(Deuteronomy 9:5) Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ~~ I find this passage quite interesting! Many Christians often said: "The Israelites were the chosen people. Are they particularly outstanding?" Deuteronomy tells us that the Israelites were not particularly outstanding. Interestingly, Moses told the Israelites 3,000 years ago that Jehovah God gave the land of Canaan not because of Israelites righteousness and uprightness, but because the Canaanites were so wicked! Therefore, we must understand that "righteousness" and "wickedness" are comparative forms! None of us deserve to be declared righteous before Jehovah God. We often call others "sinners," but are we sinners ourselves? Paul called him the chief of sinners! Indeed, we are all sinners, and when we criticize others, we should ask ourselves: Are we more righteous and upright than they are? This passage teaches us a crucial truth: If God were to punish us for our sins, no one would be able to stand!
The United States claims to be a Christian nation, but we completely lack the "spirit of Christ" here! And we see that Americans full of selfishness and profits! Why has America become what it is today? Because these Christians don't preach "biblical truth" at all; they're all about "political correctness"! The America of 20 years ago is completely different from the America of today! Yesterday I saw the news that a veteran of the Mormon Church was murdering congregants with a gun. Why would a veteran go to a church and kill people? Many people in this world believe the media's nonsense, and that's why the world is becoming increasingly chaotic! What political fanatics? What religious fanatics? These are all "hot news" created by the media to attract attention! Why is the United States a country with religious freedom, yet "heresies" are so rampant there? Do you know the harm that religious fanaticism brings to families? Do you know the suffering that religious leaders' wanton "enrichment" brings to society and its people? And how many innocent lives have been lost by religious leaders using their privilege to abet their congregants? I don't criticize any religion because I believe in one thing: If my Creator is the Lord who controls the universe, then no matter how chaotic the world is, He is still in control! Regardless of any religious belief or religious leader, there is only one principle that matters most: To act justly and to love mercy! Regardless of your religion or which God you worship, as long as there's one principle: "Do justice and love mercy," then I believe that religion is good, and its leaders are good too! Why do I think differently from other religious leaders? Because other religious leaders are all vying for power! They just want to show everyone how great their god is, how much power they have because they've been chosen by God! Isn't this the self-righteous thinking of the Israelites? 3,000 years ago, Jehovah God told the Israelites through Moses: "Don't be self-righteous!" Have Christianity and the Israelites changed? Absolutely not! To be more precise, the conflicts among these religions stem from self-righteousness.!
Every religion thinks its god is better, more powerful, and that's what causes religious conflict! My god is more powerful, so I should control you, and you should obey me. This is the classic "slave mentality"! It's the "law of the jungle" currently practiced in the United States! Whoever has power and force controls the world! I want to ask religious leaders around the world: Do your gods have power? Which god is more powerful? Does it mean you have to fight each other? If you don't kill each other, don't fight each other, and don't slander each other, does your God have no power? Does a truly powerful God need to rely on humans to redress his wrongs? Does the God who truly controls the universe need to rely on humans to control everything in the universe? If a God who controls the universe needs humans, do I really doubt that these gods are gods? God and the devil are completely different! God is completely sovereign! God is like a healthy, normal person, completely independent and capable. God does not need "slaves"! The devil does! The devil is like a paralyzed patient, who needs to be "carried up by humans." If humans are unwilling to be slaves to the devil, the devil will have no power at all! The devil's power is "given by humans"! This is the biggest difference between "the devil and God"! Worshiping the devil is like worshiping a paralytic, an incapacitated and evil paralytic! The passage in Deuteronomy tells us a very important truth: The self-righteous are often "slaves of the devil"! Therefore, we must never fall into the "snake of self-righteousness"! What is "self-righteousness"? Self-righteousness is about promoting "universal values and universal identity"! A true Christian pursues truth! A true Christian doesn't seek "universal values and universal truth," nor does he allow them to stumble him, and even more so, he shouldn't use them to stumble others! If you believe your God is the true God, then the person must act justly and show mercy! Acting justly and showing mercy is the only criterion for judging whether you worship the true God! The true God has absolute power, so why would He do evil? Those who do evil are always the devil! The devil uses evil to attract more slaves! If someone says, "You believe in heresy," then you might really need to think about it! We can't judge people "by God's name." We must judge their "fruits" to see if they believe in heresy! Those who "act justly and show mercy" will inevitably bear "good fruits of peace and joy." Only the wicked will be cut off! The Bible is truly wise! A verse in Deuteronomy has already told us: How to distinguish "heresy"!!
