Righteousness

Can we all just agree that no human being is better or worse in God's eyes, save the one who has Christ and the one who does not? That the only righteous man that lived was Jesus? That even though we have the Holy Spirit to guide us in Love, we will never be without sin unto our savior's return?

I see many self-righteous and hateful Christians who preach hellfire and bad news, scaring Christians with fear, when they should be preaching the good news in Love!

I am just saying this because it is not our place to say someone is or isn't a Christian based on their sins. What's most important is that a person has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and that they are striving to Love God and their neighbor.

Romans 2:1
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Am I saying we shouldn't seek the kingdom of God? No. But I am asking that we shouldn't feel more righteous than any other. The only righteous man is Jesus.

There are many Christians out there preaching hellfire to sinners, when they themselves are worthy of hell, save Jesus Christ on the cross.
 
You are so right! so many people do not understand the grace of God! These folk are actually TEACHING that sin is more powerful than grace and stronger than the blood of Jesus! What they are actually preaching is the Pharisaical religious message of performance salvation, forgetting that it is by God's unfathomable grace and through the activation of faith that we gain salvation, and permanent acceptance into the Family of God as His own children!

Romans 8:15 (NLT)
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
 
Great post. Indeed, no favorites:

James 2:1-7

"2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?"

I pray about this all the time. I pray that the Lord may continue to soften my heart and to destroy any pride that is building up inside of me. The worst thing we can do as believers in Christ is push people away with fear when we should be pulling them in with love. I struggled with this when speaking to non-believers and I've actually stopped because that type of witnessing is not my spiritual gift and I've accepted that. I humble myself regularly to the Lord which helps to humble myself to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and yes, even non-believers ;).
 
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

If there is only one person who is good, and that is God, then if there is ever going to be any good done on planet earth then it will have to be God alone who does it, and not man. Christianity is not about man doing anything, it is about God dwelling inside man and flowing out of him. We are only the temple of the Holy Spirit, a living temple that contains the power of God in which this power is of God and not of ourselves.
 
Often times fear can get people o think about their life this maybe the idea of where hell fire preaching came from but it has gone to far when I was young most people came to say the sinners pray because they were afraid of going to hell instead of coming to be in fellowship with Jesus. I think hell should be preached but should not be preached to in a way that makes people fear hell more than they see their need for Christ. While coming to Christ does allow us to avoid hell which we all deserve this should not be the reason we come to faith, it should be love.
 
Often times fear can get people o think about their life this maybe the idea of where hell fire preaching came from but it has gone to far when I was young most people came to say the sinners pray because they were afraid of going to hell instead of coming to be in fellowship with Jesus. I think hell should be preached but should not be preached to in a way that makes people fear hell more than they see their need for Christ. While coming to Christ does allow us to avoid hell which we all deserve this should not be the reason we come to faith, it should be love.

Very good point!! In fact here is another scripture that confirms this.....

Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

A violent man is someone who makes a snap decision without first considering the consequences of his actions. Satan fell victim to this....

Eze_28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee

Most of the time we think of someone who is violent as being hurtful, and always causes pain, but a violent person can be someone who is very kind, and gentle, yet makes very bad decisions that affect not only his life but others. How many people come to Christ with out first considering what it will cost them? (it costs everything) They make a decision with out thinking so as to escape hell which is not a good reason to come to Jesus. The real reason is because we are sinners and need a saviour.
Adam also was violent in his decision in eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not considering its consequences that would follow, knowing it was wrong but did it anyway.
 
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