Servant,
I'm not put off at all by your queries or persistence. Fine with me.

You certainly don't have to agree with my conclusion.

I just don't think the objections you've raised to my points so far have been strong ones, and I've tried to answer them decisively.

Certainly, God detests all sin, and from heaven's vantage a "white lie" doesn't look that different from murder. But from the human standpoint, you and I can both attest to the revulsion we feel to particularly heinous sins. These are not "modern" sentiments:

2Ki 3:27 "Then he [king of Moab] took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land"

It was so appalling that Israel felt the wrath of God against themselves!

The fact that there are degrees of punishment prescribed by the Law for different offenses also indicates that God accommodates our sense. Not every sin gets the death penalty, even though every sin deserves hell. So, once again: I say willingness to sacrifice human involves a deep degree of abandonment to sin--yes, murder and pdofelia are also just... despicable. And I would not think that a man noted for murder in the Bible, who does not have also noteworthy repentance, would be a candidate for the hall of faith, and possibly not even a believer. He certainly doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt, imo.

Anyway, I'll let it go at that. Peace.

__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


When posting friends, kindly bear those words of earthly wisdom in mind:
Oh, that God the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us.
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