The Christian religion was created mostly by Saul of Tarsus (who changed his name to Paul). It is now called Christianity as if it had something to do with the teachings of the character Christ in scripture. It does not.
Evangelical Christians are fond of saying that “if you accept Jesus into your heart as your Lord and savior, you will be saved.” That is saved from the eternal torment invented by Christians and latter day Jews, Hell.
But if you read scripture, a different tale is told. For example in Matthew 25:31-46, it says:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Wait, where is the accept Jesus into your heart as your lord and master?
In fact, this seems to contradict a basic precept of Paul, that “faith” is all you need, not blindly following the commandments of Yahweh to do things.
Faith, Not Acts?
If you look at what Jesus listed in Matthew as the things that must be done, acts not faith alone, Jesus’s standard of judgment requires you to be:
Feeding the hungry
Giving drink to the thirsty
Taking in strangers and caring for them
Clothing the naked
Caring for the sick
Caring for those in prison
Nothing on that list requires faith at all, does it?
And Paul also stated, “They that do not work shall not eat.” Can you possibly winkle this precept out of Jesus’s list of acts needed to be “saved”? I can’t.
It is almost as if Paul had a different master than Jesus. It seems that Paul wanted us to obey the authorities (even pagan authorities, like the Romans!), pay our taxes (especially Roman taxes), get a job so we wouldn’t be a burden on the state, and you needn’t do all of those things that Yahweh and Jesus said, those are yucky . . . eww!
Oh, and be sure to vote Republican when voting is invented.
<Voiceover: “I am the Apostle Paul and I approve this message.”>
Uncommon Sense 
The dividing line is soooo clear to those who haven’t been indoctrinated. And even to some of us who were indoctrinated but ESCAPED!!! 🏃♀️
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Comment by Nan — December 1, 2022 @ 12:59 pm |
It’s almost like Paul was trying to set himself up as a false prophet specifically to enhance his own status and reputation, but he certainly wouldn’t do that, now would he? (sarcasm mode off)
The whole “saved by faith alone” thing was always so diametrically opposed to what Jesus actually taught that I always had difficulty understanding how anybody bought into that idea. As the verse from Matthew specifically states you are judged by what you do, not by what you believe, or at least not just by what you believe.
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Comment by grouchyfarmer — December 1, 2022 @ 10:23 pm |
I think you hit the proverbial nail, GF. In today’s Christian world it is ALL about “belief.” You must “believe” to be saved and you must maintain that “belief” throughout the rest of your life or be condemned to a fiery hell. The ACTIONS Jesus said should go along with that “belief”are, for the most part, conveniently ignored in the believer’s rush to teach others to .. you guess it … believe.
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Comment by Nan — December 2, 2022 @ 10:15 am |
And the Book of James, and . . . I wonder why they included such things as their scripture. Is puzzling.
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Comment by Steve Ruis — December 2, 2022 @ 10:45 am |
If God is responsible for the Bible it’s to be read from his viewpoint. So for me there’s an aspect of both waiting and doing: waiting identifies with Christ. And doing does what’s in my immediate path- doing receives the people places and things along the way. From God.
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Comment by Arnold — December 2, 2022 @ 5:38 am |
Arnold, re “If God is responsible for the Bible it’s to be read from his viewpoint.” If the Bible was intended to communicate God’s will, why on Earth would it require “to be read from his viewpoint,” especially since your god is unknowable and ineffable? This makes no sense. The Bible should communicate perfectly to its readers with no special training, other than the ability to read, if it is, indeed, divinely inspired.
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Comment by Steve Ruis — December 2, 2022 @ 11:11 am |
It’s a very simple theme- people and God are worlds apart, needing a Mediator. Though most of us don’t want to hear it.
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Comment by Arnold — December 2, 2022 @ 2:37 pm |
So Jesus tells you how to interpret the Bible? Certainly the things quoted to him in the Bible contradict Christianity quite a bit.
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Comment by Steve Ruis — December 2, 2022 @ 9:33 pm |
The loveable scholar Robert M. Price says that Bible contradictions happen with the differing viewpoints of authors (and scribes). I agree with him- I don’t think the Bible is, “infallible, or fallible for that matter.”
There’s a lot of material in there covering thousands of years. It’s written by people like you and me TO people like you and me. So the concluding question for you and me is, Is Jesus Christ who he claimed to be? And I believe he is.
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Comment by Arnold — December 2, 2022 @ 10:47 pm |
Arnold, I think you pretty much summed up the Christian viewpoint with your last two sentences. Those of us on the “outside” see a plethora of holes in the claims, but for people like you who see what you want to see, it all falls into place. Someday, perhaps, the scales will fall from your eyes and the true picture will emerge.
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Comment by Nan — December 3, 2022 @ 9:43 am |
I don’t see a single Christian religion which describes Jesus as scripture says “he claimed to be.” Maybe this is why the evangelicals can “accept Jesus in their hearts” and still be driven by hate.
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Comment by Steve Ruis — December 3, 2022 @ 9:45 am |
Yes, a person may try to imitate the works of Jesus Christ on his own. Jesus said, ‘What defiles a man comes out of his mouth, from his heart.’
Paul over and over emphasizes belief that the life of Christ is in me. “Be it unto me according to thy word:” belief is the ‘horse before the cart’ of works.
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Comment by Arnold — December 4, 2022 @ 5:36 am |
So, you are trusting your personal ability to distinguish what is and isn’t guidance from your god? I guess that is what we are all faced with. But the results show (tens of thousands of cults) that we seem to be deifying ourselves.
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Comment by Steve Ruis — December 4, 2022 @ 8:39 am |
I think walking through life IS the guidance- where I am is where God guided me. You’ll notice Jesus often paused along the way as circumstances dictated. He didn’t know who or what was around the bend, except for the cross, etc.
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Comment by Arnold — December 4, 2022 @ 11:51 am |
[…] Steve’s blog , he recently wrote a post entitled “Just Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Master and . . . Wait.” In response, “grouchyfarmer” commented … and I […]
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