And then I remembered, no. No, no, no.
Let me remind you that we don't even deserve to be on this Earth, and that the only reason we're still walking around and smelling the flowers is because of God's grace. So who am I, in the first place, to be picking and choosing who deserves to go to heaven or not? The truth is, we all deserve to go to hell. The end. That's it. So every single person who is born again and who claims Jesus as Savior is, well, something that we should celebrate, just like we celebrate when couples wed and when students graduate. But the truth is, not everyone weds, and not everyone graduates, regardless of how brilliant he might be or how beautiful she might look.
I mean, getting into heaven was never supposed to be this easy.
But it is, simply because of Jesus's love. The problem is, though, that Muslims don't believe this. It isn't just some black and white fallacy, where you say, well golly gee, Christianity's harsh because it says that Muslims will go to hell because they don't believe Jesus rose again, that's terrible. Because the fact is- they're missing out on a whole chunk. They might have the buns of a sandwich, but they don't have the meat (haha, literally). A pastor once said that while all the other religions depended on works- how closely you follow the commandments, how many times you pray, how nice you are to your neighbor- Christianity depends on faith. That's it. We can sin and not be condemned, as long as we repent, because God will be right there to pick us up and forgive us. How is that not amazing?! We can go to heaven, hallelujah, because we believe in God's love. Our whole religion is based around love. I mean, because of His love, He sent Jesus to the cross to die and rise again to be our sacrifice, so that we don't have to kill a cow every weekend to repent, and we don't have to freak out about hell every time we sin.
But see- Muslims don't have that. And so our religions are completely different. They don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead. They don't believe in everlasting life through faith. And I mean, I'm sorry, but the fact that they don't believe that just sounds so silly to me. Why wouldn't they believe that God loves us enough to have His son rise from the dead? Do they even believe in God's love, I don't know? I'm not too much of a scholar on the religion, but I know that it's not the same as what I believe. While they might pray more than me and help the needy more than me, they don't feel the same love I do, nor are they called to love in the same way. I don't mean to generalize or offend, but all the warfare out in the middle east is a perfect example of the ways our calls to action differ. All I'm trying to say is that not confessing Jesus as Savior is a pretty big deal. Love is a pretty big deal.
And it's all just kind of sad. I have so much grief for the people who don't know God's love. They're missing out on so much, and they don't even realize it.
There's another thing though- Muslims believe that Adam was faultless.
So where'd all the sin come from then...?
12 comments:
o.o
thats very freaky
i was thinking about this exact same topic last night in bed....
Hi Jessie,
I’m Wilson, the administrator of the Quest for Truth Blog.
You commented on my recent post on “God’s Soverignty” with :
‘Hi- recently, I've been questioning so much,
and I really don't know why I'm alive right now. It seems so simple, and yet, I have no idea why everything is the way it is. Why it's gotta be so hard. Why we can't just go to heaven, right now.
I was hoping the blogosphere could help me answer my questions.’
I’d love to help you answer your questions because they really sparked my interest.
To start, I’d like to ask a few questions of my own that will help me best determine how to answer your questions.
1. Do you consider yourself to be a born-again believer, a purchased child of God?
2. On what do you base your faith?
3. (I noticed on your profile the Bible was the first book on your favorite books list) Why is the Bible so important or valuable to you?
4. How do you view the Bible, and how do you respond to it’s teachings?
If you want, you can Email me @: wilsoncbrant@gmail.com
I pray that the Lord will help you answer your questions and draw you Closer to Him!
Hello Jessie, I hope you and everyone are fine. Regarding Islam, May I recommend to you the following links? I hope they answer your questions, they are very useful
Discover the truth about Islam
http://theradiantlight.blogspot.com
Prophet Jesus and Muhammad (Peace be upon them) in the Holy Quran and Previous Scriptures
http://theradiantlight.blogspot.com/2009/12/common-questions-asked-and-their.html
Islam religion
http://www.islamreligion.com
The truth about Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)
http://www.rasoulallah.net/v2/intro.aspx
Islam's answer to the racial problem: by a German diplomat
http://teachislam.com/dmdocuments/Muhammad_Aman_Hobohm_Islams_Answer_to_Racial_Problem.pdf
Islam and science
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=1010
http://www.1001inventions.com
Thank you
I am a Muslim
1) We believe God is Compassionate, Merciful and Just. Justice demands that everyone get an equal chance and that they are also worthy. Thus, faith in the One God must also be accompanied by actions that reflect that faith/belief---otherwise it is useless.
Here is the formula =Right belief that promotes right intentions that creates right actions for the benefit of all of God's creations.
2)Jesus Christ(pbuh) is a Prophet in a long line of Prophets from the time of Prophet Adam(pbuh). If you recall, Prophet Adam(pbuh) came into existence without parents. He was not God's son and neither is Prophet Jesus(pbuh)
3)The Old Testament is the Torah of Judaism. The Jews do not have "original sin"---that story in Genesis is not about "original sin". Muslims also do not have "original sin". All human beings are created inherently good. ---That is why our Laws say "innocent until proven guilty".---because we are all considered good---not the other way around----guilty until proven innocent!
4) Just because our (human) concepts of God are different, does not mean that there is more than one God. If we believe there is only ONE God in existence---then regardless of our religious labels, we are all praying to the same God.
forgot to answer your last question
5) If human beings are created inherently good, where does sin come from?---from the human ego. When we try to strengthen our inner spirituality through the values of compassion, mercy, justice, patience, tolerance....etc we will go into the natural state God created us and find peace. When we go against our natures we fall into egoic desires---much of the wars and divisions and unhappiness are caused because we are ruled by our egoic desires.
To Kat:
1. Everyone does get an equal chance: salvation was extended to the Gentiles in the New Testament. Also, I agree that deeds must accompany faith as proof that we do have faith, but they cannot save us, for we still have sin. It says in the Old Testament, in Isaiah, that "all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."
2. Technically, Jesus is not related to Adam because his mother conceived him as a virgin. So that argument is irrelevant. Jesus is, instead, God in incarnate form. And how can he be a prophet yet be wrong about his claim: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
3/5. Original sin is definitely addressed in the Bible. One can see in the genealogy in Genesis that sin/death is passed down through the generations, as each person's life becomes shorter and shorter (with the exception of Methuselah). And even without original sin, sin exists, does it not? And so God must judge it. Also, why would a human go against his nature?
4. Yes we worship the "same" God in the sense that we all believe in the God of Abraham, but Jews and Muslims deny Jesus, who is part of the Trinity, who is God. So you worship and deny Him at the same time. Jesus says, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters." Again, how can he be a prophet yet be half-wrong? Also, you may believe in the God of Abraham, but what happened to the God of Isaac? I leave it as a question because I'm not exactly sure about your doctrine on Isaac and Ishmael.
We can leave it here or we can discuss more over e-mail. I won't mind talking some more about this stuff, hahaa. dawildmoogle@aim.com, by the way.
@kat
May this discussion be productive.
1. I don't believe justice demands such a thing. Justice is exactly this, that one is convicted of a crime they have committed. Law in of itself has been applied to everyone if that is what you mean by "equal" jurisdiction. We can see a difference between God's Law and The Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was applied to the Kingdom of Israel and its inhabitants, the Law of God is applied to everyone. So yes, everyone who is under the law has it equally applied to them. Here is where grace comes in. Just because one has the law equally applied does not mean grace can not be shown. Especially the grace given by God. God's grace is one where when we were supposed to be convicted He gave His Son, who willingly died in our place so that we may live instead of face the penalties. Do not get this misunderstood for. Jesus died for our sins, He paid for our sins, and its His righteousness that His people have that is saving them from wrath.
2. Adam was not a prophet. Jesus was but He was more than that. Jesus was the Word talked about in John. Jesus was, is, and forever will be The Son of God, The Son of the Holy Trinity.
3. We all sinned in Adam. This is what the apostle Paul teaches. It is because of this that we are all condemned. Condemned in Adam. Psalm 51:5 and Jeremiah 17:9 show the conditions of the human heart and mind. It is utterly deceitful. To think was is "good" is an odd assertion, considering then do you believe that you are as "good" as your god, Allah? Or is Allah, only as holy as humans can be, meaning do we set Allah's holiness? Or does Allah just not care about holiness?
4. No, Islam and Christianity are not praying to the same god. Islam rejects original sin, it rejects salvation by grace, it rejects the Trinity, it rejects the Divine nature of Jesus, it rejects the atonement of Sins on the cross and the reconciliation between God and Man through it. You can not just assert we believe in the same god when it seems that the only similarities would be the idea of One God and some borrowed concepts from the Torah.
5. Apparently you don't understand the idea of being inherently anything. When one is inherently something, that is what their nature will drive them to do. They will shun what is bad for they know what is bad. This isn't the case for infants, infants don't do good they are taught to do good. Take that in mind. Mankind is inherently sinful, we, no matter what, end up sinning plain and simple. This actually accounts for why humans sin and transgress God's divine laws. If man were inherently good they would not do such a thing. One can not go against one's own nature, if they were to do so then the human will contradicts itself and coerces itself out of his natural will. Such a will doesn't exist.
mo and alex
Thankyou for your response---my replies may have been misunderstood, I was replying in context of the post---and the questions asked/points expressed there.
Christianity understands the OT differently than the Jews do. Neither Jews nor Muslims believe in "Original Sin". We also have similarities in our concepts of "God's law" and "Justice".
As to your questions---
Isaac--Muslims believe he was the son of Prophet Abraham(pbuh)that he taught the same message/wisdom as his Father.
Why would a human go against his nature?----egoic desire---I can explain further if you are sincerely interested.
Half wrong?--I don't understand the question....
Alex's question regarding God---Not sure if I understood the question, however, our concept of God is that "He" is One, Unique, Genderless, and Indivisible. He is the "Uncreated" all else is the "created". He is independent of his creation but his creation is dependent upon him.
Monotheism is the belief in ONE God--if we admit to the existence of more than ONE God, we fall into polytheism.
If you have any more questions about Islam---I will try to answer. Thankyou for your interest.
i don't think you understand what my comment was. My comment was a line by line argument against what you just stated above. To reassert these points without refuting or giving me any answer to the arguments that I have provided won't help the discussion. Please don't say that Christians are polytheistic, nor put something in my mouth that I have not spoken of. No where in the post did I say that there is more than one God. I was talking about the trinity which is specifically this...if you care to learn more that is. Trinity is the one being of God in three persons. This is no contradiction because the personhood of God talks about the personal relationship within the godhead. The being of God is the essence. Two different things therefore uncomparable mathematically therefore not a contradiction. I already refuted your idea of the human will so unless you can give me an actually rebuttal, your assertions mean nothing. I hope I've cleared some things out and wish to hear some good arguments not assertions.
You are in my prayers.
God bless
What I meant by "half wrong" is that you consider Jesus a prophet but do not consider many things of what he has said as truth. Many times, Jesus explicitly calls himself the Son of God. Matthew 26:63-64 says "The high priest said to him, 'I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied."
I'll reply to everything else later... Hahaa. I'm sleepy
Alex---You are correct----I am puzzled.
I read your comments as statements of your beliefs--which you are entitled to. I have no interest or intention of converting you to Islam--nor am I interested in converting to Christianity. Therefore---any discussion with such an intention would be futile and frustrating. However, if you are interested in a discussion as an exchange of ideas for the sake of increasing understanding and tolerance--I will be OK with that.
mo---sweet dreams. I will await your reply.
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