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Not at all. Their goal is to elevate themselves above others--and generally they pick on sins they think they aren't guilty of---or that if they committed one, like adultery---it is a one time thing easily forgiven even if they remarried.
Now Scripture, of course, does not support that view concerning adultery. It appears from Scripture, that only by returning to the spouse one left resolves that tremendous breach of covenant that is spoken of constantly throughout the Bible--not just in six verses.
Fundamentalists have a remarkable ability to ignore the most important messages of the Bible and focus on the sins of other people.
Aren't they a tremendous "witness" to how forgiving Jesus was? If I hadn't had a personal experience with Christ, these godless fundamentalists would make ME want to be an atheist. An atheist with a good heart toward others has a better chance of seeing heaven than these so-called "Bible-believers."
All the fundamentalists combined on this exact thread haven't half the Biblical knowledge of geekigurl, a transgender person who has been the object of their finger-pointing.
Bless you warden. I actually did walk away at one time. I swore I'd never go to church again after I was disowned. If you want to make God laugh, tell him that. I did end up going back to church eventually, because I realized something. It isn't about them. It's about the relationship I have with Christ. I still get people staring at me like I'm the second incarnation of Cthulu, but it isn't nearly as hurtful as it used to be.
Yes. God inspired them. That SHOULD be good enough. Why isn't it good enough for you? IF you say you love God, why would you NOT want to know his Word?
That doesn't even make sense.
Do you not READ what I say? It's not "God's Word".
Bless you warden. I actually did walk away at one time. I swore I'd never go to church again after I was disowned. If you want to make God laugh, tell him that. I did end up going back to church eventually, because I realized something. It isn't about them. It's about the relationship I have with Christ. I still get people staring at me like I'm the second incarnation of Cthulu, but it isn't nearly as hurtful as it used to be.
While I was in the Marine Corps (a hundred years ago) I can remember asking God to leave me alone. But He wouldn't. He doesn't. Not with those who are truly Jesus followers.
It is ENTIRELY about a personal relationship with Jesus. Not with the Bible. Once one has met Jesus the Bible is second fiddle because we have His Spirit inside of us to guide us. Fundies mostly don't. That's why they keep falling back on "the Word." Their faith primarily consists of rules in a book, not fellowship in a community. Funny how they can't see how Jesus rejected rules in the book when it didn't serve those in the community. Unfortunately they can't see that.
Jesus called them the blind leading the blind. If your eyes are on rules in a book, it's pretty hard to see anyone "different" as a person.
In court, when people want the defendant to be punished without mercy, they idiom is "Throw the book at him (or her). In Christianity, those who aren't looking for mercy for others try to "throw the Bible" at them.
It's sad, geekigurl, but you hang in there and keep your faith in Jesus knowing their are a remnant of people who found Jesus beyond the sacred page and are no longer anchored to where they were but to where we are---in the midst of a lot of people that God loves a lot more than His own collection of books in a Bible.
Did I mention that God once told Jeremiah to write a scroll with His words in it---and then throw it in the sea?
Life is so much more than just the words of witnesses 2000-3000 years ago. There are witnesses all around us -- some of them are atheists or Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus. They still get inspired by God so His Word goes on and on. God won't be trapped in a book except by fundamentalists.
I'm sorry. I believe Paul and Peter over you. They said it was. Good enough for me.
I know that, and I'm sorry to hear it. I don't think there's anything I can say that could open your eyes, but I still post because I think others may be reading and realize that you can still follow the Christian path without believing the Bible is something more than it is, and in fact see how damaging that sort of belief can be.
I agree with the OP. I feel the power of God's Love. It is an overwhelming Love that truly gives you the willpower to turn from whatever temptation you have to sin. In my case, it is indeed homosexuality (and, for me, substance abuse). God calls us to be sexually modest; only sex between a married man and woman can be moral.
The Love of God is so profound (and self-sacrificial) that, once we know the Truth, we will not want to sin. That Truth will set us free. Our salvation is through grace; it is irrevocably granted to us once we accept Christ and become born again. But, in reality, God chose His children before we even existed (Ephesians 1:3-6). God knows far more about us than we know about ourselves!
As I accepted Christ around ages 12-13, my salvation became (and truly was, from the very beginning) eternally secure. Not even my past 14 years of atheism could separate me from God's grace. Understand that if you are a born again believer, you are God's possession. God made a deposit on you, which compels Him to claim you, when all is said and done. No one can pluck you from Christ's hand (John 10:28-30), and that includes you!
Salvation is God's free and gracious Gift to His children. Jesus is our Safety Net. The Holy Spirit is our Seal, and marks us as God's children. Fellowship with God, however, is what must be maintained through good works. In Fellowship, we may be given (additional) Prizes in God's eternal kingdom.
Like the lost lamb, my Lord never stopped trying to bring me back to Fellowship through all these years of obstinacy and intransigence. In retrospect, I see all the signs of this, and I see them quite abundantly.
Well snj90, I'm sorry you have bought into the prejudice about your nature and have clearly conflated that nature with profligacy, which it is NOT, but you seem to be on the right track otherwise and I'm sure the Spirit will eventually set you free from that prejudice.
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