Friday, October 23, 2009

Christ to his neighbor -

"It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor."

-Martin Luther

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we mustpractice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:
First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly_and I myself was unaware of it_will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about,blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), itwould be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know.

Martin Luther
'On the Jews and their Lies'
Chapter 15

Steve said...

Luther was a real sinner, that's for sure.

In the latter stage of his life, when he was battling many disorders, and some possibly affecting his mind, he did say some terrible things.

It cannot be denied.

But he also said many very wonderful things...which many still deny.

Let's not forget the nature of the people tht God has chosen to use for His purposes.

David (the apple of God's eye) was an adulterer, a liar and a murderer.

Moses also killed a man, and so did St. Paul (Saul).

Not to mention the long list of sinners in Jesus' line that had sins every bit as bad as ours.

So, if yor think you're being cute by pointing out someone's boneheaded remarks, forget it.

It doesn't fly with me. I know everyone on the planet, including yourself, is capable of the same thing.

Anonymous said...

I wasn’t being ‘cute’ I was demonstrating the hypocrisy of religion! QED...

Joe A. said...

Yes, that one portion of a single chapter from one man demonstrates the hypocrisy of all religion.

I guess a man who says something wrong can never say something right or reasonable at some point, too?

Most likely everyone here was already aware of that info, anyway.

I eagerly await your next anonymously copied-and-pasted quote, though.

Anonymous said...

Joe A.

Oh you've figured me out! I am going to use a cut and paste answer!!

"It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbour."

-Martin Luther

Dorci said...

boys...

Joe A. said...

You sure are excitable.

Dawg said...

"As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice."


Thanks for stopping by Anonymous.

As Steve and Joe have basically said; every man is a sinner and a single quote cannot define a mans life.

We have all said something at some point in our lives that did not define the real person we are on a day to day basis.

The quote I originally posted from Luther is absolutely right on from the stand point of how Christians should treat their neighbors.

Who is a neighbor to the Christian?

Everyone!

The quote I started this comment with....

("As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice.")

....is a quote from one of the most evil people to ever step foot on this planet; Adolf Hitler.

Was Hitler a Christian?

Did Hitler fight for truth and justice?

No and no.

Hitler did not practice the Christian duty of being Christ to his neighbor because he was no Christin at all.

Should we let that quote from Hitler define him as a sincere Christian who's goal in life was to fight for truth and justice?

No; his actions proved otherwise.

There are hypocrites in the church and if you were to watch me for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week you will no doubt conclude I am one too.

But my hope does not lie within myself.

Thank God.

My hope (as well as Luther's, Joe's, Steve's and many others who post here) is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

Check out this link -

http://dawgonthelawn.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-must-i-do-to-be-saved.html

Dawg

Steve Martin said...

Nice going, Wayne.

Christ and His work for us.

We are not up to it...none of us. We all say and do stupid things.

But when we speak of Christ, He is there, in it...for His purposes.

We are just earthen vessels. He IS the Living God who uses the poor tools to accomplish His will.