Thanks for this. I accept that this is more or less the central theme of Christianity but, in my view, it is immoral.
Your first statement is contradictory. One the one hand you say a murderer is guilty, period. Then you say that by being reborn, the sins are nullified. So it isn't "period" at all. Is it?
I dont seek an "earthly condemnation" as you say. What I am trying to pooint out is that people should be responsible for their actions, to society and especially to their victims. Your doctrine of salvation does not acheive this.
The idea that a crime/sin against another person is only a matter between the sinner and God, ignoring the victim is not moral. This is the mind-set that Catholic child-raping priests adopt to block out the heinous nature of their actions.
It is no coincidence that the term "scapegoating" is synonymous with this idea. It was the practice of pre-christian tribes to ceremonially load the sins of their tribe onto a goat and send it out into the desert to die, thus, they believed, taking their sins with them. Hey presto, the early Christians adopted the same idea (being only able to express ideas in terms of nomadic, tribal shepherds). The doctrine of salvation is the same - load your sins onto Jesus and he will die on your behalf.
You conveniently ignore the fact that this is not a socially responsible thing to do. If you had a speeding ticket, I could pay the fine for you. If you have been especially nice to me, I might even take you place in the electric chair but that is only to take your punishement for you. You cannot, in such circumstances relieve yourself of the fact that you commited the crime and that the responsibility will allways rest with you.
My friend, you see it very well. I am thankful that you are honest. You speak more clearly about what many Christians ignore.
God had in no way ignored the victim. And neither is sin just between God and the sinner, but most every sin is committed against a another person, sometimes even in the name of God or Jesus.
It is just fantastic to hear this coming from you. Now, let's talk about ACTUAL salvation.
Salvation works much like how it might work in an actual court setting. If I walked into a court guilty of a crime, the law requires the crime be punished under the law. (One issue with the laws of men is that the majority rules, ask me about it. lol.)
Anyhow, he is guilty, and he must be judged. But the salvation of God has to do with MERCY, not excuse. We are not excused from sin at all. But God is so full of mercy that he can forgive us of sin. Now, when I say, ''YOU ARE NOT FREE TO CONTINUE IN SIN!!'' This is where I become a liar and a blasphemer to many Christians.
When you hear them say, ''We are not under the law,'' this is an attempt, like you say, to excuse themselves to continue in sin. In the same way, that man who stands in the court might say that, because the judge was merciful, and let him off that time, he is now free to go commit the same thing again. (This is, I believe, what you see as the double standard.)
I am glad that you see clearly enough not to be fooled by this, but we all can be taught to see a little clearer than we see already. But sometimes, if we get a little too wise to the truth, we always get attacked the most.
May Jesus bless you.
p.s Oh, and by the way, God doesn't force anyone to take him up on his mercy (pride is a terrible thing), you have to choose to accept it. You have to humble yourself.
