StopPolloition
Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2009
- Messages
- 101
Palms, suppose I were to take what you've just typed and said that it didn't any fair logic; that your response, though right for you, was to me hysteria or myth. This is what religions other than Christianity essentially do to the truths God has espoused in his word- they pervert them, ignore them or deny them outright. The Bible stands alone in that it bases its credibility on its ability to predict the future, what God calls "telling the end from the beginning". Outside of this method of authentication, how would one distinguish between the Bible and any other sacred tome? The Koran doesn't claim any prescience; if it could accurately predict the future then it too would have had to have had divine origins.
I used the examples about the sex offender not because they'd be a direct analog to religious viewpoints or expression (God never forces anyone to believe the truth but they will have to answer for their denial of it) but because it was offensive. Now don't miss this, we, people have gradients for sin; in our minds murder is worse than stealing. But to God sin is sin. The sex offender is no more vile than the tax cheat. It isn't a lack of love that calls attention to sin, it's duty. The non Christian will find himself in the same state as the pedophile without salvation; it isn't an issue of expression or practice of faith.
The God of the Bible is one that is holy. The other side of holiness is judgment; the two cannot be separated. When I say God hates, I'm quoting scripture. This is the internet, you can do a casual search for the dozens of places in scripture where God hates something.
It boils down to: God is holy, in His holy love he offers to men an alternative to hell, if men don't accept it there is no other alternative. Don't take my word for anything. I challenge you to do the study for yourself. The only thing you have to do is to accept God's sacrifice and believe on the one He sent.
It is absolutely unnecessary to concoct a new idea of God. Every false religion is just that. Any attempt to do that is creating the idol. God reveals himself quite plainly in scripture. But outside of the revelation his Spirit provides, these concepts are completely alien. You cannot receive or understand them unless they are revealed to you. And every serious student of the bible has to undergo this process. I'm not trying to convert you; unless His Spirit draws you, you cannot, you will not come. I'm only trying to detail the scriptural nature of God. You cannot use feelings or even your own understanding to understand God because you'll only arrive at the conclusion you're at; one that many superficial onlookers of the scripture have arrived at: "Why is God so mean? Why can't he just be nice and loving?" I sh
all continue to pray for you. This is absolutely the best thing you could ever do. Don't let my explanation turn you away. All you need to know is that God has provided an all sufficient sacrifice for you and that you too can have eternal life.