Casiopeia said:
I have been coming to this point for the last 10 months now and I decided to change my religious icon to reflect Paganism.
I have come to see that I just don't believe in Christianity and particularly not this forums version of it.
I wish you all the best as I will not be posting in here anymore.
Casi
Here is what you are going to be reflecting according to the word of God and his word is Spirit and truth.
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. * 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but [they went out] that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
Matthew 5:13
" You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Matthew 6:22
" The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great [is] that darkness!
Are you sure you want to go throught this great big mistake of yours?
What does it mean to know God?
We live in a time that is still heavily influenced by the modern paradigm. The modern paradigm began around 500 years ago with things like the reformation, the scientific revolution, and the age of enlightenment. One characteristic of the change from the medieval paradigm to the modern was leaving behind the mystical for more rational thought. As part of this transformation people began to equate knowing God increasingly with knowing about God. In other words, the search of God became the search for perfect doctrine. This, in a sense, was the rational minds attempt to lay hold of God. Much good came out of this endeavor. Many advances were made and continue to be made in our understanding of the scriptures.
Yet, is this the best definition of what it means to know God? Does the fellow with the best doctrine know God best?
Before we try to answer this question, I must say that I believe the pursuit of perfect doctrine is a good one. It should be the life long goal of every believer to reach the best understanding of the scriptures he possibly can. However, we must realize this is a goal that no one ever obtains. My understanding today will not be the same as my understanding tomorrow. At least I hope this is true. The day I believe I have grasped all things is the day my pursuit of God dies.
We are all going to stand before the Lord someday for our reward (and if there is room for reward, I would say there is also room for shame). Do we believe the measure of our greatness in the kingdom will be how close we came to getting it right? No, the scriptures give a different measure of our walk with God.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (I John 4:7-8)
As we study the scriptures, we begin to see that knowing God is not so much knowing about Him as it is being like Him. As John said in his epistle, God is love. How can we tell therefore if we really know God? We love as He does. It is that simple.
In Luke chapter ten Jesus tells the familiar parable about the good Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?
And he said, He who showed mercy on him.
Then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. (Luke 10:30-37)
We might think this parable has nothing to do with knowing God. However, I believe a closer look reveals that it indeed strikes at the very heart of the subject.
As you recall, the Samaritans were Jews. Yet, they were not considered fully Jewish by their neighbors to the south in Judea and by their neighbors to the north in Galilee. In the Old Testament the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 721 B.C. by the Assyrians and many of its inhabitants were carried off into the captivity. The Samaritans in Jesus day were the descendants of those who remained in the land and of some who returned. However, they had not kept themselves pure like their other Jewish brethren. They had intermarried with the gentiles and their understanding of Torah had become distorted. Furthermore, they had become Hellenized in their thinking. For instance, the Samaritans had a great conflict with other Jews over which mountain was the true place for the temple. They also believed that 6,000 years after the earths creation, a Messiah would arise and would live on earth for 110 years. (It is interesting that some dispensationalists believed this very thing until recently. They believed the 6000 year period ended at the year 2000.)
In Jesus parable both the Levite and the priest were folks who spent their whole lives studying torah. Moreover, they were unspoiled by pagan thought. If anyone was expected to have the correct understanding of the scriptures it was these two. Who was the Samaritan? He was the guy with the bad doctrine. Yet, who really knew God better, the Samaritan or the priest and the Levite? I will let you ponder that question.
The pursuit of God is the greatest adventure in life. Yet, that adventure is not just the acquisition of knowledge. It is the process of becoming like Him. Therefore, the one who pursues God well will not just have good doctrine. He will demonstrate the nature of Christ.
So the next time we get in heated discussion over some theological matter, let us remember that we demonstrate our knowledge of God not just in sound exegesis of the scriptures but also in how we treat our brother. The kingdom of God is much bigger than just being right.
