Thoughts on life, love and faith by Plasticmind.

6 June 20051. mkp:

I'll give your questions a shot:

#1 - There are degrees of punishment, just as there are degrees of blessing and reward. While it is true that all who have trusted in Christ will go to heaven, all will not receive the same rewards. It is therefore equally true that all who have rejected Christ will go to hell, although some will receive greater punishment (cf. Matt 11:21-22).

#2 - I think this can be answered best by understanding that "in the name of Jesus Christ" does not refer to a combination of letters or a magic word, but to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is always by faith in God and in what he has revealed. The OT saints were saved by believing in God (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3).

#3 (and #5) - We need to understand what mercy is. God is under no obligation to save anyone because salvation is by grace (Rom 4:4-5). Man willfully chooses to sin and reject God (John 3:18). Man is responsible for his rejection of God; God mercifully saves those whom he chooses to save to show his glory (Rom 9:16-23). Therefore, it is not a matter of whether God is fair (and who are we to judge the righteousness of God?) to allow some the knowledge of Jesus Christ and to pass others over, but thankfulness for God's grace to those whom he has chosen to eternal life.

#4 - You will remember that Uzzah was killed for touching the ark (2 Sam 6:6-7). When God dwelled with his people, it was under the cherubim on the ark was where God's visible presence dwelled (the "glory cloud" or "shekinah"). However, when Ezra and Zerubabel returned and built the temple, the ark was missing. Also, Ezekiel records that the glory cloud left that temple (Ezek 10:18) and will not return until the millennial temple is built (Ezek 40-48). This departure of the glory cloud took place in September, 592 B.C. From that time on, the temple in Jerusalem was not God's special dwelling place on earth. The sacrifices continued, Judaism continued, but it was basically an apostate religion, as seen in the Pharisees in Jesus' day.

There's a couple quick answers for hard questions. Maybe these brief thoughts will help you along. I appreciate your website. Any plans for an RSS feed?

Mark Perry
Westerville, OH

6 June 20053. mkp:

A couple clarifications (if I may):

#1 - As I tried to point out, any sin (no matter how big or small) is rebellion against God and therefore a capital offense (Rom 6:23).

#2 - Salvation is by faith in God as he has revealed himself. However, his revelation is progressive: think how much more we know about God compared to the OT saints. In this dispensation, salvation is by Jesus Christ, the "name" given under heaven by which all must be saved. In no way can we "go back" and pretend that we are in the OT and just believe in God apart from Christ.

I apologize for giving the impression I was cracking that door open. When I say a person must have faith in "the person and work of Christ," I am including a wealth of doctrine: his deity and humanity, active and passive obedience, his atonement, his resurrection, ascension, and glorification, etc. I am not trying to be a reductionist in any sense of the term.

#3 - You are very correct. Much ink has been spilt on this subject and five or six sentences will not resolve the issue. :-)

With all you have going on in your life right now, you are also pondering the deep questions of theology. More power to you!

6 June 20054. dramaturge:

#1: I believe there is evidence that different sins have different punishments in hell. I don't have that evidence off-hand, but I do know that some of the fallen angels are chained in the pit until the end while others are not--there must be something to differentiate them. Also, as God gave the differing punishments on earth, I would think that indicates differing punishments (and reflectively differing blessings) in the afterlife. (I do subscribe in some measure to a form of the Platonic Ideal) I do not think that has to change the "all sin is the same" teaching. In the eyes of God's holiness, all sin is equally sin. Paul wrote that if you keep the whole law and yet offend in one thing you are guilty of the whole law. He also considered himself the chief of sinners when by his testimony it was the law against covetousness that God used to convict him of sin. And covetousness doesn't seem as bad as murder. Therefore, I think the two things can be harmonized: the sinfulness of sin is equal regardless of how large or small the sin is, and all are equally worthy of punishment; the consequences of sin, however, vary according to the heinousness of said sin.

#2&3&5: (I thought I'd moosh them all together.) All right. the Old Testament saints were given a clear picture of the Messiah and His future atoning death--in fact the entirety of OT worship was centered around that picture. I would have to, then, agree with Mark that the "name" of Christ is the truth of Him. It is only in the truth of Him--his "name"/reputation--that one can be saved, unlike the "name" of Zeus or the "name" of Buddha.The name is an avatar of the Person and Work of the Messiah, and knowing that and believing in that is what effects salvation. Moving further out--I would say that were a pagan to a) realize the truth of a Creator God, b) realize the sinful nature of man, c) realize the inefficacy of human efforts to relate to Him, d) understand the need for a vicarious perfect atoning sacrifice, and e) understand that that sacrifice will be/is/was provided for him and believe that, that pagan could be saved. I don't think He would need to know the name Yeshua ha Mashiac in order to realize those things since in other languages the Messiah's name wouldn't be Jesus or Yeshua anyway. (small disclaimer--I do fall on the Calvinist line of things. . .) I believe that were a pagan to be on that road, God would mercifully and graciously provide the revelation needed. And that could be through truths handed down in folklore, general revelation, or even a special revelation as He sees fit. Nature is enough to speak to the exhistance of a Creator God that demands worship--sinful man, though, seeks to worship the creation more often than not (even in "civilized" society) and anyone's salvation is purely an act of grace from God. An example of God's provision: the Cherokee Indians were a Theistic people--worshipping one god, praying to him through dance. When Christian missionaries came to them and preached Jehovah and Christ, they understood that He was their God and believed. They ceased dancing for prayers because now they knew they could speak directly to God. As far as those who lived before the missionaries, I don't know. Or those who lived outside of the reach of Judaism. I do know they all descended from the sons of Noah and thus all were given a heritage of truth from Noah. (which is why many ancient cultures have similar stories about creation and the flood) I don't think an expansion of our view of salvation: we know that the Gospel is the only Truth for salvation. I think what it comes down to is understanding that all salvation is God's gift, and that He may work beyond what we know in extraneous cases. It isn't a definitive answer, but outside of Paradise, I don't think we'll ever find one.

#4: Here is my idea on that--thought I understand the Ezekiel argument, I think there is a simpler explanation. Remember the Philistines? They touched the ark and were fine (well, aside from the boils). The thing is Uzzah was a Jew. David was a Jew. They knew how the ark ought to have been carried. Uzzah knew better than to touch the ark. But he did. He sinned knowingly and suffered the consequences. Pompey had no clue. He was not a Jew, he knew nothing about the Holiness of God or of the temple, and so God in mercy spared him. I don't think I completely agree that the temple and sacrifices were meaningless and apostate in Jesus' day because He observed the feasts, and He cleansed the temple which would have been rather superfluous if the temple were defunct already. I think the issue was just Uzzah knew better, Pompey was not a Jew and knew nothing.

Anyway, those are my dollars.

10 June 20055. Secret:

Hey! I was wondering... But first, some explainations! I am a new web surfer, I also am getting ready to have my own weblog, and I was wondering if anyone would like to post those questions when I get things set up. If you want, you could even use the questions Jesse posed. What I'm trying to do is have a section where questions can be asked and hopefully answered. The name of my blog should be "Around the Corner: What's Next Is Sure To Be Exciting!" all I have to do now is wait for my URL and other such fun "stuph"!

10 June 20056. JDG:

Sounds good. I'm getting married in a month, but I'll be available to do some reasonably priced web design, if you'd like. Need help?

10 June 20057. Secret:

Yes, I knew you were getting married. Congratulations, my weblogging friend! And I discovered that we have a mutual friend, Tim Jackson. He helps in my youth group. I guess you could say that Mr Jackson and Dr Mazak are co-youth workers!

As to my blog, I don't know how much help I'll need. I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what I have just gotten myself into! I mean, I do, but I don't. You know... I haven't gotten my URL and other things yet, but if you don't mind, when I do get them, I will let you know. Thank you for offering!

12 October 20078. sara:

god is coming soon but we need to be ready cause god said that behold i am coming so now we need to be ready or else we ALL die so we need to be ready.

17 December 20079. A Key:

It is not our concern for the judgments. One must live each day as if it is the last day of our life. You know how you must treat others. The challenge is for the OJ's of the world to recognize living a life of lies and failing to seek forgiveness before passing. Clean your soul before you go.