Page 317 … to His own devices
“When man is left to his own devices, he travels paths that are dangerous and deadly. For this cause, the prophet wrote: ‘O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.’ (Jeremiah 10:23) … God, on the other hand, knows what is best for man.”
Well, as I have already proven ad nauseum in this thread, there is clearly more than one version of God in the Bible, Lucy. And as you have already proven ad nauseum, the Fruits of the edicts & the commandments those two different versions of God give us are very different as well. Your God would have us openly condemn homosexuality as a “mortal sin” (even though the Bible does not support this contention whatsoever), and the Fruit of that Tree is easy to see: sadness, anger, hatred, violence, discrimination, bigotry, depression, and far too often – sadly to say – physical assault &/or suicide.
On the other hand, we also have the Father of Jesus Christ (who happens to make a few appearances in the Old Testament as well); a God who reaches out to all “sinners” with gentle hands of Forgiveness and a Heart that refuses to condemn (see Matthew 5:48 + 1 John 4:18 & John 5:22 & John 8:7 & Matthew 18:21-22 & Luke 6:36 etc etc etc) … And the Fruit of His Tree in no way resembles that of your God’s – for His Fruit is Harmony, and His Fruit is Peace, and His Fruit is Joy, and His Fruit is Inspiration, and His Fruit is Compassion, and His Fruit is Justice … In essence, His Fruit is LOVE!
“I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel … It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt … And this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest … For I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” ~ Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Beware of false prophets … You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit … Thus you will know them by their fruits..” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:15-20)
“Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life … And whoever believes in me believes not in me, but in the One who sent me … And whoever believes in me, will DO the works I do.” ~ Jesus Christ (Mark 10:18 + John 6:47 + John 12:44 + John 14:12)
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