The Bible condemns such faiths, for faith--no matter how sincere--is only as valid as the object of that faith.
They say to wood, 'You are my father,' and to stone, 'You gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!' Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah. (Jeremiah 2:27-28)
So, if the Bible is so adamant about the futility of such faiths, then the "truth" the Bible puts forth had better be valid. In other words, there must be a great deal of evidence for the validity of Scripture as truth, or that verse would be nothing but a clever deception (not to mention the rest of it).
Interestingly, there is indeed a vast amount of evidence for the validity of Scripture--so much, in fact, there have been no accusations that have been able to stand their ground against it. What about the many accusations that the Old Testament was simply mythology? Ahh... but archeaology has brought silence to most of those and brought into serious question the rest. And, what about the theory Jesus never existed? Well, that has been soundly blasted out of the water. (For a small taste of this, see: Did Jesus Actually Exist?) And, what about the consipiracy theories--those that claim Jesus' disciples merely collaborated and made up the stories of Jesus so they could start a new religion? But, of course, those have been proven (through a study of extra-biblical historical documents, the religious and political history, the prophetic fulfillments, contextual coherency & accuracy, documental preservation, archeaology and eye-witness accounts) to also be false.
So, if there are so many evidences for the Bible's accuracy and validity and so few arguments against it, why doesn't everyone believe? Because spritual truth is given directly by God and only by God.
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14) (See also Mat. 16:13-17)
It cannot be figured out. It does not come through study. It does not come by being born into it. It is a gift--and it is given only to those who have been called by God and respond to His call.
"No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. This is why I told you that no one can come to me unelss the Father has enabled him." (John 6:44-45, 65)
Now, we are all called by God at one time or another. (See: Jeremiah 7:13, Matt. 18:10-14, John 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:9) So, there are none that are not chosen to be His, but we are not all called at the same time nor in the same way. Also, even once we are called, we are not forced to believe. That is our choice--although God has made belief very available, simple and appealing. (I mean, what's not appealing about being forgiven for our sins, reunited with God--the omnipotent and loving Being who made us, having his all-knowing guidance during our lives and having the assurance of paradise with Him after we die?)
So, could Christians be buying into a false faith? No. Not as long as that faith is in Jesus Christ--fully God and fully man--as defined by the Scriptures (both Old and New Testaments but no other books). The question then is, why haven't you accepted Jesus yet? Is it because God hasn't called? Or, is it because you haven't answered? Hopefully, though, it isn't because you have rejected Him outright. If so, I ask you to take another look.
6 comments:
Hey Susan,
Been a while i didn't take a look in here. Well that brings direct answers to my questionning in last weeks...
But if you give your life to Jesus, then you just wait until he does everything for you ?
I can't just sit there and wait... I need some goal in my life. Since when I've been turning to God I got no answer on where to go, I just decided that I had to take responsibility for my life and decide by myself what is the best for me. I want to make my own plans now. I was ready to follow him but what if all that had no sense... ? Why are Muslim people so convinced of their religion if it's not the good one ? You can be a good person without having heard about Jesus... What if all that was just human mind power convincing ourselfs ?
The thing is that in whatever way you try showing bible is wrong you can find a sentence to contradict it. But somewhere else in the bible there's another sentence saying exactly the opposite of this same sentence and someone will use it to prove sth else...
Hello again, Vince! It's good to hear from you again.
You said, "But if you give your life to Jesus, then you just wait until he does everything for you ?
I can't just sit there and wait... I need some goal in my life."
Not exactly, Vince. God desires a relationship with you--not religious activity.
Think of how you might approach a relationship with a good friend, a brother, your father or a woman you love. If you knew that person loved you deeply, how would you go about growing that relationship? --Growing your own love? You do that by getting to know them, not by asking for a list of "dos and don'ts" and then trying to fulfill them.
If that person gave you a letter and said, "If you read this, you'll know me better," then, you read it. If that person says, "Talk to me, spend time with me, and you will know me better," then you do that. If that person says, "Talk to Fred. He knows me well and he can share what he knows with you," then you will do that. If you see the activity that person is doing and involve yourself in it, you will also come to know them more fully. This is relationship, and God has invited you to do all these things with Him. The letter is God's Word, the Bible. He wrote it for you so you would know Him. Talking to Him and Hanging Out with Him are prayer, praise, worship and silence in His presence. "Fred" represents others who know God and who can share Him with you--people like myself, or a pastor or an older Christian you respect (because you see Christ's love in them). And seeing God at work is whenever you see someone being convicted of sin, searching for spiritual things or asking spiritual questions--that is your invitation to join God in His work by being a witness and when you share your love for Christ with others, you come to know God even more deeply.
Now, about waiting. The Bible has a lot to say about waiting and it's usually a good thing. It's not waiting for a relationship with God, but waiting on God--sometimes for something to happen, for direction, for a task, for a lesson, etc... God's timing is always perfect. If a word from God seems slow in coming, it is not because He is not speaking, but because you have not gotten to where you can hear Him clearly, yet. God understands this and will patiently draw you to the place where you can hear Him and recognize His voice. This comes from relationship. The more you get to know God (through the ways I already mentioned), the easier it will be to hear His voice through prayer, the Word, others and experience as He fulfills His purposes in your life. There is another benefit to this--knowing God's voice will make it much easier to recognize the voices of those who would seek to deceive you and recognizing truth in the midst of a world full of lies.
In John 10:1-5, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
So, what is your goal, Vince? To grow in knowledge and love of God and to learn to hear His voice. If you have this as your primary goal, all of the other pieces of your life will fall into place, because you will never be outside of God's will. Remember, God's will is not a thing or an activity--it is a relationship.
You said, "Since when I've been turning to God I got no answer on where to go, I just decided that I had to take responsibility for my life and decide by myself what is the best for me. I want to make my own plans now. I was ready to follow him but what if all that had no sense... ?"
To some extent, Vince, you are free to make your own choices--what job you will have, what car you will drive, where you are going to live, what school you will go to, etc... A loving relationship is not about restrictions, but neither is it about complete independence. It is based on trust. So, let's say you have been thinking that you would like to get a job in France for the summer because it fits your training and would give you good school credits. However, you're not sure God would approve. Why? Well, maybe you're worried about what temptations you might face when you get there, or maybe you're not sure your choice of career has been approved by Him.
What do you do? You pray. You read the Bible. You may search for passages of Scripture that talk about God's will, God's presence, God's direction, etc... Then you talk to your pastor and some other people you respect at your church and ask them to pray for you to make the right choice. Then, a little while later, you ask them if any of them sense that God is leading you in that direction. Then you wait to see what happens as you continue with the plans you made. If nothing out of the ordinary happens to change your mind--either through the Scripture or through others or through prayer or through circumstances, then you can proceed with confidence that God is leading you to go to France. You take all your fears about Him and about your own fallibility and put those in God's hands and say, "Lord, I am willing to follow Your direction in my life. I believe I am supposed to go to France and I trust that You will either stop me from going if this is the wrong decision or go before me and behind me if it is the right one. I ask your protection and guidance and wisdom all along the way." Then, if something happens to make it clear that God is keeping you from going to France, then you stay true to your word and obey--why? Because this is a relationship based on trust.
Do you see the freedom you have within that relationship? You are free to make any decision any way you like, but if you are in relationship with God, He will show you which ones are wise and which one's aren't. (James 1:5)
You asked, "Why are Muslim people so convinced of their religion if it's not the good one ? You can be a good person without having heard about Jesus..."
You're right that there are a lot of people out there that seem to be good. The fact is, none of us are good. Not Muslims, Christians, pagans, etc... Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." You have to understand that Christians are no better than anyone else. We are not especially favored by God through anything we have done. In fact, those who claim otherwise--well, that kind of arrogance is just evidence that they are truly fulfilling the above verse. God hasn't called us to "be good"--though that is something He desires; He called us to be His children--something only He can provide. His method was through Jesus Christ, and ONLY through Jesus Christ.
You said, "What if all that was just human mind power convincing ourselfs?"
This philosophy is a popular one because it takes absolutely no effort to believe it. It is incredibly easy (and, forgive me, lazy) to disbelieve something without doing any digging into the issues, facts and philosophical and historical evidence. However, there is such a vast resource of evidence for God's existence and His personal involvement in our lives, that it seems quite clear to me that those who still reject Him are being actively deceived.
You said, "The thing is that in whatever way you try showing bible is wrong you can find a sentence to contradict it. But somewhere else in the bible there's another sentence saying exactly the opposite of this same sentence and someone will use it to prove sth else..."
You are right to see how the Bible can be misused. However, don't forget that the Bible is also living and active because it is the medium through which the Holy Spirit can speak directly to us. Those who misuse the Bible are treating it as a simple text--a dead thing--and so often make a point on one or a few verses while ignoring the rest--this is called, "taking passages out of context"--and is incredibly foolish. The Bible--since fully inspired by God, must be taken fully, wholly in every instance. Furthermore, those who malign the Word in this way are denying the relationship with God. Whether they have one or not is not for me to decide; however, when one is in relationship with God, as I described above, God will help you see those areas in which you are misunderstanding His Word. This wisdom and discernment can only come from God, through a growing, deepening relationship with Him.
Well, Vince, you ask some good questions. I suggest that you see if you can find a group of believers who can help you grow and learn more about Him (if you haven't already). Also, look into doing the "Experiencing God" study by Henry Blackaby. It is also available in French, if that would be easier for you. Perhaps you could find a small group who would go through it as a study. I highly recommend it, because it will answer many, many of these kinds of questions for you.
God bless.
Thanks for your quick answers as usual Susan.
I just need some time to think thoroughly about all that.
Keep on writing and good luck for the rest.
Hey Susan,
You haven't been posting since a while. I hope everything is fine with you and your family.
God bless you much,
Vince.
Hey, Vince. You're right. I've been a bit occupied elsewhere, but I'll be posting again in a little while. I hope you're doing well, and I appreciate your good wishes for us. We are doing quite well, praise God.
Thanks!
That is why we call it faith. Faith is sort of blind obedience and if we feel good about it then why not believe?
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