Watch the vid below by Steve McVey: Christian Religion Lie #37: “You should be ashamed when you sin“ and my comments follow…
This is a lie.
It’s a lie used by preachers, teachers, and Christians to try to motivate people into performing better by makign them feel unworthy… not complete… and like there’s somethign wrong with them.
But it’s simply NOT Biblical!
If God is not ashamed of you, then you shouldn’t feel ashamed yourself!
Paul writes in Romans 8:1 (NIV):
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
This is because Jesus has become a part of you now that you are a Christian and when God looks at you… He sees His Son… and He doesn’t feel ashamed of you.
What about conviction?
At times you may feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit — but it SHOULD feel a LOT different than being ashamed. It’s more of a…
“Oh man, I wasn’t letting Christ express Himself through me in that moment… I kind of messed up… thanks for showing me this God, I’ll stop that activity right now — go apologize to that person — and let me reopen back to you — letting you live your life through me. Thanks for not condemning me God”
Because when you realize how much your father loves you, the immediate reaction once we realize we’ve sinned is to run back into our Father’s arms like the prodigal son — because we know He’s not standing there ready to “spank us” — He’s standing there ready to continue loving us.
So being ashamed = keeping you feeling guilty and will keep you away from God because you fear his wrath
Being convicted but not ashamed = you’ll realize your sin and turn away from it and back to God to let Him love you some more
So this is a complete LIE that we should be ashamed when we sin!
Watch the video by Steve McVey below: Christian Religion Lie #36: “Attending Church Will Keep You From Growing Spiritually Cold“ and my comments follow:
Lots of pastors talk about spiritually “hot” and “cold” Christians.
That Christians grow “cold” when they’re not in church… regularly praying… having devotion time… reading the Bible… a whole list of religious duties.
This lie is often told by the following example:
“Christians are spiritually hot, on fire for God, and they’re like a bunch of coals on a fire… now if you take one coal and set it off of the fire, all by itself then it will grow cold because it’s not getting the heat from all the other hot coals”
and that’s how they justify going to church because the other Christians will keep you “hot” and you won’t grow “cold” for God.
Getting and staying “hot for God” has nothing to do with Church attendance…
Let me reveal the truth: I’ve been going to Church since I was just a wee little tike. And it NEVER kept me hot.
I was basically coerced/forced into going by my parents… and I’d get there and day dream or draw or whatever and never pay attention except to feel guilty about all the stuff I wasn’t doing for God (it’s funny how the creator of all created things needed my help so much back then… but I digress!)
You know when it changed?
Christ is the answer…
When I was around 17 and I discovered the “rest of the gospel”…. when I discovered grace… was brought to tears by it… when my consciousness was raised because I discovered just how much God LOVED me… how much GRACE, mercy and LOVE He poured out on me. And just like scripture says I started loving God because He first loved me.
Then I couldn’t get enough of church. I would drive there and want to be there even if no one from my family showed up. It wasn’t a chore anymore… it wasn’t a duty… it was something I WANTED to do.
So the idea that going to church will keep you from growing cold is a LIE. Focusing on Christ, focusing on GOD, and what they’ve both done for you will keep you “on fire for God” (as those Baptist preachers love to say)
PLEASE oh PLEASE Watch the video below by Steve McVey called, Christian Religion Lie #35: “God Punishes You When You Sin“ and read my comments below…
This is one of the biggest, most insidious, most hurtful lies in Christianity today.
In fact, right now, it’s keeping the life of a woman I LOVE dearly in total bondage. She’s unable to see that God is NOT angry with her… that God is NOT punishing her for past sins… that God is NOT “withholding blessings” from her.
She is unable to see God as the loving God that He is… who lavishly pours out MERCY and GRACE and LOVE.
Here’s how it breaks down…
We were born into Adam, into sin nature, and we were sinners. The wages of sin = death. Throughout the whole Old Testament, priests had to sacrifice animals to pay the PENALTY for the sins of the people.
Once God forgives you, Your sins are FORGOTTEN!
BUT… and this is IMPORTANT:
Once the sins of the people had been paid for by the blood of an innocent sacrifice — they were completely forgiven AND forgotten by God. The Psalmist writes in 103:12 (NASB):
” As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Once the penalty for the people’s sins was PAID FOR it was stricken off the record. The slate is cleaned. God removes that sin from you as far as the east is from the west… you are totally and COMPLETELY forgiven.
Which means if God has removed those sins from you… has forgiven you of those sins — then He certainly will NOT punish you for them!
Christ = Ultimate Sacrifice for ALL TIME…
Then Christ was born. He was God’s son. He was God — yet fully man. He lived perfectly, letting His Father’s life be expressed through Him every moment of every day, He was without Sin. This made Him the perfect, ULTIMATE sacrifice for the sins of the ENTIRE world and ALL TIME.
Christ died on the cross as the once and for all “payment” for ALL the sins of the world. Your sin… my sin… the world’s sins… past, present AND future! Your debt was paid by Christ’s blood.
Scripture says in John 19:30 (NASB, emphasis mine)…
“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
When Christ died for the sins of the world on the cross He completely forgave all the sins of the ENTIRE world. Once again, ALL sins of ALL time of ALL people. The only thing we are required to do to receive this forgiveness is ACCEPT the free gift of salvation.
Once we do this, we are immediately put IN to Christ and Him IN to us. As Christians we now have Christ’s spirit. And we are completely forgiven for all time for all sins because we’ve stepped into this life in Christ.
Will you believe scripture… God’s words… or your feelings?
God’s word says we were born into Adam and into sin…
The wages of sin is death — (Romans 6:23)
To pay the penalty for these sins (so we don’t have to) a sacrifice can be made, in the OT a blood sacrifice was required (Leviticus 4:35; 5:10)
But when this death penalty is paid, our sins have been totally removed from us — they don’t count anymore (Psalms 103:12)
That with Christ it was finished (John 19:30) He was the ultimate sacrifice (1 Timothy 2:6) — your sins were forgiven.
Now that you are IN Christ — through salvation — your sins of all time… past, present and future have been removed from you, they’ve been wiped from the record, which means…
God Will NOT Punish You For Sins He Has Already Forgiven You For!
To do so would be against His very nature. His very just system that He has put into place.
Now that we are IN Christ, we’ve been joined to His life, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those in Christ (Romans 8:1-2).
So the idea that God punishes us for our sins is a COMPLETE LIE!
To believe this is to believe a LIE… to call Jesus a liar when He said it was finished… to call the Psalmist a liar… to call the apostle Paul a liar!
And even worse, it will keep you in bondage. Because when you sin, you will think God is angry and is going to punish you so it will keep you from turning away from your sin and running back to God.
Believing this will keep you worrying about your past sins and thinking God is cursing you… punishing you… “spanking you” for them and it will keep you from running back into the loving arms of your father, who doesn’t want an apology, who doesn’t want you to feel “guilty for your sins”, who simply wants to hug you and take you back into His arms and lavish love on you. This is what Jesus’ prodigal son story is a picture of — the Father’s love for us (Luke 15:11-32)
But isn’t God punishing you = reaping what you sow (Galatians 6:7)?
No. Reaping what you sow is a part of living on earth…
God made a perfectly ordered world.
If the moon was just a couple feet off of it’s alignment, gravity would be thrown off on Earth and life couldn’t exist.
Everything in nature has a balance to it, an equal and opposite force. Science, Physics specifically, proves this. And every cause has an equal effect…
So if you sin, it will naturally work it’s course in your life. There will be consequences.
But this is NOT God punishing you! You are NOT cursed! Your sin can NEVER be big enough to block God’s blessings, God’s love in your life.
This is sin punishing you — this is reaping what you sow — this is cause and effect.
So the idea that “God punishes you when you sin” is a complete and utter LIE. Scripture proves it. This is one of those lies that Satan uses to control Christians… to keep them feeling defeated… to keep them feeling unworthy of receiving God’s love.
Please, please, PLEASE be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), EVERY TIME you hear this lie, or your emotions start to feel guilty over some past sin… Tell yourself the TRUTH!
I am already forgiven for that sin, Christ said “it is finished!”
I’m in Christ, and there’s no condemnation for those in Christ
I am fully loved by God and nothing I can do can change that, my sin will NEVER be bigger than God’s love!
These are Biblical truths. NOT LIES. And if you remind yourself of them daily, you will start to see God for who He really is…
God LOVES you!
Nothing you can do can get in the way of God’s love for you. (Read the prodigal son story!)
If you can just FATHOM how MUCH God loves you, then you won’t ever have to worry about “being a good Christian” because you will automatically love God back and start doing things for Him and submitting to Him and wanting to spend every waking moment with Him just like you would a human love (scripture confirms this , “we love Him because He first loved us”–1 John 4:19)
So please, I BEG you, with tears in my eyes to not be fooled by this LIE.
