Discipleship Without Compassion Is Meaningless

50. The Apostle Paul teaches us that without compassion for others our Christian discipleship and achievements are meaningless.

51. Recall that in his letter to the Corinthians Paul admonishes them: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [compassion], I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love [compassion], I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love [compassion], I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3, RSV.)

52. Would you agree that both Jesus and Paul make it abundantly clear that being a Christian means being compassionate towards others?

Is Punishment What Jesus' Wants?

53. I understand that you believe that remaining in their legal "limbo" status outside the law is just punishment for illegally entering the U.S. Is this correct?

54. Are you willing to look with me at Jesus' teachings about exacting punishment in strict adherence to the law?

God Takes No Delight In Punishment

55. Perhaps the most widely quoted words of the New Testament are the following: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son [Jesus], that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17, RSV, emphasis added.)

56. Would you agree that the central tenet of Christianity is that God forgave our sins through Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection, thereby not requiring our punishment?