Will Jesus return on a white horse?

[RichardP]

In Matthew 19:17 Jesus replies, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good." He is questioning why the man is asking about being good by the law when there is "only One" who can be--God. He then tests the man's faith. Instead of telling him to refrain from doing evil (which is what the Ten Commandments calls for) he asks the man to selflessly sell everything and trust in God to provide. The man's true heart shows through as he leaves without doing what his Lord asked. Jesus sums up the narrative in verse 26 saying, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

On the surface it can appear as if Jesus is telling the man to obtain salvation by works. But in the second half Jesus contradicts himself. He says that it is impossible for man to obtain salvation on his own. Jesus used what we call a teaching strategy. He told the man to keep the commandments, knowing full well the answer would be "I have kept them." Then he watched the man walk away, having obeyed the commandments, yet fallen short of eternal life. The man "lacked one thing" even though he kept the law.

It sounds to me like Jesus was trying to get the guy to join him and become a follower. If he got rid of all of his stuff he would be totally committing himself to joining Jesus -- since he would have nothing to go back to.

Paul, who came after him, never mentioned the Ten Commandments.

The words “commandments” and “law” are usually interchangeable. There are 103 occurrences of “law” (NIV) in Paul’s letters:
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?sea...spanend=64
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Yes but where did he ever spell them out? Paul seemed to view the Ten Commandments with contempt:

Galatians 3:10-14

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”[d] 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.


Ever try asking the average Christian or Catholic what the Ten Commandments are? They don't even know all Ten Commandments. But try asking them about some passage in the New Testament and they can tell you everything about it.

Try asking a Jew, even a little kid, what the Ten Commandments are, and he will rattle them off in 2 seconds.

I would have thought that the Christians would teach that Christians should learn the Ten Commandments and try to obey them, and if they break one of them they should pray to God for forgiveness and pray that they might not commit that sin again.

It was not Jesus who taught that you did not have to try and keep the Ten Commandments. That was all Paul! Remember Jesus even narrowed the list down to the more important ones: Don't kill, don't steal, don't cheat on your wife, don't malign anyone, and try to show a little compassion for your neighbor.

I would say that there is a huge difference between what Jesus taught and what Paul taught. And I would say that there is a HUGE difference between what Jesus Christ taught and what the modern day Christians teach. They teach some sort of schizophrenic "relationship" with an imaginary friend who talks to them inside their head and gives them guidance. Have you ever heard of psychopathic killers who argue that they got a message from Jesus to kill the people? Hmmm... I wonder where that line of thinking came from? Now was killing those people a violation of the Ten Commandments? Hmmm... even though the guy was crazy doesn't modern Christianity support that sort of insanity?

How the hell can the modern Christians follow the Ten Commandments if they don't even know what the hell they are?