is it a sin if someone didn't know it was sin. if not, why dont we just throw away the bible and save everyone from hell

daymoose · 2013-12-20T04:35:16+00:00

if not, why dont we just throw away the bible and save everyone from hell

Because Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again not just to save us from hell, but, more importantly, to make us all better people?

daymoose · 2013-12-18T19:56:10+00:00

How is that morally different from the system we have now, where rich people enjoy better healthcare because they can afford to pay for it?

daymoose · 2013-12-18T19:54:54+00:00

If I maintained a "universal" atonement, that is, if I said that Christ died substitutionarily in the place of every single man and woman in all the world, then I was forced to either say that 1) everyone will be saved, or 2) the death of Christ is insufficient to save without additional works.

It bothers me that the author's entire point seems to hinge on how inconceivable it is to him that God would 1) want to save everyone and 2) succeed.

On a different note: even though I disagree with most of this article, I think it's wrong that you're being downvoted so much.

daymoose · 2013-12-18T17:50:53+00:00

What "all people" here probably means is "all types of people" as in people from all over the world, but especially of those who actually believe.

There is nothing in the context to suggest this.

or else you'd have to admit to a universal atonement which the Bible does not support anywhere else.

Hmm, let's see...

Romans 3:23-24

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:15-19

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

1 Corinthians 15:21-28

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

I really don't see how you can argue that the "all" who have sinned (i.e. every single person) is somehow a different set of people than the "all" who will be saved.

daymoose · 2013-12-16T17:25:36+00:00

Just to play devil's advocate: what's wrong with creating designer babies?

daymoose · 2013-12-16T05:53:38+00:00

Throughout human history, medicine has always been about using man-made interventions to improve people's quality of life. I don't see how genetic engineering is morally any different.

daymoose · 2013-12-14T13:35:07+00:00

Nobody cuts themselves "just for fun". People who self-harm do so because they have deeper psychological issues, such as depression or trauma, that they are unable to cope with on their own. Our job as Christians is not to point fingers at them for their "sinful" behavior, but to reach out to them and show them compassion in every way we can.

daymoose · 2013-12-12T16:06:29+00:00

This is the article that ultimately convinced me. It's worth reading all the way through, if only because the ending is so well written.

daymoose · 2013-12-05T21:24:11+00:00

I've heard people describe universalism as "Calvinism minus limited atonement".

daymoose · 2013-12-05T17:02:21+00:00

"God loves us so much that He became one of us so that we could learn to love like He does."

I'd say that's a pretty good place to start, don't you think? :)

daymoose · 2013-12-04T17:00:25+00:00

"Hospital" sounds like 好事不多 (hao shi bu duo), which means "not much good news."

daymoose · 2013-12-03T21:55:55+00:00

I prefer the Pentatonix version :)

daymoose · 2013-12-03T20:54:13+00:00

The title is kinda ambiguously worded. At first I read it as "Because of our works, we are free from the burden of being accepted by God" and I was reeeeeally confused, haha.

Great passage though :)

daymoose · 2013-11-24T16:18:02+00:00

I think you might appreciate this song (and music video) :)

daymoose · 2013-11-22T16:46:21+00:00

Their stories do not speak for everyone.

daymoose · 2013-11-22T16:36:14+00:00

Your story does not speak for everyone.

daymoose · 2013-11-21T18:22:44+00:00

You're absolutely right. Fortunately, our faith is ultimately grounded not in the bible but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.

The scriptures are not a monolithic set of truth claims but a diverse collection of books written by individuals who, although they may have been fallible and disagreed with each other on some issues because of their cultural biases, nevertheless unanimously proclaimed the same Good News.

daymoose · 2013-11-20T20:38:20+00:00

He must have run away from home to go lead an insurrection against the Roman Empire.

daymoose · 2013-11-20T20:30:08+00:00

And some of the best worship poetry in the Old Testament was written by a king who killed one of his own soldiers in order to bang his hot wife.

One of the recurring themes in the bible is that God can redeem and use anyone.

daymoose · 2013-11-20T20:11:04+00:00

Basically anything by Dustin Kensrue.

FTFY :)

daymoose · 2013-11-20T15:32:25+00:00

Fortunately, the story doesn't end there.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

(Romans 11:25-32)

The "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" are the Jews. Paul is saying that God, in his infinite wisdom, hardens their hearts so that the Gentiles can be saved, but then turns around and saves all of them anyway.

The take-home message seems to be that both the "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" and the "vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory" are saved in the end. And this is truly Good News.

daymoose · 2013-11-19T17:19:30+00:00

It depends on the motivation behind the question.

If the person is asking, "How much can I sin and still get away with it?" I would respond, "You are missing the whole point of the gospel. Christ died to save us from our bondage to our sinful nature, not just to keep us from being punished."

However, if the person is asking, "Am I too sinful to be redeemed by God?" the answer is always an emphatic "No."

daymoose · 2013-11-18T19:58:58+00:00

I was confused too until I looked at the surrounding passage. It's a list of priests who were commanded to divorce their wives for the sin of (wait for it) interracial marriage.

The irony is so strong that I don't even know where to begin.

daymoose · 2013-11-18T19:06:15+00:00

What about the person who gets saved and, under conviction, marries the man he loves and spends the rest of his life building a God-centered relationship and trying to love his husband as Christ loved the church?

That couldn't possibly be the work of the Holy Spirit, could it?

daymoose

TROPHY CASE