This is a long post, but does anyone see anything obviously wrong with my theology here? I posted this as a response on the blog of that LA Times reporter who says he "was" a Christian but decided not to be anymore. Kind of a C.S. Lewis in reverse. Here is his post:
here. I'm sure I got away from the actual question, but I don't care.
Most of this is from the Old Testament and was meant for the Israelites BEFORE Christ came. The punishments were so strict because God claimed the Israelites as his chosen people. Since God is perfect, he can’t allow imperfection in something that he has claimed as his own. The commandments were to show the Israelites (and us) just how high the standard is. It was painfully obvious that no man could reach it. What does that say about God? Who sets their standard for a relationship with them that high? Only someone who is perfect. The cost was high…death, no matter what. But notice the commandments themselves don’t say anything about death as a punishment. Though death was the cost for breaking any one of them, it didn’t have to be the death of the perpetrator in every case. Some offenses called for the death of an animal, such as a perfect lamb, as a substitute for the perpetrator’s death. Why the distinction? I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. The point of the commandments shows us two things — there is a RIGHT and a WRONG — and we aren’t capable of being on the RIGHT side and so, someone/something has to die.
God loves everyone. He wants everyone to love him back and to be with him, but no one is good enough. Add something imperfect (us) to something perfect (God) and you ruin what was perfect. We aren’t capable of keeping his law, so we are imperfect and can’t belong to him without dying, but that defeats the point. That is where Christ comes in. He died in our place. He takes the place of the perfect lamb. He is God in human form. And since he is worth much more than a lamb, he is able to take our place as well.
We can’t imagine how God can be 3 things at once, but he can somehow. I don’t understand how, but then again I don’t understand quantum mechanics. Maybe one day I will. I only know that because of that very special “ability”, he was able to send Jesus (himself) to live and die in our place. Even though it was unimaginably painful. He loves us and wants us to be able to chose to love him back so much, that he felt it was worth the price.
Jesus said he didn’t come to replace the law. That is true. He said he came to fulfill the law. He gives us the new command to love. If we follow this, then the other 10 commands are covered. He said if we confess that we are sinners, accept his death as a substitute for ours, and commit to follow him (and so, this command to love), then we can consider our debt for sin to be paid by him and we will be with him in heaven. He said he will take care of the rest, and he will change our attitudes and hearts by leaving the Holy Spirit (the third part of God) with us until he returns to gather us back up to be with him.
That’s the gospel in a nutshell. There is no doubt that Jesus was a real person and that he said these things. That is just history. Either you believe he was who he said he was, or you don’t. If he is what he said, then he is certainly good and loving. So why not follow him if you believe him?
I know that not everyone who says that they are followers are really followers. Some just say it even though they have never truly given their life to Christ. And if someone truly is following Christ, it doesn’t mean they will never sin. It does mean however that when the recognize sin in their lives, it will break their hearts and they will repent and fall back in line. If someone claims they are a Christian and does not feel remorse and repent for their sin, then they are not a Christian and you shouldn’t be basing your view of Christians by them in the first place. These are the majority and they lead many people down the path a path of bitterness and resentment for Christians as a whole.
About the whole cutting off your hands/eyes thing…that’s a metaphor. For example, if you keep lusting after women because you can’t keep away from porn sites on your computer…get rid of your computer. Basically, keep out of situations that are likely to cause you (or others) to sin.
