Jesus was crucified for all our sins and whoever believes in Him shall be saved and his sins are forgiven. I think you are incorrect in saying Christian's cannot be tempted or afflicted by satan.
Look at the story of Job. Man is naturally sinful and can never be found perfect enough to win forgiveness from God. That statement is true! We can't earn our salvation it is a gift from God. How can you say Jesus didn't die for everyone's sin. That's exactly why He was crucified. I don't see the conflict....both 1 and 2 are true.


I don't know if gay is a natural response or not. I don't think science without any doubts can prove people are born that way or if it's a learned behavior. Do we really know? It's really irrelevant if one is born that way because we are all born sinners. Who says homosexuals are ineligible for heaven? I think you would probably say the church says homosexuals are ineligible. The homosexuals are entirely eligible for heaven if they are saved. There is that word church again. What is the definition of church? I like to think there are two definitions for the word church.

1)a building or meeting place where people worship
2)the body of christ

I like the second definition. I would like to believe that anybody from the body of Christ or as I like to call it the "true church" would not shun a homosexual or anybody for that matter. I believe if anybody were to kick somebody out of their denomination then that would be a group I would avoid. Anybody bearing good fruit would not do that.

Thanks Paul! Just got back from vacation so it's taken me a little while to focus and get back into the flow of things.


I agree with you on man's ego being influenced by satan. Isaiah 14:13-14 is a good parallel scripture representing ego. Satan is all about ego....notice Satan says I WILL five times in these two verses alone. It's all about him. I also believe that Satan is also an outside entity as well. He isn't called the prince of the power of the air or the prince of this world for nothing. I believe Satan definitely has the ability to tempt and afflict the believer as well as the unbelievers.

The believer - Satan wants believers to doubt God in every way. He wants believers to doubt God's person, His truthfulness, His faithfulness to His promises, His love, His grace, etc. Satan seeks to prevent believers from sharing the gospel and from encouraging each other. Though we are not told how he does these things, Paul tells us that Satan did interfere with his plans to visit
Thessalonica. Satan is actively seeking to tempt believers with the world system he has established. The world denies the truth of Scripture, the world denies that the Word of God is truth. Satan wants believers to doubt the authenticity of God's Word. Satan moves believers to lie in order to improve their material wealth. He deceives believers into justifying unfaithfulness and promiscuity. He tempts believers into becoming prideful of their own righteousness.

The unbeliever - Satan's influence in the world order is seen in the way that world systems operate. Satan will find ways to take away the Word from those who do not cherish it in their hearts. In addition to man's natural blinders, Satan blinds men so they can't understand the
gospel. The blinding work of Satan is only overcome by God's work, by God's sovereign plan
through which the Holy Spirit convicts the elect and brings them to repentance. We could say that
every genuine profession of faith is a miracle, it is God acting supernaturally in the midst of men.
Satan promotes the denial of sin and wrong views of salvation. He nourishes the mind set that we
should lead self-sufficient life styles. The idea that we deserve more, that we deserve to live better is a satanic idea. The world has embraced such thinking and the pursuit of riches is even seen as noble.


I think number 2 has to be part of the discussion because our sin nature is supposed to bring us closer to Christ and not away from Him. I can't tell you why some preachers chastise the congregation's about being sinner's. Maybe that's why church attendance is declining because the preachers are chastising rather than showing the congregation love.


I know it was before Jesus,but it still applies today. As the story goes, Satan challenges God by stating that Job will denounce God if afflicted. God gives permission to Satan to afflict Job to test Job's faith. Of course, Job doesn't denounce God. God still allows these trials and tribulations in our lives to test our faith and make our faith stronger.


I don't necessarily think sexual thoughts are a bad thing. Sex is part of human nature and I think God understands that. Now, there is alot of gray area in the "thought" part. If Santosh has sexual thoughts about he and his wife/girlfriend I don't see anything wrong with that. If Santosh has sexual thoughts about he and his wife and his wife's girlfriend then that's a problem. I would recommend the same thing Bruce said.