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I believe that our conscience, this inner moral compass that God Himself placed within each of us…that scripture also affirms…ought to always point us to right and wrong. But, because we live in a broken world (because of sin in the world), this innate and God-given moral compass within each of us can sometimes become suppressed and dulled, for a variety of reasons; we can also intentionally ignore it, just as we can intentionally ignore the moral teachings in scripture.

I’m a lot more mindful of trusting in Jesus for my salvation than I am with me not sinning. Despite my best efforts, I’m gonna continue to sin, as are you. I strive to stay focused on trusting in Jesus…first and foremost, regardless of anything else, no matter what…as opposed to me focusing on my ability to not sin.

Antlers, I do not believe you answered the question.

I think I’ve made my beliefs quite clear. Maybe I can expound a bit; can you rephrase the above question…?

Nor did you answer this question which was specifically asked of ‘you’ a couple of pages ago:

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No, I absolutely have no problems with Christ's teachings. I recognise Christ as one of history's top philosophers.

I simply do not recognise Christ as supernatural.

Did you ‘ever’ recognize Christ as supernatural…?

Not after I was of "the age of consent".

IOW, old enough for babtism.

I'd say that very little is known about the man, Yeshua/Jesus, the charismatic rabbi.

Example. A pastor at a church is openly sleeping around, with multiple partners, and has no remorse or intentions of stopping.

Do you believe the church is to rebuke the pastor, and if so, on what authority?

Absolutely I need reference. My heart and human mind will start making very poor rationalizations. The Word is my guide.

It's so simple men.

I suppose if that particular church is set up such that the elders or deacons, or the congregation itself, has a say-so regarding the pastor’s employment agreement…and if that pastor violates that employment agreement…then the elders or deacons, or the congregation itself can take whatever actions they feel is necessary ~ from a rebuke up to and including termination.

Agreed. How do you reconcile this rebuke if the pastor is to determine sin based on his own heart compass?

You are so right. Jesus taught for three whole years and his words are simple and easy to understand. His teaching and doctrine was nothing new.

The common people loved him and followed him. A sizable part of the Jewish hierarchy were alarmed and had him killed with the very reluctant OK of the Roman governor.

Where the problem is with ''Christianity'' is that it was hijacked and things were imputed to Jesus that he never taught.

A violation of his employment agreement is a violation of his employment agreement. Period. In this particular hypothetical situation, the pastor is clearly ignoring the teachings of scripture just as he is ignoring his God-given moral compass.

Some want it to be simple, even when it's not. The bottom line is simple: an absence of evidence to support supernatural claims, people being raised from the dead, the existence of a cosmic monarch, etc....

Satan misleads people and makes them believe their own righteousness. One reason we need the Bible is to test spirits - to determine if what they tell us is true or false.

On your own efforts, that is correct. You will continue to sin. However, allowing Christ to change us, to do the heavy lifting through grace, will change us for the better. Grace is a free gift, but you have to go get it. It's not handed to you.

Apostle Paul…whom the Lord clearly said was His chosen instrument to proclaim His name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…was pretty honest about his ongoing struggle with sin.

Supernatural? The event was recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 14....specifically Matthew 14:22-33

Antlers, these two post seem to contradict one another but I could be missing something.

You defined sin as intentionally doing something that one inherently knows is wrong. You said nothing of scripture. Then when asked for a reference for sin, you doubled down on your position and responded with a question, should we need a reference, which still ignored scripture. Then you say the pastor is clearly ignoring scripture. No where in your definition of sin was scripture mentioned. You also say the pastor is ignoring his moral compass? We certainly have no insight into the mans mind and his personal dealings with God.