Christians, please explain?

Question

Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:4-5).

The Bible tells us what real Love is. This is obviously the think of love that we expect God to show all of his children, right?
And yet:

Psalms 2:12 - For His wrath can flare up in a moment.
This is clearly not a patient God.

Deuteronomy 28:21-22 - The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
This does not seem very kind of God.

Deuteronomy 4:24 - For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Clearly, God is capable of envy.

Job 41:34 - He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.
Pride!

Cont.

Next, the Bible says that Love does not keep a record of wrongdoings.
Deuteronomy 5:9 - I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

And in any case, eternal Hellfire as a punishment clearly shows that God never forgives sin (after death anyway).

How can you read this and still believe God loves you (or anyone else)? Christians, I would honestly like to hear your explanations and opinions. I mean no offense to anyone.

The gist of this is taken from Beyond Belief by A. L. de Silva.

Answer 1

Glad to see that you're reading your Bible. My take on it is that God is like a parent. We will be disiplined when we get out of line. The ones that don't believe, or arogantly disobey His will get it worse. Bad things that happen here on Earth are to get our attention to shape up and do right.
But like I said, that's what I believe. I'm sure there will be 8 million people that will have a what if or a what about.

Answer 2

Gee goes right along with what I believe, God is not so different then many parents here in mortality. We want our children to learn and grow. We get mad when they don't listen to use because we know what's best for them because of our past experiences. Our children make mistakes and when they're dishonest we get upset and don't trust them until they have proven that they are trust worthy again. I take pride in my children when they are good, they are beautiful and very talented. Yet I get angry when they they misbehave and over step the bounds that their father and I have set for them. The thing that you're missing is all the scriptures that talk about his love. It's easy to take a page full of things that sound harsh and vengeful and take them all out of context. You made a statement in an earlier answer to another question about how Christian's don't use their minds, well we do. But where Christianity is concerned, you will never get it because it has to do more with the heart then the mind and since you are so hard hearted about the whole thing you can not begin to understand. That is fine. I can accept that, why do you feel that you have to try and convince us otherwise. All our trials and experiences in life are for us to learn and grow from, our families are so that we can better understand GOD's great love for us. I don't know if you have any children, but if you do, you think about it. You think about the love that you have for them. I will tell you this, GOD"S love for us is just as great, NO GREATER since it is perfect then any love you could have for your children or if not children anyone you love in this life. That knowledge doesn't come from a book the BIBLE or BOOK of Mormon but from what I know to be true from my HEART and the feelings given me by the HOLY GHOST. Without those you will never understand what makes a Christian tick, I on the other hand can accept that you've just never been touch by that YET....hopefully your heart isn't so hard that it can't happen when GOD decides that it's time for you.

Answer 3

First of all, god is showing us love right now by holding back his day of judgment despite people's current ignorance. Remember how many times the Israelites deliberately disobeyed Jehovah. Of course as his chosen people, a loving god will discipline his children for their wrongdoing. In answer to Psalms 2:12, indeed his wrath can flare in a moment, HE'S GOD. He can react to wrongdoing so much quicker than humans. Remember the account at 2 Samuel 6:6,7. Uzzah wasn't even supposed to transport the ark but he did it anyway and ended up dead instantly for touching it. He was warned. Look at John 5:28,29 and you'll come to realize that the righteous along with the unrighteous will be ressurected after Armageddon, now that is a loving god. As for jealousy, Jehovah has a right to be jealous. He's the only true god. When people worship other gods, it's like spitting in Jehovah's face, the creator of everything. Jealousy is being afraid of losing one's affection to another. I'm happy he's jealous for my affection, how about you. God is not envious of us, he is envious of other god's. And I'm sure he doesn't love false gods. Job 41:34 simply implies that god is above all who think they're above others. He cannot be modest because he has unlimited power. So that scripture is simple fact. Oh yeah, there is no eternal torment (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10, Romans 6:23<--more scriptures, but these are straight foreward)

Answer 4

Yes, you are comparing the God of the old testament to the God of the new testament.

And look at the jealousy issue this way, suppose you had a boy/girl friend who forgave you all your faults as long as you are honest about them.
Then you start cheating on him/her, and he/she finds out, it doesn't matter how forgiving he/she is at that point, it is all over. It is the same with worshiping a false God.

Also lets pretend that you are God and you are watching the entire world wouldn't your wrath flare up in an instant at some of the things going on in the world?

But instead of just sending us all to hell He gives us a chance by sending his son to die for all the wrong that has been done, (and will be done) and all humanity has to do is to repent .

Furthermore He gives us instructions such as 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5 among others to make the world a better place and to make our relationship with God better.

So even though the world is full of **** He still cares enough to try and fix it...
seems pretty patient to me.

Answer 5

Look around you at all the evil in this world and tell me God isn't PATIENT?
Second, Because God is patient you expect HIM to be patient with you forever? You think because He CAN get mad at any moment that He is not patient? Do you not beleive in "pushing the limits"
3rd about Deuteronomy: God was speaking to the people who were going into the new land about the consequenses of DISOBEDIANCE! Go back to vs 1 of that chapter and you will see.
4th: So God is capable of ENVY? I don't see what you are getting at? If your children started calling someone else "Dad" you wouldn't be envious? Envy is not always a sin. It depends on what you envy. If I envy someone who is smarted than me and wish I could be as smart as that person - does that make it wrong?
Next Job 41: It says in so many words that God is King! What's your problem there?

Answer 6

God has patients with those who follow Him and accept his son Jesus as their savior. He is quick to wrath if a non believer or even a believer tries to test Him, which is something you do not want to do. He is more than fair because he has given EVERYONE the same opportunity to escape death and hell by way of His Son Jesus. Those who choose not to accept Jesus and obey God's laws are subject to the wrath of God, and rightfully so.
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. This scriptured does not say that God is capable of envy. The is what God says about people adding or taking away from His word.
Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

You know, you can try to discredit God all you want, but the fact reamins that God is God and no matter what anyone says against Him .

He is greater than anyone else, and He has done more for us than anyone else. He is all about loving one another, but the hate in the hearts of the non believers blind their eyes to His love for them. All other so called gods lie or just sit there because they are statues and are nothing.

If you read your bible daily, and asked God to open up the word of God to you, He then will show you what you are spiritually mature enough to understand. And until you do that, you will never grasp what God is saying to you.

Answer 7

hellfire is mentioned in the bible as one meaning....common grave. six feet under...that's hades. there is eternal death...meaning you cease to exist. forever. but there is hope for those that apply the scriptures. and that is everlasting life and survival on earth through Armageddon. hellfire as a place of eternal torment and like someone will survive there....that was created as a teaching to scare people into giving more money to the church. no real basis for it. most christian religions mix pagan teachings and the bible to the point where the believers in that faith have no idea what they're talking about anyway.

and Jehovah is jealous of those not worshiping Him correctly. He does love those that follow His principles to the best of their imperfect ability. and the Deuteronomy scripture you sited, when you read the chapter, its the punishment for not listening to Him, you know, the one who knows all and has perfect justice and cares about us deeply. He will not be a doormat, but will lose patience after repeated wrongdoings with no repentance. That's the difference

Answer 8

My dear friend! If you take the time to put to light GOD'S Fury and anger why not put the same ammount of time to look what He has done for us! He send His only Begotten Son and He died to reconsile us with The Almighty God and to bring us closer to The Father of creation! God is not all fury and anger! The bible also says that You should not tempt God on His Word! My fellow Brother I will pray for you that God Will show his endless Love for you and show you What a Kind and friendly God He really is! God Bless you and your famaly

Answer 9

those very words,or very close, have been asked atleast 50 times that I know of in the two weeks I have been around this forum... perhaps you dont read answers?

You already have your preconcieved position... you ask so much more than can possably be honestly answered in this kind of forum...yet you, and those others who ask such questions, condem when you do not recieve adiquate ,in your opinion, replies... To reply responsably to all that you ask would require a very lengthy study of God's Word. If you are willing to do this... you may find a good Bible teaching Church in most any phone book.

I accept honest questons from honest seekers concerning the Christian Faith. Or, you can check me out at.

http://pages.zdnet.com/mikevanauken/mikesinternetoutreach

All Honest seekers welcome

Answer 10

You cannot take a verse here and a verse there and get the meaning that is intended. I think you know that and are just looking for an argument so therefore I will not even attempt to answer your statement.

Do you think it would make much sense to read a line and skip two lines in the Declaration of Independence? Of course not, it would loose its meaning.