DO WE NEED TO RE-THINK GOD'S LOVE

[St. SteVen]

And I reiterate my OP statement that if people are in a church fellowship that preaches a judgemental and harsh God - whatever name they give him - they should read the scriptures for themselves, looking for those passages that tell of his love.

I'll have to say that @Christophany has a point about what the Bible actually says.
Nothing wrong with what you are saying, but the Bible is not completely on your side here.
Yes, there is support for a loving God. But the translations we have, and the teaching most of us have been under
paint a portrait of a God of love and justice. Justice being the part you don't want to hear about.

Don't get me wrong. I believe in a loving and merciful God.
But saying that we should read the Bible doesn't really solve the prob;em.
We need to examine the translation issues. Like this...


Aionios mistranslated as "eternal" and "everlasting" in Matthew 25:46.

All these verses below use the same NT Greek word, "aionios", the Greek word mistranslated as "eternal" and "everlasting" in Matthew 25:46. See bold below. This shows that "aionios" cannot mean eternal or everlasting.

Matthew 13:22
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 2:8
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Ephesians 2:2
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Galatians 1:4-5 KJV
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:29-30
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Compare: Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Luke 20:35; Ephesians 1:21

Aionios, the Greek word mistranslated as "eternal" and "everlasting" in the Bible (eternal hell?)

 

[quietthinker]

This morning I was reading Zephaniah 3:17-20 - one of my favourite passages - it is such a beautiful passage about how our God loves us.

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

I couldn't help comparing these words, as well as other scripture passages, which tell us so much about our God's Father love for us with what I had heard a couple of nights previously during a programme in which a former JW member talked about the way their Jehovah is portrayed as very judgmental and hard to please.

If the God you worship is portrayed as harsh and judgmental by your elders,pastors or priests, then you need to read your bibles and look for those passages that declare God's loving kindness towards you and have a re-think.

Pearl, I think you could be interested in this presentation....

 

[St. SteVen]

Pearl, I think you could be interested in this presentation....

Wow, what a great message.
Thanks for posting it. EVERYONE on this forum should view this.
I was already familiar with Brian Zahnd.

Well worth its own topic I think.

Jesus Versus the Bible - Who will win?

Please watch this video and share your comments. Thanks.

www.christianityboard.com

 

[Pearl]

Pearl, I think you could be interested in this presentation....

I have a problem listening to videos on my PC, the sound has been iffy for ages.

 

[quietthinker]

I have a problem listening to videos on my PC, the sound has been iffy for ages.

ahhh, unfortunate Pearl. However, I think it is worth saving to a memory stick and watching on someone else's computer.

 

[marks]

I'm not a big fan of legalism. But I'm mentally ill and need God's love more than some. And I don't really need someone judging me. I already do that myself. So the passages in the OP are nice to read!

Me too!!

Much love!

 

[Brakelite]

We don't so much need to rethink God's love as to get to know God's love!!

The problem in the OP is thinking that scriptures do the telling of God's love, when in fact it is the Lord who tells us about His love for us!!

You can see what I am talking about:

Mark 12: 30,31 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’

This scriptures points out that if we "HEAR" we "SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD"!

So it is not reading about Him, but actually taking the time to listen to what He personally has to say to us which causes us to love Him - and we should know that we love Him because He loved us first!

For example - if an anonymous person leaves you a love note and you read it, you might consider that some anonymous person loves you, but you don't know that until you meet them and start personally spending some time with them. - and that is with a personal note sent to you and not a book sent to all man-kind!

The point is: To really know God's love for us, we must personally spend time talking back and forth with Him!! The relationship that follows from actually spending time with Him is what really shows us His love for us!! The Bible is the "love note"/Book that is sent to get our attention and is our invitation to spend time with Him!!

Satan can tell you he loves you, he can heal you of some diseases, he can be kind and generous toward you and make you rich, famous, and popular. How will you discern it's Satan and not Jesus doing all these good things?

 

[marks]

Nothing wrong with what you are saying, but the Bible is not completely on your side here.

Speaking of God's children, yes it is. Self-condemnation in the redeemed is wrong, self-abusive, and crippling. Coming to understand God's love for His people revolutionizes one's life.

The scandal of grace is in it's injustice. I like the way John Piper puts it, "The Son of God died, Rebels live, that's not fair!" But that's God's love for us. And once He has us, He doesn't let us go.

If you have fear, this means you have not been perfected (brought to completion) in love. So yes, read the Bible, study it, and learn about God's love so you can stop being afraid.

Much love!