The BIG Picture (Q&A)

How do you change when you became a Christian? You become a Christian when you hear the grace gospel and then respond to it in faith. Responding to the grace gospel changes your spiritual standing with God*. The grace gospel justifies you and saves you from God's wrath and hell, and you will go to heaven when you die, but the grace gospel does not change your physical life. You still continue to sin, your mind remains carnal and at enmity with God (1Cor.3:1; Rom.8:7), you continue to be unprofitable for God in your current condition (Rom.3:12). Unfortunately, many Christians remain in this condition because of ignorance. They believe that they are saved, and rightfully so, but they fail to 'continue' in salvation, because the church teaches them that they've made it, so they don't seek to continue in 'the faith' (Rom.1:5;2Cor.13:5); the doctrine in Paul's epistles that informs them how to die to self, how to grow up in Christ, how to walk in the Spirit,...

There are two things to understand concerning this question, ~1~ A man can NEVER be free from guile, falsehood, and wickedness, since the state of man in the flesh is unsalvageable! "The flesh", even as it  remains in the believer after salvation , is that which is "begotten [ birthed ] of the flesh" (John 3:6)  from parent to child tracing all the way back to Adam by whom  "Sin entered the world" (Romans 5:12). It is called ,  "the flesh," "the old man," "the natural man," "the carnal mind" and "the old Adamic nature". With respect to "the flesh" in the believer, the Apostle Paul declares that in it "dwells no good thing" (Romans 7:18), that it is "carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14), that it is "corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Ephesians 4:22), that it is at "enmity against God," and it is "not subject to the law of God, neither inde...

The answer to this question changes a bit if you understand that the Bible is the Word of God. So we could actually be asking, "How do you live according to God's Word, or the instructions of God?" . With this in mind we then need to ask, "What is God's instructions to me?" Asking it this way avoids the mind getting stuck in the idea that the Bible is a book, and even worse, a book of rules!!! This is what most people think of the Bible and why many get stuck in a pattern of living by rules and traditions. Let's get back to the question, "How do we live according to God's instructions?" If we see the Bible as God's instructions, we must ask, "What instructions are for me?" You see, the Bible is a book that spans millennia and the instructions in it are not all applicable to us today. God's instructions to Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness are not for us as it was in a different time and under different circumstan...

Answer Request: Is it possible that Romans 12:2 is saying that to fully know the mind of God, an individual must not love the pleasures of this world in order to be reborn of the spirit? Just off the bat, I don't think we will ever be able to fully know the mind of God. The book of Job, chapter 38, confirms that absolutely. On the other hand, I know the Bible says, "We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor.2:16), but this is only thoughts that the Holy Spirit shares with us daily based on knowledge or wisdom for life decisions and guidance. Nevertheless, let me pose an answer based on my views. When one gets saved, it is the beginning of a life-long journey of sanctification. The habits and desires of that worldly life you knew does not instantaneously disappear when you come to salvation. It is your spirit that is regenerated! Your mind is not touched! So, all those habits and 'bad' desires are still lingering around and will remain there unless you rep...