RE: See your post 105 of the thread - the sentence about having to reject sin to receive the gift is in it.
It is NOT in thread 105. I am talking about this sentence you said I allegedly posted:
“If we cannot receive the gift without rejecting sin, then I submit that no one has ever received the gift.”
It’s not there in that thread number. I don’t recall writing that.
As for the Christians you say are struggling with their sins, hey, we all are... in their case, it’s sexual, in my case it’s something else.
All I can say is as long as they recognize that IT IS SIN and they are sinners in God’s eyes in need of forgiveness, mercy and spiritual helpful, they are not far from God’s kingdom. I encourage you to pray for them, support them and continue doing what you’re doing.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”
The ones who are in spiritual danger are those who have the same sinful problem but RATIONALIZE it away to say that since God made them that way, then it is OK to indulge in their sexual desire.
Now I see the disconnect - the sentence I was referring to said that one could not receive the gift without rejecting sin. The “If we cannot receive the gift without rejecting sin, then I submit that no one has ever received the gift.” was my response to it.
How do you interpret the phrase you included: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”?
I interpret it that, those who realize they are still sinful by nature, and agonize over their inability to be as they think they should be, are in line for the Kingdom. Similar to Paul's lamentation about how he kept doing that which he would not do and then not doing that which he would do - he understood his sinful nature and knew he was incapable of "going and sinning no more" despite the intimate encounter with Jesus and those who originally followed Him. The sinful actions of the individual are now attributed to "The sin that lives within the person, rather than the person himself". It all makes perfect sense if you believe that jesus did what He said He was doing and washing away all our sins, past/present/future with His sacrifice.
Jeremiah tells us that God told of the New Covenant to come where He would forgive our wickedness and recognize our sins no more.
If you think that homosexuals should be able to stop indulging in their sinful sexual desires, then you need to go through a whole day with absolutely zero sinful thoughts/actions/words. If you think you can actually do it, then congratulations - Jesus did not have to die on your behalf. The wages of any sin, even the slightest, is death - steal a cookie or murder the Pope - no difference in God's eyes - the penalty is death. After Jesus washed away our sins with His blood, God does not recognize our continued sinfulness as sin - if He does, the Bible is a worthless dime store novel. It is still right for us to recognize and detest our sinfulness, but we are also told that not accepting the no-strings-attached gift is an act of falling from Grace.
There ya go!