Dear Ben,
God tends to speak to men on their mental level and according to their degree of understanding. What He reveals depends upon the "time" factor, because God increases light according to His schedule. The END of time is His designated "time" to reveal everything, Daniel 12:9-10; Revelation 10:7-11 ... not the times before THE END! You must understand that whatever you read is at least 2000 years old in the Bible. You know the writers "knew in part" and the people understood in part. So when I read those statements you raise as problematic, I am not concerned about what that person was thinking in his day, nor do I grasp those words the way the average human reader may perceive their meaning. The "seals" are removed for me (but they remain firm for the average human non-priest) and I have been taught to always think with present-day light, Isaiah 29:9-14; Revelation 5:1-5. "Go and sin no more" (to the woman caught in adultry) is not an accusation or description of this woman as a sinner. But because men did bear reproach for sin under the Old Covenant in their way of thinking, God spoke to her through Christ on her own mental level. He was really asking her to adopt a better behavior mode. God did not lose sight of the fact that "sin = a demon". Every time you see the word "SIN" visualize in your mind 5 to 50 short, invisible, midget robot-spirits enslaving and "mastering" a man and moving him like a puppet on strings, where they control all "strings" and all evil works, . The removal of the two devils lodged in your sinus cavity, the twenty stuffed inside your intestines, and the twenty-eight covering the outside of your body constitutes: (1) saving you from sin = those demons, (2) cleansing you from filth and dirt = those 50 demons, (3) renewing or giving you a "right mind" means taking those devils out of and off your head so you will nolonger see or hear their mental pictures and words, Ezekiel 8:5-16, where the "temple" is an analogy for "your body". And yes, God put men down here and devils "conditioned us" to "behave like beasts" or outside of our true character, Ecclesiastes 1:13; Acts 10:9-16,28; Romans 8:18-22. His "salvation" enables us to be "born again" upstairs and to have our character remolded totally free of demonic influence. Now whether or not you take issue with the semantics involved in our "stage scripts" is irrelevant. You still need to be saved from your sins = that number of devils in and on your body as your personal "badgerskin veil", Exodus 26:1,14; I Corinthians 6:19. God did not say He did not pollute us, Isaiah 43:28, 47:6-7; Romans 8:18-22. It is His choice and prerogative as "Scientist" and "Teacher" to teach us by contrast and comparison which requires negative robot "tools". So why take issue with this momentary discomfort? Maybe if metal could talk, it might protest to the smith that it dislikes being heated glowing hot in fire and then beaten severely with a hammer. It might like being a sword fit for a king, but who is the "best" judge to determine how to make a sword, the pile of ore or the smith? Think about it. Maybe the sword does not like thought associations with words like "salvation", "justification", "sin", and "guilt". The smith does not denigrate the ore because imbedded rocks and impurities are in it. He simply mixes it with other ores and chemicals, burns it with fire (while the human ore protests), then beats it with a hammer (while the new "human steel" howls), and after a little "polish" the smith has made a stainless steel, very sharp sword fit to destroy demons!
Concerning "stiff-necked" behavior, see the men of ancient Israel covered with their "badgerskin" devils and each man's set of devils "pulling strings" and causing them to resist God. Since God's WORD has two edges, (1) to the kingdom of men and (2) to the devils manipulating them as slaves, why don't you answer your own questions concerning this issue? If devils cause you to resist truth, you are still a "resister" of truth. Is it reasonable to pontificate and protest my use of that word describing that behavior as "resisting"? Who created the situation is not the most important point. The important point is to eliminate the resistance. If that does not occur in this life, we simply save the "slave" and destroy the "slavemaster", Luke 8:35-36; John 8:34-36. Keep in mind that whatever happens on this earth-stage is for the major education benefit of the upper student BODY. "Stage-men" are guinea-pigs for their perfection, Malachi 3:18; Hebrews 11:40-12:1. The "stage actors" remaining in flesh may or may not receive even a small benefit for all their trouble. Such is the life of men on stage. After this madness, we discard our clay "acting clothes", move up, and discover who and what we really are!! So do not make more of these "scripts" than they are really worth, whether they are in written form or thoughts rising in your head.
You asked about "lost sheep". Here is what is "lost" to them: a sound ("right") mind and correct thinking, Luke 8:35-36. "Lost" means more than "out of place" or "jeopardy of damnation". One may also lose his mind and be "crazy". All men who consciously agree to devils' suggestions are "crazy", Ezekiel 20:32-38. Too many sane men are really spiritually "crazy"! This is how "lost sheep" are lost while the Shepherd is everywhere. A DIS-EASE (demons = sins) makes them go "crazy".
You also mentioned the need for being thankful. I respond and answer you with a question. Do you think Job was thankful or "needed to be thankful" when God took him out of the fire of Satan's challenge? Job had tried self-justification and that did not work. But when God decided to cut-off and end the devil's challenge, Job was thankful. Whether he "needed to be thankful" was not the point. He was simply glad the stress, pain and suffering was over. You must realize that YOU are a "cell" of God's immortal spirit substance and He "suffers" simultaneously with you. You simply cannot tell Him what He can and cannot do or what He should or should not do to His own "self" (you). So there is one cell on His big toe complaining because the gym shoe is a little hot. When you are in a "game" and you are going for the victory (a slam-dunk), you do not care very much about that cell's complaining! Think about it!
LOVE Always,
John