Unconditional Acceptance?
"But doesn't God accept us unconditionally?"
No. Read the scripture in this website.
And even read the entire New Testament.
Unconditional acceptance by God - without boundaries - is a fantasy.
Heaven has rules - that you and I must each agree to before we can get there.
Heaven has no voting booths.
"But my people have a different culture from the Bible!"
No people-group has the right to a culture that defies the Will of God -
as stated in the New Testament.
"But my people were mistreated by people who carried your Bible!"
I sorrowfully admit that was - and is true in many cases.
To the degree that is true, those abusers were wolves in sheep's clothing and the unrepentant among them will be punished.
God gives everyone a free will. Some church-people embarrass God, but He will have the last say.
But still, each of us must seek the true God - ...
"But my people have suffered terribly in history. We deserve some slack!"
In Exodus, God redeemed a nation of slaves (for 400 years) and gave them conditional freedom.
As soon as they were out from the influence of their old master, they were given a set of rules to follow,
with ordained blessings for obedience and with prescribed punishments for disobedience.
"Doesn't the good stuff I've done, help me in any way?"
Does it let you bypass the command that you must be born-again to enter the Kingdom of God? No.
No, for we have all done things wrong that need to be forgiven,
and our good deeds (that we should do anyway) don't make up for the bad we have done.
If I, as a common citizen, saw a couple of men arguing on the street...
one clutches his chest, having a heart attack, and I give him CPR and save his life -
But as a drunk driver 10 years earlier - I had killed a pedestrian and fled the scene - anonymous to the law,
will the CPR pay for the killing the pedestrian??? No.
"If God loves us, doesn't He have to forgive us?"
God does forgive those who repent of their sins and mistakes. And He really wants to forgive.
God alone - gets to decide what is holiness and what is evil. And no one gets a special pass.
We need to repent of doing selfish things.
Repentance, forgiveness, salvation and becoming 'born-again' all come in the same package.
It's an all-in-one package. No partial deals.
My question to you... Who among us can force God to submit to us like a battered wife...
that no matter what we do, He has to accept us for what we are -
and never require any better of us???
Fantasy.
"So does God even Love us?"
Yes, more than we can understand, but understand this.
But God's love IS NOT like the needy, pathetic 'love' from a battered woman.
New Testament: John 14:
23Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
24Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
You and I do not have the right to define Love, especially God's Love
God is the One who defines love.
And God said that us loving him requires that we obey him.
Heaven can be a place of safety only if selfish people are excluded.
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People get so upset over Constitutional issues.
But some of the most vocal social fighters have no clue about what awaits them on the other side of death's door.
And their social advocacy won't pay for their sins. Only getting right with Jesus will - clear that tab.
Sorry, this part of the website isn't very Yankee Doodle Dandy,
but it is about our eternities.
Let's fill Heaven.