The Abomination of Usury and Interest, and the Slavery of Debt

[Reynolds]

I was raised poor & given the same advise. The insurance companies, together with the Medical ......I hate to say it, profession killed my mother. Looks like they are trying to take my wife away as well.

Medical can be brutal. You have my true sympathy. There is no practical way to plan for true catastrophic medical.

As I said, I favor single payer.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Medical can be brutal. You have my true sympathy. There is no practical way to plan for true catastrophic medical.

As I said, I favor single payer.

I know, and by what I have read of your posts......you have a good heart. Most people do. What I attempt to point out are the injustices. Like do the Israeli, the Germans & French get better healthcare, better educations for their kids that doesnt break the bank etc. As an American, I am ashamed when my Israeli boss makes statements about the USA being a 3rd world country. So why are we the most in dept, less educated & behind in the HC curve?

 

[Reynolds]

I know, and by what I have read of your posts......you have a good heart. Most people do. What I attempt to point out are the injustices. Like do the Israeli, the Germans & French get better healthcare, better educations for their kids that doesnt break the bank etc. As an American, I am ashamed when my Israeli boss makes statements about the USA being a 3rd world country. So why are we the most in dept, less educated & behind in the HC curve?

The real reasons are complicated. Race, culture, political correctness, and the attitude that throwing money at problems is the answer.

 

[Reformed]

Fascinating. While I still can't quite get the fullness of it, thank you for weighing in. My gut feeling says that obeying the law does not save you, but being saved allows the Spirit of God to enter, and helps you obey the law better than you could if you were not saved & filled with the Holy Spirit.

Gordon,

Forgive me for parsing your words, but I'm of the belief that words mean things, and preciseness in matters of theology are of the utmost importance.

When you say, "My gut feeling says that obeying the law does not save you", then your words seem to leave open the possibility that keeping the law can save you. I point you to Romans 3:19-22:

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and that all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

In that passage Paul wrote, "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight". That is a definitive statement. The Apostle leaves no room for "gut feeling". The Law does not save. God never designed the Law to save. The Law can only condemn because it has no vehicle for absolution or forgiveness. The ceremonial part of the Law provided a vehicle (animal sacrifice) for the temporary satisfaction for sin, but it had to be done over and over again. The author of Hebrews wrote:

Hebrews 10:1-4 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Jesus' death on the cross put an end to the need for animal sacrifice. Jesus' death is sufficient for all.

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The goal is not to be full of the Holy Spirit so that we can keep the Law. We've already read where we can't keep the Law. In fact, there is no need to keep the Law, because Jesus Christ kept it for us. We are law-keepers through Christ. The goal is to walk by the Spirit of God, and to be more like Christ. That means obeying His word, and confessing our sin when we fail to keep His word.

I encourage you to never go by feelings of any kind. Feelings deceive because they are not rooted in truth. Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38). We know from early in John's gospel that Jesus, Himself, is the personification of truth:

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

 

[Reformed]

I'm class of 1984 from Plant City Senior High School (both Plant city, and my current hometown of Lakeland are between Tampa & Orlando), so I'm about the same age. However, when I lost my merit scholarship to community college (because I was working 2 jobs and let my grades slip), and then wasn't told I could reapply until it was too late, I took time off, and didn't go back to 'regular' college until January of 1996, so, for me, it was VERY expensive by then - both because tuition was much higher in 1996, as well as because I no longer had my scholarship. I tried worknig while in college, and this was my reward.

Well, I'm just a few miles east of Lakeland, in Polk County, We're practically neighbors.

 

[AwesomeMachine]

I found this on the web: Lending, Usury, The Beast, Understanding Ancient Biblical Law

 

[AwesomeMachine]

"Interest" and "usury" were pretty much synonymous at the time of the writing of the KJV. Interest, of course, has come to have a neutral connotation in modern parlance, while usury is reserved for excessive interest rates.

The KJV was translated during 1604 and 1611 A.D. Banking was established at that time.

 

[rsr]

Well, no, it wasn't. Not in England.