Do you think it's sad how some people become hostile to the message of the gospel, that has saved so many?

Question

And continues to save many, even today? I dont get why people reject the important message it holds, and the lessons on love, humbleness, peace, by being angry and negative about it?

Answer 1

It's not surprising, though it certainly is sad. There are many distorted versions of the gospel are doing the rounds, including the iniquitous idea that a person can disregard any warning about sin because their sins have been forgiven; that makes a mockery of the gospel, and unbelievers are quick to spot that and (rightly) condemn it. But there are other distortions to the gospel that prevent people understanding that it is based on the amazing love of God, in Christ.



Paul spoke in judgement against those who were distorting the word of God even in his day! "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are lost. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Notice those who preach themselves, not Christ?



In chapter 6 he spoke of the love of God compelling Christians to share the good news about Jesus; "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."



Alas, some people don't want to be reconciled to God because that would mean leaving a life of sin and selfishness. Those who say there's no such thing as sin are the ones really hostile to the Christian gospel. Those who like to walk in the shadows will not come out into the light of Christ to be judged (John 3:19-20). They will scoff at our warnings. And others have been deceived by false gospels, like that of Joseph Smith and many others, who deny that Jesus became sin for us, to save us. Yes, God is the judge of all. We cannot say who will be saved and who will not. But a Christian must show evidence of a changed life, of having renounced sin and making efforts to walk away from it. The New Testament has many examples of Christians being disciplined by fellow Christians, for their own good and that of the congregation. That's what 1 Corinthians chapter 6 is all about! Yes, Satan has deceived many who profess to be Christians and they go on to bring Christianity into disrepute because of making light of sin.



Yet the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and even though it's mocked, it continues to do its miraculous work of souls being brought to conviction of their sin, and trusting in Jesus to be forgiven. Then their lives change for the better. Actions speak louder than words, but on here, it's only words. So Christian words must be gracious and if we concentrate on pointing to Christ, we won't go far wrong.

AiH

Answer 2

Hi Jimmie



I'm a Christian as well, but the fact that you don't get it is one of the problems of the Jesus sect. It's not so much the message, but rather the continual broadcasting and denigrating those who do not choose to buy into the religion. Maybe Jesus offered all those lessons, but what is causing anger is that the lessons are delivered in arrogance, condescension, pity, and a false sense of superiority. Not all Christians are so, granted, but there are far too many who do.



I've spent months here trying to ease tensions and getting the sides to listen to each other. Of those who respond, the ones that are the least sympathetic and most judgmental are the Christians. Funny how that works, eh?



Just saying.



Dr. D

Answer 3

John 15:18

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.



Matthew 10:22

You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.



There's a promise for the daily devotional. The wussified modern church has gone out of it's way to be accepted and liked, compromising the message of the Gospel to do so. Now, you don't have to an obnoxious jerk about it or rub it in people's face (Matthew 6:1-7) But, let's face it, if you are not hated, you are doing something wrong.

Answer 4

No one rejects the message, they reject the idea that the message was delivered by a supernatural super-being that creates universes on a whim in it's spare time.



And no, I don't think it's sad that people become hostile to gullibility, credulity, ignorance, delusion and self-gratifying wish-fulfillment.

Answer 5

My take is that if a religion makes Christians so miserable, angry, hateful, and judgmental, then I don't want any part of it. I don't want to become like that. I know Christians by their fruit - and what bitter fruit it is.



In fact, studies are showing that the bitter and angry Christians are the reason why Christianity is in precipitous decline in America. People get to see themselves through others and feel shame - causing them to leave the church and rethink what they stood for.

Answer 6

Most people don't want to believe the truth. They want what they believe to be true, and those are 2 totally different things.



There is a saying, give correction to a fool and he will hate you for it, but rebuke the wise man and he will love you forever. The wise man is happy because you have made him more wise. The fool is angry because you have exposed him as a fool.

Answer 7

I went to answer this before and it was deleted. Yes, the Lord warned us people would be hostile to the gospel and to us because we are telling them they need to repent and be saved. Most people have created their own reality and their own set of morals therein. They don't want to hear that they sin or need to conform to God's morals. They like to be in charge and run the show.



Chris - I don't know where you get that the bible in any place contradicts any of those things. The historians of the times and archaeological discoveries only confirm it, and so does science.

Answer 8

Do you have any evidence that accepting the gospel saves people? It seems that the premises of your argument are not things that everyone can agree on. You need to provide evidence that God exists. Then you need to show that the gospel is actually of God. Then we can discuss whether or not it benefits people.

Answer 9

“Jimmie”, here are a few difficult points to consider that nonetheless are correct for Christian believers:



(1.) All men have not faith (2nd Thessalonians 3: 2, KJV). The Gospel is sacred substance that is to be joined with the spirit content of created beings and living creatures. Truth from GOD may only be received by those who have prepared themselves through such features as dutifulness, expectation (we say, hope), obedience, sacrifice, and submission.



(2.) When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart (Exodus 8: 15, KJV). Hardness of heart is an operation of the Spirit from GOD, however, not by acting on, forcing, or manipulating a person’s feelings and thoughts. Rather, the Holy Spirit acknowledges their enmity against GOD as irreversible without first ending their mortality, or by continued widespread death and destruction. The Spirit may not righteously disregard or ignore persistent defiance of divine law, rejection of divine counsel, or denial of divine love. The Spirit is obligated to abandon and make no further appeals where the minds and hearts of created beings and living creatures only invite being sealed against divinity. Without “pressure” to embrace what are, in fact, the difficult works of confession, repentance and truth, men do not leave their “comfort zone” of sin and separation from GOD.



(3.) But they have not all obeyed the gospel (Romans 10: 16, KJV). To obey is to put aside ones own will to carry out or perform the will of another. Thus, to obey is one of the most powerful ways of demonstrating love, the willingness to add value, and to unselfishly provide benefit to another. Those who lack balance, poise, and stability (we say, maturity), and those who do not have a clear grasp of their own abilities, desires, and place in relationships usually also lack the awareness and strength necessary for love of Christ, and obedience to the Gospel.



There is far more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually understood. (For example, (4.) The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8: 7, KJV). Human makeup (we say, the flesh) is designed to function in accordance with material and physical processes that are mechanical in their nature such as appetite, sensation, and mind. Just like hunger, thirst, and sexual cravings cannot be eliminated by logic, reason and science, sin can not be overcome except through operations of the Spirit from GOD. Sin may dominate awareness and self-will in created beings and living creatures, yet, can not control the will of GOD. The added endowment of Spirit supplied through the Gospel enables believers to correctly resist sin, and to continuously seek the perfection coming forth from GOD.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith. Jesus is coming soon. Grow in grace.





THE BLACK PHOENIX

Washington, DC

Answer 10

For every positive there is a negative, that's just the way it is.

Answer 11

Given that a literal reading of the Old Testament contradicts history, archaeology, physics, chemistry, geology, and biology, doesn't it strike you as improbable that the "savior" needed to die to save us from a metaphorical origin story that was taken too literally? I find this laughable.



And yes, being lied to does tend to upset people. I think it is a justifiable and reasonable response.

Answer 12

It didn't save Africans nor native Indians.

Answer 13

Because of the wicked way in which so many of its loudest advocates choose to interpret and use it.

Answer 14

“The oldest surviving complete text of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus, dating back to the middle of the fourth century. The oldest fragments, the Bodmer and Beatty Papyri and Papyrus 52, date back to the second century but only contain bits of the Gospel of John. All of these texts are Greek.



Jesus's native tongue was Aramaic, and even if he knew Greek, he certainly did not speak it to his apostles, many of whom were uneducated fishermen. Without any surviving Aramaic texts, the actual words of Christ are lost forever, mired in a sea of subjective translation by ancient scribes.



There are three hundred years between the composition of a text and our surviving copies. In a world without a printing press, texts would often undergo drastic evolution through centuries of handwritten duplication.



Our four canonical gospels did not begin their lives as the gospels of "Matthew," "Mark," "Luke" and "John." Different groups of early Christians maintained their own oral traditions of Jesus's wisdom, as writing was a specialized skill and not every fellowship enjoyed the services of a scribe. When written accounts of Jesus's teachings began to circulate (i.e., the theoretical "sayings" gospel Q and the Semeia or Signs source), the independent groups WOULD SUPPLEMENT THEM WITH THEIR OWN TRADITIONS about the savior, each believing their own versions to be "the Gospel." Eventually, as these expanded writings spread through other communities, some versions were viewed as having more authority than others. It was not until the pronouncement of Bishop Irenus (185 C.E.) that Christians began to accept only the four familiar gospels as authoritative, and to refer to them by their modern titles.



The rest of the canon was much slower to develop. For the next two centuries, the four gospels would be coupled with a myriad of different letters, epistles, stories and apocalypses, according to what a particular congregation JUDGED AS RELEVANT TO THEIR UNDERSTANDING of Jesus Christ and his message. Catholicism was only one of the dozens of "denominations" within the early church—Gnosticism was prevalent throughout Egypt, Montanism in Asia Minor, Marcionism in Syria.



Eventually, the Catholic church was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire, and all other systems of belief were branded as heresies. Following the Epistle of Athanasius in 367 C.E., the Church finally reached agreement upon which writings were truly authentic and representative of apostolic tradition, thus forming what we know today as the canonical New Testament. Although factions of the Church continued to debate the merits of various books for centuries, and many even used other writings in their liturgy, most uncanonical writings were ordered to be destroyed. In many cases, possession of heretical literature was punishable by death.”

Answer 15

The day you stop forcing your 'gospel' on everyone else is the day I stop protesting.

Answer 16

As Jesus Christ told all of his brothers and sisters in him, As they have persecuted me, So also will they percecute you.

Answer 17

Saved?

From what, exactly?

Total nonsense.

Answer 18

Heartfelt whining is not a substitute for evidence.

Answer 19

you don't know how humble i am



i am the humblest person i know