God is not Omni-Benevolent
i'm trying to be careful with this, because it is a blanket statement. God hates sin. God hates the unrepentant sinner. Matthew 10:20-24 has Jesus denouncing whole cities for not repenting and following Him. therefore, consider it an act of love that you are alive today.
We are not all God's Children
Jesus said that everyone is born into sin, and that unless we have experienced a rebirth, we are called Sons of Hell (Rebirth explained in John 3:1-21). therefore, any verse regarding God's beloved, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Good Shephard, etc. must be understood with this in mind.
God Doesn't Send Anyone to Hell
with the previous point in mind, this should be easy to explain; God's children spend eternity in Heaven, and Sons of Satan spend eternity in Hell. God is only the Judge. your sins are what determine your fate.
i have been analysing the story of The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-30; Luke 18:18-30). it is the age-old, straightforward question of "How do I enter Heaven?" posed to Jesus. these verses are addressed to a rich man, and then to the closest followers of Jesus. i guess i keep wondering if this passage is directed to me as well... if i need to sell "all of my possessions" in order to follow Him. in any case, i think the common denominator is following Jesus.
P.S. if you are simply having trouble understanding the Bible, try praying for understanding.
i'm trying to be careful with this, because it is a blanket statement. God hates sin. God hates the unrepentant sinner. Matthew 10:20-24 has Jesus denouncing whole cities for not repenting and following Him. therefore, consider it an act of love that you are alive today.
We are not all God's Children
Jesus said that everyone is born into sin, and that unless we have experienced a rebirth, we are called Sons of Hell (Rebirth explained in John 3:1-21). therefore, any verse regarding God's beloved, the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Good Shephard, etc. must be understood with this in mind.
God Doesn't Send Anyone to Hell
with the previous point in mind, this should be easy to explain; God's children spend eternity in Heaven, and Sons of Satan spend eternity in Hell. God is only the Judge. your sins are what determine your fate.
i have been analysing the story of The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-30; Luke 18:18-30). it is the age-old, straightforward question of "How do I enter Heaven?" posed to Jesus. these verses are addressed to a rich man, and then to the closest followers of Jesus. i guess i keep wondering if this passage is directed to me as well... if i need to sell "all of my possessions" in order to follow Him. in any case, i think the common denominator is following Jesus.
P.S. if you are simply having trouble understanding the Bible, try praying for understanding.
Aaron, I think I could argue that on one level God hates only because if he didn't hate certain things it would be unloving in general. Love and hate aren't polar opposites in some ways. They are complimentary. If you don't hate anything you don't truly love anything, therefore to be the most loving one must choose non-contradictory things to love and then hate their contradictions by implication. It is impossible to be truly omnibenevolent as you have described it.
ReplyDeletethanks, nathan, you explained that better than i could. (i'm hoping this means that we agree?)
ReplyDeleteI agree that you have accurately described God as not omnibenevolent based on your defenition of omnibenevolent.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was trying to say was I don't think most theologians would define omnibenevolence the same way you do.