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Some things are gray. Some things are black, white and every shade in between. There are absolutes, but not everything is absolute. That said, there is no such thing as relativism. Murky waters, points that don’t matter or points that matter to you individually are not the same thing as relativism, which is inherently contradictory.
God is not neutral. Christ is not neutral. The Bible is not neutral. There is no universal, relative path to God. You cannot be a fence straddler, lukewarm. Sometimes, and specifically in this instance of utmost importance, there is no third choice. It’s either yes or no. And choosing to not answer is answering no by default.
On that note, I refer you to this blog article:
… According to the Bible everyone, everywhere has an innate knowledge of God. Everyone knows something about God (specifically, his eternal power and divine nature). That knowledge, however, is suppressed. Humankind attempts to bury that knowledge beneath a sea of false worship. This means that apathetic agnostics and atheists old and new are not merely ignorant of God, they are actively resisting and defying what they know to be true. …
And that gets back to the concept that we all have a God-shaped hole in us. White Horse notes the ‘void’ and ‘vacuum’.
We were created for a purpose; to have a relationship with our Creator and to worship Him. That is our primary purpose, period. And without delving into the debate on personal will, “free will”, we do have a choice. Either to accept or to reject God.
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God doesn’t care about being worshiped – that’s an ego move. God is above ego.
Au contraire. God is a jealous God. In a way that we can grasp it, he is Ego. As He says, “I Am that I Am.”
John 4:23, 24 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
http://www.gotquestions.org/God-demand-worship.html
God is Holy, Righteous and Perfect. And as Creator He has made demands of us. He deserves it, and it is what we as Christians are called to do in the Bible. Worship isn’t necessarily and/or only going to church, singing and listening to a sermon. It’s much deeper than that. It involves faith, reverence, honor, praise and so much more.
I semi-agree with NeftWink…Only because there is wrath…jealousy…yes…in God. However, the qualities here like ego, shame…those are qualities that are here because of sin…God doesn’t have those…
Adam and Eve weren’t shamed until they sinned…you know?
True, but the Bible shows time and again God explaining himself in ways man would understand. God isn’t a hen, yet he is compared to that in one passage to get the point across how he cares for and protects his people.
Well written, sir! May God continue to bless you abundantly!
Thank You. My daily prayer with this blog is that I preach Christ and Him crucified first and foremostly, above all else. I pray that readers keep my feet to the fire so that I am not preaching error, but truth, even when pontificating my own opinions.
Find your taste in cars interesting, hope you like turning a wrench. Brit autos don’t deal well with the extremes in climate found in North America, in my opinion.
“Christian” I’m not, gave up on being one. Some things aren’t meant to be, I suppose. Don’t live an appropriate lifestyle anyway.
Still read the Bible on occassion, what version would you reccomend and why? Am thinking of going back to the King James version….Seems there are concerns of other versions not being “pure”.
Concerning cars, my father is an Anglophile and mechanic, as is my step-father. I’m a shade-tree mechanic at best; don’t like it, but don’t mind it – there is a measure of satisfaction with it. I’m well aware of the nature of British autos. My father has well warned me. Currently he’s got a Morris Minor and a Midget in his garage. He’s owned various MG’s, Austin Healies, Jaguars, etc. over the years.
Your faith – or lack of one rather – and your lifestyle is an issue to lengthy to delve into in a comment format, more so not my business. That said, there’s quite a lot to be said about the fact that you’re still interested in reading the Bible. I commend you on that.
Personally, I like the New American Standard Bible. It’s supposed to be as literal if not more so than the KJV. The truth is that the KJV is not “pure”. It’s not the best out there contrary to what the KJVo crowd says. Translations and versions are just that. Each fills a need and a perspective. The KJV is very poetic but being dated, much of it is locked into an older format that many modern people do not understand, thus in some ways it’s not as readable. The NASB on occassion isn’t “readable” – my wife doesn’t like it – but for study and literalness, it’s good. My wife likes the New Living Translation which swings almost completely the opposite direction, taking a very readable approach, focusing on the intent of the passages instead of the literalness. My church uses the NIV in its services, but my pastor and a friend who’s a seminary student use the Contemporary English Version.
Many of the translations and versions vary very little. I have a number of different Bibles of various versions in my library in case I want to do indepth study. You can certainly get a richer and deeper understanding of particular passages when you compare versions. It’s almost like opening up a thesaurus.
If you really like the KJV, might I recommend the NKJV? It’s a serious updating of the KJV. Many of the problems associated with the KJV have been edited such as the thees and thous or downright misunderstandings in translation.
In the end, to get the “pure” Bible, you’d have to have nearly a seminary degree and/or learn Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Since that’s not likely for most people, most Bibles are pretty good. That said, there are some I’d shy away from such as the TNIV or the Recovery Version Bible (NT) put out by The Local Church. I’d also shy away from Amplified/paraphrased bibles.
In closing, you state that you don’t live an appropriate lifestyle. So what? Sin is sin and we are all sinners, period. No one has done anything too heinous to not receive the grace and mercy of God. While you still draw breath, you will always have an opportunity to come to Christ, no matter what your situation and lifestyle is, no matter what you’ve done or what you’re doing.
The crux of it all is who is Lord over your life? You or God? Who’s on your throne.
Being a Christian doesn’t stop one from sinning, but it does put ones life into perspective and prioritizes things. I am not perfect, just forgiven. I daily stumble, but the Holy Spirit convicts me, and daily I strive for that perfection, to worship and glorify Christ, to be a witness in my words and deeds.
Don’t give up on yourself because the Lord does not.