11:32 PM
@Joshua And your analysis betrays that you are still confused by the Protestant aversion to admitting that the Bible explicitly states hundreds of times that we must engage in good works if we wish to be saved. Intention without action means little or nothing. If we have an intention but we don't act upon it when we could, then it is not really an intention at all. It is just a notion.
@Joshua Sure, some people can do things that are objectively wrong from good intentions, and in that case, they will not be held spiritually accountable for their wrong actions--though they may still have to suffer the ordinary consequences of them. But that doesn't mean actions don't matter. It means that actions are spiritually judged by the intentions behind them.
By the same token, intentions are judged by the actions that flow from them. That's why Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits."
And yes, there is something wrong with smoking a cigarette. It's one of the leading causes of death in the world.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's a sin. But it is an objectively wrong thing to do because it is highly destructive of the body, which is a temple of the Lord.
If you don't like the example of cigarettes (perhaps you're a smoker?) then how about this one: raping a woman. That is an action that is by its very nature evil. And though I suppose it's possible that someone could not have evil intent in doing it, I can hardly imagine a realistic case in which a person of sound mind rapes a woman without having evil intent.
The evil intent is expressed in the action. And people who engage in such actions will hardly escape just judgment, if not in this world, then in the next.
Actions are not neutral, even if the spiritual judgment upon them is dependent more on the intent behind them than it is on the action itself.
And all the "good intentions" in the world won't save us if we never actually act upon them and do good works when we have the opportunity to do so. Likewise, all the "evil intentions" in the world won't damn us to hell if, when it comes right down to it and we have the opportunity to act upon them and believe we can get away with it, we never do.
So yes, I'm thinking in "action-based ways." Because in the long run, our actions show what our intentions are. And without action based on our intention, the intention means nothing. That's why the Bible focuses far more on actions than it does on intentions, only reminding us from time to time that we must also act from good intentions.
> You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16-20)
This betrays that Jesus is "still thinking in action-based ways." Good thing we have Protestant theologians to set him straight.