Subject: Where does Jesus say He is God? |
Bible Note: "John, would you be so kind as to tell me what terrible sins I have committed???" Well, I am not John, and I don't know you personally, but I can quite confidently say that you, like I, have sinned against an infinitely holy God: '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." "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."' --Romans 3:10-19 That is God's assessment of all of us, Nancy. Are you perfect in all of your ways? Have you been so all of your life? If not, then you have violated God's moral standard, and God soesn't "grade on a curve." He is perfectly just, and so our violations of the Creator's laws must be punished. So, you have sinned. We all have. You wrote: "I am a registered nurse. I have administered to the sick and dying. I have shown great compassion for those in pain, physical and/or mental." For whose glory? God's? Our motives make a difference as well as our actions: "because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Those who are not forgiven of their sins and have peace with God CANNOT please him. You wrote: "But I do not PRESUME to know what those are!" I don't presume to have figured them out myself. God deigned to reveal them to us, however. "The bible was written thousands of years ago in a different time and under far different circumstances." Yes, and written under the inspiration of an unchanging, infinite, and eternal God. You yourself say that there is much wisdom there. Therefore, the Bible is far from irrelevant. "I do NOT think a loving, compassionate, creative god-like entity would cast those of us who are also loving and compassionate but who may have chosen a differnt path, other than Christianity, into a hellish existence for eternity." It is the fact that God is loving and compassionate that He provided ANY way out of the predicament each of ourselves has found ourselves in. We are not saved by any amount of "compassion" on our part (especially since we have seen that even our compassionate acts are done for other reasons than to give glory to a God who deserves it), but rather by God's compassion: "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to HIS MERCY" --Titus 3:5a The God of the Bible is a merciful God, but He does not ignore His justice for the sake of His mercy. That is why in His kindness he sent His Son to become a human like us, live a sinless life for us (thereby earning no condemnation for Himself), and then die on the cross as the payment of the penalty for sin on behalf of all those who trust in Him. Therefore, God remains just in that sin is punished, and remains merciful in that He extends forgiveness to those who will trust in His one and only means of forgiveness." It is not at its heart a question of what path people choose. It is more a question of "What do I do with my guilt?" We are ALL guilty. God is the supreme judge of the universe. There is no appeal, and He knows the laws you have broken; He established them, after all. God in his mercy has provided forgiveness in Jesus Christ alone. But make no mistake: you and I and everyone who has ever lived is deserving of hell, because the standard is not Nancy or Joe or Hitler or Mother Teresa. The standard is the one set forth by a perfectly holy God. --Joe! |