padremike wrote:
There is so much that is obscenely wrong with your remarks that I'd be discharging into a nonconductor to address more than one. I choose the one comment that solidifies your other errors. Your God may have told you to follow the law of the land but Christians follow a God that says to follow the laws of the land UNLESS they violate God's law.
You confuse two separate issues. If you were to follow God's law then you cannot effectively follow the "laws of the land" in most cases. Perhaps a better way to view it would be to consider what God said regarding, "be ye not of this world, but rather be ye t***sformed in your MIND...."
One interpretation says that I can obey the laws of the land and still please God, as long as those laws do not violate God's laws. You also have to remember that the sacrifice of Jesus "covers a multitude of sin." For example: how can America claim to be following God's laws -yet we allow and defend those who are gay or homosexual -an a*********n before God? I think the main point to focus upon is centered (as everything else is) around the two greatest commandments:
1. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul, and
2. Love your neighbors as you love yourself.
You see, I can love my neighbor -even if he/she is a homosexual because God is the judge - not me. God alone has the power to ultimately forgive and save -not man. So, if you focus on "being the best visible representation that YOU can be of the invisible Christ" -and conduct yourself accordingly - all that's left is what Christ said: "I will set all things in order when I return."
One last point, do you believe that Christians who follow the laws of the land that do violate God's laws will be spared consequences? What if the "law of the land" directly violates God's laws? Lets' be clear:
Trump and the current republicans have done nearly all they can to disparage immigration in this country, mostly, but not limited to people with brown skin. Leviticus 19:33 teaches, "...do not forsake the foreigners who live among you, treat them with kindness, for you all were once immigrants and I am the Lord thy God." Notice, God said nothing about "immigrants from Norway, or 's**thole countries' or only the rich immigrants. Yet, everyday we see ICE under Trump's orders defying the very laws of God.
Padre - you can't have your cake and eat it too - at least not with God -there is no straddling of the fence. Either you believe and do your best to be obedient (trust that God already knows that most of us will still fall short, He provided remedy for that through Jesus) to the will of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit which resides in all believers. The choice is really no choice in my opinion....I choose God and eternal life.