It frustrates me that there's so little practical advice to be given about Christianity

[directory]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful. The God of Christianity being interested in our emotional and cognitive states rather than our actions, it's very difficult for someone in my position– someone who doesn't actively believe, but who thinks that they might indeed need saving, and who as such wants to believe– to extract advice from even the most no-nonsense of sources that they can apply directly. It feels like I have to make a leap, a leap described in such terms as "be reborn in the Holy Spirit" or "follow Christ," a leap whose actual mechanics can't be explained by those who've made it, who simply did it by the grace of God and could no more explain it than an ant explain quantum physics. How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process. I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation. Since it would mean nothing for me to run out and get baptized, no matter how true the teachings of the church I choose, unless some fundamental change has occurred in my soul, then it seems that there's very little that can be said to me about how I can or should spend my allotted time on Earth if Christianity is true.

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace? Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less. But I don't know what it means to accept Christ in terms of what falls within my powers. If salvation is a free gift, then I've been handed my portion in a taped-up box and have no means of cutting the tape. If someone would only hand me a pair of scissors, I'd tear open the box and clutch the gift as close to my heart as I can. But it seems that this can't be done. Beyond hoping and praying, there's nothing at all for me to do.

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God? No amount of advice seems to do the trick. I simply don't know. At this moment in time, I don't know what to do– how to behave, what to think, what to say, whether any of it matters, whether there's any difference in any of it, whether I might as well teach myself how to juggle bowling pins as offer up another prayer or read another chapter of the gospels. Among Christians, I feel blindfolded in a well-lit room. Everyone is telling me that all I have to do is look and see, but nobody can tell me how to untie the blindfold. It's... not fun.

 

[Witness2016]

Well, this is a hard one due to the endless detail that is needed for one to direct you specifically... Ok I will ask a few things,
what is it you believe about God? Here goes... this is absolutely simplified, but should give you an idea. All people alive today have a spirit and to become in fellowship with the Creator God, one needs to be awaken/ quickened and his spirit needs a shake to awaken him/her...now, people can not do that themselves nor desire to due to that terrible sin nature, (Adam's that we inherited) and being all have that sinful soul, all need to have a way to the Heavenly Perfect Righteous Father and Creator because He is Spirit and Spirit needs to communicate with Spirit. Now Jesus is the Mediator that deposited a free pass called Grace, a pass of reconciliation, man can now communicate freely One on One with the Mighty Wonderful Creator of Heaven and everything therein...! ... read JOHN (KJV) and then we can go from there ....and 1st, 2nd and 3rd John...You'll see, if you truly want be called a son of God grafted in which to me, is a step higher then adoption lol I love it ! Here are your foundations...God is not man that He should lie, He desires all people come unto Him and be reconciled, He protects teaches redeems heals the body and soul He feeds clothes shelters supplies all their needs according to His riches in Glory through Christ Jesus and even sent the Comforted and gave Peace, now as the world. His Love is everlasting true and more faithful then you can write about if you started today and wrote for 100000 years 15 hours a day....He is Wonderful Awesome and Moves mountains.....His love and wonder are beyond expression so I will leave you with that...Read, and get back .. You can ask The Holy Spirit for guidance and for God to open your eyes and heart that you shall receive a quicken spirit and be Born Again....Be careful God answers prayers...Be ready Cause you or your life and world will never be the same. Do not judge God by what you have seen or heard in the past or what you think you know...and only focus on yourself for this season...Let Him teach you what you need to know and don't rush GOD it is you that isn't ready...not Him...
Have a Good Evening..May The Holy Perfect All Wise direct thy path...

 

[PloverWing]

Emotions are difficult. Even for committed Christians, they come and go. Some days I feel delight in what God has done; some days I feel nothing; and some days I feel angry at God. Don't wait for a particular emotional experience -- if emotions come to you, great, but if not, we're not saved by what we feel.

Beliefs are difficult too, because you can't choose what you believe, not really.

But you can choose your actions. I'm not sure exactly where you are in your spiritual explorations, but try this thought experiment: Can you say "If the teachings of Christianity are true, then I want to be a part of it. I want God's forgiveness, and I want to live the way Jesus taught"? If so, start there. Read Jesus' sermons, and go do those things.

This -- "I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic....If someone would only hand me a pair of scissors, I'd tear open the box and clutch the gift as close to my heart as I can." -- sounds to me like you have already said "yes" to God.

Remember that God has already granted you grace. Jesus has already died for you, whether you feel it or not.

 

[Grafted In]

It is my belief that at some point in each person"s life that God The Father reveals His Son to you. You'll hear a sermon or someone will say something to you that may not make any sense to you, but God will at some point in your life provide you with a situation when you will be given just the right amount of faith to become born again. When this happens you will have a choice. You can walk away and not respond at all or you will begin to agree with Him that for the first time in your life you know you are a sinnerl, that you simply have no hope of meeting His requirement of living a perfect life void of any sin, and that, short of a mirical, you are doomed, on your way to hell. You understand that you are in need of a Savior. God will reveal to you in one way or another that He has made a way. He will reveal His Son to you and that all you have to do is, by the faith He has already given you, look to the cross. It is at that moment, and it is probably different for all of us how He brings this about, all you have to do is believe that Jesus died on that cross just for you. When that time comes, simply accept His payment for your sins and invite Him into your heart as your Lord and your God.

Frankly I cannot determine by what you've written if you have been born again. If you have Praise Him. If not, when God reveals His Son to you, grab hold of Him with all that is in you.

 

[terryjohn]

All we are, believe and do are rooted in a world of experiences. No human experience is irrelevant. Whether we be exalted by a knowledge of God or cast down to the depths of depression, God is there. Should the saints be unaccustomed to the realities of life? Life should be experienced and entered into in its fullness least the passion of Christ be invalidated or belittled. We are called to be passionate about the things that afflict us. We all are called upon to be loving, patient, restless, angry, and hunger and thirst after righteousness least our lack of desire for such things makes us less likely to seek God. It is not a coincidence that God has subjected the world to futility, for only in such a state will men seek God. Like the Psalmists, we are all called to enter into a prayerful discussion with God for only in such powerfully emotionally charged exchanges are we going to see clearly God's desires for us and the world around us. In the end, saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Is an authentic and passion filled statement of faith.

 

[orangeness365]

I think as far as faith goes, you have to ask God for it in prayer. I think some practical advice on how to live your life is to follow the commandments and do what the sheep are supposed to do. If you do any of these things, then you are going above and beyond, in my opinion.

John 14:15-18
15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,f to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will beg in you.

18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Matthew 25:34-40
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 

[Albion]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful.

Isn't that terrific? It rises above all of that.

How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process.

Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation.

Do you mean you want us to decide not whether you can be saved... but to pronounce it as a
'yes or no' done deal in your own case?

Since it would mean nothing for me to run out and get baptized, no matter how true the teachings of the church I choose, unless some fundamental change has occurred in my soul, then it seems that there's very little that can be said to me about how I can or should spend my allotted time on Earth if Christianity is true.

Not exactly. If you were not saved and were not a believer, we'd still commend God's ways to you are the best way to live.

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace?

No. Did we just blow by the matter of reading the word of God like it didn't matter much?

Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less.

Well, that's salvation for you--accept what Christ did in securing it for you or don't. This isn't as mysterious or difficult as you seem to make it.

From here on, your post seemed to repeat itself, so I'll stop here.

 

[Steven Wood]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful. The God of Christianity being interested in our emotional and cognitive states rather than our actions, it's very difficult for someone in my position– someone who doesn't actively believe, but who thinks that they might indeed need saving, and who as such wants to believe– to extract advice from even the most no-nonsense of sources that they can apply directly. It feels like I have to make a leap, a leap described in such terms as "be reborn in the Holy Spirit" or "follow Christ," a leap whose actual mechanics can't be explained by those who've made it, who simply did it by the grace of God and could no more explain it than an ant explain quantum physics. How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process. I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation. Since it would mean nothing for me to run out and get baptized, no matter how true the teachings of the church I choose, unless some fundamental change has occurred in my soul, then it seems that there's very little that can be said to me about how I can or should spend my allotted time on Earth if Christianity is true.

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace? Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less. But I don't know what it means to accept Christ in terms of what falls within my powers. If salvation is a free gift, then I've been handed my portion in a taped-up box and have no means of cutting the tape. If someone would only hand me a pair of scissors, I'd tear open the box and clutch the gift as close to my heart as I can. But it seems that this can't be done. Beyond hoping and praying, there's nothing at all for me to do.

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God? No amount of advice seems to do the trick. I simply don't know. At this moment in time, I don't know what to do– how to behave, what to think, what to say, whether any of it matters, whether there's any difference in any of it, whether I might as well teach myself how to juggle bowling pins as offer up another prayer or read another chapter of the gospels. Among Christians, I feel blindfolded in a well-lit room. Everyone is telling me that all I have to do is look and see, but nobody can tell me how to untie the blindfold. It's... not fun.

I'm sorry to tell you but no one will ever be able to give you the answers that you're looking for. The easiest way to explain it is when Jesus said let those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, no one can describe a color or a sound. I thought I was "saved" years ago then I fell away but I can tell you months ago I was redeemed, the 2 are were nothing alike and there is no question in my heart or mind now of my salvation through Jesus Christ and it was nothing that I did, I wasn't even looking. What I can tell you is that faith is not as simple as you make it out to be. It seems to me that you honestly have a strong desire to know God. I can tell you some things God the Father is easier to know than you or anyone thinks. Modern churches and a lot of people that call themselves "christians" (and most think they are) with the traditions they added on make it harder than it needs to be. First you need to ask yourself why do you want to be a Christian? Then where are you looking? If you at anytime want to pm me with any questions or comments feel free. I can't promise you anything other than the truth. I'll help you in any way I can with a fresh set of eyes and I'll be praying for you.

 

[Grafted In]

Directory, there has been some excellent advice given to you by posters (aside from perhaps me) .
But this post especially touched me. Life as a Christian is definitely not easy street but instead a promise of hardship:

All we are, believe and do are rooted in a world of experiences. No human experience is irrelevant. Whether we be exalted by a knowledge of God or cast down to the depths of depression, God is there. Should the saints be unaccustomed to the realities of life? Life should be experienced and entered into in its fullness least the passion of Christ be invalidated or belittled. We are called to be passionate about the things that afflict us. We all are called upon to be loving, patient, restless, angry, and hunger and thirst after righteousness least our lack of desire for such things makes us less likely to seek God. It is not a coincidence that God has subjected the world to futility, for only in such a state will men seek God. Like the Psalmists, we are all called to enter into a prayerful discussion with God for only in such powerfully emotionally charged exchanges are we going to see clearly God's desires for us and the world around us. In the end, saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Is an authentic and passion filled statement of faith.

 

[dhh712]

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God? No amount of advice seems to do the trick. I simply don't know. At this moment in time, I don't know what to do– how to behave, what to think, what to say, whether any of it matters, whether there's any difference in any of it, whether I might as well teach myself how to juggle bowling pins as offer up another prayer or read another chapter of the gospels. Among Christians, I feel blindfolded in a well-lit room. Everyone is telling me that all I have to do is look and see, but nobody can tell me how to untie the blindfold. It's... not fun.

Well, not sure if it would work for you as it worked for me, but I never understood Christianity until I read the Westminster Confessions of Faith. Before that I was raised Catholic and knew about how Jesus died on a cross for our sins, but I didn't understand what that meant. It was supposed to be a great thing, but it had no meaning behind it for me. I had told people that I believed in God, but there was nothing behind it. I couldn't tell them why or what that meant or anything. It was like, yep, there's Jesus and he died for us and okay so what does that really have to do with anything???

I became an atheist after almost reading the Bible through completely under a non-demoninational preacher who had some neat doctrines like the serpent-seed and three world ages but ultimately things just didn't add up for me. A few years back I began studying a historical person who was a Presbyterian and though I vaguely heard of the title, I had no idea what they believed only they were supposed to be Christians too, like Catholics. After getting a book about the history of Presbyterianism, it kept referring to this "Westminster Confessions of Faith" and I finally put it together that this is what these Presbyterians believed (because, like it wasn't too likely that a non-Presbyterian was going to read a history book about Presbyterians, right?).

After I read that, it was like everything clicked for me. The Bible made sense in a way it never had before--here was a reason for *why* Christ died, why we are here, who God is. When I read the Bible again, it was like I never had read it before. Christ was displayed there in a way I had never imagined, had never experienced before--it cut me to the heart that this was the man, very God, whom I had blasphemed countless times in the past. So much love, perfection, righteousness--as the men whom the Pharisees sent to take Jesus attested, "No man spake like this man".

Not sure if you'd want to go through reading the Confessions though, most Christians I talked to even say they don't care to read it. But that's about the best advice I can give since it was what God used to draw me to himself. Other than that, the only things I can say about what you've said is that what it means to accept Christ is to acknowledge your unworthiness to stand before a perfect and holy God. Realize that there is nothing in this world that can give you lasting happiness. The moments of it that we have are gifts which God has given us. It fades, you realize whatever it was that did give you happiness isn't all that it was made out to be, or like people--they disappoint you. This world will disappoint us; God will not give us lasting happiness in it, not after the entrance of sin into it. It is marred by our own sin and the sins of others. The only hope we have is in Jesus; he is the only one who can give us the only lasting happiness a human will ever know: eternal fellowship with God. He has done that by being the perfect sacrifice to God, by fulfilling every single thing which the law demanded and by offering up himself as a blood sacrifice to God, because sin requires such a thing, it is that much of an affront to a holy God. Only the shedding of blood will make up for it and only that of a perfect human being. No human being could offer him (or her)self up as a sacrifice for we all have sin within us, in our body and soul. God had to incarnate himself in human form in order to provide us with a way to be with him eternally. He loved us that much.

Not sure if that helped you out any, but that's about all I have for you at the moment.

 

[1watchman]

Well, one thing that separates real Christians from wannabees and other religions, is that God is not talking about formulas, intellectualism, rituals for salvation, but a new birth (John 3). That new spiritual birth is what God gives to sincere seekers who receive His gift in His "...beloved Son", as He says. It is a relationship with Jesus, the Christ and not works (Eph. 2:8-9). If one does not read the Bible with a prayerful heart to God, he/she will not learn this truth.

 

[Thursday]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful. The God of Christianity being interested in our emotional and cognitive states rather than our actions, it's very difficult for someone in my position– someone who doesn't actively believe, but who thinks that they might indeed need saving, and who as such wants to believe– to extract advice from even the most no-nonsense of sources that they can apply directly. It feels like I have to make a leap, a leap described in such terms as "be reborn in the Holy Spirit" or "follow Christ," a leap whose actual mechanics can't be explained by those who've made it, who simply did it by the grace of God and could no more explain it than an ant explain quantum physics. How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process. I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation. Since it would mean nothing for me to run out and get baptized, no matter how true the teachings of the church I choose, unless some fundamental change has occurred in my soul, then it seems that there's very little that can be said to me about how I can or should spend my allotted time on Earth if Christianity is true.

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace? Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less. But I don't know what it means to accept Christ in terms of what falls within my powers. If salvation is a free gift, then I've been handed my portion in a taped-up box and have no means of cutting the tape. If someone would only hand me a pair of scissors, I'd tear open the box and clutch the gift as close to my heart as I can. But it seems that this can't be done. Beyond hoping and praying, there's nothing at all for me to do.

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God? No amount of advice seems to do the trick. I simply don't know. At this moment in time, I don't know what to do– how to behave, what to think, what to say, whether any of it matters, whether there's any difference in any of it, whether I might as well teach myself how to juggle bowling pins as offer up another prayer or read another chapter of the gospels. Among Christians, I feel blindfolded in a well-lit room. Everyone is telling me that all I have to do is look and see, but nobody can tell me how to untie the blindfold. It's... not fun.

The Catholic Church offers a very systematic, traditional, and comprehensive overview of what God expects from us on earth.

I recommend that you check out the Catholic Catechism.

Here's a free copy:

I. The life of man - to know and love God

1 God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

2 So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."4 Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it."5

3 Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.6




http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

 

[Demetrius194]

...

Hello! I totally understand what you mean. I really advise you check out my posts except for those posted in the thread "Is it possible to be non-creedal", as I really regret I ventured into that thread. My posts are full of advice on practical Christianity, the very sort you are looking for--how to receive from God, what it means to be saved, how to continue being saved, what constitutes loosing salvation, how to go about preserving clear conscience when we are attacked by guilt, what is guilt and what are the mechanics of different spiritual processes that can happen to us. I hope to do up some kind of a course eventually, though I seriously lack motivation to pull it all together, if you can pray about me for that.

http://www.christianforums.com/threads/pray-for-me.7930208/#post-69209446
http://www.christianforums.com/thre...tion-left-for-me.7930136/page-2#post-69203644

 

[farout]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful. The God of Christianity being interested in our emotional and cognitive states rather than our actions, it's very difficult for someone in my position– someone who doesn't actively believe, but who thinks that they might indeed need saving, and who as such wants to believe– to extract advice from even the most no-nonsense of sources that they can apply directly. It feels like I have to make a leap, a leap described in such terms as "be reborn in the Holy Spirit" or "follow Christ," a leap whose actual mechanics can't be explained by those who've made it, who simply did it by the grace of God and could no more explain it than an ant explain quantum physics. How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process. I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation. Since it would mean nothing for me to run out and get baptized, no matter how true the teachings of the church I choose, unless some fundamental change has occurred in my soul, then it seems that there's very little that can be said to me about how I can or should spend my allotted time on Earth if Christianity is true.

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace? Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less. But I don't know what it means to accept Christ in terms of what falls within my powers. If salvation is a free gift, then I've been handed my portion in a taped-up box and have no means of cutting the tape. If someone would only hand me a pair of scissors, I'd tear open the box and clutch the gift as close to my heart as I can. But it seems that this can't be done. Beyond hoping and praying, there's nothing at all for me to do.

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God? No amount of advice seems to do the trick. I simply don't know. At this moment in time, I don't know what to do– how to behave, what to think, what to say, whether any of it matters, whether there's any difference in any of it, whether I might as well teach myself how to juggle bowling pins as offer up another prayer or read another chapter of the gospels. Among Christians, I feel blindfolded in a well-lit room. Everyone is telling me that all I have to do is look and see, but nobody can tell me how to untie the blindfold. It's... not fun.

I have read what some others posted. I hope you will read just one more. There is one in my opinion you are totally missing. You are a sinner, like us all. Gods LAW is the Ten Commandments. No one can possibly keep them! I mean no one. But those Ten Commandments are what Gods standard are for us. We all fail at keeping those laws and when we fail to keep them its called sin. God is HOLY we are not! You and I must see without some way to seek the forgiveness of God for our sins we die twice, one is natural death, the outer is spiritual death. We are a soul that has a body. God will judge us based on is our sin's been forgiven or not. If we stand before God and have not has our sins forgiven He allows us, by our choice facing Him with unforgiven sins to depart from Him forever. The place we choose to spent eternity is called Hell. If we decided to rejected Gods provided way of forgiveness of our sins then we stand all by our self with no way to defend our sinful life. But God will not force anyone to accept His only way to forgive our sins.

God loves us. It is not His will that anyone go to eternity in Hell. Hell is everlasting punishment for rejecting Gods provided way of forgiving our sins. Gods love for us is offered, but not forced on anyone! We have complete control to either accept His offer of forgiveness of our total sinful life or not to accept His offer of forgiveness. We do not have to face God alone and die the second death in hell. God has provided a payment or a way for us to be forgiven.

The issue is not I how do I become as Christian. The issue is you and I are sinners in need of finding how God can forgive our sins. Our sins that we deliberately commit every day, we lie, lust, use Gods Holy name as a swore word, we steal, we disobeyed our parents, the list goes on and on. We are sinners in need of finding how our sins can be forgiven!

Gods answer for us to be forgiven is to allow Jesus Christ to pay the price for my and your sins. In order for that to happen we have to honestly recognize that we truly are a sinner. In doing that we admit to God that by yourself, you deserve to be separated for eternity in hell, but we confess that we want to be saved, that we ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior. We Confess we area sinner who needs Jesus Christ and His payment for our sins. We ask Jesus Christ to forgive our sine, and say I will with your help turn form my sins and I want to be a Follower of you Jesus. In some cases turning away from my sine may take some real effort, but not alone. When we ask Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, He has the Holy Spirit to come into our life. The Holy Spirit is a silent part of God that in ways no one can explain, resides in our life that helps us understand the Bible, convicts us when we sin, and makes us aware of how to Follow Jesus Christ. But First we have to acknowledge we are lost and without Jesus Christ and His dying on the Cross paying for my sins, and Him coming back to life as proof His is the complete and final payment for our sins, and without Jesus Christ paying the price for my sins, I will go to hell. For God so LOVED YOU that He gave His one and ONLY Son, that if you believe (trust, rely, follow) in Jesus Christ, you will not perish (go to hell) but have ethereal (life in heaven when you die). This is my paraphrase of John 3:16

The issue is what will you do with Jesus Christ? It is not wanting to become anything. The issue is you are a sinner in need of a way to have your sins forgiven! God has so lovingly provided you so much Love he sent His SON as a way for you to have your sins for given. Jesus suffered so much pain, not just physical pain but a pain that is unmeasureable. he carried the pain of the sins for everyone who would accept Him as the payment for their sine. We can not imagine what that was like as it is unmeasureable! Jesus Christ will not pay the price for someone's' sins that does not ask His to save them from their sinful life. So it is entirely up to you! The issue is your sins. You can do as you please. If you decide to ask Jesus Christ to Save you form your sins and become a Follower, you can do it right now. God will not force anyone to ask or accept Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.

If you make the choice to ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior, and after doing so I suggest you read John the fourth Gospel in the New Testament. Find a Bible believing Church and ask the pastor for help in becoming a Follower of Jesus Christ.

I have given you the simple plan of Gods way to forgiveness of your sins. That is hy you have not been able to become a Christian, you sins must be taken care of FIRST! I sincerely hope you become a Follower.

 

[aiki]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful.

Well, not a legalistic framework, no, but a standard of conduct and thought is very clearly spelled out in the New Testament, which the believer is constrained to observe, not out of fear, but love.

It feels like I have to make a leap, a leap described in such terms as "be reborn in the Holy Spirit" or "follow Christ," a leap whose actual mechanics can't be explained by those who've made it, who simply did it by the grace of God and could no more explain it than an ant explain quantum physics. How can I be reborn in the Holy Spirit? How can I follow Christ? It seems that it just has to happen to me– God has to decide to act on my soul in some way, and there's nothing I can do to begin or hasten the process.

How does a corpse help itself? It just simply can't; it's...a corpse. But this is how every unsaved person is spiritually. Scripture says that if you're not saved, you are "dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph. 2:1) The only One who can bring you to life spiritually is God. So, yes, salvation does have to happen to you. How does God bring you to spiritual life? Well, it begins by hearing the truth of the Gospel, which is followed by a choice you make either to act positively on what you've heard, or reject the same. If you've heard the Gospel, you've heard God's call. What's your response?

I've been told to pray and read the Bible, but that seems to be the extent of the actionable advice that a Christian can give a non-Christian as regards their potential salvation.

If you've heard the Gospel, the Good News of salvation, it's not time to read your Bible and pray; it is time to "choose you this day whom you will serve." Prayer and Bible reading are important, but doing these things doesn't save anyone. It is through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone that you are born-again. (Eph. 2:8, 9)

Is it really the case that all I can do is wait and pray and hope that God will see fit to grant me grace? Is salvation so completely out of my hands that I'll never be able to resolve the abstract advice given by believers into some practical course of behavior that might do my soul some good? I'd cross deserts and swim oceans to be saved, but I know that God isn't hiding the secret to faith on the other side of the Sahara or the Atlantic. I can think of no physical action Christians seem to think would do my soul good. I simply have to "accept Christ," nothing more or less. But I don't know what it means to accept Christ in terms of what falls within my powers.

Is there no one in whom you have ever placed your trust? No doctor, or dentist, or taxi driver, or friend? If there is such a person, I don't understand why doing with Christ what you have done with them is such an insurmountable problem.

"Seek, and ye shall find;" call on God, and you'll be saved. How do I seek? How do I call on God?

You "find God" by putting your trust in Christ as your Saviour and Lord and repenting of a life lived with yourself at its center rather than God. See, not terribly difficult? Rather simple, actually.

Selah.

 

[Job8]

Unlike Judaism or Islam, Christianity doesn't offer an easy, concrete legalist framework as guidance for the faithful and those who wish to be faithful.

You don't need a "legalist" framework, but you do need a spiritual framework, and it is all there in Scripture.

For example 2 Peter 1:5-9:
And beside this, giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue;
and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience;
and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity [agape = love].

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Also, study the first epistle of John for practical teaching.

 

[Deidre32]

Follow Jesus. Many people think there is some secret to leading a good Christian life...but that's pretty much the secret right there.

 

[ToBeLoved]

One of the best for questions http://www.gotquestions.org/

It's really, really good. Try it.