“Paradise” by dan via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
When our eyes are opened to God's goodness, to His kindness poured out to us despite all of our ugly wretched sin… when that day comes and we realize the enormity of His love… we are overwhelmed. We are thankful, oh so incredibly humbly grateful for Him and the mercy he has shown us. We realize looking back at all of our ugly sins…. our gossip, our hate, our filthy tongues, our poor choices stemming from selfishness that we are still here. God has not called us to him and stood us before him at the throne to answer for our unrighteousness.
CHANCE AFTER CHANCE GIVEN….
Instead we have continually received his kindness and chances…. yes, chance after chance after merciful chance to change our ways. Chance after chance to turn from our sins that we commit like adultery, pre-martial sex, materialism, financial greed, abuse, abortion, etc. We are merrily living our life either oblivious to God's continual love and chances given to us or we hear him but choose to ignore. "Tomorrow…" we may tell ourselves, "I'll turn from this sin tomorrow and repent." But then tomorrow comes. And the next day. And the next. Turning from disobedience and repenting never comes. Sadly, one day it will be too late.
Ezekiel 18:21-23 ESV
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Not one person is good enough to enter Heaven and although it's the typical human nature of us all to compare ourselves and our sins to Johnny or Susie's next door much like ego-fuled kindergartners on the playground… we are all sinners. Some of us will go to Heaven. Some of us will go to Hell. So what's the difference? Some care and some don't. Some admit they need a Savior and some won't.
The Christian who knows they have committed atrocious acts in their life will see the light and go to God… admitting their ugliness… and their unfitness for Heaven. They will admit they aren't good enough and never can be… that they need God and Christ as their Savior. They will recognize their sins and repent, asking Him for mercy and forgiveness. They will turn from the sins they have committed and if they are struggling with the same sins over and over again… whether it be sex outside of marriage or cussing they will admit these struggles to Him and ask for help. We all fall short of God's glory and when we discard the haughty attitude that we are above seeking him we will repent.
THE NARCISSISTIC SOCIOPATH…
But not so with the narcissistic sociopath. Can we really expect to go through life purposely living sin after sin of transgressions and superiorly quipping: "I believe in God so I'm saved! I'm going to Heaven!" That appears to be the narcissistic sociopaths mindset. They don't seem to realize that even the devil believes in God.
They are in for a rude awakening.
“Stop Sinning Indicates Warning Sign And Caution”
by Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
We can't use God's sweet grace, mercy and kindness as a free ticket to just sin our pants off… that's not the way it works. Yes, it's true the devil tries his hardest to entice us, to set us up to sin… first he whispers in our ear: "Oh, come on, it's just a little sin", then after the fact he screams with shame: "You can't be forgiven for that HUGE sin! WHAT A MESS YOU ARE! God won't forgive you! He doesn't love you that much! You're toast! You might as well throw in the towel and keep sinning!" As Christians we feel terror in our hearts, we feel convicted, a "What have I done?!?" and immediately flee to God in sorrow, embarrassment and repentance.
1 John 1:19 ESV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Acts 3:19 ESV
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,
But in the narcissistic sociopaths mind sin is totally permissible… they figure Christ died for their sins…. done! They believe they are free to parade around like immoral animals without consequence. They adhere to the worldly philosophy of "YOLO… or You Only Live Once" and one of their favorite phrases which is: "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission." What they fail to realize is the bible outlines very clearly what they shouldn't be doing… the very idea of "permission" is null and void… God sees their actions as blatant disobedience in what he deems holy and best for us.
We may sit back and wonder why the narcissistic sociopath seems to go through life without issues… that they seem to sail through life without any bumps or bruises… no earthly consequences to their bad behavior, right? We often hear that saying "The good die young". But the truth is… the individual who is narcissistic is on borrowed time. They just won't see it or admit it. They don't realize nor want to admit that God has continually doled out chance after loving chance to them to change their ways… that when they finally stand before him they won't have any excuse as to why they haven't mended their ways and accepted his long waiting patience toward them.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
He has withheld punishment toward he or she and yet it's been disregarded time and time again. Because the narcissistic sociopath is eternally unthankful, ungrateful for what he or she has… they instead feel entitled to whatever comes their way… they feel no reason to thank God. They don't believe the blessings they've received have come from anyone above themselves… after all, they are in control and wouldn't dream of stamping His name on anything "they've" accomplished. So the narc or sociopath lives a life of expecting good things to happen not from an optimistic viewpoint but because they "deserve them" and why wouldn't they get the best? If married, they have made "your life possible" so from their viewpoint their spouse should be gracious and kiss their feet, the very ground they walk on. If they have a position that allows them to have opened opportunities to others, given them jobs, etc, they feel powerful. It's others who should be thankful to them.
The reason we are here on earth is for us to become holy… molded, chiseled what have you, in God's eyes. Narcissistic sociopaths don't realize they are not the whole universe, that it doesn't revolve around them. The earth and it's people were made by God and he wants us to extend good and care to others. He wants us to share his word with the world… to be helpers, to be givers, encouragers, to be representatives of him. Unlike the narcissistic sociopath who lives in a world where life is a game, they are in charge, they make up the rules as they go along, change them at whim and everyone else seemingly loses.
They are playing a dangerous game.
One that will allow them to "win" many many times.
But eventually their winning streak will wear out.
And at death it will be game over.
© gps-gracepowerstrength.blogspot.com ~ 2016
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