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Love Your Enemies?
hillsbororiver:
The following is from LOF Part 5;
There really is simplicity in the Scriptures. But who believes them? We SAY, we TALK, we AFFIRM, we SWEAR, we PRETEND, but do we really believe the Scriptures? "GOD IS LOVE" (I John 4:8). How many believe it? Do YOU believe it? Not if you also believe that God will torture the majority of mankind unmercifully in real fire for all eternity, you don’t. The two thoughts are incompatible and incongruous. One cannot hate one’s enemies while claiming to love them. One cannot torture someone while at the same time insisting that this is showing love. One cannot lie to his children while claiming to be truthful. Little children understand these concepts; why can’t adults?
Heb. 12:6-8, "For whom the Lord LOVES He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for which son is he whom the father chastens not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye ********, and not sons."
There isn’t a theologian alive who can explain this Scripture if he also believes that God will torture most of humanity in a literal lake of fire for all eternity. God chastens EVERY son, but He does not torture him in literal fire for all eternity. If we endure chastening, then we know that God is dealing with us as SONS! But. . . .BUT, if any are "without chastisement" then they are "********, and NOT sons." Now then, does God LOVE all His sons whom He scourges and chastises? Yes, of course He does, He says He does. But here’s the sixty-four thousands dollar question: "Does He also LOVE the ********, or does He HATE the ******** and enemies of the cross?" Don’t be too hasty to answer, as your answer has huge and eternal consequences. Well, some may say, "Love," while others may say, "Hate." Okay, let’s look at both:
If God "Loves" the ********, then He will eventually HAVE TO CHASTEN THEM, because….He chastens "EVERY son whom He loves." And God then "receives" all that He chastens. No exceptions here. So God can’t burn any whom He "Loves" in a literal lake of fire for all eternity.
But if God "Hates" the ******** who are enemies of the cross…wait a minute…God can’t "HATE His enemies!" Jesus Christ said we are to, "Be ye therefore perfect EVEN AS your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." A great part of becoming perfect is to LOVE ONE’S ENEMIES! Jesus said we are to, "LOVE YOU ENEMIES, BLESS them that curse you, DO GOOD to them that hate you…." No exceptions here regarding any enemies that we are allowed to hate. This is HOW ones becomes perfect like the Father. "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES!" (Matt. 5:48 & 45)! And so God can’t burn any of these enemies in a lake of fire for all eternity, either, and still be Our PERFECT Father Who LOVES HIS ENEMIES, just as we are to LOVE OUR ENEMIES!
******** are born ******** and did not create themselves or choose to be ********…"!!!
By the way, just what does God do with those who are "enemies of the cross" (Phil. 3:18)?
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the ENEMIES of the cross of Christ: Whose end is DESTRUCTION…"
Need I remind you of the Scriptures we covered in the last installment on who Christ came to SAVE: those who are "lost, perished, and destroyed?"
So by God’s Own Words He prevents Himself from hating or torturing enemies for all eternity in a literal lake of fire. You see, GOD REALLY DOES LOVE HIS ENEMIES! But many of us do not, and so we make God into a carnal-minded image of ourselves, which is IDOLATRY! God has never said in His Word that He will torture anyone in literal fire for all eternity—carnal-minded theologians have come up with such utter rank blasphemy! Let me get frank for a moment (as if I am not normally frank). Not many people "LOVE their enemies." No, they don’t. Don’t even try to tell me that they do. A few do. Not many. I myself struggle with the command at times.
DO YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMIES?
How many prayed for the seven POW’s held captive in Iraq? I myself prayed earnestly for them. I hate the thought of being tortured, and I had no idea how badly our POW’s were being treated. Millions upon millions prayed for them. But how many prayed for not only Jessica, but for her enemy captors who "cursed her, and hated her, and despitefully used her, and persecuted her?" How many? That’s what I thought. How many would like to see her captors BURN IN HELL? (That is, were there such a place). I rest my case. We do NOT believe the Scriptures. We pretend! We boast! We LIE! By the way,
"…and ALL LIARS [do you see any exceptions in that statement, ‘ALL liars?"] shall have their part in the lake which BURNS WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8)!
How many still desire that this lake should be a LITERAL FIRE that tortures the flesh for all eternity? So maybe you think you’re not "a murderer, or whoremonger, or sorcerer;" maybe you are just an occasional "liar who hates his enemies?" Think about it.
So you are one of those who "Believes the Scriptures," are you? And you believe that billions upon billions of human beings "…shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death?" And do you believe that they will be tortured there for ALL ETERNITY? Do you? Do you really? Is this what you think the "lake of fire/second death" is? An eternal torture chamber? Well, then you must also concede that if you or anyone you know is "fearful" (same verse) ("fearful" in the Greek here is "timid"), or a "liar," then you and everyone you know who is either "timid" or a "liar" is going to burn and burn and burn in literal fire in this lake of fire for ALL ETERNITY. Are you ever "timid?" Do you ever tell a "lie?" Are you ready to go to Hell and be burned in real fire for all eternity? Why does God lump such relatively minor character flaws such as "timidity (fearful)" with "murderers" and "sorcerers?" Have you ever had the reason for that explained to you? Ask your pastor, I am sure he will be able to explain it to you. (On second thought scratch that last statement. I believe that statement is a "lie." I don’t believe your pastor can explain it to you, and I don’t want to burn in Hell for all eternity for being a "liar").
I can see it all now: Satan is standing at the Rusty Gates of Hell welcoming all newcomers:
SATAN: "And why are you here, young man?"
YOUNG MAN: "In my life I was ABOMINABLE, committed MURDERS, practiced SORCERY, and was an IDOLATER!"
SATAN: "Throw this young man into the burning lake of fire for all eternity!"
SATAN: "And why are you here, young lady?"
YOUNG LADY: "I have never done anything abominable or committed murder or practiced sorcery, nor was I an idolater. But when I heard all those Hell-fire and brimstone sermons on television by all those worldly millionaire preachers of doom, I became a little "fearful" as I am timid by nature."
SATAN: "Throw this evil sinner into the burning lake of fire for all eternity!"
SATAN: "Demon Scribe, how many fearful and timid young ladies have we thrown into the lake of fire thus far?
DEMON SCRIBE: "Your Unholy Corruptness: that last one makes four billion, six hundred and eighty-nine million, five hundred and seventy-eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine!"
SATAN: "Very good! Next….."
http://bible-truths.com/lake5.html
Peace,
Joe
Akira329:
Hey Joe!
I believe we don't contemplate on this subject enough!
excerpt from Love Biblestudy February 2007
LOVE is what God is.
It is a love that has the welfare of all others at heart, regardless of how evil they are or how badly they may treat us. It is the kind of love that the good Samaritan showed for the man who was wounded by the side of the road, when he was befalled by robbers. They beat the living daylights out of him. You know the Levite came by, the Priest came by and they said, 'that’s to bad, look at that, he’s bleeding to death' and went on their way.
Then a Samaritan came by. He used a Samaritan because they despised the Samaritans. The Samaritans were of the northern tribe of Israelites. So the good Samaritan came by and he tended to him. He bound up his wounds; carried him to the village; put him under the hospices of somebody there. He had someone take care of him, nurse him back to health and here is money and 'I’ll be back in a week or two and I’ll stop by to see if you need more money and I’ll give you more money.'
Now that is agapao love. That’s not phileo love, that’s not brotherly love, that’s agapao love.
Did he expect to get anything back from that person? No.
Did he know him? No.
Did he like him? No.
Did the man even thank him? It doesn’t say.
Does anybody think, they became good friends later in life? I don’t think so, I really don’t think so. This man was just passing through. Maybe he was on business, just passing through, I don’t think they became friends. He helped just for the shear reason, that this is a fellow human being and needed help. He provided not only help, but a lot of help, good quality help, and that’s agapao, that’s not phileo.
A good paper on love!!
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3719.0.html
Antaiwan
hillsbororiver:
Hi Antaiwan,
You are absolutely right! Oftentimes we contemplate His mercy and love for us and tend to look past what is required for us to do in regard to how we treat or even feel about others.
Thank you for the excellent addition as well as your comments!
In Genesis chapters 41 through 46 we get an example/type/shadow of how judgment and correction are accomplished when administered with mercy and love, the desired result was obtained without torture or even punishment, it was within the minds of Joseph's brothers (guilty consciences) where the torment existed.
Peace,
Joe
Deborah-Leigh:
Many times Jesus called the fraudulent religious leaders of the Church, "hypocrites." Here is the definition of a hypocrite:
"One who puts on a false appearance, to hide his real motives, one who feigns, a play actor, a fake, a fraud, a phony."
Jesus loathed the hypocrisy of these religious leaders and saw right through these play-acting fakes and frauds, just like looking through a windowpane.
http://bible-truths.com/fools.htm
As Christ loathed the hypocrisy of religious leaders, we who share in the Mind of Christ should also feel uneasy in our midsections when we hear the deceptions of false teaching.
Ray states from http://bible-truths.com/kiss.htm
Had the twelve other Apostles already received the Holy Spirit of God, they would not have had to ask Jesus "who" is was that was about to betray Him—they would have known. Thank God that it is not possible to "deceive the very elect" (Matt. 24:24).
This discernment is not something any one of us can on our own, learn or achieve/ teach or pass on without the Spirit of Christ. Understanding comes from the Spirit of Christ and by no other way or means.
Arc
hillsbororiver:
Hi Deborah,
The points you raise are certainly valid but I am not clear as to how this fits within the topic of loving our enemies or the administration of judgment and correction with mercy.
Peace,
Joe
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