My comments below in green,
pls note that these are my personal comments, you have to decide
whether you want to accept them or counter with your own comments,
either way, its your choice. 
Originally posted by casino_king:
[b]Since you say you are a non Christian....
Just to clear up your mind. The Jews believed that the way to know
God is by "works;" doing good and following the law.
Jewish traditions teaches this, Jews
are chosen by God to be His people, hence its being a Jew and not
by works, but they do believe they have to follows a fixed set of
traditions/works to remain blessed
Jesus came along and reminded everybody that it is by Faith and
Faith alone.
This is not what Jesus comes to do, He
comes to fulfills the requirements of the Law, paid the penalty of
our sins with His suffering/death, and provide for us the basis to
receive salvations from God through grace by faith in Him
(Christ).
This is not really a good example, but will do till I can think of
something better,
A loaf of bread, how do you know its ok to eat
Believe = ok I believe its ok
Faith = Go take a bite
basis of this action? perhaps the expiry dates shows its current
...etc
But the Christian nowadays have gone back to pre Jesus times and
insist that the way to know God is by being a good person.
its in the wrong sequence, we want to
be a good person because we know God, not the other way round. We
are first saved by faith in Christ Jesus, aparts from works, good
works is just a "by product" that results after we git
saved.
To be considered a good person, you "believe" Jesus sacrificed
himself for you. It is still the "I must be a good person to know
God" Jewish beliefs with a twist; nevertheless it is the same "I
must be a good person to know God."
see my comment above
You can see the problem immediately because every Christian
continues to sin. There is also the issue of how good is good
enough? During Jesus times, it was just like what you see during
the Taleban rule in Afganistan. Cannot do this and that and women
cannot this and that.
yes, we do continue to sin/make
mistake, if you mean good enough is regarding good enough to be
save? then no, by our own works, we will never be good enough,
that's why the basis of our salvation is not our own good works, by
perfect work of Christ
There is no such thing as I sin and as long as I believe in Jesus,
it is OK. Try this, go and kill somebody and then say "I belive in
Jesus, I believe in Jesus." You think God will come down from
"heaven" and tell the judge; hey he believes in Jesus, let him go?"
You will hang for sure if you get caught.
its never ok to sin, your concience
will condemn you first. But because our salvation is based on
Christ's perfectness, we can repent, receive forgiveness and move
on with life.
If the physical law is broken? sure, when caught, sure kenna from
the judge, but on the other hand, do you think a normal sane person
will go around want to kill someone?
You will get your just deserts if you sin.
agree, as far as human law is
concern
On the other hand don't imagine for a moment that the way to know
God is by getting rid of sin (whether by following the law or
believing in Jesus.) It is by Faith in God. Only people who have
come to know God by faith will tel you this. In some chuches they
go so far as to preach prosperity. It is selling something that
people want to hear and so the church is packed. Based on what I
know, it is nevertheless an abomination to God. You cannot use
God's name in vain even if it is to pack people into churches. You
are more blessed even if the church is as poor as a church mouse
and nobody comes.
If we can get rid of our own sin/follow
the law, then we don't need Jesus, its precisely we cannot do
these, that we need Jesus.
ponder this "Seek the giver and the gifts will run after you, seek
the gifts and they will run away from you"
Ask the Christians here to quote you the words of Jesus explaning
all the paragraphs above this one.
