ABSTAIN, RESTRAIN, REFRAIN, WHAT DO THEY MEAN IN RESPECT TO CHRISTIANITY?

@WEPromote It should only matter to yourself. http://t.co/9fYxDSR7ET
— Robert Richard (@tripler5064) July 12, 2013

Abstinence is a word that is used in Christianity that does more to bringing harm in leading people to Christ than it does good.  The reason probably is that when and where it is used it is not with the full understanding of what scripture actually says.  As with many issues in life, a lot of Christians try to boil them down into passages that are taken out of context and then misinterpreted to fit their own agendas.

The definition of abstain from THE MIRIAM WEBSTER ONLINE DICTIONARY - abstain is; "to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice".  To fully understand this definition, refrain needs to also be defined, it has a meaning to "keep under control" " to limit, restrict, or keep under control".  The other word is "refrain" which means "To hold oneself back".

These definitions all dealing with abstaining do not infer the complete lack or absence of an action, they all infer control and moderation within the context of the situation.  Sex and alcohol are two things that Christian doctrines come down heavy on.  In the spirit of the scriptures and the word of God, the Bible does not condemn all sex and drinking as sin.   

This position is untenable because the Bible does not teach this.  Sex and  alcohol themselves are not evil. The problem is they can and in a lot of situations involve abuse.  These abuses lead to poverty, violence, and early death in the short term, but in the long term it leads everyone away from God which will ultimately result in eternal death.  It is not the sex and the alcohol, it is the abuse of these and those who cannot restrain themselves from causing abuse of any type should abstain from any activity that could lead themselves to eternal death.


BIBLICAL OCCASIONS TO DRINK ALCOHOL IN MODERATION:  (http://pastormark.tv/2011/09/14/faq-whats-your-stance-on-alcohol).

• Celebration (Genesis 14)
  
• The Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18)
  
• Medicinal purposes (Proverbs 31:6; 1 Timothy 5:23)
  
• Worship (Exodus 29:40; Numbers 28:14; Matthew 26:27; 1 Corinthians 11:25-26).
  
• Thanksgiving to God (Proverbs 3:9-10)
  
• Happiness (Deuteronomy 14:26)
  

ADAM AND EVE DECIDED TO LIVE AN ALTERNATIVE LIFE STYLE.

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TODAY.

 When Adam and Eve decided to follow an alternative life style, similar to the way we live our lives today, apart from God and the Bible, they insured the truth in the statement made by God that “. . . you surely will die . . .”. As did with Adam and Eve and Enoch, that is what happens to us today, we “. . . surely will die . . .”. 

(http://www.ldsliberty.org/fundamental-principles-of-a-representative-democracy/adam-and-eve/)

Adam committed a sin. That sin was turning his back on God. Because of this, man, down through the ages has been dying. We do not know how to act. We do not know how to live our lives so we can live forever.

Look at the world today. It is a disgusting mess. Wars, famines, disease, murders, rapes, drug abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, sexual immorality of all kinds, aides. All these are man made. If Christians actually did live by the laws of God they wouldn’t die. The simple fact is that we do not because we can’t. Mankind has been killing himself down through the ages all because Adam and Eve decided they could determine right from wrong. When Adam and Eve sinned, God sentenced mankind, all of mankind including Christians, to a punishment. That punishment we are all sentenced to is to die a first death.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

God is telling us a simple truth, death will come to all men, this would include Christians. Death is man’s punishment for the sin of Adam. Because of Adam all men will endure that punishment.  What kind of punishment would it be if that when we die we are immediately whisked to heaven to be with Jesus Christ and God. That would be no punishment at all. The Bible does tell us that we die. It does not say Christians die and then immediately go to heaven. It is not in scripture. This doctrine is simply false.
Do not fear though, God does offer eternal life to all men.

MAN HAS QUESTIONED DEATH SINCE THE BEGINNING.

Death has probably been on the mind of every human being since the time when Cain killed his brother Able. Adam and Eve were living under the first lie that Satan told them, that “...“You will not surely die”...”. In the very beginning God told Adam and Eve a very basic truth. That truth is the fact that man is not immortal. Man can die! 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)

But Satan told Eve a different story.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3: 1-6)

Satan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is questioning Eve on commands that God had Given to her and Adam. God had instructed them that they were not to determine for themselves what is good and what is evil. God wanted them to come to Him so that He could instruct them, teaching them what is right and what is wrong.

Satan on the other hand told Eve that she didn’t need to go to God for answers. He said that they could make decisions on their own. That they could determine for themselves what was right and what was wrong. Satan convinced Eve that God was lying to them. Satan told Eve that God did not want them “. . . knowing good and evil . . .” because they “. . . will be like God . . .”. Satan told Eve that God was withholding information from them because God did not want them to become like God. Eve, being the vain woman that she was, decided she wanted to be like God.

God told Adam and Eve that if they turned away from Him, did not look to Him for instruction and decided to make choices apart from God, this would eventually lead to their death. They would cease to exist. They would be no more. God did not tell them that they would stop living as they were but would continue on in some other plane of existence whether it be heaven or hell. God made it plane and simple. He said they would die.

ENOCH IS TAKEN BY GOD, BUT NOT TO HEAVEN

 

(http://vimeo.com/48226501)

Contemporary Christian doctrine uses the verse, Genesis 5:24, “And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him”, as proof of heaven. They interpret this verse as God taking Enoch up into heaven to be with Him. First of all, so far as the scriptures are concerned, there is no passage in the Bible which specifically teaches us that God has taken anyone into heaven to be with Him, except for His Son Jesus Christ. 

The Bible does mention a resurrection. The apostle Paul wrote, "...the dead will be raised incorporable, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). The righteous will be taken by Jesus into heaven. Paul also wrote,"...the dead in Christ shall rise first:Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This will happen some time in the future.

Unless you interpret Biblical passages out of the context and the spirit of what the original text was trying to say, there is no scriptural proof of anybody going to heaven after they die.. In fact, Jesus tells us very explicitly that “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13). It is amazing how clear this passage is. How could Jesus make this simple statement if the verse, Genesis 5:24, is interpreted to mean that Enoch went to heaven to be with God? That would not make sense.
 
People say that the Bible is confusing. Yes it is to those who refuse to except and understand the truth and try to interpret the Bible using secular beliefs. This is one of the passages Christians simply refuse to see as a clear and simple message from God. All scriptures are messages from God. Each message contains information that mankind is supposed to use to understand the total picture.
If you were to interpret Genesis 5:24 as Enoch going to heaven then you have to admit that the Bible does contradict itself and therefore it is not reliable.
 
The Bible simply does not contradict itself. Man, ever since the inception of the Roman Christian Church, has been contradicting what the word of God has to say. He has been interpreting the Bible out of the context of the rest of the Bible. If what Jesus said in John 3:13 is true, then the only conclusion you can come to is that interpreting Genesis 5:24 to mean that Enoch was taken up into heaven to be with God is the wrong interpretation.
 
In John chapter 3 Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person changes his way of thinking he would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus then states that “...no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). Jesus said that no one has ascended to heaven, not even “the Son of man”. Jesus was “in heaven” BEFORE HE WAS BORN, but as of when he was speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus had not yet ascended. More important is the fact that no one else had, or has since, ascended either.
 
Genesis 5:24 and John 3 have nothing at all to do with anybody going to or being in heaven. Enoch did not go to heaven and Christians do not go to heaven when they die. These passages are a lesson in our relationship with God. The "kingdom of heaven" being spoken about in John chapter three is a kingdom that will be located here on earth sometime in our future.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY FOLLOWS DOCTRINES THAT ARE NOT SCRIPTURAL.

There are many denominations of Christianity in the world today and all of them seem to have their own special doctrines and beliefs that they like to follow.  Some Christians believe that you die and go immediately to heaven.  Others believe that when you die you do just that, you die and you do not exist in any state but rather it is like you are asleep.  These are only two doctrines.  There are hundreds of other beliefs that differ between the different denominations.  There can be only one truth.  The Bible is the only place where you can find the truth.  There is no other truth.  If you cannot find it in the Bible, then you cannot hold it up as true Christian Doctrine. 

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