"Therefore, son of man, say to your people, 'If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person's former righteousness will count for nothing. And if some who is wicked repents, that person's former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.' If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. And if I say to a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' but they then turn away from their sin and do is just and right--if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil--that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live. Ezekiel 33:12-16 NIVIt is better not to make a vow than to make one and not keep it.
The sinner has a better chance of making it to heaven once they repent--turning completely away from their sin and turning to God than the self-righteous who claimed to know God and yet will not live according to God's ways--loving all!
What we see in Washington with the religious-right GOP (including trump is neither a Christian or Republican)--are those who proclaim to know God, yet do not know how to live Godly lives.
We know from God's Word that He hates liars and lies.
We know from God's Word that when the righteous turn to evil, they have lost their claim to heaven.
We know from God's Word that He came down to earth in the likeness of sinful flesh to take sin upon Himself so we might be saved.
We know from God's Word that it is better for us if we never claim to know God than to claim to know Him and then reject His ways.
This is what happens when we study God's Word: we know! Only those who never study, never understand, can refute the truth of God's Word and humiliate themselves in front of others.
My take from the above-mentioned passage of scripture is that Pence is leading the pack (Sessions, Gorsuch, Ryan, McConnell, et al) of those who claim to be righteous, but are trusting in their own righteousness and rejecting God's Word--to love. If they were truly righteous, they would defend the rights of the poor and the needy, embrace all human life and encourage love for one another. This is not what they do. They make distinctions as to who they'll care about and who they'll reject. They choose corporations and generous donors over the needs of Everyday Americans.
At the moment, they (GOP) are rejecting: any and all persons who do not look like them, worship like them or live like them. Though they claim to be "pro-life" they are actually, pro-fetus because they care less about the life after it appears and we know this by all the legislation they promote that denies access to healthcare for the poor, education for the poor, and opportunity to gain wealth since they want to hoard all the wealth for themselves.
The GOP want to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that serves the poor and women. They claim their stance against abortion is why, but if they impede women from having access to birth control and other services that helps to keep living (cancer screening, etc.), they prove they are misogynistic and nowhere in the Bible are we told to mistreat women.
So, in Christ Jesus (those believing and living according to His Word) you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29 NIV (parenthetical is mine).We know that many of the "religious-right" confuse Old Testament historical knowledge with "contemporary application," but that's because they do not understand what their relationship with Christ should produce. Yes, we can look back at what God said through the prophets and apply what much is said to us in the 21st Century. That is for our understanding, not our doing. God used the prophets to speak to the people "before" He appeared in the earth. It is because of His appearance in the earth and His return to heaven, leaving behind His Spirit--that we can "all" have access to Him, directly.
Okay, I know some will be offended by what I've already said, but I will not retract any of it. People are offended by truth especially when truth reveals their hypocrisy. I will speak His truth no matter how many are offended for people have neither heaven or hell for me--only God does. I'm not sacrificing my mansion to appease people. And those who do--turn from righteousness to wickedness and evil--have a place reserved for them, too-- in the lake of fire.
We should carefully consider who we put into positions of authority and power and know by their love for others whether or not they belong to Christ. If they have no love for others, they cannot rightfully claim a relationship with Christ. Pause and meditate on that and willingly receive truth about the nation's leaders in Washington. Time to make a change.
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