Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Does love demand the impossible?

I personally find that when I try to understand a dogma, concept or belief and judge it to be true or false, I must evaluate it through the lenses of Scriptures and God's revealed character. The authority I must appeal to is the Inspired Word and not someone's point of view.

Jesus said, "I am the Truth" (John 14:6). That means that who He is and what He says consist my measuring stick, my standard. Anything less is falsehood.

To demand an impossibility is less than loving. Further, it is unjust. Any civilized society - christian or not - will agree to that, and yet, it is not uncommon to hear people make assertions that put God's character in question. Statements like:
God gave us good laws but impossible to keep.
God decreed that some are going to heaven while others to hell.
Now put those two statements to the test in the light of what Scriptures say. With your concordance look up verses that contain these words: laws, commandments, statutes, precepts. Notice their descriptions? You will come across adjectives such as, good, perfect, to be desired more than gold, not burdensome... See what I mean? There is nothing in God's word that says His commandments cannot be kept.
God gave us His laws for our good. That's consistent with His character.

Testing the second statement above is equally easy. Look up verses and passages that talk about salvation. You will see that it is offered to all. Not everyone will end up in heaven because not everyone has responded to the invitation to be reconciled to God. "Whosoever believes", "Whosoever will", "He desires all men to be saved".

Therefore, it is false to say, "God gave us laws that are impossible to keep" and "God decreed that some are going to heaven while others to hell".