How to Intrepret John 3:16

Discussion in 'Religious places & Spiritual people' started by ChennaiExpress, Aug 1, 2015.

  1. ChennaiExpress

    ChennaiExpress IL Hall of Fame

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    Honestly, I really don't know which religion to identify with.

    I talk to God a lot. In office I talk to God in bathroom breaks.

    People create religions, but God looks at heart.

    I am interested in

    * Buddhism: man with all the wealth in the world gives it up to find the ultimate truth

    * Sikhism: my grandparents were Sikhs, they had best marriage, and I like the teaching of brotherhood, equality, sharing your wealth, and fighting for your basic human rights

    * Hinduism: well, the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, after all Hinduism is an approach to life, not so much a religion

    * Christianity: because Joel Osteen's sermons have been so inspirational, even before I found out my ex is worse than the devil, and my ex thinks Joel Osteen is a clown

    but to me, all religions lead to God.

    However in Christianity, many believe that only Jesus Christ will lead you to God, and there is no other way.

    But I read a quote from Buddhist website that says something like "there are many ways, hence many people", and Buddha himself gave some guidelines on how to obtain nirvana.

    And now, several scholars believe that Jesus was born a regular human being, and then went to India along the Silk Route with his uncle, learned Buddhism and Chinese medicines.


    I am rambling on and on, but this doesn't make Jesus Christ any less of a being. As a matter of fact, this message is more powerful because it shows any human being can focus their approach to be more Christ (= Krishna) consciousness.


    Do any of you understand what I am saying? I'm just trying to express my sentiments.

    Which brings me to John 3:16


    16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.


    But aren't we all God's sons and daughters?

    Jesus was one such person who became part of God, just like Buddha, and many others before and after, who received Enlightenment.


    Don't we all come from an original source, a single electron, which got multiplied, i.e. Big Bang theory, birth of the Universe.

    Christians, are you offended that I said there are other ways to God other than Jesus Christ? I really don't want to offend anyone. One time I told that to a Christian in my office, and he said I should go to jail, and he was very rude afterwards.


    If anything, someone like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc should be an inspiration for how to act and behave. No matter how many riches God gives us, we should enjoy it, and use it to help others so they make honest earning for such riches, enjoy their health, wealth, and have the wisdom to help others. To spread the divine light with which God put in each of us when he made us.

    As for me, I believe in a God, but I cannot in honesty say "I give my life to Jesus Christ", I can say "I give my life to God"


    Can any of you share your light and insights?


     
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  2. sbonigala

    sbonigala Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi Chennai Express.

    It would have been easy to respond to your post, had there been just straight religions. No there are 100s of sub-religions. In a single religion, there are tons of branches - one's opinion conflicts with the other. For example: Take Hinduism - there are religions, castes, cultural differences which all form the basis for faith.
    If there is so much going on in one religion alone, its impossible to expect that we all can believe in God is one and same - easier said than practically done.
    As you honestly agreed, you cannot say you give your life to Christ , but to God.
    As you mentioned we all come from one source - now the fight is who is that source - Rama, Krishna. Budha, Christ or Allah ??

    Coming to John's gospel - from an authentic catholic website -

    First of all, the Catholic view of salvation is not faith plus works, if by works you mean purely human efforts to win God's favor.

    Catholics believe in salvation by grace alone, yet grace must not be resisted, either before justification (by remaining in unbelief) or after (by engaging in serious sin). Read carefully 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, and Ephesians 5.

    Second, the Bible nowhere uses the expressions "justification by faith alone" or "salvation by faith alone." The first was directly the invention of Luther; the second his by implication. Luther inserted "alone" into the German translation of Romans 3:28 to give credence to his new doctrine.

    But your question deals with John 3:16. Yes, this passage does speak of the saving power of faith, but in no sense does it diminish the role of obedience to Christ in the process of getting to heaven.

    In fact, it assumes it. Just as Fundamentalists overlook the rest of the chapter in connection with what being born of water and the Holy Spirit really means--they ignore the water part, which refers to baptism--they also overlook the context when interpreting Christ's words about obtaining eternal life in John 3:16.

    In John 3:36 we are told, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."

    This expands on John 3:16. It is another way of saying what Paul says in Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

    Although we cannot earn God's unmerited favor by our good works, we can reject his love by our sins (that is, by our evil works) and thereby lose the eternal life he freely offers us in Christ.
     
  3. ChennaiExpress

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    How very thorough and detailed!

    To me, it makes sense that we had previous lives and we are bearing the karma for past actions, i.e. if we did good we get good, else if we did bad, we get bad.

    I take comfort in the notion of surrendering yourself to God, seeking his salvation, and he will wipe away past sins.

    I believe when you seek God's salvation, he gives you good ideas for doing good works, productive things that help you, and those around you.
     
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  4. sbonigala

    sbonigala Platinum IL'ite

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    Glad the response helped. I am a practicing catholic now but have been a Hindu earlier.
    I prefer not getting into caste because I have no belief in caste system and I think its useless. When we die God does not ask which caste are you from? Nor does he postpone our death because we come from so-and-so caste.
    My words might be hurtful and rude (and I apologize if I hurt anyone's sentiments here) but the major reason for India not being able to advance in many fields in this nasty caste system.

    Coming back to faith - I respect every faith but I choose to follow Catholicism because it gives me convincing answers to my questions. I come to believe Christ because Christ did not have as fancy life as other Gods. He struggled just like humans do, mentally and physically and still bothered to help and love - he set an example. That's what made him special FOR ME.

    Also I find that these days its extremely easy to create a website and dump whatever info there . Not everything found on the net is valid and legitimate. I request you to find informative websites and ensure the authenticity of the information before you believe in it. For example - You mentioned - And now, several scholars believe that Jesus was born a regular human being, and then went to India along the Silk Route with his uncle, learned Buddhism and Chinese medicines.
    I have been reading online a lot about this but none of the authentic catholic websites have any information about this. I will still try and get more info on this, for sure. I am not saying you are wrong, but I am unable to agree that this is right. I hope you got my point.
     

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