Anyone love God in here?... ( Archived) (163)

While I agree Jesus was heroic (to me beyond all others), and that His message was way too revolutionary for the religious leaders of His time. It was the fact that He called their "Religulous" lives and hypocrisy into question that caused them to rise up against Him. Make no mistake. Jesus was killed in the name of religion.

But I have to disagree with you about the rest.

I find nothing in Paul's teaching to contradict the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Paul himself even said "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8&9 We have to remember what we have from Paul are letters, and should be taken as such. Keeping them in context is crucial.

We also should remember that we can become our own worst enemy. A man can convince himself of anything. When a man convinces himself that he is good, especially when he convinces his inner self that he is good, it is the beginning of hypocrisy. Jesus never said to look in and of yourself. He said to look to your Father who is in heaven. Jesus did not call us to have guilt over what He did for us, He called us to have love over what He did for us. His sacrifice draws me closer to Him than anything else. Like a fireman that pulled me out of a fire, I will forever be grateful to Him. And even more, because unlike the fireman, Jesus saves me over and over again. He gives me that which I most desire. He gives me life.

Jesus knew He would be hated above all men for two reasons. For one, He came to destroy the works of the devil in all of us. That means He came to expose us for what we really are. Fallen, imperfect, sinful, or whatever you want to call it, man. We hate Him because He forces us to make a decision. He calls you to Himself. He calls you to give up all those things with which you are playing that are destroying your soul. He calls us back to His Father. And the second reason He knew He would be hated, is because of the horrible things people would do in His name. The church has committed many atrocities in the name of Jesus, but He had nothing to do with them. Jesus calls us to lay our lives down more than anything else in the bible. But just as He allows the person who says he does not follow Christ to do wrong, Jesus also allows the person who SAYS he DOES follow Christ to do wrong. The chilling difference will be when both have to answer for what they have done wrong.

"But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.’ "And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. "Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. "For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. "Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. "If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. "Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? "But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them." Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. "Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' "that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." Luke 11:22-52

Let us not forget... Jesus does not play around when it is serious.