u/GhostCat84

I would like to know how many people agree with the title of the post. Reading through the Old Testament the message seems to be that you can be righteous. You can love God and keep his commandments. We see Israel failing to do so at times but we also see them succeeding at times. God also talks about in Ezekiel 18 how people who are wicked but turn away from their wickedness and are righteous will be forgiven for their wickedness. This is also seen in Jonah where the city of Nineveh was wicked, but they repented from their wicked ways and God did not destroy them. All that was required was true repentance and turning to God. Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament and the message I take away from it is that it is a book of encouragement. God is telling Israel they can be righteous, how to be righteous, and how their righteousness will be rewarded like it has in the past.

Then we get to the New Testament and the message is everyone is a sinner and everyone deserves damnation. Don’t worry about following the law God laid out, just have faith that Jesus dying will save you because you can’t save yourself.

Even with all of the horrific things we see in the Old Testament, there is this sense of optimism and encouragement in it about how we can be righteous. It’s ok if we falter, because if we do pursue righteousness God will forgive us. This message seems more appealing to me than the one we see in the New Testament where we are all doomed, there is nothing we can do about it, but the death of an innocent man pardons us. So just believe in his death and you will be saved.

It’s really hard for me to reconcile these two conflicting messages.

How knowledgeable was Jesus?

Judaism says you can do it. Christianity says you can’t do it.

How do you interpret Luke 16: 19-31?