It is very tiring to see people quote one scripture, and ignore all the rest.
Luke 6:46 Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:27-38 But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners', expecting to be repayed in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will given to you. A good measure, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
And because you seem to think that these words weren't followed verbatim by his apostles and disciples;
Acts 2:44-45 All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he need.
Acts 4: 32-35 All the believers were as one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the ressurection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was on them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was disributed to anyone as he had need.
Proof enough that Jesus teachings haven't been watered down by time but even worse, people have decided to use His words as justification for acting in pride, revenge, and anger.
Again look at Luke 6:46. Think VERY hard, and tell me you are doing ALL that Jesus said. The minute you realize you aren't, is the minute you must also realize you are NOT righteous in God's eyes, and therefore can NEVER judge righteously until you ARE perfect.
We have plenty of places where God should have followed the LAW of leviticus, where the person we now judge saintly should have died. I have spoken repeatedly about Paul, so let's go on to someone else.
The Pharisee's and Saducee's were the very righteous of the time. From the time they could talk, they were taught to memorize the scriptures. By the time they became pharisees and saducees, they could repeat the entire bible without pause. Not only repeat it, but also know exactly where anything was said. They thought themselves righteous. In fact, Jesus tell how righteous they are when he says "Unless you are more righteous than these, you will never enter heaven".
Now remember, these people had been studying the sacred texts for 40+ years. There was not just one or two people, but hundreds. And for centuries they knew exactly what the scripture said.
And they judged Jesus. Can any of you who are searching for the death of anyone really say you know the bible better than they did? But what amazes me is most of you have less than 2 years of study, and not one of you could live without his/her concordance. You can not read the quote bible without reading it as you speak. Yet each and every one of the pharisees and saducees could. And they killed Jesus. Are YOU more righteous than them? In retrospect, you may think so, but change the thought to the here and now. Aren't YOU thinking that you are doing God's will according to the bible?
Jesus was crucified for blasphemy. The same book of Leviticus being quoted by so many shows why Jesus SHOULD have been stoned:
Lev 24:16 anyone who blasphemies the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien, or native born, when he blaspemies the Name, he must be put to death.
So let see if I was telling the truth, and they were following the law.
John 10:31-33 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
"We are not stoning you for any of these, " replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
So they were following the letter of the law, just like those who are here want to do. Yet THEY knew the laws of God better than any one of us does, even better than all of us together. But you still think you are doing the law of God. If you were there, Jesus would never have made it to the cross.
Now instead of looking at how Paul received mercy from God, but how he ended up giving it to all.
Paul did as the law required in the death of Stephan. He was going to do more. Paul not only was a pharisee, but he was also the SON of a pharisee (Acts 23:6). He was very well educated. (Galatians 1:14) He knew both syric and greek. He was a Roman citizen, very few Jews ever got that honor. So needless to say, in our world, he probably would have qualified for Mensa.
Yet HE was doing God's word. Jesus had to APPEAR to him to get him to know he was wrong. Is that what YOU need too?
How about Moses? Anyone want to doubt HIS righteousness?
Moses received a message from God to save His people. The first thing he did after this message was to murder an Egyptian for harming an Israelite. He was so wrong that he ended up a sheep herder in the desert for 40 years. Again, it took an appearance by God to show him the way. And even then Moses didn't believe right off. He had the audacity to ARGUE with God.
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