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April 21st, 2011
12:01 AM ET
My Take: Is Judas in heaven or hell? God only knows
By Craig Gross, Special to CNN I heard a news clip promoting my recent speaking engagement at a church, and they mentioned that I deal with some of "the greatest sinners of all time." I thought to myself: Do I? Would people who are caught up in porn and sexual sin addictions consider themselves some of the greatest sinners of all time? Probably not. Without a doubt, Judas, the biblical disciple of Jesus, is considered the greatest sinner of all time because of what he did to Jesus. Here is the passage from Luke 22:21-22.
No surprises there. But for the one who turns him in - who turns traitor to the Son of Man - this is doomsday. Let me tell you a little bit about what the Bible says about Judas: He was personally chosen to be an apostle by Jesus. He spent 3 1/2 years traveling with Jesus. He saw all the miracles of Christ in person. He watched as Christ healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demons. In terms of experience with Jesus, whatever you can say about Peter, James and John, you can say about Judas. On top of all this, he handled the money, which is most of the time the most trusted one in the bunch. No one suspected that Judas would betray Jesus, which tells me he was a believer. His life was changed. He knew Jesus personally. In a dark moment of his life, he made a mistake. A big one. He sold Jesus out for 30 silver coins or so. The moment he knew what he had done, he felt remorse, and he killed himself. I am not here to debate theology. The facts are the facts. I don't think Judas was “The Mole,” like the reality show character who's there to sabotage the game from the beginning. I think he made a mistake and now has gone down as committing the biggest sin of all time. Judas heard every message, saw every miracle, and still screwed up. Recently, I asked on my Facebook page: "Is Judas in heaven or hell?" The first response was:
There is a button on Facebook that I have started to love. It is called “unfriend.” I won't unfriend you because you believe differently than I do, I just don’t need more theologians as my friends on Facebook who speak with such confidence when it comes to someone's place in eternity. A debate continues on my Facebook wall. I love how everyone is so convinced they know whether Judas is in heaven or hell. I don't know who gets in, actually. Do I believe in heaven and hell? Yes. I believe one is dark and one is light, and they both last forever. Belief Blog: What if there is no hell? What is interesting to me is that in the upper room where Jesus and his disciples shared their last supper together, the 12 disciples all talked about how they were so great. Peter left the room and denied Jesus three times. Judas left the room and sold Jesus out for 30 coins. One committed suicide, and one went on to build the church as we know it today. Both Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They both denied Jesus. But why do most people think one goes to heaven and one goes to hell? This is not the debate Christians need to be engaged in. We don’t know. Instead of wasting our time on these types of arguments inside our little Christian world, maybe we should look inside ourselves this Easter. It is easier to debate these issues and make speculations about others than it is to actually look at ourselves in the mirror. It is always easier to think someone else is worse off then we are. But maybe as we approach Easter, we can be reminded that for Christians, the cross and the grave should silence all of these debates. We all fall short and deserve death, but because of what Jesus did on the cross 2,000 years ago, we are able to have life. And I believe that where you end up, God only knows. |
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Editor's Note: 
PRISM 1234.
Moderation giving me hard time since noon...will come back to you latter ...
"One committed suicide, and one went on to build the church as we know it today. Both Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They both denied Jesus. But why do most people think one goes to heaven and one goes to hell?"
I don't know. I'm not so concerned about that.
The concern is love for Jesus, a life of faith. Love casts out fear. For some reason, Judas was in a position for Satan to be able to "enter into". Granted, this is a strange concept and possibly a once-in-history occurance so we don't know what this means. But, presumably, he had exited by the time Judas repented. Why he then killed himself demonstrates to me a sort of confusion or contradiction, a lack of faith?
Godly sorrow brings about repentance. Repentance should bring about the blotting out of our sin (Acts 3:19) but since Christ hadn't died or risen yet when Judas killed himself, maybe it was a godly repentance – maybe he was offering his life to God – we don't know whether his suicide was in repentant hope & some sort of ill-guided atoning effort, or the result of depression, selfish pride, or whatever else...
So we don't know. We are not the judge of Judas' soul.
And Peter, while I do think he sinned in a sort of "equally liable" type of way, I don't think his sin was the same. His sin was pretty clearly fear of man, while Judas' seemed to be possessed and led by greed.
Hello Muneef,
recently I have read the whole Koran, in order to get a sober and objective judgement about the Koran. I hope, I am allowed to say that I have read the Bible several times too.
Here is my judgment (I try to be as objective as possible):
What is my general impression of the Koran?:
Answer: The Koran is more a devotional book than a holy scripture or revelation of God. At the time, when Mahomed (Muhammad) or muslim officers wrote down the Koran, the Old Testament (first section of the Bible) was yet known for a long time. The Koran reveals nearly nothing new beside the Old Testament, excepted that Mahomed and Jesus are ambassadors of God too beside the prophets, mentioned in the Old Testament like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David etc..
I don't want to claim that Mahomed has just copyed passages of the Old Testament, but one thing is undeniable that he just wrote down texts which had yet been written down by biblical authors long ago.
It is true that the Koran rejects the Trinity of God and the devine sonship of Jesus Christ, but I don't want to consider that issue now.
What I want to consider now is that the Koran is NO holy scripture like the Bible. This is an objective judgement and I am not led by hate. The Koran is poor. The Bible is rich. Of what is the Bible rich? The Bible contains a lot of interesting stories, talks between people, between God (Jesus) and people, wisdom (proverbs), prophecy (revelation), words of salvation (the 4 gospels, the epistles), historical data, like dates, locations, names of people involved in the stories, parables, reports about miracles, Jesus did, songs, prayers, psalms etc..
The Koran is somewhat (sorry) boring. It just repeats the following: there is a hell of fire, there is a paradise, Mahomed is the highest prophet, believers will end up in gardens where creeks flow through, there will be a Judgement Day, there is a devil (Iblis), you should give the tax for the poor, you should pray daily etc.. This statements get repeated and repeated and repeated. Sorry, after some time of reading I started to gape.
The Koran has two big lacks. It doesn't provide a detailed law (the Bible has a perfect law) and the Koran gives us no solution, how we can be set free from our sinfulness (we love it to do, what God has forbidden, and we hate it to do, what God wants us to do). The Koran doesn't know a redeemer or saviour, but it is a matter of fact that we need one. In daily life we experience our own sinfulness and the sinfulness of our neighbours. We cry: "who will set me free from this body of death?"
Answer: Jesus Christ the Son of God. Christ came down from heaven, born by the virgin Mary, called Jesus from Nazarath, in order to save us poor sinners.
A Christianity based on the Bible is very advanced. An Islam based on the Koran is somewhat backward.
Choose between progress and backwardness.
Kind regards,
Rainer
http://www.confessingchurch.wordpress.com
It's really too bad that this kind of dilligent, thoughtful cosideration isn't put into things that are real. The bible is no more original than the koran. Easter no more proprietary to Christians than any Pagan ritual. What we have are two religions more similar in their bizarre acceptance of magic as reality than different in their preffered magical components.
Happy easter
@ Rainer
My heart leaps and my spirit rejoices at reading what you wrote! GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!
Rainer Braendlein.
The reason for which the Quran was revealed ;
The Quran came to conceal and correct the distortion that has taken place in previous scriptures;
[5:15] O people of the scripture, our messenger has come to you to proclaim for you many things you have concealed in the scripture, and to pardon many other transgressions you have committed. A beacon has come to you from GOD, and a profound scripture.
[5:16] With it, GOD guides those who seek His approval. He guides them to the paths of peace, leads them out of darkness into the light by His leave, and guides them in a straight path.
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Quran: The Ultimate Reference
[5:48] Then we revealed to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD's revelations, and do not follow their wishes if they differ from the truth that came to you. For each of you, we have decreed laws and different rites. Had GOD willed, He could have made you one congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To GOD is your final destiny – all of you – then He will inform you of everything you had disputed.
The Quran: God's Message to the Jews and Christians
__________________________________________________
(01) Distorting the Word of God
[2:75] Do you expect them to believe as you do, when some of them used to hear the word of GOD, then distort it, with full understanding thereof, and deliberately?
Concealing the Word of God
[2:76] And when they meet the believers, they say, "We believe," but when they get together with each other, they say, "Do not inform (the believers)of the information given to you by GOD, lest you provide them with support for their argument concerning your Lord. Do you not understand?"
[2:77] Do they not know that GOD knows everything they conceal, and everything they declare?
[2:78] Among them are gentiles who do not know the scripture, except through hearsay, then assume that they know it.
[2:79] Therefore, woe to those who distort the scripture with their own hands, then say, "This is what GOD has revealed," seeking a cheap material gain. Woe to them for such distortion, and woe to them for their illicit gains.
__________________________________________________
(02) Make no Distinction Among God's Messengers
[4:150] Those who disbelieve in GOD and His messengers, and seek to make distinction among GOD and His messengers, and say, "We believe in some and reject some," and wish to follow a path in between;
[4:151] these are the real disbelievers. We have prepared for the disbelievers a shameful retribution.
[4:152] As for those who believe in GOD and His messengers, and make no distinction among them, He will grant them their recompense. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
_________________________________________________
(03) About the Crucification;
[4:157] And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him – they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him.
[4:158] Instead, GOD raised him to Him; GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.
[4:159] Everyone among the people of the scripture was required to believe in him before his death. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them.
__________________________________________________
(05) about being the Son of God...
Verses will be posted latter in different place next page...
Quran came to unvail many disputed or concealed facts of many other things although still elder books are considered part thereof the Holy Quran because it is only complete with it as sura:verse 05:48 states.
PRISM 1234.
Rainer Braendlein.
(05) About God having a Son;
Az-Zukhruf sura 43:
When Jesus came with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), he said: I have come unto you with wisdom, and to make plain some of that concerning which ye differ. So keep your duty to Allah, and obey me. (63) Lo! Allah, He is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him. This is a right path. (64) But the factions among them differed. Then woe unto those who do wrong from the doom of a painful day. (65).
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Al-Baqara sura 02:
And they say: Allah hath taken unto Himself a son. Be He glorified! Nay, but whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth is His. All are subservient unto Him. (116) The Originator of the heavens and the earth! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. (117).
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Yunus sura 10:
They say: Allah hath taken (unto Him) a son – Glorified be He! He hath no needs! His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. Ye have no warrant for this. Tell ye concerning Allah that which ye know not? (68) Say: Verily those who invent a lie concerning Allah will not succeed. (69).
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Al-Isra sura 17:
And say: Praise be to Allah, Who hath not taken unto Himself a son, and Who hath no partner in the Sovereignty, nor hath He any protecting friend through dependence. And magnify Him with all magnificence. (111).
---–
Al-Kahf 18:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to Allah Who hath revealed the Scripture unto His slave, and hath not placed therein any crookedness, (1) (But hath made it) straight, to give warning of stern punishment from Him, and to bring unto the believers who do good works the news that theirs will be a fair reward, (2) Wherein they will abide for ever; (3) And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen a son, (4) (A thing) whereof they have no knowledge, nor (had) their fathers, Dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths. They speak naught but a lie. (5).
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Maryam 19:
They will have no power of intercession, save him who hath made a covenant with his Lord. (87) And they say: The Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son. (88) Assuredly ye utter a disastrous thing (89) Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder and the mountains fall in ruins, (90) That ye ascribe unto the Beneficent a son, (91) When it is not meet for (the Majesty of) the Beneficent that He should choose a son. (92) There is none in the heavens and the earth but cometh unto the Beneficent as a slave. (93) Verily He knoweth them and numbereth them with (right) numbering. (94) And each one of them will come unto Him on the Day of Resurrection, alone. (95) Lo! those who believe and do good works, the Beneficent will appoint for them love. (96).
----–
Al-Anbiya 21:
And We sent no messenger before thee but We inspired him, (saying): There is no God save Me (Allah), so worship Me. (25) And they say: The Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son. Be He glorified! Nay, but (those whom they call sons) are honoured slaves; (26) They speak not until He hath spoken, and they act by His command. (27) He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot intercede except for him whom He accepteth, and they quake for awe of Him. (28).
----–
Al-Furqan sura 25:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Blessed is He Who hath revealed unto His slave the Criterion (of right and wrong), that he may be a warner to the people. (1) He unto Whom belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, He hath chosen no son nor hath He any partner in the Sovereignty. He hath created everything and hath meted out for it a measure. (2).
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Az-Zumar sura 39:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The revelation of the Scripture is from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise. (1) Lo! We have revealed the Scripture unto thee (Muhammad) with truth; so worship Allah, making religion pure for Him (only). (2) Surely pure religion is for Allah only. And those who choose protecting friends beside Him (say): We worship them only that they may bring us near unto Allah. Lo! Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Lo! Allah guideth not him who is a liar, an ingrate. (3) If Allah had willed to choose a son, He could have chosen what He would of that which He hath created. Be He glorified! He is Allah, the One, the Absolute. (4).
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Al-Jinn 72:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur'an, (1) Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe unto our Lord no partner. (2) And (we believe) that He – exalted be the glory of our Lord! – hath taken neither wife nor son, (3) And that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie. (4) And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah – (5).
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Al-Maeda 05:
And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I had ever said it, then Thou wouldst have known it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden? (116) I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things. (117) If Thou punish them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgive them (lo! they are Thy slaves). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, the Wise. (118).
Hello, Muneef,
I hope and pray that you are doing fine, and that you are safe... I don't actualy know where you are, but I gather you live somewhere where there are many unrests...
Today is the special day for all people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who came to live among us, and who became a sacrificial Lamb, offeirng Himself to God for the sins of all mankind. It is the most joyful day of the year, observed in rememberance of that day, becasue if Jesus Christ didn't rise from the grave and defeated sin and death, we, human race would have no hope.
I thank you for the scriptures you posted, because I sense that you do this with right intentions. Becasue of that, I desire to give to you some of the Scrioptures which, if you read them, may show you WHY we need Jesus Christ. I say, MAY, becasue to those whose hearts are open to the Spirit of God, He will remove the blinders from their spiritual eyes, and they will see, but some, because of hinderances, won't.
Please read the portions of Scriptures which come from the Old Testament, of our Holy Bible, and see what they tell you....
" Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. and they made His grave with the wicked— but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53)
Who are these Scriptures talking about? ...In all the hystory of mankind Jesus Christ is the only one is fitting this descripion. Yet THEY WERE WRITTEN LONG BEFORE HIS BIRTH.
And here are the Scriptures prophesying Jesus Christ's birth, and clearly spelling out who HE IS. And this was written long before Jesus Christ was born....
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."(Isaiah 9:6,7)
The following Scriptures are taken from Gospel of John, Ch. 1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"( St. John 1)
You see Muneef, that's why I said to you in previous post that "flesh and blood did not reveal this to us, but our Father who is in Heaven. No man comes to the Father but through Him, who is the living Word of God , which became flesh...but it is the Holy Spirit that draws us, and reveals Jesus to us, testifying who He is...and He is the Spirit of truth.
I posted those Scriptures for you , because I believe if you read them, not shuning away, like the time you said that someone gave you the "Gospel of John", and you "couldn't read it" , because it said Jesus Christ is God's Son. Let God SPEAK to you. He gave you free will, and you don't need to run and hide. If it won't stand "the test" of truth, it will crumble to dust, but if it wil,l it will deliver your soul from present blindness. I had to face my own blindness in times of the past..... I was in a Christian sect called Catholic church, which strayed so much from the Scriptuers in it's teachings and practices, that it's more like a cult, then true Christianity. So, I left it, but not without going through much anguish... But after the storm was over, and I finnaly broke off, God gave me peace, and established me in His word.
God said the road on which those are wsho seek Him, and His righteousness is not easy, and taht it's steep, and not many are on it. But the wide, easy road is full of travelers, but theyh don'\t know what awaits them....
I like to give you one more Scripture referance from Revelations, the last book of the Bible, Jesus Himself speaking:
:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty........Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I AM HE WHO LIVES, AND WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this...(Revelation ch.1)
Here, Muneef, I gave you some of the Scriptures that are the foundations of my faith. I watned tao shaare them with you, as yhou always share yours, a nd faithfully post them There were times I was anoyhed seeing them, adn once I even wrote to you saying so, but I realize now, you do it becaue you beleive they are true, and want people to know what you believe and I am sorry for that post I wrote to you, I didn't mean to discourage you.
I would like you to read the Scriptures I posted for you and tell me if they did speak to you, and what meaning did you see in them?
Good night (I think it's night where you are), and please take care, you and your family... 🙂
P.S. This was such a long article that I failed to check for spelling some parts of it. Sorry about that, I hope you'll still understand...
PRISM 1234.
That was very interesting thing to read about and I respect every word it came with and Thank you for the guidance and encouragement therefore I find my self more attracted to read the old books after all they are the elder parts of our book what ever they say although each has his own belief and can figure which are similar to ours and which are not....after all verses seemed as ours although were put differently...
Thank you again and wish all the Christians a Happy and Peaceful celebration for this occasion...our prayers and peace upon the soul and the spirit of the Prophet and Messenger of God Jesus the Son of Mary..Amen.
Best wish's to you and family, do not worry about your post you said you have sent that might discouraged me because I either did not see it or did not understand it,so just enjoy your good celebrations... Am in the Western side of Yemen at the RedSea area...
Hello, Muneef,
I have been away from my PC, so I'm sorry for not writing sooner... Thank you for your kind post also, and it really touched my heart.... I went to see on the Web about Yemen, and it was amazing to me to see how the landscape looks, with cities built so differently then we here are used to see. I myself come from a small European country, located in Balkans, but I guess it looks so much like here in Eastern part of US, it's not much difference. I went back there to visit last year, and th cities are just growing so fast, covering the landscape...I went at this time of the year, and springtime there is beautiful....My family is still there....
Muneef , I was so glad that the Scriptures I wrote you prompted you to be attracted to read more of them. I hope you can, and you will. You know, the Word of God is living, it is powerful, and goes straight to the human heart. To those who have pride, and love their own ways, it exposes what's in them, and they run from it... but the humble of heart, and those who seek God, He draws them by His Spirit, and reveals Himself to them.... I want to write to you another part of our Holy Scriptures, and I have to say that this is one of my most dearest Scriptures, because it shows how much we mean to God...
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.(Psalm 139)
This is especially for you, Muneef, because that's how God knows you, and how important you are to Him....That's how personaly and closely you can know Him in His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
May His Peace be with you, my friend!
May He protect you from all harm!
PRISM 1234.
Thank you so much for your kindness and concern, I as well admire the strength of your faith in what you believe in....but if I may say just as you have a strong faith in what you believe the same thing applies for me in my Holy Quran with out any doubt what so ever.
After all we believe as well that God will judge and consider man for his intentions and what his heart has earned,so you see people will be hosted into Paradise only by God's mercy and not only by their good deeds or works.
Any way am happy for you for having faith in what you do and believe in which is rather better than believing in nothing...after all God (Allah) has mentioned in the Quran verses that Jesus was his word and his spirit and that God has supported him with the Holy Spirit, although was mentioned that God could choose any of his creatures as sons but he has no begotten son... Any way thank you for your kind consideration but just mind that your heart remain clean of negativeness of hate and other similar aspects that could drive man to Hell even if did all good deeds..
Hello,
recently I have read the whole Koran, in order to get a sober and objective judgement about the Koran. I hope, I am allowed to say that I have read the Bible several times too.
Here is my judgment (I try to be as objective as possible):
What is my general impression of the Koran?:
Answer: The Koran is more a devotional book than a holy scripture or revelation of God. At the time, when Mahomed (Muhammad) or muslim officers wrote down the Koran, the Old Testament (first section of the Bible) was yet known for a long time. The Koran reveals nearly nothing new beside the Old Testament, excepted that Mahomed and Jesus are ambassadors of God too beside the prophets, mentioned in the Old Testament like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David etc..
I don't want to claim that Mahomed has just copyed passages of the Old Testament, but one thing is undeniable that he just wrote down texts which had yet been written down by biblical authors long ago.
It is true that the Koran rejects the Trinity of God and the devine sonship of Jesus Christ, but I don't want to consider that issue now.
What I want to consider now is that the Koran is NO holy scripture like the Bible. This is an objective judgement and I am not led by hate. The Koran is poor. The Bible is rich. Of what is the Bible rich? The Bible contains a lot of interesting stories, talks between people, between God (Jesus) and people, wisdom (proverbs), prophecy (revelation), words of salvation (the 4 gospels, the epistles), historical data, like dates, locations, names of people involved in the stories, parables, reports about miracles, Jesus did, songs, prayers, psalms etc..
The Koran is somewhat (sorry) boring. It just repeats the following: there is a hell of fire, there is a paradise, Mahomed is the highest prophet, believers will end up in gardens where creeks flow through, there will be a Judgement Day, there is a devil (Iblis), you should give the tax for the poor, you should pray daily etc.. This statements get repeated and repeated and repeated. Sorry, after some time of reading I started to gape.
The Koran has two big lacks. It doesn't provide a detailed law (the Bible has a perfect law) and the Koran gives us no solution, how we can be set free from our sinfulness (we love it to do, what God has forbidden, and we hate it to do, what God wants us to do). The Koran doesn't know a redeemer or saviour, but it is a matter of fact that we need one. In daily life we experience our own sinfulness and the sinfulness of our neighbours. We cry: "who will set me free from this body of death?"
Answer: Jesus Christ the Son of God. Christ came down from heaven, born by the virgin Mary, called Jesus from Nazarath, in order to save us poor sinners.
A Christianity based on the Bible is very advanced. An Islam based on the Koran is somewhat backward.
Choose between progress and backwardness.
Kind regards,
Rainer
http://www.confessingchurch.wordpress.com
Wonderful post,it would be a better world if more people could express themselves as you did.
JUST KICKING AROUND IDEAS, "IT WOULD BE BETTER THAT HE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN" IMPLIES NOT MUCH GOOD COMING OUT OF THAT BETRAYAL. PETER WAS ASKED THREE TIMES "DO YOU LOVE ME?" AND RESPONDED WELL,ACCEPTING CHRIST. HELL AND THOSE IN IT ARE NOT FOREVER IN HELL,THEY ARE BROUGHT UP FOR JUDGEMENT. AND THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE,WHICH IS FOREVER. DEATH AND HELL GO INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE ALSO. YEAH, PRETTY MUCH HELL IS WHERE YOU GO RIGHT NOW IF YOU REJECT CHRIST. UNTIL JUDGEMENT!
Muneef, stop assuming the phony heavensent's babble baloney. You'd know if I really wrote.
Amen.
HeavenSent.
What is it you complain of ? And what is that about phony babble balcony ? Wonder if it sounds like an Italian food?
He is in heaven, he was forgiven.
No he was not. The same book that tells us what he did tells us his fate. If he is in heaven why does Jesus say it would have been better for him if he had not been born? Mark 14:21
Mr.Gross
I have read about your ministry in Las Vegas and appreciate what you are doing to preach against the decadence in Sin City.
May God give your wisdom as you continue to do His work appointed for you.
Coming to Judas, IMO, perhaps you should weigh in scripture before you give a statement like "God only knows" which is such an abstract statement and anyone could make one like that. You should have looked at all accounts of Judas in the Gospels and made your statement. It gives more credibility.
Fran,
As much as we humans hate to admit it, there are a lot of things in this life and beyond that "God only knows." This is a perfectly valid statement. God didn't clear up every single mystery ever presented to us. There are some gray areas, some things left undefined. The simple truth is that there are a lot of things we cannot know beyond a shadow of a doubt. And that's why trust and faith in God is so amazing! We accept that we don't know everything there is to know, but that He understands and will reveal to us what we need at the right time.
Humans hate to admit that we don't know something. But we're so small compared to the vast wisdom of the Creator. Of course there are things we don't know! But this shouldn't undermine our faith or cause us to argue with other believers. It should strengthen our faith, feed it, because we have a personal relationship with the only One who does, indeed, have all the answers.
Judas also was stealing money even though he was in charge of it. On top of that he committed suicide. After suicide it is too late. We are to die only once then the judgment.
Depending on the book, Judas might not have committed suicide.
"Both Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They both denied Jesus. But why do most people think one goes to heaven and one goes to hell?" Because the Bible says so. Acts 1:25 - "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." What was his own place? Perdition, according to Jesus. John 17:12 - "Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition." I swear, if these pastors would just sit down and actually read their Bibles, they wouldn't have so many questions!
See roadtobetterliving DOT com / HTML / stateofdead DOT html
Judas is in the grave asleep until the resurrection. He is in neither... He is asleep...
Judas is in neither ... Judas is in the grave asleep until the resurrection.
See wwwDOTroadtobetterlivingDOTcom/html/stateofdeadDOThtml
Judas is asleep...
Jesus gave himself for everyone, Judas included. On the cross he said, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do," those words of forgiveness extended to all those involved in taking his life, wouldn't Judas of all people be the first in His thougths?"
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our resident insane person...*APPLAUSE*
richunix,
Your claim that I am an atheist is wrong (not even close). You seem to contradict yourself though in what you are trying to say. You mention the word God or Gods. Isn't the true definition of an atheist one who denies the existence
of any God.
Hilarious. The whole point of Craig's article was to say that we shouldn't (or needn't) argue about something that we can never know in this life...yet, that's all you people want to comment about.
We can know what happened to Judas. God recorded it in the Gospel of John 17:21 and Mark 14:21. Read the word of God and test everything a pastor says to see if it is true.
In the Inspired Word of God–the Bible, Judas was condemned to hell. Christ said regarding Judas: "woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It were better for that man if he had not been born." Matthew 26:24
Maybe not – the woe may have been his remorse and subsequent suicide ...
Matthew 19:27Then Peter said in reply, "See,(AL) we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" 28Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[b](AM) when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This twelve included Judas. I'm not dogmatic about Judas' final fate, that one was up to God – but consider the possibility that God doesn't judge things in the same manner that we humans do.
God bless
John 17:12 Mr. Gross
i had one thing on my mind reading this
JUDA JUDA AH AH JUDA JUDA AH AH JUDA GAGA
It's interesting that the author of this article left out two very important scriptures that seem to say Judas was in big trouble.
"It would have been better for that person if he had never been born." quoted by Jesus in 2 gospels
and
John 17:12 Jesus quote : "None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled."