Better or Worse?

[B-A-C]

I suppose some of you may have said wedding vows that said something like...
"for better or worse". But this thread isn't about marriage.

It's about making things better or worse for ourselves.
The word better has been emphasized in the passages below.

Matt 5:27; “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
Matt 5:28; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matt 5:29; If your right eye makes you [w]stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is BETTER for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matt 5:30; If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is BETTER for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

It's not so great to lose a part of your body... but it's "better" than spending eternity in hell.

Matt 18:5; And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
Matt 18:6; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be BETTER for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Matt 18:7; “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

Matt 18:8; “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is BETTER for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.
Matt 18:9; If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is BETTER for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Mark 9:42; “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be BETTER for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
Mark 9:43; If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is BETTER for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
Mark 9:44; [where their soul does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]
Mark 9:45; If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is BETTER for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:46; [where their soul does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]
Mark 9:47; If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is BETTER for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:48; where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Being in the frying pan isn't great, but it's "better" than being in the fire.

Luke 17:1; He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!
Luke 17:2; It would be BETTER for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Heb 11:35; Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a BETTER resurrection;
Heb 11:36; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
Heb 11:37; They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
Heb 11:38; (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

Isn't being resurrected good enough? It seems some will receive a "better" rewarded resurrection than others.

2 Pet 2:19; promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
2 Pet 2:20; For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become WORSE for them than the first.
2 Pet 2:21; For it would be BETTER for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
2 Pet 2:22; It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

There are choices we make... that can affect us for the "better" or the "worse". It's bad enough to never hear the gospel.
But it's WORSE, to hear it and reject it. It's WORSE to have known it, and then turn away from it.

 

[B-A-C]

Matt 12:43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
Matt 12:44; Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
Matt 12:45; Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes WORSE than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

If we aren't careful... some decisions we make can put us in a "worse" state.

Luke 11:24; “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
Luke 11:25; And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.
Luke 11:26; Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes WORSE than the first.”

John 5:12; They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”
John 5:13; But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
John 5:14; Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing WORSE happens to you.”
John 5:15; The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Do not sin anymore... so that nothing "worse" will happen to you. Hmmm... do bad things happen sometimes
because of sin?

1 Tim 5:5; Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.
1 Tim 5:6; But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.
1 Tim 5:7; Prescribe these things as well, so that they may be above reproach.
1 Tim 5:8; But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is WORSE than an unbeliever.

Here is a widow woman in the church, who has fixed her hope on God... and even prays night and day.
But she gives herself "to wanton pleasure". - she has become dead (spiritually) even though she is "alive".

If anyone who has the means to do so, doesn't take care of his own household.. he has denied the faith that
they once had. Not only are they as bad as before they were saved.... but now, the are "worse" than an unbeliever.

2 Pet 2:20; For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become WORSE for them than the first.

If we have escaped the defilement of the world through Jesus... (is there any other way?
can we possibly do this on own?) and then again become entangled in a sinful
lifestyle, we are now in a "worse" situation than we were before we got saved.

 

[RJ]

There are choices we make... that can affect us for the "better" or the "worse". It's bad enough to never hear the gospel.
But it's WORSE, to hear it and reject it. It's WORSE to have known it, and then turn away from it.

So true:

1. it's WORSE, to hear it and reject it ....If you have never heard it how can you reject it? Of course, hearing it, being around it, having it taught to you and, you still reject it....that is the unpardonable ( unforgivable) sin, or "Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit". But, let's be sure about this: This is not talking about a person who has done all this and believes. This person, a believer, who has the spirit of God in them, there of course is no turning away.
2. It's WORSE to have known it....this is the same as Jesus saying: " It is better to be cold, than Luke-warm.
3. and then turn away from it.....Again all the passages you quote are not about true believers ( those that have the Holy Spirit in them), they are about non-believers, those who yet to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Once in you God will never leave you, Jesus will never lose you and God can not reject himself!