What's forgiveness got to do with it?
As I've been pondering about the previous post. It got me thinking about some things on forgiveness of sin.
We usually think of it this way "If your forgiven you got to heaven," what follows is that you have to ask for forgiveness to be forgiven. This just hasn't been sitting well with me lately. I mean what happens in my head that makes me forgiven and this other guy not. Are the Catholics right? To we have to repent of every sin we commit to be forgiven and receive eternal life? I'm a little lost in this. If Jesus died for the sins of the world why do we have to believe it for it to be true for us. If He did in fact die and raise again for "the world" doesn't that mean the words sin are forgiven regardless of som intellectual of spitiual conclusion about life and death. A conclusion that requires you to pray a "sinners prayer" to get into heaven. Usually it goes something like this. "Lord I am a sinner. I know that only you can forgive sins. I am sorry for all I've done. Come into my heart." Am I right? We are praying this because our sins aren't forgiven yet. What if they are? What if sin was taken care of a long time ago on a cross and you, we, us have been forgiven already.
A New Pemise
Maybe the cross was a means to an end.
We are all forgiven for our sins and without being forgiven heaven can't happen but that's not what decides it for you. What if you can go to Hell and be totally forgiven at the same time. What if Eternity is simply the culmination of what you pursued in life. I don't want this to sound like a works based faith... I'm really not parting from orthodox Christianity as much as you may think. I still think that word I used "pursue" has something to do with an attitude or condition in your heart. But what if Hell is not a punishment but a consequence, a hole you dug for yourself.
Maybe the bumper sticker is right and "Christians aren't perfect just forgiven," but neither is anybody else and so is everybody else. We are all forgiven, it's not just a Christian trait but a trait of all mankind because of Jesus Christ.
see the sinners prayer is not what saves you it is something else something deep something mystical.
I'm inclined to pray right now "God thank you for dying on the cross for us. Please show us what is mystical. May we not be those who set down a criteria for perfection but may we live lives in pursute. Seeking first Your Kingdom."
We usually think of it this way "If your forgiven you got to heaven," what follows is that you have to ask for forgiveness to be forgiven. This just hasn't been sitting well with me lately. I mean what happens in my head that makes me forgiven and this other guy not. Are the Catholics right? To we have to repent of every sin we commit to be forgiven and receive eternal life? I'm a little lost in this. If Jesus died for the sins of the world why do we have to believe it for it to be true for us. If He did in fact die and raise again for "the world" doesn't that mean the words sin are forgiven regardless of som intellectual of spitiual conclusion about life and death. A conclusion that requires you to pray a "sinners prayer" to get into heaven. Usually it goes something like this. "Lord I am a sinner. I know that only you can forgive sins. I am sorry for all I've done. Come into my heart." Am I right? We are praying this because our sins aren't forgiven yet. What if they are? What if sin was taken care of a long time ago on a cross and you, we, us have been forgiven already.
A New Pemise
Maybe the cross was a means to an end.
We are all forgiven for our sins and without being forgiven heaven can't happen but that's not what decides it for you. What if you can go to Hell and be totally forgiven at the same time. What if Eternity is simply the culmination of what you pursued in life. I don't want this to sound like a works based faith... I'm really not parting from orthodox Christianity as much as you may think. I still think that word I used "pursue" has something to do with an attitude or condition in your heart. But what if Hell is not a punishment but a consequence, a hole you dug for yourself.
Maybe the bumper sticker is right and "Christians aren't perfect just forgiven," but neither is anybody else and so is everybody else. We are all forgiven, it's not just a Christian trait but a trait of all mankind because of Jesus Christ.
see the sinners prayer is not what saves you it is something else something deep something mystical.
I'm inclined to pray right now "God thank you for dying on the cross for us. Please show us what is mystical. May we not be those who set down a criteria for perfection but may we live lives in pursute. Seeking first Your Kingdom."