reply to post by jiggerj
Many people have a hard time believing Christianity. Many cannot attach themselves to the faith without more in-depth answers to puzzling questions
the Bible leaves us with. For these types, it is not enough to follow emotionally based appeals to a state where they can proclaim that they believe,
but they must analytically examine the Bible and understand it through the prism of logic in order to come to the faith. That being said, I do not
think there is a great enough effort to reach out to these folks, and I also do not think that we spend enough time enriching and strengthening our
own faiths through the type of thinking that would appeal to these people. Some people in the faith actually believe that it cannot be explained or
understood within the constraints of logic - at least not all the time - but that because God is God, he sometimes steps outside the laws of logic and
miraculously provides truths that one can only come to believe through faith, and not logic. With these people, I disagree. To me, God is Love, the
Creator, the Origin of the Universe and That Which Separated (Divided) somethingness from nothingness, when all there was was nothingness (which never
existed, technically). God is the Law Maker, the Promise Keeper, incapable of contradicting himself, and ultimately, the Origin and Ultimate Result of
Logic.
Anyhow, I'm not going to go further down the path of explaining my understanding of God right now. I mainly intend to show you the "Math of
Salvation" through Christ.
One of the big questions people seem to have about Salvation, is "How?". How does one man save the souls of ALL people on earth? How does that make
sense in terms of numbers? How is it that the penalty for ALL of our sins can be canceled out by the death and resurrection of Jesus?
Let's examine the factors involved.
First, no impurity can enter Heaven. Just one sin committed will make you impure. Having sinned only once in our lives, we are eternally separated
from God, and the added - or same - punishment is eternal damnation.
Second, before Christ arrived, the Jews (God's Chosen People) would atone for their sins through the sacrifice of blood. I do not really know how
that kind of atonement would work, but it seems that those judged to be righteous (and I would assume that means generally atoned for and of a good
heart and love for God), would not go to Heaven, but to "Abraham's Bosom".
Third, the original Law of the Jews and the only official System of Governance and Law for them, has been, and will always be, their Theocracy. This
means Rule By God. The laws given to the Jews by God were both the laws on earth for them and the spiritual laws they were bound to. They were the
same. To put it in today's terms, if our laws in America were the Laws that God gave us, it would mean that not paying your taxes, or running a red
light, or smoking in a non-smoking area, would not only get you in trouble with the system of law enforcement on earth, but it would also be counted
as a sin in heaven.
Fourth, in the Law of the Jews (God's Law for them), you could atone for your crimes/sins, and equally as important in my mind, you could intercede
in the punishment of another's crimes/sins. An understanding of intercession is crucial. If, say, you stole a loaf of bread, and (lets just make up a
scenario here...) the punishment for stealing a loaf of bread is that you have a hand cut off, then I may step in and because I have not committed the
same crime/sin, I can say that I want my hand cut off as a substitute for yours. In that case, you, the criminal/sinner, would obviously have to agree
to the offer made by me. I can't just step in and have my hand cut off without your knowledge and acceptance, and count that as having paid your
penalty. Also, numbers play a part here. If you stole two loaves of bread and the punishment is then to have two hands cut off, to intercede fully, I
would have to offer up both my hands to be cut off for yours. What happens then if you stole 3? I cannot step in and have 3 hands cut off. I only have
2. You only have 2 as well, so I don't know how they would handle that...but I hope you're getting the gist of this... On Earth and in heaven, the
punishments are mathematically linked. One for One. What then can I do if the total punishment for your crime is death? I would then have to give my
life to intercede for yours.
Fifth, the punishments on Earth are not the same as the spiritual punishment. As you may recall, the only spiritual punishment is eternal damnation -
and this is for having sinned only once. If you sin twice, the total punishment is the punishment for the first sin plus the punishment for the second
sin. This is where more math starts to kick in. Remember, God is the God of Logic...