I Beg to Differ.

[spencermack]

I would agree. If there is a higher power they are fully aware of the mistakes we have made individually.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think it is presumptuous to claim knowledge of what God sees. We can only hope he accepts us with all our faults and shortcomings.

Why do you say so?

To me, God is a higher power, unlike any human. The personification, His likes and dislikes, His hope for us, His vision of success, what He chooses to see or not is as far above me as the clouds. Could you have stated with certainty what your own earthly father saw in you? You can legitimately say you believe he saw your mother in you, for instance. But you cannot know.

That is correct. What we can be certain about is that He hopes to see good in us. So doing good is the way to go through our assigned path

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think the problem of the book's statement lies in the sentence, "He doesn’t see all your sins, failures, and rough spots." Isn't Jesus interceding for our sins? (1 John 2: NIV. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.), which means He DOES see our sins, and if God didn't see our sins, then why would we need to pray forgiveness of our sins? Isn't there a passage of the Bible that says that if we do not forgive others, then God won't forgive our sins? (Mark 11:25 – And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”) I believe God does see our sins and rough spots but He has great mercy upon us because even when we are "in Christ", we are still prone to sinning.

The bible always remind us that no one is righteous not even one.except, Gods loving son Jesus Christ. That's why he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins in order for us to be save.this is to say God love sinners that they shall repent but hate sin.

If you can accept that you sinned and repent on that, that is a start for being good. But that won't be eenough, and you should do some good to oppose your bad deeds

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I believe God is aware of all our sinful inclinations, and He wants us to change and become useful vessels in His service. To achieve that, He has used His word and His Holy Spirit to help us correct our weaknesses so that we can attain perfection/holiness.
Does God only “see perfection in Jesus,” or is He also interested in us as individuals?

Playing devil’s advocate here, I have the same fundamental question I had as a child that stumped my pastor...or at least made him stumble over his words a bit and give platitudes instead of an actual explanation. If God made us the way were are, complete with strengths and weaknesses that he gave us in the first place, why would he want us to change? Perhaps it is because he doesn’t see as individuals, just as his creations...purposely flawed, each in different ways, to give us the illusion of individuality.

We could have been made in some ways. But that does not mean that we cannot change. Why we are given free will if we cannot change ourselves?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I like how the author defines Grace (undeserved kindness) and reveals how it affects us. But I beg to differ a little bit with the author’s sentiments in location 343, paragraph 2 where the author talks about how God views us as individuals. He says;

“To be in Christ means that when God looks at you, He doesn’t see all your sins, failures, and rough spots. When you are in Christ, God just sees Jesus. You may see the scars, the mess, and the problems, but God sees perfection in Jesus.”

I don’t know if I’m the one who got it wrong. Feel free to correct me. My issue comes in where the author says, God does not see our effects of imperfection, but He sees perfection in Jesus. I believe God is aware of all our sinful inclinations, and He wants us to change and become useful vessels in His service. To achieve that, He has used His word and His Holy Spirit to help us correct our weaknesses so that we can attain perfection/holiness. He provides comfort whenever we feel low, through the Bible, and give us the strength that will help us endure all our “rough spots.” For God to draw us closer to Christ, He chooses to look at the good in us despite our bad tendencies, failures, and trials. (Ref; Genesis 6:5, Psalms 51:5, Isaiah 48:17,18, 1 peter 1:14-16, 2 Corinthians 1:3,4, John 6:44, Psalms 103:12-14).

Does God only “see perfection in Jesus,” or is He also interested in us as individuals?

I agree with you. God is interested in us as individuals remember 1st Timothy 3:16-17. He requires us to work(study the scriptures) inorder to attain that perfect nature which is through reading the scriptures and the help of the holy spirit.

Definitely. We are made in different ways and given free will. So it is up to us to work our way towards further goodness

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I like how the author defines Grace (undeserved kindness) and reveals how it affects us. But I beg to differ a little bit with the author’s sentiments in location 343, paragraph 2 where the author talks about how God views us as individuals. He says;

“To be in Christ means that when God looks at you, He doesn’t see all your sins, failures, and rough spots. When you are in Christ, God just sees Jesus. You may see the scars, the mess, and the problems, but God sees perfection in Jesus.”

I don’t know if I’m the one who got it wrong. Feel free to correct me. My issue comes in where the author says, God does not see our effects of imperfection, but He sees perfection in Jesus. I believe God is aware of all our sinful inclinations, and He wants us to change and become useful vessels in His service. To achieve that, He has used His word and His Holy Spirit to help us correct our weaknesses so that we can attain perfection/holiness. He provides comfort whenever we feel low, through the Bible, and give us the strength that will help us endure all our “rough spots.” For God to draw us closer to Christ, He chooses to look at the good in us despite our bad tendencies, failures, and trials. (Ref; Genesis 6:5, Psalms 51:5, Isaiah 48:17,18, 1 peter 1:14-16, 2 Corinthians 1:3,4, John 6:44, Psalms 103:12-14).

Does God only “see perfection in Jesus,” or is He also interested in us as individuals?

I don't know what God to answer on your question. I believe. I believe that God sees us as individuals.
I am sure God knows we are sinful and imperfect because that is what we are as humans.

I didn't interpreted this quote same as you. I see it as author saying we are more then just our scars and failures...God wants us to do better..to be more like Jesus...that is why he gives us grace. He sees beyond all the problems because we are his children. To me, it has nothing with individuality.

Jesus Christ is a set example of perfection. If we want to be good, we can aim to be like him, then we will reach somewhere atleast near him

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I believe God is aware of all our sinful inclinations, and He wants us to change and become useful vessels in His service. To achieve that, He has used His word and His Holy Spirit to help us correct our weaknesses so that we can attain perfection/holiness.
Does God only “see perfection in Jesus,” or is He also interested in us as individuals?

Playing devil’s advocate here, I have the same fundamental question I had as a child that stumped my pastor...or at least made him stumble over his words a bit and give platitudes instead of an actual explanation. If God made us the way were are, complete with strengths and weaknesses that he gave us in the first place, why would he want us to change? Perhaps it is because he doesn’t see as individuals, just as his creations...purposely flawed, each in different ways, to give us the illusion of individuality.

LOL Kelyn you must have been a handful as a child. I didn't have enough coffee to answer your question. Must think on it. I don't think God wants us to change, maybe just to do better. Be better. You know, to know happines one must know sadness same with everything there has to be balance. Btw. I am interested in what the pastor told you?

Being good can always include 'changing'. A bad person becoming a good one is improving as well as changing

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Why do you say so?

To me, God is a higher power, unlike any human. The personification, His likes and dislikes, His hope for us, His vision of success, what He chooses to see or not is as far above me as the clouds. Could you have stated with certainty what your own earthly father saw in you? You can legitimately say you believe he saw your mother in you, for instance. But you cannot know.

And at the end of it that what faith is believing without seeing.

Faith may be believing without seeing, but that should not be taken as same as blind beliefs. You have to know your stuff, think over them and then believe what is correct

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Is this really an appropriate forum for a discussion on religion? I think not.

No it's not. It's a forum to discuss about the contents portrayed in the book.

Well, I don't see why not as this is a book that is about religion. How can we possibly separate it.

This book is related to religion. So we are discussing religious facts. But ultimately, we are discussing the book

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I like how the author defines Grace (undeserved kindness) and reveals how it affects us. But I beg to differ a little bit with the author’s sentiments in location 343, paragraph 2 where the author talks about how God views us as individuals. He says;

“To be in Christ means that when God looks at you, He doesn’t see all your sins, failures, and rough spots. When you are in Christ, God just sees Jesus. You may see the scars, the mess, and the problems, but God sees perfection in Jesus.”

I don’t know if I’m the one who got it wrong. Feel free to correct me. My issue comes in where the author says, God does not see our effects of imperfection, but He sees perfection in Jesus. I believe God is aware of all our sinful inclinations, and He wants us to change and become useful vessels in His service. To achieve that, He has used His word and His Holy Spirit to help us correct our weaknesses so that we can attain perfection/holiness. He provides comfort whenever we feel low, through the Bible, and give us the strength that will help us endure all our “rough spots.” For God to draw us closer to Christ, He chooses to look at the good in us despite our bad tendencies, failures, and trials. (Ref; Genesis 6:5, Psalms 51:5, Isaiah 48:17,18, 1 peter 1:14-16, 2 Corinthians 1:3,4, John 6:44, Psalms 103:12-14).

Does God only “see perfection in Jesus,” or is He also interested in us as individuals?

As what I understand when I read the quote is that God loves you like he loves Jesus, and because Jesus died because of your pain so seeing Jesus is like seeing you?
I think the quote sounds confusing. I am not religious but I like to know a bit more about it.

That is confusing when it is stated like that. But why confuse your mind thinking of how He sees you. Just be good and He will see you as He wishes to see you

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Let me first appreciate you on this thorough critique. However, I believe whatever answer one may give, it will be a personal perspective or individual understanding. None of us can really give the correct answer, neither a wrong one in accordance to the question. God's outlook for mankind in incomprehensible for us.

That is a very intelligent way of thinking. None of us will know the correct answer. If we knew that, there would be nothing left for discussion

[Sushan Ekanayake]

God definitely sees all of us. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
God sees every part of us, our minds, our hearts, and our souls. Grace is when He sees all of the bad things and thoughts and still loves us anyway. Grace is when He gave us His perfect son so that we don't have to be perfect.

Though you have your sins, He will still love you. But it should not be taken granted and one must try to be good

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I also don't think that sounds right. It sounds like an excuse to be honest. And I have been wondering about grace recently: should I be still be grateful that I received grace when or because my brother is not equally blessed? I hope this book sheds some light that.

Everyone can be same in God's eyes.
But that does not mean that everyone have to receive same grace. You get back grace for only the good that you have done

[Sushan Ekanayake]

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". (Romans 3:23-24 | NIV)
This verse makes it clear to us that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross ensures that God no longer see us as we are. Rather he sees the perfect Jesus whenever he looks as us. That is of course if you have been saved and redeemed by the Jesus.

If so my friend, what is the use of ddoing and being good? Do you mean that God sees Jesus even in bad people ?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think God sees us as mere individuals because we still wear the mortal body. Thus making us imperfect and Unworthy.
It is his Grace that enables us stand in his presence.

Not only because of our own bodies, but our own minds make us who we are, and God might be seeing us with all those differences