03 August 2008

Thought-Provoking

A thought-provoking post from Sam Norton: Who did Jesus most criticise?

Sam writes:
Who did Jesus most criticise?
I used to think that it was the people who were sure of their own salvation.
I now see that as misleading.
I think Jesus most criticised those who were sure of somebody else's damnation.
Those were the people whom Jesus damned.
We're all different and I'd not use precisely the same language as Sam.

I think I'd say 'I used to think that the people Jesus was criticising was those who were sure of their own salvation. I now think that he was criticising those who were sure of the damnation of others.'

I'm not sure that Jesus 'damns' those who think that they know who is damned.  But I do think that we are enjoined many times in the New Testament not to make these judgements.

There are those who wonder how can I say that Jesus is Lord if I don't know who is damned?  My response is that I know who is saved and I don't need to know who is damned.  That's God's job.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd be reluctant to say that I know who is saved even. At most I would say that I know a subset of those who are saved.

PamBG said...

Fair point.

Possibly more accurate to say 'I know what saves.' I didn't mean to suggest that I can identify which individuals are saved.

But I'm conservative enough to believe that humanity is promised salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

Doorman-Priest said...

Music to my ears!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with that! :)