Finite sins against an infinite God

In Christianity, you will often hear something like this,

our finite sins deserve infinite punishment, because they are against an infinite God

Though I have already talked a lot about God's Justice in a previous blog, this particular belief continues to boggle my mind. As humans, we can neither physically see, touch, or prove God and/or His truths...yet He supposedly thinks we deserve unending punishments for temporary mess ups? Why would a perfect God be even less understanding than a human?

Were we not born into sin by no fault of our own? If it is anyones fault, it is Adams...but even he was tempted by the Devil that GOD (yes, God) created. So from the very start, our "free" will has been at the mercy of forces and situations completely beyond our control. And all of these things have been allowed by God for some purpose(s), so how would it be sensable for God to hold us, imperfect beings by nature, forever accountable for the situations he placed us in? It makes no sense at all.

And it is curious indeed, that no scripture (that Ive ever come across) teaches such a bleak truth. No where is sin against God described as needing infinite punishment, solely just because God is infinite. The Bible simply describes the penality for sin as "death" (Ro. 6:23). And whether it is a physical or spiritual death described here(I would say both), it doesnt seem to imply the merit of infinite punishment we supposedly deserve.

On a final note, it is often said that Jesus paid the price for our sins, that he took our punishment for us. This goes along with the prophecy in Isaiah 53:5, which says,

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;

Yet we also say that we all deserve an infinite period of suffering because of our sin. Using the same logic however, we would have to assume that Christ suffered infinitely in order to pay the infinite debt we incurred. But, as any Christian can tell you, Jesus rose again just 3 days after death...he did not experience infinite suffering for one persons sins against God, let alone the whole world's sin!

So there is apparently a big hole in our theology

Changing the law, Doesnt change the heart

As many of you know, Iowa (the state in which I live) made gay marriage legal fairly recently. Many (particularly Christians) have been outraged and furious, holding up signs and protesting. Many commenting to me jokingly about it, expecting me to be on their side I suppose, and then are infuriated to find that I really am not.

First off, I dont personally condone homosexuality, nor do I think that the Bible does. Yet on the same note, I dont elevate it to this terrible atrocity that most Christians seem to do. I dont see it as any greater a "sin", than premarital sex, lust, lying, or gossip (None of which, by the way, do many Christians hold signs up about or try to make laws banning them). If it is truly not Gods will to practice homosexuality, than I dont think God loves the person in that any less, than He loves the one who has premarital sex, lusts, lies, gossips or all the above.The same can be said about abortion, which I most definitely do not agree with.

So we try and implicate these laws, and protest, assuming that by doing so...we will create a safe, "Christianese" country for us and our families. And thats understandable, I think it is important to vote and stand up for the things we believe especially as Christians.

But I cant help but ask, what changing the laws of our country will do to change the hearts of those I disagree with? We can bar people from doing all sorts of things, and we do on many occasions. Our laws try to prevent us from things like murder, stealing, cheating, and running red lights. Yet even when the threat of punishment is successful in preventing an individual from doing such things (or more likely, from getting caught), is that person really any different? Do their views on right and wrong, good and bad, necessarily change at all?

Even if gay marriage were to have been kept illegal in Iowa, it wouldnt stop anyone from practicing homosexuality or still feeling that gay marriage was their right. The same with abortion, if it were illegal, nothing would stop anyone from feeling it was okay or worse yet, find ways to abort babies outside of medical direction. Just because something is illegal, doesnt make someone think that it is wrong. Just because someone is prevented from doing something bad does not automatically turn the person's intentions good. This is common sense.

Beyond all that, Im not sure it is my right to try and make other people live by my moral convictions. Part of the reason the United States was founded was to break from the oppression of religion, and worship, believe and live as one chooses. It doesnt mean I have to personally agree, or support someones life choices...but it doesnt matter if I agree. I hope people will make Godly choices, but they have to find the motivation to do that themselves (which ultimately comes from the conviction God gives us). I or no one else can force that on them...

I guess I just find it hard to believe that God is as concerned with the laws of America, as most fundamentalist Christians seem to be. This is maybe why politics fail to interest me more often than not. Afterall, Jesus was certainly not a political activist, and no where in the gospels do we see Jesus rallying any political overthrows of Caesar. In fact he said "render to Caesar, what is Caesar's". Jesus was however, all about changing the hearts around him, helping people reunite in relationship with the Father and His will. Jesus knew that the religious and political laws could never change anyone, yet he loved us, died for us and gave us his spirit to live within our hearts.

I truly believe we as Christians, should be more concerned about loving people and showing them the God we serve, rather than trying to impart laws for our own self-centered, self-concerned motives...and then claim that "its what God wants". I think what God wants is people to turn to him in his appointed times, not for America to have the most Bible based laws. Therefore, I think our part as followers of Christ should be to be a light to our fellow humanity and country men. In which they can see the life and love of God emitting from us and will too want to be apart of what God has for them.

Two kinds of salvation

Two blogs ago I talked about how we are not so much "saved" from a place called Hell, but rather our separation from God. This is going to be sort of the follow up to that blog, so if you havent read it yet, read that first. This week I will be taking about salvation in its two different forms, and hopefully, I will do it without confusing you or myself, haha:

Salvation in Christianity is most popularly viewed as the act of accepting Jesus into ones heart and asking His forgiveness. That by saying the sinners prayer, Jesus comes to "live" in your heart and you get saved from the devil poking you with his red pitchfork.

This view treats salvation (or reconciliation to God) like a freely given coupon, in that if you fail to cash it in by an unknown expiration date...the blood shed for you is no longer any good to redeem you and thus you get to go to Hell for all time. In this view Gods attitude is,
I did my part, now do yours, or I will cease to help you

Salvation (in this view) is thus not entirely dependent on God's love and Calvary, but is equally co-dependent on mans will to repent and live the correct lifestyle. Our works and attitudes ultimately affect Gods so called "unchanging" ways and attitude towards us, and makes him out to be no different than any other temporary, selfish human being. Even so, we talk a lot about how Christ came to free us from doing works to get Gods favor and forgiveness...yet this view clearly states that Christ really only gave us new works in order to merit Gods affection.

But is this really how God set up salvation to be? Lets look at Romans 5:18-19
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

There are many things we can say about this passage. But I think the most notable, is the fact that it relates the human condemnation through Adam(which none of us chose to be born into), in direct proportion to justification through Christ. Therefore, if the condemnation Adam brought on human kind didn't take our acceptance to take effect, then why would the justification of Christ need our acceptance to take effect? According to this passage, Adams curse on the human race is in effect from the day one is born, so by the same logic, Christs justification takes effect from the day we are born, to counteract that curse. All this to say, it doesn't take ones accepting Jesus, in order for one to be justified by Jesus. We are all justified by the blood, whether we "accept" it or not. Beyond that, because of Christ, it is impossible for a human to offend God by sinning.

The Greek word for sin is "hamartia" (to offend) or sometimes the Bible uses "hamartano" (to miss the mark). knowing that, the following passage reads thusly:
1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not [miss the mark]. But if anyone does [miss the mark], we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our [offense], and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

We all miss the mark in life, for even the most devout Christian will still sin. But God cannot be offended by our wicked deeds any longer...Christ paid and saved us from the offense. This dismisses the popular notion that God somehow has "no choice", but to cast unrepentant sinners into an eternal abyss, because his holy purity is somehow offended by the stench of our sins. It is literally impossible to offend God, because of Christ. I call this Type A salvation, or automatic salvation, because everyone is justified and clean of offense automatically via the Cross.

Now you might say, what about Romans 10:9?
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Using this verse, you might argue that surely one has to confess and believe to be saved, right? Well, I think its important to note here that when the bible talks about being saved or salvation, it doesnt necessarily have anything to do with the common churched idea of eternal deliverance. In Romans 10:9 the word used for saved is "Sozo", which literally means to heal or preserve (think back to the other blog where I said Christ came more to save us from earthly things than eternal ones). So this passage is not talking about justification, so much as its talking about sanctification. Everyone is already justified, or made right with God. But not everyone is sanctified, or made holy in relationship with God. Sanctification requires Gods revelation to us of His truth in order to progressively release us from earthly woes, and thus unite with God in fellowship

In other words, to be justified by God through type A salvation, no you dont have to confess or believe anything. But to benefit from type B salvation, yes, you must confess and believe in order for THAT to take effect in your life.
(sounds like Im talking about diseases, doesnt it? Type A and Type B and all lol). Think of it this way,

Suppose you have a rich uncle who dies and leaves a 100,000 dollars JUST for you in a bank account, and the only one who knows about it is your dad. Now in order to benefit from this large stack of moola, you would first have to know that it exist. But you would not have to know about it, for the money to merely exist in your name or for it to gain interest. It is yours and legally, nothing can change that. However, your father might not tell you that it is there until you are old enough to spend it wisely and fully appreciate the gift for what it is.

I realize theres a few flaws with my analogy, but I think it illustrates my point adequately. Type A salvation is a done deal, it was completed and put into effect the moment Jesus said on the cross,
It is finished.
However, type B is not persay done, because it is not an event. It is a process that may never actually cease to progress the human soul. Type B salvation starts when one is awakened in their conscious to the fullness of Christ (when GOD chooses to reveal), leading that person to take up their own cross and follow Him. When a person accepts Christ, they are re-birthed in their mind and heart to what God has done for them and will continue to do in their life. This is what I think Jesus truly meant by one being "born again"(John 3:6-8)

Ive brought up the following verses before,1 Timothy 4:9-10 it says,
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance ¹⁰(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

When one confesses and believes in Christ, they can truly live in the peace and knowledge of ones reconciliation to God and thus fully experience a relationship with God. This is what I think is meant here by saying especially those who believe. God is the savior of all men, whether they acknowledge it or not. But He has a special relationship and "salvation" from self, for those that do believe. We are all justified, but not all sanctified.

We are all bought by the blood, but we are not all yet washed by it.

Salvation is not like a coupon that expires, or milk that goes sour. It is imperishable. It is in one way, already complete. Yet in another way, requires Gods unveiling of our hearts and mind to the truth in order to obtain the life that He has waiting for us.

I realize I got pretty heavy in this blog, I even had to double check some passages and words to make sure I knew what I was talking about (lol). But if nothing else hopefully you understand this idea of salvation a little more clearly.