Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: timh@linus.uucp (Tim Hoogasian) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: God doesn't make things hard on us - we do. Message-ID: Date: 23 Sep 90 07:32:34 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: IDE, San Francisco Lines: 112 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jrossi@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Joe "Bart" Rossi) writes: >In article johnw@stew.ssl.berkeley.edu (John Warren) writes: >>As for other theists or new-agers or agnostics or deists or whatever: it >>may be ironically and tragically true that they live in God's presence as >>much as the average Christian does. if you want to say that the reason you say this is because "God is everywhere" then this is sentence true. >>However, the Christian who lives by >>faith (i.e., faith as a working principle, not just a belief) has the >>promise of the Holy Spirit, the comforter. Jesus promised that to no >>one else. you make it sound like some sort of exclusive "club." Of *course* he didn't promise it to anyone who chose not to follow Him. to do otherwise would have made His death to have no purpose. >>That, however, is not to say that no one else can receive >>the Holy Spirit: I don't know, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility >>of a *few* non-Christians receiving Him. i would. God can certainly work in the lives of non-Christians if He so chooses - how else do they come to recognize Him? But to suggest that they may lay hold of Salvation without acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord is preposterous. >>But the only guarantee of >>being able to be close to God, and feeling and knowing that closeness, >>is by going through the narrow door, i.e., following Jesus Christ. the only guarantee of knowing SALVATION is to follow Christ. salvation is not, nor has it ever been, a "feeling." it is a *fact*. i know many times i may not "feel" very saved, but i know it is a *fact* that i am saved by Jesus Christ's blood, and that alone. >If God loves us so much why does he make it so hard for us to come to >him. Why isn't he more accessible? God didn't make it hard on us to come to Him. we made it hard on ourselves. Jesus Christ didn't have to die on the Cross - he *gave* Himself. He had the authority to call legions of angels to fight for Him, but He did not. all we have to do is respond to His gift; to accept it. how bold we sinners are, to suggest that we'll only take His gift if we can do it on *our* terms! what an extraordinary amount of arrogant pride! it's not that God has made things all that tough, it's that we sinners don't want to have to accept his Authority. "God is Love" sells lots of books, but "God wants you to surrender *everything* to Him" doesn't play very well to the mass audience, because it involves SACRIFICE (horrors)! >I would argue our purpose is to let God's Love flow through us, to let >God live in us, and thus draw people to God's Love by living it. >Pointing out the only sure way is tricky. Do you point to Catholic >Church and its emphasis on ritual, or do you point to John Calvin? >Do you point to Luther, or just to your favorite charismatic >church. Do you point to the Bible, and if you do, do you point to >the Apocrypha? i get the distinct impression that it's not a matter for you of whether or not Christ is who He says He is - your arguments suggest that you're trying to nitpick your way into Heaven. Sorry, but you won't win any arguments with God by clever debating tactics. The directions are very simple: Recognize and confess that you are a sinner, hopelessly lost without Jesus Christ; ask Him to forgive and cleanse you, and to come into your life as your Lord, holding back *nothing* from Him; then take up your cross and follow Him, *wherever* He may lead you. if reading and understanding these directions is difficult for you, then i'd like to point out that the problem is not His - it's yours. >Problem is, pointing to Christ in this context ends up a direction >to a set of beliefs, and not necessarily to Christ. if a Christian tells you that you have to be part of his "religious denomination" to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, then at best he's (very) sincerely mistaken, and at worst is a fraud: *not* a Christian. >One of way of pointing to Christ is to live Christ i.e. if you think you're going to manage to pull off a perfect life, then i'll be interested to watch you try. fortunately, Christians don't have to worry about whether they're "good enough" because Christ already paid the price for them, to enter the Kingdom of God. >Incidentally, I am now of the persecuted. There is a certain police chief >who thinks that my type out to be taken and shot. I don't make this >statement lightly, but it is an errie feeling knowing that there are some >who just as soon kill you. i have an idea of whom and of what you are referring to, but for the moment, it doesn't matter, regarding "persecution". and if you find yourself among the number counted as persecuted, you'll be in good company. Christ warned His followers that they would have to take up their crosses when they chose to make Him their Lord. He warned us in the Beattitudes that Christians would be mocked and persecuted, so while it's not fun, it's not remarkable. >love, > >Joe > likewise, Tim --- Tim | ARPA: timh@ide.com Hoogasian | UUCP: sun!ide!timh (415) 543-0900 =============================================================================== #define DISCLAIMER "Are you nuts? I don't represent anyone, let alone myself!"