Conflict #06: God as Lover vs god as punisher … (09/17/18)
Another critical area of contention between Paul and Jesus is their wildly varying beliefs related to judgment and the over-arching nature of God. While Paul believes that “God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all” (Romans 2:16) and that “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10 – see also 1 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Corinthians 5:13, 1 Corinthians 11:32), Jesus calmly & clearly refuted the same – exclaiming that “the Father judges no one” and “I judge no one” in the Gospel of John (via John 5:22 & John 8:15 – see also Luke 6:36, John 3:17, & John 12:47 et al) … While Paul claimed that “only a remnant of [the children of Israel] will be saved” (Romans 9:27), Jesus made it clear that all who show mercy will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7) and that all who forgive will be forgiven (Matthew 6:14) … While Paul callously proclaimed that “if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but kindness towards you, provided you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off” (Romans 11:21-22) and that his followers were to “leave room for the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19 – see also 1 Corinthians 10:5, 2 Corinthians 4.4, & 1 Thessalonians 4:6), Jesus made it clear that his heavenly Father’s Love was absolutely “perfect” (Matthew 5:48) – a Love that by its unconditional nature could not punish others in any way, shape, or form1 (see 1 John 4:18, as well as Matthew 5:45, Matthew 9:13, John 6:36, & John 6:45).
“The steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases, and His mercies never come to an end … And what does the Lord require of you? Nothing but to do justice, to exude kindness, and to walk humbly with your God … If we Love one another, then God lives within us and His Love is perfected in us … God is Love, and as such those who abide in Love abide in God, and God abides in them … Because as He is, so are we in this world.” ~ Lamentations 3:22, Micah 6:8, & 1 John 4:12-17
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1While some Christians claim that Mark 3:29‘s “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Matthew 12:31 & Luke 12:10) shows that Jesus did in fact believe in a God of judgment, this is not necessarily the case, Indeed, if this interpretation were correct, it would directly contradict the vast majority of Jesus’ other claims about the nature of his celestial Father. Instead, these conflicts can be easily dismissed by realizing that Jesus is not making a statement about God here at all, but is simply making a statement about the nature of forgiveness itself – namely, that whomever “blasphemes” (i.e. actively violates) the perfect Love of his or her Holy Spirit (by being unmerciful or uncaring or ungenerous or unkind towards others) cannot themselves know forgiveness; that the sense of peace that comes from receiving forgiveness can only be known by those who are choosing to forgive, those who are acting in alignment with the inclinations of their own internal Spirit of Truth.
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