Ex-Christians: Do you still have the "sin" mindset creeping up on you?

Question

I used to be Christian and I was programmed to feel guilty every time a thought that could even remotely be considered "sinful" crossed my mind or if I performed any action that might be considered "sinful". Now that I have gotten out of religion, the remnants of that mindset still remain. I'll explain what I mean.
Now when I do something that would considered "sinful" or if I see someone else doing something "sinful", it's like I recognize it, but I don't feel the same way I would have when I was a Christian. It's like an automatic thinking process, it comes up involuntarily. It's as if I scan every thought that goes through my mind and everything I encounter in terms of it's "sinfulness". I sometimes feel the need to point out sinfulness jokingly or sometimes even resentfully when other Christians are around to annoy them. I don't feel unnecessary guilt for these things.
I've been clean from Christianity for five years and I thought these symptoms would have cleared up by now.

No Bert, I think it's just a matter of maladaptive thinking habits on my part that I need to erase. So good to be gone from the church, but the scars remain.

Answer 1

Christians are sealed with The Holy Spirit and nothing can separate them from the love of God. There is no such thing as an x Christian. What you have to understand is that the Bible says that the wheat will grow up with the tares until the harvest. D. James Kennedy put it this way..There may be so many professing Christians (he calls those the visible church), but within that visible church, is the invisible church ( those with a regenerate heart , or the true Christians).You have been involved at some time and are possibly being drawn or convicted by the Holy Spirit.


Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persueded that neithr death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.1 John 2:19

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you, will complete it untill the day of Jesus Christ.

Answer 2

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Strangely though, when I look at my life now, I'm much less "sinful" or immoral than I was as a Xian.

Answer 3

Don't worry about it. You recognize the process.....