Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that "Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us" (ἐντυγχάνει ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν = Present Indicative or to keep doing intercession for us) in Heaven. (Romans 8:34, NIV)
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died —more than that, who was raised to life —is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
It's interesting how McCall feels the need to rip verse 34 out of its context. Notice how Paul is talking about believers on earth now being interceded by Jesus. McCall is going to try to make it seem that Paul is talking about judgement day and not the here and now.
Yet, even with all this pleading by Jesus, Romans 14:12 tells us that each person is going to have to step up and “will give account to God” (δώσει τῷ Θεῷ = Future Indicative Active) or we must tell God exactly what sins we did.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. - Romans 14:10-13
Nowhere does the text say we will be telling God exactly what sins we did. Besides we don't even know all the sins we have done. Giving "an account of ourselves" before God does not mean confessing our sins. God already knows what they are.
If we take the Bible seriously; we have an image of "Jesus being presently at the right hand of God interceding for us" in Heaven with the following scenario on how this action is playing out.
Intercession does not mean God needs to be reminded about his mercy and kindness.
So according to St. Paul, as each Christians commits a sin (based on both the Jewish Torah as well as the New Testament) we have this scene in Heaven:
God: "Sinner, you stand condemned!"
Jesus: "You must forgive him father for I died and shed my blood for him!"
God: "Oh, yeah, I remember now. O.K. But what about that other sinning Christian right there?”
Jesus: "Forgive her father. I died and shed my blood for her too!"
God: "Oh, yeah, I remember now. O.K."
God: “But what about that person right over there?”
And again, God try’s to condemn a sinner and yet again, Jesus intercedes for them by pleading his blood as shed on the cross.
Jesus, now after 2,000 years and for the googolplex time: "Forgive him father. I died for him / her!"
And God for the googolplex time: "Oh yeah! Now I remember . . . O.K: Forgiven!"
Ironically, it’s little wonder neither God nor Jesus has time to answer prayers since both are in an eternal Catch-22 Situation; one of eternal condemning and interceding.
Shows how much McCall does not understand anything bout the Father's relationship to Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice wasn't for those like him who reject Jesus but only for those who put their trust in Jesus. If Jesus did not die for you and raised for your justification (see Romans 8) you will be judged according to your own righteousness. Jesus did not die for everyone. Jesus died for those who were given him by the Father.
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” - John 6:35-51Finally, here’s how salvation sounds in Heaven (at least to the angles).
God: "Baugh, Baugh, Baugh; Condemed!"
Jesus: "Baugh, Baugh, Baugh."
God: "Baugh, Baugh, Baugh: O.K. Forgiven!"
I think that the angels are definitely more understanding of salvation than McCall is.
F-O-R-E-V-E-R!
{As for as Romans14: 12 is concerned (with God being as forgetful as he is), I plan to lie and march myself right on into Heaven!}
Harry McCall
McCall attempts to debunk what the Bible says about Salvation but fails to accurately understand what it says about salvation. A God who knows the number of hairs on your head surely knows how many sins you have committed.
Jesus said:
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:29-31
Given that there are sins of ignorance that we are all guilty of we don't even know all the sins we have done - but God does.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”- Jeremiah 17:9-10
Debunking Christianity: Paul Tells Us in His Last Letter (Romans) That God Has Alzheimer’s Disease
