I think that a large part of the problem with the Church today is that we have allowed TRUTH to become subjective and we only uphold the biblical truth that we like or want to see. God's Word is just that, it is His final word on truth, justice, mercy, love, compassion and how those aspects of His character are to be lived out by His children who have been saved through faith in His son Jesus Christ.
Mary: It is clear that your heart is in the right place, and that you are likely a new Christian. You love you fiance, and that is a good thing. You respect him, and that is a good thing. He treats people well, and that, of course, is a good thing.
But, to suggest that you believe that Jesus Christ is "the way" to heaven but in the same breath suggest that an Atheist is a "good person" that will be with you in heaven some day is to be detached from the truth that you say has saved you.
I'm not questioning that your finance is a "good person" relative to many other people who are not as good to others as he is. There will almost always be other people we can compare ourselves against and call ourselves "good", just as there will always be other people we could compare ourselves against and recognize our significant shortcomings.
But, that is irrelevant. The only standard that is relevant is a comparison of our life against that of Jesus Christ, the only perfect person to ever walk the earth. And, if the standard is perfection, we ALL fall far short of that, no matter how good we or others may think we are.
And, if we fall short of that standard of perfection, we CANNOT enter into the perfect place called Heaven to spend eternity with the Father without the covering of Christ's righteousness. Therefore, unless your fiance is perfect, he will NOT enter heaven until and unless he accepts Jesus as his Savior and commits his life to Him. It is really that simple. That's not my opinion. That's God's word, infallible truth from the creator of truth itself.
And, in the interest of getting somewhat back on topic, as Christians, we have a RESPONSIBILITY to shine God's truth into every corner of existence, and part of that truth is that ALL LIFE is precious and sacred, including plant and animal life. But, here is the difference. Human beings are created in God's image. We are the only living thing that is. We are the only living thing that has a soul, as best I can tell from scripture.
And, the WORLD we live in was created FOR us, plants, animals, mountains, seas, etc. The Bible says that we are to have dominion over it. That is not my interpretation, it is simply God's Word.
Plants were created for us, to provide a way to convert carbon dioxide back into oxygen for us to breath, to provide us with shade from the sun, to provide us with wood for building and for fire for heat, to provide us with food to eat. Animals were created for us, for companionship, for food, and simply for the enjoyment of watching them do what they do and to marvel at God's creativity and genius.
Yes, we should be good stewards and not waste our resources and there is no need to damage or kill a plant or animal without cause. But, to equate the killing of a plant or even an animal to that of a human baby is to misunderstand the whole of Creation. I don't wish that any plant or animal be killed unnecessarily. It would be counter to God's nature and to who we are as Christians.
But, that in no way elevates plants or animals to equal status with human beings who, according to scripture, are created in the likeness of the very Creator of the Universe. Jesus did not come and die on the cross in order to save trees from eternal damnation. Nor did he suffer that terrible punishment to save Lions, Tigers or Bears from the wages of sin.
He came to save US. That is significant. Human life is the most precious of all, and we trivialize it when we suggest that it is acceptable for any person to kill any other person out of convenience or because they MIGHT have a bad life. There are alot of people out there RIGHT NOW, leading very GOOD lives who are very happy and have much joy. Many of them are handicapped in some way. Some are handicapped in significant ways and yet still live tremendous lives.
Who are we to decide that a life should be terminated because NOT terminating that life might make ours more difficult or complicated or because their life MIGHT be difficult? In the VAST majority of cases women are pregnant because THEY made a choice to have unprotected sex and, more importantly, in most cases chose to have sex outside of marriage.
THEIR unwise choice to have sex which results in an unwanted pregnancy should not give them the right to choose to murder an innocent baby who has no choice in the matter and will likely feel every last moment of excruciating pain while it's life is snuffed out for the sake of convenience.
Mary: It is clear that your heart is in the right place, and that you are likely a new Christian. You love you fiance, and that is a good thing. You respect him, and that is a good thing. He treats people well, and that, of course, is a good thing.
But, to suggest that you believe that Jesus Christ is "the way" to heaven but in the same breath suggest that an Atheist is a "good person" that will be with you in heaven some day is to be detached from the truth that you say has saved you.
I'm not questioning that your finance is a "good person" relative to many other people who are not as good to others as he is. There will almost always be other people we can compare ourselves against and call ourselves "good", just as there will always be other people we could compare ourselves against and recognize our significant shortcomings.
But, that is irrelevant. The only standard that is relevant is a comparison of our life against that of Jesus Christ, the only perfect person to ever walk the earth. And, if the standard is perfection, we ALL fall far short of that, no matter how good we or others may think we are.
And, if we fall short of that standard of perfection, we CANNOT enter into the perfect place called Heaven to spend eternity with the Father without the covering of Christ's righteousness. Therefore, unless your fiance is perfect, he will NOT enter heaven until and unless he accepts Jesus as his Savior and commits his life to Him. It is really that simple. That's not my opinion. That's God's word, infallible truth from the creator of truth itself.
And, in the interest of getting somewhat back on topic, as Christians, we have a RESPONSIBILITY to shine God's truth into every corner of existence, and part of that truth is that ALL LIFE is precious and sacred, including plant and animal life. But, here is the difference. Human beings are created in God's image. We are the only living thing that is. We are the only living thing that has a soul, as best I can tell from scripture.
And, the WORLD we live in was created FOR us, plants, animals, mountains, seas, etc. The Bible says that we are to have dominion over it. That is not my interpretation, it is simply God's Word.
Plants were created for us, to provide a way to convert carbon dioxide back into oxygen for us to breath, to provide us with shade from the sun, to provide us with wood for building and for fire for heat, to provide us with food to eat. Animals were created for us, for companionship, for food, and simply for the enjoyment of watching them do what they do and to marvel at God's creativity and genius.
Yes, we should be good stewards and not waste our resources and there is no need to damage or kill a plant or animal without cause. But, to equate the killing of a plant or even an animal to that of a human baby is to misunderstand the whole of Creation. I don't wish that any plant or animal be killed unnecessarily. It would be counter to God's nature and to who we are as Christians.
But, that in no way elevates plants or animals to equal status with human beings who, according to scripture, are created in the likeness of the very Creator of the Universe. Jesus did not come and die on the cross in order to save trees from eternal damnation. Nor did he suffer that terrible punishment to save Lions, Tigers or Bears from the wages of sin.
He came to save US. That is significant. Human life is the most precious of all, and we trivialize it when we suggest that it is acceptable for any person to kill any other person out of convenience or because they MIGHT have a bad life. There are alot of people out there RIGHT NOW, leading very GOOD lives who are very happy and have much joy. Many of them are handicapped in some way. Some are handicapped in significant ways and yet still live tremendous lives.
Who are we to decide that a life should be terminated because NOT terminating that life might make ours more difficult or complicated or because their life MIGHT be difficult? In the VAST majority of cases women are pregnant because THEY made a choice to have unprotected sex and, more importantly, in most cases chose to have sex outside of marriage.
THEIR unwise choice to have sex which results in an unwanted pregnancy should not give them the right to choose to murder an innocent baby who has no choice in the matter and will likely feel every last moment of excruciating pain while it's life is snuffed out for the sake of convenience.
