Sorry it took so long. My job has been hectic. Here you go Rhythm. Next will be my response to post #66. El Dinero, could you tell me which post has something about heaven in it? I must have missed it...
Answering Post #25
Jesus is hard on thought crimes because your thoughts lead to your actions. If you can start thinking good things of the people around you, it will lead to good actions, while Jesus declares that evil things will lead to evil actions. And we both know that’s true. If people cannot get their thoughts right, they’ll lack control of their actions and those who want to follow Christ are going to need the ability to have a tight grip on their mouths, their minds and their actions.
Sometimes we believers feel like we lack control of our own bodies because the desire to do what God has declared sinful is so strong. God tells believers that if our eye is causing us to sin and move farther from his grace and his path for us, then gouge it out! It’s better to enter Heaven without an eye, than to be thrown into Hell with our whole body intact. Since heaven and hell have such a bad reputation around here, think of it like this: It’s better to enter the presence of God with the evil cut off from you, then separated from God because you would not let evil go.
“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered. ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” John 6:28-29
Anyone who repents can come into God’s kingdom, including the people who crucified the Lord. How can someone refusing to repent come into a kingdom based on repentance?
God leads by example.
Healing blindness itself? Why? People born with blindness or deafness still have an equal opportunity to accept Jesus because their souls remain undamaged. The Lord says that with Adam & Eve all of creation fell, therefore disease, abnormalities and so forth will continue to run their course until the Lord intervenes.
Consequences in general are the reasons people form moral and ethical characteristics isn’t it? You don’t lie because if you lie someone will find out, like your boss, therefore lying is bad because it will stop you from being trusted, giving you a bad reputation everywhere you go. Why is it so strange that the creator of the universe is warning people of the consequences of their choices over their lifetime? Don’t people warn people because they care what happens to them?
Most people have never been spared the consequences of their choices while on earth. There are many criminals who have “escaped” by killing themselves or disappearing, but even those actions are consequences of the decisions they’ve made.
Concerning absolution. The Lord established lambs, rams, etc as an acceptable sacrifice. Lambs were temporary because they cannot function as high priest, absolving us of sin by exchanging their innocence with our sin, once a lamb is dead, it’s dead, but the lamb of God is forever.
“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst, the sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7: 16-17
Right…what kind of person would long for a kingdom where there is no thirst, no hunger, no sadness, no pain, always peace, always light, always love and always justice?
Read Evidence for Christianity by Josh McDowell, if you want evidence. I don't think anything I provide can convince you of the Flood, Exodus, the Resurrection, Creation or anything Biblical.
Answering Post #25
Quote: Jesus is a firm believer in thought crimes, but paradoxically he does not believe in punishment for transgressions against the law (at least not by us lowly mortal sinners).“…For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35
Jesus is hard on thought crimes because your thoughts lead to your actions. If you can start thinking good things of the people around you, it will lead to good actions, while Jesus declares that evil things will lead to evil actions. And we both know that’s true. If people cannot get their thoughts right, they’ll lack control of their actions and those who want to follow Christ are going to need the ability to have a tight grip on their mouths, their minds and their actions.
Quote: Any system of law that suggest we punish those who are convicted of crimes, for example prison sentences for convictions of child molestation, are firmly against the doctrine of “let he without sin cast the first stone."Please cite Scripture for an example of someone being punished without witnesses.
Quote:What exactly are we to make of the “if thy own eye offends thee” passage?“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires…For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:12, 14
Sometimes we believers feel like we lack control of our own bodies because the desire to do what God has declared sinful is so strong. God tells believers that if our eye is causing us to sin and move farther from his grace and his path for us, then gouge it out! It’s better to enter Heaven without an eye, than to be thrown into Hell with our whole body intact. Since heaven and hell have such a bad reputation around here, think of it like this: It’s better to enter the presence of God with the evil cut off from you, then separated from God because you would not let evil go.
Quote:How does Jesus measure up against these things? He doesn’t seem to be the type to turn the other cheek, his enemies will be punished eternally.
“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered. ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” John 6:28-29
Anyone who repents can come into God’s kingdom, including the people who crucified the Lord. How can someone refusing to repent come into a kingdom based on repentance?
Quote:How does he treat others? He heals the blind, but not blindness itself. He doesn’t seem to have cared much for amputees.“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:14-15
God leads by example.
Healing blindness itself? Why? People born with blindness or deafness still have an equal opportunity to accept Jesus because their souls remain undamaged. The Lord says that with Adam & Eve all of creation fell, therefore disease, abnormalities and so forth will continue to run their course until the Lord intervenes.
Quote:…he spends more time telling us what will happen if we are against him than any other character in the entirety of the bible. No one is so enamored with the idea of hell as jesus.
Consequences in general are the reasons people form moral and ethical characteristics isn’t it? You don’t lie because if you lie someone will find out, like your boss, therefore lying is bad because it will stop you from being trusted, giving you a bad reputation everywhere you go. Why is it so strange that the creator of the universe is warning people of the consequences of their choices over their lifetime? Don’t people warn people because they care what happens to them?
Quote:The thought that a being may be scapegoated for the crimes of others and through brutal torture and subsequent execution somehow absolve them of the responsibility and consequences of their actions.
Most people have never been spared the consequences of their choices while on earth. There are many criminals who have “escaped” by killing themselves or disappearing, but even those actions are consequences of the decisions they’ve made.
Concerning absolution. The Lord established lambs, rams, etc as an acceptable sacrifice. Lambs were temporary because they cannot function as high priest, absolving us of sin by exchanging their innocence with our sin, once a lamb is dead, it’s dead, but the lamb of God is forever.
Quote:I for one am appalled that anyone would seek to paint them as anything other than fiction. What kind of a person would wish for any of this to be true?
“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst, the sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7: 16-17
Right…what kind of person would long for a kingdom where there is no thirst, no hunger, no sadness, no pain, always peace, always light, always love and always justice?
Quote:All of this is without being able to offer a scrap of evidence that any of it is true, or even that god exists to begin with.
Read Evidence for Christianity by Josh McDowell, if you want evidence. I don't think anything I provide can convince you of the Flood, Exodus, the Resurrection, Creation or anything Biblical.
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6
