December 5, 2008 7:18 AM
Sam wrote:
We come to the conclusion of a short, but powerful, intriguing book, by John 'the Revelator'. In his concluding remarks (so say the authors of the NIV Bible), 'all wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death'. Imagine being in the audience when this letter was read to them (I am assuming these were read to groups of church-folk shortly after John and penned these letters). Do you not imagine that a few puzzled looks appeared, and a few hands went up in the air when the reader said 'there is sin that does not lead to death'? "What? WHAT sin? This is a hard teaching, yet I want to know what sin(s) you are talking about. If there are sins that don't lead to death, what are they, and what are the ones that DO?" Yes, I can imagine many questions were raised as this letter was read, and has been read, to thousands upon thousands of people over the centuries. Why do I imagine that? Because my theoretical hand when up when I read it, and it is thousands of years since it was written. I would LOVE to know what sin does not lead to death, and what does. Oh sure, we can conjecture....let's see: Lust, envy, greed....okay...no death. Murder, blasphemy, orgies...death. Heck, I don't know, but I think it is important TO know. Obviously, I never will, so my concluding remarks are these: "Treat ALL sin as if it leads to death....just to be on the safe side." Reply to this
December 6, 2008 11:06 AM
Tony wrote:
Maybe some of the sins that dn't leed to death are rightouse sins. Jesus was angry in the temple when it was being used as a flea market. That did not lead to death, anger is a sin yet Jesus never sinned. Reply to this
December 5, 2008 11:03 AM
Sam wrote:
To JB from last night. "NO". It does't make sense. It is SO confusing, but you make good conjecture (I've used that word twice today, maybe I ought to broaden my English.)
That's what I like, and dislike, about the Bible. It is not all black and white....it makes one think. I believe God wants us to THINK, not be robots and follow some set of strict rules. call it free will, or what have you, but I think I prefer NOT knowing some of the stuff we study. IF we knew that, for example, that picking up a penny on the ground would lead to Hell with no chance of salvation, I dare say a lot of pennies would stay dirty. But, because we don't know if that act will lead to death or not, we pick them up. We also confess what sins we KNOW to God...we can hardly be held accountable for sins we don't know (for example, penny picking up). Those confessions save us. Fear, Love? Whichever (I will never understand), as long as I have Jesus as my Savior and I confess my sins to Him, and TRY to do right, I believe I won't end up the same place as all those penny-pickeruppers. Reply to this
We come to the conclusion of a short, but powerful, intriguing book, by John 'the Revelator'. In his concluding remarks (so say the authors of the NIV Bible), 'all wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death'.
Imagine being in the audience when this letter was read to them (I am assuming these were read to groups of church-folk shortly after John and penned these letters). Do you not imagine that a few puzzled looks appeared, and a few hands went up in the air when the reader said 'there is sin that does not lead to death'? "What? WHAT sin? This is a hard teaching, yet I want to know what sin(s) you are talking about. If there are sins that don't lead to death, what are they, and what are the ones that DO?"
Yes, I can imagine many questions were raised as this letter was read, and has been read, to thousands upon thousands of people over the centuries. Why do I imagine that? Because my theoretical hand when up when I read it, and it is thousands of years since it was written. I would LOVE to know what sin does not lead to death, and what does. Oh sure, we can conjecture....let's see: Lust, envy, greed....okay...no death. Murder, blasphemy, orgies...death. Heck, I don't know, but I think it is important TO know. Obviously, I never will, so my concluding remarks are these: "Treat ALL sin as if it leads to death....just to be on the safe side."
Reply to this
Maybe some of the sins that dn't leed to death are rightouse sins. Jesus was angry in the temple when it was being used as a flea market. That did not lead to death, anger is a sin yet Jesus never sinned.
Reply to this
To JB from last night.
"NO". It does't make sense. It is SO confusing, but you make good conjecture (I've used that word twice today, maybe I ought to broaden my English.)
That's what I like, and dislike, about the Bible. It is not all black and white....it makes one think. I believe God wants us to THINK, not be robots and follow some set of strict rules. call it free will, or what have you, but I think I prefer NOT knowing some of the stuff we study. IF we knew that, for example, that picking up a penny on the ground would lead to Hell with no chance of salvation, I dare say a lot of pennies would stay dirty. But, because we don't know if that act will lead to death or not, we pick them up. We also confess what sins we KNOW to God...we can hardly be held accountable for sins we don't know (for example, penny picking up). Those confessions save us. Fear, Love? Whichever (I will never understand), as long as I have Jesus as my Savior and I confess my sins to Him, and TRY to do right, I believe I won't end up the same place as all those penny-pickeruppers.
Reply to this