21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister{b}[c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Paul says:
Rom.10
[4] For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.

Jesus says:
Matt.5
[17] Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.
[18] For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Paul says:
1Cor.12
[28] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third, teachers,
Eph.4
[11] And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
1Tim.2
[7] For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
2Tim.1
[11] For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,

Jesus says:
Matt.23
[8] But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.

Paul says:
Rom.3
[9] What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin,
[10] as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
[22] For there is no distinction;
[23] since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, . . ..

Jesus says:
Matt.12
[35] The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Luke.6
[45] The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Matt.23
[35] that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah the son of Barachi'ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

originally posted by adjensen
If you want to believe that Christ was anything other than a Rabbi wandering through Judea, proclaiming a message of "why can't we just get along" that one can find in plenty of other places, then you need to consider Paul and his message, because without him, Christianity would almost certainly have never become anything but a minor Jewish sect that died out in the 1st or 2nd Century.

People only hear what they want to believe, and what Paul offers is attractive, because it promises easy access to heaven, while what Jesus asks of us is very hard, and requires great sacrifice.

And what was the purpose of his life and teaching to turn your argument around?

You make the moment of his death, his sacrifice carry more weight than what HE said was important, his example, his words, his message.

And to answer your question, "what use his death?" It was again, his example. If he could be willing to die for the message, how could we refuse to make the lesser sacrifices involved in living for it. And yet we do.

Paul says:
Rom.10
[4] For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.

Jesus says:
Matt.5
[17] Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.
[18] For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Paul says:
1Cor.12
[28] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third, teachers,

.. snip ..

Jesus says:
Matt.23
[8] But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.

they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

originally posted by adjensen
If you want to believe that Christ was anything other than a Rabbi wandering through Judea, proclaiming a message of "why can't we just get along" that one can find in plenty of other places, then you need to consider Paul and his message, because without him, Christianity would almost certainly have never become anything but a minor Jewish sect that died out in the 1st or 2nd Century.

That statement could only come from someone who had not taken the time to really understand the glory of what Jesus did bring to the world. Christianity did die out in the 1st or 2cnd century, in truth. What we call that now is not what Jesus was teaching. But you are wrong that what he brought the world was not worthy and did not come from God to save us.

But this brings us back to the other problem with the prophecies. They are so generalized to the experience of mankind, that they have been seen as being fulfilled RIGHT NOW, from the time of Jesus. Humans have always been at war, or rumbling towards war, somewhere in the world. Pestilence, famine, earth quakes, all of these things have been going on for as long as we have records. I dont see any "signs" mentioned that could ONLY be interpreted as happening now. No mention of anything that could only be technology from the 21st century. In fact that is the appeal. The signs are vague enough that they could be happening anytime, anywhere on Earth. Heck the list of signs in the post below yours that is purportedly from Islam is more convincing as an argument for a modern "end times" as are the Hopi end of the world prophecies.

This is not true. I dont care if make pretend Christians judge me, but not because of my innocence. Im not perfect. I dont care because they are not my judge. I could be guilty as all hell of something and I still would not care about the judgment of any of you. You arent the ones I have to worry about answering to, and, quite frankly, if you are judging me, you certainly arent representing God in any way superior to mine. We get right to the "beam in your own eye" issue. I only answer to God. The main difference is I am not distorting the teachings of Jesus to suit myself, and pretending MY judgment of others is ok. I know it isnt. And despite my continued failure to cease in all judgment of others, I am making progress and I do work on it every single day. I dont just throw up may hands "oh well, thank goodness Jesus died for me and I dont have to try." I know that is not true. The death of Jesus did not free you from the necessity to follow his word just because someone came along later and said so.

It may not be surprising, but it sure isnt Christian. That venom is his or hers entirely to own. None of the responsibility for it lies at my feet. We are each responsible for our own actions. I suggest you read the Sermon on the Mount for clarification. Jesus did not say " do not insult other peoples beliefs" in fact Jesus seemed quite out spoken on his stand on people twisting beliefs to suit themselves. And Jesus did not say, "if someone insults your ridiculous interpretation of my teachings you have the right to act like a savage animal and hate and spew bile." I read it many times, and I am quite certain he did not say that.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

Im not sure entirely how you mean "judging with love" but I might agree with that. I think judging with a neutral mindset, "this is this, this is that" is fine. I think condemning, or damning, or setting up moral "betters or worses" is a violation of the teachings of Jesus.