Proof is something we cannot attain. I thought I had good reasons to believe, I was convinced by them. Once I learned how to examine those reasons I realized none of those reasons I gave were sufficient for belief and I became unconvinced. I don't deny God, I just don't have sufficient evidence to believe He exists. He could, I just need good convincing evidence to believe. Just like you do.
I am aware. However, you gave a list of things I needed to do to be saved. Are those not works?
The answer is I don't know. Nobody knows what will convince them until they are convinced of any claim. No one decides to believe something, we believe when the evidence reaches our own individual threshold of evidence for belief. When I was a believer my threshold was too low. I learned that to know truth a certain kind of evidence is needed. My became unconvinced becasue me standard of evidence went up to where I have a better probability of knowing what is true.
Maybe some do. That is not me. Pleas respond to my answer above.
Here lies the crux...
According to the Bible, ALL will fall short 'morally'. If you claim you are a Christian, and your intentions are pure, you will still break 'God's law(s)'
It is said that all humans lie daily. Though you may be able to rationalize many of them, isn't this 'sin' alone against God's law? Assuming you agree up to this point, does God prioritize some 'sin' above others i.e. (lie>theft>extortion)? Or, are they ALL 'bad' to God?
So now we are back to salvation by grace alone, or grace by faith...????.?.?.?
Thus, your above answer of 'yes', raises more questions than to provide resolution, it seems
Looks as though an excellent case can be made, using Scripture, that an 'unresolved seeker' is damned to hell. And of course, you might be able to sight some passages to contradict this assertion. But, isn't this what makes the Bible so 'interesting'?
Listening? Being humble? No, those are attitudes. A work is something like doing an act of charity, for instance.
Which is not an option because I know I want to know what is true. You don't know my own mind, I do. This is just a cop out for you because you have no other answer.
I have always posted here that I want to know truth. That is how I became unconvinced. Give me good reasons to believe and I will have no choice but to believe. Belief is not a choice for any claim.
This is what you wrote:
Best to simply try what He says, is my experience. I didnt believe when I first began to try His instructions.
I did this. I was a believer when I started doing what Jesus taught.
If we cannot know we are saved then I don't see how that is good news. Seems to set up a system of worry and not restfulness.
I admit I have a lack of faith. That is in the definition of atheist. What else in life do you take with the same faith as you exercise for faith in God? You can believe anything with that kind of faith. Why shouldn't I believe in Allah or Big Foot with the same faith?
Paul, Moses, Joseph etc. received special revelations. Does God play favorites? I don't want special arrangements. I want convincing evidence. That should not be hard if God exists and wants me to know that he exists. You are convinced god exists by some evidence, that is the same as I want. I cannot choose to believe god exists just like you cannot choose to believe big foot exists.
The fact is that God does not stop extreme suffering, He does say that we should rejoice in our suffering. Romans 5:3-5. or count our sufferings as joyous James 1:2-4, or Philippians 1:29 says that we will suffer for Jesus sake. He uses it for His purposes which is immoral in my opinion.
I understand now. In the 80`s I was convinced that following Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was the way to enlightenment. I was presented a set of facts with evidence that this was the way to live my life. Soon after I came to realize through this very movement that there was no room for the Supreme God I held dear to, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I then was faced with a choice and chose my first love. Go back to your first love then that door you seek to have opened will be there. Be blessed.
The immediate life benefits here and now from doing things like "love your neighbor" and "forgive seventy times seven" (over and over), to forgive people that haven't earned it -- those were such a huge change for the better for me, a non believer back then.
It all comes down to why we should believe something is true. I need good evidence to go back to believing God exists. Do you have any?
I glad your life improved. Why do you credit a God for it? I could get a self help book with good advice that will improve my life.
