To 4Givethemlord and anybody else reading,
I read your reply.
1st. The following statement I can never accept:
“It is for this weak human nature which gives us the inevitable tendency to sin, that God suffered for. He payed the price for our rebellion with his blood, and that is how he renewed salvation for mankind.”
I’ve stated this many times, and I don’t think I’ve gotten a clear explanation. And I don’t mean a biblical or Qur’anic explanation; I just want a purely logical one.
Why would god (all powerful, all knowing, the creator of heaven/hell/earth/universe/man-kind/etc…) would need to pay with his blood? He can simply forgive or not forgive.
2nd. Although, I do agree with you that no matter what we’ve done we all fall short of god’s standards (as you put it). What I do not agree on is the fact that your “good-works” can never outweigh your “bad-work”. Why do you think this way?
Let us look at a scenario. According to Islam eating pork is strictly forbidden and when looked at on the grand scheme of things it’s not a huge sin. But I might do something that offsets this sin (maybe I gave money to the poor, maybe I helped out a blind person, etc…). It could be anything; god is the judge of this. I and none of us have a clear account of what our current good / bad deeds are. So there is no way to know if I’m in the negative or the positive.
I’ve stated this in another posting, but I view this scale system like the scale in algebra (negative / positive). Assuming I’m at zero right now, if I commit a sin I’ll be in the negative. If I do something (that in god’s “eyes” is a good deed) I may get into the positive, or it may reduce my negative status.
Why is it so hard for Christians to understand that our good deeds are the only thing that can atone for our sins’. Doing good/bad and feeling good / shameful is what makes us human. And this is what we are being tested for, on earth.