"He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' "
The reason why many want to believe in hell, i.e. the popular concept of hell as being eternal damnation for deserving sinners, is that their thinking is the same as that of the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son.
Like the elder brother they only see the evil deeds and not the image of God in the person.
Sinners as we are, we still have in us the imag of God for we are created in God's image and likeness.
These kind of Christians would also like convicted criminals of heinous crimes to be meted with death penalty.
A genuine heart of a true Christian is one like the forgiving father in the story of the prodigal son.
I am sorry Sir, I must disagree with you. You see, the reason the Father accepted the son back into his home without punishment, is because he repented. Not because he did not care about his sins.
ReplyDeleteJust as it is with God.
If you repent, he will not hear the demand for blood the "brother" spews out. Instead, he will forgive you and cast your sins "as far as the East is from the West."
However, there is a hell.
Jesus Christ, the man who told the story of the prodigal Son for the first time, spoke about Hell ten times more than he did about heaven.
You have said in previous blog post's that if you believe in hell, you serve God only out of a fear of hell.
I charge you this: if you dont believe in hell, you will carry out evil, with no fear of consequence.
God is indeed a loving God. god is love. But you cannot have love without hate. I love children, therefore I hate abortion.
Gos loves his people. He loves love, he loves obedience, he loves purity, he loves righteousness.
God must then Hate. He hates disobedience, he hates immorality, he hates evil.
Scripture proclaims this.
-Cullen Webb
Citizen, Author, Christian.
http://www.NationPains.com