Originally posted by apathistIn a fit of anger, you decided to not believe in the Savior Jesus Christ.
Of god and satan, which on killed everything in a fit of anger?
As I read through the Bible I see many manifestations of God's long-suffering and patience accompanying His righteous judgment. And of course I see His opening a door of salvation, forgiveness and mercy.
In a fit of anger you shut your eyes tight so as to not see this evidence from Genesis all the way through Revelation.
In the contemplation of eternal destinies it behooves us to think about the character of the Person from which we learned.
Without controversy we learned something about the Omniscience, Omnipotence and Almightiness of God from Jesus. From His mouth we heard such words of love as were never spoken. From His mouth we learned words of forgiveness, mercy, long-suffering and pardon ALONG with words of the inescapable rendezvous of all people with His righteous judgment.
This man cared nothing for Himself.
He wanted everything for His Father and His Father's will.
He does not seem to have been given to self-delusion or prone to flattery.
His mind was sober enough to speak words which impacted history for thousands of years.
His perception, His insight, His exposure of hypocrisy all evidence a life of incredible integrity.
There is no one who is not offended by at least something Jesus taught.
He is nobody's puppet or tool when His words are taken in full.
He speaks of death and steps into it willingly, in a horror of injustice, to HIS MIND for OUR salvation from God's judgment.
Some of us believe that His power to overcome the grave only matched the power of His moral example and teaching.
It is from THIS mouth that the words about being separated from God forever come to us.
To pretend fools stuck the words into His mouth afterwards is wishful daydreaming.
A man such as Jesus, among the many, many other things He said, also taught about the perishing away from God forever. How can we ignore this KIND of Person?
How can you dismiss Christ as a scam ?
You have to be sure because of the quality of Man that Jesus was.
Make no mistake about it. The greater bulk of what you know from the Bible about eternal punishment came from the mouth of Jesus.
Originally posted by sonshipDo you think humans should take this moral example then, and, under certain circumstances, torture people by burning them (while being careful to not let them die), not in search of information that might save lives, for instance, but quite simply because of the thoughtcrimes of the person being tortured and because of our anger and desire for vengeance?
Some of us believe that His power to overcome the grave only matched the power of His moral example and teaching.
Originally posted by FMFI think that you know that there is a God.
Do you think humans should take this moral example then, and, under certain circumstances, torture people by burning them (while being careful to not let them die), not in search of information that might save lives, for instance, but quite simply because of the thoughtcrimes of the person being tortured and because of our anger and desire for vengeance?
I think arguing with fellow human beings about it medicates you into hoping such reasonings will cause this realization to be less real.
ie. "Winning arguments against Christian X will cause there to be no God."
Originally posted by sonshipWhy not answer my question?
I think that you know that there is a God.
I think arguing with fellow human beings about it medicates you into hoping such reasonings will cause this realization to be less real.
ie. "Winning arguments against Christian X will cause there to be no God."
Originally posted by checkbaiter
I cannot imagine torturing someone forever because they rejected me. Not even someone I hated.
I think God is much more righteous than I am.
I think God is much more righteous than I am.
I agree with this concerning myself also.
Man is so offended by the prospect that he cannot get away with violation of God's law.
Man is very offended at the thought of infinite displeasure.
We readily accept the good news of God's infinite love. But we assume that this cannot co-exist with His infinite displeasure.
Man is bothered that he cannot alude the eyes of God or move beyond where His "hand" could reach.
We find it hard to believe that that far piercing eye from which we could never wander too far away beyond His love is also the far piercing eye which discerns our evil. The two-edged-ness of this attribute, our vested self interest as sinners, dislikes.
"If His love is boundless, well then His permissiveness must be infinitely boundless."
It doesn't occur to us naturally that there could be such a thing as unrighteous forgiveness. That is a forgiveness that encourages the continuation of evil doing.
The cost for Him to justify us before perfection, will require eternity to understand.
It must be that the rejection of this in Christ is a crime that will call forth infinite displeasure.
I am glad that I do not have to be able to explain this in order to be saved.
I am glad that to be IN CHRIST is sufficient from Him to be my rightness before God.
Originally posted by sonshipBut your ideology is that you, as a believer, are "saved" regardless of whether you are guilty of "violations of God's law". How is that anything other than to "get away with it"?
Man is so offended by the prospect that he cannot get away with violation of God's law.
Originally posted by sonshipI am glad I don't have to explain it either, but I consider it an honor to explain that I believe the bible teaches annihilation. It clears God of any "darkness", imagined or real.I think God is much more righteous than I am.
I agree with this concerning myself also.
Man is so offended by the prospect that he cannot get away with violation of God's law.
Man is very offended at the thought of infinite displeasure.
We readily accept the good news of God's infinite love. But we assume that this cannot co-exist ...[text shortened]... be saved.
I am glad that to be IN CHRIST is sufficient from Him to be my rightness before God.