*Paul*
Jesus loves you
I have posted this before on another forum that turned into a long debate, this is not for debate.
Our Only Hope
That man has a heart (moral) problem is evident both in everyday life and through the witness of the Holy bible, one only has to turn on the news to see evidence of this and the bible declares it indisputably: Jer 17v9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Ps 53v2-3: God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
There have been several attempts to solve this problem throughout the ages, from the attempt by Calvin to enforce righteousness in Geneva and build Augustines city of God, right through to todays psychotherapeutic techniques.
But nothing seems to work, psychologists try hypnotherapy or any one of myriads of treatments available to them to deal with peoples behavioural problems and problems of living but all they can offer in the end is techniques to help manage with the problem or brain chemicals to numb the mental processes, what they can never do is change a persons heart, a paedophile will learn techniques to cope with his urges but they are never cured and are always a risk to others, they will tell you that they cant help it, you cant choose what attracts you, they are really the victims of their upbringing and their environments, and the world accepts this kind of reasoning, sin is no longer called sin but unconscious motivated behaviour. And what about the many Christian ministries who think they can cure homosexuality through psychotherapy and counselling, Ive watched programs when many of these sincere people genuinely believe that their sexuality is a psychological problem that needs to be dealt with so they go to ministers of God to help them and what do they get? Freudian and Jungian myths the theories of Godless men, it seems much of the church doesnt know the answer to mens problems either. Of course they make it sound medical, certain parts of the brain are misfiring and creating too much of xyz hormones or whatever and needs to be balanced out, or the root course is buried deep in your subconscious and needs to be dealt with through hypnosis and catharsis. Its all scientific you know or why dont we put you in a trance and take you back to the situation where your problems are rooted and introduce Jesus to the problem, but the American Psychological Association appointed Dr. Sigmund Koch to plan and direct a study which was subsidized by the National Science Foundation. This study involved eighty eminent scholars assessing the facts, theories, and methods of psychology. The results of this extensive endeavour were published in a seven-volume series entitled Psychology: A Study of a Science. Dr. Koch sums up the panels findings in these words: I think it is by this time utterly and finally clear that psychology cannot be a coherent science.
The belief that the mind is the brain is utter nonsense, where could a brain learn about love, Justice, truth, honesty, morals, what physical stimulus could create the information for these very real things? How heavy is hatred? What does anger smell like? The brain is a computer that your soul and spirit uses to interface with the physical world, its so obvious but many people look at the things going on there in the brain and say it is the cause of your behaviour but they wont acknowledge that it could be the effects of the spirit interacting with the brain. There was a scientist who won a noble prize for his research on the brain (Sir John Eccles) who said the brain is a machine only a ghost can operate. Wilder Penfield, one of the world's leading neurosurgeons, declared, "The brain is a computer programmed by something independent of itself, the mind." You are not your brain, you are the ghost in the body no matter what people like Godless scientists try to tell you, your own conscience will tell you that if you allow it.
So now were back to the heart, the area of the non-physical, the spiritual which is beyond the realms of science to poke around in but no less real. Religion claims to have the answers and offers plenty of techniques to balance out your sins, from repeating mantras (including the rosary), to visiting holy places to gain acceptance with God or to become one with God to self flagellation and observing holy days. These still cannot change the root cause of sin, which is your heart. Mt 15v16-18: And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. Again the heart is the route source of sin its in our nature but it is contrary to Gods moral law. This law is written on the heart of every man, everywhere in the world it is known that it is wrong to steal, it is wrong to take another mans wife, it is wrong to lie to get another person into trouble, it is wrong to kill, it is wrong to take the name of God and use it for a swear word and it is just crazy to build something with your own hands out of your own imagination and call it God. Sin is this:
Jms 4v17: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
You know in your conscience what is good, but you dont always do it, God has given you light:
Jn 1v4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men. Jn 1v9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Rom 2v14: For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2v15: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another
Rom 2v16: In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel
for the remainder read Our Only Hope Part 2