Originally posted by b0x
Look, you can read the bible,, but the bible is a gateway to the Lord. If you have your heart shut off to Him, and you are just reading the Bible to accrue a list of bullet points to use as weapons against faithful people. Well you are missing the point. I have read the bible many times over. My post I quoted addressed many of your concerns. If you don't see that, then you aren't ready for my knowledge. Stick to your bullet points.
You say Jesus can't choose who will follow Him, or it will impede freewill. You're a leader. A general can be picked to serve, but it is ultimately his choice whether he will do so or not. It does not impede free will that God has a plan for his children. A most preferred path that He would have us all tread, to our own maximum benefit. Do all his children go along with His plan? No they do not. Many a faithful has strayed from the Lord (not something the Lord would want, but free will).
On the flip side, the Lord has brought people to their full purpose as well. People who have lived a lifetime of avarice, unfaith, and debauchery can repent and be made new. That is a VERY beautiful thing, and not to be denigrated against.
Look the rapist and the victim. I know several women that are very devout that have been raped. Ultimately, the choice is theirs. Its highly unfortunate and unconscionable that they were raped, but they should not let that experience weigh them down for the rest of their life. Many have not. We all have our crosses to bear. For the Lord, it matters where your HEART is when you leave your mortal coil. That's the big kahuna. Many a rape victim have gone on to be faithful so your hypothetical is answered by real people's accounts better so than just theory and bullet points.
the covenants are not mutually exclusive to each other. If you read the bible, as you claim, you would know this. Perhaps you just picked up RandomAngryAtheist's cliff notes and bullet points against Christianity and rolled with it? Anyway, the new Covenant is for anyone that believes unto Jesus. The old Covenant is the Law. We new covenant Christians do not have to live by the Law, because the commandments were broke down into more illuminating terms by Jesus in the Gospels. Instead of don't kill, we have don't feel rage against another either, because that LEADS to murder. Instead of don't covet your neighbor's wife, we have don't look at someone with lust in your heart, for if you have done so, you have already committed infidelity. So you see, the NT is standalone in its signifigance, aside from the setup of prophecy.
Yes Jesus was foretold, and thats pretty much the OT major purpose. To set up the glory of the Lord. I always am a little put aback when people come at me with OT verses thinking they have proved something. I have outlined my belief system, and it is a viable pathway to belief, for those who seek.
For those who don't, the Lord will provide you ample opportunity not to believe, so don't worry.
You want a bible verse? Start with the most important one... If you read the bible with an open heart you would know.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Start there.
Comment