tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post2613615391859360760..comments2023-09-07T04:43:10.746-04:00Comments on Building His Body: Hell's Unpardonable SinAnne Lang Bundyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-15558210570740442182011-11-08T11:20:48.615-05:002011-11-08T11:20:48.615-05:00(My previous comment had a critical typo and was d...(My previous comment had a critical typo and was deleted.)<br /><br />Mary, I might define "religious people" as those who embrace a set of moral standards and beliefs, who might be characterized by criticism and conformity. While there is nothing wrong with knowing what we believe and holding steadfastly to it in word and action, I think the emphasis of the religious person is on the outward more than the inward, perhaps even without awareness of the inward. If a person's religion is something put on rather than something that springs from the heart—out of the love put there by God's Holy Spirit—it will be difficult to hear or even listen for the voice of the Spirit, if it doesn't conform to the standards and beliefs which a person has embraced. A faith so fixed that it doesn't grow is going to remain a very small faith. It may be a faith so small that it hasn't yet even come to a saving knowledge of Who Jesus is.<br /><br />For those who have accepted the Holy Spirit's saving testimony about Jesus, I think we can still have a tendency toward religion rather than relationship. We have read and heard and applied Scripture to our lives in good ways, and then become comfortable enough to resist the Holy Spirit when He challenges us to expand our perspective. (I have not known you to be one of those people very often, if at all.) I find myself often treading lightly around other Christians. Sometimes that's good, when I need to be careful not to expect that just because God has worked in my life in a certain way, He must want to work in the same way in another life. I'd call that a good caution, so that I'm not trying to be the Holy Spirit for someone else. But other times, I sense the Holy Spirit revealing to me where He is being limited by religion's spirit of conformity and criticism, and I am cautious to say no more than what I think someone's ready to receive. That's good if the Spirit is prompting me to remain quiet, and to use the information only so that I am motivated and empowered to pray. It is <i>not</i> good if I allow my fear of man or religion to quench how the Holy Spirit might want me to speak.<br /><br />You well know that testimony to Jesus often comes with a cost—sometimes from those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit's testimony of Jesus, and sometimes from Christians who at the moment place more emphasis on religion than relationship, more reliance on logic than on love. I confess that I have sometimes been guilty of standing among the latter. I pray that I become increasingly sensitive to the Spirit's leading about which truth to speak, when and where and to whom to speak it, and always in a spirit of love that balances God's righteousness and mercy.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-16605766534846484142011-11-06T22:08:29.789-05:002011-11-06T22:08:29.789-05:00Maybe I am just tired and not reading this in the ...Maybe I am just tired and not reading this in the context that was intended, but would you give me an example of two things that you wrote here?<br /><br />"Religious people seem to be the most difficult to convince about the Holy Spirit's testimony."<br /><br />and...<br /><br />"Though most people reading this blog have accepted the Spirit's testimony about Jesus, we sometimes deny His voice about lesser things."<br /><br />Forgive my lack of understanding here.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16249781779587825262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-81484220048884466562011-11-03T00:15:46.640-04:002011-11-03T00:15:46.640-04:00May my words ever bring glory to God and encourage...May my words ever bring glory to God and encouragement to you, dear one.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-66728602363600541792011-11-03T00:13:03.056-04:002011-11-03T00:13:03.056-04:00Thanks for sharing your wisdom, be blessed.Thanks for sharing your wisdom, be blessed.Denisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09275456448997619944noreply@blogger.com