Matthew 10:34-38 becomes a disturbing reality when you begin following Jesus

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

I thought Jesus could have no equal? If god judges us compared to Jesus, that means no-one would get into heaven because he has no equal.

If we actually can be an equal to what Jesus was, then how does that make Jesus so special?

That's what "penal substitutionary atonement" is all about.

reply to post by ahnggk


Few are those who walk our path
for they don't understand
How we obey the word of god
And not the word of man.

reply to post by Speak3asy


Two billion is not a 'few', that is many.

I obey the morals set out in the bible, I practice what 'god' taught.

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
How can you have equality when you don't put yourself on the same level as others? I get what you're trying to say, but holding yourself below others means you are inferior, and when you feel inferior you are easily manipulated.

Welfare of others above own is has nothing to do with inferiority, self-esteem, classes, rank, etc

For example, airplane pilots/captains tend to be one of the high ranking officers in the vehicle and they are willing to sacrifice their lives for troops of lower rank to them. When the plane is about to crash, they make sure everyone has bailed out safely, and they crash land in a manner to minimize and/or to completely avoid any casualties both in the plane and on the ground. They stay with the plane for as long as possible in spite of the extreme danger.

But True Christian living is not just demonstrating such acts in such rare emergencies but in everything we do. We must consider the needs of others above our own. It has nothing to do with setting yourselves low submitting yourselves to everything. Jesus helped even lowly animals but had the confidence to shame the authorities, the Pharisees - leaders of the Church and probably the community too. This is not submission at all, more like rebellion which eventually angered the leaders and led to His death.

We are to help others with wisdom and the discernment of the Holy Spirit as not every needy person will not actually get better with help. Worse, some of them can even be agents of the devil presenting themselves as needy person out to destroy you. I've met one myself and nearly sent me to the path of evil through seduction. I've found out later that she was indeed involved in satanic worship in its most obvious form.

reply to post by ahnggk


I would first respond to you with a spiritual disclaimer; do not let anything I say keep you from the path you are on because I could be wrong and Jesus said something like "he that breaks the least of my commands & teaches others will be the least in the kingdom of heaven"
Your parents should encourage you in being more spiritual and really living your faith.
However, do you not think that it is coincidence that your parents left poverty behind around the same time as they embraced Christ? I would suggest that there is nothing wrong with what your parents have wanted for you but only that it is not what God has in mind for you personally.
I have problems with some of what the "prosperity gospel" espouses but in its basic premise it is right. I would suggest you read the first 9 chapters of Proverbs, or more, wholistic prosperity is un-apologetically held up as a motivation for doing well and following God and, of course, it tells you how to do this. Success itself and the path to it are different in the suggested reading than what the world touts as success.
Consider the context and the culture in the passage in Matt. 10 that you quoted; in that culture if you embraced Jesus as the messiah there were grave consequences for you within your community and even within your family...not saying it does not have its application for today.
The narrow way parable you also quoted is just that a parable and I have heard that it may not have to do with salvation.
We are commanded to be in the world not of the world so if you are here you are going to have to participate to a degree in the world system...unless you want to be amish or something.
I have a somewhat paranoid theory about this hyper-spirituality which you have espoused.
Ultimately there is a verse at the end of proverbs that is good advice; that you not be so rich as to say "who is God" or be so poor as to be tempted to steal.

reply to post by ahnggk


Paul stated that we are ambassadors and living epistles to the world. We are to bne in the world but not of the world. Personal evangelism should start in one’s home town and go forth from there. Paul also said some plant some water and some harvest. It does no good to hide out and separate oneself from society which in my opinion is the act of the salt loosing it’s savor.

Originally posted by LafingWithTears
We are commanded to be in the world not of the world so if you are here you are going to have to participate to a degree in the world system...unless you want to be amish or something.
I have a somewhat paranoid theory about this hyper-spirituality which you have espoused.
Ultimately there is a verse at the end of proverbs that is good advice; that you not be so rich as to say "who is God" or be so poor as to be tempted to steal.

No, not anything like that, more like missions outreach approach of following Jesus. Preaching the gospel to all creatures will always be a requirement (Mark 16:15)

If you do something great for God, the whole world will know. If you can forsake the very things these world craves, then they will know how great is our God. With God, everything man craves for loses its value, it's meaning.

reply to post by Speak3asy

Few are those who walk our path
for they don't understand
How we obey the word of god
And not the word of man.

Have you forgotten how the "word of god" was written by the hands of man, rewritten by the hands of man, translated by the hands of man, interpreted by the minds of men, and spread by the mouths of men...

None of these are the least bit reliable, concerning men. We have shown again and again that man's interpretive skills are not infallible, man's hands are not infallible, man's translations are not infallible, and man's mouth is not infallible. And yet we rely on all of these to keep the "word of god" unspoiled?

That is unreasonable, unlikely, and improbable. If you have any experience at all with the history of mankind, and how we communicate in the modern world, you should know this. You should know how inaccurate we are. And to trust the "word of god" for all these years, passing word of mouth and written accounts in obscure languages traded by power-hungry individuals...

To believe it is still pure, is to ignore the nature of the men who brought it to this age.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


You bring up some good points communicating through the medium of language is limited and when one language is translated to another stuff can get lost or changed even if the translator(s) have no agenda simply because one language may not have a word for a word in another language so the translator must get creative. even trying to communicate in a language you know is limited. There is a project going on that I find interesting; these people are translating the O.T. directly and literally because of this it does not read easily in english.
www.thechronicleproject.org...
(I got this from another thread here)
Despite you assertions the discovery of the dead sea scrolls proved that even over thousands of years transcribers can accurately pass on information.

Originally posted by NOTurTypical

Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

So you do not want to be where he isn't, a.k.a. you don't want to go to hell, which is why you want to go to heaven.

Thanks for clearing that up. Deny it all you want but if you want to be where Jesus is then by default, you do not want to be where he isn't which is in hell.

Well, sure. What Christian wouldn't want to be where Jesus is?? Lol. But don't make the incorrect statement that Christians "fear" Hell. Before conversion we didn't believe in it, now that we are saved we do not come under condemnation. (Romans 8:1). I suppose Muslims might fear Hell or Jehovah's witnesses. There is no such thing as assurance of salvation in those belief systems.

Beliefs about Hell differ from one division of Christianity to another; the Russian orthodox church hold that all eventually are accepted into Heaven which would turn Hell into, actually, Purgatory.
Jehovahs witnesses do not believe in Hell at least as a place where condemned spirits go. Their doctrine on the subject is that the lost (basically anyone that is not JW) are obliterated/annihilated at the great judgement so they are not conscious beings that suffer but are simply gone like they never existed.