The religious right does NOT have God on their side
The collective delusion of the "Christian" right is that they have a mandate from God to force EVERYONE to conform to God's law and behavioral standards.
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. – Galatians 2:16
The Bible talks a lot about how it’s not a matter of trying to conform your behavior to fit God’s mold, but rather, through growing faith that comes with knowing Jesus, your inner being is transformed such that the law is no longer something you need to be conscious of because you follow it automatically without any desire to break it. If it helps to understand this concept, think of it this way (the laptop is your desire to do whatever):
You have a brand new laptop – a toy with which you would be absolutely loathe to part with. Along comes another person who absolutely needs a brand new laptop for a week, and if they don’t get it from you, they won’t get it at all, and they will lose their job, their family will leave them, and they will wind up living the rest of their life in a cardboard box under a highway overpass. There is a well-known federal law on the books that says you must lend it to anyone who asks – but until now, no one has ever been prosecuted for refusing. Now, if you don’t even know this person’s name, you probably wouldn’t even consider lending it to them (why obey the law when I’ve never seen anyone get in trouble for it?) and you would be miserable if you did lend it (Will I ever see it again? What was I thinking? ). If they were a casual acquaintance, perhaps you would consider it briefly before refusing. If it were your best friend, family member, or very significant other, you’d lend it without hesitation because you care about / love that person and you have faith that they will return it (and the favor) completely intact – the law wouldn’t even come to mind. You’d obey the law without even thinking of it.
The religious right has it backwards, and they want to force everyone else to give their laptops to people they don’t know and obey laws that have not, to date, been enforced. For all their moral indignation, they do not understand this:
So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." – Galatians 3:9 – 3:12
That is pretty powerful stuff. Religious right leaders spout off about immoral behavior (violations of God’s law) all the time. It’s how they make a living – i.e. they rely on the works of law both monetarily and intellectually. If they don’t abide by ALL of that law, they are cursed. No one is “justified before God by the law” because it is impossible for people on their own to keep the law! Who here has NEVER lied? According to the verse above, the righteous live by faith, and “the law is not of faith”! So the Religious Right leaders are not righteous, AND they insist that the rest of humanity, including all those who do not share their beliefs, follow the same laws that they have so much trouble keeping, thus falling under the same curse.
Can you imagine anything more ridiculous and shameful than that?
For those still not convinced, the Bible again confirms what I’ve been saying:
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. – Galatians 5:2 – 5:6
Circumcision in the Bible was part of Jewish law, which was given by God, and it is in this verse used to represent God’s law as a whole. This verse says that anyone who accepts it must keep ALL of the law and that they are severed from Christ! Whether you follow the law or not doesn’t mean anything unless it is a by-product of your faith, which comes through love.
posted by Disillusioned at 10:32 PM PERMALINK
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