……..Rien Heitzmann posted original thought for this that Gary quoted…. (credits)
JUSTICE:
Our justice systems, as faulty as they are, attempt to fit the punishment to the crime. There are many different forms and lengths of punishment to satisfy our moral sense of justice. But according to most Evangelical teaching, all crimes (sins) committed here on earth will receive the same punishment AND it will be far more severe than the most cruel tyrants of the world have inflicted upon mankind. Modern Christian justice has NOT made God a just judge, it has made Him out to be the most barbaric of dictators this world has ever seen. Hitler would be a saint compared to the image of God as judge the modern church has portrayed of Him. – Gary Amirault
JUSTICE:
Our justice systems, as faulty as they are, attempt to fit the punishment to the crime. There are many different forms and lengths of punishment to satisfy our moral sense of justice. But according to most Evangelical teaching, all crimes (sins) committed here on earth will receive the same punishment AND it will be far more severe than the most cruel tyrants of the world have inflicted upon mankind. Modern Christian justice has NOT made God a just judge, it has made Him out to be the most barbaric of dictators this world has ever seen. Hitler would be a saint compared to the image of God as judge the modern church has portrayed of Him. – Gary Amirault
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? – Genesis 18:25
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
2 Chronicles 19:7
Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
Job 8:3
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
2 Chronicles 19:7
Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
Job 8:3
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
—- Isn’t any sin as horrible to God as any other?
I am not saying that God will not judge us. I am only saying that he will be just! Judgement can be meted out according to severity of sin. Not sure about all sins being weighed evenly. I think not. Here’s why: Proverbs 6:16 says “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:” I know that the bible lists a whole lot more things as sins than just those 7. Certain things were listed as an abomination in the old testament. I do believe some things hurt us or hurt others and are sins (missing God’s perfection), but they don’t permanently effect us as bad as some other sins that seem to have life-long consequences. All sins do hurt God’s heart just as a loving parent “hates” it when their child goes astray from what the parent knows is best for them. When the parent tells the child to not touch the hot stove… consequences happen and the parent gets “mad”. (A loving “mad”) When the parent tells the child to not cross the busy street w/o looking both ways… the consequences can be permanent. a bit of difference. Parent wouldn’t really be “mad”…. just very sad if the child dies or is paralyzed or is hurt very badly… I’m not a full-time theologian, but those are my gleanings from the bible. My gut feeling about the end time judgement is that God will cast the non-believers into the Lake of Fire for a time period of correction. “The smoke of their “torment” goes up “forever” in the presence of God and his angels. Seems a pleasant, sweet smelling odor to God as he sees the dross being sluffed off of the person who needs some time spent in “jail” so to speak. If it was actually for eternity, it would not be justice. One lifetime of sin yields a million billion quadrillion lifetimes, ….no… a forever amount of really bad suffering ???? Not the “life for a life,eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” kind of judgment that God told Moses of in the Old Testament. He is the same today… “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” So eternal punishment is not even in the Father heart of God that I know.. see Jeremiah 32:35 “They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!” And now somehow we proclaim that god had this kind of torment in mind for the devil and his angels and for all others not accepting Jesus is this lifetime. Hogwash! What is god’s purpose for the “Lake of Fire”? Our loving God does discipline those that he loves. Does he not in some way love all of his creation, although he does say “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated..” He does hate a certain proud spirit that will not humble themselves. One of the 7 deadly sins is pride. Why does he do away with the wicked? to eternally doom them/ torment them or instead does he not want to give his game-plan a chance to survive. Noah was a preacher of righteousness and God knew he could start over with a clean slate and eventually Christ would come on the scene and say “it is finished” , and then go and preach to all those that were of old. Now those of old most likely included all of those God destroyed in the flood, the way the verse reads in 1 Peter 3:18 and following:…18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water” .… Why would Jesus preach to someone who never had another chance? No, instead, the mercy of the Lord endures forever… A second chance, a third chance, a fourth… actually “70 X 7” implies a never ending merciful God who loves even Hitler and Stalin and has a plan to redeem them. Can we not forgive them? then we have a problem with forgiveness, and God will not forgive us. God forgave even the chief of sinners… We can hate the sin, but love the sinner. And so the blessings and favor of God can eventually fall upon all. The 99 sheep that are in the fold should be watching over the sheep fold fence to see the Mighty Shepherd bring that last little sheep back into the fold. God is not willing that any should perish. I believe his will is gonna’ be done! For Christ also died for sins once for all,all all,all,all,all! Doesn’t say once for “all time”… notice it says once for “all”. Hallelujah, God is so good! He is the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world… before any of us ever sinned, God loved us and had a plan.. a wonderful game plan. Except it ain’t a game to him. It’s serious loving!
Please see Gary Amirault’s videos on YouTube or go to Tentmaker.org to get a better picture of what “Hell”, “eternal”, and “torment” words in the Bible mean. They cannot possibly mean what the King James Version translations have made them out to be. A way to control the masses and keep everyone in fear of “Hell”, to keep the money rolling in to the rich church coffers in my opinion. Organized religion stinks to high heaven in God’s nostrils. Whatever happened to the way that the early church did church… in homes and sharing whatever someone else needed from our abundance. We have gotten away from those kind of early church examples of “true religion”. Let’s go out and make a difference in our world, one person at a time. Homeless people helped, widows cared for, orphaned kids cared for…