I love Jesus, then why do I sin?

Non-Christian, learn what is false:

1. Christians think they’re better than everyone because they believe in Jesus
2. Christians believe in the Bible cos it’s convenient to
3. God is the same in every religion, just expressed differently
4. Jesus didn’t tell his followers to be fundamentalists
5. Believing in Jesus doesnt make you a better person, good deeds/karma does

I assert the falsehood of all those points. Objections & arguments welcome, by comment or by email (RED.wpblog@gmail.com) abusive comments not welcome because I’m not speaking against anyone I’m just saying what Christianity does NOT believe (but people seem to believe it believes).

Non-Christian, learn what is true:

1. Christians believe every human being is a sinner, and if Christians were not sinners fully aware of their sin, they would not be Christian. Believing in Jesus means being so fully aware of our sins that we fully realise the need for a Saviour, and are “crucified with him” so that we can seek his righteousness. So Christians are not better than everyone else, but God alone is perfect. Jesus is the only perfect man to have lived on earth.
2. Christians believe in the Bible because it opens our eyes to the truth that God is more beautiful and desirable than ANYTHING the world can offer.
3. God is One and different religions contradict each other about God. You can’t have one God who is the same in every religion. ACCEPT THAT.
4. Jesus told his followers to love God with everything they have, and to hold fast to him like nothing else. That sounds fundamentalistic to me and its perfectly beautiful because God is the Most High, the point where all perfection and goodness meets at its highest, there is no goal higher than God and if Christians are true fundamentalists, that is GOOD for everybody.
5. Everybody is a sinner. Believing in Jesus doesnt make you instantly stop being a sinner. It makes you hate sin. When you KNOW that God is true, and that God hates your sin, you want it to go away. But our flesh likes worldly lusts more than it likes God because it doesn’t understand God. Temptations come and deceive. The HOLY SPIRIT makes us not sin. So believing in Jesus makes us want to desire him above our fleshly lusts. We receive the Holy Spirit so that our hearts are opened and we see for ourselves that Jesus is truly more beautiful than sin. So there are two steps to it. First, believe in Jesus- know that you don’t want to sin- then receive the Holy Spirit which testifies about Jesus, and shows our hearts that Jesus IS more desirable, and the Holy Spirit frees us from our desire to sin. So believing in Jesus LEADS TO receiving the Holy Spirit which LEADS TO freedom from sin. Without the Holy Spirit, we are the same as before, our eyes see the same and our hearts feel the same, and what we desired before, we will not miraculously stop desiring now. The SPIRIT gives wisdom and understanding, without the Spirit I am dead in my sins.

I hate myself when I sin. Loving Jesus means honouring his word. I can’t honour his word if I’m not led by the Spirit. I desire the Holy Spirit to fill me completely so I can be free from sin. Sin is horrible.

I know most religions apart from Christianity teach about salvation based on good works. I am curious to know how do these good works come? What’s the standard by which one calls him or herself good? What can cause a loathing for sin if not the Holy Spirit of God alone?

Night before Exam

My final exams (3rd semester of 10) start tomorrow. I’m glad for them because they are already late and we will have a short 4th semester. Our year at college is from July to June and the first half of the year is finishing 10th March with the end of these exams, so the second half of the year will be tiny - March to June including exams.

Story Making is a lot of fun I am really enjoying reading what everybody’s coming up with! Thanks for playing.

Today was a bit tiring for me (I’m absolutely exhausted right now).
I was walking a little while ago (not exercise but I had somewhere to get to) and I just wanted to lie down and sleep, my head hurt and my flesh said “you’re allowed to fuss yourself a little bit”. I don’t know if that is true or not sometimes, but it was definitely not true today. Immediately I thought about religious people who preach at others and know every rule of the book, but can’t deny their own desires when it comes to actually living their ideals. And I thought “nope don’t wanna be like them” and decided to continue walking. Then I thought that is the most negative incentive I could have given myself. Christ is worth it and it’s for HIM I should be doing things, not because I don’t want to be like other people. I felt a huge burden get off my heart. It made me really happy to think about Christ and doing everything with Him in mind. I remembered the verse from Philippians 1 - “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.”