# Conviction or emotion?



## satz (Jul 11, 2005)

How do you diffentiate between conviction or the spirit working in you and emotion?

Many times i hear ppl say don't trust your emotions etc etc, but i also hear ppl say pray and wait for God to answer etc.

How do we tell the difference?


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## satz (Jul 11, 2005)

agree 100% Josh.

I'am sure we've all encountered ppl who claim they've been 'convicted' by God that alcohol is sinful. Since that is unbiblical we know that can't be true conviction.

On the other hand there are those who claim they have been convicted by God that they individually should not touch alcohol because of past temptations etc etc 

Would God do something like this? If we feel a certain way about something, how do we know if it is conviction or emotion?


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## Me Died Blue (Jul 11, 2005)

Mark, here is something I posted in response to another question in a past thread, and I am reproducing it here because I think it applies equally to your current question:



> _Originally posted by Me Died Blue_
> Basically, since God has stopped speaking and revealing His will through all means but Scripture and providence, those are the very two things we must use to make such decisions. We need to constantly fill and sharpen our minds with prayerful meditation on Scripture, and as we thus become more conformed to Christ, we will gain wisdom and be better able to make responsible, biblical decisions when God providentially presents us with life's options.
> 
> As Robertson put it, many charismatics think that they have more of God's direction in their life because they believe in God's continuing revelation today. However, he points out, quite the opposite is true: Cessationism gives us the responsibility and freedom to make responsible decision-making that is tempered and guided by our knowledge of Scripture, without having to wait for "a word from the Lord" before acting on a situation we see as an opportunity to fulfill God's purpose for us after analysing the situation with biblical principles and sanctified wisdom. While this way of decision-making is not as "automatic" as the mystical techniques for "finding God's very will for this specific situation," it is the biblical model and requires the Christian to be more responsible and more dependent on the Bible for their everyday life, since there is not an "easy answer" for every situation.
> ...


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## Robin (Jul 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by satz_
> agree 100% Josh.
> 
> I'am sure we've all encountered ppl who claim they've been 'convicted' by God that alcohol is sinful. Since that is unbiblical we know that can't be true conviction.
> ...



Test everything with the Word of God. Sola Scriptura!

For example: there is no condemnation in Holy Scripture on the right use/enjoyment of wine. However, drunkenness is condemned.

Robin


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## satz (Jul 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by joshua_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by satz_
> ...



thanks for the replies Josh and Chris!

hmm... lets say i am in situation X, and i feel very uneasy about it. I search the scripture and can find no condemnation of this situation, but my feeling of unease remains. Now i know that if we are doubtful we should abstain, but in such a situation how can i diffentiate between the spirit telling me something or just my mind acting up?


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## Me Died Blue (Jul 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by satz_
> hmm... lets say i am in situation X, and i feel very uneasy about it. I search the scripture and can find no condemnation of this situation, but my feeling of unease remains. Now i know that if we are doubtful we should abstain, but in such a situation how can i diffentiate between the spirit telling me something or just my mind acting up?



I believe that the Spirit no longer speaks to people apart from Scripture, and thus I believe that if a "feeling" someone has is legitimate, it is only so because of wisdom they have developed over time because of exposure to Scripture, both in the back of their minds and through direct meditation and study. Furthermore, because of the nature of Scripture, given to us so "that the man of God may be competent, equipped for _every_ good work" (2 Timothy 3:16, emphasis mine). Thus, even if something is not explicitly commanded or forbidden in Scripture, I truly do not believe any of us could ever find a situation that did not have at least an implicit (but definite) answer in the _principles_ for life given to us in Scripture.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2005)

to what Chris and others have said. 

Westminster Confession of Faith:



> Chap. 1:
> 
> VI. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.(m) Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: (n) and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.(o)
> 
> ...


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Jul 11, 2005)




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## Robin (Jul 12, 2005)

Chris....well said!

Robin


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## Michael Butterfield (Jul 12, 2005)

What about Heberew 5:24?

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full ageï»¿, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.


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## Michael Butterfield (Jul 12, 2005)

Roberts, Maurice. "œThe Banner of Truth" "œFeeling Christ´s Love Afresh." Issue 400, January 1997.

"œIt will not do to excuse our low levels of spiritual emotion to say that some groups of Christians let their emotions dictate to them or that they run to extremes. Let our head be filled with knowledge and our memories with instruction. Let our bookshelves be laden with all the best books and our hours spent in reading them. But let all this include a belief in the place of spiritual affections in a believer´s life. Truth may, and must, be studied so as to set our souls on fire. There is nothing at all in the Christian´s life more important than the enjoyment of Christ´s love. If our reading and our studying do not lead us many a time into "˜wonder, love and praise.´ We lack understanding and are coming short."
- Maurice Roberts (p. 4)


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## Me Died Blue (Jul 12, 2005)

I fully agree with Roberts' statement above, but proper affection and response in the Christian life is of course completely different from revelation.



> _Originally posted by Michael Butterfield_
> What about Heberew 5:24?
> 
> But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.



Verses 12-14 say, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (ESV).

Verse 12 states that what people need to move from the milk level to the meat level is a knowledge of "the basic principles of the oracles of God." Verse 13 elaborates on that by explaining that the reason people have not yet attained that is because they are "unskilled in the word of righteousness." So if Scripture is the full sum of God's special revelation in the New Covenant age, those basic principles and that word of righteousness are attained through a knowledge of Scripture, which is thus both essential and sufficient to give those who faithfully study it the "powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."


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## JKLeoPCA (Jul 13, 2005)

in my opinion, 

Feeling a certain way about something (how do you feel about ...)means, I have a logical intelligible conviction that something is right or wrong. My conviction may differ from yours, but not to the extreme that either of us go outside the bounds of clear Scripture. Christian freedom.

If I am "convicted" about something, then it is a matter of becoming self-aware of being intelligibly proven wrong in thought, word, or deed. I may or may not have strong emotional response to coincide with the conviction.

emotions just response to stimulation. We watch a movie where an actor dies, knowing it is just a movie and not real, yet we cry (well I don't, but you get the idea).

When I hear that someone is waiting on God for an answer, It usually seems that they are in some situation where emotion is telling them to do one thing (usually unable to play out all consequences), and intellect is telling them to do something else (usually practical, and clear end in sight), And they want a deciding vote to come in on the feeling side of things, so they wait.

[Edited on 7-13-2005 by JKLeoPCA]


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## Me Died Blue (Jul 13, 2005)

> _Originally posted by JKLeoPCA_
> When I hear that someone is waiting on God for an answer, It usually seems that they are in some situation where emotion is telling them to do one thing (usually unable to play out all consequences), and intellect is telling them to do something else (usually practical, and clear end in sight), And they want a deciding vote to come in on the feeling side of things, so they wait.



That is well put - and that is why so many people have such an unbiblical, watered-down concept of God's revelation.


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## Puritan Sailor (Jul 13, 2005)

Perhaps we should seperate conviction, and the emotional response of guilt to conviction. Conviction would be that conscious awareness that we have violated God's law, and the feeling of guilt the emotional response of a renewed conscience to that knowledge. Perhaps we should look at conviction as more objective (kinda like a court sentence), especially since the emotions of guilt can be falsely grounded. The feeling of guilt can be induced by misunderstanding and manipulation as well. So when we feel guilty, we must test the grounds of such an emotion to see if it is truly conviction, or something else.


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