Happy New Year! I thank God for another year of life.
And we're off:
The typical Christian mistakenly credits him/herself for their own salvation. They don't like to admit it, but they don't credit God. It is an "I believe therefore I am saved" method. I have free will so I saved myself by believing? Not quite, junior. The problem with "free will" is that it is not technically free. It is not free from the influences of God, not free from the influences of others. There is no such thing as free will, only influenced will. If God created man, God created the creamy nouggat that is his / her mind and therefore all that passes through it. God is not a hands-off God. He has created us and uses us to suit His purposes, not the other way around. We are clay in the hands of The Great Sculptor. Our lives have purpose - whether the life of a big influential president or a premature baby that does not live but a few hours and passes on. Everything is on purpose. All that comes to life is of God and has purpose. God does not dabble in the superfluous and the mundane...it is only Man who makes it seem so.
Jesus even said that Man cannot save him/herself. Not possible. God makes it possible, though. And again, it is not just the believers who are saved. I repeat: Salvation of ALL is the only outcome worthy of God's plan. He will not fail. Yes, a temporary purification will come as we are all unclean and riddled with sin, but it is just that - temporary. It will all be washed off like dirt. All will return to God. As sure as the seasons and cycles make their way around, so will we return from whence we came. Everything is cyclical. It is the brilliant and unending Truth.
And to those Christians who say I am wrong and that there is an eternal hell which God has all those unbelieving people lined up to go (me laughing) and that I will one day stand before God to explain my sorry self and my "wrong" interpretation of His Word, what am I to say to God: Sorry, I overestimated your love?
Right.
My parents forgive me when I screw up. Over and over and over again. God loves me more than they do. What can I do to be banished forever? There is no sin that can ever be committed on this earth to warrant an alleged eternity in punishment. That does not mean I am going to run amok sinning it up and no worries about consequences. Grace allows me to have a conscience to keep me in line. It is our automatic angel-on-the-shoulder. I think its working properly. And my knowing the love and grace of God also puts me on my (trying to) best behavior. When you love someone you want to do all you can to please them. That someone here happens to be God.
Matthew 19:25-27
Now, hearing it, the disciples were tremendously astonished saying "Who, consequently, can be saved?" Now, looking at them, Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, yet with God all is possible."
2 Timothy 2-11
"We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
3 comments:
Being cynical in the face of contemporary religion but filled with a faith and connection to a greater power, I consider myself a deist. I do not think God takes action in anything that happens here. I believe he begat the spark that started life and is sitting back watching it unfold, plucking our souls into himself as they leave our fragile flesh.
I didn't know you were a deist. Your view is reminisent of René Descartes. He saw God as the absentee clockmaker during the Enlightenment...
It was while reading Descartes that I first learned the term. Way to hit that one right on the head!
Post a Comment