The voice of God?

SwissGambit,
If you believe that it is the God of the bible or Christ of the bible, do not make any vows. Just obey.

Also, You don't have to do works to be saved with Christ. Faith in Christ as Savior and Lord is sufficient. While doing good works is not required for salvation in Christ, repentance is needed. After you already are saved in Christ, then you can please God by obeying Christ's will.

I have heard this as a definition of repentance unto salvation. . . it is a change of mind.

You will not need to work your way to heaven with Christ, grace and faith are involved.

King James Version
===============
Ephesians 2: 8, 9
----------------------
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Romans 10: 10
-------------------
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Acts 16: 30, 31
-------------------
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
But the voice told me to change. I don't think God wants me until I do.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
But the voice told me to change. I don't think God wants me until I do.

SG, you already have changed your mind. Doing so is a rational not an emotional decision. Now make more sound decisions.

"The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon
Strong's Number: 3340

Original Word Word Origin
metanoeo from (3326) and (3539)
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry
Metanoeo 4:975,636
Phonetic Spelling Parts of Speech
met-an-o-eh'-o Verb

Definition: to change one's mind, i.e. to repent; to change one's mind for better,
heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.

NAS Word Usage - Total: 34
repent 26, repented 5, repents 3

NAS Verse Count
Matthew 5
Mark 2
Luke 9
Acts 5
2 Corinthians 1
Revelation 10

Total 32

Greek lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the 'Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.' These files are public domain."

http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/metanoeo.html

Originally posted by sonship
Yesterday is gone. Each day with God is a fresh new day.

Today is today and what shall you do ?
I would not be fixated on some experience of yesterday.

[b]Today is today.

There is a way to start with the top of your head and work your way down.

You confess the known sins of your eyes - what you have looked at. Confess the known ...[text shortened]... oly Spirit. Just this much in the privacy of your room with the Lord God will be very effective.[/b]

I ... I just don't know if I am ready to make those kinds of vast, sweeping changes. I've invested so much time and energy into my life, the way it is. And now I hear a voice and I'm just supposed to give it all up?

SwissGambit
If you believe that it is the God of the bible or Christ of the bible, then admitting you are a sinner against God and that you want forgiveness for your sin is a step of repentance unto salvation and toward faith in Christ's sacrifice for you.

The first thing to do when you want to turn over your life to Christ is to put faith in Christ as Savior and Lord for forgiveness of sin and for eternal life. Obeying God comes after you first put faith in Christ for salvation. The first obedience is faith in Christ.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
I ... I just don't know if I am ready to make those kinds of vast, sweeping changes. I've invested so much time and energy into my life, the way it is. And now I hear a voice and I'm just supposed to give it all up?

Building Blocks: Good decisions one at a time living life one day at a time... avoiding operation overthink as you go.

Note: You've previously established on this forum that twenty plus years ago you believed in Christ.
Today you're a Prodigal Son coming home... rest easy in the embrace of God's Unfailing Love.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
I ... I just don't know if I am ready to make those kinds of vast, sweeping changes. I've invested so much time and energy into my life, the way it is. And now I hear a voice and I'm just supposed to give it all up?

Confession will remove the blockages in your heart. Then the flow of the Holy Spirit can began to flow like a river.

The river will change you and nothing BUT the river of the Holy Spirit CAN change a man.

This is the last post I will post to you this evening. But if you have difficulty knowing what to pray, open your bible to Psalm 51 as if David's prayer is exactly your own.

Pray with Psalm 51 if you do not know what to say to Jesus Christ.

I will be disappointed if you and some of the other skeptics have faked this conversation. And if I find that this is a fabricated turn of your heart, I will not feel foolish. The lose will not be mine because the advice is good regardless.

You may not want to pay the cost. But Jesus Christ is the Only one who is absolute for God. You have to touch Jesus Christ. He will be your willingness. This is the secret - Christ as your EVERYTHING.

You tell Him - "Lord I do not want to pay any price. But YOU Lord Jesus are able to be for the Father's will. I lay my hands upon You. I identify with You. I join myself to you to take you as all that I need."

Goodnight.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
No. I'm really not sure. Too soon to tell.

But the voice told me to change. I don't think God wants me until I do.


Seems like that would be compatible with Ezekiel's conception of God:
Ezekiel 18
21“Now if the wicked person turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will certainly live; he will not die. 22None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. He will live because of the righteousness he has practiced. 23Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. “Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives? 24But when a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same detestable acts that the wicked do, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. He will die because of the treachery he has engaged in and the sin he has committed.

And also compatible with Jesus' conception of God wherein one must become righteous, i.e., one must become one with God, one must follow the will of God, one cannot continue to commit sin, etc.

SwissGambit,
If you believe that God of the bible or Christ of the bible spoke to you, keep your salvation simple as it is meant to be. Don't let it become complicated. Christ did the work already.

ThinkOfOne,
Repentance unto salvation is good, but don't try to get SwissGambit to believe that he has to keep the Israelite law to be saved. He doesn't have to do that. Christ did that already for him. Don't make it harder for him to become a child of God. Christ is the Savior alone.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I am going to think about all this for awhile.

Originally posted by KingOnPoint
ThinkOfOne,
Repentance unto salvation is good, but don't try to get SwissGambit to believe that he has to keep the Israelite law to be saved. He doesn't have to do that. Christ did that already for him. Don't make it harder for him to become a child of God. Christ is the Savior alone.

Jesus' conception of righteousness differed from that of "Israelite law" as evidenced by His teachings while He walked the Earth.

The teachings of Jesus are elegant in their simplicity:

Righteousness is following the will of God. God is eternal. The attributes of God are eternal: truth, love, compassion, justice, etc. Eternal life is living in the domain of the eternal. One must BE righteous to have eternal life.

Sin is a deviation from righteousness. Sin is a deviation from following the will of God. Sin is a deviation from the eternal. Sin is a deviation from truth, love, compassion, justice, etc. Sin is living outside the domain of the eternal. One cannot sin and have eternal life.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I am going to think about all this for awhile.

Good night, SG. I salute your objectivity and courage. -Bob

ThinkOfOne,
The first thing for any sinner to do that needs to be given eternal life is to put faith in Christ for forgiveness of personal sin and for eternal life. This is the first obedience.

Christians will always have the sin nature in their lives as long as they remain human. Freedom to choose not to sin doesn't change that saved humans will continue to sin on this earth.

King James Version
=================
Matthew 18: 21, 22
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Matthew 6: 12-15
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

ThinkOfOne,
P.S. Christ Himself separates a human being from the eternal judgement of sin in hell and in the lake of fire. Christ makes the unsaved sinner into a saved sinner. Christ's living the Law of God and sacrifice provide the unsaved sinners the power to become the sons of God. Christ's blood covers the sin of an unsaved sinner that becomes saved.

King James Version
-------------------------
John 1: 12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Originally posted by KingOnPoint
ThinkOfOne,
The first thing for any sinner to do that needs to be given eternal life is to put faith in Christ for forgiveness of personal sin and for eternal life. This is the first obedience.

Christians will always have the sin nature in their lives as long as they remain human. Freedom to choose not to sin doesn't change that saved humans will c ...[text shortened]...

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to me,'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day,'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?' Then I will tell them,'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'

John 15
8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love

John 8
31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”... 34Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.

John 14:21-24
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him... If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words

Luke 6:46-49
Why do you call me,'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say?
Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, I will show you who he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. But he who hears, and doesn't do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.