Having said that the bible is also honest almost to a fault. It includes both sides of the story on many occasions and includes facts that can only leave the reader wondering at the nature of God and the seeming unpredictability ingrained into his character. The story of the death of Uzzah in Second Samuel is a case in point. Uzzah and those helping him to shift the Arc of the Covenant made some mistakes in the way they set about shifting the Ark. For a start the put it on a cart drawn by animals when it was to be carried by men holding polls passed through rings on the side of the Ark. Then Uzzah put a hand on the Ark to steady it and God struck him dead. I think most people in the world we live in would think that God was unduly harsh in that situation.
God had laid out how the Ark was to be transported as a part of his revelation of the Law. These guys and Uzzah should have known that and be aware of the consequences of disobeying the Law in this case. Apparently not and no mercy was forthcoming. We are very fortunate in our time to be under Grace of Christ Jesus. When we sin God sees His son Jesus Christ and we are hidden in God with Christ (Colossians 3:3). Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
So, I thought I'd share my opinions of which are my favourite biblical doctrines. Some of the doctrines that I like are actually also inaccurate or may be false but in many ways if they were true would present the nature of God in a much more pleasant light.
My favourite doctrine is the Adventist doctrine of Eternal Fire. Adventists don't believe in the eternal damnation of the wicked. They believe that the second death is not eternal in the sense of the human soul living on forever in eternal torment and suffering in Hell Fire. Rather they believe that as the wicked in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were purged with eternal fire which utterly consumed them and the cities in which they lived.
Thus so eternal fire as the consequence of Judgement and the Second Death will a consuming fire in which the wicked, who as humans have no eternal soul, will be quickly consumed and die for eternity. So with Adventism there is no eternal torment or suffering. I'm not sure that I entirely believe that there is no eternal hell myself. However it is a most pleasant thought to think that the wicked dead simply cease to exist, consumed by eternal fire. The Fires of Hell. https://absg.adventist.org/pdf.php?file=2022:4Q:TE:PDFs:ETQ422_10.pdf
Another doctrine that the Adventists put forward is the Doctrine of Soul Sleep. In this doctrine the person who dies waits in the grave to be resurrected. They don't believe that the spirit goes to be with the Lord. There is quite a heated discussion based around this doctrine. Many Christians cite the apostle Paul's statement "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." From <https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-8.htm>
Many Christians hold this to be evidence that the soul leaves the body to be immediately in the presence of Christ Jesus. However, the bible also explicitly teaches that the dead in Christ will be raised on the last day (John 6:40). I guess the question here is does the body have and immortal soul?
The fact is that there are many scriptures that tend to support that man either does or does not have an eternal soul. Ecclesiastes 12:7 "And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/immortal_soul> From this verse one might surmise that the spirit is indeed eternal and therefore after death must go somewhere?
A verse against the idea of the eternal spirit is Ecclesiastes 9:5 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten." From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/is_the_spirit_of_man_immortal> The reality tends to be that neither the concept of the spirit going to be with the Lord nor the concept of the dead person waiting in the grave for the resurrection can be dismissed. At the same time we will simply have to wait on God to find out for ourselves.
Of course the doctrines around salvation and election generate quite a lot of rancour as well. For instance the Calvinists believe that God predestines people to salvation or damnation due to the fact that with our fallen natures we cannot make those types of decision for ourselves. There are scriptures which indicate this as John writes of Jesus in John chapter 6: 37-40 "Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” From <https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/6.htm>
So here we see that the Father gives the elect to Jesus and that it appears as though we have no choice in the matter. However, John 3:16 indicates that this might not be entirely the case "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." From <https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm> Here it appears that Christ died for all the world, all people, but only those who believe on Him are saved.
Wesleyan Christians believe that God's Grace draws people to Christ Jesus through the hearing of the Gospel. That Grace enables the unbeliever to accept or reject Jesus as their saviour. Others believe you can simply believe in Jesus and his redemptive work on the Cross or not and there is nothing supernatural in the process. It largely depends on how depraved you believe man is and what you make of the scriptures involved in the salvation process. In the end only Yahweh knows the real truth of some of the doctrines that men have cobbled together. They are all doctrines of men. God never wrote a doctrine of salvation and handed it to the disciples of Jesus. They took what Jesus told them and recounted it that we might as Christians be edified and grow in the faith. Not so we could stretch the teachings and develop our own take on these important scriptures.
Another doctrine that causes a good amount of angst in the Church is the place of good works in the Christians eventual sanctification and ultimate resurrection and reward. Catholics see good works as being central to the believers justification and essential part of the Christians eventual resurrection. Adventists have a doctrine of the Investigative Judgement under which faith in Jesus Christ and good works are required to get the believer into heaven. You can add to this the need to keep the Sabbath as another essential component in the Adventist salvation journey. It also indicates that Adventism might be under the law as they see themselves being spiritual Israel.
The reality is that our works are as filthy rags before the Lord and the only saving component in the salvation process is the shed blood of Jesus. Our works cannot do anything but show the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as he sanctifies us in readiness for the resurrection. Salvation is in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus alone through faith alone. That much the reformers got right.
Now the main reason that I have touched on a few of the doctrines that cause debate amongst the various denominations of our Church is because I yearn for a simpler way. An easier way to the truth than all the ruminations and recriminations that so often arise out of debates of theology and soteriology within the true Bride of Christ, the Church.
So, what I would say then is that I am a simple man and I only understand simple things. My Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, said this "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011%3A28-29&version=KJV>
From this scripture I take that God invites all to believe on Jesus Christ and makes it clear that He will give all who come to him rest unto their souls. Rest from rumination over bible doctrines, worries about salvation, fears and trials that we face in this life. We need to believe on Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, who bore our sins on the Cross. That we might believe on Him and not perish but inherit eternal life.
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