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Rule of law is Old Testament legalistic or a whole bunch of thou shalt nots, if you will. OT is ancient Judaic teachings and writings, which is separated from Christ's time by hundreds, thousands of years. Grace - forgiveness of our Sins through Christ's sacrifice, and belief in Christ, is New Testament. Paul speaks quite clearly about this, as does the Gospels, in relating Christ's teachings and life here on earth. It is more accurate to say that some Christians favor Old Testament legalism and some tilt, rightfully so to the Gospel of Grace and the forgiveness of sins.
I think they are less different religions, then different readings and understanding of the Christian faith. For my money, if you profess Christianity, then the New Testament is where the crux of one's faith rests, but not without a study of and understanding of the Old Testament.
Like the old saying, "You can't know where you are headed, if you don't know where you have been."
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Originally Posted by mb1547
I've talked about this several times over the years on this board, but some theologians actually believe that Christians are divided into two camps that share almost nothing in common except for the name "Christian." They're like completely different religions. One side is "rule of love" based--God is loving, and we're focused on teaching and living kindness and compassion, and growing closer to God by following Christ's teachings. You study the bible to search for meaning and understanding, but it's not meant to be taken literally. It's the living word of God, so it has to be understood with the context of the times it was written, and the time we live in now (for instance, we understand more about science now). Because it's divine, we believe it is presumptuous and arrogant to believe that you can completely and perfectly understand scripture--it unfolds as we understand more.
The other side is "rule of law." They see the bible as a rule book that you follow literally word for word (despite the fact that scriptural interpretations are all over the place) and god is viewed as oriented toward strict order and reward punishment. Current knowledge and discovery isn't part of the formula, SO in their view the world is 6000 years old and cavemen rode dinosaurs.
Like I said--completely different faiths sharing the same name...
They are all hypocrites unless they follow all aspects of the Bible such as killing people for working during the Sabbath. It's not about picking and choosing which teachings of the Bible to follow correct?
You attempt to distort the meaning of "render unto Caesar". We are instructed to be good citizens and obey the law of the land, to pay taxes and be examples. We are also instructed to have no obedience to any law that contradict God's Laws and commandments.
Where is that?
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Further Same sex Marriage is not a sin and never has been. God can not create sin because that is contrary to the nature of God.
Then, there is something in creation which God did not create or control? What kind of God is He? A powerless one, one who lets things get away from Him, who makes mistakes? If that's the case, He's not the God He claims to be, is He?
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God ordained the first Marriage when he took the Rib from Adam and created his help mate/wife Eve.
Eve was created to be Adam's helpmeet. But, whether or not they were "married" is another matter. There was no formal ceremony of any kind.
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Marriage to a Christian is more than a simple contract, it is a covenant relationship between a man, a woman and God. Created and Blessed by God as he created a Husband and Wife to be.
It is a covenant relationship in the spiritual sense, but not so in the legal sense. Never forget that there are two issues at play here: Moral and legal.
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By God's definition it is impossible for a homosexual to be married, so we my call it a "marriage" in a legal manner but it can never be a true marriage.
That's so in God's eyes, but that's between them and God, not between them and us. We have no Biblical authority to sit in judgement of those outside the faith.
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I have no problems with civil unions because in reality that is what a gay marriage really is.
Then, there is something in creation which God did not create or control? What kind of God is He? A powerless one, one who lets things get away from Him, who makes mistakes? If that's the case, He's not the God He claims to be, is He?
Eve was created to be Adam's helpmeet. But, whether or not they were "married" is another matter. There was no formal ceremony of any kind.
It is a covenant relationship in the spiritual sense, but not so in the legal sense. Never forget that there are two issues at play here: Moral and legal.
That's so in God's eyes, but that's between them and God, not between them and us. We have no Biblical authority to sit in judgement of those outside the faith.
I don't even know the difference. Do you?
Again you attempt to present an argument that has no basis, either you are not a Christian or you have not received any training in hermenutics.
You choose to ignore man's sin nature or the burden of free will, so be it.
My previous post stands on Biblical precepts, yours do not.
So much for 1700 years of drawings/paintings/statues etc depicting Jesus with long hair. (And often with light brown hair and with blue eyes - which is also highly unlikely for someone born in that area)
No one knows what Jesus (if he even existed as a real person) supposedly looked like.
Correct - so you contradict your whole "Jesus had long hair" post - if we don't know what he looked like(and you admit this) then why post a picture of Him with long hair)?
Your credibility just dropped another notch from the low level it already occupied.
Really? Then why do you continue to bear false witness against gay people?
Repent!!!! Go and sin no more!
You ignore the fact that people who choose to be gay are sinners. You are correct that people need to beware of pride and "remove the block from their own eye so that they can see clearly to remove the speck from their brothers eye" - but that does not mean that we should avoid calling sin what it is and gently correct our brothers and sisters so that they may walk a straight path - to not do so would be to not act in love. I will not allow something that is clearly a sin to be called good. And before you call me a hypocrite - I do acknowledge my own failings - but I do not actively pursue them and try to justify them - I try to do as Paul says and "beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize". It is a struggle - but it is much more rewarding(both now and in the future) then continuing to live in unrepentant sin.
How exactly does one cherry pick by quoting from the Bible. Unless... the Bible is dramatically inconsistent?
Cherry-picking verses from the Bible would be defined as reading verses and citing them out of context - and that doesn't just mean the context of the passage the verse is in - but in the context of the entire Bible - which is an integrated message - from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 - every word points to Jesus Christ as Lord and savior.
This guy is doing everything that MLK JR would have been proud of.
Do you honestly believe that Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister, would approve of same sex marriage? Not the MLK I remember.
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