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NASB | Mark 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Mark 16:16 "He who has believed [in Me] and has been baptized will be saved [from the penalty of God's wrath and judgment]; but he who has not believed will be condemned. |
Bible Question:
If God gave us brains, why wouldn't he want us to use them? Let me explain... assume that He really did give us our brains and the power to think. Why would He punish us ("be condemned") for not following the crowd (Christians) and thinking for ourselves? A thinking person does not blindly believe, lets take me for example (Yes I'm full of myself). I have heard the Gospel and I am as of yet a disbeliever, because there is so much do doubt about every religion that I've heard about, and NO proof? Anyone who know's the answer PLEASE tell me, rjohnson@mailbird.net . |
Bible Answer: Luke: It seems there have been quite a number of attempted responses to your question here. I contend that God does indeed want us to use our brains. I do not see, however, how being a Christian in the biblical sense is really "following the crowd." It seems that just the opposite is true from my perspective. :) I think that you are missing the starting point of why God created human beings (brains and all) in the first place. The Bible teaches that God created us first and foremost for His own glory. Humanity exists to glorify and give honor to its Creator. While from a purely human perspective this may seem egotistical, one also has to remember that the God of the Bible is not like Zeus or other mythological gods, which in reality are just human personalities with a lot more firepower. The God of the Bible, by contrast, is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. In short, He demands the honor and devotion of all of creation because He alone deserves it. Our intelligence, creativity, and cleverness was given to us not as ends in themselves, but for us to consciously and brilliantly praise the most perfect being in existence. It is not because we "think for ourselves" that we are condemned by an infitely just God; it is because we have used our God-given consciousness and wills in defiance of our sovereign, perfect Creator. And you, even though you claim that there is "no proof," will not escape the just condemnation of a holy God, Here is how Romans 1 describes your situation: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." --Romans 1:18-21 We see that creation itself is a testimony to God's existence, character, and nature. The human problem is not that we search for proof and don't find it; we "suppress the truth" by our unrighteousness. Simply put, Luke, the rock-bottom reason of why you deny God's existence is that you DON'T WANT the God of the Bible to exist. All human beings, because of the sin nature that corrupts every one of us, incur God's just wrath. Since God is a perfect Judge, the cosmic treason that you have committed against your Creator makes you deserving of condemnation, just as it does me and everyone else who posts on this forum. This is easily observable in our world today. There are both geniuses and imbeciles on both sides of this theological divide between us, so obviously it is not simply a question of intelligence. It is, at its heart, a question of will and a question of human nature. Paul goes on to sum up the human condition: 'as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."' --Romans 3:10-12 and "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" --Romans 3:23 So there you have it. We both have brains, given by God, we both have constantly used them to think, say, and do things that violate the standard of moral perfection and allegiance rightfully demanded by the one who made us. We have no excuse. We have no appeal to a "higher court." God wrath is just, and it is certain to fall on you, unless God in His mercy provides a way both to provide divine justice and to spare you at the same time. And there is only one provision that God has given for human beings to be saved from his holy, eternal, justly-deserved retribution for this cosmic treason. Enter Jesus Christ! --Joe! |