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I guess i'm swimming upstream solo on this one. (It's okay, I'm used to it.)
I don't believe God hates or loves any of us.
But I suspect s/he/it is interested in us, to some extent.
I have moments where I agree with you, Trout. But, love is powerful stuff, and it is a creative force. Makes sense to me that the Force that created us IS love.
You make a pretty good argument! Of course the whole "be hot or cold because if you're lukewarm I'll spit you out like vomit" makes me think he expects something of us.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God had and has agape love for the world (not with reference to the cosmic system, but with reference to all humanity). The two verses given above attest to that fact.
He was speaking in bot instances to the twelve disciples--and He was having them consider the option of fearing men who could kill them, or fearing (respecting) God Who can destroy both body and soul. Or do you not believe God capable of this? Because Jesus certainly did.
Where does Jesus say God is capable of destroying us? Not in verse 28. You've read God into that passage, and I've shown you why I don't believe it's true. Is there something else that leads you to believe Jesus thought God is capable of destroying us?
I left organized religion a score of years ago after being a licensed minister and only three hours shy of a Bible minor in college. I despise organized religion as primarily a tool of evil. But that doesn't mean I'm blind when it comes to seeking truth myself.
But yes, outside of the redemptive power of God through Jesus Christ, I believe, and have always believed each and every one of us is on the road to hell.
It's the dilemma I stated in an earlier post. The problem has never been about getting men saved. It's been about getting them lost so that they can be saved.
So let me ask you this---how do you KNOW you are saved? All of you posting here. How do you really know that you are saved?
Simple. I have believed that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again, therefore receiving Him as my Savior. And with that I am eternally saved. For eternal life is a free gift which is received by grace through faith alone in Christ Jesus, and not by works as stated in Ephesian 2:8-9 as well as John 6:27-29. God expects the believer to have good works, but they are not the basis for being delivered from the penalty of sin.
Because God is our Father. And God is love. And God is salvation. God is not our destroyer.
Fear not.
In Luke 8:21 Jesus is told His mother and brothers are waiting to see Him. He replies, "Who are my mother and brethren? Those who hear and DO the word of God are my mother and brethren."
Did He intrinsically mean "if God created you, you are my mother and brethren?" Jesus certainly gave us the role model by which WE are to live. But God reserved judgment to Himself. In fact Jesus warned us against passing judgment because in the eyes of God judgment is reserved to the holy---and only God is holy. He hates sinners, and will forgive them as they both repent and put their whole trust in God's propitiation for our sins.
What evidence do you have in your life that you are saved? How are you different from what you once were?
Here is an illustration of how God impacts our life when Christ comes to dwell within us. Suppose you invite me to dinner at your house and ask me to arrive at 6:00. You set the table, other guests arrive, and, frustrated, at about 6:15 you start dinner without me. At 7:00 I arrive with this excuse. "Pardon me for being late, but I had a flat tire and while fixing it, I got run over by an eighteen wheeler."
"Nonsense," you exclaim, "You could not have been hit by a truck."
"How do you know?" I reply.
"Because your standing here looking no different than any other time I've seen. If you had been hit by an eighteen wheeler you certainly wouldn't look the same."
But churches are filled with people who claim they have met the most powerful force in the universe, Jesus Christ, but they look the same, talk the same, enjoy the same frequently off-color entertainment, and make plans for their own lives in such a manner that others, looking at them will say, "You never got hit by an eighteen wheeler because you look just the same as you did before."
How does one come face to face with the Son of God and not be changed in a way that progressively changes?
One knows they have come face to face with Jesus when they recognize how much God hates them as a sinner, and they cast themselves into the mercy of God.
There is no other name given by which we may be saved except through Christ Jesus our Lord.
With all due respect to the Op . . . this anti-Christ (anti-love) belief about God has for too long corrupted Christ's Gospel of love and allowed the most egregious misinterpretations of His loving sacrifice. It has been construed as a barbaric blood sacrifice to appease an angry vengeful God for some ill-defined category of felonies and misdemeanors against God by humanity. Noting could be further from the truth. It was the epitome of self-sacrifice in agape love for us all to unambiguously demonstrate God's true nature and love. "No greater love . . ."
Jesus smote no one and willingly endured the sins (ignorance, non-love, missing the mark) of our barbarous ancestors through the most horrendous scourging of His body and crucifixion imaginable. Through it all to the bitter end He retained His agape love for us all . . . including His torturers and murderers because they knew not what they were doing. Ignorance is at the heart of evil and failure to love . . . but with His physical death He was "born again" as Spirit (resurrected in a spiritual body as the first born) . . . as we will be. Now under the New Covenant inaugurated by His death and eventual return at Pentecost as the Comforter . . . He abides with us within our consciousness. Now God has "written in our hearts" and we have the Comforter to guides us to the truth written there so we do not need anyone to teach us.
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God Hates Sinners
