temperence and moderation

[Jessie]

had someone tell me moderation is'nt in the bible its something of man

this person is strict with themselves and others, to the extreme.

extremes are not good.

from lookiing at the word temperence and the word moderation,
they pretty much mean the same thing.

help! :scratch:

[CoreIssue]

The Bible is laced with moderation. The NT demands it.

But, understand, it is not moderation of what God expects from us, but balance and reality on what he knows he can get from us.

And we are to carry that into our dealings with others and how we see ourselves.

The goal is uncompromising perfection, the reality is that it is unachievable. So be merciful in our realistic expectations but uncompromising in our ultimate goals.

[Jessie]

I dont understand what you mean by balance and reality?

this person would say no one should have alcohol period
(just using this as a example) I understand but scripture does'nt teach that.
thats one of the extremes.

I used that to give you an idea of the extremes, and mindset.

[CoreIssue]

My point is this person does not live up to their own extreme demands. No one can.

Those who act like they do are lying to themselves or have a false notion of what absolutes are.

They are hypocrites.

God's law is absolute. Anything less is condemnation for eternity.

But God understands we cannot possibly live up to those standards. So he sent Christ who stood in our place for those payments.

So God balanced his absolutely law against the reality of our being. Thus both were achieved.

We are to exhibit the same balance in our lives.

Demand absolutes, recognize humans are not capable of doing it in this life and look to God's compromise for us all the resolve and correct the failures of ourselves and others. As long as there is repentence from those who do wrong.

That is God's balance. That is what God taught. And that reduces to 'Do unto others' and 'Love God with all your heart.'

[Jessie]

thanks for explaining!

that makes things much more clearer for me,

when you said they have a false notion of what absolutes are,
could you explain that???

I would like to understand that better even just for me.

[CoreIssue]

Since they obviously believe they are holding to the absolutes then the absolutes they see are either watered down or incomplete.

Easiest example is seeing a person of the opposite sex and having a thought.

Now, how many guys, expecially single ones, could see a gal dressed provocatively and not have an automatic reaction?

Hey, too late. Thought thunk. Done deal as regards what we are told about that.

They give themselves outs, like they didn't follow through or they shut down their thinking immediately.