deciphering christians: follow-up on judgment question?

Question

i asked a question about judgment the other day, and thanks to all who took the time to answer. i just want to be sure before i get on the phone with my christian friend to attempt to salvage our friendship....

is it agreed that amongst most christians that a person should be judged by their actions and their "fruits" and not their personal beliefs no matter how different those beliefs may be?

my beliefs are very different from hers and she thinks that what i believe is wrong even though they are my own personal sacred beliefs that harm no one.

Answer 1

I took a look at your previous question just to get a handle on where you're coming from. Okay, here goes ...

Yes, you're right, we should judge (not the same as condemn) people by what they do. As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

But your previous question dealt with what it takes to get to heaven. There's more to the story here. Many people believe that if you're a good person, doing good things, you're a shoe-in for heaven. God sees things differently.

Here on earth if you sin by committing a crime, you go to jail. That jail time is your restitution to society for the wrong you did. That restitution is usually out of sync with the crime, but that's a whole other story.

Salvation is a gift from God to you. You take it or leave it. To take it, you've got to admit you ain't perfect and rely totally on Him for your ticket to heaven. That's why, He as Jesus, came to earth as a human. He was the only perfect atonement for your sins. His sacrifice was the only way to pay your restitution to God's society. He set you free by His own will. You couldn't come close to paying that debt with a lifetime of good deeds or a lifetime in the clinker.

This is important, so I'll say it again. Salvation is a gift from God. You don't have to serve jail time. You're free!

Let's look at this gift another way. If you presented your friend with a gift it took you a year to save up for (a major sacrifice on your part) how would you feel if if she rejected it, saying "thanks, but I don't need it" or "thanks, I've already got that taken care of."

God's sacrifice was everything He ever loved. Can you honestly say anything you can do is just as good? If you saved up your money for two years? A lifetime?

And God isn't asking for much. Say you're sorry, mean it in your heart, ask for forgiveness, try not to do it again. That's it. If you screw up after that (and you will), repeat the process. If you're like me, you'll do it every day for the rest of your life.

Your Christian friend is not judging you by your beliefs. God will. He wants you to choose Him because He sees your personal beliefs as harming no one but you.

Your Christian friend is deeply concerned about your beliefs. Why? Because she loves you.

Now go fix that friendship of yours. Before you do, rewind your last conversation and play it back. Take the high road and be the first to admit that something you said or did was wrong. You ask for forgiveness and see how quickly she does the same. Then listen to not her words, but her heart.

Answer 2

Well, there are some hard and fast rules for some Christians, even for other relgions.

These include the Eucharist, Baptism, Homosexuality, Divorce among other things. Liberals and conservatives can become at odds over the matter.

I don't know what your original question was, but if you're in this situation it's not going to be easy to remedy.

OK, let's take Paul in Corinthians. You are not even supposed to be friend with, know or hang around a fornicator.

If your friend takes that literally and you tell them you have sex outside of marriage on a regular basis with different partners, they may not assocaite with you because the Bible says so.

It's that simple.

I forget if it Pat or Jerry who says a country that embraces or condones homosexuals is a country that's damned by God. It's that simple. Any country that cuts them slack is now on the poo poo list and going to Hell in a Handbasket.

Which Basically means only the Islamic nations are going to Heaven and Jerry or Pat better move there, for just about every other nation is embracing the Homosexuals.

Answer 3

The Word of God tells us that we will know one anther by our fruit and listed below is the fruit.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

So, if you are a Christian and I am a Christian, we should bear the same fruit.

Answer 4

A partial gospel leads to a partial conversion. The word of God taken in bits and pieces leads to error. If there is a disagreement between two Christians then one of them is wrong or they're both wrong but they can't both be right.

Answer 5

If your friend is truly a Christian, your friendship is would already be salvaged, no?