"I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, brings forth much fruit; for, without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is a branch that is cut off and will wither. Men gather these and cast them into the fire to be burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, all that you ask will be done. This is how my Father is glorified; that you bear much fruit and, by doing so, are my disciples."~Jesus
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Hi Archie;
You have to admit, looking from the outside in, it tends to be somewhat confusing doesn’t it?
There were those who did abide in Jesus and were tortured and murdered for their troubles.
I suppose if people don’t lie, steal or hurt anyone and are compassionate and loving, but they don’t believe, God will cast them into the fire?
That is the impression I get and unfortunately that is not a God of forgiveness or love.
I could not cause my children hardship if they didn’t believe I was their father. It is not their fault if something led them to not believe in me. What if their mother lied to them about my existence? Told them I was dead for example.
At times, this world does not seem to follow any rules whatsoever.
Hi Archie;
I was thinking about this and I go to the ten commandments. God, being God and omnipotent and perfect would be able to see the future.
That being the case, One of the Ten Commandments would have been to “Thou Shall believe and abide by the words of my Son.” to insure the faithful would comply. There was no mention of this.
God’s new covenant with man, as many portray the New Testament, negates the validity of the Old Testament as it is akin to a new contract, yet many still refer to the old contract, which is no longer binding to determine their destiny and behavior.
Somewhere in the mix, people do not consider that maybe God never changed the rules or life but that maybe man did?
Maybe all of what you say is true Ichabod. You are a man of great reason. I really mean that and not to puff you up. But maybe there is more to the story…
Consider the possibility all the commandments point to and underline the fact that none of us are good enough to spend eternity with a perfect God.
Consider the possibility God had a plan and throughout eternity used His commandments to point to the plan.
Consider the possibility that Jesus beating death freed us from the being good enough to being loved enough.
It is possible… Jesus is the only way.
Love you brother!