C'mon David. You would pray every day and talk to your wife even if I weren't trying to make a point.
I am going to take another tack this time, and maybe help you understand what I am saying. I am sure that we have this problem because 1. I am not the best communucator, and 2.you are hearing something those around you do not espouse. I picked what anyone, including me, would consider to be the least of all sins. Going a couple of miles over the speed limit. I pointed out that this is not a sin because it endangers others, but because you, or I, have failed to obey those in authority over us. Those people are empowered by God, to tell you the maximum speed you can travel in a given area. When you exceed that speed, you break their rules, and that is sin, whether the policeman arrests you or not, whether everybody does it or not, whether anyone really cares or not. The fact remains, you have not obeyed God's instruction to obey the authorities. Going over the limit is therefore a sin, whether you go fifty-seven or ninety-seven. The law has been broken in both cases. The only difference is the degree to which it was broken. To say otherwise means that you, the individual, must decide what your personal speed limit is, making you your own authority, and defying the God given authority placed over you. If you tell other Christians that you have decided that fifty-seven is no big deal, and you cannot picture Jesus getting upset about it, they may decide that fifty-eight is no big deal, then the next guy figures fifty-nine is still in the fifties, no big deal. Before you know it, you have sinned by defying the authorities, you have sinned by disobeying God, you have sinned by making yourself the judge, and you have sinned by leading others astray. What does it take to get Jesus worked up? Do you know? I don't. There is no question that God is love, more merciful than we can imagine, ready to forgive the moment we repent, especially if our sin was not intentional, but I think that to assume that He passes off any sin as being not worth His notice is to underestimate how much He hates sin. To say that sin is not sin because it is such a minute infraction compared to murder or adultery is to take away God's right to say how bad little sins are. He may not appreciate you making those decisions for Him. End of subject. Now, a couple of questions for you. Not to test you or to be snide. I really want to know. 1. If Annanias and spouse were Christians, were only their past sins covered by the blood of Christ, or were all their sins covered, Past and future? 2. Is lying to the Holy Spirit worse than lying to anyone else? 3.If Annanias and Sapphira went to Hell as you assume, was it because they lost their salvation when they lied, or were they never saved to begin with? Terry P.S. My apology to your wife. Did not mean to burden her by agitating you. ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 8:07 AM Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Everyone Has Sinned Inadvertently > Terry wrote: > > The law says fifty-five. You drive fifty-seven. > > Bingo! You have broken the law, just as surely > > as if you deliberately drove ninety. > > I'm not sure we are going to get anywhere discussing this, but I'm going > to try yet again. Your statement above has everything to do with the > Sabbath dispute on this forum. It clearly exemplifies the difference > between legalism and being UNDER LAW, and the covenant of the Spirit > which is motivated by love. > > The way that love looks at this example is that if you slip over 55, > either by accident or because your speedometer is off by 5 mph, as long > as nobody is hurt by the incident, there is no sin. > > Another point that I was trying to make before was that this is not a > crime, even according to man's law. It is called a civil infraction. > Now if you hurt someone, that would be a crime. Civil infractions are > rules that are meant to prevent crimes (prevent sins). I agree with > Slade that if you ignore the traffic laws, you will find yourself > falling into sin. I do no advocate speeding. Nevertheless, someone > accidentally driving 57 mph in a 55 zone for a minute, and someone > purposely driving 90 mph in a 55 zone, is not the same thing. According > to a legalist, you might argue that there is no difference, but from a > moralist's position, they are not equivalent. > > If we could understand this distinction concerning legalism, I might be > ready to talk about the 7th day versus the 8th day Sabbath. Read > carefully Romans 10:1-13, paying attention to the two ways of > righteousness talked about there. > > Terry wrote: > > The fact that you hurt no one and ALMOST obeyed > > is similar to Ananias and Sapphira. They lied, > > but it wasn't a complete lie. They didn't hurt > > anyone, and they did give some money, so they > > almost told the truth. > > Almost told the truth? Is this suppose to be funny? They LIED to the > Holy Ghost! What greater sin could there be? That is worse than Ted > Bundy's serial murders. > > Terry wrote: > > As to whether or not they are in Hell, > > the Bible does not say. > > Does the Bible have to spell it out for you? They lied to the Holy > Ghost. They fell dead at Peter's feet. > > So someone who drives 57 in a 55 mph zone is going to hell even if that > is the only thing he has ever done wrong in his whole life, but Ananias > and Sapphira don't go to hell for lying to the Holy Ghost? Is that what > you are saying? I don't mean to sound curt. I'm trying to make sure > that I'm hearing you correctly. I'm still assimilating your position. > I've been talking to my wife about it for two days now. :-) I've been > praying about this too. > > Peace be with you. > David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. > > ---------- > "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org > > If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed. > ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
