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Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
- Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
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Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
praise_yeshua > 09-06-2016, 08:14 PM
Its funny how people determine the reason for anything that happens.
Often, If WE are one something bad happens to..... then its a "trial of faith".
Often when someone else is trying to "discern" the situation.... its often about sin.
Just how do we determine such things? -
RE: Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
aleshanee > 09-06-2016, 08:57 PM
i think sometimes it is neither one .... but a bad thing simply happens to give christians the opportunty to show compassion.... ..... but whether it is or isn;t due to sin or a trial of faith......... it;s not ours to judge why something bad happened and we as christians should view every unfortunate thing that befalls our neighbor as an opportunity to show compassion..... this was where the friends of job failed him when they came to him with condemnation and questions rather than compassion.....
but unfortunately people love to judge others..... we love to condemn.... and we love to imagine we are morally superior to other people and that our good fortune comes about as a result of us possessing that higher moral fiber ....while their misfortune came about as a result of a lack of moral fiber in them........ and all too often we love to rub it in..... sometimes openly the way the friends of job did... ... sometimes even passively by quoting cleverly devised platitudes or even scriputures selected and misuded to place an even bigger guilt trip on those who are probably already asking themselves why......
to me this is what romans 2-1 is talking about when it warns the reader to abstain from judging others...... ....it;s not our place to declare that sin in the life of another has led them to their misfortune..... because we are all guilty of sin and could all be made to equally suffer if paid back in this life for the wrong we have done.... some misguided christians in the modern age have misused romans 2-1 to condemn people who have called them out for spreading lies and falsehood claiming the person who knows the truth and tried to set the record straight was the one in the wrong...... or even attempting to wear romans 2-1 like a personal protection cloak to prevent their own wrongdoing from being subjected to scrutiny.....
but i believe romans 2-1 is teaching us to avoid jumping to conclusions.. or from even wondering as to why something bad happened to someone else...... or from attempting to make a prophetical statement about something bad that we think will happen to them in the future if they don;t repent from something we see in them or have imagined in them as a sin........correcting error when we see it can be a good thing.... .......but the only respone christians should ever have to those who are going through misfortune or disaster is compassion... and prayer..... -
RE: Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
lnf > 09-07-2016, 02:37 AM
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
This verse states that we mere humans can't determine why something (whether good or bad) happens to a person.
In context:
Matthew 5:44-46:
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
We are not to judge, but to pray for those who suffer. Have any of you (like I have), said, "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy"? To me, these verses speak to that very thing. -
RE: Punishment for sin or a trial of faith?
praise_yeshua > 09-07-2016, 01:50 PM
(09-07-2016, 02:37 AM)lnf Wrote: Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
This verse states that we mere humans can't determine why something (whether good or bad) happens to a person.
In context:
Matthew 5:44-46:
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
We are not to judge, but to pray for those who suffer. Have any of you (like I have), said, "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy"? To me, these verses speak to that very thing.
Its seems at times that "Christians" have lost their empathy for their fellow man.
Even after becoming a child of the King, we should never forget our brothers in Adam.
Sometimes, things just happen. This world is spinning and we just get caught up in all that's moving.... I try to pray for God's protect for those I love. I do believe the words... "You have not, because you ask not.
We should always pray for our brothers/sisters in Christ and our brothers/sisters in Adam. Even when they create their own messes. I know I make far more messes than I clean up...