What does believe mean?

Ed, there were no quotation marks. I put the word "think" in to make a point. I did not mean to misconstrue what anyone said.

Hope of Glory,
No, I believe that the Holy Spirit will keep us, just as I believe that he changes our heart at the time of salvation.

I blieve that the presence of the Holy Spirit changes our desire toward that of Christ, thus Lordship.

I believe that we maintain our sinful nature, thus 2 natures. One that desires things of the flesh and one that desires the things of God. I believe this is the struggle Paul is talking about in Romans ch. 7

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Rom 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?


I do not believe that anyone can be totally free from sin no matter how mature of a Christian they are. Being free of sin is not a measure of Lordship, no one escapes sin until death.

Lordship is submission to Christ. Sin will still battle for control, but the Holy Spirit is able to keep us.

Act 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

1Co 12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.

If you possess the Holy Spirit then Jesus is Lord.

 

The attack on the Lordship of Christ has evolved from the desire of so-called evangelical preachers to add trophies to their cases. "Just say the magic words and everything will be alright, don't worry about turning away from your sins, you can take care of that later."

If Jesus aint Lord who is? Could it be Satan!

According to Webster-

Repentance
REPENT'ANCE, n.

1. Sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct.

2. In theology, the pain, regret or affliction which a person feels on account of his past conduct, because it exposes him to punishment. This sorrow proceeding merely from the fear of punishment, is called legal repentance, as being excited by the terrors of legal penalties, and it may exist without an amendment of life.

3. Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life.

Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. 2 Cor 7. Mat 3.

Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice, from conviction that it has offended God.

 

Lacy, where do you find this 1000 yr thing in Scripture?

As for the Lordship issue, I have never heard of the authors you mentioned but thought you might be interested in what C.H. Spurgeon had to say.

"Church hypocrites..." by Spurgeon --

No man who is not united in his heart vitally and entirely to
Christ, can ever be of the slightest service to the church of God.

Oh, if there be a place where sinners are more loathsome
to God than anywhere else, it is in his church.

A dog in its kennel is well enough-
but a dog in the throne-room is quite out of place.

A sinner in the world is bad enough-
but in the church he is hideous!

A madman in an asylum is a creature to be pitied,
but a madman who protests he is not mad, and will
thrust himself among us that he may obtain means
of doing mischief, is not merely to be pitied,
he is to be avoided, and needs to be restrained.

God hates sin anywhere, but when sin puts its fingers
upon his divine altar; when it comes and lays its insolent
hand upon the sacrifice that is burning there, then God
spurns it from him with disgust.

Of all men, who stand in the most likely place to receive the
mightiest thunderbolt, and the most terrible lightning's flash,
those are the men who have a divided heart, and profess to
serve God, while with their souls they are serving sin.

Take heed, sinner, take heed, running on in your sin you will
meet with punishment. But after all, O hypocrite, look well
to your ways, for your sin and your lie together shall bring
down a dread and swift destruction upon your devoted head.

 

Sheep or swine?
-Spurgeon, "SEPARATING THE PRECIOUS THE VILE"

There is an essential difference between the
righteous and the wicked, even in their sins--

If you see a SHEEP fall into the mire, it is quick enough up again.
"A righteous man falls seven times, but he rises up again."

But if the SWINE falls there, it wallows in it again and again,
and nothing but the whip or the stick can make it rise.

As for the wicked, he rolls and revels in
his sin, abiding and continuing in it.


Swine or sheep?
-Spurgeon, "A passion for Holiness in a Believer's Life"

"Sin shall not have dominion over you." Rom. 6:14

Sin shall not have dominion over the believer,
for though he falls, he shall rise again.

The child of God, when he falls into the mire, is like
the sheep that gets up and escapes from the ditch as
quickly as possible- it is not in his nature to lie there.

The ungodly man is like the hog that rolls in
the filth and wallows in it with delight.

The mire has dominion over the swine,
but it has none over the sheep.

Every child of God weeps, mourns, and bemoans his sin, and
he hates it when, for a while, he has been overtaken by it.

Sin has an awful power, but it has no 'dominion' over
a true believer. It may cast him down, but it cannot
make us delight in it's evil.

God has so changed your nature by His grace that
when you sin, you shall be like a fish on dry land--
you shall be out of your element.

In worldly company, you shall feel like a man
who sits upon thorns or walks amid snakes.
In worldly amusements, you shall feel as if
the house shall fall upon you.
You shall never be made happy by evil, but shall
groan under it, if you ever yield to it's power.

You shall hate yourself to think you ever consented to
its solicitations. You shall be wretched and unhappy
and shall find no rest until you return unto your Lord.

You may fall into sin by surprise, but if you calmly
and deliberately go to that which is unclean, how does
the love of God dwell in you?

It is both the way TO peace, and the way OF peace
to submit one's whole self to God.
Nor is it a difficult task to a true believer,
but it is the desire of his heart,
the pleasure of his life.

Complete consecration of every faculty of mind
and body to the Lord is our soul's deepest wish!

 

From Spurgeon's sermon, "THE SPIES"

There are men that make grand professions,
but their lives are as much opposed to their
professions, as hell is opposed to heaven.

As Christ is holy, even so do his people desire to be holy.

And the grace of God which brings salvation is pure and
peaceful; it produces in men things that are holy and things
that magnify God, and that make human nature appear glorious.


From Spurgeon's sermon, "HYPOCRISY"

A hypocrite may be known by the fact that his speech
and his actions are contrary to one another.

As Jesus says, "they do not practice what they preach."

The hypocrite can speak like an angel,
he can quote texts with the greatest rapidity;
he can talk concerning all matters of religion,
whether they be theological doctrines, metaphysical
questions, or experimental difficulties.

In his own esteem he knows much and when he rises to speak,
you will often feel abashed at your own ignorance in the
presence of his superior knowledge.

But see him when he comes to ACTIONS.
What do you behold there?

The fullest contradiction of everything that he has uttered.
He tells to others that they must obey the law-
does he obey it? Ah! no.

He declares that others must experience this, that,
and the other, and he sets up a fine scale of experience,
far above even that of the Christian himself;
but does he touch it?
No, not with so much as one of his fingers.

He will tell others what they should do;
but will he remember his own teaching?
Not he!

Follow him to his house; trace him to the market,
see him in the shop, and if you want to refute his
preaching you may easily do it from his own life.

My hearer! is this your case?

You are a member of a church, a deacon, a minister.
Is this your case?

Is your life a contradiction to your words?

Do your hands witness against your lips?

How does it stand with you?

'Talk' is easy, but 'walk' is hard.

'Speech' any man may attain unto, but 'act' is difficult.

We must have grace within to make our life holy;
but 'lip-piety' needs no grace.

Some people I know of are like inns, which have an angel hanging
outside for a sign, but they have a devil within for a landlord.

There are many men of that kind; they take good care to
have an excellent sign hanging out, they must be known by
all men to be strictly religious; but within, which is the
all-important matter, they are full of wickedness.

There are many books which are excellently bound,
but there is nothing within them; and there are many
persons that have a very good spiritual exterior,
but there is nothing whatever in the heart.

Do you not know some of them?

Perhaps if you know yourself you may discover one.

 

This one is by Edward Griffin, Im sure you will like it too.

"An Exhortation to Serve the Lord"

'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.'

None are true disciples but those who love Christ supremely.

They esteem God above every other object.

They consider his glory as their highest interest,
and communion with him as their supreme happiness.

It is their greatest grief that their treacherous hearts
are so prone to wander from God.

Their most fervent desires pant after him.
And when in a favored hour they find 'him whom their
soul loves,' they hold him fast and will not let him go.

There is no true love to God which is not habitually supreme.

Supreme love to God will certainly produce self denial for his sake.
It will habitually avoid every thing which he has forbidden,
and obey, not a part, but all his commands.

Supreme love will seek communion with its object
more than any worldly pleasure.
It will pant after him and after greater conformity to him;
it will seek his glory as the highest interest;
it will count him the most desirable portion;
it will delight in thinking of him more than in any worldly thoughts;
it will delight in prayer,
it will renounce the world and idols and cultivate a heavenly mind.

Unless we have that which will produce all these effects,
we have no supreme love to God;
and if we have no supreme love, we have no love at all;
and if we have no love, as there is no neutral state,
we are his enemies. 'He who is not with me is against me..."

Hence it is that so many people who attend public worship
and lead regular lives, are unmindful of God from day to day,
neglect prayer, put eternal things out of view,
and lose themselves in the eager pursuit of the world.

They must be conscious, if they will but reflect,
that 'the world' engages more of their care than God or their souls,
and is of course their supreme deity.

They would rather be employed in reading an amusing story
than in searching the Scriptures.

Surely such people do not love God.

Such minds could not be happy in heaven if admitted there.
They must undergo a radical change or certainly
they can find no happiness beyond the grave.

Ah Lord God, how many such are to be found among us,
among the dearest friends of our hearts.

It is distressing to look through our congregations and see
how men neglect God; how they live without him in the world,
live as though there were no God.

Is there no remedy for our lost 'professing' brethren?
Will nothing awaken them to their duty and danger?

 

From Spurgeon's sermon, "FIGS AND OLIVE BERRIES"

It would be a monstrosity, a thing to be wondered at and stared at
as unnatural and absurd if a fig tree started bearing olive berries;
and it is just as unnatural for a Christian to live in sin.

Can he so live as to bear the fruits of iniquity
instead of the fruits of righteousness?
God forbid that it should be so!

If the fig tree should ever bring forth olive berries,
we might have good reason to question whether it was a fig tree,
for a tree is known by its fruits.

So, when one who professes to be a Christian lives as worldlings
live, there is grave reason to fear that he is a worldling
notwithstanding his profession.

If we are to know him by his fruits, which is our Lord's infallible
test, how can we imagine that he is a partaker of the divine life
when he acts as he does?

Inconsistency of life casts a very serious doubt upon many
who call themselves the children of God.

No wonder they are themselves often the subjects of doubts and fears,
as they ought to be; for, if they judge themselves by their fruits,
they may well question whether they have ever been born again.

Those who are new creatures in Christ Jesus seek to live
as he lived, so far as it is possible for them to do so.

An inconsistent 'professor',
a double-dealing 'professor',
a worldly 'professor', (what an anomaly!)
a 'professor' that holds with the hare and runs with the hounds,
a 'professor' that makes a great profession
but has little or nothing worth having in possession-
such a man is the scorn of the world,
a mere blown-up football for men and devils to kick wherever they will.

An unholy man or woman, who 'pretends' to be a Christian,
is a stench in the nostrils of the thrice-holy God,
and a by-word and reproach among those
who make no pretence of being the Lord's people.