{"id":3146,"date":"2021-06-29T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/allsetfree\/?p=3146"},"modified":"2021-06-29T06:42:42","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T12:42:42","slug":"god-saves-us-from-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/allsetfree\/2021\/06\/god-saves-us-from-god\/","title":{"rendered":"God Saves Us From God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a man gets saved, he gets saved from God. The justice of God was coming for you. God saved you from himself, God saved you for himself, and God saved you by himself.\u201d<\/em> ~ Paul Washer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In today\u2019s entry, we again feature a quote by obviously-fun-guy-to-party-with, Paul Washer. At first glance, this quote seems absurd (because it is), probably even to most conservative Christians. But it\u2019s really not that far off from what many of them believe. According to most Christians I used to hang out with, much of what Washer says here is accurate. Some may quibble and argue that we have a role to play in being saved, and that it is not God alone who does the saving, but ultimately they will agree that we are saved from the wrath of God in order to glorify God in heaven. In other words, we are saved from God for God.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few reasons why this is ridiculous.<\/p>\n

First off, what does this quote say about God? To my mind, one thing is that he is a tyrant. God sets up the universe with human beings in it, and then decides he is going to kick ass and take names, but then spares some of them just because he can, only so he can be glorified for not kicking everyone\u2019s ass? Is that what the infinitely intelligent deity is up to? It sounds more like some dude(s) with major issues came up with that narrative (that\u2019s exactly what happened \u2013 thanks Augustine and Calvin).<\/p>\n

Another thing this says about God is that God has a major ego. Like, God thinks of us as such scumbags that he\u2019ll send us to hell for all eternity, but then also needs us to glorify him at the same time? Honestly, this sounds like someone who has a lot of insecurities. I don\u2019t mean to get political, but it kind of sounds like Trump. Trump needed \u201cyes men\u201d and if you weren\u2019t one, you\u2019d get fired. No wonder people, by and large, who believe in a God like Washer\u2019s also supported the Stable Orange Genius. There is just something about both that gives them the feels.<\/p>\n

Second, why is it that folks who think like this always argue for a version of justice that is absolutely horrific \u2013 retribution on performance enhancing drugs. It\u2019s always some form of super-wrath, or super-anger, or super-vengeance, but never ultimately restorative, or reconciliatory, or merciful. It\u2019s almost as if all those verses about God\u2019s infinite love and mercy are blacked out and replaced with ones about God\u2019s infinite wrath and vengeance. As if 1 John 4:8 says, \u201cGod is wrath.\u201d Or that Ephesians 3:18 says how we can\u2019t comprehend the width, breadth, depth, or height of God\u2019s vengeance.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, if God saves us FROM himself, BY himself, and FOR himself, why isn\u2019t everyone then saved? What kind of God elects some for salvation while rejecting the rest? That would be like having 5 kids and only rescuing 2 of them after your house catches on fire. Oh, and you started the fire. Again, what in the Sam hell does this say about God other than God is an absolute moral monster? It\u2019s as if God were posed the trolley problem<\/a>, but then threw a wrinkle in it and admitted to tying all the people up and starting the trolley down the tracks. Not a cool answer, bro, albeit a creative one.<\/p>\n

And lastly, isn\u2019t it always nice and convenient that Calvinists such as Washer are among the ones saved? They\u2019ll tell us about a system of salvation in which they are always the lucky ones, never admitting that they could be the ones who get the rug pulled out from under them in the end. Well isn\u2019t that f***ing nice. They can be total pricks like some most obviously are, and yet it doesn\u2019t really matter because God elected them for salvation before the foundation of world. You on the other hand? Suck it! Go to hell (literally)! And there is nothing you can do about it.<\/p>\n

Obviously, a large portion of Christianity isn\u2019t this obtuse and tone deaf. Sadly, an equally large portion is. But maybe that\u2019s just my total depravity speaking. I guess God hasn\u2019t yet saved me from himself. Perhaps he\u2019s never going to, and to be perfectly frank, if God is just like Washer says, I\u2019m actually okay with that. I\u2019d rather spend an eternity in hell than worship the monster God who put me there just because he could.<\/p>\n

(Note: Calvinists, please don\u2019t get upset at me for writing this article. I was predestined to do so. Take it up with God. Thanks).<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for the follow-up that comes out tomorrow. I\u2019ll put forth a more healthy understanding of salvation.<\/p>\n

\n

If you wanna get to know me better, please follow me on social media. I\u2019m pretty active on all platforms:<\/p>\n

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Also, if you\u2019ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at\u00a0www.patreon.com\/mjdistefano<\/a>. Even\u00a0$1 a month helps bigly!!!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen a man gets saved, he gets saved from God. The justice of God was coming for you. God saved you from himself, God saved you for himself, and God saved you by himself.\u201d ~ Paul Washer In today\u2019s entry, we again feature a quote by obviously-fun-guy-to-party-with, Paul Washer. At first glance, this quote seems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2874,"featured_media":3149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,101,100,6,41],"tags":[24,1145,1142,60,103,1148,1066,781,1139],"class_list":["post-3146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atonement","category-eternal-torment","category-hell","category-theology","category-violence","tag-atonement","tag-augustine","tag-calvinism","tag-christianity","tag-hell","tag-john-calvin","tag-paul-washer","tag-salvation","tag-washer"],"yoast_head":"\nGod Saves Us From God?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""When a man gets saved, he gets saved from God. The justice of God was coming for you. 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