(March 10, 2015 at 11:43 am)Chas Wrote: Except for all the good and selfless acts carried out every day by billions of people across the world.
Do you think a secular, non-profit organization like Médecins Sans Frontières is in it for the money? The power? The fame?
What kind of bizarre bubble do you live in?
Yes, there is at least the appearance of good, but it is actually self-righteousness at work. It is the work of Satan.
By that appearance, then "Christians" are the most moral people on earth, as they give more as a percentage of income than any other people, and send missionaries and all kinds of personal help to hell-holes everywhere.
The Bible's definition of good entails more than just doing charitable work. You must obey the commandments, and love your neighbor as yourself. That entails a whole lot more than charity.
There are celebrities who do all kinds of charitable work. Does that make them good? Not by the Bible's standards. You can't claim to love your neighbor as yourself when you hang on to millions in cash while millions suffer from lack of food and water. There is simply no justification for such behavior; it is pure selfishness.
Of course, this is assuming one does not recognize the sovereignty of God. People suffer because it is the will and wrath of God, in every case, down to the smallest detail. All disease, hunger, natural disasters, etc., are the wrath of God.
Therefore, one will not give or help another unless God wills one to do so, otherwise you are saying to God "what You are doing is wrong! I have to do something to stop you!" It is presumptuous to think one can oppose the will of God, and self-righteous to claim moral superiority.
If God is just, then all punishment that occurs is justified, in every case, without fail. And if it doesn't seem so to you, well, you're being presumptuous to think you know the hearts or sins of those who suffer. Only God knows the reins and hearts:
Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
