Theological Inquiry on Reddit: “Why make hell at all? Why make salvation necessary? Why add these arbitrary restrictions?”

Christian response,

The answer to your questions lies in understanding the causation for the creation of matter, Time, this Universe and our genome. I could offer a dissertation on that subject alone but suffice to say that our entire creation, its causation, is the resultant of a rebellion in the Kingdom instigated by a covetous cherub angel, one of God’s most anointed (Ezekiel 28:11-17) and the unfathomable number of angels that followed this cherub angel in a coup d’état.

The Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle John that nothing impure is permitted to enter/exist in the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27); therefore, the destructiveness of the rebellion in the Kingdom mandated immediate removal; in fact, Jesus tells us that He watched Satan fall from Heaven like lightening (Luke 10:18). In response to Satan’s rebellion, God the Father commissioned the Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:35; John 1; Colossians 1), to take elements from the unseen spiritual world and fashion those elements with rapidity into matter that can be apprehended by life constrained by Time and physics (Hebrews 11:3).

Jesus Christ (John 1; Colossians 1) proceeded, with rapidity, to create the Heavens and the Earth in six-literal 24-hour-days at which time Satan and his minions were extricated from the Kingdom and placed on this Earth and constrained partially by Time and physics. The Apostle John tells us that the primary reason the Son, Jesus Christ, entered into the Realm of Time was “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). The Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit tells us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was ordained “before the beginning of Time” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Elohim, in Eden, declared a war between the Son who would be born of the seed of the woman (virgin) and Satan (Genesis 3:15) and Elohim revealed His war strategy of atonement for sin through the shedding of innocent blood and the robe of righteousness by faith, not works, in Genesis 3:21. These prophecies by Elohim came to fruition 4000-years later at Golgotha when Messiah exclaimed “It is finished.”

So then, back to your question. All that has transpired in the history of mankind beginning with Adam is God’s Plan to maintain volitional love with His beautiful angelic creation while dealing with the rebellion of Satan and defeating him via selfless, sacrificial love. God the Father was put into somewhat of a quandary when Satan, God’s chief cherub angel, rebelled in the Kingdom. God the Father was confronted with two-options:

1) Destroy Satan and risk destroying volitional love with His faithful angelic creation – or –

2) Extricate Satan and deal with him and his destruction apart from the Kingdom and demonstrate to the faithful angelic creation why obedience is essential and why God so desperately loves them and desires relationship with them; God demonstrated this love by giving Himself as a sacrifice for a rebellious, stubborn, sinful, creation known as human kind (John 3:16)…the angels are looking-on in awe!

All of the horror, sin, death, murder, war, disease, over the previous 6000-years of human existence, these display the works of Satan and the fallen angels and the faithful angles look-on with absolute amazement; soon, subsequent to the coming Tribulation period, there will come the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ where Satan and the demons will be bound for 1000-years and absolute peace will reign upon the Earth for a millennium. At the end of the 1000-year Millennial reign of Messiah, Satan will be loosed once again and deceive the Nations to rebel against God but God will destroy those rebellious Nations with fire. The faithful angelic creation will, at that time, wholly concur with the Father that Satan and their former brethren, the fallen angles, do deserve punishment in Hell forever (Revelation 20:10).

So then, I hope you understand why God the Father, the Son, the Spirit, have done what they have done and understand that we, human kind, are basically nothing more than the refuse of a cosmic war between good v. evil and it is by God’s sheer grace and mercy and love for His angelic creation that we’ve been included in that grace through faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us in the presence of the Father, the Holy Angels, the devil and mankind. God could have easily used us as fodder and disregard us in Hell for eternity but the fact is, Hell was NOT created for mankind but for Satan and the fallen angels as they will NOT die (Matthew 25:41), angels do not die (Luke 20:36), but God planned Hell as a repository for these rebellious enemies of God, forever. Mankind enters Hell by first climbing directly over the Cross of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). It is NOT God’s desire that mankind die in Hell but that we all come to a knowledge of the Truth and be saved by faith in the Son, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). I hope this helps?

Atheist inquiry: “Should people who are immoral get away with it?

Compare these two people.
Who would go to heaven and who to hell?
Lots of people have been saying that is you are a non-believer, you do not go to heaven.

1. A non-believer who follows all of the Christian moral rules
2. A sinner who repents for their sins in a church

If you say that 2. should go to heaven then is your god really so utterly naive, narcissistic, and flat out GULLIBLE that he would judge a sinner who sucks up to a g-d IDOL rather than one with a solid moral compass.”

Response to Atheist’ inquiry,

Where you’ve erred in your thinking is not understanding the grace and mercy and intent of God the Father and His Plan through the New Covenant of Grace established in the innocent blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28). There is no woman or man that has existed since Adam (except for Messiah Jesus) that was or is sinless, moral, good, righteous, as we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and His standard of perfection (Romans 3:23). If mankind could earn, or work, or be sufficiently good to find righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father, Jesus would not have needed to suffer and die upon a Roman Cross (John 3:16).

Seeing that you and I were in a hopeless condition in that God the Father demands perfection and He will NOT permit anything impure to enter His Kingdom (Revelation 21:27), God the Father, “before the beginning of Time” (2 Timothy 1:9-10) ordained the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ which was first introduced in Genesis 3:15 and 3:21. In the New Covenant, God the Father through the Son and through the Spirit has told us that anyone who will humble them self before Him and repent of their sin (turn away from wilful sin) and sincerely believe in their heart, confess with their mouth, that Jesus Christ is God who died to pay their sin-debt and believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead for their justification leading to eternal life (Romans 10:9-10), that person so believing and confessing will be forgiven of all sin, past-present-future, and they will receive the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) who will walk them in the process called “sanctification” where the Spirit daily-incrementally transforms their life from one of wanton sin and rebellion into a life desiring holiness and righteousness as the Spirit prepares them for life in Eternity subsequent to the death of the body in Time (2 Corinthians 5:8). The Christian does not become perfect and sinless in this life as they continue to struggle with a sin-nature but by faith in Jesus as Lord, they now have a NEW NATURE and the indwelling Holy Spirit who resides within them and they no longer live a life of wanton sin and rebellion but they desire a life that honors God and seeks to please Him through obedience and love.

None of us can earn God’s favor – no one can be sufficiently “good” to please God – all of our best works on our best day are as a filthy menstrual rag in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9); therefore, what we could not accomplish because we’re sinners, God the Father did for us by sending His dear Son, Jesus Christ, born through the womb of a virgin woman (Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:23) thereby circumventing the sin-nature passed to all of human kind through the seed of Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21); this virgin birth allowed Messiah to be born into the World void a sin-nature and Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law of Moses and the Commandments (Matthew 5:17) and thereby became the ONLY acceptable sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 10; John 3:16-19). God the Father made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for you and for me so that by trusting-believing in Jesus as our Lord we can receive the perfection and righteousness of Jesus IMPUTED over and into our personal lives and be declared “not guilty” by God the Father….as God the Father chooses (by Covenant promise) to NOT see our sin but see ONLY the perfection of His dear Son who suffered and died and bled to pay our sin-debt that we could NOT pay ourselves.

False theological premise posited on Reddit forum: “All people were an atheist at some point in their life. If atheists weren’t able to go to heaven, at what point in becoming a Christian would they be able to go to heaven?”

Christian response,

There exists no such entity as “atheism” as every human being possessing at least a modicum of cognitive acuity and self-awareness intuitively knows that a Creator exists. Now, they may not know our Creator’s Name or what He has done for mankind or His plan and purposes for Life and Eternity – but – every member of human kind intuitively knows a Creator exists through the presence of Nature and what He has placed before our eyes as evidence for His reality (Romans 1:18-32).

The Holy Spirit, working through the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, Chapter 1, vs. 18-32, clearly articulates the knowledge of God infused within every individual and the Holy Spirit exclaims that anyone who denies the reality of our Creator is a liar, a “fool,” “without excuse.” With that said, your suggestion that everyone is, at some point in their life, an atheist is simply not factual. In my own life, there was never a time that I denied the necessity for a Creator. Even from my earliest memories as a child, a clear night’s sky provided abundant evidence for design and the necessity for a Designer. I agree with the Holy Spirit that only a “fool” could deny the absolute necessity for a Creator (Psalm 14:1).

Atheism is a demonically based scam, a ruse, for those men and women seeking to dampen a guilty and beleaguered conscience as they, in their rejection of truth, have made themselves Satan’s fool and serve him in the aberrant lust of their flesh, in their sexual perversion, in their abortions, in their ignorance seeking communism as a worldview; these are the enemies of man’s soul and a Nation’s longevity. Do not be deceived by Satan and his facade of atheism as atheism is just another tactic in his quiver to soothe the conscience of man as Satan methodically walks them to the Portal to Hell in their arrogance, vulgarity, pride, foolishness, belligerence.

Mankind turns from the deception and lies of atheism to Truth only by humbling them self before God the Father, repenting of sin and sincerely believing in their heart, confessing with their mouth that Jesus Christ is God who died to pay the sin-debt of mankind and that He was resurrected from the dead for our justification leading to eternal life with God the Father (Romans 10:9-10). This is the point, making this confession with a heart that sincerely believes, where an “atheist” transitions from death to life. Jesus Christ as Lord is the ONLY Way to life in God’s Kingdom (John 14:6).

Contributor to Reddit stated: “The resurrection is not sufficient to demonstrate the truth of Christianity.”

Christian response

The resurrection and belief in same are foundational to Christianity and eternal life. Without the resurrection, there is no hope because we will all die in this body and have no part in the Kingdom of God which will only be occupied by the faithful angles and those redeemed of mankind in glorified resurrected bodies like Messiah’s. To deny the resurrection is to call the Holy Spirit a liar,

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)

Believing that Jesus was resurrected from the dead for our justification is part and parcel to our salvation,

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [e]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead*, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation.* Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)

To deny the resurrection is to deny the work of the Holy Spirit,

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 (NASB)

I disagree with you and believe that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the 500 men and women who witnessed Messiah’s resurrected body are the core tenets of Christianity and without the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, mankind has no hope.

Question posited on Reddit forum: “How do you justify people being sent to hell? I don’t think anyone who has ever lived or ever will live deserves to go to hell.”

Christian response,

Actually, concerning God’s sovereignty, it does not matter what any human being thinks as this is God’s creation and He is God. Hell was NOT created for mankind but God created Hell specifically for Satan, the fallen angels (Matthew 25:41) guilty of the rebellion in the Kingdom of God that initiated the creation of Time, this Universe, the human genome; Satan, the Beast, the False Prophet and the fallen angels (demons) that allied with Satan will be relegated to Hell and suffer eternally subsequent to the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:10).

Mankind will enter Hell subsequent to the Judgment of the Condemned (Revelation 20:11-15) by first climbing directly over the Cross of Jesus Christ who suffered and died to provide you and to provide me a pardon from death in sin and death in Hell (John 3:16-18). God the Father does not desire that anyone perish in Hell but that every man and woman be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth (1 Timothy 2:4); unfortunately, mankind is obstinate, arrogant, narcissistic, foolish; therefore, the Scriptures tell us that “many” will choose to die in Hell and only a “few” will humble them self before God the Father, repent of their sin and sincerely believe and trust in Jesus Christ as God who died to pay their sin-debt and find life in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:13-14). This is NOT God’s doing nor is it His will, this is mankind’s decision via free will in obstinance and arrogance and unbelief to reject life in Jesus Christ and choose death in Satan and Hell by default.

Hell, the Lake of Fire, Gehenna, is necessary because God the Father is NOT going to permit your unrepentant sin and its destructive potential to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time (Revelation 21:27); therefore, mankind will deal with their sin now in that Age of Grace by grace (unmerited favor) through faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus Christ as Mediator for that sin (John 3:18) – or – mankind will reject Jesus Christ and serve Satan by default and die in sin (John 8:24) and die the “second death” in Hell (Revelation 20:11-15). There are no other options available to human kind (John 14:6; John 8:24) The choice is yours to make.

Reddit Christian debate forum member writes: “Why must I go to hell if I am not a believer? Shouldn’t God know I’m imperfect?”

Christian response,

The causation for our creation in Time is in response to sin, rebellion, having manifest in the Kingdom of God before the creation of Time; that sin and rebellion was extricated from the Kingdom as this Earth was created in six-literal days with rapidity and the culprits that initiated the rebellion in the Kingdom of God were placed here on Earth to be dealt with partially constrained by Time and physics. The declaration of this cosmic war having been placed within the constraints of Time on this Earth was articulated in Genesis 3:15.

If God has gone through the effort to remove sin from His Kingdom and endure the sin and rebellion of mankind via the influence of Satan for 6000-years thus far, what makes you think God will endure your sin and permit that sin to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time? God the Father refuses to permit sin into His Kingdom (Revelation 21:27) but through His love and compassion He has given you Jesus Christ who suffered and died to pay your sin-debt for you if you will repent of your sin and sincerely believe in Jesus Christ as your God and Mediator for that sin (John 3:16). God the Father, through the Covenant of Grace established in the sinless blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 5:21), agrees to remove from you your sinfulness and guilt and impute the perfection and sinlessness of His dear Son over your life if you will trust-believe in Jesus as your God and Mediator for sin (John 3:18).

God did NOT create Hell for mankind but Hell, the Lake of Fire, was created for Satan, the fallen angels, the Beast, the False Prophet; mankind will enter Hell subsequent to the Judgment of the Condemned (Revelation 20:11-15) for having rejected the pardon from death in sin and death in Hell freely offered mankind by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord (John 3:16-18). So then, if you reject Jesus as Lord, God does not choose to send you to Hell, YOU CHOOSE to enter Hell because you rejected God’s offer of a pardon from death in Hell; a pardon from death in sin freely offered by trusting in the Son, Jesus Christ (John 8:24).

You are but decaying flesh headed to the grave in the Earth and it matters NOT what you think about God’s sovereignty and His will for Time and Eternity. You will humble yourself and approach God His Way through faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord – or – you will deny Jesus and die in sin and die in Hell because God the Father is NOT going to permit your unrepentant sin to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time (Revelation 21:27); therefore, you will deal with your sin now within the Age of Grace by believing in Jesus as your Lord – or – you will deal with your sin in Eternity in Hell. The choice is yours.

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [e]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the [f]only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:16-21 (NASB)

BTW: There is no such entity as “purgatory”…that is Catholic Apocrypha dogma designed to keep the parishioners fearful and pouring their money into the church coffers via Mass AKA indulgences and it’s abuse and NOT Scriptural. If you die having rejected Jesus as Lord, you will enter Hades-Sheol/Torments (Luke 16) and remain there in your disembodied spiritual state, fully conscious, fully aware, until you receive a resurrected body of corruption and stand before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment and subsequently be remitted to the Lake of Fire and the second death (Revelation 20:11-15).

The veil of Jewish blindness articulated on FB (a rebuttal): “The whole idea of virgin birth serves no purpose, except to attract pagans to Christianity.”

A Christian rebuttal,

The virgin birth of Messiah, as first prophesied in Genesis 3:15 immediately subsequent to the fall of man, is essential as the ramifications for sin and the sin-nature flow genomically from the seed of Adam, the seed of the man to all of Adam’s descendants. Not only does Adam incur more culpability for sin due to federal headship over the family structure but Adam had received the edict to NOT compromise with evil directly from Elohim whereas Eve received said edict by hearsay from her husband, Adam; therefore, Adam’s seed transfers the sin-nature and in Adam “all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12).

Messiah entered the Realm of Time through the seed of a virgin woman (Galatians 4:4; Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) and thereby circumvented the sin-nature that would have been passed through Joseph’s seed via Adam. This virgin birth permitted the realization of the hypostatic union of God and man (Philippians 2:8; John 1); therefore, Messiah Jesus was successful in completing His primary mission on Earth which was to “destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b) and that mission was accomplished 4000-years subsequent to the Genesis prophecy (Genesis 3:15; 3:21) at the Crucifixion where Messiah defeated death, Hell, the grave, for everyone who will believe in Him as God and Mediator for sin (John 3:16).

Without the virgin birth of Messiah, Jesus would not have successfully fulfilled the Law of Moses and the Commandments etched in stone at Sinai (Matthew 5:17), a task no man could achieve as all of mankind is under the condemnation of sin (Romans 3:23). Without the sinless, perfect, blood of Messiah to make atonement for sin (Hebrews 4; 2 Corinthians 5:21), mankind would have no hope as all of mankind would be destined to death in sin and death in Hell because “nothing impure” is permitted to enter the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27).

Theological question posited on FB:“Why do heretics deny Jesus is God in the flesh?”

Christian response,

Anyone who possesses God’s Spirit as the Seal and Guarantor of relationship with God the Father by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Mediator for sin (Ephesians 1:13-14) will understand and recognize the Deity of Jesus Christ and the necessity for same as the Spirit testifies to the faithful concerning Messiah’s deity (1 John 2:27; John 16:13).

Those who have rejected Jesus as Lord and are NOT “born again” by the Spirit will NOT recognize Jesus’ Deity; the ability to see and understand the Deity of Messiah Jesus is what separates the Christian from every cult, sect, religion, of the World as it is the indwelling Holy Spirit of Truth (John 16:13) that testifies of Messiah’s Deity and Lordship over all Creation (John 14:16).

Law Keeper asked:“Why are there so very few people that seem to understand Galatians 3: 19? It’s not a difficult verse to understand yet there are so many different explanations being offered for it. What is your take on it?”

Galatians 3:19 in the NASB reads, “19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”

Christian response,

The Law etched in stone and written upon parchment as given solely to the Children of Israel was demonstrative of God’s holiness and His perfection and the Law declared mankind’s need for an Intercessor (the Seed of Promise – Jesus Christ) because the Law did not provide atonement for sin but only defined same (Romans 3:20). “ordained through angels” suggests that the faithful angelic creation was part of the giving of the Law as they are “messengers” for God. The Law of Moses and the Commandments, though repetitive of the Natural Moral Law written upon our heart by our Creator at conception, were given the Children of Israel as they were set-apart by God for His eschatological purposes and the Children of Israel were to be Holy as God is Holy (Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:7; Leviticus 20:26; Leviticus 21:8; 1 Peter 1:16).

When Messiah appeared in Time through the womb of a virgin woman (the seed of the woman, Gen. 3:15), Messiah bypassed the sin-nature passed genomically through Adam-Joseph’s seed and Jesus lived a perfect life and fulfilled the Law with absolute perfection thereby making Himself the ONLY acceptable sacrifice for sin seeing that the blood of animals could never provide lasting regenerative atonement (Hebrews 4 and Hebrews 10). Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses and instituted a New Covenant that is based upon the Law of the Spirit as God’s will is written upon our heart and infused within our minds in the Covenant of Grace (Hebrews 10:16) as the Law of Moses has faded away.

It is written,

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

Law Keepers misunderstand Christianity; note the following Law Keeper’s statement of error: “ARE THERE GOING TO BE JAILS IN HEAVEN? YOU PEOPLE KEEP SAYING WE DON’T HAVE TO KEEP GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENTS TO GET TO HEAVEN. SO THAT MEANS ALL THE MURDERS AND THIEVES ARE GOING TO HEAVEN. IF ALL THOSE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE THERE THEN WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF GOING THERE?“

Christian response,

If it were possible to obey God’s Commandments perfectly and find righteousness and atonement for sin through that obedience, Jesus would not have needed to suffer and die (Galatians 2:21). Where the Law Keeper, the Rabbinic Jew, the Legalist, err is believing that the Christian espouses moral relativism i.e. “do your own thing” in conjunction with salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, alone. Law Keepers erroneously believe that Christianity’s concept of “Grace” espouses carnality and a license to sin void recompense; this is error. Christians fully understand the necessity for obedience to God’s will SUBSEQUENT to repentance in conjunction with their confession of Jesus as Lord and having received the indwelling Holy Spirit as our Guarantor of relationship (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Christians understand that though they are “born again” by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus as Lord, they remain encumbered with a body of death that is plagued with a sin-nature that wars against the New-Nature received by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 7).

The Christian understands that Jesus died for all sin, past-present-future, and by trusting in Him, the Christian is secure if they sin by omission or commission in word-thought-deed (John 10:28-30; 1 John 2:1).

The Christian understands that their imperfections in their humanity and their failures in a fallen-World do not result in the loss of their salvation but that our failures can fracture intimacy with our Lord; therefore, the Christian is careful to live in obedience through the Spirit’s guidance and when a Christian sins, they seek forgiveness…NOT to restore their salvation but to restore intimacy with our Lord because intimacy with God the Holy Spirit is the cherished benefit of the Christian life in the Realm of Time (Proverbs 18:24).

NO ONE born of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus as Lord and Mediator for sin can walk in willful sin and disobedience, but the one who loves Jesus Christ will intuitively by the Spirit seek obedience to the Spirit’s will because they love God and desire to please Him.

The Christian’s message to the Law Keeper,

The Christian is simply telling the Law Keeper that any attempt to achieve or attain righteousness/atonement/salvation by keeping the Sinai Commandments or the Levitical Law is futility because mankind is a sinner (Romans 3:23); therefore, mankind, by his works and human effort, can never be sufficiently “good” to find favor with our Holy God who requires absolute perfection in word-thought-deed (1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 19:2); this is one reason Jesus entered Time in the flesh through a virgin woman (Philippians 2:8; 1 John 3:8b; Genesis 3:15) and lived a life of perfection by fulfilling the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and giving Himself as a sacrifice for us (Matthew 26:28) so that by believing in Him and His work upon the Cross, we can receive HIS perfection imputed over our life and thereby be declared “not guilty” by God the Father (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Righteousness through the Law?

Mankind can never find righteousness with the Father by attempting to keep a Law or an edict or a tradition or a Day, but once mankind has agreed with the Father and pursues His “Way” to salvation by repenting of sin and believing in/confessing Jesus as Lord and subsequently receive the Holy Spirit as their Guarantor of relationship, obedience to the Spirit in the process of sanctification is essential as this obedience to God’s will validates one’s confession as authentic. No one born of the Spirit can continue to live in willful sin and disobedience (Luke 6:46).

The Christian does not seek to obey the letter of the Law but the Christian seeks the Law of the Spirit written on our heart and infused within our mind (Hebrews 10:16; Jeremiah 31:31–33; Hebrews 8:8–10); it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who takes charge in the life of the Christian and prepares them for service in the Kingdom during the process of sanctification (Galatians 5:16-26).

The Sinai Commandments and the Christian,

For a certainty, there are moral aspects of the Commandments etched in stone and the Mosaic Law that are taught and infused by the Spirit in the life of the Christian as these moral edicts are universal natural law and written upon our heart, but a striving and laboring to obey the letter is NOT relevant for the Christian as the Christian walks by Grace through the Spirit and not by the letter of the Mosaic Law that is irrelevant and has faded away in the New Covenant (Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11). Again, no one who possesses the indwelling Holy Spirit and loves Jesus Christ as Lord can walk in willful sin and disobedience; this is NOT possible!

Absence of Atonement in “the Law.”

In addition, the Commandments and the 613 Levitical Laws do NOT provide atonement for sin and without the shedding of blood there is NO remission of sin (Leviticus 17:11); therefore, the Law could never provide lasting regenerative atonement because the blood of animals cannot forgive sin (Hebrews 10:4); therefore, the Law and our attempted obedience to same cannot save anyone because we’re sinners (Romans 3:23) and the Law requires perfect obedience in order to achieve righteousness through it (James 2:10). Even if one was to attain righteousness through the Law, it is ONLY by faith in the shed blood of Christ that one finds atonement for sin, nothing more, nothing less (Hebrews 10). Without atonement provided only by Jesus Christ, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27).

The Law of the Spirit is superior to the Law of Moses,

The Christian is not obligated to a Law etched in stone or scratched on parchment but the Christian is obligated to the Law of the Spirit not the letter (2 Corinthians 3:4-6). The Law of the Spirit is superior to the Law of Moses as the Law of the Spirit is enhanced through mens rea or one’s “thought life.” No longer is culpability realized only subsequent to a physical act as in the Covenant of Law but in the Covenant of Grace through the Spirit, one’s thoughts can be culpable as sin void the physical act (Matthew 5:27-28).

Concerning murderers and thieves in Heaven,

Have you ever been angry with a brother without cause? If you respond in the affirmative, you’re a murderer in the New Covenant (Matthew 5:22). Have you ever lusted after another person? If you answer in the affirmative, you’re an adulterer or fornicator in the New Covenant (Matthew 5:27-28). There will be murderers and thieves in Heaven; that is, those who have repented of their sin and trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and having been redeemed by the indwelling Holy Spirit who walks with them on the path of obedience through sanctification.

On the other hand, there are many who think themselves worthy of God’s Kingdom because they strive in the Covenant of Law and live a life of partial obedience to the Commandments and the Levitical Law not understanding that God expects PERFECTION and that PERFECTION is only attainable through the imputation of Messiah’s perfection by faith in Him as our God and Savior and Mediator for sin (John 3:18); therefore, these “Law Keepers” who trust in the Law of Moses and the Sinai Commandments for righteousness will find themselves in the Judgment of the Condemned (Revelation 20:11-15) because they shouted LORD-LORD without trusting and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Mediator for their sin (Matthew 7:21-23).