Christianity Q & A

Jesus’ Death Alright, so I might not have explained myself very well. I forgot to add some important information. Sorry about that. Basically, when Jesus came to save us, he saved everyone: people of the past, present, and future. Before he had been born, people knew that Jesus was coming. So they’d get baptized, make sacrifices, and trust in God. This was essentially how they were saved. They believed in Jesus before he arrived. It was less about the sacrifices and more about loving God that got people saved. A good thing I’ve heard is that Salvation does not come through good works. Salvation leads to good works. There is nothing you can actually do to get into Heaven except love God. I think you also put little importance on having faith in Jesus. A lot of people don’t; you’ve said before that your parents don’t believe in God, right? It takes a lot of faith and accepting Jesus is a big deal. Sin was not a bigger problem in the olden days then it is now. One could argue that sin is worse now because we have more things that enable more temptation and sin. Technology for example. The reason God sent Jesus was not to get rid of sin. Jesus didn’t die to erase sin. God sent Jesus to make our relationship with him easier and more direct. ”Before Jesus died, God couldn"t STAND people being sinful. He sacrificed his own son to get rid of a "sin of the world" then all of a sudden it didn"t matter as much if people sinned.” I must have explained it wrong. Jesus’ missions was NOT to get rid of sin. God hated sin then and he hates it now. Sin is never acceptable. However, now, with Jesus, our relationship with God can be much more direct. Now when we sin, we can repent, and we are forgiven. To be honest, repenting is something we do more for us then for God because we feel bad about sinning. God already knows we are going to sin, but he is always willing to forgive. “He now looks at sinful people like they are pure. They can still go to heaven, even if they sin. It don"t matter how big the sin is either.” When we sin, we become unclean spiritually. But because we believe in God, Jesus sort of intervenes on our behalf. Because the Holy Spirit is inside us, when God looks at us, he basically see the Holy Spirit (which is pure) and Jesus. We can have a direct relationship with him because we are not unclean anymore. Don’t get me wrong, sin is still very bad. And yes, sinners can get into Heaven but not because we deserve Heaven. None of us deserve anything. The reason we got to Heaven is because God loves us and wants us to be with Him. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 So, I myself have heard this verse a couple of times and I researched it. The problem with taking Bible verses out of context is that it makes the Bible seem evil and disgusting. When it comes to the Old Testament especially, be careful about just picking Bible verses without full context because it can give you the wrong idea. But anyway, what I’ve found is that you should look at this verse along with another verse: Exodus 22: 16-17. Exodus 22:16-17 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." Deuteronomy 22:28-29 "If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and forces he to lie with him and they are discovered, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl"s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days." “Together, these passages clearly state that if a man has sex with a virgin who is not betrothed…he is obliged to marry her. He should have sought her father's permission first, negotiated a bride-price, and taken her as his wife. Because he did not, he is punished for this—he now must pay up…and marry her…” "Also note that "he may not divorce her all his days" – this initially doesn't seem significant but is actually a major punishment. Deuteronomy 24:1-4… allowed for divorce, but only in the case of sexual immorality…This man now may not divorce his wife even for this reason, but is obliged to continue to support her all his life whatever she does." "But her father is ultimately in authority over her, as her head, until he hands this authority over to her husband. If the man is unsuitable, the father can refuse to give his daughter to him. How many fathers would give their daughter to a rapist? Not many. So, in general, a rapist would actually have to pay a 50 silver shekel fine to her father, and not get a wife at all." I’m sorry I didn’t put this in my own words. I felt that the author of the article described it better. Basically, what this person is saying is that if a man rapes a woman (or has consensual sex) without her father’s permission then he must marry her. Back then, being a virgin was very important for women. Nowadays, it isn’t as big a deal but back then, if a woman was not a virgin, no one would marry her. And since women were not valued, she probably could not get a job to support herself either. She might have to sell herself into slavery or prostitution. The only way to survive honorably was to be married. It’s unfortunate but that is the way it was. If the man had seduced the woman and then just left her because he was a player or something and people found out she was not “pure”, she would have been scorned upon and ostracized. The Bible commands that the man marry her so that she can be supported and they suffer from the judgement of society together. He can’t even divorce her if she cheats on him. So now, this leads us into another problem. Why does the woman need her father’s permission before doing whatever the heck she wants?! Well, back then, the patriarchy was much more prevalent. Everything went through the father. And then when the girl was married, it went to the husband. Because back then, the father was always the head of the household, doing things required his permission. The Bible does not command that now every girl must do everything her father says. It’s just that back then that was the way life was. Fortunately, times have changed and a woman (in many places, not all) can generally do what she wants. Marry who she likes. Or not marry at all—it’s her choice. Hope that clears things up! And don’t worry, you’re not mocking Christianity or anything. It’s normal to have questions.https://www.gotquestions.org...