 posts, read 26,100,556 times
Reputation: 16011
Quote:
Originally Posted by kendall7858 View Post
Hi All:

This is an excerpt of a letter written to a friend of mine and I would like commentary. I know that many have posted to the effect that the unpardonable sin cannot be committed today or that God will forgive everything if one repents or asks for forgiveness. However, I think it can be committed today and I believe in my case at least it came about through twisting the passage of 1 Corinthians 7:15 for the intent of lording it over my wife. It is a night that horrifies me to this day. Please read and comment. As I said, this is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a brother. Thank you all.

Brother Terry:

Having a Christian testimony is priceless. There is no amount of money that can buy it for the precious blood of Jesus is the price. He paid the price for all and offers it freely to any that would simply believe and receive. However, there is a price to be paid and that price is to be obedient to the gospel by repentence. Unfortunately, I missed the repentence part to quite a degree.

I wish to God that I had such a testimony, but alas I am like Esau:

Hebrews 12:17

Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

You see Terry I thought I was saved. I had become involved with a fundamental dispensational church that preached the gospel of the saved by grace doctrine in which the believer is eternally secure. I attended faithfully and tried to put what I learned into practice although I continued to sin in certain areas of my life, particularly with regard to lust.

I had been engaged to my wife for 6 years and we were finally married in 1991. I married my wife at the time because I sincerely, wanted to do the right thing. I knew we were living together without the covenant of marriage and I truly wanted to “get right” with God about it and so we were married on February 16, 1991. It seems like a lifetime ago.

We moved to our home in 1993 after my wife had become pregnant with my son. Things were going pretty well. I was going to church faithfully, reading my bible, and working at my job faithfully. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked with a pornography addiction and I really struggled with it. I realized it was sin but somehow I thought that God's grace was limitless and that I didn't have to worry about it because I was “eternally secure”. Well, let me tell you I was so WRONG. Cheap grace is not the way that God wants us to live.

Romans 6:1

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase
GOD FORBID.

This is what happened to me and I was headed for a train wreck because of it. I know that Christians fall into temptation and will sin occasionally, but I sinned repeatedly. I tried to stop the lust thing, even attending a sexual addiction support group. I really struggled with it and I tried to stop, but it was something that I got stuck in just like:

2 Peter 2:22

Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud."

I was really self decieved thinking that everything was okay because I prayed for forgivness. I went to church and I was trying to live right, but I really wasn't walking in faith and whatever is not of faith is sin. So I was/am in trouble, but I couldn't see because I was blind to the truth of my condition.

Things went on like this for quited sometime. I kept trying to convince my wife to come to church, but she really didn't agree with the strictness of the church that I was attending. They preached against everything like watching TV, going to the movies, having strict discipline in the home with the wife being in subjection to the husband. It was really a messed up situation because I was self-decieved and my wife wanted no part of the church thing. It was a mess.

Anyway one night I had enough and I gave my wife an ultimatum based on 1 Corinthians 7:15.

*But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

I really twisted this to my own damnation. There is no way that this means that I would be free if my wife left me. I told my wife that I couldn't leave her but that she needed to leave me if she wouldn't submit and do things my way. When she said she would leave, I got in her face and cursed her at which point something inside me snapped. I don't know what it was, but the next day at work I had a terrifying experience. I actually saw something come out of someone's eye and come into me. I knew at this point that I had committed the unpardonable sin of blasphemy. Some would say it was a psychotic break, but I think it was a spiritually dark entity that invaded my person.

Terry, I have discussed this with several pastors and counselors who have said that this wasn't the unpardonable sin, but that I had just said a bad thing to my wife. It was a sin, but not the unpardonable sin. All I know that at that point, I could no longer sleep nights and was diagnosed as having a psychotic depression. I was “mentally ill”. At that point I started to get treatment with antidepressants. Since that night, however, I have not been able to have peace with my faith which became really faithless. I continue to go to church and I try to seek God, but I feel like a trapped animal. I am haunted by the horrific nature of this experience and what has transpired since. I find it very hard to talk about this with anyone. Most people think I am just crazy, but I truly believe I am demonically possessed.

What does a man do when they commit an unpardonable sin? Who can he turn to if he, in fact, has committed the unpardonable? If God has given up on a man, who can he turn to?

Hebrews 10:26,27 26

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

You see, I believe I had a head knowledge of the plan of salvation. I knew the scriptures (Al least I thought I did). I knew the importance of repentance, but I was self deceived into thinking that God would forgive me no matter what I did. I know that you said the only unpardonable sin was rejecting Jesus which I never really did, but I just feel that the heinous nature of my self-deception and pride in the church I was attending was misplaced and it has cost me my peace with God. I don't know if there is anything I can do. I have gone through many psychiatric hospitalizations. I have been on all kinds of medication but to no avail. I don't have any peace with this and I don't know if there is any hope for me.

At first my wife was supportive of me. She stood with me and was willing to forgive me at first for the sake of the children and for the sake of the family. I went back to school and worked for a time, but I have been disabled by the insomnia and by the effects of the medications I have had to take. It came to the point that my wive reached the last straw when I had a couple of suicide attempts. She asked me to leave the house in November of 2011. Since then we have been separated. She hasn't divorced me yet but at this point, it is just a formality. Needless to say I was devastated at the loss of my family. I miss them more than I can say, but I have gone beyond all hope of finding any peace with them over this. I have been on my own ever since this date. I have offered to reconcile, but she will have none of it.

Terry, to make matters worse, I have since become involved with another woman. I have been living in sin with her for the past couple of years. I tried to move out and break away from this unhealthy alliance in July of this summer. I moved out for a couple of months and moved into a boarding house for a time. However, I became very lonely and was having a really tough time making it on my own financially. The woman's name is Noreen and we have been having a really tough time of it.

I guess my question to you is this. What do I do now? Do I move away from this woman? Do I face eternal damnation no matter what I do? Is it really too late? Do I ditch the medication? How can I find forgiveness when it just seems so hopeless? You have seen some pretty tough cases I am sure with the prison ministry, but have you ever met anyone who has so thoroughly forsaken the spirit of grace as I have?

Hebrews 10:29

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

I mean want more than anything to make peace with God in this situation. As I started this letter off to you. A Christian testimony is SO important and there is no price that can be affixed to it. It is truly priceless. I wish more than anything that I had one. I don't know what I can do. I know that there is a God and that he exists. Please warn people that there is a timeline for salvation. There is a day coming for everyone. There is a judgement waiting. Warn people that now is the day of salvation. Don't trivialize the importance of it. For whatever we sow we will reap.

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Ken Johnson
To acknowledge that Jesus paid the price for all and offers eternal life freely to any that simply believe, but then to turn around and say that there is a price to be paid (by us), is a contradiction. Either Jesus paid the price in full or He didn't. Either eternal life is a free gift or it isn't. And Scripture says that it is a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9; Rev. 22:17). Like so many, you confuse what is required for eternal salvation which is simply to believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again, with what is required as a part of the believer's spiritual life after having already been eternally saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

Once a person has received Christ as Savior and is therefore eternally saved, his spiritual life as a believer begins. The believer is commanded to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). If the believer is to grow spiritually after salvation he must be obedient to God. But the believer's eternal security does not depend on his being obedient other than having at one time obeyed the command to believe in Christ. Eternal life and the believer's spiritual life after salvation are two different things.

When you believe on Jesus Christ for eternal salvation you are acknowledging that there is nothing you can do to earn or deserve salvation, but that it is what the Bible says it is - a free gift. And God does not, and cannot revoke that free gift because of anything that you do.
Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
While in context Romans 11:29 is addressing God's promise to restore Israel (at Jesus' Second Advent), in principal it applies to the free gift of eternal life. God simply cannot revoke eternal life once it has been given.

And why do you assume that Hebrews 10:29 is referring to eternal punishment rather than to temporal punishment in this life? What does Hebrews 12:5-8 say with regard to the believer's discipline? Read it. The believer cannot lose his salvation because of sin in his life since our personal sins were never imputed to us for condemnation in the first place. All of us were condemned, not on the basis of our personal sins, but because of Adam's original sin which brought spiritual death to the entire human race. Our own personal sins were imputed to Jesus Christ who bore our sins in His own body on the cross.
1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
If God intended to condemn us eternally for our own personal sins, then He never would have sent His Son into the world as a member of the human race in order to pay the penalty for those sins. God knew from eternity past every sin we would ever commit in our lives on this earth. And knowing that we would commit those sins, and having sent Jesus to die as our substitute for those sins, God is not therefore going to condemn us, and in the case of believers in Christ, to revoke our eternal life when we get around to committing those sins for which Jesus has already paid the penalty.

The only issue in eternal life is whether or not you will receive Christ as Savior. Sin is not the issue since Jesus already paid the penalty for our sins. So you've sinned repeatedly. Congratulations. So has everyone else. As a believer, when you sin, simply acknowledge the sin to God as per 1 John 1:9. Since the sin has already been judged at the cross, as soon as you simply name the sin to God He forgives it because the penalty for it has already been paid. The believer who sins does not lose his eternal salvation, but simply gets out of fellowship with God until He acknowledges the sin. When the believer sins he enters into carnality. He loses the filling of the Holy Spirit (He does not lose the indwelling of the Spirit, nor the sealing of the Spirit) until He names the sin to God.

You can either simply trust that what the Bible says is true - that eternal life is freely given by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, or you can falsely and arrogantly believe that you are greater than God's grace by thinking that you can do something to lose your eternal salvation.

When you sin, simply name it as per 1 John 1:9. This puts you back in a position to start growing spiritually by learning and applying Bible doctrine to your life.

Here is a good basic Bible doctrine series given by Pastor Mike Smith at Country Bible Church in Brenham Texas.

Fundamentals : Country Bible Church - Brenham, TX
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Religion and Spirituality > Christianity
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top