On what do you base your faith?

[KingMaker]

I know this is a touchy subject for a lot of folks, but I am really curious to see what everyone believes.

For the believers out there, are you secure in your belief that you are going to heaven? If so on what do you base your belief?

I would love for folks to share....

[LipsofanAngel]

Well, I grew up in a church going family... but for the longest time it meant nothing to me. I just thought I had to go to keep up the "good girl" image. It wasn't until I went through an ultimate low point in life, where I felt there was nothing I could do on my own, that I turned to my *faith.* There was a point in my life that I denied the existance of God... but after coming through some things... and through a great deal of prayer, I realized that the only thing that could have helped me was a Higher Power. My prayers went something like "I don't know if you're there, and if you are- I have no clue what you want from me. But, if you do exist, then I give my heart and soul to you and I put my life in your hands. You're the only thing that will be able to get me through this"... It's hard to put in to words... but there have been numerous points where I truly experienced a peace that I don't think could have been anything other than the presence of God. And this is what I base my faith on. I don't know everything about the Bible, or about the religion I'm associated with. All I know is my own personal experience with a loving and forgiving God.

[Engelbert Humperdinck]

***I'm actually being serious***

I often find it difficult to believe or continue to believe in a supreme being; someone or something that has created life on our planet, and then left us to our own accord. I've seen such evil in mankind. Pure unadulterated evil, where you just want to...(sigh). Maybe it's because I'm around almost nothing but bad guys, and evil ways that makes my heart so heavy and despise a creator who actually allows his creations to be abused, mutilated and destroyed. Not only physically, but emotionally, spiritually. I go to confession, and pour out my soul for reconciliation, and by the time I get back to my car, my heart feels black again. So, I guess I'm missing something...Why can't (won't?) our creator not step in, and fix the mess that we've made? Are you going to tell me that Jesus has already paid the price, and now all we have to do is wait? How much more can this world take? We're destroying our environment, our government, our own children. If Jesus is coming, he really needs to do it soon.

****PLEASE****
Don't read this a bashing Christianity. It's a severe lack of faith that I must be having; but before someone gets their feelings hurt, I'm not attempting humor or levity in any fashion with this post.

[Hermione]

Jesus "paid the price" for individuals, one at a time. He didn't make any promises about cleaning up the world, in fact, he left us instructions to do that ourselves, with his help. Who is actually "allowing" the evil in the world? I know this is the short answer, and I'm sorry for seeming facile.

The dark night of the soul is very real. Some of the greatest saints have experienced exactly what you are describing. Do you have a spiritual director (this is more serious than a confessor.)

[EricStratton]

DAH,

I can relate to your post in a lot of ways. I "wrestle" with God and this whole faith thing almost daily (the days I don't are just the days I don't have time to think about it). I ask myself a lot of the same questions you posed, most notably, "Why are we here?" or, more honestly, "Why am I here?".

However, I am glad that I have a personal relationship with a God with whom I can conversate. There is a lot of mystery in faith, and I believe that we have been blessed with the ability to ask questions. I don't believe they will all be answered, but I believe God takes a certain amount of delight in our questioning (why else would there be such mystery?). My doubts and my questions are my way of "seeking God". Many people view these doubts and questions as a "lack of faith", but that is nonsense IMHO.

I don't believe we are put here on Earth just to sit and wait to go to heaven. (If we are, then that is hard for me to accept too.) That is why I believe God doesn't "step in" to magically fix the bad things in the world. The best way this has been explained to me (by a theology professor in college) is that, without evil, there would be no opportunity for good in the world. If we didn't have criminals, we wouldn't need cops.

Much like Lips, my faith is hard to explain. There have just been a few times in my relatively young life (30 years) that I have felt the touch of God, and I have felt that He has taken control of some situations that I couldn't handle. I guess, like many, my faith is based on the need for a security that I can not provide for myself. That's hard sometimes because I am a control freak who often believes that I can handle anything better than anybody.

Most of all, my faith is based on the fact that I have accepted that God loves me and loves everyone, even if bad things happen to me and others at times, and I have accepted that I need a "shepherd" to lead me through the valleys.

[Augustus McRae]

I believe that God is love, and that love is God. I believe that there is NO force stronger than love and no force stronger than God. I believe there is one race, and we are ALL God's people. I believe that Jesus walked among men and showed us how to live. I believe the Holy Spirit lives among us and is the good of God in us and around us. I believe God truly puts "angels" in our lives. One or two of my angels are regular members of the MyH.com community - I come here to see what they say, to be quite honest.

Religion confuses me; doctrine usually irritates me; and denominations are as man-made as the Kiwanis Club and the Moose Lodge, I think.

I think God's purpose for us is two fold: 1) For us to be in a love relationship with Him; and 2) For us to love and serve those He puts in our life and in whose lives He places us.

I'm still 'rasslin with the rest of it...

[KingMaker]

I want to thank each and everyone of you for sharing. I really appreciate it. Now if you allow me, I will share in my basic beliefs.

I grew up in and still attend a Baptist Church. It's a BMA Baptist Church, which is a great deal like a Southern Baptist Church. Personally, I don't get hung up on denominations that much. I believe that when I get to heaven there will be people of almost every denomination there (and even some of you non-denominational folks too).

I believe in the path to Salvation that Jesus laid out for us while he walked on earth. The basics are Grace thru Faith in Chirst.

Once a person is drawn by the Holy Spirit, all they must do as confess their sins (to God, not a man) and ask for forgiveness and invite Christ to dwell in their heart. God's Grace will provide Salvation because of the person's Faith in Christ.

I asked Christ into my heart at age 11. I was Baptized in a clear, cold creek (total dunking). But, being Baptized wasn't what saved me, that had already taken place. Weather you're dunked or splashed, it has nothing to do with Salvation.

I've not always made the decisions that Christ would have wanted me to make, and I've lived my life outside the will of God. But, my Salvation was never in doubt, because it has always pulled me back onto the path.

As many of you can tell, I enjoy sharing my faith and my beliefs with people.

[firefly]

The Bible teaches us that we must walk by faith & not by sight. Faith is believing in things unseen by our human eyes. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God & that He will come again SOON to gather up His children & take them to Heaven. The way of the world is the Devil's & if one is walking with the Devil, one needs to shake him loose before it is too late. He is prowling around like a hungry lion looking to pounce on his prey & destroy it. Jesus has promised us that He will never forsake us & He sends the Holy Spirit to strengthen us against Satan's snares. All we have to do is ask Him & He will protect us. He is the Good Shepherd & we are His sheep.:)

[zorro]

For the believers out there, are you secure in your belief that you are going to heaven? If so on what do you base your belief?
I take "the believers" above to mean those who claim to be Christians. And the first of the 2 questions above is about assurance of salvation, and the second question has to do with the basis of this assurance or lack thereof.

To be kept in mind when speaking of assurance of salvation is also the possibility of presumption and/or self-deception.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' -- Matthew 7:21-23

Those in the Christian community are instructed to "be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10) and to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves" (II Corinthians 13:5a).
<O:p</O:p
How can we have true assurance of salvation rather than mere presumption and/or self-deception about this matter?
<O:p</O:p
Here are some questions for self examination
<O:p</O:p
(1) Do I possess a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?
<O:p</O:p
1st, I must know that I am a sinner and justly deserve eternal punishment (Romans 3:23 and 6:23);
<O:p</O:p
2<SUP>nd</SUP>, I must know that Christ died on the cross, in my place, as my substitute in punishment, and that God placed my sin on Christ and unleashed the unabated fury of His wrath against my sin on Christ (Isaiah 53:4-6);
<O:p</O:p
3rd, I must know that Christ, in exchange for my sin, has freely credited to me the riches of his perfect righteousness and has fully clothed me in his perfect righteousness so that when God looks at me, He will say, “I have declared you perfectly righteous and you meet my requirement to be holy even as I am holy” (Romans 4:6 and 4:24; Isaiah 61:10; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 1:16; Hebrews 12:14).
<O:p</O:p
(2) Do I have peace of conscience through repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation (Romans 14:17; Acts 24:16; I Peter 3:15-16; I Timothy 1:5 and 1:19; Acts 5:31 and 11:18; Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 5:23-24)?
<O:p</O:p
(3) Do I have a will that is humbly submitted to the authority of God’s Word (and does my life display the effect of a will so submitted)?
<O:p</O:p
(4) Am I dealing radically with sin – both past and present sin?
<O:p</O:p
By God’s grace, you must be killing the sin in your life or it will be killing you (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-6).
<O:p</O:p
(5) Am I learning to die daily?
<O:p</O:p
There must be a daily dying to self, a putting to death the sinful desires that war against the new desires that God has placed within us by His Spirit (I Peter 2:24; Matthew 16:24; I Corinthians 15:31).
<O:p</O:p
(The above questions are adapted from chapter 1 of Edward A. Hartman’s book, Homeward Bound)<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

[Augustus McRae]

Zorro, you are very well-read and write very well. I have read excerpts of several of the books and articles you have quoted here. But, like, the orginal poster here, I would be interested in what YOU believe and that on which your heart and mind bases your beliefs. What would be YOUR answers to the questions?

Thanks!



I take "the believers" above to mean those who claim to be Christians. And the first of the 2 questions above is about assurance of salvation, and the second question has to do with the basis of this assurance or lack thereof.

To be kept in mind when speaking of assurance of salvation is also the possibility of presumption and/or self-deception.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' -- Matthew 7:21-23

Those in the Christian community are instructed to "be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10) and to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves" (II Corinthians 13:5a).
<O:p</O:p
How can we have true assurance of salvation rather than mere presumption and/or self-deception about this matter?
<O:p</O:p
Here are some questions for self examination
<O:p</O:p
(1) Do I possess a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?
<O:p</O:p
1st, I must know that I am a sinner and justly deserve eternal punishment (Romans 3:23 and 6:23);
<O:p</O:p
2<SUP>nd</SUP>, I must know that Christ died on the cross, in my place, as my substitute in punishment, and that God placed my sin on Christ and unleashed the unabated fury of His wrath against my sin on Christ (Isaiah 53:4-6);
<O:p</O:p
3rd, I must know that Christ, in exchange for my sin, has freely credited to me the riches of his perfect righteousness and has fully clothed me in his perfect righteousness so that when God looks at me, He will say, “I have declared you perfectly righteous and you meet my requirement to be holy even as I am holy” (Romans 4:6 and 4:24; Isaiah 61:10; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 1:16; Hebrews 12:14).
<O:p</O:p
(2) Do I have peace of conscience through repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation (Romans 14:17; Acts 24:16; I Peter 3:15-16; I Timothy 1:5 and 1:19; Acts 5:31 and 11:18; Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 5:23-24)?
<O:p</O:p
(3) Do I have a will that is humbly submitted to the authority of God’s Word (and does my life display the effect of a will so submitted)?
<O:p</O:p
(4) Am I dealing radically with sin – both past and present sin?
<O:p</O:p
By God’s grace, you must be killing the sin in your life or it will be killing you (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-6).
<O:p</O:p
(5) Am I learning to die daily?
<O:p</O:p
There must be a daily dying to self, a putting to death the sinful desires that war against the new desires that God has placed within us by His Spirit (I Peter 2:24; Matthew 16:24; I Corinthians 15:31).
<O:p</O:p
(The above questions are adapted from chapter 1 of Edward A. Hartman’s book, Homeward Bound)<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

[zorro]

Zorro, . . . I would be interested in what YOU believe and that on which your heart and mind bases your beliefs. That is given rather specifically in my previous post.

What would be YOUR answers to the questions?
Those answers are implied in my previous post.

[Augustus McRae]

Am in no way trying to start an argument, but I've read your post again. I am truly interested in knowing what other people - especially folks like you with a passion about their faith - "think" and "believe" - perhaps a product, in part, from what they study and ready but, still, what it compels them to "think" and "believe" themselves. Perhaps, I am not smart enough to "infer" that from your quote of the book.



That is given rather specifically in my previous post.


Those answers are implied in my previous post.

[LipsofanAngel]

Zorro- I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that what AM is asking... is what made you believe what you even wrote? It's primarily scripture... so what brought you to the point that you believed scripture even? Did you just wake up one day and say "hmmm this Bible thing is cool, I think I'll become passionate about it today." or did you have some life experienced that helped to shape your faith and lead you to become a Christian?

[Augustus McRae]

Perfectly put! Not what Dr. Hootenany or Reverend Crystal Cathedral said or wrote or surmised, but WHY DOES ZORRO BELIEVE?



Zorro- I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that what AM is asking... is what made you believe what you even wrote? It's primarily scripture... so what brought you to the point that you believed scripture even? Did you just wake up one day and say "hmmm this Bible thing is cool, I think I'll become passionate about it today." or did you have some life experienced that helped to shape your faith and lead you to become a Christian?

[Conveyor Belt]

Zorro's gotta find the right scripture to answer that question... give him time...

[Conveyor Belt]

I'll write mine up in a day or week or so... tests at school and all... 10 steps of glycolysis complete with chemical structures... oy....

[dollfus46]

***I'm actually being serious***

I often find it difficult to believe or continue to believe in a supreme being; someone or something that has created life on our planet, and then left us to our own accord. I've seen such evil in mankind. Pure unadulterated evil, where you just want to...(sigh). Maybe it's because I'm around almost nothing but bad guys, and evil ways that makes my heart so heavy and despise a creator who actually allows his creations to be abused, mutilated and destroyed. Not only physically, but emotionally, spiritually. I go to confession, and pour out my soul for reconciliation, and by the time I get back to my car, my heart feels black again. So, I guess I'm missing something...Why can't (won't?) our creator not step in, and fix the mess that we've made? Are you going to tell me that Jesus has already paid the price, and now all we have to do is wait? How much more can this world take? We're destroying our environment, our government, our own children. If Jesus is coming, he really needs to do it soon.

****PLEASE****
Don't read this a bashing Christianity. It's a severe lack of faith that I must be having; but before someone gets their feelings hurt, I'm not attempting humor or levity in any fashion with this post.

I've been where you are, EH. Not much fun. I'm not qualified to advise you, but there are those who are. I beg you for your peace of mind and understanding, seek out you minister, rabbi, Priest and have a talk with him/her. A good minister will jump at the opportunity to help. Otherwise find another. There are good ones and bad ones just like everything else. What you're dealing with is not Jesus but a lack of Him and a presence of the devil. Just my opinion.

[zorro]

Zorro- . . . so what brought you to the point that you believed scripture even? Did you just wake up one day and say "hmmm this Bible thing is cool, I think I'll become passionate about it today." or did you have some life experienced that helped to shape your faith and lead you to become a Christian?
Well, I didn't just wake up one day and say "hmmm this Bible thing is cool, I think I'll become passionate about it today."

In college I was your basic professing agnositc/atheist. At the beginning of my last year in college (many moons ago), God graciously convinced me that He did indeed exist, that He was holy, and that I was anything but holy. I was convicted of my wretchedness and utter sinfulness by His Spirit when the witness of a few Christians provoked me to start reading the Gospels to find out what the Bible said about Jesus. Before this time I had read parts of the Bible when growing up, but I had always found the Bible, as well as church, to be boring. However, this time was totally different. My eyes were opened by God's Spirit to the words of Christ and my desperate condition before a Holy God became manifest to me in a way that I couldn't deny. I was convinced that I deserved the wrath of God and that I could do nothing about it. Eventually, I came to realize that Jesus Christ, God's Son, was (and is) a perfect Savior for sinners, even the worst (and thus, even I qualified as someone that He was able to save). I also learned from God's Word that all who know themselves to be sinners and who come to Christ for salvation would be received into His favor, and none cast out (thus, I came to believe that He was willing to save even me).

After coming to Christ for salvation, there was kindled a desire to know God as He is revealed in His Word. There were also competing claims among professing Christians as to what exactly was the truth about various issues and doctrines, and therefore, it became necessary to learn as much as possible about what God had actually said in His written Word. A love for the Scriptures therefore developed. Interestingly, the more I learned from the Scriptures, the more I desired to learn even more.

I could list a ton of Scriptures here, but I would say that Psalm 1, Psalm 19, and Psalm 119 are particularly relevant, as well as John 10 and II Timothy 3:15-17.

[XC9]

I believe I will go home to God. I confess my sins and also try to spread his word as his prophets would do. I take the body and blood of christ seriously when I recieve communion weekly. I just BELIEVE!

[bpitt]

Bravo, people, bravo.........and AMEN.