Obey

The Faith Question

What does the Bible say about persons who fail to listen to Jesus? Does it matter to you what the Bible says?

My answer

Acts 3:24 states it very clearly - "Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people". I don't know whether it is fear of excommunication or the fear of "not belonging to God" to God that makes people follow what is written in the Scriptures.

Although, very often I have a problem rationlising a lot of my past actions. Being very closely associated with the 'Hindu' culture, there were many practises that I felt were 'compatible' with my Christian beliefs. A special case has been accepting of 'Prasaad', which is the 'Hindu' offering to the deities. Although this has been clearly forbidden by the Scriptures, I am still finding it hard to come to terms with it. Here is the verse that states this:

1 Corinthians 10:27-29 - NIV

27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake — 29 the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?"

We might choose to rationalise why we want to obey the lord...wether we want to be His "treasured possession" (Exodus 19:5) or "blessings for their offspring" (Genesis 22:18)...but I like to think of as follows:

Leviticus 18:5 - NIV

"Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD."

There need not be any second thoughts.