Originally posted by Grampy BobbyTwo questions. In situations where there is no enmity between people who believe what you believe and people who don't, why do you think that is so?
Believers in Christ are Members of His Royal Family; human beings who reject God's Grace Gift [free] of eternal life made possible by Christ's Substitutionary Spiritual Death [separation from God the Father for three hours] at Golgotha live out their brief lives on planet earth without personal relationship with God and the prospect of separation from God for eternity.
A second question is, if Christians claim to be "Members of Christ's Royal Family", why doesn't this belief give them the peace of mind and/or self-assurance necessary to dispense with their feelings of enmity towards those who reject the tenets of their religion?
29 Mar 14
Originally posted by PudgenikASV 20.John 3:36
God is angry, true enough. But it isn't Hell that God's grace is holding back, unless you are saying we are going to go through hell before it is done.
The great escape many Christians think they will have (rapture) will not take place the way they think. The Christians of this generation WILL experience a good chunk of Revelations.
What God's grace is holding back is Revelations.
We really don't want to go through it.
He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Our lives are brief and we have the wrath of God on us, it is only God's
grace that spares us as He calls to us to come to God for God's grace and
mercy. I'm not saying we are in Hell now, depending on how you define Hell
some may say it, I'm not. The break with the Kingdom of God, where love
is the way of life has put us in a bad place.
I don't worry about the "rapture" since at any moment any of us could be
taken out of this life by so many different ways. We live as if we will live
forever here, and all of us knows that isn't true. I also believe there is no
reason to believe Christians will escape bad things happening to them, but
we have this one thing going for us, Jesus Christ has promised He will
never leave us or forsake us.
This world isn't it, it is fleeting, what is to come is ever lasting.
What we need to keep in mind that being nasty towards each other is not
how we are supposed to live, but to be loving and kind, even to those we
disagree with. I'm no different than anyone else here, I really need to be
repent on how I behave from time to time.
Kelly
30 Mar 14
1 edit
Originally posted by FMF"Two questions. In situations where there is no enmity between people who believe what you believe and people who don't, why do you think that is so?
Two questions. In situations where there is no enmity between people who believe what you believe and people who don't, why do you think that is so?
A second question is, if Christians claim to be "Members of Christ's Royal Family", why doesn't this belief give them the peace of mind and/or self-assurance necessary to dispense with their feelings of enmity towards those who reject the tenets of their religion?
A second question is, if Christians claim to be "Members of Christ's Royal Family", why doesn't this belief give them the peace of mind and/or self-assurance necessary to dispense with their feelings of enmity towards those who reject the tenets of their religion?"
I suppose the answer is the same in both cases: because Christians are called up on to "witness," to propagate the salvational message. Nobody's soul depends on whether he votes Republican/Tory or Democrat/ Labour, for or against ObamaCare or for or against European Unionization. For Christians, however, the fates of souls do depend on whether somebody propagates the message and somebody else 'gets' the message.
30 Mar 14
Originally posted by moonbusAnd this, in your view, explains the Christian enmity [or "structural enmity"] towards atheists that has been mentioned?
For Christians, however, the fates of souls do depend on whether somebody propagates the message and somebody else 'gets' the message.