1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death
. Reward for enduring=Crown of Life
Penalty for not enduring=death
Reward for overcoming=eat of the Tree of Life
Penalty for not overcoming=death
As a working definition of temptation: anything that closes you to Grace: the snares of Satan, Sin, and failure to follow His word. That which will cause you to fall away unless you repent of it.If you feel they are different, can you explain why?
v.
this is my final post on the subject. If my point is not clear after these thousands of words, it will never be. Thank you for listening.
James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Note that ... sin, when it is finished, bringeth about death. And when is sin finished ? ... when it has completely estranged us from God. There is no question that we must endure ... in our walk with God, for this is the essence of our quest ... to be with God.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
... and how do we overcome ?Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
1 John 5 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Reward for enduring temptation, = The crown of life.
Penalty for not enduring Life? = You were never a believer, Gods Spirit was never in you, so you suffer the same as all non believers.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
One will not simply receive the crown because he endured temptation, he will only receive it if he first loved the Lord, which gave him eternal life, not enduring the temptation. Two different things here, salvation and rewards.
You must be given salvation, before God will give you your rewards. Read it again
JH :-)
So is it your conclusion, that we who believe that eternal life is a free gift of God, and the works and overcoming and endurance’s we face in life are rewarded after we're given eternal life, that we are not working to change our lives and endure as much as you, who are solely depending on your works to get you there?
If you feel they are different, can you explain why?
Let me try. I smoked for over 35 years. I had stopped many times, and once for over 11 years, but I always came back, and it was harder every time to stop.
I used every head game I could come up with, from keeping my smokes locked in the trunk of the car and having to go out every time I needed a fix, to smoking cigars that I hated the taste, thinking I would stop, but I simply developed a taste for them.
One day as I prayed, I found my self-asking God to give me the strength to quit, but not for myself, but for my wife.
She had lost her first husband to smoking, and here I was starting to put her through the same thing again, plus the danger to her health from 2nd hand smoke.
I left my pipes, tobacco and lighters on the outside table, and never smoked again.
I didn't struggle with my will power, or summon my inner strength, or beat my chest, God healed me and I walked away from smoking with no more then a few dreams that I was smoking again.
Now, will I be given a reward for quitting the habit because I did it unselfishly for my wife, or will God say, no rewards for you, you made me do all the work for you?
I will gladly give God all the credit, but I doubt He wants it, and possibly my faith will warrant some consideration also.
Does God only consider us overcomers if we struggle and sweat by our own powers to do it on our own? If so, why did Jesus die for us if we could have become perfect on our own?
Please read John 1:12 and 13 several times.
V-12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:,/b>
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Does this not tell us that it's not by our own human birth or our will power of the flesh that we become the sons of God?
Tell me how you read Verse 13.
JH :-)