02/21/08: Deuteronomy 3-6
Category: Deuteronomy
Posted by: sejje
Chapter 5:
Reading over the commandments in 5 made me wonder about something. I feel like I'm one of the more moral people in the world today, yet still I have committed outrageous sins. I think if you compared me to a "good person" in the time of the bible, the comparison would probably be very ugly; I think I would be quite a bit more immoral than they. Do you think God understands and allows for this?
Ted: God understands. He knows the hearts of all people, because He made us. He knows that none of us is righteous; all have sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In fact, all of us have broken all of the commandments, as indicated by this: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10).
What God looks for is humility, which we demonstrate by admitting that we have broken His commandments and laws. You have acknowledged this, unlike most of humanity. I don't believe it is possible for anyone to be saved without being able to admit this. This is because without acknowledging that we have sinned, we would have no reason to believe that we need salvation from our sins. And without the latter, we would see no reason for a Savior.
One "for instance" that comes to mind is this: I believe that in the past, until the past 100 years or so, when people committed a sin, they pleaded and begged God for forgiveness, and cursed themselves. In our time, I think this is widely disregarded, and at most people "confess" their sins to God, and really feel no remorse in general. What do you think God feels about this? Does He understand and accept that people are different now?
Ted: I don't know if I would put a time frame on people's acknowledgment of their sins and their pleading and begging for forgiveness. There always have been people who never did that, and there are people today who still do it.
Perhaps there are more people today, than there used to be, who feel no remorse for their sins. Speaking of the end of the age (where I believe we are now), Jesus said, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.... Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold" (Matthew 24:10,12).
I believe that God is getting more sick and tired of it than ever before, and that it won't be too much longer before He punishes the world for it. I feel that, as the culmination of human history fast approaches, God is having more and more of a "zero tolerance" for sin, particularly by those who know better, such as myself.
I, for one, feel that I can get away with fewer "infractions" without being disciplined for them. I feel it probably is more important now, than ever before, to strive to please God and to follow His commandments. Breaking them does not mean that we will lose our salvation. It just means that we will have to pay more penalties, as an attempt by God to convince us to be examples to others of how followers of Jesus should act.
Should we be doing things that we are not, and if so, why aren't we?
Ted: I'm not sure if I understand what you mean by that. As for myself, I know that there are things that God wants me to do which I fail to do (sins of "omission"), just as there are things that God does not want me to do which I do anyway (sins of "commision"). I know that I am guilty of these things because, until I am glorified at the Rapture, my heart will continue to deceive me: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
Reading over the commandments in 5 made me wonder about something. I feel like I'm one of the more moral people in the world today, yet still I have committed outrageous sins. I think if you compared me to a "good person" in the time of the bible, the comparison would probably be very ugly; I think I would be quite a bit more immoral than they. Do you think God understands and allows for this?
Ted: God understands. He knows the hearts of all people, because He made us. He knows that none of us is righteous; all have sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In fact, all of us have broken all of the commandments, as indicated by this: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10).
What God looks for is humility, which we demonstrate by admitting that we have broken His commandments and laws. You have acknowledged this, unlike most of humanity. I don't believe it is possible for anyone to be saved without being able to admit this. This is because without acknowledging that we have sinned, we would have no reason to believe that we need salvation from our sins. And without the latter, we would see no reason for a Savior.
One "for instance" that comes to mind is this: I believe that in the past, until the past 100 years or so, when people committed a sin, they pleaded and begged God for forgiveness, and cursed themselves. In our time, I think this is widely disregarded, and at most people "confess" their sins to God, and really feel no remorse in general. What do you think God feels about this? Does He understand and accept that people are different now?
Ted: I don't know if I would put a time frame on people's acknowledgment of their sins and their pleading and begging for forgiveness. There always have been people who never did that, and there are people today who still do it.
Perhaps there are more people today, than there used to be, who feel no remorse for their sins. Speaking of the end of the age (where I believe we are now), Jesus said, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.... Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold" (Matthew 24:10,12).
I believe that God is getting more sick and tired of it than ever before, and that it won't be too much longer before He punishes the world for it. I feel that, as the culmination of human history fast approaches, God is having more and more of a "zero tolerance" for sin, particularly by those who know better, such as myself.
I, for one, feel that I can get away with fewer "infractions" without being disciplined for them. I feel it probably is more important now, than ever before, to strive to please God and to follow His commandments. Breaking them does not mean that we will lose our salvation. It just means that we will have to pay more penalties, as an attempt by God to convince us to be examples to others of how followers of Jesus should act.
Should we be doing things that we are not, and if so, why aren't we?
Ted: I'm not sure if I understand what you mean by that. As for myself, I know that there are things that God wants me to do which I fail to do (sins of "omission"), just as there are things that God does not want me to do which I do anyway (sins of "commision"). I know that I am guilty of these things because, until I am glorified at the Rapture, my heart will continue to deceive me: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
