One day a week or so ago, a discussion was entered into about the SENSES.
Are the senses good or bad?
The argument was made that the senses are BAD, since so many things of the world use what man can touch, taste, smell, see or hear to attract and overcome him.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
–1JOHN 2:15
The senses–or rather, what can be experienced through the senses–are said to be a type of come-on to entice man to sin.
On the other side of this divide, it was countered that the senses are GOOD, since God created the senses and, after creating man (including his senses), said “This is VERY good.”
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
–Genesis 1:26-27,31
[Of course, this argument can be used to justify ANY part of God’s creation–since God created ALL–which is MISused by man.]
So, the reader may ask, “Are the senses good or bad?”
Again, the senses were created by God to allow man to experience the world around him and LEARN from the world in a variety of different ways.
So, the senses were created with a useful purpose in mind.
HOWEVER, ANY and ALL useful purposes can be misused by man–including the senses.
When the senses are used to experience and FOCUS ON various ‘things of the world,’ they will lead man onto a path which heads straight to eternal destruction.
“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
–James 1:15
One acquaintance (who is an adherent of an Eastern religion) has boiled this all down to a handy mantra which he regularly employs.
“Material world = Bad; Spiritual world = Good.”
Since this man claims that the senses are part of the material world, they are BAD.
Christianity seems to have a more NUANCED view: it is not the senses, in and of themselves, which are good or bad, but how man USES (or MISuses) those gifts from God.
This discussion will–God willing–continue.
WHAT does the reader believe?
It is not YET too late: there is still time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.
DOES the reader believe he is saved?
Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival
DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
A Reminder: The Gospel is Simple
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: August 23, 2021.]
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
image: ETPR/Stuart Miles, FreeDigitalPhotos.net/ETPR
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