Happy Ramadan to you from a follower of Jesus according to the Bible.
May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
(Blessing of Prophet Harun, Taurat, Numbers 6:24-26)
Enjoy the celebrations after all the hard work of fasting!
I hope you don't mind me asking this one question in different ways but I would like to understand Islamic thinking better. Please let me know when you find time during your festivities. What does this hadith, Sahee Muslim 2817a mean:
باب لَنْ يَدْخُلَ أَحَدٌ الْجَنَّةَ بِعَمَلِهِ بَلْ بِرَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
“No One Will Enter Paradise By Virtue Of His Deeds, Rather By The Mercy Of Allah, Exalted Is He.”
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How can God who is holy, pure, perfect and just, besides being merciful, allow people into paradise without punishment?
We followers of Jesus also believe that entering paradise is not by good deeds but by faith in God, or by his mercy. Faith and works by definition are fundamentally opposed. Faith means trusting in, or relying on a promise of God’s work and not depending in any way on human performance. Good deeds are then done out of thankfulness that someone is saved and goes to paradise, not in order that they maybe be saved.
The Gospel teaches that God solves this riddle in Jesus Christ, who paid the punishment for our shame and sin through his sacrifice on our behalf. In that way, God meets the demands of his justice and love without us having to go to hell to be purified first. That by itself would be a kind of work, in that one needs to pay off his punishment.
We may not fully understand "how" he did it, but God asks us to have faith, to trust, in "what" he did. What did Allah do for those whom he admits to paradise to extend his mercy to them without compromising his justice?
Many thanks for putting up with my question!
Please send your answer here in the comments or go to:
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for more information or to send your comments there.
