UI – Part 500 – ‘Striving’ Differs for Religions (4 of 4)

Find Your Peace

Is your preference fighting to achieve a sad, bitter, hate filled existence against those you are taught, trained, conditioned and compelled to hate, the infidel, OR, to find joy and hope in this life, assured by having faith in Christ, his saving grace, that you will bear the fruit of the spirit?

For Christians, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 ESV).

It is not an earthly all-for-one world, as Allah and Muhammad seek.  If the world became All for Allah, would every Muslim then find paradise, a place in heaven.  The others would already be in hell, unless there remain in the all Allah world heretics and hypocrites.  Then the goal of Islam would not have been achieved.

As noted in the Bible, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day (Judgment Day) many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).  God will accept those, Christ as their advocate, that have been justified in their faith in Christ.

Know God.  The Christian God made himself available in human form, enabling humans to know him and have a relationship with him.  Through the Word (the Bible) God speaks to readers; he is knowable.  Through the resurrection the unknown God broke forth. There are laws in the Bible, the Old Testament, but more as a guide to those that need them, and many are manmade.  Christ came as an example to fulfill the laws, and followers, recognizing their sinful nature, the emphasis on the ten commandments, will lead respectful, tolerant, caring and loving lives.  For example by eating pork they are not going to hell. What is essential for Christ followers is an awareness that the law is now manifestly not the path to righteousness; Christ is! The ultimate goal of the law is that we would look to Christ, not law-keeping, for our righteousness.

There is no personal relationship with Allah possible.

The laws of Islam are manmade and use Allah and Muhammad as reinforcement for those who kill, commit terror, behead and the like, those they hate, those they consider enemies of Islam, the aggressors, the persecutors, as if their actions are blessed by a supernatural being.

Peace is yours, if you so strive to walk the path to peace.

Life – Striving

In life there is “striving.”  Close your eyes, clear you mind, and reflect.  What is your purpose?  What is God’s purpose for you?  What is Allah’s purpose for you?  Is your purpose more in line with that which God has in mind? If it is, your personal connection is more with God .  Is your life to be filled with joy, happiness, hope and love?  I feel few would say otherwise, although many find their lives filled with despair and desperation.  In God you will find the fruits of the spirit all about you and in you.  In Allah you will be doing battle, striving for Allah and striving internally to find your purpose.

God’s Will can be done on earth as it is in heaven, thus eliminating the need to seek the afterlife as a preference to this life.  Christ made that possible.

In summary: The objective a Muslim is to strive for is a world All for Allah. There is no joy in Islam; it is not about Love.  The objective of a Christian, justified in their faith in Christ, is to strive for a life lived with Christ as the example, thankful for God’s gift of grace, renewed by the spirit of the Lord, and filled with joy and hope.  God is Love.

“The whole world is the footprint of God” (Karl Barth).

Grace and Peace