SGMan

Like Adam and Eve's kids had to do?

Agreed.

A favorite song of mine is their song, 'Icehouse'. Thanks for the memories :)

Sin should concern us. An innocent, sinless man gave His life because of sin. We need to realize that sin has captured a beloved of God's and God desperately wants to help that beloved freed from it. I think to see them as victims is the way to have the eyes of Christ. It's the pharisees that want to throw stones, and we all know what kind of words our King had for the attitude of the pharisee.

The whole purpose for Christ's coming was for the sinner and not the righteous. Mark 2:17 (KJV)17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Was it Mary or Martha that got Jesus' accolades?

I appreciate the answers. They make sense :)

To the first question, no, clearly not. //I think of it more like something I would here from a motivational speaker. When you are feeling despondent because you are not good enough, because you continue to make mistakes, don't let your past sin define who you are. Don't let recurring sin define who you are. When sin happens, pick yourself up and turn back to God.// I like that. //...and to remember that he can and will save us from our sins.// And has.

Does anyone know how the Freemasons got the Melchizedek priesthood? There are certificates, mostly dated in the 1790's that have survived and have as a heading, "Sacred Band of Royal Arch Templar Priests after the Order of Melchizedek".

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But that is what Paul is saying that we aren't making these sins/mistakes. It's the sin nature that has been nailed to the cross and not our new nature in Christ. That is what justifies us, it seems.

The first question is 'no' as I'm a firm believer in free agency. To the second question, I'd say that is kind of where I was going. It seems that according to Paul, when we receive the righteousness of Christ, we die to our sin nature and are ressurrected with our new nature. After this event, sins committed aren't done by us anymore, but a nature that has been nailed to the cross with Christ. If this is the case, how are we resposible for our sins if Paul says, "It is not I that sin..."?

Our final redemption was completed by his death? Colossians 1:20-22 And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

How can we become filthy if we aren't the ones sinning? How can we lose our worthiness once we receive the righteousness of Christ?

Just a question about worthiness and being filthy. In Romans 7, I read... 17 So now it 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. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. vs. 17 and 20 both say the same thing. That once we have become alive in Christ, it is no longer us that sins. If we aren't sinners when sin that dwells in us does the deed, why are we held to be filthy and not worthy? In 1 Corinthians 6 it sounds to me like our justifications is a one-time thing. Read... Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I really enjoyed 'The Stand'. Never got to 'It'.

A selfish reason... I want full blessings :) The day before I repented, I was beat up by my drug-dealer roommate who was angry because I didn't give him money for the rent. The reason I didn't hand him over the cash was because earlier that week he smashed my car into a pole (and my insurance only covered damage to the other person's car). The day after I repented was the day I saw two elders witnessing on a downtown street. The Lord Jesus Christ led me to them (quite obviously). The way to know the Lord's chosen is by the fruit of the Spirit, and I find an abundance of it in the LDS Church. The emphasis on holiness (keeping the Lord's commandments) is a big one. I was lead astray (1988) from my righteous walk by members of a Baptist Church who convinced me that it was okay to go out for a beer at a club. I wish I found the LDS Church straight away, but there probably are reasons why things turned out the way they did that haven't been revealed to me.

I have a lot of stuff on audio that I've put onto an ipod. Doctrine and Covenants; Pearl of Great Price, and a number of teachings on various topics. I'm also working through 'Preach My Gospel' and looking up the appropriate verses in the Book of Mormon. Thanks for your welcome :)

Just an introduction... I was introduced to Jesus Christ by Pentecostals when I felt led to go there after praying for the truth to be revealed to me. Happily, they introduced me to the sinner's prayer and I repented. I was blessed with the Holy Spirit and that was my beginning to living a new life. I met some Baptists at a Denny's one evening, and found them to be engaging. They invited me to a 20's to 30's bible study on Tuesday evenings and so I began another journey there. I met a woman there and married her and had two daughters by her. Then I did the unthinkable. While witnessing on the corner with bible tracks, I was hit with this thought - People are looking at me like I'm a religious nut. I'm a religious nut! There's no power. It's all a sham. And so right there and then I quit reading my bible and filled myself with literature on atheism and naturalism. I'll spare you all the ugly details of how I destroyed my life. It got so bad that I finally repented of my sins again, and shortly after (just weeks earlier) I saw LDS missionaries on a downtown street and stopped to talk to them. They invited me to meet and I've been hungrily devouring LDS teaching ever since. I had to quit a number of things (the last thing to go was cigarettes) to follow Our Lord's commandments. Now I'm scheduled for baptism on June 7th and can't wait! Looking forward to getting to know some of you here :)