“Yet you say, ‘The LORD isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The LORD isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I. [Ezekiel 18.25-29]
Can we just get off the fence of Who is right and who is wrong?
Rule number one: God is always right.
The passage from Ezekiel above is pretty clear regarding the consequences of sin versus the blessings of repentance for sin. Death is at stake.
How many times have we heard "comforting" messages about people who have died untimely deaths or suffered horrific circumstances as attempts to answer the question "why?" by saying the person was a good person AND SO God must have just had other plans?
Let's just cut the ceremony... All the comforting messages in the world do not mask the effort to make the person who suffered out to be good. So, what then does that make God out to be? THINK!
If we defend the righteousness of a person in horrible cursed circumstances, then, are we inadvertently blaming God for their ill fate? Oh, we would never say, "God isn't doing right..." but we are very quick to say things like, "God moves in mysterious ways" or "it must have been God's will..." All the while we completely ignore the Bible that is crystal clear describing curses as the punishment for disobedience (sin). There remains a real fuzzy grey area of "God's will" and we are content to leave it at that. Otherwise, 'someone' has to take responsibility. We are too religious to blame it on God, but too proud to admit it might be a human problem.
Sins of disobedience take many forms. One of those forms is the sin of unbelief. (Ever wonder why Jesus was such a "faith" herald?)
We need to consider these things from the Truth of the Bible - not from our particular denominational opinions!
Father, help us all to know what Your Word says. Help us to unlearn religion and denomination and re-program ourselves with Your pure Word. Forgive us for being content with our ignorance of Your Word and and pacifying that void with religion and denomination. And forgive us for the division that our religion and denomination have fostered among us as believers.
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