"The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation."

[Lou Newton]

"The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation."

- Martin Luther


"Think not that you shall turn to God when you will, if you will not

when you may."

- Assorted Authors


"Have you ever stood on the same plot of ground with the publican,

crying -- God be merciful to me a sinner?"

- William Tiptaft


"It is the greatest and dearest blessing that ever God gave to

men, that they may repent; and therefore to deny or to delay it

is to refuse health when brought by the skill of the physician -

to refuse liberty offered to us by our gracious Lord."

- Jeremy Taylor


"Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian, as faith is. A

very little sin, as the world calls it, is a very great sin to a true

Christian."

- Charles Spurgeon


"True repentance is no light matter. It is a thorough change of

heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and

humiliation - in heartfelt confession before the throne of grace -

in a complete breaking off from sinful habits, and an abiding

hatred of all sin. Such repentance is the inseparable companion

of saving faith in Christ."

- J. C. Ryle


"To do so no more is the truest repentance."

- Martin Luther

[Steve Hollander]

Hi Lou,
I have to repent every day and on occasion more than once a day. Thanks for the post. ..... Steve

[Lou Newton]

Hi Lou,
I have to repent every day and on occasion more than once a day. Thanks for the post. ..... Steve

Thanks for the reply Steve.

Paul said this after his 1st missionary trip:

1 Cor 15: ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

After his second trip he said this:

Eph 3: ⁸ Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

After his 3rd trip near the end of his life, Paul said this:

1 Tim 1
¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

We see the closer Paul got to The Lord Jesus, the more he was made aware of his sin. Paul matured in The Lord and was sanctified by His Holy Spirit. He had not become a bigger sinner, he had just become more aware of his sin.

The closer we get to the Holiness of The Lord Jesus, the more sinful we see ourselves.

[glen smith]

Thanks for the reply Steve.

Paul said this after his 1st missionary trip:

1 Cor 15: ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

After his second trip he said this:

Eph 3: ⁸ Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

After his 3rd trip near the end of his life, Paul said this:

1 Tim 1
¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

We see the closer Paul got to The Lord Jesus, the more he was made aware of his sin. Paul matured in The Lord and was sanctified by His Holy Spirit. He had not become a bigger sinner, he had just become more aware of his sin.

The closer we get to the Holiness of The Lord Jesus, the more sinful we see ourselves.

------------------------------------------------
I have on my hard drive 141 documents on sin - many of my own anguish.
Are you attempting to challenge me as the expert on sin?
I really like this post on the Apostle Paul.

The quote by Jeremy Taylor may be the most concise rendering of how the Plan of God to redeem humans becomes effective.

"It is the greatest and dearest blessing that ever God gave to

men, that they may repent; and therefore to deny or to delay it

is to refuse health when brought by the skill of the physician -

to refuse liberty offered to us by our gracious Lord."

- Jeremy Taylor

Repentance is not just a daily requirement,
but repentance is an attitude of being spiritual prostrate before the All Mighty, Holy and Merciful God
which is how, moment by moment, we are being sanctified.
A friend said to me,
" I would be an atheist except for this:
What am I to do with this Jesus on my back?"

[Lou Newton]

------------------------------------------------
I have on my hard drive 141 documents on sin - many of my own anguish.
Are you attempting to challenge me as the expert on sin?
I really like this post on the Apostle Paul.

The quote by Jeremy Taylor may be the most concise rendering of how the Plan of God to redeem humans becomes effective.

"It is the greatest and dearest blessing that ever God gave to

men, that they may repent; and therefore to deny or to delay it

is to refuse health when brought by the skill of the physician -

to refuse liberty offered to us by our gracious Lord."

- Jeremy Taylor

Repentance is not just a daily requirement,
but repentance is an attitude of being spiritual prostrate before the All Mighty, Holy and Merciful God
which is how, moment by moment, we are being sanctified.
A friend said to me,
" I would be an atheist except for this:
What am I to do with this Jesus on my back?"

Thanks Glen. Very good comment. I agree.

"The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation."

- Martin Luther

[Steve Hollander]

Amen, pride is the enemy of recognition of sin. So pride inhibits salvation sort of.
What do you think?

[Lou Newton]

Amen, pride is the enemy of recognition of sin. So pride inhibits salvation sort of.
What do you think?

Hi Steve, thanks for the reply. Amen.

I have seen many professing Christians claim that now that they are Christians they do not sin much any more.

I posted the post below to show that Paul certainly did not agree with them:

Paul said this after his 1st missionary trip:

1 Cor 15: ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

After his second trip he said this:

Eph 3: ⁸ Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

After his 3rd trip near the end of his life, Paul said this:

1 Tim 1
¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

We see the closer Paul got to The Lord Jesus, the more he was made aware of his sin. Paul matured in The Lord and was sanctified by His Holy Spirit. He had not become a bigger sinner, he had just become more aware of his sin.

The closer we get to the Holiness of The Lord Jesus, the more sinful we see ourselves.

Also The Holy Spirit writes this through John:

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

John was not writing to non Christians, but he was writing to Christians. Also notice that the passage is NOT in the past tense, but it is in the present tense.

Any time we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

[glen smith]

Amen, pride is the enemy of recognition of sin. So pride inhibits salvation sort of.
What do you think?

Pride - There is much about this in the Bible and its opposite, humility and humbleness.

Pride definition, a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct
Humble definition, not proud or arrogant; modest.
Humility definition, the quality or condition of being humble.

It is interesting to note that the definition for humble is the opposite of pride.

Pride is encouraged in some situations. However, spiritual pride is always negative.

It is impossible to converse with God if one is a spiritually prideful person.

David B. Curtis made this excellent or awful observation.
"If you are really good at self-sanctification/living the Christian life it ends up in pride."
Who does this leave? It leaves those who are not good at following the Lord Jesus.

C. S. Lewis wrote: "The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."

"Pride has a greater share than goodness of heart in the remonstrances we make to those who are guilty of faults; we reprove, not so much with a view to correcting them, as to persuade them that we are exempt from those faults ourselves."
... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Dying

"Do not think that you have made any spiritual progress unless you esteem yourself inferior to all." a Kempis

And if we Christians are not caught up in the net cast by these quotes, there is another that applies to all of us desiring to form a more perfect and glorious Church. Oswald Chambers always stabs me where I am guilty. "God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious."

Yes! We fail not for the sins C.S. Lewis describes but we fail because of only one sin - pride.

As long as we are full of pride we are not in communion with God and we do not experience salvation.

[Lou Newton]

Pride - There is much about this in the Bible and its opposite, humility and humbleness.

Pride definition, a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct
Humble definition, not proud or arrogant; modest.
Humility definition, the quality or condition of being humble.

It is interesting to note that the definition for humble is the opposite of pride.

Pride is encouraged in some situations. However, spiritual pride is always negative.

It is impossible to converse with God if one is a spiritually prideful person.

David B. Curtis made this excellent or awful observation.
"If you are really good at self-sanctification/living the Christian life it ends up in pride."
Who does this leave? It leaves those who are not good at following the Lord Jesus.

C. S. Lewis wrote: "The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."

"Pride has a greater share than goodness of heart in the remonstrances we make to those who are guilty of faults; we reprove, not so much with a view to correcting them, as to persuade them that we are exempt from those faults ourselves."
... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Dying

"Do not think that you have made any spiritual progress unless you esteem yourself inferior to all." a Kempis

And if we Christians are not caught up in the net cast by these quotes, there is another that applies to all of us desiring to form a more perfect and glorious Church. Oswald Chambers always stabs me where I am guilty. "God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious."

Yes! We fail not for the sins C.S. Lewis describes but we fail because of only one sin - pride.

As long as we are full of pride we are not in communion with God and we do not experience salvation.

Thanks Glen.

There is one and only one way to have victory over pride. That is to ask The Lord to reveal our prideful ways to us and then to confess those ways to The Lord.

Pride has victory over us when we think that we are not prideful.