Apostle Stephen is 'the first Christian martyr' he was stoned to death. - Acts chapter 6 & 7 -

Two thousand years ago, Christians emerged in the Roman empire and it is spread and flourished, and found its sense of identity within the Roman world. In the era of Christianity, peoples who believed and converted to Christianity were baptized and were properly instructed in the belief and practices of Christianity. As a result, today, approximately, a third of the world's population are Christians.

Christians had its origin, foretold by Christ Jesus, 'builds on' by the surviving apostles, disciples, followers and believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." - Matthew 28:18-20 -

"Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever. Do not let yourselves be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on dietary laws which have done no good to those who kept them." - Hebrews 13:7-9 -

Great religious experiences like that of Jacob at Jabbok, - Genesis 32:22-32 - Moses at the burning bush, - Exodus 3:1 - Josiah on hearing the reading of the Law - 2 Kings 22:8-13 -  Isaiah in the Temple - Isaiah 6:1-8 -might well be regarded as "new birth". Thus, regeneration involves an enlightening of the mind, a change of will and a renewed nature. It extends to the total nature of man/woman, changing a person's desires and restoring him/her to a right relationship with God in Christ.

People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of Christ of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. - Romans 8:8-9 - Psalms 51:5-11; Jeremiah 31:33; Zechariah 13:11 -

"Remember, there was a time when we too were ignorant, disobedient and misled and enslaved by different passions and luxuries; we lived then in wickedness and ill-will, hating each other and hateful ourselves. But when the kindness and love of God our saviour for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life. This is the doctrine that you can rely on." - Titus 3:3-8 -

It is the spiritual change brought about in a person's life by an act of God. There is a first birth and a second birth. The first birth, as Jesus said to Nicodemus is "of the flesh"; the second birth is "of the Spirit". - John 3:1-12 - Being born of the Spirit is essential before a person can enter the kingdom of God. Every scripture command to man/woman to undergo a radical change of character from self-centeredness to God-centeredness is, in effect, an appeal to be "born again".

Mercy is the aspect of God's love that causes Him to help the miserable, just as grace is the aspect of His love that moves Him to forgive the guilty. Those who are miserable may be so either because of breaking God's law or because of circumstances beyond their control. God show mercy upon those who have broken His law, although such mercy is selective, demonstrating that it is not deserved. God's mercy on the miserable extends beyond punishment that is withheld. Withheld punishment keeps us from hell, but it does not get us into heaven.

"Does it follow that God is unjust? Of course not, Take what God said to Moses; I have mercy on whom I will, and I show pity to whom I please. In other words, the only thing that counts is not what human beings want or try to do, but the mercy of God. For in scripture he says to Pharaoh; It was for this I raised you up, to use you as a means of showing my power and to make my name known throughout the world. In other words, when God wants to show mercy he does, and when he wants to harden someone's heart he does so.

You will ask me. In that case, how can God ever blame anyone, since no one can oppose his will? But what right have you, a human being, to cross-examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: Why did you make me this shape? Surely a potter can do what he likes with the clay? It is surely for him to decide whether he will use a particular lump of clay to make a special pot or an ordinary one?" - Romans 9:14-21 - Daniel 9:9; 1 Timothy 1:13, 16; Ephesians 2:4-6 -

God also shows mercy by actively helping those who are miserable due to circumstances beyond their control. We see this aspect of mercy especially in the life of our Lord Jesus. He healed blind peoples and lepers. These acts of healing grew out of his attitude of compassion and mercy. - Matthew 9:27-31, 20:29-34; Luke 17:11-19 - Because God is merciful, God aspects His children to be merciful. - Matthew 5:7; James 1:27 -

The need for sincere repentant and born again grows out of humanity's sinfulness. It is brought about through God's initiative. God works in the human heart and the person responds to God through faith and love. Thus, spiritual regeneration is an act of God through the Holy Spirit, resulting in resurrection from sin to a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh, that is not how we know him now. And for anyone who is in Christ there is a new creation; the old creation has gone and now the new one is here." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 -

"Continue to love each other like brothers/sisters, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in the one body. Marriage is to be honoured by all, and marriages are to be kept undefiled, because fornicators and adulterers will come under God's judgment. Put greed out of your lives and be content with whatever you have; God himself has said: I will not fail you or desert you, and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord to help me, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?

Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever. Do not let yourselves be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on dietary laws which have done no good to those who kept them." - Hebrews 13:1-9 -

Cornelius is a Roman soldier stationed in Caesarea. He was a God fearing person strongly attracted to the Jewish teaching of Monotheism (the belief in one God) as opposed to pagan idolatry and immorality, and to the concern expressed in the law of Moses. He gave generously to Jewish causes, helping the poor and needy, and prayed constantly to God. - Acts 10:1-2 -

Cornelius was the first recorded Gentile convert to Christianity. He is introduced in the Book of The Acts of the Apostles as a representative of thousands in the Gentile world who were weary of paganism and who were hungry for the coming of the Messiah - the Christ who would deliver them from their sins and lead them into an abundant Spirit filled life.

God sent a heavenly vision both to Cornelius and to Simon Peter. Obeying his vision, Cornelius sent some of his men to Jaffa, to find Simon Peter. Peter, in turn, obeyed his own vision ( which he interpreted to mean that Gentiles were to be included in Christ's message ) and went to Cornelius. While Peter was still preaching to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. And Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all God's commands.

"One day at about the ninth hour he had a vision in which he distinctly saw the angel of God come into his house and call out to him, 'Cornelius!' He stared at the vision in terror and exclaimed, 'What is it, Lord?' 'Your offering of prayers and alms' the angel answered 'has been accepted by God. Now you must send someone to Jaffa and fetch a man called Simon, known as Peter, who is lodging with Simon the tanner whose house is by the sea.' When the angel who said this had gone, Cornelius called two of his slaves and a devout soldier of his staff, told them what had happened, and sent them off to Jaffa.

Next day, while they were still on their journey and had only a short distance to go before reaching Jaffa, Peter went to the housetop at about the sixth hour to pray. He felt hungry and was looking forward to his meal, but before it was ready he fell into a trance and saw heaven thrown open and something like a big sheet being let down to earth by its four corners; it contained every possible sort of animal and bird, walking, crawling or flying ones. A voice then said to him, 'Now, Peter; kill and eat!' But Peter answered, 'Certainly not, Lord; I have never yet eaten anything profane or unclean.' Again, a second time, the voice spoke to him, 'What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane.' This was repeated three times, and then suddenly the container was drawn up to heaven again.

Peter was still worrying over the meaning of the vision he had seen, when the men sent by Cornelius arrived. They asked where Simon's house was and Peter was lodging there. Peter's mind was still on the vision and the Spirit had to tell him, 'Some men have come to see you. Hurry down, and do not hesitate about going back with them; it was I who told them to come.' Peter went down and said to them, 'I am the man you are looking for; why have you come?' They said, 'The centurion Cornelius, who is an upright and God fearing man, highly regarded by the entire Jewish people, was directed by a holy angel to send for you and bring you to his house and to listen to what you have to say.' So Peter asked them in and gave them lodging.

Next day, he was ready to go off with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Jaffa. They reached Caesarea the following day, and Cornelius was waiting for them. He had asked his relations and close friends to be there, and as Peter reached the house Cornelius went out to meet him, knelt at his feet and prostrated himself. But Peter helped him up. 'Stand up' he said 'I am only a man after all!' Talking together they went in to meet all the people assembled there, and Peter said to them, 'You know it is forbidden for Jews to mix with people of another race and visit them, but God has made it clear to me that I must not call anyone profane or unclean. That is why I made no objection to coming when I was sent for; but I should like to know exactly why you sent for me.' Cornelius replied, 'Three days ago I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, when I suddenly saw a man in front of me in shinning robes. He said, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been accepted as a sacrifice in the sight of God; so now you must send to Jaffa and fetch Simon known as Peter who is lodging in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea." So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Here we all are, assembled in front of you to hear what message God has given you for us.'

Then Peter addressed them: 'The truth I have come to realise' he said, is that God does not have favourites, but anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.

'It is true, God sent his word to the people of Israel, and it was to them that the good news of the peace was brought by Jesus Christ - but Jesus Christ is Lord of all men. You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself; and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses - we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead - and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.'

While Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the pagans too, since they could hear them speaking strange languages and proclaiming the greatness of God. Peter himself then said, 'Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, now they have received the Holy Spirit just as much as we have?' He then gave orders for them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards they begged him to stay on for some days. - Acts 10:3-48 -

This incident marked the expansion of the Christian faith, and of the early Church to include Gentiles as well as Jews. Apostle or Saint Peter alluded to Cornelius' conversion at the Jerusalem Council.

"Peter stood up and addressed them: 'My brothers' he said, 'you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone's heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God's anger now, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus. This silenced the entire assembly, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had worked through them among the pagans." - Acts 15:7-12 -

The need for a new heaven and a new earth arises from man's sin and God's judgment. It is not from some deficiency or evil in the universe.

To the man he said, Because you listen to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,
Accursed be the soil because of you. With suffering shall you get your food from it, everyday of your life. - Genesis  3:17 -

The Apostle/Saint Paul referred to the Old Testament doctrine of the Day of the Lord and applied it to the events that will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. When Christ returns, this present evil age will give way to the age to come. The universe will be purified and cleansed by the power of God. This will be reminiscent of the purging of the earth in the days of Noah but on a universal scale.

"The Day of the Lord will come like a thief and then with a roar the sky will varnish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contain will be burnt up. Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home.

So then, my friends, while you are waiting do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace. Think of our Lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved; our brother Paul who is so dear to us told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that is his special gift. He always writes like this when he deals with this sort of subject, and this makes some points in his letter hard to understand; these are the points that uneducated and unbalanced people distort, in the same way as they distort the rest of scripture - a fatal thing for them to do.

You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory in time and in eternity. Amen." 2 Peter 3:10-18 -

Heaven is a word that expresses several distinct concepts in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible:

1. - As used in a physical sense heaven is the expanse over the earth. The tower of Babel reached upward to heaven. God is the possessor of heaven. Heaven is the location of the stars as well the source of dew. - Genesis 1:8, 11:4, 14:9, 1:14, 26:4, 27:28 -

2. - Heaven is also the dwelling place of God. It is the source of the new Jerusalem.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Truly, Yahweh is in this place and I never knew it!' He was afraid and said, 'How' awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of God; this is the gate of heaven!' - Genesis 28:16-17 -

"And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, "Victory and power and empire forever have been won by our God and all authority for his Christ now that the persecutor who accused our brothers day and night before our God has been brought down.

They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the witness of their martyrdom because even in the face of death they would not cling to life. Let the heavens rejoice and all who live there but for you, earth and sea, trouble is coming because the devil has gone down to you in a rage knowing that his days are numbered." - Revelation 12:7-12 -

The city prepared and built by God for those who are faithful to Him. Known as the heavenly Jerusalem this is the city that is to come. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God. - Hebrews 11:10 - They can hardly have meant the country they came from since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. - Hebrews 11:15-16 - These references in Hebrews find their fulfillment in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. The New Jerusalem is illuminated by the glory of God. It serves as the dwelling place of God among His redeemed forever.

3. - Because of the work of Christ on the Cross, heaven is, in part, present with believers on earth as they obey God's commands. - John 14:1-4 - The word heaven also used as the name of God, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of heaven are often spoken of interchangeably. - Luke 15:18; John 3:27; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15 -

At the end time a new heaven will be created to surround the new earth. This new heaven will be the place of God's perfect presence.

For now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered , and will come no more to men minds. Be glad and rejoice forever and ever, for what I am creating because I now create Jerusalem "Joy and her people Gladness". I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. - Isaiah 65:17-19 -

For as the new heavens
and the new earth I shall make
will endure before me
it is Yahweh who speaks
so will your race and name endure

From New Moon to New Moon,
from sabbath to sabbath,
all mankind will come to bow down
in my presence, says Yahweh.

And on their way out they will see
the corpses of men
who have rebelled against me,
Their worm will not die
nor their fire go out;
they will be loathsome to all mankind. - Isaiah 66:22-24 -

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; they will be no more death and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.

Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: 'Now I am making the whole of creation new' he said, 'Write this; that what I am saying is sure and will come true'. And then he said, It is already done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life tree, free to anybody who is thirsty; it is the rightful inheritance of the one who proves victorious; and I will be his God and he a son/daughter to me. But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word or worship obscenities, for murderer and fornicators, and for fortune tellers, idolaters or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur." - Revelation 21:1-8 -

"This, too, he said to me," Do not keep the prophecies in this book a secret because the Time is close. Meanwhile let the sinner go on sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let those who do good go on doing good, and those who are holy continue to be holy. Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man according to what he/she deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. These others must stay outside: dogs, fortune-tellers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life." - Revelation 22:10-15 -

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.     

                            -       THE  EFFECTS  AND  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN       - 

'Sin is a desire in opposition to the eternal law of God.' - Saint Augustine of Hippo - Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the 'Greatest sin', one eternal or unforgiveable sin. Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he/she who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. - Luke 12:10 - 'He/She is not with me is against me, and he/she who does gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, everyone of men's sins and blasphemies will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And anyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but let anyone speak against the Holy Spirit and he/she will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next. - Matthew 12:30-32 - 

'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he/she will never have forgiveness: he/she is guilty of an eternal sin.' This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him/her'. - Mark 3:28-30 - 

Sin deserves punishment because it is a violation of God's holy character, but His pardon is gracious. 

C C C # 1848 - As Saint Paul affirms, "Where sin is increased, grace abounded all the more." But to do its work grace must uncover sin so as to convert our hearts and bestow on us "righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "When law came, it was to multiply the opportunities of falling, but however great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater; and so, just as sin reigned wherever there was death, so grace will reign to bring eternal life thanks to the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 5:20-21 - Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God, by his Word and by his Spirit, casts a living light on sin: "Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgement of conscience, and this, being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man's inmost being, becomes at the same time the start of a new grant of grace and love: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Thus in this "convincing concerning sin" we discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the certainty of redemption. The Spirit of the truth is the Consoler. - Saint John Paul II DeV 31&2 - 

Self-love which is good, can be preserved into self-adoration, in which one says, "I am my own law, my own truth, my own standard. Nobody can tell me anything. Whatever I call right is right; what I call wrong is wrong. Therefore, I am God." This is the sin of pride, the perversion of self-love into egotism. Such undue self-inflation is one of the principal causes of unhappiness; the more a balloon is inflated, the easier it is to puncture it. The egotist walks warily, in constant danger of having his/her false values destroyed. 

Hence, anyone who blasphemes [speaks evil] against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation. Such slander of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ implied, reveals a spiritual blindness, a warping and perversion of the moral nature, that puts one beyond hope of repentance and forgiveness. Those who call the Holy Spirit, Satan, reveal a spiritual cancer so advanced that they are beyond any hope of healing and forgiveness. 

"If, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There will be left only the dreadful prospect of judgement and the raging fire that is to burn rebels. Anyone who disregards the Law of Moses is ruthlessly put to death on the word of two witnesses or three; and you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God, and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment. We are all aware who it was that said: Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again: The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." - Hebrews 10:26-31 - 

Sin is a real and positive evil. Sin is more than unwise, inexpedient, calamitous attitude, behaviour that produces sadness, sorrow, grief and distress. It is rebellion against God. Sin is thus the faithless rebellion of the creature against the just authority of his Creator. Sin involves the denial of the living God from whom human beings draw life and existence - Acts 17:28 - The consequence of this revolt is death and the torment of hell. Death is the ultimate penalty imposed by God for sin. For this reason, sinning against God and breaking His commandments at any point involves transgression at every point.

Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:19 - "Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbour as yourself; but as soon as you make distinction between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law. You see, if a man/woman keeps the whole Law, except for one small point at which he/she fails, he/she is still guilty of breaking it all.- James 2:8-10 -

Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:22-23 -

Apart from Christ Jesus, all are 'dead in trespasses and sins.' But this does not mean that people who committed sins and behave as wickedly as they might, for God restrains the outworking of the sinful heart. God has provided through His Son, Jesus bears the penalty of sin in place of His people. And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins in which you used to live when you were following the way of this world, obeying the ruler who governs the air, the spirit who is at work in the rebellious. We all were among them too in the past, living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God's anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ - it is through grace that you have been saved - and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.

This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live in. - Ephesians 2:1-10 -

Grace is one of the key attributes of God. Therefore, grace is almost always associated with the spiritual gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion and justice. The grace of God was supremely revealed and given in the person and work of  Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God's grace, but He was also its very embodiment, bringing it to mankind for salvation. By His passion, death and resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship between God and His peoples. The only way of salvation for any person is 'through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Peter stood up and addressed them. 'My brothers,' he said, 'you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone's heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God's anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus. - Acts 15:7-11 -

The Holy Spirit is the One who binds Christ Jesus to all peoples so that they receive grace, forgiveness, and newness of life as well as the spiritual gifts. "Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, through all and within all. Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted. - Ephesians 4:3-7 -

The theme of grace is especially prominent in the epistles of Saint Paul. He sets grace radically over against law and works of the law. Apostle/Saint Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is not something that can be earned or merited; it can be received only as a gift of grace. Grace, however, must be accompanied by faith, hope and love.

In short, there are three things that last: Faith, Hope and Love; and the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13 -

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 -

In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, a person is accepted by the grace, mercy, and love of God through faith and repentance. When it is mentions individuals being accepted by God, offerings frequently are mentioned. In the Old Testament, offerings were acceptable to God when made as prescribed, but they were unacceptable when God's instructions were ignored. However, they were rejected when the attitude of one's heart was wayward and irreverent.

In the primary New Testament passage of acceptance, Saint Paul explains that God has fully accepted believers through the merits of Christ Jesus. God will not reject them; He opens Himself to His own by welcoming them. Saint Paul speaks also of a teaching 'worthy of all acceptance' or deserving of universal. God accepts us fully in Jesus Christ because of His offering and receives what we return to Him.

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. Such is the richness of the grace which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.

He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning to act upon when the times had run their course to the end: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth. And it is in him that we were claimed as God's own chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came. Now you too, in him, have heard the message of the truth and the good news of your salvation, and have believed it; and you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise, the pledge of our inheritance which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for his own, to make his glory praised. - Ephesians 1:3-14 -

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. - 1 Timothy 1:12-16 -

Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he/she deserves for the things he/she did in body, good or bad. - 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 - 

The difference between forgiveness and reparation is indicated in Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. When Moses sinned by doubting, God forgave him - but God still imposed a penance on Moses. 'You shall not pass this Jordan' - Deuteronomy 3:27 - King David repented for his adultery and Nathan, the prophet absolved him: 'The Lord has taken away your sin: you shall not die' - 2 Kings 12:13 - But God demanded satisfaction, 'The child that is born to you, shall surely die' - 2 Kings 12:14 - It is the same today: God's pardon in the Sacrament restores us to His Friendship but the debt to Divine Justice remains either in time or in eternity.

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

              -       THE  EFFECTS  AND  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN       -

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible declared that God is Creator - the only being capable of making something from nothing - The book of Genesis also declared that God created humanity as "male and female." - Genesis 1:27 - Together they formed the blessed pair needed to replenish and subdue the earth.

Since God created the universe out of nothing, it is His and will always serve His purpose. As God shaped creation without any interference from anyone, He will bring creation to its desired end. No power can frustrate God in His purpose to complete the process started in creation and revealed in Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. God is Spirit - not a material substance - it must mean more than physical resemblance. To be created in God's image means that human being, though a creature, is akin to God. Our hope rests in the sovereign power of Him who created the world and then recreated us through the saving power of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Mankind was created without sin, morally upright and inclined to do good. But sin entered in human experience when Eve and Adam violated the direct command of God. "Then Yahweh God gave the man this admonition, 'You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.'" - Genesis 2:16-17 -

By sin, death came into the world, and sin had destroyed the plan of God's creation. Humankind was created without sin, morally upright and inclined to do good. "This then you must know, says Qoheleth, is the sum of my investigation, putting this and that together. I have made other researches too, without result. 'One man in a thousand I may find, but never a woman better than the rest.' This, however, you must know: I find that God made man simple; man's complex problems are of his own devising." - Ecclesiastes 7:27-30 - But sin entered into human experience when Adam and Eve violated the direct command of God. - "The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' The woman answered the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death", Then the serpent said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.' The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths. Genesis 3:1-7 - By sin, death came into the world, and sin had destroyed the plan of God's creation. Thus, a new creation was necessary. 

In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible sin is viewed in several ways: Sin is an immoral act and a transgression against God / divine law as an offense against God which requires a pardon; as defilement which requires cleansing; as slavery which cries out for emancipation; as a debt which must be set right by reconciliation. However, sin is viewed, it is through the work of Christ Jesus that the remedy is provided. The Lord Jesus Christ has procured the pardon, the cleansing, the emancipation, the cancellation, the victory and the reconciliation. 

When sin is viewed as an offense against God, it is also interpreted as a breach of His law. The law of God, like law in general, involves penalties against the lawbreaker. The Apostle/Saint Paul conducting his argument along these lines, quoted one uncompromising declaration from the Old Testament: "A curse on him/her who does not maintain the words of the Law by observing them." And all the people shall say: Amen. - Deuteronomy 27:26 - "On the other hand, those who rely on the keeping of the Law are under a curse since sacred scripture says: Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in observing everything prescribed in the book of the Law." - Galatians 3:10 - 

But Saint Paul goes on to say that Christ, by enduring the form of death on which a divine curse was expressly pronounced in the law, absorbed in His own person the curse invoked on the lawbreaker: - Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - Christ redeemed us from the cursed of the Law by being cursed for our sake since sacred scripture says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a tree. - Galatians 3:13 - Since Jesus Christ is truly man and truly God and is fully human and fully divine, He partakes in the nature of both God and humanity. He represents God to humanity and He also represents humanity to God. Thus, God is both Lawgiver and Judge; Christ Jesus represents Him. 

In the hour of His death, Christ offered His life to God on behalf of mankind. The perfect life which He offered was acceptable to God. The salvation secured through the giving up of that life is God's free gift to mankind in Christ. The work of Christ is to set humanity in a right relationship with God.

When sin is considered as defilement that requires cleansing, the most straightforward affirmation is that 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from sin. "But if we live our lives in the light, as he is in the light, we are in union with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." - 1 John 1:7 - The effect of His death is to purify a conscience that has been polluted by sin. Spiritual defilement calls for spiritual cleansing and this is what the death of Christ has accomplished.

When sin is considered as slavery from which the slave must be set free, then the death of Christ is spoken of as a ransom or means of redemption. Jesus himself declared that he came 'to give His life a ransom for many'. "For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. - Mark 10:45 -

Apostle/Saint Paul not only spoke of sin as slavery; he also personified sin as a slave-owner who compels his slaves to obey his evil orders. When they are set free from his control by the death of Christ Jesus to enter the service of God, they find this service, by contrast, to be perfect freedom.

The idea of sin as a debt that must be cancelled is based on the teaching of Jesus' parable of the creditor and the two debtors - Luke 7:40-43 - the creditor forgave them both when they could make no repayment. But the debtor who owed the large sum, and therefore had more cause to love the forgiving creditor, represented the woman whose "sins which are many, are forgiven" - 7:47 - This is similar to Paul's reference to God in Colossians 2:14-15 - "He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross; and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Power, and paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession."

Colossians 2:15 speaks of the 'principalities and powers' as a personification of the hostile forces in the world which have conquered men and women and hold them as prisoners of war. There was no hope of successful resistance against them until Christ Jesus confronted them. It looked as if they had conquered Him too but on the cross He conquered death itself, along with all other hostile forces. In His victory all who believe in Him have a share. - 1 Corinthians 15:57 -

Sins is also viewed as estrangement or alienation from God. In this case, the saving work of Christ includes the reconciliation of sinners to God. The initiative in this reconciling work is taken by God. "Because God wanted all perfection to be found in him and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross." - Colossians 1:19-20 - "In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men's faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled." - 2 Corinthians 5:19 -

Those who are separated from God by sin are also estranged from one another. Accordingly, the work of Christ that reconciles sinners to God also brings them together as human beings. Hostile divisions of humanity have peace with one another through Him. Saint/Apostle Paul celebrated the way in which the work of Christ Jesus overcame the mutual estrangement of Jews and Gentiles. - "For He is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his, own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law." - Ephesians 2:14 -

The sense of sin is a reality everyone knows. It is more than just a violation of law; its poignancy would not be present except for man's intuition that sin also involves a breaking of a relationship between persons. Some people who steal from a great corporation do not feel that they have done anything very wrong (although they actually have) because they cannot think of the corporation as anything but impersonal. They have a flickering intuition of a truth - that the essence of sin is not a negation of a code but a rejection of a person toward whom one feels bound through his/her goodness and his/her love. Sin is an affront by one spirit against another, an outrage against love. That is why there is no sense of sin without the consciousness of a personal God. 

True prophet Isaiah had a deep sense of guilt when he saw God and said, "Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts." - Isaiah 6:5 - "I knew you then only by hearsay; but now, having seen you with my own eyes, I retract all I have said, and in dust and ashes I repent." - Job 42:5-6 - "When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.'" - Luke 5:8 - 

- The Christian's Spiritual Life - The reason, therefore, why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned, is that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law's just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates. 

To brings a person into right relationship with God requires the initial change of character, attitude and behavior, that is, conversion of heart. True conversion of heart involves turning away from evil deeds and false worship and turning toward serving and worship God in spirit and true. Only by true conversion of heart makes a person's entrance into a new genuine relationship with God.

Closely related to conversion are repentance. In a general sense, repentance means a change of mind, or a feeling of remorse or regret from past sin. But true repentance is a turning away from sin, disobedience, rebellion and turning back to God. True repentance leads to a fundamental change in a person's relationship to God.

In the Old Testament, the classic case of true repentance is that of king David. In the New Testament, the keynote of John the Baptist's preaching was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand." When Jesus began His ministry. Jesus took up John's preaching of the message of repentance, expanding the message to include the Good News of salvation.

Sin involves the denial of the living God from whom human beings draw their life and existence; the consequence of this revolt is 'death' and the torment of 'hell.' Death is the ultimate penalty imposed by God for sin. Sin is a real and positive evil. Sin is more than unwise, inexpedient, calamitous behavior that produces sorrow and distress. In another word, it is rebellion against God's commandments. Sin is thus the faithless rebellion of the creatures against the just authority of his/her Creator. For this reason, breaking God's commandments at any point involves transgression at every point. Sin is actually a contradiction to the holiness of God, whose image mankind bears.

That is why you must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, why you must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men brought back to life; you should make every part of your body into a weapon fighting on the side of God; and then sin will no longer dominate your life, since you are living by grace and not by law.

Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you become his slaves. You cannot be slaves of sin that leads to death and at the same time slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness. You were once slaves of sin, but thanks God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become 'slaves' of righteousness. If I may use human terms to help your natural weakness: as once you put your bodies at the service of vice and immorality, so now you must put them at the service of righteousness for your sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behaviour ends in death. Now, however, you have set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:12-23 -

Thus, there is a need for regeneration or born again, that is, the spiritual change brought about in a person's life by an act of God. In regeneration a person's sinful nature is changed and he/she is enabled to respond to God in faith and love. The need in regeneration or born again grows out of humanity's sinfulness. It is brought about through God's initiative. God sees and works in human heart. Therefore, regeneration or born again is an act of God through the Holy Spirit, resulting in resurrection from sin to a new life in Christ Jesus.

And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God's work. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

The condition of despair induced by unrepented sin often reaches a point where there is a positive fanaticism against religion and morality. Anyone who has fallen away from the spiritual order will hate it, because religion is the reminder of his guilt. Husbands who are unfaithful will beat their wives who are faithful. Wives who are unfaithful will accuse their husbands of infidelity. Such souls finally reach a point where, they want to increase evil until all distinction between right and wrong is blotted out. Then they can sin with impunity and boasted, "Evil, be thou my good." Expediency can now replace morality, cruelty becomes justice, lust become love. Sin multiplies itself in such a soul until it becomes a permanent residence of Satan, cursed by the Lord Jesus Christ as one of the white sepulchers of this world.

Such is the history of "nice" persons, who believe they never sin.

The nice people do not come to God, because they think they are good through their own merits or bad through inherited instincts. If they do good, they believe they are to receive the credit for it; if they do evil, they deny that it is their own fault. They are good through their own good heartedness, they say; but they are bad because they are misfortunate, either in their economic life or through an inheritance of evil genes from their grand parents. The nice people rarely come to God; they take their moral tone from the society in which they live. Like the Pharisee in the front of the temple, they believe themselves to be very respectable citizens. Elegance is their test of virtue; to them, the moral is the aesthetic, the evil is the ugly. Every move they make is dictated, not by a love of goodness, but by the influence of their age. Their intellects are cultivated - in knowledge of current events. They read only the best-sellers; but their hearts are undisciplined. They say that they would go to Church if the Church were only better - but they never tell you how much better the Church must be before they will join it. They sometimes condemn the gross sins of society, such as murder; they are not tempted to these because they fear the opprobrium that comes to who commit them. By avoiding the sins that society condemns, they escape reproach, they consider themselves good par excellence.

Yet what moved Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ to invective was not badness but just such self-righteous goodness as this. We find no words of condemnation spoken against Magdalene, who was overwhelmed by the problem of sexual promiscuity, or against the penitent thief, who found it difficult to respect possession; but we find Him inveighing against the Scribes and Pharisees, who were nice and self-righteous men. Against them the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced His woes: - Matthew 23:13-36 - The Lord Jesus Christ said that the harlots and the Quislings would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the self-righteous and the smug. Concerning all those who endowed hospitals and libraries and public works, in order to have their names graven in stone before their fellow men, He said, "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward." - Matthew 6:2 -             

It is a fact of human experience that the more experience we have with sin - our own sin - the less we are conscious of it. In all other things, we learn by experience; in sin, we unlearn by experience. Sin gets into the blood, the nerve cells, the brain, the habits, the mind; and the more it penetrates a person, the less he/she knows of its existence. The sinner becomes so accustomed to sin that he fails to recognize its gravity. This was the sinister idea behind Satan's temptation of Eve. Satan told her that if she possessed the knowledge of good and evil, she would be like God. Satan did not tell her the real truth - that God knows evil only negatively, intellectually, as the physician who has never had pneumonia knows it as the negation of health.

But a human being, knowing evil at all, must know it experimentally - that is, evil would enter into his system and become a part of him. As a cataract in the eye blinds the vision, so sin always darkens the intellect and weakens the will and leaves a bias toward the committing of another sin. Each sin makes the next more easy, conscience less reproachful, virtue more distasteful, and the attitude toward morality more scornful. In some persons, sin works like a cancer, undermining and destroying the character for a long time without any visible effects. When the disease becomes manifest, it has progressed so far that one almost gives up the hope of a cure.

*** The difference between a habit and an instinct is that a habit is acquired, whereas an instinct is infused. A duck never has to acquired the instinct to swim but a man has to develop it. Habit then means not only the facility of doing a thing because one has done it frequently but it also implies the impulse of the will to do the action. Because of the lack of will, no inanimate creatures ever develop habits.

A clock does not go by continued repetition of its movements. But habit is developed by the will. A drunken Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson's play, excuses himself for every fresh dereliction by saying: "I won't count this time", he may not count it but it is counted nonetheless. The nerve cells, fibers and the molecules are counting it, registering it and storing it up to be used against him when the next temptation comes. A man becomes a permanent drunkard by separate drinks and he becomes a permanent saint by separate acts of virtue.

No man becomes bad at once. Evil is not native to the soul; it has to become domesticated. Any evil desire or affection repeatedly acted upon receives less and less attention from the conscience until at last it almost becomes automatic, like reaching for a cigarette after one has acquired the habit. At first, an act of vice requires an effort and is speedily followed by regret. This voice of conscience is more and more diminished after the evil deed is multiplied.

A man may eventually reach a point where he has a memory of the knowledge of morality, as well as the memory that it exercised over his conduct at one time. But the power of moral cause is gone, though he may falsely justify himself by calling moral precepts superstitions or the relic of a bygone age or a mark of his immaturity.

It would seem that Our Blessed Lord did not recommend a gradual breaking of a habit but immediate: "If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna". He did not actually mean a physical plucking out of the eye but a complete break with the evil habit. A short time ago a drunkard stopped me on the street and said: "I am a bum; I have no job and I drink too much. What would you recommend?" I said to him: "The first thing that you must do is to want to be sober and decent and hardworking". He said: "Oh, no. That is too hard: Though Dr. Jekyll made up his mind to have done with the hateful life he carried on in the form of Mr. Hyde, he did not destroy the cup and the liquid which enabled him to transform himself onto a safe disguise. It is the destruction of the cup and the will to be better which is the condition of breaking the evil habit.

J. Arthur Thomson well emphasized this necessity of suppressing the animal in us in order to encourage the angel: "Man often seems like a creature whose wings have been smirched with oil or bedraggled with mud, so that it cannot fly... There are gratuitous handicaps which can be got rid of, so as to leave the developing human spirit to go forth with a new freedom on this quest after adventures in the kingdom of the spirit".

So many say it is their weak wills which keep them from rising. It is not just the will that is weak; it is rather the refusal to accept the truth that the will has the power to rise, particularly when there is power supplied from the outside, namely the power of grace. In breaking evil habits, man does not act alone; he acts in conjunction with help from God, if he but claims it. The wise of Pythagoras used to say: "Choose that course of action which is best, and custom will soon render it the most agreeable". If we kept a tiger alive and expect to manage him, the best thing to do is to feed him; but if we desire to kill him, the only thing to do is to stop his food at once and for a little while he will roar and tear but will soon grow weak.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               *** BY VENERABLE / ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 ) 

  -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.