Bible Standards - Straightjacket or Seat Belt?

Question

Do your peers taunt you for trying to live by bible standards?
Do they reject the idea of living by the Bible's moral code?
Have they read the Bible themselves and investigated the benefits that come from obeying God's laws?
Have the considered the consequences of ignoring those standards?

1 Timothy 1:11 Say's "Jehovah is a happy God" and he wants you to be happy too. The standards in the Bible are for your benefit. You could view them as straightjackets that limit your freedom. In reality, though, the Bibles moral code is more like a seat belt that helps protect a passenger from harm, serious injury or even from death.

1 Timothy 1:11 according to the glorious good news of the happy God, with which I was entrusted

Answer 1

It depends on your relationship with God and how much you love him.
1John 5"3 tells us that " For this is what the love of God means, that we observe His commandments, and yet His commandments are not burdensome."

They are for our protection!

Answer 2

Even if you do not believe in God and the Bible, if a person lived by the morals and ethics set forth in the New Testament they would be better people for it.

I personnely believe very strongly in God and the Bible, my daughter who not once lied to me, told me after having suffered heart failure and brain damage and had been in a coma for over a month, that she had gone to Heaven, she would get this big beautiful smile on her face and point up and say "I went to heaven, it was beautiful, there were lots of people there, lots of people, everyone loved each other, there was no fighting, no cussing, no shooting, I didn't want to come back". Because of her brain damage her memory was greatly affected, she could not remember meeting someone minutes after words, but for the nearly two years between the coma and her eventually death the story she told of going to Heaven and the happiness she felt for it never changed.

Even to the coldest hard hearted atheist out there you have to wonder, a person that was legally brain dead, who at times forgot who I (her Dad was), remembered going to Heaven.

By the way, a seat belt, it is designed to protect me and keep me safe. And also, I am not some religious zealot, I do believe in God but not "Church" I do believe in the good and reject the bad, AKA, in another question someone answered that all organized religions are based on money, which to a great extent is true, but that is man bastardizing the word of God.

Answer 3

I've read the Bible through a few times and the crowds are right-- nothing makes one an Atheist faster.

I have found no benefits from worshipping the God of a farming society thousands of years ago, and the Bible had no good impact upon my life. Being subservient to men, being forced to keep long hair, not being allowed to teach men in my religion, not being allowed to express my individuality through body art...etc...etc...that's not my cup of tea.

Similarly, there are no consequences about living without God besides the fact that churchgoers will try to make you live to their standards and still follow their "morals" and rules even though you do not share their beliefs. The biggest consequence of non believing is being harassed by people such as yourself that make assumptions about non-belief. To the church it is not moral to have a pierced nose-- but to people like me it is not moral to judge on appearance. "Moral code" is in the eye of the beholder, so it's a moot point.

And why would I mock my peers for their beliefs? I have a right to my ideas, and they have a right to their own. You assume that people who do not follow the Bible are morally impure people that mock others' beliefs. I have not mocked another's belief, yet I have had plenty of churchgoers mock my personal beliefs and call my spirits "evil".

Your last fault with this question is assuming that believing, or not believing, is a choice. It is not a choice-- either you do or you don't and you can't force yourself on either. I did not choose my ideas any more than I chose my skin color-- my beliefs chose me.

Answer 4

In the final days, there will be haters of the Bible, mockers and insulters. There will be people who are proud of what they should be ashamed of. Sounds like now to me. If the spirit of Christ is seen in you, good for you. Your peers will know that you go by a moral code and maybe they will feel conviction of their sins. I'm not Catholic but the Pope had a good line that I just couldn't resist: "The idea that is most widespread is that Christians must observe an immensity of commandments and prohibitions, and that we are more free without such burdens. Instead, I want to be clear about the fact that being supported by a great Love is not a burden, and that it is beautiful to be a Christian." Pope Benedict XVI. Also, obeying God's commands is what was going to give us eternal life in the beginning. We were made mortal and were to GAIN immortality by eating of the Tree of Life, which is symbolic of obeying God's express edicts. When, Adam and Eve as representative man and woman, decided that they (we) wanted to decide for themselves what was good or bad and right or wrong, immortality was barred from us until God could come down and pay for the punishment as perfect Man and perfect God and GIVE us eternal life, as well as salvation.

Answer 5

I think different people view this differently. Our home was a Christian home as our children grew up. My older daughter accepted God's guidelines and ours quite easily. She was very easy to raise because when she did something contrary to our rules all we had to do was explain why it violated God's law.

Our younger daughter was the exact opposite, she felt as if we were trying to control her. Your mention of a straight jacket is a good analogy. It didn't help that her dad would yell at her when quoting scripture. She believed that the other option was that we were trying to make her a carbon copy of her sister. So, she became the opposite.

When we teach God's word, we must do so remembering the 11th commandment, to love our neighbor (and our children) as ourselves. I believe that means that it is important not to be judgmental as we witness or teach.

Many people do not believe there are consequences to ignoring the standards of the Bible. There are many believer's that have differing opinions regarding the interpretation of the Word of God. I wish we could all stop bickering over these differences and pray for one another and join forces to encourage our families, neighborhoods, country and world.

Thank you for asking this question.

Answer 6

They are a life preserver.

1Ti 1:11 according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I was entrusted.

Sorry, I don't see "happy God" anywhere in this verse.

Answer 7

Like not to eat pork... people back in Biblical times must have been like, why? That doesn't make sense. But now we see God gave that law to them because pigs are scavangers and eat everything, contracting all kinds of disaeses, and no one knew about bacteria and viruses back then. Also not cooked properly it might make them sick. To God the glory, Amen.

Answer 8

I agree ... They are more like seat belts. Committing sin hurts you and those around you, both physically and spiritually. God didn't just make up rules arbitrarily, they are all for our benefit. It's just like your parents set boundaries for you when you were a child. You may not have understood them, maybe even resented them for it. But in the end, it was because they loved you and wanted the best for you.

Answer 9

seat belt safe am I in the arms of my Loving Lord and Master. I know the Captain and He's my Father He will keep me safe through the rough and stormy water.

Answer 10

By the law is the knowledge of sin. (guilt)
God's standard is perfection. (unattainable)

The Bible provides us with a perfect sacrifice in Jesus Christ.
Guilty of sin, and perfection unattainable, is there any reason to not believe mankind needs a Savior?

Perfection will never belong to man while he is alive on this planet. But through Jesus, righteousness is the possession of the Believer by grace through faith.