If we are going to see an end to war and violence, who is going to be step forward with a message of hope and peace to usher in tranquility? What group or entity has the integrity and the fortitude to stand for such an example of mercy, forgiveness, and non-violence?
Apparently it’s not the institution called the church because for too long it’s been the church that has caused more deaths through the Inquisitions and Crusades than any other entity. And apparently, it’s not those who are religious and claim some denominational bias because their level of intolerance and condemnation disqualifies them.
And in a twist that’s remarkable, those who say they are PRO LIFE, protecting the unborn while advocating war and killing the ALREADY BORN are sending contradictory messages. How does that work; what’s the logic there?
Obviously and thankfully God’s way are not our ways!
Those who say they are New Testament believers seem hard pressed to move out of Old Testament paradigms and principles. Those who believe in a literal everlasting hell seem to miss message of Jesus entirely, taking his metaphorical Ghenna as a literal translation for God’s justice. Why have we not seen that those who killed or supported killing (can you say Paul?) are not judged?
Acts 9:1-9 gives us the true picture of a New Testament lifestyle. Jesus did not condemn, nor judge Paul for being associated with the killing of Stephen, etc. Instead Jesus simply lifted Paul out of a religious consciousness and into a Christ Consciousness. Paul had been blinded by religion as many are today. But once the LIGHT (Jesus) came on him, he too became the light and as a result did an about face and became the author or the majority of the New Testament for the Christian cimmunity.
God is LOVE. Enjoy it. Embrace His presence. It’s all God!
Seriously, where is God absent? 
Muy Bueno, Very Good
I love the true life story of Paul. It is a testimony to the mercy and grace of God even to those who commit heinous acts. God gives liberally to all men and Paul, David and Moses are examples of God’s goodness even to murderers. Isn’t it great we see the compassion of God even in the Old Testament? The only requirement to have this kind of mercy in your life is that you receive it. John 1:12 tells us, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
There is no requirement before we “receive” else it would NOT be grace.
Humankind is such a constant contradiction, right, Ernie? We demand the to right to choose whether or not we end a pregnancy. And in the same breath we call for “holy war” to end the life on an “infidel”.
The oxymoron of much of Christianity (but certainly not all of it) is that GRACE is preached as a FREE GIFT of God and then “requirements” are added. Grace is SCANDALOUS and not understood to religious leaders who want to CONTROL (from the Pharisees to now) and worst of all SEPARATE. IF you do so and so you are IN, but if you don’t do so and so, you’re OUT and headed to hell. Many missed it 2,000 years ago and many are still following their lack of understanding or living grace- AMAZING GRACE!
Your answers negate Jesus’ own words. He told Nicodemus in John 3:18 that “he who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In John 5:40, Jesus declared the religious leaders were unwilling to come to Him to have life. It was Jesus who told the people whoever spoke against the Holy Spirit would not be forgiven in this life or the age to come (Matthew 12:31). He was making an offer of eternal life and giving everyone a choice. No one understands this spiritual truth better than the One who gives it to us!
My answers CHOOSE to accept those Scriptures where ALL are SAVED, where GRACE triumphs over JUDGMENT, etc. We get to CHOOSE. Do we see GRACE for ALL or SOME? Do we want to embrace the Scriptures that speak of judgment or those that speak of mercy. I CHOOSE the GOOD NEWS and express it to ALL. Unless one sees the “contradictions” in the Scriptures, one cannot choose. But once you see the contradictions, then one can choose what they desire to embrace and believe. Most importantly and above all though are the ACTIONS (and life) of Jesus, which I pray are mine.
Picking and choosing which scriptures to embrace is a spiritually dangerous practice, which leads to CONFUSION of what’s true or not true. Paul had the understanding that all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (II Tim. 3:16). Likewise, Peter stated that “no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20,21). Paul exhorted Timothy to rightly divide or accurately handle the word of God (2 Tim. 2:15). It’s wiser to put scriptures on hold that we don’t understand rather than toss them out, declaring they’re not of God.
Since we have differing views on what the Bible IS (for me sacred but not inerrant), but yet both still follow Jesus, we lovingly agree to disagree.
What if Scripture is still being written through our own wonderful human experiences? What if the contradictions in the Text are nothing more than representations of the duplicitous lives we lead while under the direction of the ego, which presumes to have all of the answers? Paul’s statement seems to affirm that our human existence is a work in progress-subject to the teaching, reproof, correction and training of my I AM presence-and totally validated by Grace.
If all scripture is inspired by God, and I AM Scripture, then I have a new reason to rejoice today!
Linda- Maybe we are not literalists and understand that even the gospel writers had an agenda. There is also the mistranslation of Jesus’ words since none of the gospel writers were there to hear the exact words. The gospels are the words of the community of early followers, not the actual spoken words of Jesus. Each of the gospels is slanted toward the community it was written for. That is why there are significant differences in themes, the importance given to certain themes and issues. Yes, there is a core similarity, but enough differences for us to see the agenda involved. Since Luke and Matthew based their gospels on Mark, the oldest gospel, we would expect to find similarities. And John, well, John the mystical gospel, was a questionable addition to the canon because it was so different. There is no way to know exactly what Jesus said. Subtle differences in the texts can change meanings tremendously, since the gospels were not even written down until probably 40-50 years after his crucifixion. “Scripture” to Peter was the Pentatuch, Psalms and Prophets, not the letters of the NT. The verse you quoted is past tense (for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men MOVED by the Holy Spirit SPOKE from God).This verse is speaking of the past, the OT “scripture”. Once again, you have shown your worship of a book instead of the spirit of the one mentioned there. Paul, IMHO, would be shocked to find what we have done with letters intended for a specific group, dealing with specific problems which may or may not have value for any other group. The scripture, again, mentioned in II Tim. 3:16 was NOT the NT, since Paul’s writings are the earliest found in the NT. The rest of what we call the NT hadn’t even been written yet . Paul believed the “scripture to be the same ones as I mentioned above. These authors of the NT, whoever they might have been, NEVER felt they were writing “scripture” to be used for “teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness”. No one is crossing verses off. Ernie has already stated that some remain a part of the mystery. Your assumed correct interpretation of “scripture” is only one of several different interpretations. What if there is another way of reading the Biblical story; one that doesn’t end with the destruction of the planet as a way to get a great big “do-over” for God, who “obviously” made a mistake the first time he created the universe. I would recommend “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time”, by Marcus Borg, a prominent theologian.
Don, you believe I worship the Bible. I will agree with you that I am foolish enough to believe God. He uses foolish people like me to shame the wise (I Cor. 1:27). Isn’t that amazing?
I am NOT wise. I am simply on a journey trying to make it through this incarnation. How do you know that the Bible, OT & NT is all God’s word. You do not SHAME me by quoting verses from a letter Paul wrote to brothers and sisters in the church at Corinth. Your world is so small (the Bible) and God is so, so large. It is a SHAME that you are missing so much by limiting God to a book. I would never call you foolish. I wish only for you to see the limitless boundaries of the Source of all there is and to sense the unbounded love our Source has for the whole of creation. As my old church friends used to say, “God don’t make junk”. I wish they really comprehended what that statement really meant. Blessings to you.