Questions for people WELL READ in the Holy Bible?

Question

only please. I'm trying to help a friend (which could help me too) -- he is searching for a way to find God and knows he has sinned in the past and afraid he may in the future. He also has other issues which are not his fault (bipolar). Can you please tell me (and where in the Bible it is stated) where God/Jesus does not expect man to be perfect? Somehow. I mean...he's a really great, nice, generous person. I need some help to help him.

Answer 1

This is an article I found about bi- polar disorder and Christianity:

The Bipolar Express: Finding God on the Emotion Locomotive
by Jim Robinson

About two months ago, I slowly came to the realization that I was getting sick again.

At first I wasn't sure what was wrong. I felt very tired, lethargic, and generally sad. My body hurt, too; I ached like a man in his 80s, and I haven't even turned 50 yet. My sleep was fitful, and I would wake exhausted.

The work waiting for me each day, once igniting in me a deep passion, now felt burdensome and futile. Everyone around me commented on how awful I looked. "You really seem burned out," they'd say sympathetically. "Are you getting enough rest?"

My wife also noticed. "You really should go see your doctor," she said, more than once. Generally, I only go to doctors when I'm feeling the cold breath of the Grim Reaper on my neck. And, finally, this feeling had overtaken me. "I'll go," I mumbled.

My doctor knows me pretty well. Though I hadn't been to see him for nearly three years, he and I are kindred spirits of a sort, both of us recovering from various addictions. Between the two of us, we share a compulsion-driven rap sheet half a mile long, including abuse of just about every substance and behavior imaginable.

Knowing this about me, he had always been very careful about what type of drugs he prescribed; basically, he never gave me anything fun. He knew my history: Alcoholic, drug addict, and suffering from bipolar disease. He knew my mother had died from a combination of all these things many years ago, and he had helped me early on in my recovery to surrender to some of the biophysical realities of who and what I am.

I hated it then, and though I took the recommended bipolar medications for a time, I swore all along I would beat the awful thing, beat it completely and get off the meds. Once I had accrued a few years of sobriety, I finally felt healthier and happier than I had for most of my life. I would get well! I would finally be cured!

Eventually, I decided I had accomplished this feat. I had not taken any bipolar medicine in over 12 years. By God's great grace, in addition to having my songwriting career restored, I had also become an addiction counselor, and was now helping others like me find wholeness and freedom from their bondage. By George... I was cured!

An Old, Familiar Fear

This is, of course, the greatest and most tenacious desire of every addict - to finally have the freedom, as my counseling guru Mike O'Neil puts it, to "sit in the normal section." We hold fast to this illusion, unable to accept fully the truth that we will never "graduate" from this class.

But the truth is... we are what we are. Even though miraculous freedom comes, the chains no longer hold us, and the darkness no longer consumes and destroys, maintenance is required. As with any disease, God can offer us healing. But He usually expects us to take our medicine, too.

And so, I'm sitting in Dr. Lee's office, half bent from the enormous weight I've been carrying for months, and he is looking at me over the top of his glasses.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say, and I'm completely serious. "You're the doctor. I ache all over. I can't sleep."

"Do you feel afraid?" he asks after a pause, and I know right away where he's going. It seems as if I'm watching a movie I've seen before - Dr. Lee is saying the same thing he's said to me before, and I'm watching his mouth move. Everything slows...I'm sitting on the edge of the table, my heart is thumping inside my chest, and it is the only sound in the room. I sense an old, faintly familiar sadness creeping across my soul.

"It's not that," I say. "This is in my body."

"Yes. Your brain affects your body. But do you feel afraid?"

"I feel..." and I'm searching for something, some word. "I feel... guilty," I half-whisper. A pause. Then: "And yes. I feel afraid. All the time." My spirit is sinking.

"It's your bipolar disease," he said. And then, with a quizzical, half-laughing look in his eyes, he says: "Are you surprised?"



I was surprised. And angry. Angry that this old nemesis that had been slinking along behind me all this time had actually dared to show his ugly face again. And, at least a little bit, I felt something like a vague shame, an old shame, one shoved deep inside over the years but never fully hidden. Those of us who have this thing understand what I'm saying. It's a part of it all, somehow.

Runaway Train

For those who might have heard the term but never really understood its meaning, I'll give the simplest of explanations. Bipolar disease (sometimes referred to as manic-depressive illness) is a mood disorder, which means that the symptoms are disturbances or abnormalities of mood. It is characterized by "cycling" - the affected person is caught on a runaway train of vacillating emotional highs and lows.

The high cycles - characterized by over-the-top exuberance, irritability, hyperactivity, and a decreased resistance to inappropriate and/or compulsive behaviors - are known as "manic episodes."

The low cycles manifest as clinical depression: dangerous levels of lethargy, sadness, and hopelessness. Then, there are periods of more normal mood in between .

There are all sorts of technical classifications and terminology regarding levels of severity, and wide variances regarding cycling patterns. We won't go into all that in this limited space. But as with many kinds of emotional illness, there is a great deal of confusion and misconception regarding the true nature of the disease. I thought it important to encourage those who may suffer to reach out from within the prison of their shame for the healing that is available.

It's necessary to point out that what I am describing is not at all the same thing as normal mood-states of happiness and sadness. Symptoms of manic-depressive illness can be severe and life threatening. While individuals from across the population spectrum can be affected, I believe an inordinate number of artists, musicians and writers have suffered from various forms of this illness.

This has served in many ways to trivialize the destructive reality of bipolar disorder, being somehow regarded as beneficial for artistic creativity. Just this past December, Crystal Cathedral's Co-Minister of Music, Johnnie Carl, became a victim of his disease when he took his own life - on the church campus, no less. The loss was tragic.

But I was touched as I read a quote by Linda Carl, Johnnie's wife of 27 years, as she emotionally expressed her gratitude for the long support of Dr. Robert Schuller and his wife Arvella: "I just want to thank you... for allowing him to be a part of this church and to work here, because I don't feel there are too many other places that would have accepted him, given the episodes that he had with his bipolar illness."

Even in the midst of this confusing and often misunderstood disease, Johnnie Carl had been surrounded by friends willing to help. His wife understood this. "And he and I... truly appreciate the gift that you've given both of us."

Many of us love someone who suffers from this illness, and feel confused and helpless. In Part 2 of this article , we will explore in more detail the biophysical, genetic, and spiritual aspects of bipolar disorder. We'll also discuss what to do about it.

Have courage. You are not alone.

This is the link to the second part of the article:

http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/1317324.html

Answer 2

Jesus asked us to Judge not lest ye be judged. The meaning of this is we can't be judgmental toward others without also judging our selves. This is often misinterpreted to mean that If we judge others,. God will judge us. This is not the true meaning of the verse.

Your friend needs to understand that he is judging himself too harshly. This is a perfect example of what Jesus was cautioning against.

You need to understand that some religious people have over emphasized the sin idea and made many good people feel bad about actions that were never really that bad to begin with.

We need to stop and think about this for a while.

God does not judge you for living your life and learning from your experiences. This is why we are put here, to learn from the situations that we are confronted with. God does not judge us for doing exactly what He always expected of us.

God loves us just as much when we are making mistakes because He know that eventually these mistakes will lead us to the truth. Try to help your friend to understand this.

Love and blessings
don

Love and blessings
don.

Answer 3

You really need more info and context than this, but here are some verses:

Job 9:20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

2 Chronicles 6:36 "When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--

Romans 3:9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."

Ecclesiastes 7:20 There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

God rarely selects perfect people to fulfill His plans.

I received this in an email a while ago.

God does not call the qualified. God qualifies those He calls.

Noah was a drunk.
Abraham was too old.
Isaac was a daydreamer.
Jacob was a liar.
Leah was ugly.
Joseph was abused.
Moses couldn't talk.
Gideon was afraid.
Sampson had long hair, and was a womanizer!
Rahab was a prostitute!
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.
David had an affair and was a murderer.
Elijah was suicidal.
Isaiah preached naked.
Jonah ran from God.
Naomi was a widow.
Job went bankrupt.
John the Baptist ate bugs.
Peter denied Christ.
The Disciples fell asleep while praying.
Martha worried about everything.
Mary Magdalene was demon possessed.
The Samaritan Woman was divorced, more than once!
Zaccheus was too small.
Paul was too religious and a persecutor of Christians.
Timothy had an ulcer.
And
Lazarus was Dead!

God can easily use you to to fulfill His plans.

With love and prayers in Christ.

Answer 5

It is not explicitly stated that we can't expect to achieve perfection in this life, but Christians are expected to STRIVE for perfection, and that is our goal:
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). And in Hebrews we find, "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation..." (Hebrews 6:1). So how do we know that it is an impossible goal in the flesh?

If there were anyone in the Bible who we would have expected to have achieved such perfection, it would be the Apostle Paul. And yet, do we find Paul saying that he had attained that goal by the end of his life? No! First he says, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). And at the end of his life, the best that he says about his Christian journey is that he, "fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2Timothy 4:7) -- in other words, he just never gave up striving to overcome all of his sins, striving for perfection. However, this does not mean that he never overcame anything, for as John says, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith" (1 John 5:4). And in Revelation 2 & 3 Jesus describes the rewards of those who overcome.

John makes more known about the Christian and sin. John, in addressing Christians, those who have God's holy spirit, who's past sins have been forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ, says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). However, he consoles us with, "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin [we are still to strive to overcome sin]. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1); and, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

This is what it means to be under grace and not under the law. Though we sin (and sin is disobedience to the law -- 1 John 3:4), we have an avenue for forgiveness.

Perfection will come, when we are made one with God and Jesus at our resurrection at his coming (John 17).

Answer 6

Hello
The sin issue was taken care of through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, sin is not the issue it is "what think ye of Christ.
Salvation is faith alone in Christ alone.
He did the work and before He exhaled His last breath he said Tetalestai It is finished!
The work of salvation was complete nothing could be added to it.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross,He paid the death penalty for all members of the human race.
He was judged for the sins of the entire human race 1Timothy 4:10.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans3:23.
When one buys a car they receive a manual on the workings of that car and how to get the best out of it.
The believers instruction book is the word of God the Bible.
There is an answer to every problem one can face in this life.
There will be times we sin as we have an old sin nature the instructions for this are recorded in 1John 1:9. If we name our sins "To God", He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This does not give us a license to go out and blatantly play up but at times where we slip up we apply this promise .
God treats us in grace Ephesians 2:8-9 We are saved by grace through faith it is a gift from God not of works lest any man should boast.
At the moment of salvation God imputes His righteousness to us.
After salvation God has personal love for us.

Take care!
Carp Dieme "sieze the day".

Answer 7

Hell is eternal separation from God. hades or the international of the ineffective (as though a subterranian retreat), which comprise its upload-ons and inmates: - grave, hell, pit (sturdy Dictionary) only reference in Bible approximately infants is a believing father or mom will defend the youngsters. 1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified with the aid of the spouse, and the unbelieving spouse is sanctified with the aid of the husband: else have been your infants unclean; yet now are they holy. The Bible is silent approximately the different creations, outdoors of earth. Adam sinned, at that component sin entered into his blood. the father's blood is handed directly to his infants. God is the father of Jesus, hence Jesus had no sin in his blood. Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus additionally, that he would sanctify the persons together with his own blood, suffered with out the gate.

Answer 8

Read the book of Romans. It states no man is without sin. pERFECTION is not expected. Matter of fact God knows we will sin. He forgives those who have accepted His son Jesus. Your friend should know God loves Him and will help him to change his life for the better but we will never be perfect this side of heaven. I will look into it furture if youdo not get your answer.

Answer 9

ok well frist off, God knows your not going to be perfect, you can't be Jesus is the ONLY one that was and ever will be. It doesn't really says in the Bible (i could be wrong) that your never going to sin again after you get saved... But what happens is in Romans 5:12 (kjv) it talks about how adam entered into the world and commented a sin and now that he sinned it was passed upon all men...which mean we can't really get rid of sin...but once we are saved we are not "sinners" anymore are we "Children of God"... God knows we're going to mess up and sin, He knows we're not perfect, all he wants of us is when we sin we ask of his forgivness...Not forgiveness to be saved AGAIN, jst forgivness to say your sorry, jst like if you lied 2 your mom and dad, and later you began to feel guilty about it, you would go and ask forgivness for doing that so you could have a better relationship...you would STILL be there child even tho you sinned...So like i said, jst simply ask God for your forgivness and keep your prayer life and Bible reading strong with him and grow in him....

Answer 10

Romans chapter 7. This chapter is rather hard to understand, but Paul while in the flesh, he struggles with sin and the sinful nature. He wants to do good, but doesn't sometimes. So he says in the last verse of that chapter, Thank God for Jesus, and that with his mind Paul serves the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (the sinful nature is always with us but our spirits and minds have been united with God thru the perfect blood sacrifice of Jesus)

Jesus understands our struggles and pain. He loves us.

Answer 11

Romans 3:22-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society


22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.