How are you sure that God is good?

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keeki

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this was originally a post in the "Is Doubt a Sin?" thread, but I thought that I might turn it into a thread. here's the original post:
okay..i have a question then. I am a Christian, but I think Satan put this thought in my heart and I can't get it out. It's really bugging me.

How do we know God is good, and how do we know that heaven's good? What if it's a trick?

PLEASE don't bash me for saying this, because I know I do love Jesus, and I want this thought to go away...but you said that learning the truth makes it go away and not suppressing it...so can someone PLEASE help me? please?
please can someone answer? and can i ask that only Christians answer this? It's not like I don't respect the opinions of non-Christians, but I don't want my faith to stray any further...

thankyou
 

MAC

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OK keeki here is the article; May the Lord give you peace in His wonderful Faithfulness which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, God and Saviour.


The Faithfulness of God
Gleanings in the Godhead

Part 1: Excellencies Which Pertain to the Godhead as God
The Faithfulness of God


Unfaithfulness Is One of the most outstanding sins of these evil days. In the
business world, a man’s word is, with rare exceptions, no longer his bond. In
the social world, marital infidelity abounds on every hand, the sacred bonds of
wedlock are broken with as little regard as discarding an old garment. In the
ecclesiastical realm, thousands who have solemnly covenanted to preach the truth
have no scruples about attacking and denying it. Nor can reader or writer claim
complete immunity from this fearful sin. How many ways have we been unfaithful
to Christ, and to the light and privileges which God has entrusted to us! How
refreshing, then, and how blessed, to lift our eyes above this scene of ruin,
and behold One who is faithful, faithful in all things, at all times.

"Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God" (Deut. 7:9).
This quality is essential to His being, without it He would not be God. For God
to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His nature, which is impossible.
"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself’ (2 Tim.
2:13). Faithfulness is one of the glorious perfections of His being. He is
clothed with it: "O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or
to thy faithfulness round about thee?" (Ps. 89:8). So too when God became
incarnate it was said, "Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and
faithfulness the girdle of His reins" (Isa. 11:5).

What a word in Psalm 36:5, "Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and Thy
faithfulness unto the clouds." Far above all finite comprehension is the
unchanging faithfulness of God. Everything about God is great, vast,
imcomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His
word. To every declaration of promise or prophecy the Lord has exactly adhered;
every engagement of covenant or threatening He will make good, for "God is not a
man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he
said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
(Num. 23:19). Therefore does the believer exclaim, "His compassions fail not,
they are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22-33).
Scripture abounds in illustrations of God’s faithfulness. More than 4,000 years
ago He said, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and
heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22).
Every year furnishes a fresh witness to God’s fulfillment of this promise. In
Genesis 15 Jehovah declared unto Abraham, "thy seed shall be a stranger in a
land that is not theirs, and shall serve them . . . But in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again" (vv. 13-16). Centuries ran their weary course.
Abraham’s descendants groaned amid the brickkilns of Egypt. Had God forgotten
His promise? No, indeed. Exodus 12:41, "And it came to pass at the end of the
four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all
the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt." Through Isaiah the Lord
declared, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his
name Immanuel" (Isa. 7:14). Again centuries passed, but "When the fullness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman" (Gal. 4:4).

God is true. His Word of promise is sure. In all His relations with His people
God is faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted
Him in vain. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the
Scriptures, for His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part
of the divine character. This is the basis of our confidence in Him. But it is
one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a divine truth, it is quite
another to act upon it. God has given us many "exceeding great and precious
promises," but are we really counting on His fulfillment of them? Do we actually
expect Him to do for us all that He has said? Are we resting with implicit
assurance on these words, "He is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10:23).
There are seasons in the lives of all when it is not easy, not even for
Christians, to believe that God is faithful. Our faith is sorely tried, our eyes
dimmed with tears, and we can no longer trace the outworking of His love. Our
ears are distracted with the noises of the world, harassed by the atheistic
whisperings of Satan, and we can no longer hear the sweet accents of His still
small voice. Cherished plans have been thwarted, friends on whom we relied have
failed us, a professed brother or sister in Christ has betrayed us. We are
staggered. We sought to be faithful to God, and now a dark cloud hides Him from
us.

We find it difficult, yes, impossible, for carnal reasons to harmonize His
frowning providence with His gracious promises. Ah, faltering soul, seek grace
to heed Isaiah 50:10, "Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the
voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust
in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God."

When you are tempted to doubt the faithfulness of God, cry out, "Get thee hence,
Satan." Though you cannot now harmonize God’s mysterious dealings with the
avowals of His love, wait on Him for more light. In His own good time He will
make it plain to you. "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter" (John 13:7). The sequel will demonstrate that God has neither
forsaken nor deceived His child. "And therefore will the LORD wait that he may
be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy
upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for
him" (Isa. 30:18).

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are rich with mercy, and shall break
In blessing o’er your head."

"Thy testimonies which thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful" (Ps.
119:138). God has not only told us the best, but also He has not withheld the
worst. He has faithfully described the ruin which the fall effected; He has
faithfully diagnosed the terrible state which sin produced; He has faithfully
made known His inveterate hatred of evil, and that He must punish the same; He
has faithfully warned us that He is "a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). Not only
does His Word abound in illustrations of His fidelity in fulfilling His
promises, but also it records numerous examples of His faithfulness in making
good His threatenings. Every stage of Israel’s history exemplifies that solemn
fact. So it was with individuals: Pharaoh, Korah, Achan, and a host of others
are many proofs. Thus it will be with you. Unless you have fled, or flee, to
Christ for refuge, the everlasting burning of the lake of fire will be your
certain portion. God is faithful.

God is faithful in preserving His people. "God is faithful, by whom ye are
called unto the fellowship of His Son" (1 Cor. 1:9). In the previous verse a
promise was made that God would confirm unto the end His own people. The
apostle’s confidence in the absolute security of believers was founded not on
the strength of their resolutions or ability to persevere, but on the veracity
of the One who cannot lie. Since God has promised to His Son a certain people
for His inheritance, to deliver them from sin and condemnation, and to become
the participants of eternal life in glory, it is certain that He will not allow
any of them to perish.

God is faithful in disciplining His people. He is faithful in what He withholds,
no less than in what He gives. He is faithful in sending sorrow as well as in
giving joy. The faithfulness of God is a truth to be confessed by us not only
when we are at ease, but also when we are smarting under the sharpest rebuke.
Nor must this confession be merely of our mouths, but of our hearts also. When
God smites us with the rod of chastisement, it is faithfulness which wields it.
To acknowledge this means that we humble ourselves before Him, own that we fully
deserve His correction; and instead of murmuring, thank Him for it. God never
afflicts without a reason: "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you"
(1 Cor. 11:30), illustrates this principle. When His rod falls on us let us say
with Daniel, "O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion
of faces" (Dan. 9:7).

"I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness
hast afflicted me" (Ps. 119:75). Trouble and affliction are not only consistent
with God’s love pledged in the everlasting covenant, but also they are parts of
the administration of the same. God is not only faithful, notwithstanding
afflictions, but faithful in sending them. "Then will I visit their
transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes: my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail" (Ps.
89:32-33). Chastening is not only reconcilable with God’s lovingkindness, but
also it is the effect and expression of it. It would quiet the minds of God’s
people if they would remember that His covenant love binds Him to lay on them
seasonable correction. Afflictions are necessary for us: "In their affliction
they will seek me early" (Hosea 5:15).

God is faithful in glorifying His people. "Faithful is he which calleth you, who
also will do" (1 Thess. 5:24). The immediate reference here is to saints being
"preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." God treats us
not on the ground of our merits (for we have none), but for His own great name’s
sake. God is constant to Himself and to His own purpose of grace "whom he called
. . . them he also glorified" (Rom. 8:30). God gives a full demonstration of the
constancy of His everlasting goodness toward His elect by effectually calling
them out of darkness into His marvelous light. This should fully assure them of
the certain continuance of it. "The foundation of God standeth sure" (2 Tim.
2:19). Paul rested on the faithfulness of God when he said, "I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day"
(2 Tim. 1:12).

Apprehension of this blessed truth will preserve us from worry. To be full of
care, to view our situation with dark forebodings, to anticipate the morrow with
sad anxiety, is to reflect upon the faithfulness of God. He who has cared for
His child through all the years, will not forsake him in old age. He who has
heard your prayers in the past, will not refuse to supply your need in the
present emergency. Rest on Job 5:19, "He shall deliver thee in six troubles:
yea, in seven there shall be no evil touch thee."

Apprehension of this truth will check our murmurings. The Lord knows what is
best for each of us. One effect of resting on this truth will be to silence our
petulant complainings. God is greatly honored when, under trial and chastening,
we have good thoughts of Him, vindicate His wisdom and justice, and recognize
His love in His rebukes.

Apprehension of this truth will breed increasing confidence in God. "Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their
souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Pet. 4:19). The
sooner we trustfully resign ourselves, and all our affairs into God’s hands,
fully persuaded of His love and faithfulness, the sooner we will be satisfied
with His providences and realize that "He doeth all things well."
 
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MAC

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Badfish said:
That is a cool signature MAC.

Well I suppose we have to trust that heaven is good, God did promise there would be no pain or suffering, we have Gods promise.

I don't think anyone can prove anything if they haven't been there, but the Holy Spirit and Gods promise should be proof to the believer.

Thank you, I really like it.
You know, Satan allways will come in that manner in our lives. (doubt)
 
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Ben Reid

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keeki said:
this was originally a post in the "Is Doubt a Sin?" thread, but I thought that I might turn it into a thread. here's the original post:

please can someone answer? and can i ask that only Christians answer this? It's not like I don't respect the opinions of non-Christians, but I don't want my faith to stray any further...

thankyou

Hi keeki,

You know what? You can't know for certain that this life is not a trick -- no-one can. No matter whether they are Muslims, Christians, atheists, Buddhists -- anything.

But you know what also? It doesn't matter. No, really it doesn't. We can't live our lives wondering whether it is all a trick, or illusion, or just a dream -- or whatever. It's no surprise that Satan would want you to think otherwise -- he loves confusion and ideas that lead to nonsense or absurd conclusions.

The way in which you can know that God is good is that you have a heart that tells you what is good. You know that love is good; you know that beauty is good; you know that kindess, compassion, patience, faithfulness, long-suffering and a whole host of other things are good. You know this because God has given us a heart that can recognise these things. And you know that God, when you worship Him, resonates with those things.

And we have to trust our hearts, because they are the only thing we got :)
 
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MidKnight

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Well, it is inferred in the bible stories themselves that God (Yahweh) has killed and instructed others to kill more humans than any known tyrant in reality.

The character Satan is certainly called a deceiver, however, Yahweh practices a great deal of that himself.

Yahweh has also been shown to change his mind so many times that there is no real guarantee that anyone would or could 'know' whether or not 'His mysterious Plan" has any good intent for humans at all.
 
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MidKnight

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So much for the request of the poster:

The request of the poster, nyj, is addressed in the posted forum standards ~

General Apologetics Forum ~ The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines with non-believers.

NOTE: This is primarily for Christian & non-Christian interaction.


 
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SavedByGrace3

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MidKnight said:
Well, it is inferred in the bible stories themselves that God (Yahweh) has killed and instructed others to kill more humans than any known tyrant in reality.

The character Satan is certainly called a deceiver, however, Yahweh practices a great deal of that himself.

Yahweh has also been shown to change his mind so many times that there is no real guarantee that anyone would or could 'know' whether or not 'His mysterious Plan" has any good intent for humans at all.

Once again I request all believers who want to discuss things that are precious and sacred to us: Please take these things to the believers only area. Let's not invite or encourage those who do not love our Lord to blaspheme our God and spread doubt and unbelief. The responses from the unbelievers are predictable and never productive.
If it gets to bad... remember that you have the ignore capability.
If you need help with that, let me know.

I will try and get back with some good reasons why our God is indeed good and His mercy endures forever.

Blessings in Him!
 
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Marcel

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As Reusablephoenix so eloquently put in another thread, it's still our sense of good and bad by which we assess God to be good, and that standard is a humanitarian one. Harmfull to humans is bad, benificiary to us is good.

So one thing you can look at, in your "soulsearch", is whether your beliefs have been benificiary for you sofar, or rather harmfull. Whether your beliefs compell you to be someone who's good to others, or harmfull.

If such a thing as the devil exists, its safe to asume he's smarter than you and I, and aware that you catch more bees with honey than with vinigar, so pretty promises don't mean a thing. I'm even inclined to say, that a true devil wouldn't even know he's the devil. He'd even strongly believe he isn't, and it's in the defense of that belief that he'd end up doing the most damage.
 
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didaskalos said:

Once again I request all believers who want to discuss things that are precious and sacred to us: Please take these things to the believers only area. Let's not invite or encourage those who do not love our Lord to blaspheme our God and spread doubt and unbelief. The responses from the unbeliever is predictable and never productive.
If it gets to bad... remember that you have the ignore capability.
If you need help with that, let me know.

I will try and get back with some good reasons why our God is indeed good and His mercy endures forever.

Blessings in Him!

Ahh, but stealing her away from diverse sources of information and opinion with which she can make informed choices in her life could be the devil's trickery. ;)

That is the question, isn't it? Are you trying to squirrel her away to where she will only speak with other cult members (this is synomous with cult tactics, you know) because you, too, have been deceived by the wrong Lord? It's tricky business this discerning who's who in the duel between good and evil, right and wrong.

Personally, I think God is not all good, and Satan is not all bad. The key is in reconciling the two, as to separate them is to create a false dichotomy.

Just my 2c in the Christians and Non-Christians discussion forum. ;)
 
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MidKnight

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Thank you for everyone's comments!..

Midknight: sorry..as you can probably tell I'm pretty new to this forum....would a mod like to move my post to an appropriate forum?

Please don't let it bother you...I recently made the same error in a "christians only" thread and a good friend brought it to my attention so that I could make amends.

I am very familiar with newbie-itus.

~ take care
 
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