OK, Santiago. I am going to go slowly. You have just done what most people do when they are basing their argument on faith instead of logic: You have done 3 somersaults, a back flip and a painful looking headstand. How do you feel?
Lets try this again: I am not talking about the Mysterious Age of Grace, nor the Kingdom, nor any other misdirections from the topic. I was considering whether scripture could be relied upon as the Word of God, and then, what that reliance might entail in terms of morality, grace, or any other topic one might explore. You see...if the scripture is not the accurate Word of God, we cannot use the content to inform that which is to be proved. We may only examine the logic of the content for contradictions, inconsistencies, and the like, in order to determine whether or not it passes muster in the mind of a reasonable person.
I am not talking about Grace. I am talking about whether or not you can do the things that Jesus reportedly said you could do. Do you make it a habit of doing this as the bible instructs you?
James 4
7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
There are many examples in the bible of Jesus condemning hypocrisy. Here is an example:
Matthew 6
2
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Now how does this preaching of Jesus align with the way he lived? Was His stand against hypocrisy a lie? Does it belie His claim to perfection? One example of that from many:
John 8
28
So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
Now was Jesus perfect and complete or was he a hypocrite and a poor role model for scripture?
Here Jesus clearly says the even the tiniest bit of faith makes nothing impossible to His followers.
Matthew 17
20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you
Then he finds Himself unable to do many miracles due the unbelief of those around him:
Mark 6
5
He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
Later, on the cross, His faith forsakes Him completely:
Matthew 27
46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus talks a lot about loving and respecting others, and doing good works. One example of many:
Luke 6
27
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
But He was notorious for mean spirited and prejudicial behaviour. In a disgusting Racial put-down, His disciples and Him liken a gentile woman to a dog, and only when she admits to being servile, abject, and a downtrodden inferior, does He gleefully healher. Great way to spend eternity. No compassion for the daughter suffering demon possession (a child's fault?). Just a little racial posturing and pompousness.
Matthew 15
21
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
If you are not a child of Israel, you are a DOG.
Jesus said that one should honor father and mother. But Jesus often brought dishonor to his family, and always spoke rudely and disrespectfully to his mother. Everyone knows these quotes, so I won't bother looking them up. Here is an example of when most people thought He had gone insane, and they sent for His family to take Him in charge:
Mark 3
21
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
Here is a sadistic outlook:
Mark 4
11
He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
12
so that, "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!' "
Jesus speaks in parables so that they will NOT turn and be forgiven. To his disciples on the inside, however, He gives the secrets plain, so that they may reach The Kingdom.
So when I quote the reputed Word of God, it is for the purpose of proving or disproving the inerrancy of that reputed word--Not to encourage replies that assume the proof of what is being examined, and then ignore the contradictions, inconsistencies, etc...before racing off into a state of blissful preaching... |
