Would you say that the majority of the people and the majority of thier time on earth, are spent in a virtual hell, then? I think only true surrender to G-d will allow one to rid themselves of these sinful spirits. The wages of sin is death, but we are not always able to control our seat of soul (heart)...only by surrendering to Love can we ever hope to overcome, or die to the carnal man.
I disagree with there being a final destination, tho. I believe that life is a journey of growth, and in heaven, I also believe we will make mistakes and be allowed to learn from them. I'm not sure if we will ever completely rid ourselves of the negatives, but if you're in the process of becoming, then you have the tools to consistantly overcome that which harms you, and it will be those who make the grade, imo.
like you prober, thoughts in process....
Well, Jesus expressed quite a different view of things to come (now, and in the future):
Hebrews 10:1-22, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
In the Old Testament, they used to offer sacrifices each year to cover the people's sins. The blood of Jesus does far more then cover sins, it takes them away. It removes them from your identity... it removes them from you as far as the east to the west!
Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
Revelations 1:5, "And from Jesus Christ, who... washed us from our sins in his own blood."
Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
Matthew 26:28, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Do you know what the NT Greek has to say about the word 'remission' here? "Forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty."
Christ died so your conscience could be cleansed
2 Cor 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Why do you think God wanted us to be new creations when we enter His royal family?
Because He doesn't want your past to be a part of you anymore! He wants you to be washed clean from all your sins and wiped clean from your past!
Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
God knew that if He didn't forget our sins, they would forever be before Him, and it would hinder the closeness that He desires to have with us. Therefore, God Himself said that for His own sake, He chose to not only forgive your sins, but also forget them and cast them into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
Hebrews 9:14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Not only did God chose to forget your sins, but He also wants you to forget them as well. God's Word tells us to, "...draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
So it appears that once cleansed of all our transgressions, not only will God forget them, but we will forget them as well.
No man it seems that enters into the realm of God will have any vestiges of the failed part of his/her past. Hence anger, selfishness, greed and so on, can't be taken with you...
v/r
Joshua
