Hope
Princesinha
This thread is the perfect example to me of why I am so frustrated and confused and saddened by modern-day Christianity. On the one hand, you have people who, while being faithful to the truth of God's Word (which I applaud), tend to go overboard at times and stress only the negative aspects of the Christian faith, and try to "bash" people into believing. SR, I admire your stance for truth, but please consider the manner in which you are doing it.
Then I find there are those who go to the opposite extreme, who are so inclusive, and so touchy-feely, and stress only God's love---and not His holiness and righteous judgment---that they water down the Gospel, and sometimes distort it altogether.
Both sides of the coin tend to ignore those parts of Scripture that don't fit in with their personal biases. If we call ourselves Christians, we are supposed to believe the whole counsel of God, as contained in His Word. Not just bits and pieces that suit us. If we doubt the veracity of Scripture, then I wonder if we even have the right to call ourselves Christians.
The fact of the matter is that the cross of Christ is foolishness, and offensive, to the majority of the world. If it were not, then everyone would probably be a Christian. The reason it is offensive is because it tells us we are sinful, and I will be the first to admit I don't like being called a sinner. My ego doesn't like that at all. So, to those who are unwilling to be called sinners, it is definitely offensive. I'm not convinced by those who claim it's not offensive in that light. But, the flip side is, for those who recognize they are sinful, and in need of a saviour, the cross becomes a beautiful thing. The Gospel definitely then becomes what it actually means: good news. And it is definitely a Gospel of love. Who can argue against John 3:16? "For God so loved the world...."
I think we need to look at the whole of Scripture to get a balanced perspective. Yes, we are children of wrath, and deserve hell, as SR pointed out, but to only stress that part of Scripture, is ignoring other parts of Scripture, like Genesis, as someone else pointed out. We are also made in God's image, and therefore have an inherent value. Psalm 139 is a good illustration of this fact. The reason we deserve hell is not because God made us evil, or imperfect, and He derives some sick, twisted pleasure from torturing us----we only deserve hell because of the Fall. God created us in His image, for His pleasure, that He might have intimate fellowship with Him; we are the ones who ruined that sweet fellowship through sin. The cross is His answer to restoring our fellowship with Him.
Then I find there are those who go to the opposite extreme, who are so inclusive, and so touchy-feely, and stress only God's love---and not His holiness and righteous judgment---that they water down the Gospel, and sometimes distort it altogether.
Both sides of the coin tend to ignore those parts of Scripture that don't fit in with their personal biases. If we call ourselves Christians, we are supposed to believe the whole counsel of God, as contained in His Word. Not just bits and pieces that suit us. If we doubt the veracity of Scripture, then I wonder if we even have the right to call ourselves Christians.
The fact of the matter is that the cross of Christ is foolishness, and offensive, to the majority of the world. If it were not, then everyone would probably be a Christian. The reason it is offensive is because it tells us we are sinful, and I will be the first to admit I don't like being called a sinner. My ego doesn't like that at all. So, to those who are unwilling to be called sinners, it is definitely offensive. I'm not convinced by those who claim it's not offensive in that light. But, the flip side is, for those who recognize they are sinful, and in need of a saviour, the cross becomes a beautiful thing. The Gospel definitely then becomes what it actually means: good news. And it is definitely a Gospel of love. Who can argue against John 3:16? "For God so loved the world...."
I think we need to look at the whole of Scripture to get a balanced perspective. Yes, we are children of wrath, and deserve hell, as SR pointed out, but to only stress that part of Scripture, is ignoring other parts of Scripture, like Genesis, as someone else pointed out. We are also made in God's image, and therefore have an inherent value. Psalm 139 is a good illustration of this fact. The reason we deserve hell is not because God made us evil, or imperfect, and He derives some sick, twisted pleasure from torturing us----we only deserve hell because of the Fall. God created us in His image, for His pleasure, that He might have intimate fellowship with Him; we are the ones who ruined that sweet fellowship through sin. The cross is His answer to restoring our fellowship with Him.
