Temptations

     "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.", Romans 6:23. Every day, we are tempted. Some of the things that we are tempted with seem just so right, and sometimes we can convince ourselves that they are. That is very easy to do. But in Matthew 5:29-30 it says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you loose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you loose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell." This passage here is telling us how important it is not to sin. Earlier I said that it is very easy to convince ourselves that sins are okay, but in 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reads, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." This verse is saying that not only do we need to get rid of anything physical causing us to sin, but also mentally. It's very difficult to say no to sin when you're trying to convince yourself that it's okay. If the Bible says that it's wrong, then it's wrong. Now there's nothing wrong with genuinely  not knowing that something is wrong and asking yourself, "IS that wrong?" But that's why we need to study the Bible, and read it often so that we can know what's right or wrong. Because whether we read the Bible or not, we will still be judged by our actions. Romans 2:11, "For God shows no partiality." That doesn't mean that everyone will go to heaven, or everyone will go to hell, but that we will all be judged equally. God won't have pity on you because you  didn't know what was right or wrong. That's why He gave us the Bible. And I do admit, there are some who have never heard about God. But that is why we are told in Matthew 28:19 to go and make disciples of all nations. But a lot of people get Romans 2:11 confused because it can be made to sound like everyone will go to heaven no matter what, or everyone will go to hell no matter what, but that's not what this is saying. It's like, say you have four siblings, and all five of you have to follow the same rules. If three of you break one of those rules, and the other two don't, who gets in trouble? The three who broke the rule! If the other two siblings had broken it too, they would've gotten in trouble. That's not showing partiality, that's giving justice. Make sense? So as long as we follow God's word, and do right, we'll get what was promised to us. Not because we did anything special, but because God loves us all and He always keeps His promises. So when we wonder if something is wrong or not, don't just assume it's not. Go to the Bible, or your parents, or someone with lots of Biblical knowledge who can help you by going through the Bible, and showing you if it is or not. And if you find out that it is wrong, don't talk to yourself into doing it anyway. We are told to destroy those thoughts, because they go against God's teaching.