Well I believe...part III
Last week Christy left this comment on our blog. I think it brings up some great questions.
"I was recently talking to my sister about some of the stuff in Leviticus. Leviticus is full of rules that hardly anyone follows anymore. Like not cutting the hair on the sides of your face. Or not getting a tattoo. Some people may follow these rules without even knowing it ... I'm sure not all of us have tattoos, right? But Leviticus says these things are sins. And I've heard Mike say that a sin is a sin is a sin. So I had a talk with my sister about that because I was confused. How can we (as Christians) take to heart parts of the bible but shake off other parts. She explained (now to me this makes sense, but correct me if she's wrong) that a lot of the rules in Leviticus were set forth because we had no other way to get to God. Now we have Jesus. Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again, we can get to God through His sacrifice. I'm not sure if I used the best examples because I mentioned cutting hair and getting tattoos but do you get what I'm saying? Is she right? If she's not right, how can we explain to non-Christians or seekers why we follow parts and not others. "
I'm going to post my ideas as comments, and would encourage everyone else to do the same. What do you think about these questions?
posted by Darin @ 5:18 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Idea #1: You are right Christy. When we pick and choose which parts of the Bible we want to believe, we find ourselves in a tough position when trying to explain our beliefs to non-Christians. There is a simple answer though: we must believe all the Bible...every single verse. Now, I am in no way claiming to understand every verse, but I do believe the entire Bible.
Idea #2: Just because no one follows a law doesn't mean that it isn't a sin. Even if the whole world (the FCC has already given its approval)decides that it is OK to use God's name as a cuss word, it would still be a sin. Why? Because God sets the rules...not us.
Idea #3: Your sister was right about the law. From day 1, God knew that there would be a problem. He wanted to be with us, but he knew that we would simply never be good enough to be with Him. So he made a way to forgive us of our sins (faith in Jesus). The law serves two purposes. It shows us how God wants us to live, and it shows us that we need Jesus (it is like a prognosis for a sick person...unless they know that they are sick they will never take the medicine...unless we know that we are sinners we will never accept Jesus.)
Idea #4: Some of the law found in the Old Testament no longer applies. For example in Leviticus 11, the law forbids the eating of certain animals. However, in Acts 10:9-15, God removes that restriction.
Idea #5: In Matthew 5:17-48, Jesus makes it clear that he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus doesn't remove God's standards, He raises them. We can be absolutely sure that Jesus has not come to give us permission to break God's law.
Well, there are my beliefs as I best interpret the Bible. I know I'm not an expert, so I'd welcome feedback. After all that, let me try to give a simple response to Christy's post:
There is one way to God (faith in Jesus- John 14:6) and there is one way to please Him (love Him and love each other- Matthew 22:37-40)
Holy Frijoles! Quite the post, Darin sweetie! Ecellent points have been made by both Christy and Darin.
Sadly, I think a lot of Christians consider some of God's rules as "Old Law" for an excuse to "Update" what they think God says now. But the truth is that God is the same as he was 1.000 years ago.
This has been a great topic and I have no clue what else to say because Christy and Darin have really hit some amazing points!
Thanks for sharing Jes! That was really deep. I'm totally with you that many Christians use God's grace as an excuse to sin. I think it must really disappoint Jesus when we carelessly regard his sacrifice.
I'm going to try and use kid gloves with your friends suicide. I'm not trying to convince you, but hope that I can encourage you. I feel very strongly that if a Christian commits suicide they will still go to heaven. If you are interested check out this story (1 Samuel 28:19, 31:4). In the story, King Saul is speaking to the ghost of Samuel the prophet (I know it is wierd, and no it will not be the subject of a future blog...we'll just let it go). Samuel is someone who is obviously in heaven. He tells Saul that "tomorrow you and your sons will be with me." I take that to mean in heaven. Anyway, the next day Saul's sons are killed in battle, and Saul commits suicide.
There are a few other verses, but I'll just stop here...like I said I'm not trying to convince. I would just say to you that I think you can have comfort that your friend is in heaven and with Jesus, and happy- check out Rev. 21:4.
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