Warning! Continuing with the religious posts so if you want to skip this one I’ll see you tomorrow.
So, yesterday I covered God kicking Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and He went to Instant and Eternal Condemnation.
Let’s back up for a minute and discuss God’s grace. Grace is defined as “the unmerited, spontaneous, and free favor of God shown to humanity, particularly in salvation. It is God’s benevolence and love extended to sinners who deserve judgment rather than blessing. Often summarized as “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense,” it is a gift that cannot be earned or deserved“.
So, fast forward to the New Testament. Jesus Christ comes along, pretty much for the sole purpose (no pun intended) of dying to redeem all of us and pay for our sins. Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit). So, essentially, the One who condemned us is also the One saving us. This could have all been avoided if God had done things differently to begin with.
From the reading I’ve done in the New Testament, if the Old Testament was God seeking blind obedience, the New Testament is about choosing God. God wants us to choose Him over everything else. Mark 12:30-31 reads “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Fair enough. God created everything. He certainly deserves the credit for it. And the world could certainly use much more of the ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ attitude. It’s something I’ve been working on for a very long time, although my success at it is not great.
But here’s the thing – if the only way you’re getting to Heaven is through God’s Grace, why was it necessary for Jesus to come and die to pay for our sins? Grace can’t be earned or bought or deserved. Given that, Mother Teresa and Jeffrey Dahmer have an equal chance of getting to Heaven. From our perspective, I think we’d all agree the former is a shoe-in and the latter is not. I’d say Dahmer might have a better chance as Jesus came to save the sinners, not the righteous. But it all hinges on accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
I have a problem with Grace. If that’s how the Universe runs, then it seems to me that existence is pointless. Why are we here, doing anything, if God has already made up His mind? I’m certainly not advocating going out and being a total jerk to everyone. I’m pretty much a fan of the Golden Rule – treat people the way you want to be treated. Try to do at least one small thing every day to make the world a better place. I think I’ve been pretty consistent about that agenda. But if none of it has any effect on the Afterlife and where we end up, then what’s the point? Why is there so much about sin, and what displeases God, and what will get you sent to Hell in the Bible, if none of it matters? And why must we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, if it too, has no bearing on receiving God’s Grace?
Every Church I’ve been to has hammered that choosing or rejecting God is the Absolute Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make! Many of them have flat out stated that anyone who isn’t a Christian is on the Expressway to Hell. Which brings up other questions about the existence of other Gods, and whether God gets any say over what happens to their followers, but that’s a discussion for another time.
It’s a rather mixed message that you are saved by God’s Grace, but what you do (or don’t do) here is going to affect that.
Again, all this makes sense to people?
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