"maybe just a really powerful sorcerer that only manages the baton rouge area?" :lol:rrrrriiiiiiight.:yelwink2:
Fortunately for us, Salvation is of the Lord and of no work of man. He will save who He will save and it doesn't matter where that person is. It is a work of God.
If you think people need religion or god to kill each other by the millions then you know nothing of humanity. If it wasn't god we'd be killing each other over land or ideology or the way we butter our bread. The most evil regimes to ever to rule the planet have been secular ones.
Well seeing as how there are millions of hindu converts to Chritianity I don't think you have much of a point.
But I thought you were already forgiven. The sacrifice of Jesus thing. Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son to demonstrate his faith (Genesis 22:1-18). In Exodus 13:2 the Lord said "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among Israelites, both man and beast, for it belongs to me." Later it says that you can redeem an ass with a sheep and that you must redeem a child for an unspecified price. It is clear from the context that "consecrate" means a burning sacrifice. In Leviticus 27:28-29,,"Note also that any one of his possessions which a man vows as doomed to the Lord, whether it is a human being or an animal, or a hereditary field, shall be neither sold nor ransomed; everything that is thus doomed becomes most sacred to the Lord. All human beings that are doomed lose the right to be redeemed; they must be put to death." In Judges 11: 29-40, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter in return for victory over the Ammonites. In I Kings 13:1-2, at the Lord's command, Josiah executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned human bones on the altars in sacrifice. Deuteronomy 13:13-19 tells us that Moses commanded the Israelites, "you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, dooming the city and all life that is in it, even its cattle, to the sword. Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God." "Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you-what is the right thing to do on a day of worship: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?" -- Luke 6:9 Human sacrifice does not equal "love and mercy" to me, amigo. Jesus apparently thought so, too. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46
No offense taken. I don't pray to any of those gods so they don't know my secret desires. It isn't possible for them to give me what I want because they don't know. Seriously though, if you are looking for tangible proof, I don't have any. As an added bonus, I will include preemptive answers to questions that you may be pondering. 1) Do you get everything you pray for? - No 2) Then how do you know it's not just luck or coincidence? - I already covered this 3) How do you know it wasn't the sorcerer of the Baton Rouge area? - And I think that brings us full circle.
Only those who come in Repentance are forgiven. Jesus didn't die for lost people, He died for Saints. Christians also need to continue to go to God for forgiveness. "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." - Acts 10:43 "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Acts 26:18 "to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins" Luke 1:77 Great story of Abraham, but just wondering, was it for forgiveness? Although traditionally in the Tabernacle a burnt offering was for forgiveness of sins by the Great High Priest, this as you know, was before Law was given to Moses. Verse 12 of Chapter 22 says: "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." And as you said, I believe it was more out of God testing Abraham to test his faith. So, from that context it appears that the first born are redeemed? Consecrate usually means "set apart" or "make holy". Not sure, can't say I know enough about this to be able to say what it clearly means. Again, this may seem like what you may think it is. This context mentions nothing about forgiveness. This whole chapter (27) is about dedicating and devoting things to God. People were willing to dedicate things because in Chapter 26, God says that he will remember the covenant with His people if they obey. I would look at the rest of them but I am kind of tired. Maybe another time. Jesus is talking to the Pharisee, self-proclaimed people who knew the Torah. They know what is right and wrong based on God's Law given to Moses. They dedicate their whole lives to studying it. Jesus is saying not to get too caught up in legalism that you forget what the greater good is. Jesus is talking about saving people, which obviously is a foreshadowing of things to come. The New International Version translates it to: "Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" To call it just human sacrifice is to miss the point. Jesus being God's son knew of things to come. And you seem like a very knowledgeable person of the Bible and I'm sure you know that Jesus throughout scripture foretells of His future and willingly takes it on. That cry only magnifies the agony that was bore by Him on the cross. Taking God's righteous wrath on behalf of sinners will tend to have that effect. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He knew it had to be done. The whole Old Testament prophesied about it (Isaiah 53 as an example). It was out of love and mercy that He undertook it. Why do you people give sacrifices? Surely not out of spite or obligation - out of love. Why would God do that to Jesus? Same thing The author of Hebrews better explains it. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 Good talkin to you Red, it's always good to talk to people who know what they are talkin about. But it's important to take questions and quotes in context.
