If you go into a room and discuss any topic with the intention of bringing about an argument, there will those ready to oblige. However, if you go into a room and have complete love in your heart and wish to have a conversation things will likely go smoothly, that is until you determine to discuss one of two things; Jesus or the specific sin to which those in the room regularly practice. Why is it that those two subjects are inflammatory just from their mention? Could it be that we do not want anyone determining our worthiness or righteousness because it is directly attached to our self identity? If we identify with sleeping with multiple partners that are not our spouse or live the life of drunkenness every night then it is perhaps something for which we have already built considerable internal criticism and shame. Maybe our families have already spoken to of our pursuits and we already stand upon a position of weakness or the need for defense? I understand that about mentioning my normal practices by why would the mention of Jesus prompt the same veracious appetite for argument and self-defense?

That is a tremendous question upon which entire series of PhD’s have been offered and accepted. Far be it from a knucklehead from no where to render expository argument otherwise, but to me it is all associated with the inherent mechanisms associated with conviction of the Holy Spirit. We know that we are doing wrong regardless of the cultural norms so when anyone alerts us to that fact, especially in the circumstance when we have surrounded ourselves with advocates we have the propensity to rush to self-defense.  That is why they hate Jesus and avoid or immediately try to extinguish the topics surrounding a discussion about Him. Because, Jesus is the only worthy and righteous Judge.  In fact, the Bible states that He is the only one assigned that position and that the world, nations and individuals will all stand before Him one day in that judgment for their lives.  Additionally, let’s face it the idea of positing yourself as God on Earth here to save the entirety of mankind and making it exceedingly clear that you are the only door to Eternal afterlife is going to provoke some response, especially from those who desperately cannot have this information expressed or actually be true.

Sin, is the problem of man.  No religion deals with sin other than Christianity. Judaism delays it, allowing a yearly atonement for that sin that returns again the next year. Buddhism simply recycles it and the sin foretells the quandaries one will face in the righteous expression of our next life since the sins of this one determine the destination in the next. Islam determines that we simply have to try real hard to legally and morally balance the scales of good vs evil in our lives that on that day of our judgment we will be found 50.1% good allowing us entry into the next. Most other religions simply address the living of a virtuous life without addressing the complex internal dilemma of my psyche full of sin. There are some new age mystic faiths that deal with it in through meditation and living a centered life in touch and in tandem with the spirit of the Earth and nature but still never tell us how we are to deal with the sin of our past and present. Yet, Christianity deals with this subject head on. It says that the entire reason for our separation from that which is Godly is that sin which marks us, poisons us and determines the direction of our journey into the afterlife.

Christianity deals with the most caustic subject in any room anywhere that will always provoke argument, the sin of mankind. Jesus came to accept the punishment for every sin of all of mankind for the history and future of man’s existence.  God addressed this problem of our conviction by allowing us a method by which to be cleansed of previous sin and be forgiven for future sin all with the unbelievable benefit of being adopted into His Holy Family and being given as an added bonus of eternal life with Him, rather then the separation and punishment that befalls all those who are not forgiven. What God requires is repentance from that sin, simply admitted that it is wrong and that you did it, then admitting the belief and faith in the work that Jesus came and performed because God loved us enough to deal with the greatest topic of religious consideration our moral insurrection against the things of God; Sin.  What makes Jesus the center of men’s argument and some times heated response is that He says that if we don’t accept that free-will, Loving Gift that we will in fact be sealing our eternity in separation from Him within the Lake of Fire that He prepared for disobedient Angels. It is the judgment or the mention of the incumbent judgment afforded to all men once they leave this worldly plane that provoke or evokes the anger of men, for they feel that no one, even the God who created them should have the authority to determine the rules for their passing to the afterlife. They have in fact invented a god of their own imagination and a heaven of their own day dream and if you challenge their narcissistic understanding of that construct you have now threaten to destroy the fabric of their entire existence.

I guess looking at those odds I too would have the recourse to express some ideas in dramatic fashion if you were challenging my reason for being or the determination of my fantastic afterlife with your words about a God who had a differing set of rules. That is why it is so important for disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ to understand the circumstances in which they will stand for speaking the Word even in Gentleness and Truth will in fact challenge man’s existence in this life and the next. Why does the mention of Jesus or the sin that people practice provoke such emotional response, because the Truth of it would mean that we are all damned unless accepting the one path to life set before us by God. We are simply so independent and rebellious to authority that we will not accept any mandate that is not of our own volition. Well that is okay, this one is by choice, you can choose to be cleansed of all unrighteousness, transformed in this lifetime and given eternity with God in the next or you can choose to be judged in front of that Holy And Righteous God and sent for eternity in a pool of fire with His Angels. It is in fact a rational choice with one clear option that is to the benefit of all mankind. Yet you still out of the Love of God for all men have been given the choice to serve whichever god you choose. You can choose the gods of this life in which case you will receive the rewards of this life and no reward in the next or you can serve the Everlasting God who will reward you in both this life and the next. The choice is yours. Whether you have effective argument to justify your current behavior the choice remains in the background awaiting your decision. No other religion deals with it except the true Gospel of Peace, provided by God through Jesus. The way the Truth and the Life found only in Jesus Christ the King. Choose, this day whom you will serve in this life and the next.