Mark (from Bob),
Thanks for your response. I never felt that you were attacking or belittling me or my beliefs. I view this conversation as healthy, not attacking. I am certainly not going to attack you in any way, you strike me as a nice person who is open to discussion. Even if you were not nice, I still would not take an attacking position but would not have discussions with you.
In reference to your response, let me establish the foundation for my beliefs.
1. God is all loving as well as perfectly just and righteous. He has
emotions and is not single dimensional.
2. I believe that God establishes the standards for right and wrong,
not me. I feel that too many people establish what's right and
wrong in their own minds to justify their not-so-holy ways and
convince themselves they're righteous (including myself at one
time).
3. I believe the Bible to be Gods word to us. Too much fulfilled
prophecy alone proves this to me.
4. I believe Jesus Christ to be the Messiah promise in the Old
Testament.
Now to address your email. I believe that God does love us unconditionally ... I believe that the Messiah is the perfect illustration of that love to us. I do not believe that God is single dimensional (ie. only all loving), I believe that He is a righteous and holy judge who judges according to the standards He established for righteous behaviors. (If God let each of us establish our own standards for right and wrong, what would the world be like? I know I would make a few changes to accomodate some of my sin and I'm sure all people would. Just think, some people could justify that murder was ok.)
I agree with your statement that God can achieve anything He choses anyway He choses (provided that He does not contradict Himself). I believe that God provided a way for our sins to be forgiven by sending the Messiah to pay the penalty for those sins. A perfect illustration of how God can accomplish anything in anyway and still illuminate His perfect love for us. If I were God, I certainly would not have decided to come and subject myself to my creation and pay the penalties for their transgressions. That's certainly more love than I could muster up, yet that is exactly what Jesus did.
You mentioned some great people and how they preached forgiveness to the people who didn't treat them properly. A noble gesture by these people. You mentioned that you expect God to respond in like kind as these people and more. I think you're missing one point, all sin is a violation of Gods laws and thus is an affront to God NOT man. We are taught not to judge anybody, for judgement is for God alone. If I'm not to judge people, I certainly cannot forgive them, only God can do that. Christ teaches us that if somebody strikes us on the cheek, we should offer the other cheek to them, not judge them. I feel that God is well within His rights to judge and punish sins according to His will in light of the fact that He establishes right and wrong and has provided forgiveness through the Messiah. This forgiveness through the Messiah has been clearly communicated to us through Scripture (Old Testament and New Testament), so God can certainly judge according to the Scripture.
The Messiah died (Paid the penalty for our sins) for sinners (which is all of us) so we can be reconciled to God, that is a greater act than actually forgiving. This act paved the way for God to pardon our sins and open the doors to heaven for us. That pardoning of sins through the Messiah's death fits perfectly into Old Testament laws and prophecies.
Lastly, you mentioned that you do not believe in original sin. Do you believe that you are a sinner?
Sincerely,
Bob
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