From: "John Fraser" 

Good afternoon Arah;

"arah"  wrote in message
news:1174831710.679907.48390{at}p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> My dear John Fraser
>
> Thank you for your reply, but I still does not understand what Jesus
> trying to tell us in Matthew 5:17-20
>
>
> 17    "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
> I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
>
> 18    I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not
> the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
> means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

    Jesus was a fulfillment of Prophecy.  His appearance was not to change
or abolish the Mosaic Law codis which the Jews were bound to, nor would any
of it be changed as a result.

>
> 19    Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and
> teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom
> of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
> called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    Verse 19 explains itself, but its essence first appears in Genesis when
the Serpent persuaded Eve that God didn't really mean what he said about
dying, and the eating of the fruit was not that great a crime.  Those who
cherish doing the will of God and teaching others to do the same are the
most valuable.  We all know what happened to the Serpent.

>
> 20    For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that
> of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly
> not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20

Matt 23:25
    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of
extortion and excess.

    At the time, the general populace considered the Pharisees far above
them in manner and deportment.  They were the teachers, so why wouldn't
they be?  Yet Jesus also knew that the Pharisees were subject to the same
basic problem as those they taught: pride.  It is our pride which separates
us from God, therefore we would have to be better than they.

>
>
> Let me share what the Quran said about Jesus
>
> Lo! The angels said: "O Mary! Behold, God sends thee the glad tiding,
> through a word from Him, [of a son] who shall become known as the
> Christ [32] Jesus, son of Mary, of great honour in this world and in
> the life to come, and [shall be] of those who are drawn near unto
> God.  Al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:45
>
> " Near unto God" not physically nor geographically, but spiritually.
> Compare this with
> Mark 16:19 -  After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up
> into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

    Mohammed didn't consider Jesus to be the doorway to the Father.  All non
Christian religions do likewise.

>
> Almost all Christians have misunderstood this verse as well as many
> others in the Bible. They imagine the Father (God) sitting on a
> throne- a glorified chair- and His "son", Jesus sitting on His right
> hand side. Can you conjure up this picture? If you do you have strayed
> from the true knowledge of God. He is no Old Father Christmas. He is a
> spiritual Being, beyond imagination of the mind of man. He exists, He
> is real, but He is not like any thing we can think of or imagine. In
> the Eastern language "right hand " meant a place of honour, which tje
> Holy Quran more fittinggly describes as - " IN THE COMPANY OF THOSE
> NEAREST TO GOD."

    In the company of the angels?  Your words are really about denying the
significance of Jesus.  Tell me, does Islam teach about the guidance of the
Holy Spirit?

>
> Jesus is the Christ, and he is the WORD which God bestowed upon Mary.
> Again Christian reads into these words a meaning which they do not
> carry. They equate the word " Christ" with the idea of a god
> incarnate, and the word of God to be God.

    That's not a misunderstanding.  Jesus is God; he was crucified for
saying so.

>
> My dear John Fraser
>
> Do you agree with me?
>
> Now how about this,
>
> And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and
> it was credited to him as righteousness,"[a] and he was called God's
> friend.-James 2:23
>
> Since the bible said that Abraham is God's friend so can we imagine
> that God is just like Abraham?

    If you and your wife are become one flesh in marriage, is your wife like
you?

>
> May God show us the right path and save us from the hellfire
>
> AMEN

Cheers,
John

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