God has said a lot of things to us in the course through the biblical authors over a 16-1700 year time period. We have been called, yes, but as always, we have the choice to say "yes" or "no". the choice has always been "my way" or "Your Way".

Without any options, the orders were given, along with what would at (even in this time in history) an awesome promotion in Genesis 1:26-30. The option was given in ch. 2:17, death! What most readers of the bible readers see is My Way or the Highway, and this is God's perogative, as it is His to give. No-one should be able to say to you, make your last will and testament out to me, or else! We as humans (criminals, as the legal community labels them) do this to each other all the time.

God has and always will have much more on the "My Way" than the my own way side of the equation. In Exodus 19:3-6 much more of an invitation, this time to a whole nation, vs.6, a Kingdom of Priests, and a Holy nation, the choice was their's to make then (as it is our's to make today), they decided to run and follow a man's rule and voice (it has from that time forward been referred to as the Law of Moses- why not God's Law?). God further invited them to follow His Way, in Ex. 23:20-33 (which is hardly ever preached upon) with all the benefits layed out for them. This was a people that had an identity as children of promise, yet when promised with any condition at all, they reverted back to humans, not staying as the children of promise.

I find myself in this same trap more times than not. Jesus keeps updating our situation, and I take it as a further delay and a "teasing by and omipident being. In my being I want the promise, but conditions get my humaness side to rebel (and I call myself a minister?) and I fall furter from God and the promises of Jesus. MY CHOICE! But with this choice comes consequences, last night my choice was to let Jesus lead this (my?) dance and low and behold, hope and joy in the morning! Again, MY CHOICE! Hope or dispair, future or present mixed with the past, light or darkness-------MY CHOICE!

We as humans make others follow our way or the highway all the time, at work, in politics, and in our family situations. Love me or else is what we say, without telling them (for the most part) about any promotion promise. God does (present tense). Jesus does (present tense). Most have never been preached this verse either, John 14:12, look it up, the promise is there for the condition being met, what would a world look like if humans would hold to promise insead of just an "or else" mentality.

Yor parents want you to love them for all the things they did for you, even when you were not able to even speak or walk, We want the same from our children, even when they have nothing else to give us back of note, and we want the same from subordinates at work and friends in the real world, why should God not want the same as we expect from others?

Great answer plasticat. I think you Christians better do some legitimate research. Go back to the first 100 years or so. The Christianity practiced by the original Christians would now be considered occultism. Yet, it is indeed true Christianity. Jesus isn't his name either. See if you can find out what it is. True Christianity is remarkably usable and works to perfection. Of course it's been perverted and is now used to separate folks. I'll stick with the original thank you.

plasticat,

[[I have a few questions. We all know that God created us with free will because He wanted us to make our own decision to follow Him or not. As I have heard it described before, God did not want a world of robots that were programmed to worship Him, but rather, wanted independent people to worship him on their own volition.]]

you make a good point if what you have written above is true.
you assume what god wants then use it against him, what you trying to proove? tomi.

You are a "thinker" plasticat. What has inspired you so? Do you have an objection to what you READ (the bible does not "SAY" anything, it READS)? why?...because you rather LOVE? It seems that you would rather not be a God fearing person. No one that knows Him should be, the fear of God is only the BEGINNING of wisdom for those with a corrupt mind. Once we come to know Him, we should no longer fear Him, only LOVE Him.

Plasticat, you are a lover, a thinker, and conscientious (Adam and Eve ate of the tree of conscience). This is what God wants,...a person who will LOVE Him (and respect/love the people) beyond what is written (and how we understand it) and beyond what we have been taught.

Humanity (Christianity included) has always taught Christianity according to HUMAN NATURE (God says human nature is human folly...foolishness) and thinks God is and does things the way human beings do things. For instance, we teach that God is a "punisher" because that is how humans do things, WE "punish", and so we think God does the same thing (read 1 John 4:18 in the Revised Standard Version, other modern versions might use different words and be misleading). God will SHOW (teach) us the error of our way (not punish). If we object to being taught the error of our way, then our heart is not in the right place (no matter what we think). In that case, God will probably not bother because we are "hard headed" and hard hearted, but we will still experience poetic justice and reap what we have sown (what goes around, comes around, just deserves, nature takes it's course). When my dad taught me what is right, I didn't have the attitude that it was punishment (I never resented him for anything). Today, IF I had the wrong attitude about goodness, I WOULD call what he did "PUNISHMENT", but I learned better than to think of it as punishment, but I also TRUSTED my dad then that it wasn't undeserved punishment and also KNEW in my conscience that it was deserved.

We have been taught to be prudish and PICK on others about their table manners, violations of etiquette and dress codes (including sinning against the code of perfection,...the TEN COMMANDMENTS), and all imperfections so that we can categorize their CODE VIOLATIONS as a reason that they deserve shame and guilt (because we believe that the great creator values this, no, WE do,...for our ego). Actually, the poetic justice in that is that we PICK ON and persecute ourselves also by the same rules.

There are many verses in the bible that Christianity has always "READ OVER". What about conscience (you know,...the tree that Adam and Eve ate of)? What about the METHOD/ATTITUDE of loving God, Mark 12:30)? What about the rivers of living waters that were also mixed with Christ's blood at the cross (tears of sorrow, John 7:38)? What about the purification of CONSCIENCE (Hebrews 9:14) when God's spirit teaches us to be Godly (truly righteous, not self-righteous) so that we can stand before God every day with a clear conscience? What about the word of God that we should live by (Ephesians 6:17, sword of the spirit)? If we choose to be a good student of God's spirit, we will learn that morality is twofold (good and evil) with no middle ground between the two, so that the change from good to evil is clear and abrupt (no shadow or variation due to change, James 1:17, right is right and wrong is wrong and never the twain shall meet).

The teachers of Christianity have misunderstood The Lord and INTERPRET scripture to mean what they want it to mean. They have taught us that we should be obsessed with "COMMANDS" (in His flesh, He abolished that law, Ephesians 2:15) instead of concerned about God's wishes and desires that we treat each other with respect and have an attitude that our fellow human beings deserve human rights.

It is due (largely) to humanity's insistence that God is so petty as to give us an arbitrary set of rules that are incompatible with reality (the true condition of reality), but it's also our insistence that we continue to "run roughshod" over each other and conveniently blame evil on the devil that so many verses have always been "READ OVER". We read the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, Hebrews 11:3), which was written 2000 yrs. ago and "HAS PROCEEDED" (and of course we love the TRUTH, John 14:6), but it takes the courage of SINCERITY to question what we have been taught in order to discover "the depths of God", 1 Corinthians 2:10.

God bless you, plasticat.

Hi plasticat,

>>>>With this being said, the first Commandment, and the most important according to Jesus, commands that you love God. Now, this seems strange to me because it essentially negates the fact that God allows us to make our own decisions and does not force man to comply with his demands.<<<<

Jesus only gave one commandment!
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. {John 13:31-35


The first commandment of the Old Testament:
1. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>Now, as we all know, opposition to the Commandments (the Law)is a transgression of the law and transgression of the law is the definition of sin.<<<<

Really?!!
Are the 10 commandments (morals)really that hard for you?
Its your free will to ignore those morals and choose your own. you can thumb your nose at the Ten Commandments and the Bible if you so choose. It is the most popular book in the world and, attacked more than any other religious book in the world.
The best way to answer your own questions is "read The Book"!

1. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>>>Let me give you an analogy: Someone pushes the barrel of a very large gun against the side of your your head and shouts, "I command that you ______ (fill in the blank) or I will physically torture you and then blow your head off! Theoretically, you have a choice. Realistically, you do not. Yes, you can choose to do whatever this person is demanding or you can choose suffering and certain death, but is that really a choice? Can it truly be deemed your "choice" when it has obviously been forced?<<<<

Are you talking about about islam or Christianity?!!!

1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

It's the moral law that makes you fit for the house of God.

Jesus said, If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15

A better analogy would be if your parents were to say, you know how we live in our house. If you are happy to live that way too, you will always have a place here.

After the earth is made new there will be no place for those that don't choose God's way of life.

God won't forse them to live where they can never be happy. It is kind and loving of Him to just do away with them forever.