/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

confession

BE AFRAID OF GOD BECAUSE HIS GRACE ALONE CAN SAVE YOU.

Romans 2:

You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. 2And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? 4Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

5But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.a 10But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.

12When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. 13For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. 14Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. 16And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.

Romans 3:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

>>702036

This is so dissatisfying because the problem isn't resolved and each time I confess it feels more empty and inauthentic because of all the relapses I had in the past, I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time before my next confession and next and so forth, until the day I die? Even if I marry this girl I'm still not going to conquer lust by simply praying and confessing…I need some other tools or beliefs or practices…

>>702040

if you're relapsing, then perhaps your confession itself was imperfect

>Im still not going to conquer lust by simply praying and confessing…I need some other tools or beliefs or practices…

Conquering lusting is hard, but you can definitely conquer your fornication and masturbation. Assuming you aren't larping, Fast. It's hard to get aroused when you're fasting.

>>702040

Sell all your possessions and take up your cross.

>>702033

if you fornicate even ONCE your banned from heaven, even if you confess after it only works if your resolved to not sin again.

Once a lifetime is sufficient.

>>702066

>even if you confess after it only works if your resolved to not sin again.

Yes i've done that, with extreme resolve and determination, and eventually I still fail. It's a never ending process.

What's the point? I need to be perfect asap.

>>702090

>Yes i've done that, with extreme resolve and determination

keep doing it.

>I need to be perfect asap.

The Eucharist would be the fastest and surest way.

>>702096

>eucharist

the sad part is that my priest told me I had to abstain from all sex/porn for at least a week before I could take it. So I did that, and then received it, and like two days later I failed.

I did this again (abstained for 10days), confessed, received eucharist, and failed a few days later. And then I felt embarassed to repeat the same confession over and over, so I stopped going to church. Haven't been back in months.

>>702100

Go to another priest if your to embarrassed to confess to that one. Maybe next time you're in town go to the cathedral, he probably hears so many confession being a metropolitan area. If all else fails just tough it up and 'embarrass' yourself and confess to that same priest.

>And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Hey OP can you quote the Bible verse that says fornication is fine once in a while?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

>>702109

>become totally perfect, to guarantee salvation

Your perfection by your own power is not correlated at all to your justification.

Your perfection, although never complete on this earth, by God's work is correlated to your sanctification.

We do not inherit the kingdom through our work but through Christ's. The Bible continually displays this fact by showing man's weakness and inability to follow the law perfectly.

All of us fall short every single day, and with the amount of sins listed throughout the NT we are all forced to admit that we're practicing sinners. If we continue to look to ourselves and wrench ourselves away from our own failing then we've lost sight of Christ and have replaced him with our own made up idol of our own perfection.

It is God who sanctifies us, or have you never called out to him in the moment of temptation so he might save you from it? It is Christ who saves us, not our ability to follow the law.

>>702112

>We do not inherit the kingdom through our work but through Christ's.

But I can lose my salvation (or have it retroractively invalidated) if I continue to sin lustfully now and into the future. The sexually immoral cannot enter heaven. So even if I fap once a year or have a few lustful thoughts every couple of years, this means I lose my salvation (or I was never saved to begin with, same thing).

Am I supposed to just wait back passively as God purifies me? Because I've been praying and reading and trying to be good for a few years now, but I am still "sexually immoral" by the bible's standards.

>>702115

Sounds like you're overthinking it.

I'd think that you'd lose your salvation if you give up the fight.

God forgives and saves, but you have to earn it. How long will you have to fight? That's up to God.

My advice would be try to live a good, productive life and cut away every vice you find.

>>702040

Brother, I used to have this problem for years, but with the help of and by the grace of God, I have slowly cut it down. It used to be quite frequently, now it is down to at most once a month, and God willing it will end completely. (also requesting text pic of drunk Orthodox monk from Mt Athos who nearly quit).

Pray to God and keep busy on profitable matters. Get outside, you can't fornicate in public! Even if it's just to go for a walk or whatever man. Watch something funny on Youtube rather than whatever you would otherwise, read a book etc. Talk to your mates, hit up someone you haven't talked to in years! Ever tried fornicating when talking to someone?

>>702033

We're not all screwed. Stop fornicating. You have a free will, exercise it.

>>702100

> And then I felt embarassed to repeat the same confession over and over

But why do you feel embarrassed? You've struggled and failed. So long as you fail with a fight I would say you've done good even in doing bad. It's a path to heaven for a reason. You're meant to walk it, over time. If you abstained for 10 days, then you did well for 10 days. If you abstained for 10 minutes, you did well for 10 minutes. You can do better, but that doesn't invalidate the good work you've already done.

>>702033

drunk and bored on a Saturday night, again, OP?

Also, any willing sin is enough to warrant your rejection from heaven. Only with Christ can you be saved. How hard was that? Ten minutes on this board, I'm sure you already knew that.

>>702143

By fornication, do you means the master debating, also? Cuz that's not fornication.

Fornication, yes, but always vigilant.

Adultery-with-mine-eyes, always at war.

Master debating … work-in-progress.

>>702202

A simple 'no' would have been enough, but thank you for your honesty, anon. I'm in the same boat.

Once, just once, makes you a fornicator. However, we all have fallen short of the glory of God and none of us can earn our way to salvation. If you accept Christ and your faith is not dead - that is, you live according to the spirit and not the flesh - then you not a fornication anymore. Salvation is granted by accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross and reviving the Holy Spirit, not works. Although you may have fornicated, you are not a fornication if you are truly Christ's - and if you are Christ's, you will not fornicated because you live according to the Spirit.

>>702033

> If I fornicate once a week does that put me in the category of fornicator and thus banned from heaven?

If you live in sin, then you are not born of the spirit, and are thus not saved (John 3:3). The grace of Christ is the power to set us free from sin, not the permission to stay in it.

>>702040

> I'm still not going to conquer lust by simply praying and confessing…I need some other tools or beliefs or practices…

>>702090

> Yes i've done that, with extreme resolve and determination, and eventually I still fail. It's a never ending process.

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." - John 8:36

You're failing because you're trying to do it in your strength. Yes, the resolve to get rid of your sinful life is necessary, but you need to surrender completely to Jesus and let Him help you. Only through His spirit can you be cleansed.

>>702033

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

>if I fornicate once in my life I'll I be banned from heaven

Fixed

>>702040

Why are you telling me you go to confession and don't try to emend yourself? If thats the case you're even more winnie the poohed. Adding to repeated fornication you now have added the crime of Sacrilege.

Stop fornication right now. Talk with your priests, go to a retreat somewhere, but just stop my brother. I beg you. Punch yourself, scream or wtv when in that situation but do not sin again nor commit sacrilege.

So salvation seems impotent if one sin undoes it all or proves you aren't saved. Basically only if you convert and never sin are you secure in being saved…..all us normies are doomed to hell?

>>702453

If this was true then salvation would be impossible for anyone who isn't a perfect saint.

I can't be that black and white.

>>702202

masturbation is easy to quit compared to fornication,

fornication is impossible when you have a girlfriend that lives with you.