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Christianity means Sainthood?

Why is it that when you let SOME people know you are a Christian they are afraid to say what is on their mind or they feel you are not allowed to get angry and if you do you are not a true Christian. I've run into a few people who do this, am I the only one who experience this? I am a child of Christ but I am still flawed

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Permalink Reply by Colby on June 30, 2012 at 12:55pm

*/ Christianity means Sainthood? /*

I couldn't help but think of Paul the apostle when I saw this discussion title.

Paul's life was radically and forever changed when encountered a vision of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Paul went from oppressing and persecuting Christians with a vengeance to becoming the apostle to the Gentiles, planting churches in Greece, Turkey and Rome. He worked long, hard and tirelessly to spread the Gospel. He was the most prolific contributor to the writings comprising the New Testament.

But did Paul see himself as a "saint?"

Interestingly, he went from describing himself as "less than the least among saints" (Ephesians 3:8) to "chief sinner" (1 Timothy 1:15-16) later as his life and ministry were nearing their end.

Why do you think that as he neared the end of his life, despite all that he had accomplished in evangelizing and standing for the Gospel, he had a lower opinion of himself?

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Permalink Reply by Stephen King on July 15, 2012 at 1:21pm

Hi, Bro Colby.

The reason Paul seems to have a low opinion of himself towards the end of his life, is that the more God reveals himself to you, the more revelation of yourself you get. Our sinfulness is hidden to us.

This was done to Adam at the Garden of Aden. When he ate the fruit and discovered that he was naked he covered himself with leaves, but God covered Adams nakedness with a skin. It is a terrible thing to view your nakedness as The Lord sees it. You cannot survive the guilt. So the nakedness had to be covered. Our God's grace,love and mercies knows no bounds. Jesus, the gift of God to us conforms with this grace, mercy and love.

Blessings Stephen.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on July 15, 2012 at 1:29pm

Stephen,

This sounds great. I do have a question though, you said our sinfulness is hidden to us. So, how do we know to ask forgiveness if our sin was hidden?

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Permalink Reply by Stephen King on July 15, 2012 at 2:54pm

The kind of cover I meant to say is not like you imagine, my Brother. The cover is a spiritual veil. Look at it this way, why is it an uphill task (without the conviction of the Holy Spirit) while convincing a' sinner' that he has sinned and have come short of God's glory and yet it is plain to you as a born again christian that the man is lost in sin? It is written that we shall be like Him when we see Him. So when we see his glory, a piece of the veil disappears and we definitely have to ask for forgiveness for you clearly see yourself in His light. One may be seeing the acts of sin (Sins) but is not overly bothered. It works like this, when you are exposed to the righteousness of God then you perceive your sinfulness. Just like Peter, who tells The Lord Jesus to go away for Peter was a sinner. That was during the miraculous catch of fish.

Now we are grieved by our sins but not really upset by the sins of our fathers. Brother, I tell you very soon we are going to really grieve for the sins of the fathers for The Lord is about to be revealed in a higher glory. This is what Peter called 'when Christ is revealed in us'. Paul In Romans 8 calls it '..the revelation of the sons' and also "the adoption of the sons" and the redemption of our bodies". Jesus talked of the events that He called the "birth pains". Now this is the reason for the birth pains. The crossing of river Jordan. The coming of the Kingdom of God. I do not mean to preach but I have to let the pressure off and ease the burning.

The Lord keep you Brother.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on July 16, 2012 at 1:13pm

Colby,

I think he came to that conclusion as he grew closer to Him & saw more of his faults as compared to the Lord. Less of me & more of Him.

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Permalink Reply by Carla on July 2, 2012 at 3:39am

Hi Felicha,

my experience has been the same. When this happens it's easy to become discouraged or upset because we want so badly to always represent Christ in our lives as He already is in our hearts.

Our motives have changed, our reason for living has changed along with our purpose.

When we interact with the world, we have to remember that we are of different spirits, and we have a completely different world view than people who do not know the Lord.

Their natural inclination 'fallen flesh' is to judge us... but it's more like an accusation, and it's straight from the pit of hell.

Remember, that satan is our accuser, and he will attempt to bring on condemnation...However, there is no condemnation for those who are 'In Christ.' and 'Greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.'

Be sure to surround yourself with enough brother and sisters in Christ and speak of these struggles, and also for regular fellowship. I have found that when I get discouraged and feel hurt by the world, there are some things I can do to help.

1) pray

2) read your bible

3) true Christian fellowship (worship and learning with discussion...and talking about circumstances and how to apply biblical teachings to them)

4) ask the Lord to shine His light to reveal sin or unforgiveness.

It can be hard Beloved. You are not alone in your struggles.

When people from the world judge you, just remind yourself that your judge is Jesus Christ, and He has found you innocent of all charges laid against you. We are still flawed, we are each a work in progress, and God is not finished with us yet. Our hope is in Him.

Be careful who you become good friends with....bad company corrupts good character.

1 Cor 15:33

2 Cor 6:14,15

Bless you, Carla