A Few Thoughts About Evidences That One is a Christian

A1 Outline

B1 Changed life

B2 Changed attitude

B3 Changed actions

B4 Changed habits

B5 Changed motivations

B6 Changed love

B7 Changed talk

B8 Changed reading

B9 Changed studying

B10 Changed friends

B11 Changed fellowship

B12 Changed family

A2 Changed life

B1 Before

C1 Self and sinful pleasure

C2 2 Timothy 3:2-4 EMTV For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, not loving what is good, 4 traitors, headstrong, having been puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

B2 After

C1 God and pleasing Him

C2 Hebrews 11:5-6 EMTV By faith Enoch was translated [so as] not to see death, "and he was not found, because God translated him"; for before his translation he had obtained witness that he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for it is necessary [for] the [one] approaching God to believe that He is, and that He becomes a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

A4 Changed actions

B1 Before

C1 Seeks their own self.

C2 Romans 2:8 NIV But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

C3 Also read Psalm 10.

B2 After

C1 Seeks God.

C2 Psalms 63:1 BSB A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

A5 Changed habits

B1 Before

C1 Habits of thoughts, desires, words, and deeds that displease God.

C2 Proverbs 12:22 NIV The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

C3 Proverbs 6:16-19 NLT There are six things the LORD hates—no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

C4 1 Kings 21:25 CSB Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the LORD's sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him.

B2 After

C1 Habits of thoughts, desires, words, and deeds that please God.

C2 Psalms 15:2 BSB He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart.

C3 Romans 14:17-18 NLT For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

A6 Changed motivations

B1 Before

C1 This is desiring what is evil. The motive is to satisfy evil desire. Sometimes the motive is because they hate God and want to spite Him.

C2 Proverbs 21:2 NET All of a person's ways seem right in his own opinion, but the LORD evaluates the motives.

C3 Romans 1:30 BSB slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.

B2 After

C1 Now desiring to do what is holy. They want fellowship with Him, want to serve Him, want to be with those who also want to work for Him.

C2 1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

A7 Changed love

B1 Before

C1 No love for God. Have love for anything else, especially themselves.

C2 John 5:42 GW But I know what kind of people you are. You don't have any love for God.

C3 Isaiah 5:20 NLT What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

B2 After

C1 Love God. This is seen in their actions in public and private.

C2 Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

C3 1 Peter 1:8-9 NLT You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

A8 Changed talk

B1 Before

C1 Evil speaking in all forms. It includes deception in all forms.

C2 Psalm 52:3-4 NIV You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. 4 You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!

C3 Romans 3:13-14 NIV Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips. 14 Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

B2 After

C1 Now we want godly speaking in truth and kindness.

C2 Psalm 37:30-31 NET The godly speak wise words and promote justice. 31 The law of their God controls their thinking; their feet do not slip.

A9 Changed reading

B1 Before

C1 The eyes and mind want to see evil.

C2 Matthew 6:23 LEB But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great [is] the darkness!

B2 After

C1 Now the desire is to see goodness and the other godly character traits.

C2 Psalms 119:37 GW Turn my eyes away from worthless things. Give me a new life in your ways.

A10 Changed studying

B1 Before

C1 Many study how to be evil.

C2 Micah 2:1 NLT What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so.

B2 After

C1 Now we want to study God’s ways, thoughts, character traits, worldview, lifestyle, etc.

C2 Psalms 119:15 GW I want to reflect on your guiding principles and study your ways.

A11 Changed friends

B1 Before

C1 They want friends just like them.

C2 Psalms 50:18 GW When you see a thief, you want to make friends with him. You keep company with people who commit adultery.

B2 After

C1 We want friends just like the Lord.

C2 Malachi 3:16 GW Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD paid attention and listened. A book was written in his presence to be a reminder to those who feared the LORD and respected his name.

A12 Changed fellowship

B1 Before

C1 A desire to be companions with evil people who hate God and His ways.

C2 Isaiah 1:23 NKJV Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

B2 After

C1 A desire to be with those like-minded people who love God and His ways.

C2 Psalm 119:63 NIV I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.

A13 Changed family

B1 Before

C1 Following evil examples and fellowships. Also in the Kingdom of Darkness.

C2 2 Kings 8:27 NLT Ahaziah followed the evil example of King Ahab's family. He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as Ahab's family had done, for he was related by marriage to the family of Ahab.

C3 Matthew 12:25-26 NIV Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

B2 After

C1 Following good examples and fellowships. Also in the Kingdom of God.

C2 Mark 10:28-30 NIV Then Peter spoke up, "We have left everything to follow you!" 29 "Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--along with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life.

C3 1 John 3:1-2 NIV See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

2 Corinthians 5:17 EMTV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

A Few Thoughts About Oneness and Intimacy in Marriage

This comment was received on Love Honor Vacuum:

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but no woman in the world is worth the aggravation you guys described. It seems to me that, before marriage, women are usually “hot to trot,” but once they get control of your life and (mostly) your wallet, they turn off the spiggot, and make everything into a thankless chore. After listening carefully to the whole podcast, I admit to being a little like Aquaman. What I heard was “somethin’, somethin’, somethin’, no sex for you.”

Even men who take their “shepherding” role seriously, get to the point of desperation. We usually have ONE item on our list of Requirements-for-a-good-marriage. Women seem to have 100 or more.

And if we don’t fulfill all 100 to perfection on a daily basis, they feel justified in becoming serial refusers. It seems to me that the problem your ministry you need to work hardest to defeat with is women and their OUTRAGEOUSLY UNREALISTIC expectations. It is those unmeetable expectations that are destroying marriages today; not porn, not affairs, and certainly not “evil white men” and their “evil penises.” It’s women and their insurmountable “Prince Charming Complex.”

Bill

You can read the response at the link about.

My thoughts:

This man, Bill, is either ignorant, willfully ignorant, or evil. It appears from his last statement that he wants sex on his demand and ignores his wife’s feelings. He needs to submit to his wife’s feelings, too.

B1 Submitting to one another: Ephesians 5:21 NIV Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

B2 He needs to love his wife as HIMSELF: Ephesians 5:33 CSB To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

The Bible teaches oneness in marriage. This is oneness in body, soul, and spirit.

When we say oneness we are not referring to Eastern religious oneness. Oneness is understood to be of the same mind, the same spirit, the same goals, etc.

B1 The Trinity is one, not as oneness theology (which is unbridled heresy). John 17:21 NLT I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. (Also Deuteronomy 6:4 and John 10:30)

B2 The church: 1 Corinthians 12:13 CSB For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

B3 Marriage: Genesis 2:24 NLT This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Oneness in spirit

B1 This is spiritual oneness.

B2 This is done when husband and wife pray, read and study the Scriptures, memorize Scriptures, pray, etc. together.

B3 On a greater level is when the family is worshiping in the congregation together. The oneness is the family is worshiping together.

B4 This is fellowship.

C1 Enoch with God: Genesis 5:22 NLT After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

C2 Elkanan and wives: 1 Samuel 1:19 NKJV Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

Oneness in soul

B1 This is emotional, intellectual, oneness.

B2 This is done when we spend time together for friendship, planning, problem solving, helping each other, etc.

B3 It is for comfort and listening when in trials or the hard day at work.

B4 It is for rejoicing together.

B5 You don’t need date night. It is to be the every day experience of having each other.

B6 This is not to mean you spend every breathing moment together. Everyone needs their space. The idea is in general there is to be oneness.

Oneness in body

B1 This is physical oneness

B2 If the husband enjoys pleasure, so should his wife.

B3 If he does not give her pleasure, he is either ignorant or does not love his wife.

C1 Consider

D1 1 Corinthians 13:5 WEL love...is not self-seeking…

D2 A wife is the closest neighbor there is: Galatians 5:14 WEL For all the law is fulfilled in one saying, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.

C2 Abraham gave Sarah, his wife, pleasure: Genesis 18:12 NKJV Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

C3 The Song of Solomon

D1 This inspired book was and is to be read and interpreted in its plain, normal sense.

D2 It is a manual of oneness in physical and emotional spheres.

D3 It is part of God’s standards for husband and wife.

D4 A husband is to enjoy his wife’s beauty. Release is not the goal. Enjoying her beauty is the most important. We are not to enjoy another’s person’s beauty, but we are to enjoy our wife’s beauty. It takes more than 2 minutes. Song of Songs 1:10 NLT How lovely are your cheeks; your earrings set them afire! How lovely is your neck, enhanced by a string of jewels.

D5 Song of Songs 2:14 NLT Young Man My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely.

D6 All of Song of Songs Chapter 4

B4 Release is relief from the build up of pleasure. If a man releases without his wife being able to relax and have pleasure, he will not have any enjoyment of his wife’s beauty, which is most important for physical oneness in marriage.

B5 The wife has needs, too. Both husband and wife should fulfill each other’s needs: 1 Corinthians 7:3 NLT The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs.

B6 A husband does not own his wife; she can refuse. They are to help each other: 1 Corinthians 7:4 NLT The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

B7 He has an obligation to fulfill her sexual needs as well as she his: 1 Corinthians 7:3 CSB A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.

C1 The Greek word for duty is ὀφειλή opheilḗ.

C2 It means

D1 Cognate: 3782 opheilḗ (a feminine noun) – a specific (applied) kind of indebtedness, implying an "applied obligation" due to the debt (what is owed). See 3781 (opheiletēs).

D2 3781 opheilétēs (a masculine noun) – a debtor; someone under obligation to pay back (discharge) a debt.

C3 The husband has a debt to fulfill his wife’s sexual needs.

Love in marital oneness

B1 Love is a choice

B2 The actions of love are 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a WEL Love is very patient and kind; love is not envious; love doesn’t brag about itself, is not haughty, 5 Doesn’t behave improperly, is not self-seeking; love isn’t easily aggravated, doesn’t keep a list of wrongs, 6 Doesn’t rejoice in injustice, but rejoices in the truth, 7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, calmly endures all things. 8 Love never ends

B3 Bill does not do this. He completely and miserable fails God’s standards.

C1 This is truly a time for repentance.

D1 Confession of sin

E1 This is a public sin and needs to be publicly confessed and forgiveness sought.

E2 A sin that only God knows needs to be confessed only to God and forgiveness sought from Him.

E3 A sin that only one person knows needs to be confessed to God and that person then forgiveness sought from both.

E3 A public sin is sin know by many people. It needs to be confessed to God and publicly then forgiveness sought from all.

D2 Asking forgiveness

E1 All sin is against God’s laws.

E2 Sin can be in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds.

E3 We live what we really believe.

E4 Sin comes from our evil hearts. We are not compelled to sin. God does not decree sin.

D3 Change of attitude

D4 Change of life

D5 Consistency and persevering changes in public and private

B4 Ecclesiastes 9:9 NLT Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.

Bill you are in great error and great sorrow. You are harming your wife.

A Few Thoughts About the Worship Service

1 Timothy 4:13 NRSV Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching.

Reading

B1 This is reading the Scriptures publicly.

B2 Importance

C1 Psalm 119:130 NLT The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

C2 People need the Scriptures, because the natural person cannot understand it: Psalm 119:130 NLT The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

C3 We need God’s help to understand: John 16:8 NLT And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

C4 Psalm 119:130 NLT The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.

C5 Psalm 19:7 NLT The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

C6 2 Timothy 3:15-16 NLT You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

B3 Suggestions

C1 Church lectionary (Example: daily, Sundays, Sundays 2, daily 2 (found under heading of “daily lectionary” a pdf file)

C2 The passage being preached/taught that Sunday.

C3 Daily reading plan for whole church to read at home. (Example here, here)

C4 The plan I use which reads a chapter from the Old Testament taking 3 years and one chapter from the New Testament, which takes 1 year. I ask 2 questions:

D1 What does this chapter mean?

D2 How do I apply it to my life?

D3 Example:

MORNING

Ezra 9

What does this mean?

How do I apply this to my life?

EVENING

2 Corinthians 1

What does this mean?

How do I apply this to my life?

C5 Hearing the Bible reading, whether online or through an app.

D1 Online suggestions: you can search YouTube or other online video source. You might like Daily One Year Bible where you can choose what version (This also has commentary/devotion, but I can’t vouch for that).

D2 App suggestions: Bible Gateway, Blue Letter Bible (the icon in the lower left corner of the app), YouVersion, and many others.

Exhorting

B1 This is encouraging and motivating ourselves and others to think and live as Christians.

B2 The Greek word is παράκλησις paráklēsis. It means appeal, encouragement, comfort. It is the answer for a cry of help. The encouragement in this passage, I believe, deals with an encouragement for motivation to learn, live, think, act in society publicly and private according to God’s way. It is not bullying, controlling, or having arrogance.

B3 A few examples

C1 2 Chronicles 33:16 NLT Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel.

C2 Ezra 6:14 NLT So the Jewish elders continued their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by the God of Israel and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia.

C3 Acts 20:2 NLT While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece,

C4 Acts 23:11 NLT That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, "Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well."

Teaching

B1 This is teaching the meaning and application of Scripture, doctrine, and apologetics.

B2 An example of teaching comes from our Lord Jesus in what is named the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

The brothers and sisters share their gifts

B1 Ephesians 4:11 NLT Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

B2 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NLT There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

B3 1 Corinthians 12:28 NLT Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

All Christians have a spiritual gift (1 Peter 4:10).

Since we have a gift, the Holy Spirit expects us to use it. (1 Timothy 4:14 and Luke 19:11-26).

All gifts are to build up the church (the people). (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Ephesians 5:18-20 NRSV Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,  19  as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts,  20  giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:16-17 NRSV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  17  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

• We are to teach each other through music.
• We are to worship together through music.
• We are to learn Scripture through music (Psalms).
• We are to learn about the Scriptures through music.
• We are to learn doctrine through music.
• We are to honor God through music.
• We are to admonish and encourage the faith, the faithful, and to be faithful through music.
• We are to give thanks through music.
• We are to do this in the name of the Lord Jesus through music. This is giving honor, recognition, and His approval of what we are singing and how we are singing.

A Few Thoughts About Worldviews

A worldview is defined as A worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all one's perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing. (Source).

A list of worldview includes: Buddhistic, Islamic, Jehovah's Witness, Christian Science, Narcissistic, Feminism, Postmodernism, Social justice, Atheism, Agnosticism, Pantheism, Panentheism, Spirit, Simulation, satanic, Secularism, Marxism, New Spirituality, and many others.

According to the Bible there are only two: flesh and spirit.

Flesh

B1 The foundation this worldview is the self. It is evil. Jeremiah 17:9 NLT The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

B2 It is out of our hearts that evil comes. Matthew 15:19 NLT For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

B3 Original sin is NOT that we are punished for Adams’ sin. That is error!

C1 Ezekiel 18:19-20 NLT "'What?' you ask. 'Doesn't the child pay for the parent's sins?' No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent's sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child's sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.

C2 Deuteronomy 24:16 NLT Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.

B4 Original sin is Me First. It is my desires, thoughts, words, and deeds. Me, Me, Me. James 4:3 NLT And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

B5 God is not pleased with the flesh worldview: Ephesians 2:3 NLT All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.

B6 Flesh and Spirit contrasted: Romans 8:5-8 NRSV For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (6) To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (7) For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law—indeed it cannot, (8) and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

B7 This is a worldview enslaved and addicted to sin:

C1 Galatians 3:22 NLT But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

C2 Titus 3:3 NLT Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.

C3 1 Peter 4:3 NLT You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy--their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

B8 What this worldview leads to (Some do more evil than others): Galatians 5:19-21 NLT When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

B9 This worldview has the desires of power, money, and sex.

B10 The 10 Commandments list the broad classifications of sins with many subsets of sins under each. (See Exodus 20).

Spirit

B1 Christians have been cleansed from, redeemed from, saved from:

C1 Ephesians 2:3 NLT All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.

C2 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people--none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

B2 We are warned to abandon the flesh worldview: Galatians 5:16-18 NLT So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

B3 The actions and fruits of the life with the worldview of the Spirit. These words have to be defined as God defines them in Scripture, not popular culture: Galatians 5:22-24 NLT But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

B4 There are ~1,000 rules in the New Testament for Christians to follow. Some examples:

C1 Romans 12.

C2 1 Thessalonians 5:12-27.

C3 James 4.

We have a choice to make. We can live by God’s worldview or the flesh. God’s grace is sufficient.

James 4:4-6 NLT You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NLT Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

A Few Thoughts About Christian Character Traits

James 3:8-9 WEL But the tongue can no one tame. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless God, even the Father, and with the same we curse people, who are made according to God's likeness.

Colossians 3:9-10 WEL Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have completely rid yourself of the old nature with his deeds, 10 And have put on the new [nature], which is being renewed into knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

A Christian is to be acting in God’s image, that is, in reason and in God’s character.

We see a sampling of God’s character as seen in

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
• 2 Peter 1:3-8
• Galatians 5:22-23

These traits must be seen in us. Perhaps, it is only briefly at first, but with time and God’s training (chastening), it develops, so we become more consistent in the character traits that He is pleased with.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a WEL Love is very patient and kind; love is not envious; love doesn't brag about itself, is not haughty, 5 Doesn't behave improperly, is not self-seeking; love isn't easily aggravated, doesn’t keep a list of wrongs, 6 Doesn't rejoice in injustice, but rejoices in the truth, 7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends…

B1 Love is part of the central character of God. Truth is the other.

C1 1 John 4:8 CSB The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

C2 Hebrews 6:18 CSB So that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

B2 Love, God’s love, is a choice. He chooses to love. The actions of love towards others are seen in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

B3 We are to love God in this way and other humans. Luke 10:27 MKJV And answering, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus then gives an example in the illustration of the Good Samaritan.

B4 We are even to love our enemies. Clearly, this has to be a choice. Matthew 5: 44-45 PickeringNT But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45, that you may prove to be sons of your Father in the heavens; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust.

2 Peter 1:3-9 WEL Since his divine power has given to us everything [needful] for life and godliness through the thorough knowledge of him who has called us to glory and moral excellence. 4 Through this he has given very great and precious promises, so that by them we may become partakers of the divine nature, [since] we have escaped the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. 5 Beside this, be diligent to add to your faith moral excellence; to moral excellence add knowledge. 6 To knowledge add self-control; to self-control add perseverance; to perseverance add godliness. 7 To godliness add brotherly love; to brotherly love add unselfish, unconditional love. 8 For if these qualities are in you and are plentiful, they will make you not to be barren or unfruitful in the thorough knowledge concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he who lacks these qualities is blind, short sighted and become forgetful that he was totally cleansed from his past sins.

B1 This list encourages us to become partakers of the divine nature, that is, God’s communicable character traits. We need to have our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds as Jesus character traits are.

B2 God gives us the grace to do this. He also gives us the training and testing that we need. Hebrews 12:10 WEL Truly, they disciplined us for only a few days according to what seemed best to them, but he for our benefit, so that we may be partakers of his holiness.

B3 This is God’s desire for us: Romans 8:29 WEL Because whom he foreknew he also already appointed to conform to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

B4 We add to these traits by

C1 Knowing them, so we must study the New Testament, not only precepts but examples from the life of our Lord Jesus.

C2 Praying for them, so God will give us grace to do them.

C3 Fellowshipping with others, so we can encourage others and they encourage us.

B5 Note the warning: 2 Peter 1:9 But he who lacks these qualities is blind, short sighted and become forgetful that he was totally cleansed from his past sins.

Galatians 5:22-23 WEL But, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

B1 The Spirit in this passage is the Holy Spirit.

B2 God, the Holy Spirit, works into us these traits, if we are willing.

B3 We must not resist His grace.

B4 If they are not seen privately and publicly, God will convict us. When He does we must repent. The fruit of repentance must be seen in that we do not practice these things anymore. Matthew 3:8 ESV Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (Another translation: Matthew 3:8 NLT Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God).

B5 Our lives, our families, our churches, our society, our country, our government, our business, our world would be a different place, if all lived by this fruit.

Some questions

B1 Do we have the character traits that God wishes for us to have?

B2 What can we do to increase these traits?

B3 Why must we be consistent in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds in private as well as in public?

Psalm 124:8 NLT Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 119:20 NIV My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

Psalm 119:34-36 NIV Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

A Few Thoughts About Preaching

2 Timothy 3:16-17 CSB All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

All preaching is to be based solidly on the Bible.

To teach

B1 To know what we believe

C1 Gospel

C2 Doctrine

B2 To know why we believe what we do

C1 Apologetics (we have a reasonable faith)

C2 How Christianity answers the big questions of life

B3 To know what a Christian worldview and lifestyle is

To convict

B1 Of sin

B2 Of truth

To expose sin leading to repentance

B1 The purpose of exposure is to lead to repentance and be converted (from their sin whether Christian or non-Christian).

B2 It is not unloving to preach about sins listed in the Bible

B3 We do NOT have to mention names or situations, unless it is abuse or other crime that we have to warn others of

B4 It protects the church, so we will be more pleasing to our Father

B5 To explain heresies

To encourage

B1 In words

B2 In deeds

B3 In help

B4 In fellowship

B5 In emotions

B6 In faith

B7 In families

B8 In persecution

To strengthen

B1 Faith

B2 Belief

B3 Trust

B4 Bible study

B5 Prayer

B6 Fellowship

B7 Serving

B8 Evangelism

Some things to not preach

B1 People are naturally good

B2 A pep talk

B3 A little tidbit to entertain

B4 A cute story to amuse

B5 A little story

B6 Politics

B7 Only current events

B8 Only social issues

B9 And many other similar things that can be discussed elsewhere other than church