Question regarding Faith

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

Could be becuase you're relying your church too much... and philosophical ideals too much. Bible says to stay away from philosophies anyway.


Trust me I had the same problem as you in my faith...it helped when I started reading the word more. I suggest you try it it will help. The bible says save yourself, the bible tells us to know him. My church believed in certain ideals and I didn't understand them, but I read and read and now IK why to support this and my church.


You gotta find a reason for yourself is all, it's just you man.

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

Do some research on churches nearby. Pull up their statement of faith and like a good Berean search the Scriptures diligently to see if they measure up (Acts 17:11).

Is there a mature Christian you trust able to help you with this process?

But Jesus says narrow is the way that leads to life, but few be there that finds it. I would study God's Word with the Lord's help and get to know your Bible before following somebody else. Following somebody else mindlessly or even with your brain partially shut off is easy. It takes hard work to seek the truth and pray and do the right thing on your own with God. But working hard with God on your own so as to do what is good has it's benefits and rewards all on it's own. We are seeking to build a relationship with the Lord ultimately. Fellowship with other believers will come in due time later. But you have to first discern between what is right and wrong and know the faith (As it is written in the Bible). Men preaching will only fill your head with ideas that may not be biblical. Stick to God and His Word with heavy prayer and ask the Lord to bring true believers into your life (When the timing is right).


...

faroukfarouk said:

John 14.6. The question is, do you believe it?

Click to expand...

The question is do you believe Him?

Anguspure said:

The question is do you believe Him?

Click to expand...

Believe Him; believe in Him...

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

Each person is held to account for the revelation given to them. If you do what you are suggesting you are removing G-d from the picture. Instead of having G-d reveal to you and looking to him, you are looking at MAN.... and Man is ALWAYS full of error

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and mind and soul. At this stage what we have is His word in written form. I know from my own experience that it is imperative that you must (a) be seeking the truth with all your heart and that your search for truth be answered according to God, not the world. And (b) I know that He will guide you when reading His word so that you will understand the Bible is the "Living" Word of God. If you do not believe He will blind you to the truth. He will not permit you to understand the truth because you can not go into Salvation with false pretense in your heart, and then come out as the enemy of Salvation and twist the Word of God to serve Satan or man. It won't happen. Instead;

1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

9Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

10So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

11My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

12For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

TheoryofForms said:

There's a hole in your statement or argument. Say I don't believe men. In which case, I will also have to ignore your post, because you are a man. In which case, I'm back to square 1.

And the only reason I'm holding onto my theories over believing you guys, is that you fail to realize that you have to prove the Bible before you can use the Bible. Prove the truth in the Bible before using the Bible and then we'll talk.

Click to expand...

Perhaps it's a case of letting the truth Himself (Jesus) pursue you.
After all, He Himself created you and has your days numbered in His book.
Look to the Creator to reveal Himself to you, He is so personable, so intentional to , (Phillipians 1:6 He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of the Lord Jesus.).
Deep calls unto deep.
Pursue a relationship with the Father, to reveal Himself to you. He will guide you through Holy Spirit to revelation of Himself through His word(bible).
It all starts with relationship.

Be blessed

The pursuit of truth is a large abstraction. If you take what Christ says as true then you have a point of departure. But it means you may have to accept facts which seem to fly in the face. However, physical, scientific truth is only one side of the universe. The other is spiritual. And for that, you have to find trusted sources who amplified on the gist of Christ--saints, holy persons.

I continue in my pursuit of "truth" but have decided to simply trust my Church (Catholic) as great thought over many years has been placed on many aspects of humanity and, as the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, the Church does the Bible. I've reduced the energy I've typically devoted to the search and find it a lot better to just trust and obey.
Not for most, but it works (at this point in my life) for me.

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

More important than "my beliefs" is God's Truth. The most important - the only important - question, really, is which Christian church is true to the Truth? And unfortunately, since man's sin has brought us hundreds if not thousands of "denominations", we have to answer that "choice" rightly. A wrong call here is very costly.

TheoryofForms said:

......

And the only reason I'm holding onto my theories over believing you guys, is that you fail to realize that you have to prove the Bible before you can use the Bible. Prove the truth in the Bible before using the Bible and then we'll talk.

Click to expand...

Ah! Here's the key to it all - the mystery of faith. Without faith, the Bible is a book of stories and rules. Without faith, religion is just a club with laws and ceremonies. But with faith, God is real - His Church is real - His Truth is real - Life in Him is real. Indeed life in Him is the whole point of our being here, alive, wondering and making choices.

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

That's a good question - particularly if one believes truth, God and religion are only relative beliefs ... or that truth doesn't really exist beyond individual opinion or conviction. If that were the case, then it really wouldn't matter what anyone believed would it?

But, what if God and His truth do exist and can be affirmed beyond the Bible itself? Would you be willing to consider proof of God's truth beyond yourself? I'm not really trying to promote my book, but would like to offer the information you seek on my website: ucanknowthetruth.com - Take a look at the verifiable proof that exists for God's truth!

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

Hello. It's been forever since I've entered the forum. I love your question. The answer I believe is simple. A flower could not deny itself in seeking sunlight. Nor can anyone who is DRAWN to Jesus deny the internal desire that God has been placed in their hearts to seek the truth. You can not deny yourself.

2 Timothy 2:15, King James Version (KJV) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

As you proceed on your journey, then you should understand that you are not alone.

John 14:26, King James Version (KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,...

So, basically you are hot wired from birth to seek out the truth. While you pursue this journey, the Holy Spirit (invisible and all) will be next to you and in you whispering and revealing things to you.

Luke 24:29-32, King James Version (KJV) But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass,...

Pray and ask Jesus to reveal things to you in the bible that you would not see. He will do it. Your mind will be blown away. You will understand the truth is His word. And He will open the scripture to you and show you the depth of the word and how it applies to you life.

Caveat: we are not meant to know everything. Have a blessed day.

Deuteronomy 29:29, King James Version (KJV) The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the...

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

If you (or anyone else) gives up seeking truth; you (and they) will be denying Jesus. Oh indeed Yes. Here is why:

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Notice: Jesus NEVER said, "Your church" or "scripture", etc, etc, and etc, was the way, the truth and the life. He said HE was all of that. Amen! Praise His Holy Name.

He also said, ........"Upon this rock (who He was and who peter was NOT!) I will build MY church (not YOUR churches), and the gates of hell shall not prevail upon it. Please read the first 3 chapters of Revelation and note that NOT one of those 7 churches exist today! Why? Think about it!

Sadly, MOST of Christianity has gone AGAINST Jesus' words, His commandments, and His desires. In that: they have created a plethora of man-made "churches", "doctrines", "creeds" and "dogmas", etc. I believe this is one of the reasons that Christians have incurred so much pain and suffering. Oh indeed yes.

My dear person; Please continue to seek truth WHEREVER Jesus' Holy Spirit leads you. There is NO greater quest than that. And truth is everywhere..............BUT.............more often than not; it will be mired in the most believable lies ever fomented by satan. Oh indeed yes. ONLY Jesus can stear you around the chaff to get to the wheat! There is NO other way; regardless of what man says.

Thus: The ONLY way one can get around the above dilemma is to put ALL of our faith IN Jesus, (NOT our church, NOT scripture, NOT a person, etc and etc). And NOTHING else whatsoever.

This means NO faith in ANY person who has EVER existed (except for Jesus). This means NO faith in prophets and writers of scripture; assuming they were lead by Jesus (God manifested IN the flesh*); to write every word they wrote. That is pure hogwash.

They made MANY mistakes. 2 Timothy 3:16 is nothing but an opinion of Paul. He was dead WRONG. So is Hebrews 10:26 nonsense; for if it was true ALL go to hell. OH indeed yes.

If James was correct when he said "Faith without works is dead", then Paul was dead wrong when he said it was "faith alone and not works"! There are countless errors in churches and scripture all over the world. If not WHY are there soooooooooooo many different doctrines and bibles? Huh? ALL will know this one day. Oh indeed yes. How do I know that?

Because praying for truth sincerely to JESUS; has resulted in the Holy Spirit leading me to a profound truth; that gets me in more trouble with Christians, muslims and jews than Donald Trump will ever be in, I do believe. WOW!

But so be it. The ONLY "innerrent" truth and "infallibility" that will EVER be, is Jesus. It is to be found NO where else. Once a person "sees" this, they will be rewarded with "facts absolute" that will transcend every "belief" on earth since creation. And everything will make sense: a true blessing. Oh indeed Yes. Go ahead and flame me Christians. It IS true! You WILL know this one day.

In any case, may Jesus richly bless you and yours always.

* 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was "manifest in the flesh", justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

TheoryofForms said:

1. So your stance is "Read the Bible"? But the Bible is a huge book and it's easy to skip over important parts upon reading it.

2. Who says salvation is reliant on knowledge rather than faith? That's a new belief to me.

Click to expand...

Context! Context! Context!

Don't skip around. Read a book all the way through, and different versions, even paraphrases. I remember deciding to read the NT through one year using The Living Bible. I can't tell you how much I learned! Wow, it was eye-opening. Verses that I almost had to skip over in the KJV because I didn't know what they meant, were suddenly clear. And of course, I read those verses made clear out of the KJV to compare and found, to my amazement, that the author of the paraphrase was right. The gospel is so much clearer now. (The chapter that held that first revelation in The Living Bible was Romans 6.)

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

The NT when talked about "CHURCH" it was not a building. Its people.. I think you know this. Yeshua/JESUS is the way the truth and the life. We follow HIM.. His word. Chruch is awesome. But follow Christ.. JESUS IS REAL! Dont go by how you feel see or think. Pick up that word and simply believe! JESUS IS REAL! More real then anyone you ever new.

For me.. I would never follow what some Chruch does. Go there and learn be apart of that family and to give to them also..so forth so on. Faith.. is believing past all you see think hear feel.. its HIS WORD! If HE said it HE WILL DO IT! Not sure helped

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

NEVER STOP YOUR PURSUIT OF TRUTH! But try out the churches closest to your beliefs. Remember, no church is perfect, just like no individual is perfect (except Jesus Christ).

Find the place where you are most comfortable, keep pursuing truth, and try not to create conflict through arguments where you disagree until you know the people well. You are ultimately responsible for your beliefs and your actions to God, not to any church. But like the rest of us, you need a supportive and friendly community of faith.

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

I spent the first 50 years of my life searching for the truth, turning things over and over, always questioning. It made me highly unstable, as I was never content, never felt at home. I've decided that I can worship God in any church, and the Catholic church has Eucharist and confession and Apostolic Succession, the three things that are most important to me. So now I am at rest. The doubts are still there, but I just don't listen to them anymore.

TheoryofForms said:

What is stopping me from giving up my pursuit of truth and simply relying on what the church closest to my beliefs says both theologically and philosophically?

Click to expand...

I guess nothing is stopping you. When you say "my pursuit of truth", what does that mean (to you), and why would you want to give up on it and settle for something less?