Originally posted by IAIYes, God gives great freedom, provided you don't want to do anything he doesn't like....
This would be hard to prove if worship is God or not, however worship among things like medication(opps meditation) etc can be proven to show effects on the brain. Things like this can be used by those running societies to conform under their own order and persective of life.. taking away the freedom that God gives.
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Originally posted by ckoh1965So you try and put yourself into God's shoes and see things from his perspective? How about being holy for starters? Think about it for a second. You are God and you know no sin and have never sinned and can never sin. You are a God of love and therefore, only want what is best for your creation. Therefore, your creation must follow your lead to receive what is best for themselves or settle for second or third best. This is where faith enters the picture. We must trust God and place our faith in him by trusting that he loves us and is benevolent towards us and only wants what is best for us. We must therefore follow his lead so to speak. As I said before, he is the only one who sees the "big picture" and, as a result, is the only one in which we can rely all the time. God has the perfect plan for our lives because he knows all and sees all. Your creation, on the other hand, is blind in comparison and must rely on their God that can see for them or walk at their own peril. Sin to God is merely a departure from this perfect plan that he has in store for us. To sin means to miss the mark which ultimatly brings suffering. Being a God of love you must then attempt to counter such suffering and sinfulness because you are a God of love and want to avoid the corrosive effects of sinfulness for your creation. At the same time, however, you are a God of love which means you love your creation and at the same time must maintain your creations free will so that they can love you back. After all, love demands the choice to love back otherwise it is not love. So what to do? Destroy sin while preserving the sinner? It seems an impossible task to say the least, no?
Again an interesting answer from you, which I think is quite a departure from the norm. In trying to understand God, I would put myself in his shoes and see how I would act in a particular circumstance.
I think if I want so much for people to be aware of my existence, I will be very interested to "prove" my existence by whatever means within my power. I ...[text shortened]... ed in the past. Whether or not he is still alive now is quite another matter altogether.
The Bible says that God's thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not his ways. How could they be? Your Creator is infinite and all knowing and you are finite with a limited intellect. Also, your creator is holy and you are a sinner. Yet we still try and understand him to the best of our ability despite these mamouth gaps of reasoning. For example, you brought up Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son. What sense does that make to us? What sense did it make to Abraham? Yet there is a distinct and unmistakable parallel to Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son and God's willingness to sacrifice his son for us. Is there a correlation? Must God have used the faith of Abraham to set in motion his plan to send Christ to die for our sins? As I have said before, faith is an extension of our free will. We must to some degree be in agreement with God's plan in order for him to be able to work in our lives. After all, God gave us free will so what sense does it make for him to then violate that free will? God may have used Abrahams agreement to sacrifice his son so that God could work through his offspring to bring about the Messiah to die for us. If so, there is a method to the madness, so to speak. Again, we do not see the "big picture", only God sees the "big picture". Do keep in mind, however, that God had no intention of Abraham of killing his son and stopped him from doing so. What I have just said are only speculations that I have come up with myself after seeking such answers. However, if you insist on getting an immediate explanation for every command he gives you, you have no chance of placing your faith in him. After all, the Bible already stated that his thoughts are not your thoughts. If the Bible be true, you must then be fighting a loosing cause. I do think, however, that God is more than willing to show us answers when we seek after them. He simply want us to seek him, rather than demanding an explanation as if he were on trial. Then again, I also believe that there are answers that we are incapable of mentally grasping altogether.
Originally posted by BigDoggProblemWhat I mean is those who desire and seek after righteousness verses those who feel threatened when the light of God's word exposes their sinful deeds for what they are.
Whose heart is not right: Those who seek a coherent belief system without contradictions or philosophical problems, or Those who worship a God who callously sentences billions of people to hell?
Originally posted by whodeywhodey,
So you try and put yourself into God's shoes and see things from his perspective? How about being holy for starters? Think about it for a second. You are God and you know no sin and have never sinned and can never sin. You are a God of love and therefore, only want what is best for your creation. Therefore, your creation must follow your lead to receive ...[text shortened]... believe that there are answers that we are incapable of mentally grasping altogether.
That was masterful. I agree with you on every point. I enjoyed reading every word. Thankyou.
Originally posted by whodeyIs there a difference? The threat of hell is the mind control that drives the search for your brand of 'righteousness'.
What I mean is those who desire and seek after righteousness verses those who feel threatened when the light of God's word exposes their sinful deeds for what they are.
Originally posted by IAIOr, the possibility that you could have the righteousness of God. Imputed to you on the basis of Him having justified you by Christ.
Look at how righteous I am, so if you really believe, then you should be righteous like me....
Some people do have a self righteousness. I agree with you on that point. Even a christian can be self righteous. I have been that way too!
Everybody does it somewhere sometime in their life.
Is a person self righteous if they claim their not?
Originally posted by whodeyIt's amazing how much you know.
So you try and put yourself into God's shoes and see things from his perspective? How about being holy for starters? Think about it for a second. You are God and you know no sin and have never sinned and can never sin. You are a God of love and therefore, only want what is best for your creation. Therefore, your creation must follow your lead to receive ...[text shortened]... believe that there are answers that we are incapable of mentally grasping altogether.
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Originally posted by PawnokeyholeIts called reading the Bible and praying for answers. The mysteries of God are infinite and open to ALL who are WILLING to seek them. However, realizing that God is infinite, I must conclude that I know next to nothing.
It's amazing how much you know.