David from NZ

Dying to sin and living for righteousness is a choice we each have to make. God has given us free will, so we can do whatever we like, but He prefers us to live righteously and follow His way, because He knows that we will be happy and at peace if we do. Sin inevitably leads to misery, sooner or later. If we choose to follow God's way, we die to sin. However, it is a choice we have to make every day. It is no good to make the choice once (when we are baptised), then forget it as soon as temptation comes along.

If Jesus was prepared to die to get forgiveness for my sins, the least I can do is to make the best effort I can to avoid sin. Jesus was prepared to die to show us how important it is to live righteously. I feel inspired do the best I can to live as righteously as he did.

Jesus' sinlessness was critical to the example he set. If he had been punished justly for crimes he had committed, it would mean nothing. Only by suffering for false accusations could he set a perfect example that would inspire us to follow him. His sinlessness was essential for him to do this, because if he had been a sinner, he would simply have taken the easy way out and denied that he was the son of God and Pilate would have had to release him. Only a sinless man with enormous integrity could have chosen to endure torture and death to make a stand for God's way.

Jesus' consistent message through the gospels is one of peace, when many around him claimed to be Messiahs or followed "Messiahs" who were just terrorists who wanted to fight the Romans and supposedly achieve religious freedom. Jesus was the only one speaking against this suicidal foolishness and advocating cooperation with the Romans, while returning to their faith in God and following God's law. He was so committed to these principles, he was prepared to die for them. He suffered for me to show me that violence or war are never justified and it is better to do anything to achieve peace and avoid conflict, even dying if there is no other option. His actions as described in the Gospels show us the way to live our lives.

In what way is God's glory dependent upon us living submissive, obedient lives? How is God hurt when we get rebellious? Jesus offended many when he said that he was the true messiah. Judeans at that time had misinterpreted their scriptures and thought the messiah was going to be a military leader who would free them from Roman rule. This was used as justification by various troublemakers and terrorists to start rebellions, none of which was successful and which eventually led to the destruction of Jerusalem, over half a million deaths of God's people, destruction of the temple and the enforced scattering of the Jews over the whole Roman empire. Jesus advocated acknowledgement of Roman rule, "Matthew 22:21 Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” After all, whatever faults the Romans had, they provided a long period of peace and stability to Judea. He also advocated following the Jewish Law, in other words, freedom comes from God, not from the sword, or following "foolish men" as Peter says. Peter is reminding us that we should follow Jesus' example, by following secular laws and taking part in democratic processes and have faith in God to help us right wrongs. Rebellion on a national level leads only to war, death and destruction. Over a century of religious wars after the reformation in Europe caused much death and destruction, but worst of all, hurt God because people realised that the churches of the time were the worst sinners around, because they had started the wars. I believe this was the start of the mass turning away from God which is increasingly prevalent today. On a personal level, rebellion may hurt us individually, but also sets a bad example, which turns more people from God and hurts Him. Having said all that, being too submissive (except to God) is wrong too; we all have a duty to speak out against injustice. "Whistleblowers", social campaigners and anyone who fights injustice is doing God's work, even if they have no personal faith in God. Julian Assange and those who provide information to wikileaks have often questionable personal morals, but they take considerable personal risks to expose political corruption, fraud and tax evasion by the rich and crimes perpetrated by governments. This is definitely God's work. For most of us, a good example to follow, would be the lady in the US who refused to issue a marriage licence to a same sex couple. Even if we do not agree with her actions, we should admire her commitment to her faith by standing up for what the Bible says is wrong. In my own life, I stood up for what is right in a small way when I found myself sidelined in a well-paid and previously productive science research job. I had little useful to do, but there was nothing my employer could do to force me out. I could have stayed for many years, getting well-paid to waste my time pretending to be busy. I realised that this was wrong and decided to take early retirement, thereby enabling myself to spend more time with God and family and hopefully freeing up money for a young scientist to get a useful job.

This issue is related to the commandment "do not take God's name in vain". This is better expressed as "do not bring God's name in to disrepute". In other words, proclaim your faith by your actions and set a good example. Do not criticise other people's sins, but shame them by doing right yourself. Its certainly true that actions speak louder than words. An act of kindness, or self-control speaks volumes about faith. Hypocrisy is one of the worst sins a Christian can commit, because it sends a strong message that Christianity is meaningless. One hypocrite can convince many people that faith is worthless and undo the good done by the good example set by many genuinely faithful people. If we notice a sin in ourselves, the least we can do is not to criticise others for that same sin. The best we can do is repent that sin and tell others how God helped us to do that and how our lives are now better because of that.

Read 1 Peter 2:11 carefully. The world tells us (1) to conform and (2) that sin won't hurt us. What does Peter tell us to combat these lies? How can this reminder help us? I don't believe "the world" tells us anything, false prophets are the ones who habitually lie to us. For most of the past 2000 years, "the church" was full of false prophets, who told everyone to ignore the bible and conform to their agenda, which had little to do with God's plans. They often defined sin to mean whatever they wanted it to mean. Now the false prophets are everywhere, politicians, advertising agencies, so-called "celebrities", used car salesmen and many more. They are never blatant enough to say that sin is acceptable, but they try to tell us that their policies, products or whatever are all we need to make our lives perfect. They also set bad personal examples, which certainly imply that sin is acceptable. Conforming now means "keeping up with the Joneses", having a new car, new phone and all the other junk we "just have to have" to be "successful". Peter tells us to abstain from sinful desires, which I believe means to reject the lies of the false prophets and think for oneself, with the help of the bible and by listening to God's replies to our prayers. We must follow our own path, with God's help, not follow the crowd of misguided fools who worship the new false prophets.

What actions and attitudes should this idea of being part of God's own people inspire in us? Live according to the best self-help book ever written, the Bible!

The best and most genuine way to praise God is not to be continually asking for things, but to thank Him for all he has done and is going to do, for us and for the others we pray for. If we have genuine faith, then we trust that God will provide whatever we and others really need, as soon as we think of it, even things we did not think of or were not aware we needed. Therefore, trusting that God will provide for our needs, guidance, inspiration, support etc. and thanking Him for it without reservation is the best form of praise we can give.

I don't need Christ's coming to have plenty of hope, I have God in my life who provides all the hope I need, here and now. I also don't expect Christ to come soon, but even the possibility of it happening in my lifetime is a powerful inspiration to live righteously, with self-control and soberness.

God used testing circumstances to bring me to faith. This challenging time helped me to become a much better person and develop my spirituality, leading me to have faith for the first time in my life. Nothing has been the same (and most things are very much better) since I began to have fellowship with God. None of this has changed me much outwardly, as I have never been much into sin (I'm too boring to do much wrong :)), but it has totally changed the way I think, interact with other people and especially how I view the future. I used to worry a lot about the future, now I am happy to just wait and see what God has in store for me.

I disagree that God's protection is guaranteed, even if our faith is weak. I believe God gives us what we truly ask for. If we ask for God's protection in times of trouble, thank Him in advance for His help and have strong faith and confidence that He will help us, then we are very likely to get His protection. If we ask for protection, but don't have confidence that God will help us, then we show disrespect of God and He will give us what we expected, ie, nothing. If you don't have faith that your prayer will be answered, why bother asking at all?

Nobody is perfect so nobody can be obedient all the time and so everyone needs forgiveness at least occasionally. If true faith requires obedience, how can we say that we are saved by grace rather than works? This is a complex question, because the answer depends on where you look. Jesus says: (John.5, 24) 'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.' This appears to say we are saved by God's grace alone. On the other hand, he also says: (Matt.7, 21-23) 'Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.' It seems that its not that simple. The answer may be in James 2, 14-17: 'What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' In modern terms, "walk the talk". Its easy to believe in salvation and appear to have faith, but actions reveal the truth!

I used to identify completely with this world but since I found God and retired, I can focus on what is really important, not doing a pointless job etc. I do think that its important not to regard this world as a sort of waiting room to get into heaven though. God put us here for a good reason, so we must make the most of the opportunities for spiritual development and helping other people, so we develop into the sort of people God intended us to be.