Q.11. But isn’t God also merciful?
A. God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty – eternal punishment of body and soul.
Monday
Read Exodus 34:6-7. What a beautiful statement from the mouth of God regarding his character and his justice. In these words God makes it clear that he is longsuffering, but that there is a limit to this part of his character. There will come a day with justice must be meted out and sin punished. Sometimes that day arrives in our lives as we reap the consequences of our sins, but even if we get away with it, we must know that all our actions will be bared at the end of time and we must answer for them. Read Hebrews 4:13.
Tuesday
What is mercy? There is a wonderful story that illustrates mercy in the Old Testament. David has been on the run from Saul and he has been hiding out in the hills. While hiding, he has been providing protection for a number of the local ranchers and during the time of shearing he requests some meat for his men. Unfortunately his men are denied this and they return with the sad news. In response, David is angry and rides out to punish Nabal for his actions. But mercy enters the picture. Read 1Samuel 25:23-25. Abigail requests mercy for her husband. Mercy is a request for someone to be treated differently than they deserve. For the Christian, mercy comes at the request of Christ. Certainly God is merciful, but not all will ultimately benefit from that mercy.
Wednesday
What is justice? Justice involves the punishment of wrongdoing in order restore relationship. This is displayed in striking terms in the story of the fall. After eating from the tree, both Adam and Eve are confronted by God who punishes them for their sin. Hard work, sweat, difficult labor and ultimately death are the sentence handed down by God. Sin must be punished, but this is only so that there is the possibility of a relationship again. If sin hadn’t been punished, God wouldn’t be able to be in their presence ever, but by punishing it and instituting the sacrifices, justice was served and relationship could be restored. Read Deuteronomy 28:1-6 to find out how God intended to restore the relationship after punishing sin.
Thursday
Read Genesis 4:3-16. In this story we see both of God’s attributes displayed. There is mercy in his words to Cain, in his pleading with him to do what is right, in his care for him even after he has sinned, but there is also justice in his powerful punishment. He is merciful, but sin must be punished and Cain understood that reality deeply and personally. Cain could have said the words of Hebrews 10:31. Read them now.
Friday
So far we have looked only at temporal punishment, but our question speaks of the eternal punishment of the body and the soul. Does God’s justice extend into the ages? Certainly. Read Matthew 13:36-43. In the parable of the weeds, there are those of the good seed and those of the bad. The bad seed is representative of everything opposed to God and “all who do evil.” God’s justice sentences these people and things to eternal fire and punishment.
Saturday
Read Matthew 25:35-46. While there are numerous times Jesus speaks about the reality of eternal punishment, none is more vivid and compelling than the parable of the sheep and the goats. In this story Jesus makes it clear that God’s mercy and his justice extend forever. Those who are described as righteous gain eternal life and those who are cursed earn eternal punishment. The truth is clear, either our body and soul are united to God and engaged in his kind of living or they are separated from God and opposed to his kind of life. Either way, God responds appropriately. In the next section of the catechism we will learn how one can become united to God and a recipient of eternal life.
Posts
Sorry, but Jesus rejected the whole concept of getting back at people! His new, revolutionary concept was to forgive, as God does, to love, even your enemies, even as God does.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, Jesus rejected the doctrine of Hell!
I've actually written an entire book on this topic--Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There's No Such Place As Hell, (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of Did Jesus Believe in Hell?, one of the most compelling chapters in my book at www.thereisnohell.com), but if I may, let me share one of the many points I make in it to explain why.
If one is willing to look, there's substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus opposed the idea of Hell. For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: "You don't know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!" Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.
So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!
True, there are a few statements that made their way into the copies of copies of copies of the gospel texts which place “Hell” on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.
Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real message.
So you can't justify tossing out everything Jesus actually taught on the basis of Mt 25:43 which is, clearly, an interpolation. There is just no way, after a very long story in which Jesus tried so hard to explain how much he empathizes with human suffering, so much so that he says we ought to think of even the "least" as if s/he were him...that he could turn right around and all in the same breath say, "Oh, but one day I'm going to be the direct cause of the worst suffering ever!"
That makes no sense, does it?
Well, the explanation for this contradictory statement is simple--Jesus never said it!!! It's an interpolation that was, in all likelihood, inserted by a Greek Christian scribe while making a copy of the text, totally distorting the message of the originally inspired autograph!
Sadly, though, because these few verses that place Hell on Jesus' lips serve the interests of people who feel threatened by the real message of Jesus, that we ought to care for those in need, those suffering, even those who made big mistakes that landed them in jail, even the "least," they would have us believe that God is ultimately going to give up on most of humanity and let them have it big time! From there, it makes it easy for them to deceive believers into thinking it's not all that bad to get a head start on hurting people, or at least, not helping the hurting.
Rick,
ReplyDeleteYou are in error at many points. First of all, it is apparent from some of your quick quips that your views of textual criticism aren't very polished and have latched on to the shabby scholarship the Jesus movement and others like them have produced.
Second, you fail to deal with all the passages that speak about punishment and death to those who refuse to accept Christ as the only savior. I would encourage you to read some good books on textual criticism and refrain from using others sites to pad your own wallet and sell your own books.