Help I want be saved

[BelindaP]

The Bible says that human history is 6000-8000 years old. It doesn't say the earth is that old. Genesis 1:1 is best translated:
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth became void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

It allows for the earth and the universe to be much, much older. It is my belief that God created the universe and the earth. Then, there was war in heaven that ended up devastating the earth. [Think large meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs.]

There are many Christians (myself included) that believe that the six days of creation are God's days, not our days. Since He created the universe, He also created time as we understand it. He would, therefore, stand outside of time, dwelling in His own dimension of time, which operates separately. Thus, six days in His time could be as many years as He wanted them to be for us.

I believe in taking the Bible literally, but we must guard against introducing our own biases into understanding it. I think that is what has been done in the past and what continues to happen. I have yet to see a scientific discovery that conflicts with anything in the Bible. If anything, statements in the Bible were often way ahead of their time in understanding science.

 

[deadmanxzxz]

Are you serious? Ive done all I can, Im waiting on god to come into my life its up to it. To be honest if god is evil I wont worship it. Power doesnt equal good. Id rather cease to exist than go to heaven to be its servant.

Im like really certain the universe is billions of years old. Its much more amazing and beautifull than just earth. It goes on forever it seems. Human beings have been around for 100000 years or more science says. I can find you some links if you want.

Theirs is so many things wrong with the bible it should not be taken literaly. How could their be a war in heaven? thought it was without pain, sadness, and sin and I also though it was in another demension so it couldnt affect the earth.

This large book doesnt give us a signal of wether its speaking metaphorically or literaly etcetera so Its impossible to even understand it.

You could interpret it into hundreds of different beliefs. Not only that but whos to say that this really is even gods word? Lots of the bible could be as false as catholic muslim mormon or budhists beliefs etc. Lots of it is obviously that way. If you all cant even figure your own beliefs out how do you expect others too?

If I was all powerfull im certain I could find about a thousand ways to do a better job, any one could.

 

[BelindaP]

How exactly do you want God to come into your life? Do you need to see him? What are your criteria?

 

[beliverrick]

Hi there!

I wouldn't worry about the Bible at the moment.

I don't think 'minor details' such as how old the earth really is, should stop you in your search for God ...

When I first became a Christian, the thing that was a huge stumbling block for me was 'how did Noah get all the animals in the arc???'
I laugh about it now, because it seems quite irrelevant to me now! (I still don't know how he did it ... but I don't feel I need to know any more in order to be a Christian!)

The most important issue for you is Jesus. I suggest you try and find out what you believe about him - was he a mythical figure, a prophet, or is he the Son of God?
Unless you ponder these things, you will not be able to move forward.
To find out the Biblical perspective about Jesus, you really ought to try to read the gospels (start with Mark perhaps). Don't worry about the rest of the New or Old Testament for now.

May you find what you are looking for!

I think I know what you are trying to say, but in order to except Jesus as your savior you have to know who he is, why he was here and what he did for all of us. To find this out you are going to have to study Gods word (the bible). As far as how Noah got all of the animals in the arc, you can ask him when you get to your heavenly. home

 

[glo1]

I think I know what you are trying to say, but in order to except Jesus as your savior you have to know who he is, why he was here and what he did for all of us. To find this out you are going to have to study Gods word (the bible).

I agree with you. I love reading my Bible.
But I have also come to realise that other people can read the Bible cover-to-cover without getting a sense of connecting with God.

I have a feeling that deadman may know the Bible quite well, and even have had a Christian upbringing ... but it doesn't (yet) make sense to him. (That's only an assumption on my part, of course!)
I can relate to that. I spent 35 years (despite a Christian upbringing) thinking that the Bible was just made up, and God only a human invention ... until one day it all fell into place and my eyes were opened.

As far as how Noah got all of the animals in the arc, you can ask him when you get to your heavenly. home

Teehee ... Yes, I'll do that ... if it is still important to me then.

God bless.

glo

 

[Abigayle's Legacy]

Friend it's simple the whole thing.......stop thinking and start feeling the wind blows...you don't see it... you feel it ...you see what if affects... and what it moves.....well friend you see that here....those moved and affected by God...I'm one of those people a walking breathing miracle saved and healed by grace and from cancer.
Don't think feel.....ask God to come into your heart ask him to accept you the way you are and then say show me... change me.... heal me... save me.......that's what I did and the rest fell into place it took a long time but nothing and noone can take me away from my God.....I dare you to ask God to show you ask Him in and see if things don't start to happen. At 13 someone dared me the Jewish girl from Brooklyn to accept Christ just ask Him they said ........my life has never been the same.
I'm here if you want to talk . Be warned though when you ask God in He is going to come and your whole world will be rocked......and a great AMEN to that.
Be blessed dear friend if you are seeking Him ....He will find you.

 

[AllTalkNoAction]

Friend it's simple the whole thing.......stop thinking and start feeling the wind blows...you don't see it... you feel it ...you see what if affects... and what it moves..... . ..

Jesus actually describes the born again experience saying "the wind blows . .you hear the sound theerof .. so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3v8)
Sure enough, it is known when people receive God's (invisible) Spirit - all were heard speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance - Acts 2v4, 33, 39; 10v44-48

 

[Breaking Babylon]

Well prety much every thing. I dont believe the universe was created 6000-8000 years ago. I dont believe the whole universe was made only for humans . I dont believe in original sin or that we started out in a garden and ate a magic fruit and became sinners. I dont believe the earth is flat lol. I dont believe a omnipotent all loving all knowing god is possible in this reality. I dont believe there is such thing as perfect or absolute morality. I dont believe any one deserves infinite punishment for finite sins. I dont believe that a creator would write a errant confusing and contradictory book as his only way of having a relationship with us. I dont believe in stoning nonbelievers, homosexuals, children who curse at their parents, women who arent virgins before they are married etc. I dont believe the universe came from a omnimax being who just was. need I say more? I dont believe any of it.

I'm trying to understand you, here, so please bear with me. If you don't believe a single thing about what the Bible teaches, why are you concerned about eternity? Isn't that just a Biblical idea? Why accept 'Hell'? In your eyes, what makes it more plausible than reincarnation or Nirvana? What exactly are you trying to be 'saved' from?

Maybe you're letting your mind silence the cries of your soul. Maybe you believe more than you think you believe.

You want to know the honest answer? No one here is going to convince you that any of this is true. This could become the most active thread on the forum, a person of every faith and denomination could come and try to help wrap your head around it, but it doesn't start with the head. Finding God through logic is a vain pursuit. My Bible says that a broken spirit and a contrite heart is a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord, that when you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him, and that earthly wisdom is foolishness with God. Not to mention, without faith it is impossible to please God. I'll get the verses for you if you'd so like.

You have to humble yourself before you're exalted. You don't tempt God and ask for a sign, nor do you come to the students when you want the Teachers opinion. Christianity is like a wide ocean, even infants may wade in it's shores, but the most advanced theologian has never reached it's depths. It isn't about 'knowing first', that's the exact opposite of faith -- first you believe, then you recieve. You ask, how can I believe when my mind won't allow it? It isn't an issue of the mind. It's an issue of the heart, which has been hardened with vain pseudo-intellectual pursuits, ideas you've been spoonfed to accept, circumstance, disbelief, 'what makes sense', etc.

Everyone who mentions being 'born again' has experienced metanoia, a complete change of the mind and heart. It begins with two steps: Repentance and humility. No other steps get you to that point, I assure you.

Isaiah said "Surely the arm of the LORD isn't short, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that he cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated you from your God, by your sins his face is hidden."

He died on the cross to take your sins away, this is a gift you have to accept for salvation. In that light, we can only achieve salvation the exact way He bought it for the world -- by bearing the cross until the very end, and trading it for a crown of glory.

Humble yourself, repent, seek God from the heart as opposed to the mind, and worry about legalism later. "How", "why", "what if", "If this were so", "If God wanted to", "but this", "but that"... if only people were as zealous to find God as they are to prove He isn't there.

Forgive me.

May He bless you abundantly.

 

[Emmy]

Dear AllTalkNoAction, you had some good replies, I can only agree. If You really want to be saved, ask Jesus into your life. He will love you, lead you and save you, He will teach you to love and to care and to pray, He will take your fears and give you His Joy and His Peace. Ask Him, receive and thank Him, you will feel born again, and won`t only like everyone more, you will love and enjoy sharing the Lord with all, who want to know. Jesus reconciled us to God, we ask, we receive and we exchange our old selfish nature, for a new and loving one. Unless you really try and find out for yourself, AllTalkNoAction, you will never know, what the Lord can do. I say this humbly and kindly, and send greetings. Emmy, sister in Christ.

 

[YankeeJeff]

Being saved is easy, especially if youre young.
Its harder when youre older and analyse every word to death.

 

[deadmanxzxz]

What you basicaly told me is to not use my common sense, logic, reason, and ability to think for myself. I will never dumb myself down and be a mindless sheep. I already gave jesus a try. I was raised christian went to church school and got baptised and accepted jesus as my saviour twice. Nothing to confirm, and the bible is as false as than any other religion. If you actually read it you will find it repulsive and unrealistic and it was obviously written by men and has nothing to do with any gods. The only kind of god id ever believe in is a natural deistic god and thats if any evidence was found, which is never going to happen.

 

[glo1]

Hi deadmanxzxz

Why do I get the impression that the thread title 'Help I want to be saved' is misleading?

Sounds to me like you are quite clear where you stand with God. If your mind is made up ... why post this thread?

Peace

 

[Sketcher]

Thank you for being concerned about me. Your wrong about that, it does contradict science. One example is the bible trys to say the world is 6000-9000 years old and we know that the earth and the universe is billions of years old.

Except that science is not and doesn't claim to be perfect, only self-correcting. What if there are a few discoveries in the next thousand years that confirm a young universe? Or take a better example. In the Middle Ages, the writings of Aristotle were rediscovered, and though the Roman Catholic Church resisted them at first, it incorporated some of these writings into its doctrine. This proved troublesome for the Christian scientists who discovered the heliocentric model and gravity. It's best to keep doctrine and science separate, not polluting one with the other. If you do, it makes for either bad science or bad doctrine. Whatever is true about the age and origins of the universe, the truth will stand up for itself.

I had nothing to influence me to become a atheist except the errancy and illogic of the bible itself and every other religion.

So it's all just random chance, huh? That takes at least as much faith as it does to believe in God.

Im actually not afriad of hell at all or death period. I believe if their really was a god he would have to be beyond humans stupidity and cruelty.

It's a good thing the Bible says He is just that.

 

[Sketcher]

Exactly. Might doesn't make right. The actions of the OT god are not justifiable. They do not match up with his supposedly loving and forgiving nature.

Let's say you're right for a second. You would rather go to hell and suffer forever than be in comfort with God in Heaven forever? Or you would at least turn down such an eternity in Heaven if there is only annihilation as an alternative?

It has over a dozen different authors, many of whom lived at different times and never spoke in person. There is no way to tell if the text has been corrupted from its original version and there is no way to tell if it has been properly translated. The stories are no different from any other type of mythology. The laws and values defined therin where common to that time period. Taken in a non-religious context, the Bible is relatively unremarkable and normal.

So that is why so much of it fits so well together, right? Also, there are literally thousands of copies of the Biblical manuscripts that can be compared with each other and they match up beautifully. Also, with the laws and the values - that's bogus. There are stark differences between the morality of the Mesopotamian pagan gods and that of the Lord. I thanked God that He was the one in charge instead of Bel, Ishtar, and the other Babylonian gods when I read the Epic of Gilgamesh.

 

[ebia]

Well prety much every thing. I dont believe the universe was created 6000-8000 years ago.

Neither do I. Nor do most Christians. The bible doesn't say it was - its an age pieced together by an Irish bishop with too much time on his hands taking every story in the geneologies as literal and complete truth.

I dont believe the whole universe was made only for humans .

I'm undecided on that one.

I dont believe in original sin

Neither do I. Again, it's a theory inferred from the bible - not something the bible directly teaches.

or that we started out in a garden and ate a magic fruit and became sinners.

Neither do I. It's a story that describes how we each - individually and collectively - choose to reject God.

I dont believe the earth is flat lol

Never met a Christian who did (thought I'm told they do exist).

I dont believe a omnipotent all loving all knowing god is possible in this reality.

I'm not sure I understand what this means.

I dont believe there is such thing as perfect or absolute morality.

Again, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this.

I dont believe any one deserves infinite punishment for finite sins.

Neither do I.

I dont believe that a creator would write a errant confusing and contradictory book as his only way of having a relationship with us.

Neither do I. Fortunately it's not his only way of having a relationship with us.

I dont believe in stoning nonbelievers, homosexuals, children who curse at their parents, women who arent virgins before they are married etc.

Likewise.

I dont believe the universe came from a omnimax being who just was

.
Why?

need I say more? I dont believe any of it.

Most of what you've rejected above isn't Christianity. It's a particular version of fundamentalist Christianity.

 

[deadmanxzxz]

Neither do I. Nor do most Christians. The bible doesn't say it was - its an age pieced together by an Irish bishop with too much time on his hands taking every story in the geneologies as literal and complete truth.

Its what the bible says. It also says humans have been around since the beginning of the earth when obviously thats not true. Compared to say sea creatures and dinosaurs ecetera we have only been around a short time.

I'm undecided on that one.

Im sure This amazingly huge universe doesnt exist for one feeble species on one feeble planet.

Neither do I. Again, it's a theory inferred from the bible - not something the bible directly teaches.

Dont make excuses. The bible is gods holy and only word. You really think god is so weak hes incapable of writing a single inerrant book?

Never met a Christian who did (thought I'm told they do exist).

Its what the bible says. Also says lots of other stupid stuff.

I'm not sure I understand what this means.

It means: 1) If God exists then he is omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good.
(2) If God were omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good then the world would not contain evil.
(3) The world contains evil.
Therefore:
(4) It is not the case that God exists.

Again, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this.

It means theirs no such thing as perfect rules.

Neither do I.

Not what the bible says.

Neither do I. Fortunately it's not his only way of having a relationship with us.

Actually it is. theirs is no other way to know god. If there was a actual way to have a real relationship with god and not just an imaginary friend every one would do it.

Likewise.

Its what the bible says. Unless your some one who believes gods word the old testament is false.

.
Why?

A few things. omnimax, we all know super powers and magic dont exist nothing could really be omnimax. Poped out of nowhere already powerfull and wise?! You have to learn to gain knowledge you have to work to gain power, it doesnt come from nothing.

Most of what you've rejected above isn't Christianity. It's a particular version of fundamentalist Christianity.

Its the kind of christianity where one believes in the bible as actual word of god, and not just a fairly tale like every other religion.

Do I think the universe is random? well yes if it was designed by a perfect being it would be perfect itself, and its not. one example is a perfect being doesnt pointlessly waste energy, so why would god make the whole universe and only use one planet. Hey its better than it sounds. At least were not slaves of some evil god, that would be much worse.

 

[Letalis]

Closed for staff review.
​

 

[Letalis]

Thread reopened.

This has been moved from Struggles by Non-Christians to Questions by Non-Christians.

Please, no more non-Christian responses except for the OP.

1.5 The Questions By Non-Christians forum

The Questions By Non-Christians forum threads will only be answered by Christians agreeing to the Nicene Creed.
​

 

[rusmeister]

I'll just say, as an Orthodox Christian who came to it via reason, that reason can play a powerful role. In which case read C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton (Google tem and you'll get plenty of sites fast) to show why a number of your concerns need not trouble you, but that some of them REALLY should.

But there is a point where reason must fail, as reason cannot grasp the Infinite. That's where you have to say, "I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!"

God bless!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Hey. I want to* be saved and go to heaven but I dont believe the bible is true. I cant help it, all the evidence is against that its true. Jesus said you have to believe in your heart or you will not get into heaven. Now I can pretend I believe but really in my heart I dont. I want to be saved and go to heaven But I have no choice because I cant force my self to belief something if its not convincing enough. So can some one please convince me that its the the only true word of god? If not im doomed to go to hell and burn with all the other billions of people and animals too I guess.

May I ask a question here. And I really am not intending to be trouble, but how can you desire to go to heaven if you do not already believe that a biblical heaven exists?