How Can You Truly Serve God?

Islam.
It preaches a lot about unbelievers.
The Koran is filled with verses that tell you how these idolaters should be treated by "true" believers.
And how is that?
With violence,of course!
But there is a verse that contradicts all of that....

The Cow.2:62.

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

There is no hatred here.No violence.No intolerance.
They are all believers and they are all equal.


Yet it gets overlooked in the same manner as this.
We all know Jesus said "turn the other cheek." "to love they neighbour."
Yet God said....

2 Chronicles.15:13.

Whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death,whether small or great, whether man or woman or child.

So my questions are this,
How do the followers of each faith know what to do when faced with such verses?
Each faith contradicts itself,so how can a follower truly serve God in the right way?
How can they,at the same time,tolerate and intolerate those of different religions and those who do not believe?
Can an equilibreum be found in such teachings?

Jakyll, 2 Chron is talking about the nation of Isreal made a covenant to serve God, and that those who would follow idols instead should be put to death, because they have made a covenant and God doesnt want them worshipping false idols. Whether God forgave them in the next world his lvoing heart alone knows.


Now this has nothing to do with turn the cheek.

Turn the cheek means dont render evil for evil, or it will never end. Be the big man about things. If some one tries to walk over you, you can justly put them in their place, not through violence, but some also take humiliation and use it for suffering and a cross.


Now, since we are in the age of forgiveness and penance in the New covenant, than turn the other cheek was giving by Jesus who is God for that reason.

In the old test, God delt with evil by stricking them down, but in the new he suffers evil to prosper in this world for the little good they will do, they get their reward here.

As for the Koran, I do not know.

peace.

reply to post by jakyll


As far as Islam goes, I'd think that 'idolators' get treated reasonably well:

Surah 31:15

But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did."

Surah 45:14

Tell those who believe, to forgive those who do not look forward to the Days of Allah: It is for Him to recompense (for good or ill) each People according to what they have earned.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Muslim who believes in the wholesale slaughter of 'idolators'. Of course, WHEN and IF a time of war arises (the Quran is pretty clear on the criteria for this), Muslims are commanded to fight a good fight (but not to go overboard. The Quran is quite clear on this as well).

What I'm trying to say, is that the Quran is pretty detailed on what and what to do. Now, some stuff about serving God (long and possibly boring text coming up ):

You might be interested to know, that there is no real exact translation to the word 'worship' in arabic. The word that is usually (and mistakenly) used for worship is 'Ibadat', which comes from the root word 'Abd', which means servant, or slave. The closest that Islam has a concept of 'worship', it is in doing the service of God, and this isn't by praying 5 times a day or fasting when required. It is living and working in the way of God.

This is why Islam is sometimes considered too hardcore or 'fundementalist'- it is not a religion, it is a way of life. Even the word Islam, it has 2 derivations, one coming from 'Submission', and the other coming from 'Peace'. While some may comment that 'Submission' is a very telling of the rigidness of Islam, for someone who believes, and is in the service of God, what other way is there?

Serve God with good deeds.

[edit on 10-11-2007 by babloyi]

What i am trying to show is that the Bible and the Quran have vastly different opinions within their pages and too many contradictions.

So how is it possible to follow what God/Jesus/Allah has said???
Do you have to deny one thing to accept another???
Or do you embrace all and just ignore the bits you don't agree with???

reply to post by jakyll


You read through it properly (this is the only part you have to be truly honest with yourself), and if even 1 thing it talks about is evil/wrong, you drop the whole thing like a hot brick.

If humans have to look in a book written by men to learn" how to truly serve God" then something is truly wrong with mankind. If this isn't innate knowledge, mankind will surly just become extinct by his own hand and not be missed very much.

[edit on 10-11-2007 by whaaa]

Originally posted by jakyll
2 Chronicles.15:13.

Whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death,whether small or great, whether man or woman or child.

So my questions are this,
How do the followers of each faith know what to do when faced with such verses?

I think I'll need to read the entire text (2 Chronicles 15) to find the full meaning but I'll give you my initial thoughts.

With the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we came into a new covenant (agreement) with God. He paid our price for sin and allowed us to find the father. The price paid can be accepted by anyone that takes Jesus as their Lord and savior, there is no time limit for the offering. In other words everyone has the term of their life to accept Jesus and the salvation offered. If a sinner was put to death by man for whatever reason under this new covenant, that man would be taking away the sinners right to find salvation (Jesus) and forgiveness during the term of their natural god given life.

So we need to temper the Old Testament with an understanding of the new....as I said we have a new covenant with God.

reply to post by whaaa


Jakyll didn't ask how to serve God in that last question. He asked how we know which bits to follow and which to disregard. Like I said, to serve God, do good deeds.

reply to post by kinglizard

So we need to temper the Old Testament with an understanding of the new....as I said we have a new covenant with God.

Doesn't that just mean your picking and choosing what you want?
Jesus' teachings are very different than that of God (himself) but in the New Testament he supports the acts of God,the laws of Moses,the Flood etc.
If he doesn't disregard the Old Testament,why should his followers??

reply to post by babloyi

Research thoroughly. It makes your lies more believeable.

Just noticed that,LOL.

Originally posted by jakyll
Doesn't that just mean your picking and choosing what you want?

It means we have a new covenant with God.

It means we have a new covenant with God.

You mean God shifted the goal posts???

Just teasing.

If the volatile and oppressive God of the OT has been left behind,why,when Jesus will return,will his arrival be followed by mass genocide??

And yes i know its of the "wicked" but it doesn't make sence for Jesus to be part of such destruction when he wants everyone to believe in him.Wouldn't it be better for Jesus to walk the earth converting people???

Word to the wise- you just ain't gonna agree on this topic. However, that's all right, because that's what arguing or d'iscussing' is all about. Of course, you never truly believed that the other would be persuaded by your words anyway.

Word to the wise- you just ain't gonna agree on this topic. However, that's all right, because that's what arguing or d'iscussing' is all about. Of course, you never truly believed that the other would be persuaded by your words anyway.

I'm not trying to persuade anyone.
I'm trying to understand how people can find a balance in what they believe when faced with many contradictions.
Why?
Because personally i would find it difficult.

It dosen't apply to you, so why do you even care? You don't have contradictions, not many anyway, in what you believe, and that's a good thing. That's a great thing. Worse yet, you know that your method of thinking in this particular domain is superior to the other, so the question becomes why would you desire to inquire about possessing a trait of lesser value? That trait being naivety-(Ha ha, I don't know how to spell it, but the circumstance permits that dosen't it?). Honestly, I find the whole inquiry insulting.
Why?
Partly because you would venture to do what is described above. And, well, as a Christian, I don't find any contradictions as you call them.... In the Koran maybe, but...., that's expected.

Originally posted by jakyll
You mean God shifted the goal posts???

He just made it possible for all of his children to make it to heaven.

Originally posted by jakyll
And yes i know its of the "wicked" but it doesn't make sense for Jesus to be part of such destruction when he wants everyone to believe in him.

Yes there will be a price to pay for those that don't accept salvation and sin with full knowledge. Just like a man that commits murder in our society he knows the price he will pay if caught. This doesn't mean that the superior court judge is evil, there are laws and they must be followed. Really the murder is responsible for his own fate not the Judge.

Originally posted by jakyll
Wouldn't it be better for Jesus to walk the earth converting people???

He already did that...really he can't make it any easier for people. Heck all you need to do is have a little faith and accept him to receive your salvation...that's no little thing.



[edit on 11/10/2007 by kinglizard]

He already did that...really he can't make it any easier for people. Heck all you need to do is have a little faith and accept him to receive your salvation...that's no little thing.

Well,what i meant was that he should walk the earth but not as a man who can be killed!
If he had lived longer he might have converted more people.

As for accepting,i'll do that when he accepts me for who i am

[edit on 10-11-2007 by jakyll]

reply to post by AFunkySensation

Partly because you would venture to do what is described above. And, well, as a Christian, I don't find any contradictions as you call them.... In the Koran maybe, but...., that's expected.

You don't find any contradictions in the Bible???

And what is it i would venture to do???

Originally posted by jakyll
As for accepting,i'll do that when he accepts me for who i am

He loves you and will accept what he made in his image. He died for your sins too you know. That's the whole point of the new covenant and his sacrifice. He allowed all of us sinners to enter the kingdom of God if we just humble ourselves and have a little faith.

Jesus died for the sinners not the righteous.

[edit on 11/10/2007 by kinglizard]

He loves you and will accept what he made in his image. He died for your sins too you know. That's the whole point of the new covenant and his sacrifice. He allowed all of us sinners to enter the kingdom of God if we just humble ourselves and have a little faith.

Yes,i've heard that before.
Right before being told that i have to stop being a lesbian,lol.