Originally posted by Alliance
A lot of people here were born in the US which is a very Christina dominated nation and one that a large majrotiy of people place an emphasis on their faith.I was also "raised" Christian, though JIA would not have defined me as one.
Unfortunately he would have considered me to be a Christian.
Originally posted by Imperial_Samura
I suspect that would be true for most people - whether they are still Christian or not.
Has anyone seen Imperial_Samura? Tell him I said what's up even if he used to drive me to distraction with his never-ending word-parsing.
Imperial_Samura, what caused the Big Bang?
🙂
Originally posted by finti
so does blue letters on a black backgroundso what if you are a mute?
God is just so He has a plan for every situation. You see, God does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. So in situations where someone is mute, that person can still accept Jesus into his/her heart by faith and be saved from their sins. God is that lovingkind, and tenderly merciful.
Originally posted by leonheartmm
odd. god is just but his world has always been DEFINED by injustice. suppose all the believers are putting their FAITH on the afterlife as theres nothing in this world which points to its so called creators trait of justice.
True, God is just and His world has always been defined by injustice--but why? Because of sin. I told you that what you read in the Bible is reflected in life . You read about the reality of the devil and his angels and about the innate sin nature that humanity has and then you look out into this world and see injustice, crime, murder, rape, incest, terrorism, wars, poverty, pestilence, natural disaster, etc. This is why there is injustice in the world. No one wants to submit to God's rulership in the universe. The absence of God's rule in the earth has been replaced with human rule. But the problem with that is that humans are sinners (spiritually dead, separated from God's righteousness and life, deprave, corrupt, and incapable of ruling anything successfully apart from God). Sin is at the root of all injustice.
What exactly is sin? Sin is thinking, speaking, and operating counter to the will of God. If God says right and you go left, you have sinned. If God says love and you hate, you have sinned. If God says don't and you do, you have sinned. Our free will is free insofar that it remains subject to God's will. Let me illustrate. Children have a free will but their free will is still subject to the will of their parents. They can do anything that there parents have expressed to them that they are permitted to do. But there are some things that their parents have forbidden them from doing. Question: do those children truly have a free will then? Absolutely. But their parents know better than do what things they should do or not do. For this reason, their parents have given them rules that if obeyed, will produce the optimal joy, pleasure, and good that those children could ever imagine. But from their perspective (which is very limited) they may not agree. Similarly, God has revealed to us those things that will produce the greatest harm, pain, misery, and discomfort in our lives and those things that will produce the greatest joy, pleasure, and good. But in order to appropriate these good things we must subject our will to His. Your children will never experience the good life that you desire for them if they constantly rebel against your will. You know (in your heart of hearts) what they want out of life and how to give it to them if they would just submit to your authority. But if they keep kicking, screaming, and carrying on they will never be able to receive from you what you want to give them. This is an example of how God (perhaps) feels about humanity. We kick, we scream, we balk, we cry, we complain, we blame, we do all of these things because we want to do our own thing. But look what doing our own thing has produced: injustice, racism, apartheid, genocide, the Holocaust, terrrosim, rape, murder, adultery, pornography, incest, pedophilia, crime, stealing, the need for prison systems, police officers, national guard, national defense, weapons of mass destruction, sexually transmitted diseases, detox centers, abortions, sin and death--all starting with Adam an Eve's sin/disobedience to God's rulership in the beginning. What if Adam and Eve had not kicked and screamed at God their Heavenly Father in the beginning, what would this world be like? What if God said to them,
Genesis 2:16-17
"...Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Just what if they had said,
"Okay Dad, we will not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
Where would we be right now? What would we be doing right now. We would probably be out populating other planets, conversing with God--our true Father, as well as with our biological parents--enjoying life, traveling to other galaxies, asking God questions about how He did all of the things that He did (and receiving the answers immediately). If people could just fathom and understand how good God is, He is a Father, a loving Father (He is nothing like your earthly father because He is the epitome of what a good father is). If God had a physical body He would have went to all of your sports games, played with you, spent time with you, praised you for every little thing that you did, hugged you and been physically demonstrative with you without being embarrassed or ashamed, been there for you, taught you how to do all the things that you desire to do, supported you in all of your endeavors, goals, and dreams, patted you on the back, talked highly of you to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angels, and other people, helped you with your homework, attended every event that was important to you. God is a huggable, approachable Father. God loves you like no parent, relative, or significant other is capable of loving you. He knows every embarrassing thing about you. He knows all of your weaknesses, shortcomings, inadequacies, and secrets (that you would never tell anyone)--and still loves you exceedingly, greatly. God is the only one that truly loves you for you--unconditionally. He does not care what you look like, how intelligent you are, how much money you have, where you live, what your ethnic group, race, or national origin is. God does not care where you are from, what kind of car you drive, how many things that you have failed, how unpopular you are, how unlucky you are, how many times that you have been rejected, or what you have done. None of those things matter to God. God loves you greatly and His arms are outstretched towards you right now. He is waiting patiently for you to come to Him. He knows what you have been through, all of the pain, disappointment, struggles, rejections, heartache, frustrations, and failures. He knows what you want out of life. He knows what your dreams are. He knows what brings you joy, happiness, and fulfillment. But He also knows that He cannot give you the desires of your heart if you do not allow Him to. He needs your consent. He needs your permission to do those things for you. But it starts with your will. You must choose Him over anyone or anything else. You must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then, all of those things that you need and desire will be added to you.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
True, God is just and His world has always been defined by injustice--but why? Because of sin. I told you that what you read in the Bible is reflected in life . You read about the reality of the devil and his angels and about the innate sin nature that humanity has and then you look out into this world and see injustice, crime, murder, rape, incest, terrorism, wars, poverty, pestilence, natural disaster, etc. This is why there is injustice in the world. No one wants to submit to God's rulership in the universe. The absence of God's rule in the earth has been replaced with human rule. But the problem with that is that humans are sinners (spiritually dead, separated from God's righteousness and life, deprave, corrupt, and incapable of ruling anything successfully apart from God). Sin is at the root of all injustice.What exactly is sin? Sin is thinking, speaking, and operating counter to the will of God. If God says right and you go left, you have sinned. If God says love and you hate, you have sinned. If God says don't and you do, you have sinned. Our free will is free insofar that it remains subject to God's will. Let me illustrate. Children have a free will but their free will is still subject to the will of their parents. They can do anything that there parents have expressed to them that they are permitted to do. But there are some things that their parents have forbidden them from doing. Question: do those children truly have a free will then? Absolutely. But their parents know better than do what things they should do or not do. For this reason, their parents have given them rules that if obeyed, will produce the optimal joy, pleasure, and good that those children could ever imagine. But from their perspective (which is very limited) they may not agree. Similarly, God has revealed to us those things that will produce the greatest harm, pain, misery, and discomfort in our lives and those things that will produce the greatest joy, pleasure, and good. But in order to appropriate these good things we must subject our will to His. Your children will never experience the good life that you desire for them if they constantly rebel against your will. You know (in your heart of hearts) what they want out of life and how to give it to them if they would just submit to your authority. But if they keep kicking, screaming, and carrying on they will never be able to receive from you what you want to give them. This is an example of how God (perhaps) feels about humanity. We kick, we scream, we balk, we cry, we complain, we blame, we do all of these things because we want to do our own thing. But look what doing our own thing has produced: injustice, racism, apartheid, genocide, the Holocaust, terrrosim, rape, murder, adultery, pornography, incest, pedophilia, crime, stealing, the need for prison systems, police officers, national guard, national defense, weapons of mass destruction, sexually transmitted diseases, detox centers, abortions, sin and death--all starting with Adam an Eve's sin/disobedience to God's rulership in the beginning. What if Adam and Eve had not kicked and screamed at God their Heavenly Father in the beginning, what would this world be like? What if God said to them,
[B]
Genesis 2:16-17
"...Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”Just what if they had said,
"Okay Dad, we will not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
Where would we be right now? What would we be doing right now. We would probably be out populating other planets, conversing with God--our true Father, as well as with our biological parents--enjoying life, traveling to other galaxies, asking God questions about how He did all of the things that He did (and receiving the answers immediately). If people could just fathom and understand how good God is, He is a Father, a loving Father (He is nothing like your earthly father because He is the epitome of what a good father is). If God had a physical body He would have went to all of your sports games, played with you, spent time with you, praised you for every little thing that you did, hugged you and been physically demonstrative with you without being embarrassed or ashamed, been there for you, taught you how to do all the things that you desire to do, supported you in all of your endeavors, goals, and dreams, patted you on the back, talked highly of you to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angels, and other people, helped you with your homework, attended every event that was important to you. God is a huggable, approachable Father. God loves you like no parent, relative, or significant other is capable of loving you. He knows every embarrassing thing about you. He knows all of your weaknesses, shortcomings, inadequacies, and secrets (that you would never tell anyone)--and still loves you exceedingly, greatly. God is the only one that truly loves you for you--unconditionally. He does not care what you look like, how intelligent you are, how much money you have, where you live, what your ethnic group, race, or national origin is. God does not care where you are from, what kind of car you drive, how many things that you have failed, how unpopular you are, how unlucky you are, how many times that you have been rejected, or what you have done. None of those things matter to God. God loves you greatly and His arms are outstretched towards you right now. He is waiting patiently for you to come to Him. He knows what you have been through, all of the pain, disappointment, struggles, rejections, heartache, frustrations, and failures. He knows what you want out of life. He knows what your dreams are. He knows what brings you joy, happiness, and fulfillment. But He also knows that He cannot give you the desires of your heart if you do not allow Him to. He needs your consent. He needs your permission to do those things for you. But it starts with your will. You must choose Him over anyone or anything else. You must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then, all of those things that you need and desire will be added to you. [/B]
But you can only approach God through Jesus Christ. We can only come to God through His Son. If you would like to know God then confess Jesus as Lord from your heart and ask Him to save you from your sins and you will be saved. You will be able to go boldly to the throne of grace to find help in the time of need.
Originally posted by NellinatorWell think about it. God want a person to think right? Come let us reason together he said Well, they had free will and made a choice. they felt it would be good to see what it might be like to actually KNOW the difference between good and evil, and yet they are punished? What, does god like ignorance?
Nothing. It is the disobedience that was wrong.
Originally posted by debbiejoUmm... no. The disobedience was wrong. It didn't matter what it was for.
Well think about it. God want a person to think right? Come let us reason together he said Well, they had free will and made a choice. they felt it would be good to see what it might be like to actually KNOW the difference between good and evil, and yet they are punished? What, does god like ignorance?
Originally posted by Nellinator
Umm... no. The disobedience was wrong. It didn't matter what it was for.
It was the disobedience that was wrong, not the knowledge. Adam and Eve had a selfish desire to become like God--similar to Satan's--and disobeyed.
Furthermore, I believe that God was protecting Adam and Eve by keeping them from the Tree of Knowledge.