"I asked Jesus, 'How much do You love me?' He said, 'This much...' and He spread His arms and died for me."
Sacrifices, Part Four
"I asked Jesus, 'How much do You love me?' He said, 'This much...' and He spread His arms and died for me."
Sacrifices, Part Four
Jesus was very clear on religious hypocrisy when he talked about the Pharisees, of which Saul was a product. Let us review Chapter 6 of Matthew, subtitled "Spiritual Disciplines," and please keep it in mind while you read that Paul was the most prolific of all the New Testament authors, and the most convoluted.
"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet in the streets, that you may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."
"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words."
Salvation is work. Believing that someone died for your sins does not bring life, it only brings more death. Guilt is not of the Lord and only gives rise to more blame and more condemnation, in which there is no life. God knows me and He knows my heart and that is the way it has always been, and the way it always will be. Intercessory prayer only works if God and I are both so inclined, if at all, and the same goes for vicarious atonement. This is why there are so many hungry people who are falling away from the Church. They are being milkfed and they want meat and are not getting it.
I am not saying that Jesus did not do a great work on the cross and that he was not a great man. He was a very great man and he did a magnificent work on the cross, one that we should live by every day of our lives. He did not, however, set out to accomplish what Pauline Christianity teaches. I just refuse to believe that he died for my sins. While I was growing up, I was told often enough that I killed Jesus because I am a Jew, and that accusation came from the Irish Catholics. How many times am I going to be told that I murdered this man, and in how many different ways, and by how many different factions? If I knew that I had killed this man in any way, shape, or form, I could not go on living.
The only correct sacrifice is offering YOURSELF up as a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord, as Jesus did on the cross. DIE UNTO YOURSELVES and you will be saved.