From: swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren)
Subject: Re: It's the same Judaism
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 18:07:15 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In article <9207210320.AA16084@aplpy.jhuapl.edu> levene@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (Robert A. Levene) writes:
>...
>Steve Warren answers:
>> To me the question is not, "May a Christian morally refuse to intervene
>> against Jew-killing," but, "Is it possible (behaviorally) for a genuine
>> Christian to refuse to intervene against Jew-killing."  I suppose it
>> might just be possible for a genuine Christian to resist God's love
>> that burns like a fire in their bones, and refuse to help, but it would
>> be a great struggle.
>
>I don't follow.  Should a genuine Christian overcome his urge to
>help and let the killing continue, or should he overcome his urge
>to believe it's God's will and intervene?  Which one?

OK, Robert, I will assume that in spite of my painstaking and detailed
explanation of the outward purpose of the Christian (living in order to
express God's love to others), you really don't understand that I have
answered this question.

If the Christian overcomes his (God-given) urge to help and ignores the
killing, then he is denying his own identity with Christ; he is denying
who he is and what he was made for.  Of *course* he should help.  But what
I was explaining was the fact that there is no conflict involved.

It is not a conflict just because God disciplines someone and a Christian
shows mercy to the same man.  As I explained in my earlier note, if God
wanted the man to be totally destroyed, He would not allow a Christian to
be in a position to help him.  By allowing a Christian to be near the man,
God has revealed that it is His will for the man to be helped.  God put
His love in our hearts, and it is our mission in life to express to others
the same mercy that we have received from God.

So the Christian does not need to "overcome his urge to believe [the
killing] is God's will" in order to help.  If the Christian is convinced
that he is witnessing God's judgement, he is still to be an arm of God
holding out mercy to everyone that he is able to reach - an island of
mercy in the midst of judgement.  God's command to us is to love mercy.

I believe that Christians should always continue expressing love and mercy
to the people around them, right up to the day that God takes us out of
this world (I am speaking of the end of the age, when scripture says that
God will catch up His people into the air before His final judgement).
So, when the time comes that God is executing ultimate judgement, and He
does not want His people to interfere, then He will take us out of the
world where we cannot interfere.  Until then, He is pleased for us to love
others, even when that love is directed toward those that are subject to
judgement.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things
there is no law."  (Galatians 5:22-23)

The Christian scriptures instruct us that we are not in conflict with God
when we are expressing love, kindness, and goodness to others: "Against
such things there is no law."  Therefore we are not in conflict with God
when we help others, even those are being judged.
-- 
            _.
--Steve   ._||__    Welcome to the World's First GaAs Supercomputer
  Warren   v\ *|    -----------------------------------------------
             V  
Newsgroups: alt.messianic