“God's Right”

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Even though one's a christian, can he still have objections about the things God, Jesus, the apostles, the angels, and all the good guys have done and said in the Bible (like God allowing slavery and Moses’ "shall be put to death" laws)?

Sincerely,
Conscientous Objector

Dear Conscientous Objector,

We can object to human behavior as much as we want – but part of being a christian is agreeing that God knows better than us.  If we don’t submit our will to God’s, then we really don’t trust Him to be our Master (Matt 6:24).  If God says that something is wrong, we must have faith in His judgment.  And if God says something is right, we must listen and follow.

Having said that, we must differentiate between God’s ways and our ways (Isa 55:9).  God is responsible for all of the capital punishment laws that Moses gave (Ex 31:18), and therefore, we must accept that God deems capital punishment a good thing in certain circumstances.

However, slavery is an entirely different issue.  God does address slavery in the Bible.  He makes it clear that it is better when people are free; freedom is what God desires for all men (1 Cor 7:21).  However, God also deals with how people can live in a world where slavery does exist… hence, verses like Col 3:22.  The fact that God gives us practical laws for how to live in a world with slavery doesn’t mean He condones it.  Just because we don’t have slavery in America doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere, and mankind must learn how to be faithful to God in whatever circumstances we are living.

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