Need some help understanding god

Soyeong said:

Christianity is not about trying to do the right thing and generally being a good person, but rather it is about a relationship with God and trusting Him to lead us into doing what is right. Christianity is not primarily about what we have to do to get into heaven, but about how God wants us to live our lives today.

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Yes, absolutely. Don't worry about what you have to do to get into heaven because you're trusting that Christ's righteousness is enough to get you there--that is, to allow you to fellowship eternally with God. What you are to do while still on this earth, is to build as much you can the relationship between you and God. Would you not agree that whomsoever's company we share, we generally become more like, the more and more time we spend with them? Then the basics of Christianity is to spend time with God--immerse yourself in his word, find out all you can about him. You will find that you will become more like him the more time you spend with him.

My best advice:

Do not walk FOR GOD. Walk WITH GOD. Walk in communion with Him each day. You and Him, together.

AlexDTX said:

Your question presumes an offence is taken. How do you know Brisbane Pat is offended? Can he not speak for himself? I disagree with your understanding of what constitutes "meat and milk". Meat and milk is not doctrine as is commonly supposed. The context of Hebrews shows it is experience.

13 For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

This means that the Word is not acted upon by the milk user, whereas strong meat are those who have acted upon the Word and have the experience to discern good and evil. Acting upon the Word means believing the Word to the point of acting upon it.

The Bible is the Truth. Many read the Bible who have no comprehension. For example, Kingdom Hall and Latter Day Saints, yet that did not stop God from speaking the Truth. The Word is a seed. Many who hear the Word get nothing out of it at first, but it can lay dormant in the heart for many years and spring to life at a later time. How do you know it will not bear fruit later?

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You take the word offense literally, by the English standard like the way that I may have offended you. One thing you have to take into consideration is the context of the post. Read what he wrote and respond accordingly. He is pulled to God and wants to know him but is having a hard time by looking at all of the hurt and evil around him. Now does your response and the complexity honestly sound like something that can help him and does his question sound like a question someone who is solid in his faith would ask. You need to know the person you are ministering to to be an affective tool for the Lord. As I was saying before about the word offense it's anything that can be a stumbling block not just an insult. I wasn't suggesting you insulted him and if I did you I am sorry but you may have just confused him, added information that he wasn't ready for. Even though he may use it in the future it can cause him to fall away right now, that does happen quite often nowadays and satan does use that. The reason Jesus never flat out said that he was the son of God lest he was God because he knew that no one could handle that, they would reject it and no one would listen to him after that. The same is true for people today, even though certain things may be true, the time may not be right for people to hear it and things are better off not being said if you know what I mean. I never mean to insult and I hope I'm coming across right but it's what you say and how you handle people that shows the light and love of the Lord not your intelligence and how much you may know.

ToBeLoved said:

If confusing someone who is
A babe I'm Christ with doctrine that does not make sense to them and that they cannot apply to their life, if you think that is helpful than that is why so many Christians are confused.

Also, Paul made a clear distinction in other epistles about milk and meat. The objective is for the new Christian to grow and build upon knowledge. To grow in faith and knowledge. It is as much spiritual as book knowledge of the scriptures.

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Amen. So many new Christians need a spiritual, uplifting message and an answer to their questions at the right time and all they get are "canned" responses from people that are supposed to be there for them or comments from others that sound intellectual and spirit filled but raise more questions for them and honestly though the responses may be knowledgeable they lack in the wisdom of God. We're told over and over that knowledge and wisdom are 2 different things. Knowledge can be attained by man and though it has it's place is really useless and wisdom is given by God and is necessary for his service. Unfortunately Christianity is filled with loud people eager to show off their knowledge and they not only confuse new Christians, they lead them further and further away much like the Pharisees of old. It's the Christians eager to be Christ-like, soft spoken and full of wisdom given by the Father that we need to cleave to. Only then can we once again learn what Christ taught and ignore the ramblings of false teachers.

Steven Wood said:

You take the word offense literally, by the English standard like the way that I may have offended you. One thing you have to take into consideration is the context of the post. Read what he wrote and respond accordingly. He is pulled to God and wants to know him but is having a hard time by looking at all of the hurt and evil around him. Now does your response and the complexity honestly sound like something that can help him and does his question sound like a question someone who is solid in his faith would ask. You need to know the person you are ministering to to be an affective tool for the Lord. As I was saying before about the word offense it's anything that can be a stumbling block not just an insult. I wasn't suggesting you insulted him and if I did you I am sorry but you may have just confused him, added information that he wasn't ready for. Even though he may use it in the future it can cause him to fall away right now, that does happen quite often nowadays and satan does use that. The reason Jesus never flat out said that he was the son of God lest he was God because he knew that no one could handle that, they would reject it and no one would listen to him after that. The same is true for people today, even though certain things may be true, the time may not be right for people to hear it and things are better off not being said if you know what I mean. I never mean to insult and I hope I'm coming across right but it's what you say and how you handle people that shows the light and love of the Lord not your intelligence and how much you may know.

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How do you know what God will use to speak to his heart? I have shared the gospel to many people and have led many people to Christ. The only credit I am taking here is my willingness to speak. For 30 years I have listened to people like you (and I am not saying this is you) who talk all about the wisdom in sharing, yet rarely ever lead a person to Christ.

It grieves me that the body of Christ rarely follow Matthew 18. If Pat does not understand what I have written, then it is up to him to ask me further questions. It is not the responsibility of other Christians to speak for another person. And of course, Matthew 18 is about sin. How one shares Christ is not sin. Your tone is kind, and I take no offense, but do you not see the Pharisee in yours and the other person's trying to correct how I share? That is taking the place of a judge of another brother.

If you think my part was not helpful, then you should continue talking to Pat and help him, not address me.

BrisbanePatt said:

Hey guys I have a few questions about general life and how to stay on the right path.

I am 27 years old and don't go to church but I have done heaps of research and feel Christianity is the closest to being the right religion for me but I am a very skeptical person and just have so many questions about God and would love some feedback.

First off although I have never really gone to church or followed any certain religion i have always believed in something greater than us my problem is that there is so much trickery in this world and corruption starting from the top everything is just a lie the amount of starving children to innocent People dying in war zones and unable to escape rich wage war and poor people die it's so distracting and sad.! there's so many religions claiming to be true let's say Christianity is the one true religion does God not realise how hard it is to believe 100% in him and not be skeptical of the bible after I have been tricked and lied to so many times in my life is it not true that to get into heaven we have to give ourselves to Jesus like how do I even go about that is being a Christian mean I have to go to church And just believe without being skeptical at all ? I try to do the right thing by people and just generally be a good person I will help out anyone I can so let's say I keep going the way I am does that mean I will not get into heaven ? I feel so sad for humanity people are a product of there environment and I just don't see how God will not let a lot of these people into heaven like mentally ill patients for example how are they supposed to get into heaven surely a lot of them don't have the mental capacity to give themselves to Jesus ? What about Muslims ? If they are brought up from a young age being taught the Koran and living in Muslim communities how is it fair they have such a disadvantage by being brainwashed with the kuran ? Is there a certain cutoff age? Surely a 4 year old can't be sent to hell because their parents were Buddhists ? What happens to babies that have died ? Do they get a chance to make it into heaven ?

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Sorry for being kind of late to this party but hey....

Visit this web page and read it: http://christianthinktank.com/hnohear.html

If it's a bit confusing and tedious for you to go through it all, you can scroll down for the summary of it all at the bottom (but, if possible, it will be better for you to read the whole thing). It's absolutely brilliant. I'm not kidding. I mean, I don't know what church or denomination the writer is, but I actually don't care, even if he's from some mob that I wouldn't normally associate with. That's how good it is. After you read it, you will never again be worried about people being sent to Hell unfairly, just because they didn't "know" something or "hear about" something. It just obliterates all the theological competition in that department. Seriously! It wipes the floor with the other stuff! And it doesn't do it by resorting to the cop-out tactic of proclaiming "Universal Salvation" either! It does it with actual details from the Bible that aren't ignorantly cherry-picked! So check it out. And if you wanna read it all but haven't got time or whatever, bookmark it so you can go through it bit by bit whenever you have time. 'cause it's definitely worth it!

Bye for now!

BrisbanePatt said:

Hey guys I have a few questions about general life and how to stay on the right path.

I am 27 years old and don't go to church but I have done heaps of research and feel Christianity is the closest to being the right religion for me but I am a very skeptical person and just have so many questions about God and would love some feedback.

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OkI will try to help answer your questions.

First off although I have never really gone to church or followed any certain religion i have always believed in something greater than us my problem is that there is so much trickery in this world and corruption starting from the top everything is just a lie the amount of starving children to innocent People dying in war zones and unable to escape rich wage war and poor people die it's so distracting and sad.!

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It is sad, but usually it come down to the beliefs of people. In Christianity the bible teaches that we are to "love our enemies and do good to them", the bible also says that we are to "try to live at peace with all men". The bible also through out teaches Christians to aid or help the poor.

there's so many religions claiming to be true let's say Christianity is the one true religion does God not realise how hard it is to believe 100% in him and not be skeptical of the bible after I have been tricked and lied to so many times in my life is it not true that to get into heaven we have to give ourselves to Jesus like how do I even go about that is being a Christian mean I have to go to church And just believe without being skeptical at all ?

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What you will find is that as you seek for God with your whole heart you will find Him. For me he has performed many miracles, many signs that I know with out a doubt that Jesus is real. He will do the same for you.

I try to do the right thing by people and just generally be a good person I will help out anyone I can so let's say I keep going the way I am does that mean I will not get into heaven ?

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The bible says that God loves the righteous, those who do right. It also says that He will show Himself to those ones. When a person does their best to live right God would be unjust to just let them perish. He may not scream at the top of His lungs but he will give you enough proof to make a choice.

I feel so sad for humanity people are a product of there environment and I just don't see how God will not let a lot of these people into heaven like mentally ill patients for example how are they supposed to get into heaven surely a lot of them don't have the mental capacity to give themselves to Jesus ? What about Muslims ? If they are brought up from a young age being taught the Koran and living in Muslim communities how is it fair they have such a disadvantage by being brainwashed with the kuran ?

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I know of many Muslims where born in Muslim cultures who have come to Christ. Our job is to live for the truth and help these people come to God.

Is there a certain cutoff age? Surely a 4 year old can't be sent to hell because their parents were Buddhists ? What happens to babies that have died ? Do they get a chance to make it into heaven ?

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There are many stories out there of people who have had visions of heaven, and they say that children go to heaven not hell.

BrRichSFO said:

Muslims, Buddhists, who seek God and live according to the law written on every human heart, not rejecting God's Grace, can be saved and go to Heaven.

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The quoted statement above may or may not be true, question is: have these Muslims or Buddhists put their faith in Jesus? One must:
John 14:6-7:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.

God, as I believe BrRich mentions in this same post, has written the law on the hearts of all mankind so they are without excuse:

Romans 2:12-15:
12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

The Word (the message) goes out to all mankind in one form or another and in various proportions as God sees fit. It is this message which produces faith and it means God is calling the individual...will he or she act? Concentrate on getting yourself educated in the Word and continue to get right with God according to what you understand the Word to require of you...proceed as though your life depended on it.

Rest assured that God sees the hearts and minds of mankind and will fairly judge on that Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.

BrisbanePatt said:

I am 27 years old and don't go to church but I have done heaps of research and feel Christianity is the closest to being the right religion for me but I am a very skeptical person and just have so many questions about God and would love some feedback.

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The phrase "for me" that you use in the quotation above stood out as I read it. It suggests that you think what might be "for you" in regards to what you believe about God might not be the same for someone else. But this implies that belief in God is fluid, that there is no concrete truth about Him, only what it suits the individual person to believe about Him. However, if God is just "whatever suits us," then He isn't actually an objective reality or truth but rather just a reflection of our own preferences. In other words, God does not stand above us divine, sovereign and real but is just an illusion, a figment of our own desires and philosophies. When we maintain allegiance to such a "God" we are actually simply doing so to ourselves. In essence, when we worship a God who is chosen on the basis of how well He suits our own preferences, we are really just engaging in Self worship.

BrisbanePatt said:

First off although I have never really gone to church or followed any certain religion i have always believed in something greater than us my problem is that there is so much trickery in this world and corruption starting from the top everything is just a lie

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Except, of course, for your statement here. That "everything is a lie" doesn't include the statement that "everything is a lie," right? 'Cause if it did, then your statement would also be a lie and we shouldn't believe it. Of course, if your statement is excluded, then it isn't actually true that everything is a lie. At least one thing isn't a lie: your own statement. But now your statement is refuting itself...Can I encourage you to be careful about how you state things to yourself and think things through? The world around you has become used to thinking in broad, blanket statements and self-refuting declarations. Be careful, then, about what and how you think.

The presence of falsehood makes the search for truth all that more important. If you're in a room full of lethal booby traps, its extremely important to know what and where they are, right? You wouldn't say to yourself, "Ah! There are so many traps in here! What's the point in even thinking I can discover and avoid them all?!" If you did say this, what do you think your chances of escaping the traps would be? Zero, of course. Throwing up your hands and assuming it's just impossible to know the right path to escaping the room full of traps guarantees that you will die in the room. Like it or not, and as difficult a task as it might seem, if you want to live, you have no choice but to make the effort to discover the traps and avoid them.

In the same way, the trickery and lies that fill the world aren't cause to throw up your hands in search of the truth but are the very reason you need to find the truth! The trickery and lies will destroy you, if you don't discover the truth and in so doing see the lies for what they are.

BrisbanePatt said:

there's so many religions claiming to be true let's say Christianity is the one true religion does God not realise how hard it is to believe 100% in him and not be skeptical of the bible after I have been tricked and lied to so many times in my life

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Again, the existence of so many religions claiming to reveal the truth about life and God makes it necessary to search out and find what is really true. All religions might be wrong, but they most certainly can't all be right. They all disagree with each other on some very fundamental points, so it is not reasonable to say, "Oh, it doesn't really matter what I believe. All roads lead to the same mountaintop." Your job is to figure out which one of the many religions is the right and true one. If you don't, if you just refuse to make the effort to distinguish truth from falsehood because there is so much lying and deceit going on, then all you can expect is for that lying and deceit to deceive you and ultimately destroy you.

BrisbanePatt said:

is it not true that to get into heaven we have to give ourselves to Jesus like how do I even go about that is being a Christian mean I have to go to church And just believe without being skeptical at all ?

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No, being a Christian, a disciple of Christ (not an adherent to a church organization), means following in his steps, embracing his truth and living in accord with it, and accepting him as your Savior from your sins and Lord of your life. It means turning from a life lived without God, to a life that revolves around Him and that is fully surrendered to Him.

Of course you should use your God-given capacity to reason in coming to trust in Christ as your Savior. But understand that your ability to reason cannot encompass all of God and all of what and how He is acting in the world. God does not answer to your reason, though He does appeal to it in urging you to faith in Himself. Be careful not to make a god out of your skepticism.

BrisbanePatt said:

I try to do the right thing by people and just generally be a good person I will help out anyone I can so let's say I keep going the way I am does that mean I will not get into heaven ?

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No. You are a breaker of God's law no matter how well you've lived. Have you ever told a lie? If so, what does that make you? A liar. Have you ever stolen anything? If so, what does that make you? A thief. Have you ever used God's name in vain? If yes, what does that make you? A blasphemer. Have you ever lusted after a woman in your heart? If yes, then you are an adulterer, according to Jesus. Have you ever hated anyone? Jesus said that the attitude of hatred is the same as murder. So, how are you doing with this list? Are you a thief, liar, blasphemer, adulterer and murderer? Everybody else is. And this is why no one is ever good enough to go to heaven. We are all of us breakers of God's law and as such cannot on our own enter His holy kingdom.

BrisbanePatt said:

I feel so sad for humanity people are a product of there environment and I just don't see how God will not let a lot of these people into heaven like mentally ill patients for example how are they supposed to get into heaven surely a lot of them don't have the mental capacity to give themselves to Jesus ?

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God is gracious and merciful. And we can trust Him to judge rightly. He will never put anyone into Hell who does not deserve to be there.

BrisbanePatt said:

What about Muslims ? If they are brought up from a young age being taught the Koran and living in Muslim communities how is it fair they have such a disadvantage by being brainwashed with the kuran ?

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The lies of Islam are terrible and destructive. But many Muslims who are truly searching for God are being brought by God to faith in Jesus Christ. There are many incredible stories of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus by all sorts of amazing means. God will be found by all who desire to know Him and are truly searching for Him. The problem is that most people don't really want to know God.

BrisbanePatt said:

Is there a certain cutoff age? Surely a 4 year old can't be sent to hell because their parents were Buddhists ? What happens to babies that have died ? Do they get a chance to make it into heaven ?

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As I said, we can trust the holy, just, and merciful God of heaven to judge all of us rightly.

Selah.

Job8 said:

It is clear from your post that you really want to get on the right path, but at the same time you are allowing yourself to be overwhelmed with matters that are outside your own immediate concerns. Since you want to avoid been tricked, duped, deceived, or misled, your first priority is to know what God has revealed in His written Word about salvation through Christ.

I would recommend that you purchase an "old" King James Bible (not the NKJV) and immerse yourself in the Gospel of John. That will address most of your questions. Once you know without the shadow of a doubt that you have been born again, God will show you what you need to do and to learn. Going to church, being baptized, or doing good works will not save you, but will be evidence that you are genuinely saved (which means Christ within you).

As to all the other issues, just leave them with God.

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Patt, I agree with Job8; you should read the book of John, the Gospel of John.

May I share my testimony with you of how I found Christ through reading that book.

Jesus is not hiding from anyone. He can be found in the same place I found him many years ago when I wasn't sure if he was real, if the Bible was true, or if God existed. I grew up in church where I heard about sin, hell, how Jesus saves, etc. but I wasn't sure if it was true or just a made up story. As a young adult I became concerned that if the bible is true then I needed to find out what being “saved” really means. I came to the place in my life where I wanted to believe in Jesus, but I did not know how to believe. I talked to a lot of people about this matter and read many tracts/books, but could not find anything that could convince me of the truth of it all. No one could explain to me how to believe or what it meant to believe. I thought I would never know the truth about God, the Bible, or about believing in Jesus. I was living a life of misery & fear. I was looking for evidence that would prove to me that the bible is true, that God exists, and that Jesus does really forgive sinners, but there was something missing, a missing link, and I did not know what it was. I needed something to convince me that it was all true.

One night, out of a sense of desperation, I decided to do something I had never done outside of church. I said a prayer to the God I wasn't sure existed, and then I found the big family bible and opened it. My prayer was, “God will you show me the truth about believing in Jesus?” Then I opened that Bible to the Book of John, the Gospel of John, and started to read John 1:1. I did not know what I would find there but I was ready to accept whatever it was if it convinced me that it was real & the truth. As I started to read the Gospel of John I had no idea that my life was about to change forever and that I would soon have a peace that is impossible to explain to anyone who has never experienced this peace for themselves.

Yes, I was desperate to know Jesus as my Savior. I thought I would never know, for sure, that I had found Him or that I had enough faith in Him, or that I had really believed in Him. I was confused about what it all meant, and just wasn't sure about any of it being real. But, the moment I began to read John 1:1 for some reason I was seeing the words of the bible in a different way. I remembered reading the Book of John in Sunday School as a kid where our teacher told us to memorize the first chapter, but it really meant nothing to me back then. But, that night, as I sat at my kitchen table reading that big family bible, the words came to life and something was telling me that I was reading the truth about Jesus. I realized that the missing link I referred earlier was the Holy Spirit showing me the truth that I so desperately needed.

The Holy Spirit opened my blind spiritual eyes so that I could see & understand spiritual truth. That night I found the evidence, the proof, that completely convinced me that the bible is the Truth, that God is real, and that Jesus does really forgive anyone who earnestly comes to Him for forgiveness. God Himself showed me that He is real. Atheists call that experience “circular reasoning,” and it is. But, the difference in the atheists' “circular reasoning” and the Holy Spirit “circular reasoning” is that the latter leads to forgiveness of sin a new life in Christ.

God saw that I was seeking Him in the way described in the following scripture. When He sees our attitude; an attitude that turns from “self” to Him then the Holy Spirit moves in and give us the ability to understand spiritual truth.

Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

The Holy Spirit used the following scriptures and several other scriptures to convince me that Jesus was waiting for me to come to Him.

John 5:39-40, Jesus said to the Pharisees “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

John 6:37,”All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Patt, the Book of John has 21 chapters. If you read 1 chapter a day you can read the entire book in 3 weeks. When you read God's Word He can then teach you the truth about Jesus and draw you to Him. I read only 6 chapters before the Holy Spirit turned on the light for me and “I got it.” Finally I was convinced; I knew without a doubt that Jesus was waiting for me to come to Him, and I did. I had just enough faith to call out to Him. It wasn't great faith, it wasn't blind faith, it wasn't experimental faith, but it was saving faith. The moment the Holy Spirit convinced me & I “got it” was the moment I believed in Jesus. God gave me “saving” faith which is “believing in Jesus.” I found myself talking to Jesus as though He was right there in the room with me. I was thanking Him for saving me and asking Him to change me His way, and that He did. That was almost 40 years ago and today I still have that same peace and assurance that He gave me then. The whole experience is explained in John 6:44-45, “see above.”

You might need to read all 21 chapters or you might have to read them more than one time. Read & re-read that book until you see the truth. Don't give up on God. When God sees that you are earnestly searching for Him He will show you the truth. On the other hand if you read His Word, not expecting to find the truth, well, you probably won't find it.

Hope my story helps you.

John

Only through practice can you understand God, no explanation here will help you understand. Practice forgiveness, that is the only advice that will truly help you. Do not overlook this message or underestimate forgiveness unless you wish to remain in the dark. God is real and not paragraph after paragraph of those who are too busy for forgiveness.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, Colossians 3:23

Here's a good film reflecting the Love of God which we call Father in heaven.
the passengers of the train are the people of the world, some are workers, soldiers, drug addicts, teachers, doctors etc, they just dont care where the world is going to and where do they go. The train has violated the RED lamp signal and goes to disaster !!! People are living in sins.

May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH