[HANK]

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect". (Matthew 5:48)

Would God give us a command that cannot be followed?

HANK :confused:

[Daniel Herring]

You are right. God expects us to be perfect. Unfortunately, most people think that to be perfect involves the absence of mistakes; the absence of faults and failures - some even imagine the addition of divine tricks (there's many the somebody I would zap!). Perfection in the people oriented faith of Christianity only involves treating everyone equally. I won't quote, but that is also from the Bible (can be found in black and white).

Those who can get their mind around the point that people should treat other folks equally, are met almost immediately with another inadequacy of spirit: that is, they think they must treat people in an across the board manner - but that is absent in the character of both God and Christ. If I gave you a dollar because you needed it, and gave the next man a swift kick because he needed it, I would have acted perfectly.

To those who think sinners can't be perfect, God refutes them in His own word. In relation to this, look up the Lord's prayer. Why would Jesus tell us to pray: "and lead us not into temptation" unless sometimes He does?

[HANK]

Fine and sincere response. Glad we think the same! Hope you're having a GOOD WEEKEND!

HANK :)

[keenu]

Even though I am not religious and do not believe in god I like this answer.
You are thinking along the right lines. We should treat other people as we would like to be treated simply because we are all ONE.
One person may deserve a dollar and one person may deserve a nice swift kick in the butt at the time! LOL
But, to me, the important thing to remember while kicking the said someone in the butt would be to realize that no one should be the judge of anyone else. Period. We are each perfection in ourselves and should not be compared to anyone or anything else.

[Daniel Herring]

You need to believe. It is not enough simply to have something going. It has to be the right something, at the right time, and for the right reason. You may treat all people extremely well; you may be considerate and respectful to the nth degree - but, if you have not done all this because the people are the brothers and sister of Jesus, I think you've just been marking time. :eek:

[keenu]

Hey, I feel the same way... EEK... don't tell me I NEED to believe in Jesus.
Marking time till what??
Hell??
Heaven??
Who's going to get me, the devil??
Don't make me laugh!
Next thing you will be telling me is that I need to be saved.
From what?? By whom, may I ask??
My sin? Silly boy, there is no such thing as sin.
That is a man-made concept.
LOL
My belief is just fine, thank you very much.
I believe that I am responsible for my actions and I have great personal integrity. We are all one, hence the need to treat each other as we would treat ourselves.
No one NEEDS to believe in god or Jesus. I am so very
Glad to have gotten past that.
Now, don't take all this as a personal insult. I am just sharing my beliefs so that others might take a better path than religion.

[NeedKarma]

You need to believe.

No he doesn't. Geez, fanatical people scare me.
Enjoy your faith but please don't try to convert others - we're not trying to convert you.

[psi42]

if you have not done all this because the people are the brothers and sister of Jesus, I think you've just been marking time.

I applaud you for finding something to believe in and to guide your actions. Many of us wish we could have our fears and hopes carried by an omnipotent (and benign) figure. But don't try to force your beliefs upon others.

Speaking of guides, here are a few things to consider:

How do you know what the will of Jesus is? Has he ever spoken to you personally?
You base your thought on is the often-quoted Bible, which has been through numerous revisions to fit history's progressing worldviews. How do you explain your unquestioning belief in a document that you can neither prove the origin of, nor ascertain its original form?

These are, of course, just questions. Your belief is your own, and when it guides you to do good actions and make good choices, then it is beneficial to both you and those around you.

:)
~psi42

[Daniel Herring]

Friend, I am not personally insulted by what you say. However, your conscience seems a trifle sensative (perhaps even guilty(?)) when it comes to what I say. I am no threat to you - you need not run from shadows. I do thank you for exposing yourself so starkly and thoroughly. I hope everyone reads your reply. You may have made yourself the unwitting instrument of somebody's decision for the better.

Isn't it an apt sign of the times: when the unbelieving taut their opinions, they are placed on pedestals of praise; when a believer (guaranteed the same right of free speech) says a word or two, he is automatically considered a borish evangelists.

If you automatically jump to the assumption that a Christian's opinion is a sermon, you inadvertently disrespect every individual who comes to this, or any forum. No, I'm not insulted. Please don't think that it is my place in this world to attack another's self-image. :)

[HANK]

God is more interested in saving people’s souls than He is in forcing people to obey His laws. For an unsaved person to obey God’s law, he would be doing it out of fear and obligation.

HANK :D

[NeedKarma]

For an unsaved person to obey God’s law, he would be doing it out of fear and obligation.

That's the impression I got from the whole Left Behind series of books. If you didn't live a life of servitute to him you were simply cast aside in the end. If you suddenly "believed" then off you went to the hereafter. Somewhat a disturbing concept.

[NeedKarma]

when a believer (guaranteed the same right of free speech) says a word or two, he is automatically considered a borish evangelists.

If you automatically jump to the assumption that a Christian's opinion is a sermon, you inadvertantly disrespect every individual who comes to this, or any forum.

Friend, you said "You need to believe". That's not really an opinion is it?

[Nez]

As we approach Easter,so the 'christians' emerge trying to find ways to justify the sins of others.Nothing is more annoying than surfing the web,when someone rings my door bell and says "do you believe in God?"

If I rang their door bell and asked "Do you believe in Ask me help desk.It's where good people help each other".I suppose as we are many faiths,agnostics and unbelievers,we will be punished in the after-life?

I for one believe in the here and now,and people should just "get on with it".I work in the care field,and the only reward I want is my pay cheque at the end of the month to pay my bills.

For those that believe in God,great.But please,leave the rest of us alone.

All the best,
Nez.

[Daniel Herring]

All personal gripes aside, I would like to submit a Christian joke for the edification of all involved.

There were three Pastors and their wives returning from a regional conference, when a bad accident occurred on the interstate. The couples in the first two cars died instantly; the third couple were rushed to a local hospital where they lingered a while before dying, themselves.

In heaven, the first couple got off the elevator and walked up to Saint Peter. He looked up their names in his book, then with a sad shake of his head he said, "I'm sorry, my children, but admittance has been denied." "But, why?" asked the Pastor, astonished. Peter answered, "Son, in your life you loved money so much, you even nicknamed your wife Penny." The Pastor hung his head and led his wife back to the elevator for that long ride down to the netherplains. He was met by the second Pastor and his wife, who were just walking out of the elevator. The first Pastor told the second what had just occurred. He could not believe his ears; he wanted to speak to Peter face to face. The first Pastor agreed to wait for him while he enquired. He returned with his head hung low. Asked what had happened, he said, "I was told I loved sweets so much that I nicknamed my wife Candy." They turned to the elevator just as the third couple stepped out. The two sad Pastors told the third everything that had transpired. Upon hearing the news, he took his wife by the elbow and faced the inevitable truth. "Come on," he said, "Let's go, Fanny."

[STONY]

If You Walk In The Word Day By Day You Are Being Perfected Daily And It Is A Life-long Process.

[NeedKarma]

If You Walk In The Word Day By Day You Are Being Perfected Daily And It Is A Life-long Process.

That makes no sense. And what's with the capitalization?

[Morganite]

That is a big statement. I guess you wanted your question asked from the Christian perspective? Here are my two cents worth.

The word translated into English as 'perfect' has a slightly different meaning than the legalistic understanding of 'perfect.' It comes from the Greek teleios, and is an adjective, a descriptive word capable of several different, although connected, meanings, such as something:

brought to its end,
finished;
wanting nothing necessary to completeness;
perfect;
that which is perfect:
consummate human integrity and virtue;
of men,
full grown,
adult,
of full age,
mature.

It should be noticed that the verse follows after forty-seven verses of instructions as to how Christians ought to behave themselves.

Jesus ends with verse forty-eight that holds up God the Father as the ultimate example of how Christians should behave. Jesus clearly does not expect Christians to become as God is overnight, or he would have been plainer. But, he does expect Christians to behave in ways different that the societies in which they live, especially if that society holds values that do not meet God's standards.

They do not approach those standard to impress non-Christians, but to be obedient to the commandment. There is no battle, No enmity to those who believe otherwise.

The purpose of mortalilty, according to Christianity, is to prepare us to become gods; even the sons and daughters of God. In the minds of many misguided people, this thought appears as blasphemy,an can stir them to bitterness and anger.

Yet this is one of the plainest of all the teachings in the Bible. The real intent of mortality is that we might, through the trials, tribulations and blessings of the mortal life, come back into the presence of our Eternal Father and his Son Jesus Christ, to share all the blessings of a glorious exaltation.

It is in the wonderful sermon on the mount that the Lord instructed his disciples, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

He meant this in its literal sense, not as an empty figure of speech. We are instructed that if we gain the victory over the world and are entitled to a place in the kingdom of God, then we will be perfect.

The Lord never intended to convey the thought that mortal man could be perfect in mortality as is our Father in heaven; but by adhering to the commandments, we lay the foundation on which to build so that eventually in the eternities that fulness of perfection will come.


MORGANITE


:)

[Morganite]

As we approach Easter,so the 'christians' emerge trying to find ways to justify the sins of others.Nothing is more annoying than surfing the web,when someone rings my door bell and says "do you believe in God?"

If I rang their door bell and asked "Do you believe in Ask me help desk.It's where good people help each other".I suppose as we are many faiths,agnostics and unbelievers,we will be punished in the after-life?

I for one believe in the here and now,and people should just "get on with it".I work in the care field,and the only reward I want is my pay cheque at the end of the month to pay my bills.

For those that believe in God,great.But please,leave the rest of us alone.

All the best,
Nez.

Er... then why do you post on a religion site?

Just curious.


:confused:

[hoeller1]

Be ye perfect, As your Father in heaven is perfect...

Perfection is something that we all strive for in one way or another, whether it is the perfect in the sense of asking, saying, being or creating something of perfection. It is in our nature no matter how suppressed it may be to try and become perfect. When one is commended on doing a good job, being the best of doing something or doing something perfectly, the person is really being commended on how perfectly it was carried out.

And while Human perfection it impossible the Heavenly Father is telling us to be more like him. And not to judge by comparison to others but instead to through Love. After all according to Christianity God is Love.

The Father is telling us to not nessicarily to never do anything wrong, that would be all in vain. What he is saying is that we should act out of love with altruistic intenions, and caring not for ourselves but instead for others, for he already tells us that he will take care of us and because of that not to worry and to care for others.

[STONY]

The Answer To Your Question About The Caps Has Already Been Answered To Another User. If It Is Important Enough To Wonder Then Please Look It Up. How I Write Should Be Of No Concern As Long As You Can Comprehend It.