Moral Blindness

[Bardon]

Or as i like to call "walk, in I darkness, it can destroy so many good things in our lives,

Men who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness know not all the destruction he will bring him and His family.
Children typically fear the dark, and many of us never get over it. But consider darkness—it is nothing more than the absence of light. Before Jesus came, the world was walking in spiritual darkness. People didn’t have a clear understanding of who God really is. It took the Light of the world to reveal the Father to us, to show us His heart and His redemptive plan. No wonder we worship Jesus as the “light of the world” John 8:12
Trusting When We Can’t See

See on John 1:5. Walk (περιπατῶμεν), is, literally, walk about; indicating the habitual course of the life, outward and inward. The verb, with this moral sense, is common in John and Paul, and is found elsewhere only in Mark 7:5; Acts 21:21.

We lie and do not the truth. Again the combination of the positive and negative statements. See on verse 5. The phrase to do the truth occurs only in John’s Gospel and First Epistle. See :

John 3:21. All walking in darkness is a not doing of the truth. “Right action is true thought realized. Every fragment of right done is so much truth made visible”

DO WE WALK IN THE LIGHT OR THE DARKNESS?

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin”
1 John 1:6–7

Genuine converts to Christ grieve at their sin. They hate their sins, and they desire the light of life in Christ, which is to say they desire and work to walk in integrity and righteousness. Persons habitually and unrepentantly living in sin, who deny that they are sinners are not genuinely converted.
8 If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].
9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].
10 If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us [the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts].
John 1:8–10.

“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” John 3:5

 

[civic]

Great topic, one of my favorites. I spoke on this at our last mens discipleship group at our church.

 

[Bardon]

Great topic, one of my favorites. I spoke on this at our last mens discipleship group at our church.

@civic Great maybe you could help' I want to show how a bad the mine gets and how we come to have have a negative mindset on ever part of our Life, Body, Loved and Friends,


Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness.

Merciful Lord, Your Word challenges me: Do I fear You, Lord? Do I obey the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let those of us who do trust in Your name, Lord God, and rely upon You. Though I fall, I shall not be utterly cast down; for You, Lord, uphold me with Your hand. Your commandment is a lamp, and Your law a light.

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, my Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore my eye is good, my whole body will be full of light. But if my eye is bad, my whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in me is turns to darkness, how great is that darkness!

May I walk in Your light, always fearing You, always obeying Your commands, and always trusting in Your righteousness and love.

 

[Dizerner]

Genuine converts to Christ grieve at their sin. They hate their sins

I guarantee you that's not always true.

They should hate in general the principle of sin, and have most likely repented of certain sins.

But there are many sins they excuse away and justify, and many times even embrace.

Often with a self-righteous fake air of piousness, too.

Best to be more realistic and honest about Christians, so one can address them where they really are.

 

[Aeliana]

I guarantee you that's not always true.

They should hate in general the principle of sin, and have most likely repented of certain sins.

But there are many sins they excuse away and justify, and many times even embrace.

Often with a self-righteous fake air of piousness, too.

Best to be more realistic and honest about Christians, so one can address them where they really are.

I look at mistakes we have made in our past that were a result of sinful behavior, before or after salvation, regrets. We all have them.

Critics often point to the contrast between belief and behavior in many Christians as an argument against the gospel. While this accusation can be biased, we cannot ignore that, when we associate with Jesus, even outsiders expect to see changes. Numerous people come to Christ due to the godly lifestyle of a Christian friend or family member.

Now Sins we accept is another of walking in darkness for the Christian.

Of course, we need to acknowledge that some sins are more serious than others. I would rather be guilty of a lustful look than of adultery. Yet Jesus said that with that lustful look, I have actually committed adultery in my heart. I would rather be angry at someone than murder that person. Yet Jesus said that whoever murders and whoever is angry with his brother are both liable to judgment .

21 You have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not kill, and whoever kills shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court. [Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:17; 16:18.]

22 But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice (enmity of heart) against him shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court; and whoever speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You cursed fool! [You empty-headed idiot!] shall be liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire.
Matthew 5:21-22


The truth is, all sin is serious because all sin is a breaking of God’s Law.

 

[civic]

I look at mistakes we have made in our past that were a result of sinful behavior, before or after salvation, regrets. We all have them.

Critics often point to the contrast between belief and behavior in many Christians as an argument against the gospel. While this accusation can be biased, we cannot ignore that, when we associate with Jesus, even outsiders expect to see changes. Numerous people come to Christ due to the godly lifestyle of a Christian friend or family member.

Now Sins we accept is another of walking in darkness for the Christian.

Of course, we need to acknowledge that some sins are more serious than others. I would rather be guilty of a lustful look than of adultery. Yet Jesus said that with that lustful look, I have actually committed adultery in my heart. I would rather be angry at someone than murder that person. Yet Jesus said that whoever murders and whoever is angry with his brother are both liable to judgment .

21 You have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not kill, and whoever kills shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court. [Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:17; 16:18.]

22 But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice (enmity of heart) against him shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court; and whoever speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You cursed fool! [You empty-headed idiot!] shall be liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire.
Matthew 5:21-22


The truth is, all sin is serious because all sin is a breaking of God’s Law.

ye will know them by their fruits

 

[Aeliana]

ye will know them by their fruits

Yes But God will change our hearts if we let him.

John Newton, who wrote the much-loved hymn “Amazing Grace,” was earlier in his life a slave trader and even captain of a ship transporting captured Africans to America. For medical reasons, he left the seafaring life, became a customs officer, studied theology, and eventually became a minister. However, even as a minister, Newton never forgot the horrible nature of his sin as a slave trader. At the end of his life, Newton said to a friend, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”[1]

Centuries before, Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, was also guilty of grievous sins. Acts 7:54–8:1 describes his complicity in the stoning of Stephen; then in Acts 9:1-2, we read of his personal involvement in persecuting believers. Toward the end of his life, Paul described himself in those earlier days as “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [of Christ]” (1 Timothy 1:13). But in that same context, he could also say, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (verse 15).

Both John Newton and the apostle Paul saw themselves as great sinners with a great Savior. Most believers cannot identify with either John Newton or the apostle Paul in the gravity of their earlier sins.


Jerry Bridges, Sins We Accept

 

[civic]

Yes But God will change our hearts if we let him.

John Newton, who wrote the much-loved hymn “Amazing Grace,” was earlier in his life a slave trader and even captain of a ship transporting captured Africans to America. For medical reasons, he left the seafaring life, became a customs officer, studied theology, and eventually became a minister. However, even as a minister, Newton never forgot the horrible nature of his sin as a slave trader. At the end of his life, Newton said to a friend, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”[1]

Centuries before, Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, was also guilty of grievous sins. Acts 7:54–8:1 describes his complicity in the stoning of Stephen; then in Acts 9:1-2, we read of his personal involvement in persecuting believers. Toward the end of his life, Paul described himself in those earlier days as “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [of Christ]” (1 Timothy 1:13). But in that same context, he could also say, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (verse 15).

Both John Newton and the apostle Paul saw themselves as great sinners with a great Savior. Most believers cannot identify with either John Newton or the apostle Paul in the gravity of their earlier sins.


Jerry Bridges, Sins We Accept

But we must remember Paul was describing his former life as a persecutor of the church.

 

[Aeliana]

That's the important part, that God changed them.

Paul was still under God's law. But Paul was not obeying God's law in persecuting Christians because his actions were a misunderstanding of God's will and the nature of faith in Jesus Christ, even though he was acting with zeal and the authority of the Jewish establishment at the time.

After a divine encounter with Jesus, Paul realized his error and repented, shifting from persecutor to proclaimer of the faith he once sought to destroy

 

[Fellow Traveler]

Lord be my Light....