one of the questions i've had for a while. why can't i just acknowledge that god is my one true god and be the best person i can be? and why do we have to wait for the end times for the rapture? couldn't god just destroy the devil right now and get it over with?
Responses (9)
1st Q: You can not be Christ like until He changed you by His Holy Spirit with Salvation.Being willing to agree with God that you are a sinner He died for & willing to turn your life over to Him He will accept you as you are if you want His salvation and power in your life."For all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." 2nd Q: devil;that's a hard ques most ask.I suspect cause God gave him rule here & his time not up yet???also could be testing to see who really will repent for His salvation(weeding evil out?).Only God can answer that one but it is for good reasons only He knows now but will be revealed sometime in the future to those He saved.Need more,be glad to help.I was in ministry,trained at LBC?Liberty Univ,Va.
i've also been baptized.
I can help,but try to bear with me.My computer has a hacker trying to mess up & virus shut me out two days went to restore but only helped some. You have to show God you mean it.Tell others what you did or say at a church alter like Baptist. If you were 100% willing you probably got saved & devil may confuse you. Do not go on feelings but only faith as God can not and will not break His promise.Read St Jn Ch#3 and Romans Ch 1,3,& 10(easiest of many scriptures to understand) Baptism is not salvation but a necessary thing for obedience to show the world that you chose to serve Him.Pray until He gives peace & He will be faithful if unwillingness to repent is in the way, or if you are truly His which is very possible because God promised not to turn away any willing to repent and accept Him.The Bible tells us that where confusion is the devil is behind it,so trust God as God will not allow the devil to stop you from coming to God! A SOLID promise from God.Search your heart for any sin you struggle with and tell God & ask for His help and He will help.for some,esp fleshly & sexual sins & pride struggle with repentance because they do not realize they can't without His help but tell God & be willing to do it with God's Power He will help. All need that power because we are unable to break sin's power so it is God Himself who gives us the power of repentance.We try our best & at the point we need help,The Holy Spirit gives the power to be set free.Temptations will come but with them God either shows the way out or makes the devil leave you alone.Don't let the devil lie to you.God wants to save you more than you yourself want because He created you & Hell wasn't made for us,but people go there simply because rejecting God's Salvation & will not repent.He paid a very High price for your salvation & you are very valuable to God that All of the angels rejoice for every one who gets saved because they know how bad hell is & forever non-stop torture.God does not want you there, but to be with Him.If not getting this,send to the E-mail address I gave you.If no reply is only virus or med probs.Just got out of hosp w/heart attack & nip & tuck situation now.I do care much & will do all I can to help.Cant give better ans as why devil isn't in Hell yet but God knows that Jesus is the only way to his salvation.If we get cults ans this,send to pvt mail or E-mail.Praying 4 U & you do same & you should be saved.read those scriptures & God should show you through them.Ley me know so I can rejoice with you,ok?
we do not have to wait for the Rapture,but best to be ready before hand because the Rapture will be too late.I think God is telling us it is very close but He will not tell us the exact date.Just make sure you are saved before(now) and you will be safe when & if it happens soon as we expect or even if God decides to wait which I believe the Bible does tell us it is super close & we will see it.God wants to help you now to have a fresh start knowing His Love and Joy & purpose to live knowing His joy amongst all the evil He will protect & watch over you as His Child.
i don't want another religion or any. i believe in life after death but that's pretty much it. religion is what's causing most problems in the middle east right now. i'm not trying to offend anyone but there has been more killing in the name of god than most other things.
you are right .so keep chirstian and love the god he will love you.what i was mean when i told you search for another religion is just to confirm if u are not sure then u will be sure that you are right
i found a cool NOVA episode called "buried secrets of the bible" on youtube. it's divided into13 parts but it's worth watching. it makes alot of sense. but you can't be biest while your watching it. basically just listen to what it's talking about instead of arguing with ith the documentary.
ya h's great thanx
*** Christian
What It Means to Be a Christian. Jesus extended the invitation to be his follower, saying: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and continually follow me.” (Mt 16:24) Those who are true Christians have full faith that Jesus Christ is God’s specially Anointed One and only-begotten Son, the Promised Seed who sacrificed his human life as a ransom, was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of Jehovah, and received authority to subdue his enemies and vindicate Jehovah’s name. (Mt 20:28; Lu 24:46; Joh 3:16; Ga 3:16; Php 2:9-11; Heb 10:12, 13) Christians view the Bible as the inspired Word of God, absolute truth, beneficial for teaching and disciplining mankind.—Joh 17:17; 2Ti 3:16; 2Pe 1:21.
More is required of true Christians than a mere confession of faith. It is necessary that belief be demonstrated by works. (Ro 10:10; Jas 2:17, 26) Born as sinners, those who become Christians repent, turn around, dedicate their lives to Jehovah, to worship and serve him, and then submit to water baptism. (Mt 28:19; Ac 2:38; 3:19) They must keep themselves clean from fornication, from idolatry, and from eating blood. (Ac 15:20, 29) They strip off old personalities with their fits of anger, obscene talk, lying, stealing, drunkenness, and “things like these,” and they bring their lives into accord with Bible principles. (Ga 5:19-21; 1Co 6:9-11; Eph 4:17-24; Col 3:5-10) “Let none of you,” wrote Peter to Christians, “suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters.” (1Pe 4:15) Christians are to be kind and considerate, mild-tempered and long-suffering, lovingly exercising self-control. (Ga 5:22, 23; Col 3:12-14) They provide and care for their own and love their neighbors as themselves. (1Ti 5:8; Ga 6:10; Mt 22:36-40; Ro 13:8-10) The main identifying quality by which true Christians are recognized is the outstanding love they have toward one another. “By this,” Jesus said, “all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—Joh 13:34, 35; 15:12, 13.
True Christians imitate Jesus’ example as the Great Teacher and Faithful Witness of Jehovah. (Joh 18:37; Re 1:5; 3:14) “Go . . . make disciples of people of all the nations” is their Leader’s command. (Mt 28:19, 20) In carrying it out, Christians ‘witness publicly and from house to house,’ urging people everywhere to flee out of Babylon the Great and put their hope and confidence in God’s Kingdom. (Ac 5:42; 20:20, 21; Re 18:2-4) This is really good news, but proclaiming such a message brings upon Christians great persecution and suffering, even as was experienced by Jesus Christ. His followers are not above him; it is enough if they are like him. (Mt 10:24, 25; 16:21; 24:9; Joh 15:20; 2Ti 3:12; 1Pe 2:21) If one “suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame, but let him keep on glorifying God in this name,” counseled Peter. (1Pe 4:16) Christians render to “Caesar” what belongs to the superior authorities of this world—honor, respect, tax—but at the same time they remain separate from this world’s affairs (Mt 22:21; Joh 17:16; Ro 13:1-7), and for this the world hates them.—Joh 15:19; 18:36; 1Pe 4:3, 4; Jas 4:4; 1Jo 2:15-17.
*** Jehovah’s Purpose Challenged
A spirit son of God rebelled and set out to thwart Jehovah’s purpose, abusing the divine gift of free will. He disturbed the peace that comes to all who manifest loving submission to Jehovah’s sovereignty. Satan led the first human couple to embark on a course of independence from God. (Genesis 3:1-6) He did not deny Jehovah’s power, but he challenged His way of exercising sovereignty and therefore His right to rule. Thus, the fundamental issue of Jehovah’s sovereignty came into focus here on earth, at the very dawn of mankind’s history.
Bound up with that primary issue of universal sovereignty is a secondary issue raised by Satan in the days of Job. Satan cast doubt on the motive of Jehovah’s creatures in submitting to Him and serving Him. Satan implied that they were doing so for selfish reasons and that put to the test they would turn against God. (Job 1:7-11; 2:4, 5) While raised in connection with a human servant of Jehovah, this challenge also involved the spirit sons of God, even Jehovah’s only-begotten Son.
Faithful to his purpose and to the meaning of his name, Jehovah caused himself to become a Prophet and a Savior. He told Satan: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” (Genesis 3:15) By means of the Seed of his “woman,” or the heavenly part of his organization, Jehovah would answer Satan’s challenge and provide Adam’s descendants with hope of deliverance and life.—Romans 5:21; Galatians 4:26, 31.
I'll just answer your first question. There is no evidence that you have to be like Christ or anyone else for any god to accept you. There is no evidence that any god even exists much less that you have to be like anybody for that god to accept you. Christ, if he even existed which is questionable, was just a man who lived 2,000 years ago in the Roman Empire and taught on spirituality.
Three short answers:
(1) (John 3:16) “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.
(2) (1 Peter 2:21) In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving a model for you to follow his steps closely.
(3) (2 Thessalonians 1:8) in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.
THE BIBLE is not just a book of history or made up stories as some would choose to believe. completed some 2,000 years ago, other books have come and gone but the Bible is still here. it has survived many vicious attacks by powerful people. the Bible has become and continues to be the most widely spread literature of all time. it has helped shaped and preserve some pf the languages it has been translated in. the Bible has profoundly affected Western culture influencing art, literature, law, politics, aswell as religious beliefs and practices. these are jus some facts.
in order to understand our purpose we must first develope a great respect for God’s word, the Bible. read it, meditate and pray for guidance and holy spirit for help to understanding what God wants from us.
it's great that your are aware of your spiritual needs, but there's more to just being aware of something. in traffic we're aware of the red light but action muct go behind stopping the car. same with God and accepting him, we must put faith behind what we know to be true. that faith is what is found at Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen". read also Hebrews 11:6 "without faith it is impossible to please God well".
please visit jw.org for more information on what God expects from us.
THE BIBLE is not just a book of history or made up stories as some would choose to believe. completed some 2,000 years ago, other books have come and gone but the Bible is still here. it has survived many vicious attacks by powerful people. the Bible has become and continues to be the most widely spread literature of all time. it has helped shaped and preserve some of the languages it has been translated in. the Bible has profoundly affected Western culture influencing art, literature, law, politics, aswell as religious beliefs and practices. these are just some facts.
in order to understand our purpose we must first develope a great respect for God’s word, the Bible. read it, meditate and pray for guidance and holy spirit for help to understanding what God wants from us.
it's great that your are aware of your spiritual needs, but there's more to just being aware of something. in traffic we're aware of the red light but action must go behind stopping the car. same with God and accepting him, we must put faith behind what we know to be true. that faith is what is found at Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen". read also Hebrews 11:6 "without faith it is impossible to please God well".
please visit jw.org for more information on what God expects from us. I'm sure a reasonable person as yourself may find this very helpful.
Simply put, God expects us to be like His son, Jesus Christ. At Matthew 17:5, to be acceptable to Jehovah God we need to obey His son, Jesus Christ: "While he (Jesus), was still speaking, look! a bright cloud overshadowed them, and look! a voice out of the cloud said: ' This is my Son, whom I have approved. LISTEN to him.'"
Also, Matthew 3:17 says: "Look! Also, a voice from the heavens said: 'This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.'" Also, Jesus Christ is the "Perfecter of our faith", something that is needed to please and be acceptable to God..Hope this helps answer your question.
We don't have to be like Christ for God to accept us. We are believing in some scripture which has been wrongly interpreted. We do not understand the Truth of who God is, where God is, what God is. We just believe what we are told. It's time to stop, to ask questions, to investigate, to realize the Truth. Don’t the scriptures say that the kingdom of God is within you, that God lives in the temple of your heart? Then stop and realize that God is within. Then you will realize you are not the body and mind, you are the Divine Soul. That is the ultimate goal. The moment you realize that you are a manifestation of God, you don't need to be like Christ, you become Christ, you see Christ in everybody, you see God in everything, everywhere. That is the Truth. But you will only realize the Truth when you stop believing in the myth.
i understand your answer to my first question. but if god knows your heart already then why does he need to test us. he could've just banished the devil in genesis instead of giving him the earth and weeding evil out that way.
back to accepting jesus; i've said the sinners prayer at least twice and also admit that i am a sinner to god but i didn't feel any different.