i tried. i really did

[Dill]

(06-16-2023, 05:47 PM)Leon Wrote: maybe this will help from the gospel center.

First and foremost, we must think of the “law of God” in terms of God. The triune God is the law because his will and nature is the moral standard of the universe. For this reason, God alone has the right and authority to determine what is right and wrong, and to hold his moral creatures, both human and angelic, accountable to whether they have perfectly obeyed his commands.

Scripture first and foremost identifies “the law of God” with God himself. God alone is the Judge of the earth (Gen. 18:25), who always acts consistently with who he is. To fail to grasp this point is to misunderstand who God is and the entire rationale for God’s glorious plan of redemption centered in the obedient life and substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Creator and Lord, God rightfully deserves and demands perfect obedience and loyal love from his moral creatures, both human and angelic. In this context, the “law of God” refers to his specific commands and demand from us. In creation, this is reflected in God’s command to Adam (Gen. 2:16-17), which is more than a one-time command. Ultimately, God’s demand on Adam, his image-bearer and covenant creature, is to perfectly obey God in a relationship of love and trust.

Couple of questions:

1. In general, Christians all agree that their God wants and deserves obedience, but when it comes to specifics they often disagree on what constitutes obedience. That's why there are so many different denominations--including some which accept and marry gays.  Do some Christians know better what God's will is? How can a non-Christian tell who has it right? Each group will justify its views first by pointing to the Bible, and then by accepting what they believe on "faith." 

2. Should government tolerate other religions and atheists? You quote Genesis above--a sacred text to Jews and Muslims as well as Christians; the Old Testament appears to say other gods and non-believers should not tolerated. But we live in a liberal democracy which "makes no law respecting the establishment of Religion." If you wanted to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., you'd have to figure out a way to do it without saying the word "Muslim."  But that secular basis seems to go against what the Christian God wants