It's so true. The Biblical God hates women for just being women even though he created them.

And is peeved at man's failures even though he created that too.

I guess he's just upset with himself that he's such a miserably inept creator.

Or at least that's the gist of the Biblical mythology anyway. I've always said that if the Biblical God were real I'd truly feel sorry for him and pray that there is a God above him that he can turn to for help.

Well in Genesis it even states flat out "The lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh."

God shortened the human lifespan to 120 years because humans are "flesh" and he was tired of fighting with them. I mean whats the deal with that exactly? He made these humans in his image supposedly yet they just argue with him constantly and cause strife to the point that he has to shorten their lifespans because he cant take it.

good point

he is not pleased with man period!! he stopped being pleased after he created monkeys and mirror mirror - hmmm? well like i said - monkeys.

Its easier to ponder all of this invented crap than to worry about death anyway. Thats why religion is such a big business.

I guess I fail to see the point of you asking stuff about God since by your other posts, it appears you are an atheist.

I guess my question is this...

Why does an atheist spend so much time bickering about something that does not exist?

It seems you actually do believe in God because this "fictional" entity causes you an incredible amount of entertainment, but the atheist front seems to be merely bitterness hiding some unknown (by us) pain.

Just sayin'...

Why ask silly questions about God if he doesn't exist?

Or are you saying he does, but you need an excuse to release bitterness? I can understand that, I suppose... As much concentration as you give to the combating of "God" it seems you believe in him much more than you claim not to...

...or so it appears from an objectionable stand point.

Abra,

I guess I might think differently if I ever saw you post about anything but God.

I have never seen you post about how cool trees look, or how cool the sky is at dusk, or how cool the sunrise is over the ocean on a red-sky morning, or... basically, I cannot remember seeing you post about anything here except being very bitter about... ummm... "God:, the myth which doesn't exist, that you spend a lot of time talking about. If this thing doesn't exist, what drives you to talk about it?

There certainly is much more to life than belching bitterness against something you know doesn't exist... that's why I figure you actually do believe in God, but it is in some form of truly hurt and bitter way, that you are now dead set on using Mingle to vent all of your pent-up aggravation at (it appears)... possibly something you have been let down with, which perhaps you once believed in, since you seem to know at least some kind of half-truths about that Bible thing.

Just sayin', that there is probably a more peaceful place for you concentrating your life's energy on something besides God which you know not to exist.

On you death bed, would you like to have back all the minutes you wasted talking about something you know is fictional and a myth?

Just sayin'... I've seen you post here for like a couple years at least, and it is always something about God... but you seem to claim to be an atheist.

So if you are truly an atheist maybe its time to step up and truly BE an atheist (instead of apparently a dishelved former believer...), or... is it your proselytizing of atheism (which would tend to make atheism a religion, too) that drives you? Or a bitterness toward a religion gone bad in your own life?

It takes a lot of time in one day to write all this anti-God stuff, and it doesn't make sense to me, if you don't believe in God, that you would logically spend so much of your precious limited time on Earth (seemingly) wasting this same precious limited time on Earth, combating something that does not exist.

On a dating site, no less...

OMG quit...please...I can't breath

I agree with you telephone man.All the non believers in here talks about anti religion,but since I have been here I haven't heard so much of a peep about the other religions and how full of s*** they are.It's always the bad,bad,bad Christians.If you truly hate religion why don't you get the nerve to start a post insulting Islam,Judaism,buddhism,Hinduism,Sikhism,Jainism,and the other religions?I think we know how you feel about Christians.Why don't you debate something new?Islams not only still stone people to death they also bury and burn them alive.

I would need to disagree. How would you even know what I choose to hold faith in or not? I might have my own spirituality and so might Abra though I can not speak for him. Am I simply a heathen or atheist because I choose not to believe in the biblical depiction of god? That is quite the presumption being made on your part. I could be polytheistic for all you know about my personal spirituality. In which case, I might even observe more than one god or goddess.

What I hear being espoused in these forums more often than not is an anti-organized religion stance and with good reason. Organized religion has arguably been one of the worst operations to besiege mankind in all of history. My personal experience with Christianity has been discouraging and unpleasant. I have listened to ministers tell me that if I was not baptized in their church then I was going to Hell. I have had Catholic priests tell me I was a whore and that I needed to cover my hair during mass.

No man has the right to take that tone with an adult female.

I have heard the same word of God spoken by several different people on this forum (you included Thomas) and all of them have their own idea of what it means; and each of them is adamant that they are correct in their interpretation and everyone else is wrong. I refuse to stand for that. If you insist on taking that position then be prepared to hear me speak because I will comment every time you post. You have the option of changing your settings so that you only view "Christian Friendly" forums if you so choose. No one is keeping you people here in General Religion.

I have learned that in some beliefs a blood transfusion or organ transplant is a bad thing, that it is wrong to celebrate birthdays or holidays, that pork is bad, fish should be eaten on Fridays. Pre-marital sex is either a sin, or something that should be viewed with guilt, in some cases post-marital sex should be viewed the same way. You should love your neighbors, unless they are heathens, in which case you should either try to convert them, or kill them. You should love your parents, again unless they fall into the heathen category. Murder is bad, unless the church sanctions it, or if you feel there is a underlying religious reason why you did it, and you pray for the person’s soul before your end their life.

Its a joke so if you dont want to hear the criticisms of this, leave these forums or dont read our posts. We have every right to be here, just as you do and just as anyone else does.

Christianity is part of the macro culture of the United States. Therefore it takes a place of privilege. Thats why it is discussed at length. If I was living in the Middle East, I probably would be lambasting Islam. I might be dead or imprisoned by now, but what makes you think I would be behaving any differently? All three of the world's major religions are equally corrupt and they all have their historical roots in questionable activities, cruel barbarianism and dubious manipulations of the human psyche.

Thats how it is.

It is not about the bad, bad Christians, it is about how bad the Forum attending Christians present themselves.
They have this attitude, you know, the one that calls others who don't believe like themselves demented and idiots, or liars for that matter.
I have no problem with Christianity as such, I have a problem with the people who claim to present it.

You do reach my sweet.....and the pictures are fun....and I know so hard to understand but I am a sexual woman abra and not a cold brick as you seem to think Christians should be.

Abra the old testament was where would could not speak about religion......News Flash when Christ died for us all the mosiac laws were null and void...and wow we have women pastors, and women who speak out.


And all this coming from a man that rejects everything and is just stubborn on insisting that it all is myth yet can't stop talking about it. And even when they give you your own place to talk about your beliefs......no that's not good because then you can't cast stones at all the people and take the log out of your own eyes.


Remember also my relationship with Christ is mine.....and only mine. And I answer to God not to abra.....gigglesnort

feralcatlady said:

.

Thats not exactly true.

Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death."

Exodus 21

21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

So, does Jesus think that children who curse their parents should be killed? It sure sounds like it. Look here;

Matthew 15

15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

Clearly you people can not be trusted with stones. They are back again. I dont need to tell you that this is taken from the New Testament.

To James question:

I called my god the other day and asked which would he be most happy with? The atheist or the religous follower?

He said it doesn't matter, as long as you come with a credit card

Have a great day folks

technically

he had not died for the sins of man kind at that point

thus the old law of the old testament was still in effect


there was no change until he was crucified and rose again

christ lived under the law of the old testament

Yeah thats true. He had not been crucified yet to be fair but clearly there are several points in the bible where Jesus appears to endorse the OT whole heartily. I should have clarified that point. Matthew is the NT. I was showing the comparison between the Old Testament and basically the same commandment in the NT.

The Spirit of God shall help me:

first is, Christ in connection with the law—he is "the end of the law for righteousness"; and secondly, ourselves in connection with Christ—"to everyone that believes Christ is the end of the law for righteousness."

First, then, CHRIST IN CONNECTION WITH THE LAW. The law is that which, as sinners, we have above all things cause to dread; for the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Towards us the law darts forth devouring flames, for it condemns us, and in solemn terms appoints us a place among the accursed, as it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." Yet, strange infatuation! like the fascination which attracts the gnat to the candle which burns its wings, men by nature fly to the law for salvation, and cannot be driven from it. The law can do nothing else but reveal sin and pronounce condemnation upon the sinner, and yet we cannot get men away from it, even though we show them how sweetly Jesus stands between them and it. They are so enamoured of legal hope that they cling to it when there is nothing to cling to; they prefer Sinai to Calvary, though Sinai has nothing for them but thunders and trumpet warnings of coming judgment. That for awhile you would listen anxiously while I set forth Jesus my Lord, that you may see the law in him.

Now, what has our Lord to do with the law? He has everything to do with it, for he is its end for the noblest object, namely, for righteousness. He is the "end of the law." What does this mean? I think it signifies three things: first, that Christ is the purpose and object of the law; secondly, that he is the fulfillment of it; and thirdly, that he is the termination of it.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the purpose and object of the law. It was given to lead us to him. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, or rather our attendant to conduct us to the school of Jesus. The law is the great net in which the fish are enclosed that they may be drawn out of the element of sin. The law is the stormy wind which drives souls into the harbor or refuge. The law is the sheriff's officer to shut men up in prison for their sin, concluding them all under condemnation in order that they may look to the free grace of God alone for deliverance. This is the object of the law: it empties that grace may fill, and wounds that mercy may heal. It has never been God's intention towards us, as fallen men, that the law should be regarded as a way to salvation to us, for a way of salvation it can never be. Had man never fallen, had his nature remained as God made it, the law would have been most helpful to him to show him the way in which he should walk: and by keeping it he would have lived, for he that do these things shall live in them." But ever since man has fallen the Lord has not proposed to him a way of salvation by works, for he knows it to be impossible to a sinful creature. The law is already broken; and whatever man can do he cannot repair the damage he has already done: therefore he is out of court as to the hope of merit. The law demands perfection, but man has already fallen short of it; and therefore let him do his best. He cannot accomplish what is absolutely essential. The law is meant to lead the sinner to faith in Christ, by showing the impossibility of any other way. It is the black dog to fetch the sheep to the shepherd, the burning heat which drives the traveler to the shadow of the great rock in a weary land.

Look how the law is adapted to this; for, first of all, it shows man his sin. Read the ten commandments and tremble as you read them. Who can lay his own character down side by side with the two tablets of divine precept without at once being convinced that he has fallen far short of the standard? When the law comes home to the soul it is like light in a dark room revealing the dust and the dirt which else had been unperceived. It is the test which detects the presence of the poison of sin in the soul. "I was alive without the law once," said the apostle, "but when the commandment came sin revived and I died."


Our comeliness utterly fades away when the law blows upon it. Look at the commandments, I say, and remember how sweeping they are, how spiritual, how far-reaching. They do not merely touch the outward act, but dive into the inner motive and deal with the heart, the mind, the soul. There is a deeper meaning in the commands than appears upon their surface. Gaze into their depths and see how terrible is the holiness which they require. As you understand what the law demands you will perceive how far you are from fulfilling it, and how sin abounds where you thought there was little or none of it. You thought yourself rich and increased in goods and in no need of anything, but when the broken law visits you, your spiritual bankruptcy and utter penury stare you in the face. A true balance discovers short weight, and such is the first effect of the law upon the conscience of man.

The law also shows the result and mischief of sin. Look at the types of the old Mosaic dispensation, and see how they were intended to lead men to Christ by making them see their unclean condition and their need of such cleansing as only he can give. Every type pointed to our Lord Jesus Christ. If men were put apart because of disease or uncleanness, they were made to see how sin separated them from God and from his people; and when they were brought back and purified with mystic rites in which were scarlet wool and hyssop and the like, they were made to see how they can only be restored by Jesus Christ, the great High Priest. When the bird was killed that the leper might be clean, the need of purification by the sacrifice of a life was set forth. Every morning and evening a lamb died to tell of daily need of pardon, if God is to dwell with us. We sometimes have fault found with us for speaking too much about blood; yet under the old testament the blood seemed to be everything, and was not only spoken of but actually presented to the eye. What does the apostle tell us in the Hebrews? "Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is not remission." The blood was on the veil, and on the altar, on the hangings, and on the floor of the tabernacle: no one could avoid seeing it. I resolve to make my ministry of the same character, and more and more sprinkle it with the blood of atonement. Now that abundance of the blood of old was meant to show clearly that sin has so polluted us that without an atonement God is not to be approached: we must come by the way of sacrifice or not at all. We are so unacceptable in ourselves that unless the Lord sees us with the blood of Jesus upon us he must away with us. The old law, with its emblems and figures, set forth many truths as to men's selves and the coming Saviour, intending by every one of them to preach Christ. If any stopped short of him, they missed the intent and design of the law. Moses leads up to Joshua, and the law ends at Jesus.

Turning our thoughts back again to the moral rather than the ceremonial law, it was intended to teach men their utter helplessness. It shows them how short they fall of what they ought to be, and it also shows them, when they look at it carefully, how utterly impossible it is for them to come up to the standard. Such holiness as the law demands no man can reach of himself. "Thy commandment is exceeding broad." If a man says that he can keep the law, it is because he does not know what the law is. If he fancies that he can ever climb to heaven up the quivering sides of Sinai, surely he can never have seen that burning mount at all. Keep the law! Ah, my brothers, while we are yet talking about it we are breaking it; while we are pretending that we can fulfill it to the letter, we are violating its spirit, for pride as much breaks the law as lust or murder. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one." Since only by perfection "you" can live by the law, and since that perfection is impossible, we can not find help in the covenant of works. In grace there is hope, but as a matter of debt there is none, for we do not merit anything but wrath. The law tells us this, and the sooner we know it to be so the better, for the sooner we shall fly to Christ.
The law also shows us our great need—our need of cleansing, cleansing with the water and with the blood. It discovers to us our filthiness, and this naturally leads us to feel that we must be washed from it if we are ever to draw near to God. So the law drives us to accept of Christ as the one only person who can cleanse us, and make us fit to stand within the veil in the presence of the Most High. The law is the surgeon's knife which cuts out the proud flesh that the wound may heal. THE LAW BY ITSELF ONLY SWEEPS AND RAISES THE DUST, BUT THE GOSPEL SPRINKLES CLEAN WATER UPON THE DUST, and all is well in the chamber of the soul. The law kills, the gospel makes alive; the law strips, and then Jesus Christ comes in and robes the soul in beauty and glory. All the commandments, and all the types direct us to Christ, if we will but heed their evident intent. They wean us from self, they put us off from the false basis of self- righteousness, and bring us to know that only in Christ can our help be found. So, first of all, Christ is the end of the law, in that he is its great purpose.


And now, secondly, he is the law's fulfillment. It is impossible for any of us to be saved without righteousness. The God of heaven and earth by immutable necessity demands righteousness of all his creatures. Now, Christ has come to give to us the righteousness which the law demands, but which it never bestows. "the righteousness which is of faith," which is also called "God's righteousness"; and we read of those who "shall not be ashamed" because they are righteous by believing unto righteousness." What the law could not do Jesus has done. He provides the righteousness which the law asks for but cannot produce. What an amazing righteousness it must be which is as broad and deep and long and high as the law itself. The commandment is exceeding broad, but the righteousness of Christ is as broad as the commandment, and goes to the end of it. Christ did not come to make the law milder, or to render it possible for our cracked and battered obedience to be accepted as a sort of compromise. The law is not compelled to lower its terms, as though it had originally asked too much; it is holy and just and good, and should not to be altered in one jot or tittle, or can it be. Our Lord gives the law all it requires, not a part, for that would be an admission that it might justly have been content with less at first. The law claims complete obedience without one spot or speck, failure, or flaw, and Christ has brought in such a righteousness as that, and gives it to his people. The law demands that the righteousness should be without omission of duty and without commission of sin, and the righteousness which Christ has brought is just such an one that for its sake the great God accepts his people and counts them to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The law will not be content without spiritual obedience, mere outward compliances will not satisfy. But our Lord's obedience was as deep as it was broad, for his zeal to do the will of him that sent him consumed him. He says himself, "I delight to do thy will, of my God, thy law is within my heart." Such righteousness he puts upon all believers. "By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous"; righteous to the full, perfect in Christ. We rejoice to wear the costly robe of fair white linen which Jesus has prepared, and we feel that we may stand arrayed in it before the majesty of heaven without a trembling thought. This is something to dwell upon, dear friends. Only as righteous ones can we be saved, but Jesus Christ makes us righteous, and therefore we are saved. He is righteous who believeth on him, even as Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. "There is therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," because they are made righteous in Christ. Yea, the Holy Spirit by the mouth of Paul challenges all men, angels, and devils, to lay anything to the charge of God's elect, since Christ hath died. the law, demandest of me a perfect righteousness, I, being a believer, present it to us for through Christ Jesus faith is accounted unto me for righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is mine, for I am one with him by faith, and this is the name he shall be called—"The Lord our righteousness."

Jesus has thus fulfilled the original demands of the law, but you know, that since we have broken the law there are other demands. For the remission of past sins something more is asked now than present and future obedience. Upon us, on account of our sins, the curse has been pronounced, and a penalty has been incurred. It is written that he "will by no means clear the guilty," but every transgression and iniquity shall have its just punishment and reward. Here, then, let us admire that the Lord Jesus Christ is the end of the law as to penalty. That curse and penalty are awful things to think upon, but Christ has ended all their evil, and thus discharged us from all the consequences of sin. As far as every believer is concerned the law demands no penalty and utters no curse. The believer can point to the Great Surety on the tree of Calvary, and say, "See there,oh law, there is the vindication of divine justice which I offer to thee. Jesus pouring out his heart's blood from his wounds and dying on my behalf is my answer to thy claims, and I know that I shall be delivered from wrath through him." The claims of the law both as broken and unbroken Christ has met: both the positive and the penal demands are satisfied in him. This was a labor worthy of a God, the incarnate God has achieved it. He has finished the transgression, made an end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness. All glory be to his name.

Moreover, not only has the penalty been paid, but Christ has put great and special honor upon the law in so doing. I venture to say that if the whole human race had kept the law of God and not one of them had violated it, the law would not stand in so splendid a position of honor as it does today when the man Christ Jesus, who is also the Son of God, has paid obeisance to it. God himself, incarnate, has in his life, and yet more in his death, revealed the supremacy of law; he has shown that not even love nor sovereignty can set aside justice. Who shall say a word against the law to which the Lawgiver himself submits? Who shall now say that it is too severe when he who made it submits himself to its penalties. Because he was found in fashion as a man, and was our representative, the Lord demanded from his own Son perfect obedience to the law, and the Son voluntarily bowed himself to it without a single word, taking no exception to his task. "Yea, thy law is my delight," saith he, and he proved it to be so by paying homage to it even to the full. Oh wondrous law under which even Emmanuel serves! Oh matchless law whose yoke even the Son of God does not disdain to bear, but being resolved to save his chosen was made under the law, lived under it and died under it, "obedient to death, even the death of the cross."
The law's stability also has been secured by Christ. That alone can remain which is proved to be just, and Jesus has proved the law to be so, magnifying it and making it honorable. He says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." I shall have to show you how he has made an end of the law in another sense, but as to the settlement of the eternal principles of right and wrong, Christ's life and death have achieved this forever. "Yea, we established the law." said Paul, "we do not make void the law through faith." The law is proved to be holy and just by the very gospel of faith, for the gospel which faith believes in does not alter or lower the law, but teaches us how it was to the uttermost fulfilled. Now shall the law stand fast forever and ever, since even to save elect man God will not alter it. He had a people, chosen, beloved, and ordained to life, yet he would not save them at the expense of one principle of right. They were sinful, and how could they be justified unless the law was suspended or changed? Was, then, the law changed? It seemed as if it must be so, if man was to be saved, but Jesus Christ came and showed us how the law could stand firm as a rock, and yet the redeemed could be justly saved by infinite mercy. In Christ we see both mercy and justice shining full orbed, and yet neither of them in any degree eclipsing the other. The law has all it ever asked, as it ought to have, and yet the Father of all mercies sees all his chosen saved as he determined they should be through the death of his Son. Thus I have tried to show you how Christ is the fulfillment of the law to its utmost end. May the Holy Ghost bless the teaching.

And now, thirdly, he is the end of the law in the sense that he is the termination of it. He has terminated it in two senses. First of all, his people are not under it as a covenant of life. "We are not under the law, but under grace." The old covenant as it stood with father Adam was "This do and thou shalt live": its command he did not keep, and consequently he did not live, nor do we live in him, since in Adam all died. The old covenant was broken, and we became condemned thereby, but now, having suffered death in Christ, we are no more under it, but are dead to it. At this present moment, although we rejoice to do good works, we are not seeking life through them, we are not hoping to obtain divine favor by our own goodness, nor even to keep ourselves in the love of God by any merit of our own. Chosen, not for our works, but according to the eternal will and good pleasure of God; called, not of works, but by the Spirit of God, we desire to continue in this grace and return no more to the bondage of the old covenant. Since we have put our trust in an atonement provided and applied by grace through Christ Jesus, we are no longer slaves but children, not working to be saved, but saved already, and working because we are saved. Neither that which we do, nor even that which the Spirit of God work in us is to us the ground and basis of the love of God toward us, since he loved us from the first, because he would love us, unworthy though we were; and he loves us still in Christ, and looks upon us not as we are in ourselves, but as we are in him; washed in his blood and covered in his righteousness. You are not under the law, Christ has taken you from the servile bondage of a condemning covenant and made you to receive the adoption of children, so that now ye cry, Abba, Father.
Again, Christ is the terminator of the law, for we are no longer under its curse. The law cannot curse a believer, it does not know how to do it; it blesses him, and he shall be blessed; for as the law demands righteousness and looks at the believer in Christ, and sees that Jesus has given him all the righteousness it demands, the law is bound to pronounce him blessed. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Oh, the joy of being redeemed from the curse of the law by Christ, who was "made a curse for us," as it is written, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Do ye, my brethren, understand the sweet mystery of salvation? Have you ever seen Jesus standing in your place that you may stand in his place? Christ accused and Christ condemned, and Christ led out to die, and Christ smitten of the Father, even to the death, and then you cleared, justified, delivered from the curse, because the curse has spent itself on your Redeemer. You are admitted to enjoy the blessing because the righteousness which was his is now transferred to you that you may be blessed of the Lord world without end. Do let us triumph and rejoice in this evermore. Why should we not? And yet some of God's people get under the law as to their feelings, and begin to fear that because they are conscious of sin they are not saved, whereas it is written, for myself, I love to live near a sinner's Saviour. If my standing before the Lord depended upon what I am in myself and what good works and righteousness I could bring, surely I should have to condemn myself a thousand times a day. But to get away from that and to say, "I have believed in Jesus Christ and therefore righteousness is mine," this is peace, rest, joy, and the beginning of heaven! When one attains to this experience, his love to Jesus Christ begins to flame up, and he feels that if the Redeemer has delivered him from the curse of the law he will not continue in sin, but he will endeavor to live in newness of life. We are not our own, we are bought with a price, and we would therefore glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits, which are the Lord's. Thus much upon Christ in connection with the law.
II. Now, secondly, OURSELVES IN CONNECTION WITH CHRIST—for "Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believes." Now see the point "to everyone that believes" there the stress lies. Come, man, woman, do you believe? No weightier question can be asked under heaven. "Do you believe on the Son of God?" And what is it to believe? It is not merely to accept a set of doctrines and to say that such and such a creed is yours, and there and then to put it on the shelf and forget it. To believe is, to trust, to confide, to depend upon, to rely upon, to rest in. Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? Do you believe that he stood in the sinner's stead and suffered the just for the unjust? Dost thou believe that he is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him? And dost thou therefore lay the whole weight and stress of thy soul's salvation upon him, yea, upon him alone? Ah then, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to thee, and thou art righteous. In the righteousness of God thou art clothed if those believe. It is of no use to bring forward anything else if you are not believing, for nothing will avail. If faith be absent the essential thing is wanting: sacraments, prayers, Bible reading, hearings of the gospel, you may heap them together, high as the stars, into a mountain, huge as high Olympus, but they are all mere chaff if faith be not there. It is thy believing or not believing which must settle the matter. Do you look away from yourself to Jesus for righteousness? If you do he is the end of the law to thee.

Now observe that there is no question raised about the previous character, for it is written, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes." But, Lord, this man before he believed was a persecutor and injurious, he raged and raved against the saints and haled them to prison and sought their blood. Yes, beloved friend, and that is the very man who wrote these words by the Holy Ghost, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes." So if I address one here this morning whose life has been defiled with every sin, and stained with every transgression we can conceive of, yet I say unto such, remember "all manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ thine iniquities are blotted out, for the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. This is the glory of the gospel that it is a sinner's gospel; good news of blessing not for those without sin, but for those who confess and forsake it. Jesus came into the world, not to reward the sinless, but to seek and to save that which was lost; and he, being lost and being far from God, who comes to God by Christ, and believes in him, will find that he is able to bestow righteousness upon the guilty. He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes, and therefore to the poor harlot that believes, to the drunkard of many years standing that believes, to the thief, the liar, and the scoffer who believes, to those who has rioted in sin, but now turn from it to trust in him. But I do not know that I need mention such cases as these; to me the most wonderful fact is that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to me, for I believe in him. I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him until that day.

There is not a word about conversion in the old covenant, we must look to the new covenant for that, and here it is—"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and an new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." This is one of the greatest covenant promises, and the Holy Ghost preforms it in the chosen. Oh that the Lord would sweetly persuade you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that promise and all the other covenant engagements shall be fulfilled to your soul. The Lord bless you! Spirit of God, send thy blessing on these poor words of mine for Jesus' sake. Amen.



And the people said AMEN

yavies dheeheh bohm sah lati dom ta noat touugh damk se tii mijj jfuuu bhbxklldzn d;lxns, amen

Is that even topic related? If that is intended as some sort of rebuttal, please highlight what addresses EXACTLY what I just brought to the table. Thank you.