Author: believersarmedanddangerous

I just wanted to include a quick thank you before this week’s main blog post.  I am humbled by the fact this blog is read in so many countries.  Just this past week, it has been accessed from Lebanon, China, Finland, and of course, the United States.  In the past two months, we’ve also seen folks from Ireland, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa access our blog.  This must come from your word of mouth, and I sincerely thank you for passing on the link to our blog.  You guys are great.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV)
¹  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²  for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Though many disagree, we believe the doctrines of Freewill, Predestination, and Foreknowledge work very well together, and I’d like to explain why.  Now in the past, when I’ve expressed my view on this topic, I’ve found Calvinists react strongly to my suggested solution.  In a men’s Bible study a few years ago, I was explaining it to a fellow at our table when another got so angry, I thought he was going to come over the table after me.  Most, however, simply disagree with me and take it in stride.  That’s the Christian approach to disagreement, by the way.

So, let’s say you have a DVD recording of your daughter’s fifth birthday party/BBQ.  You’ve watched it so many times you know exactly what everyone in the DVD will say and do.  In fact, you know it so well, you can recite every conversation verbatim and mimic every move in the DVD.  In a sense, you have omniscience of the DVD.  To be able to recite and mimic every word and action at the party is not to say the people at the party did not act freely, though. 

Hold onto your Calvinist hats, now.  Here it comes: in the same way, God is able to know everything that goes on without having to predestine the events, acts, or words in our universe.

So, what we’ve seen thus far is that, if the DVD of real space time were to be played, God knows all that will happen before it happens (Foreknowledge), and everyone can act freely (Freewill). 

Now for the foreknowledge part.  Many Calvinists believe because God knows all that will happen, He has caused, or “Predestined” it.  I’m not sure that follows logically.  Suppose every possible future were recorded on DVDs and God picked the one which fulfills His goals the best, that He wants heaven as full as possible and hell as empty as possible, and places that DVD in the player.

If that were true, God has predestined all that will happen by playing the DVD He has chosen (Predestination).  He has chosen a DVD in which everyone acts freely (Freewill), yet He knows all that will take place (Foreknowledge).

“Life is not a DVD,” you might object, and you would be right.  But, we all understand cause in effect, God even more so.  So, the universe He created could easily be the universe with conditions which cause a timeline that accomplishes His goals.

“Then why not create a universe where everyone would be saved?” you might ask.  Well, if freewill is included, there will always be someone who chooses their own way rather than God’s.  So, people will sin, people will choose to reject God’s offer of salvation, people will always act selfishly.  In fact, the farther away from the original influence of God, the more likely selfish choices would become the norm.  So, fewer people will end up choosing heaven, the “narrow road.”

So, there you have it.  Freewill, Foreknowledge, and Predestination all in a sweet little package to ponder.  Don’t get mad.  It’s just speculation, but it makes sense.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  The answers to American’s Atheists’ objections to the Bible have met with a less than enthusiastic response on the blog.  So, I’m going to discontinue that series here.  If you’re interested you’ll find all of those difficulties addressed on AnswersAZ.com.  https://answersaz.com/biblical-difficulties/

Psalm 53:1a (ESV) ¹  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

When we talk with atheists, they usually seem to think atheism is the default position.  What I mean by that is they think if the evidence for God’s existence doesn’t convince them, then they claim atheism is the rational conclusion.  But, let’s look at that for a minute.

Webster’s definition of “atheism” is “a philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods.”  So, atheism’s mantra is, “There is no god,” not that they cannot know if there is a god (hard agnosticism), or they just don’t know if there is a god (soft agnosticism), but they are actually confident there is no god.

The statement, “There is no god,” is as much a truth claim as, “There is a God,” and requires just as much evidence to justify it.  So, if the atheist cannot prove there is no god, then their conclusion is no better than soft agnosticism.

Sometimes you’ll hear this response: “You can’t prove a universal negative.”  That’s not really true either.  I can prove there are no purple elephants in my office right now.  Universal negatives can be proven, so there is no leg to stand on for their claim.

The bigger question is, “Can someone claim there is no god?”  Well, there are good arguments for the existence of God.  Many of them have been outlined here on this blog.  But, can someone really say they know enough of the totality of the knowledge of the universe to say for certain there is no god?  Unless we can know everything, and I do mean everything, couldn’t God exist in that part we don’t know?  Of course He could.

And what if God had made Himself even more obvious?  What if He had carved a sign into our moon saying, “God exists.”  Would we have more people believing in God?  In his book, Foundations for a Christian World View (p. 158) J.P. Moreland points out, “In the Old Testament God is described as revealing himself to his people in manifest wonders: the plagues upon Egypt, the pillar of fire and smoke, the parting of the Red Sea. But did such wonders produce lasting heart-change in the people? No, Israel fell into apostasy with tiresome repetitiveness.”  So, as part of the human condition, miracles become commonplace, we stray from belief and view signs of God’s presence as just the norm.

In the TV show, Joan of Arcadia, God, having taken on a human form, was having a conversation with Joan trying to show her that He was in fact, God.  She, said, “Okay.  Show me a miracle.”  God pointed to a tree.  Joan responded, “That’s just a tree.”  God said, “Okay let’s see you make one.”  God’s creation already testifies to His work, but we’ve taken it all for granted.  It would be the same if God made Himself even more plain.

So, we mustn’t let the atheists bully us.  It doesn’t follow if we can’t prove God’s existence to their satisfaction then atheism must be our conclusion.  There are many reasons that simply isn’t sufficient.  At best, we might arrive at soft agnosticism.

We’re going to take a quick break from answering the American Atheists this week and address something weighing heavily on my mind.  We’ll pick up the answers to AA again next week.

Matthew 23:37-38 (ESV)
³⁷  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁸  See, your house is left to you desolate.

 Luke 19:41-44 (ESV)
⁴¹  And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴²  saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³  For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴  and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

There is a definite law in the universe called “freewill.”  It is as much a law as gravity or 2+2=4.  God loves us freely.  It’s just in His nature.  He also wants us to love him freely.  If He created us with the love of God built in, it wouldn’t be true freely-given love.  So, He has given us the ability to love Him or not love Him: Freewill.

As a result of freewill, one may choose not to love God.  They can choose to live unrighteously.  They can choose to sin. 

A difficult question often asked of Christians is, “Where was God when _______?”  “Where was God when my child was molested?”  “Where was God when that family was killed by a drunk driver?”  “Where was God when my brother was killed by a stray bullet during a gang shooting?”  “Where was God?”

Whenever there are freedoms, there are also ways to take advantage of those freedom.  We have school shootings when people abuse the Second Amendment, we have lynchings when due process is ignored, and we sometimes have lies reported as truth in publications abusing the First Amendment.  The same is true for the Law of Freewill.  While we are free to choose God and walk with Him, unrighteous alternatives are also available to us and are often exercised.

 A pervert can choose to act on his temptation to rape a young child in the neighborhood.  A businesswoman can choose to drive home from an office party drunk.  Religious zealots can choose to fly planes into the Twin Towers.  These people are all free to choose such acts by the universal Law of Freewill.

So, when people do terrible things, who is to blame if not God?  It’s the people who do these unrighteous acts because they have the freewill to choose to do them or not to do them.  True, God has given them the freedom to choose, but He did not give them His stamp of approval.  Once again, it is man who perverts a wonderful gift of God.

And, where was God when the child was molested, when the family was killed by a drunk driver, when the brother was killed by a stray bullet?  He was there weeping along with those who mourned.  As with Matthew 23:37-38 and Luke 19:41-44, God weeps when people turn away from Him to indulge in their own desires.

These are supposed contradictions taken from the American Atheists website.  We’re addressing these because Scripture says we are to earnestly contend for the faith.  Here are answers to tough questions about the Bible.

Jude 1:3 (ESV)  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

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The Sabbath Day

Exodus 20:8 (ESV)
⁸  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Romans 14:5 (ESV)
⁵  One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

So, the problem here is that Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses:

Romans 7:6 (ESV)
⁶  But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

So, this is just a difference in How God relates to His people.  God used the Law to govern His people.  Now we have been released from the Law and are under grace.

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Will the Earth Last Forever?

Ecclesiastes 1:4 (ESV)
⁴  A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

 

2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)
¹⁰  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

 

A Couple of points here.  First is that Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon, a man who had every earthly pleasure available to him but saw it as empty and futile (vs. 1:2).  So, be careful of what is quoted from Ecclesiastes.  It is Scripture, of course, but written from a human perspective.

What the real problem here in Ecclesiastes is the Hebrew word translated “forever,” Olam.  Olam means a long period of time which can sometimes be, “forever” but can also be translated as “Long ago,” (Ps. 77:5), “enduring” (Eccl. 2:16), and even just as “Long Time,” (Isa 42:14).

So, we see no real contradiction here except, perhaps, in the English translation.  In the Greek and Hebrew, there is no contradiction.

Bible Difficulties – Contradictions

Probably the most common accusation against the Bible is that it contradicts itself.  First, though, let’s look briefly at what a contradiction is.  A contradiction, for our purpose, is when one statement says one thing that logically excludes another.  For instance, to say Arizona became a state in 1912 and to say that Arizona did not become a state in 1912 are contradictions.  To say Arizona sits next to California and to say Arizona sits next to New Mexico might seem, at first, to be a contradiction, but it isn’t.

Matthew 8:28 (ESV)
²⁸  And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.

Mark 5:1-2 (ESV)
¹  They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
²  And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

Are these two passages contradictory?  No.  If I were to say I saw Bill and Trisha at church Sunday, would you think only three people were in church, Bill, Trisha, and I?  Of course not.  Pill and Trisha are the subject of my statement.  Likewise, there were at least two, perhaps more, demon-possessed men who came out to meet Jesus.  Mark is just interested in telling the story of one of them an mentions only him.

The following “contradiction” was taken from the American Atheists website:

Incest

Genesis 20:11-12 (ESV)
¹¹  Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
¹²  Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

Genesis 17:15-16 (ESV)
¹⁵  And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
¹⁶  I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

 Deuteronomy 27:22 (ESV)
²²  “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

So, isn’t this a contradiction?  Abraham married his half sister, and God blessed it even though it is forbidden in Deuteronomy.  The answer to this is that Abraham was not under the Mosaic Law.  The Law wasn’t given to Moses until hundreds of years later.  Many theologians I’ve read believe this is because Abraham and Sarah were still close enough to Adam and Eve that their genes had not been corrupted enough to cause birth defects.  By the time of Moses, this may no longer have been true, so God warned His people that this was no longer appropriate.

In upcoming blogs, we’ll take the difficulties listed on the American Atheists site and address them.  They are some of the more common objections to the Bible’s reliability, and are actually intelligently presented.

The Bible has been accused of having discrepancies.  In order to defend the Bible, we need to better understand these objections.  So, this is the beginning of a series dedicated to doing just that.

There are supposed contradictions, errors, lies, etc.  These “discrepancies” fall into several categories, so I thought it would be good to look at some of the ways the Bible is misunderstood and at some of the accusations made.  We’ve touched on a few of these in earlier blogs, but this series will look more deeply at some of these and why they are misunderstood.

The first we’ll look at are additions to the text.  But, first we need to look at what a manuscript is versus a text.  There are more than 24,000 manuscripts of all or part of the New Testament.  A manuscript is simply a handwritten copy of a document.  There are variations in these manuscripts, mostly very small errors like misspelled words, change in word order, etc.  Scholars compare these manuscripts and try to arrive at what the original actually said.  When they think they’ve come as close as possible to the original, they create a text.  The text is their representation of what they believe the original looked like. 

Though there are 24,000 manuscripts, there are only two major Greek texts, the Received Text (Textus Receptus or “TR”) and the Westcott & Hort (W&H) text.  The TR was created in 1516 by Erasmus, a Catholic monk and fine Greek scholar and represents a large number of the 24,000 manuscripts.

The W&H was published in 1881 and represents only a very few, about five, of the earliest manuscripts now available.  These early manuscripts had not been discovered at the time the TR was published.

So, the two texts are the TR with the majority of manuscripts represented and the W&H with the very oldest manuscripts represented.

Now on to the two “discrepancies” we’re looking at.  If you have a modern Bible, you should see a footnote at Mark 16:9-20 telling you this passage is not in the earliest manuscripts.  Many believe the accepted default is to go with the earliest manuscripts since they are the closest to the original autographs.  So, a note is added to make the reader aware of this situation.

What is thought to have happened with Mark is early scribes made copies of the New Testament books for their own use.  As such, many made personal notes or observations in the margins, at the end of the page, or even included them in the text.  It was their own copy for their own use.  Why not?  The problem came when someone would borrow their copy to make their own copy and included the notes into the text by mistake.  W&H scholars believe this is what happened with Mark 16:9-20.  We’re not claiming Mark 16 is not Scripture, just that it doesn’t appear in the earliest manuscripts we have.

Now for 1 John 5:7 : (KJV)  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”  You can see how valuable this would be in defending the trinity doctrine if the verse were genuine.

How did this make its way into the TR?   As the story goes, Erasmus (who compiled the TR), found no Greek manuscript which included 1 John 5:7, so he left it out of the first two editions of his text.  The Roman Catholic scholars objected to this verse being “left out” as it did appear in the Latin Vulgate, the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church.  Erasmus said something like, “If you can show me a single Greek manuscript of 1 John which includes this verse, I’ll include it in the third edition of my Greek text.  The scholars had a manuscript the next day (the ink was still wet).  With this and pressure from the Vatican, Erasmus included the verse.  Unfortunately, the third edition is the one upon which the TR is based.  You will not find this verse in modern translations and usually will find a footnote about it in the KJV and NKJV.

So, over the millennia, errors, additions, and other changes have crept into the various manuscripts of the New Testament.  We’ll look at more of these in the blogs to come.  But, realize, we are agreed that we have a very accurate representation of the Bible in its original form with better than 98% accuracy.  The portions in question have no bearing at all on doctrine, faith, or practice.  You can trust the Bible you hold in your hand whether it’s from the TR or from W&H.

You’ll hear everyone from atheists to cultists try to belittle the Bible because it has additions.  Just answer back that this is common with old manuscripts with so many copies available.  Fortunately, we have plenty of manuscripts to compare in order to find the meaning and wording of the original.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 (ESV)
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

I’m involved in Facebook groups for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Muslims, and atheists, and I’m somewhat surprised by the way people in those groups who call themselves Christians present themselves.  I see this especially in the Muslim vs Christian group, but it appears in all the other groups I’m a member of as well.  Some Christians throw insults, are disrespectful, and just generally obnoxious.  That’s not our role in the world, is it?

I understand that we get angry with some things that are said about our faith and even about our Savior.  I get angry sometimes myself.  But, we always have time to calm down before responding.  We have time to pray, to spend a little time in the Word rather than slash out in anger.

I’ve even had Christians argue with me that they can be disrespectful and strike out as Jesus did in the temple with the moneychangers.  Jesus struck out in righteous anger, yes, but He was striking out at those corrupting His Father’s house, not someone who disagreed with Him on a theological point or who came from another religious system.  He was patient with gentiles and people like Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.  Even the Jews in John chapter 8 were treated with respect by Jesus though they sought to kill Him.  True, they were doing the devil’s work, and Jesus pointed that out to them.  We can do that as well to those who are purposely and knowingly combating the gospel.

Most often, though, when we’re talking with people with whom we disagree, we’re talking with people who are deceived.  Our job is to help them better understand the gospel, and as Peter says in 1 Peter 3:18, “…with gentleness and respect.”

God has assigned us the job of showing the Truth of the Bible and the love of Christ.  We don’t accomplish that with insults.  Everyone we speak with is someone for whom Christ died.  Let’s treat them that way.

Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1).  Would we be willing to say that online and ask the people there to hold us accountable?  It might start a revolution of courteous loving Christians in Facebook.  Worth a try.

The Bible contains the very words of God:  Exodus 20:1-2 (ESV)  And God spoke all these words, saying,  “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

The words of angels:  Luke 1:13 (ESV) But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”

The words of Satan himself:  Luke 4:3 (ESV) The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

The words of demons:  Matthew 8:31 (ESV) And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”

The words of men: Exodus 3:3 (ESV) And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”    

It even records the words of a donkey:  Numbers 22:28 (ESV)  Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

There are metaphors:  Isaiah 64:8 (ESV) “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

There are similes:  Mark 4:26-29 (ESV) And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.”

There are even lies in the Bible: Genesis 3:4 (ESV) But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

So, yes, there are lies in the Bible, but two points need to be made here: God Himself does not lie (Num 23:19) and the Bible records all events and quotes accurately.  So, while there are lies quoted in the Bible, the Bible Itself does not lie (John 17:17).

Why is this important?  Well, you will sometimes hear opponents of the Bible misquote passages or quote some person in the Bible to say the Bible teaches or sanctions something evil.  How do we handle such objections?  We simply point out that, while the Bible reports these acts, it does not endorse them.  So, be careful.  Biblical citations need to be read in context. 

In a very real sense, the Bible should be read much like a newspaper.  It includes figures of speech and quotes from all sorts of individuals.  When the Los Angeles Times publishes the times for sunset and sunrise, we don’t think the writers believe the sun actually rises and sets but that the earth rotates.  Sunrise and sunset are just figures of speech.  When they used to call Ted Kennedy, “The Lion of the Senate,”  we didn’t think they were saying he was a jungle cat.  How foolish.  In the same way, we need to include a little common sense with our Bible reading. 

Now, when someone tells you the Bible teaches a flat earth because Isa. 11:12 talks about the four corners of the earth, tell them to get a life.

 

We as Christians struggle with doing right and with sin.  It is a constant fight to keep our heads above water.  One side, the spirit, tugs at us to follow God’s commands and please Him.  The other, our flesh, pulls us the other way trying to please ourselves, and we often fall.  Paul faced the same struggles:

Romans 7:18-21 (ESV)
¹⁸  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
¹⁹  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
²⁰  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
²¹  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

It’s the sin in our lives, both past and present, that causes us to withdraw from God, to see ourselves as worthless, as unworthy, as unqualified for what Christ gave and the salvation He offers.

A little over a year ago, I met a man, Jim Delozier.  Jim was a Christian, but you could see by how Jim presented himself that he had faced some hard times in his past, that his was a tough.  He was, as was said at Jim’s memorial service, “a warrior.”  You can hear Jim’s testimony on Youtube.com here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao1uasDBwwE   It starts about 18 1/2 minutes into the video.

Anyway, something Jim said in his testimony last year was about a dream Jim had had.  It describes how we feel and how we often respond to our Lord.

In Jim’s dream, he saw Jesus come to him.  Jim began to weep, and Jesus asked, “Don’t you believe in me?”  In his dream, Jim said, “Of course I believe in You.  It’s me.  I’m the one who doesn’t deserve it.”  We see ourselves facing Jesus with our sin standing alongside of us.

The born-again experience is such a personal thing that I often see only myself and Jesus.  I think no one else carries the sin I carry.  No one else has hurt God as I have hurt Him.  But Jim’s simple but powerful statement clarified it for me and for all the men in that room.  The dream ended with Jesus telling Jim He was coming back for him.

No matter what we have done, no matter Who we have hurt, no matter the guilt we carry inside of us, as Jim says at the end of his testimony, Jesus is coming back for us.

A friend of mine, Steve, told a story the other day of his son and a hunting trip they had taken together.  They stumbled on an old railroad track, and his young son started picking up railroad spikes that lay all around the site.  Soon he had 35 pounds of these spikes in his backpack, and he was struggling.  But, because his dad had warned him it would be too heavy if he picked up too many, pride kept him from dropping some of the spikes.

Jesus tells us, like Steve’s son, we carry a heavy burden we don’t need to.  Yes, we feel worthless and unworthy to accept Jesus’ gift.  We think we are the exception to John 3:16.  “God, couldn’t really want me, we tell ourselves.” 

God knew all about the human condition.  That’s why He had Paul write Romans 7.  But He also had Paul write chapter 8 which starts out:

• Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)
  ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
  ²  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
  ³  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
  ⁴  in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Paul is saying, if we are still holding ourselves responsible for sins of the past and the present, we are purposely rejecting Christ’s gift and living under the Law.  Condemnation because of sinful works is the other side of the “salvation by works” coin.  These are not God’s plan.

Jim went to be with the Lord earlier this month.  Jesus came back for him.  The Lord didn’t count Jim’s sin against him.  He counted his heart and his love for Christ.  We will be held to that and only that standard as well.