Name: Anonymous 2007-09-03 11:25 ID:x3ZWSpKk
I've been talking to a lot of people about Christianity and the ideas of repentance, God's grace and mercy, and if all sins are equal. I've only lived in the United States so I don't know too much about everyday culture in other countries. Anyway, most polls show somewhere around 80% of Americans consider themselves Christians, yet they don't even act close in accordance with the teachings of Jesus. The pornography business is making billions of dollars, Americans are one of the world's largest consumers of illicit drugs, fornication is common, divorce is common, abortions are common, the use of contraceptives is common, violent crime, theft, hate, intentional ignorance, and so many other things are common.
The comebacks I usually hear when I bring this up is "What are your sins?" and "All sins are equal, so whatever sins you've done no matter how small are just as bad as the things you listed". First off the idea that "all sins are equal" comes from Romans 3:21-25 which simply says we have all sinned and 1 John 3:4 which says whoever practices sin practices lawlessness. Where you draw the conclusion that all sin is equal, I don't know.
Another comeback I heard is "The grace of God allows anything to be forgiven". That's true but most churches and Christians I've seen only follow repentance, not atonement and remorse. They intentionally sin and believe at the last minute they can say "Dear God I'm not sure exists or not, I'm sorry for what I did in my life, if you're up there accept me into Heaven". When I repent for a sin I actually atone for it and I have remorse. If there's a victim I apologize and try to settle our disputes. If it's a victimless sin such as using curse words there is not much I can do but I try things like fasting, reading more from the Bible, and making promises to never do those things again.
One other comeback I've heard is "Judge lest ye be judged". What does that statement mean? It means if I judge someone else's sexual sins they can judge mine which hardly exist. Or if I judge someone else's use of drugs, they can judge mine which don't exist. If I were to do those things though, yet judge other people I would be a hypocrite. That's what that statement is about. Also, I'm not exalting myself, I'm not acting holier-than-thou. I'm just saying I wish most people who say they believe in God would actually follow God or try to at least.
Alright, let's just ignore all the teachings of the prophets and Jesus. Let's ignore the entire Bible and do whatever the Hell we want, because we're going to Heaven no matter what when we die, as long as we "accept Jesus". [/sarcasm]
The comebacks I usually hear when I bring this up is "What are your sins?" and "All sins are equal, so whatever sins you've done no matter how small are just as bad as the things you listed". First off the idea that "all sins are equal" comes from Romans 3:21-25 which simply says we have all sinned and 1 John 3:4 which says whoever practices sin practices lawlessness. Where you draw the conclusion that all sin is equal, I don't know.
Another comeback I heard is "The grace of God allows anything to be forgiven". That's true but most churches and Christians I've seen only follow repentance, not atonement and remorse. They intentionally sin and believe at the last minute they can say "Dear God I'm not sure exists or not, I'm sorry for what I did in my life, if you're up there accept me into Heaven". When I repent for a sin I actually atone for it and I have remorse. If there's a victim I apologize and try to settle our disputes. If it's a victimless sin such as using curse words there is not much I can do but I try things like fasting, reading more from the Bible, and making promises to never do those things again.
One other comeback I've heard is "Judge lest ye be judged". What does that statement mean? It means if I judge someone else's sexual sins they can judge mine which hardly exist. Or if I judge someone else's use of drugs, they can judge mine which don't exist. If I were to do those things though, yet judge other people I would be a hypocrite. That's what that statement is about. Also, I'm not exalting myself, I'm not acting holier-than-thou. I'm just saying I wish most people who say they believe in God would actually follow God or try to at least.
Alright, let's just ignore all the teachings of the prophets and Jesus. Let's ignore the entire Bible and do whatever the Hell we want, because we're going to Heaven no matter what when we die, as long as we "accept Jesus". [/sarcasm]