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Struggles by Non-Christians
There are many religions to choose from
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<blockquote data-quote="ldonjohn" data-source="post: 69176326" data-attributes="member: 339395"><p><strong>Rational Inquirer</strong></p><p></p><p>Why should I believe Jesus, rather than say, Buddha or Bahá'u'lláh?</p><p>Rational Inquirer, I will attempt to answer your question assuming you really want a genuine answer, and are not looking to draw Christians into a debate about Christianity.</p><p>I am a Christian, a believer in Jesus, but I have not always been a believer. I grew up in church where I heard about God, Jesus, the cross, heaven, and hell Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. When I became a young adult I decided that I didn't know if all that stuff was true or if it was just a lot of stuff people made up and wrote in a book called the bible. I got out of church, forgot about the God & Jesus stuff, and got on with my life. A few years later I began to think about it all again, and became quite concerned about what would happen to me if the bible is true. Eventually, that concern led me to a desperate search for the truth.</p><p>I started going to church again and this time I really listened to the messages. I talked to the pastor, Sunday School teacher, and other Christians. This was before the internet, cell phones, etc. so I read books about Christianity & about believing in Jesus, and listened to preachers on the radio/TV. I knew about Jesus & the cross. I did what the preacher told me to do, “come forward and say a prayer to believe in Jesus.” I said “I believe in Jesus” and pretended to be a believer. I talked the talk and walked the walk, but I was a fake. I did not understand how just believing in Jesus & saying a prayer could make me a Christian. I read in the bible that even Satan believes in Jesus, and I knew he could never become a Christian. I was confused and miserable. No one could convince me that anything in the bible was true. I wasn't even sure if God existed. I thought that I would never know if God was real, if Jesus was who He claimed to be, or if I would ever know what it really means to “believe” in God or in Jesus. I was desperate to know the truth, but all the questions I asked, all the books I read, all the preachers I listened too could not convince me that any of it was true.</p><p>Then, one night as I went to bed, out of a sense of desperation & helplessness, I just gave up on myself trying to find the answers I needed. I looked up at the ceiling in my bedroom and said a prayer to a God who I wasn't even sure existed. My prayer was something like this “God, will you show me the truth about believing in Jesus?” I slept better that night than I had slept in a long time.</p><p>The next day, I found our large family bible that we never read, opened it to the Gospel of John and started reading. I did not know what I would find there, but I was ready to accept whatever it would be if it could convince me of its truth. As I read from John chapter 1 through chapter 6, I found that for the first time in my life I was understanding what I was reading in the bible. By the time I was in chapter 6, I was completely convinced that the bible is the absolute truth, that God is real, and that Jesus is who He claimed to be. As a non-believer I could not understand how anyone could know, for sure, that the bible is true? But, within the time I read those 6 chapters, I became a real believer.</p><p>No, I did not convince myself that what I was reading was the truth. I was a skeptic who thought that understanding God was not possible, but here I was, reading about God & Jesus and understanding it in a way that I knew it was all true. It was as though I had been blind and now I could see, and that is actually what did happen to me. The best way I know to explain it is that something “turned on the light” and “I got it.” Christians know what that “something” was/is that turned on the light for me. The Holy Spirit moved into my dead spirit and gave me life. That new life was “spiritual light” or a “quickening” that changed the focus of my “belief” from myself to the message of the cross where Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins. My confidence or trust went from myself to that message. It was instantaneous and it “changed” my life from a life of misery and dreadful fear to a life of complete assurance & peace knowing that the God who a few moments ago I did not know existed, had reached down from His Throne in Heaven and saved this undeserving sinner from himself, forgave my sin, made me His own, and gave me eternal life with Him.</p><p>The “impossible” had just happened to me, and all I did was, in a sense of helpless desperation, turn from myself and sought after God, who I wasn't sure existed, in a book that I wasn't sure was true. Yes, it was impossible for me to convince myself of the Truth, but for God, the Holy Spirit, it was a simple matter of doing what He will do for anyone who seeks the truth in earnest. The following scriptures describe what the Holy Spirit did for me and will do for anyone.</p><p>John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, <em>they</em> are spirit, and <em>they</em> are life.” (KJV) He used the words of the Gospel of John to give me life.</p><p></p><p>But, we must seek Him in earnest as stated in the following scriptures:</p><p></p><p><em>Jeremiah</em> 29:13; “And you will <em>seek Me</em> and find Me, when you search for <em>Me with all your heart.” (KJV)</em></p><p></p><p>Dueteronomy4:29; “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” (KJV)</p><p></p><p><em>Here are 2 other important scriptures from the Gospel of John. </em></p><p></p><p><em>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.” (KJV)</em></p><p></p><p><em>John 6:44 “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.” KJV)</em></p><p></p><p><em>God will draw anyone to Jesus when He sees that he/she is seeking Him with all their heart and soul, and Jesus will not turn anyone away who comes to Him in that attitude.</em></p><p></p><p>Much more could be said about this matter, but this is already very lengthy so I will end it here as I give you my answer to your question: Jesus, is the only one who died on the cross to pay your sin debt to God. (And mine)</p><p></p><p><em>Don</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ldonjohn, post: 69176326, member: 339395"] [B]Rational Inquirer[/B] Why should I believe Jesus, rather than say, Buddha or Bahá'u'lláh? Rational Inquirer, I will attempt to answer your question assuming you really want a genuine answer, and are not looking to draw Christians into a debate about Christianity. I am a Christian, a believer in Jesus, but I have not always been a believer. I grew up in church where I heard about God, Jesus, the cross, heaven, and hell Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. When I became a young adult I decided that I didn't know if all that stuff was true or if it was just a lot of stuff people made up and wrote in a book called the bible. I got out of church, forgot about the God & Jesus stuff, and got on with my life. A few years later I began to think about it all again, and became quite concerned about what would happen to me if the bible is true. Eventually, that concern led me to a desperate search for the truth. I started going to church again and this time I really listened to the messages. I talked to the pastor, Sunday School teacher, and other Christians. This was before the internet, cell phones, etc. so I read books about Christianity & about believing in Jesus, and listened to preachers on the radio/TV. I knew about Jesus & the cross. I did what the preacher told me to do, “come forward and say a prayer to believe in Jesus.” I said “I believe in Jesus” and pretended to be a believer. I talked the talk and walked the walk, but I was a fake. I did not understand how just believing in Jesus & saying a prayer could make me a Christian. I read in the bible that even Satan believes in Jesus, and I knew he could never become a Christian. I was confused and miserable. No one could convince me that anything in the bible was true. I wasn't even sure if God existed. I thought that I would never know if God was real, if Jesus was who He claimed to be, or if I would ever know what it really means to “believe” in God or in Jesus. I was desperate to know the truth, but all the questions I asked, all the books I read, all the preachers I listened too could not convince me that any of it was true. Then, one night as I went to bed, out of a sense of desperation & helplessness, I just gave up on myself trying to find the answers I needed. I looked up at the ceiling in my bedroom and said a prayer to a God who I wasn't even sure existed. My prayer was something like this “God, will you show me the truth about believing in Jesus?” I slept better that night than I had slept in a long time. The next day, I found our large family bible that we never read, opened it to the Gospel of John and started reading. I did not know what I would find there, but I was ready to accept whatever it would be if it could convince me of its truth. As I read from John chapter 1 through chapter 6, I found that for the first time in my life I was understanding what I was reading in the bible. By the time I was in chapter 6, I was completely convinced that the bible is the absolute truth, that God is real, and that Jesus is who He claimed to be. As a non-believer I could not understand how anyone could know, for sure, that the bible is true? But, within the time I read those 6 chapters, I became a real believer. No, I did not convince myself that what I was reading was the truth. I was a skeptic who thought that understanding God was not possible, but here I was, reading about God & Jesus and understanding it in a way that I knew it was all true. It was as though I had been blind and now I could see, and that is actually what did happen to me. The best way I know to explain it is that something “turned on the light” and “I got it.” Christians know what that “something” was/is that turned on the light for me. The Holy Spirit moved into my dead spirit and gave me life. That new life was “spiritual light” or a “quickening” that changed the focus of my “belief” from myself to the message of the cross where Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins. My confidence or trust went from myself to that message. It was instantaneous and it “changed” my life from a life of misery and dreadful fear to a life of complete assurance & peace knowing that the God who a few moments ago I did not know existed, had reached down from His Throne in Heaven and saved this undeserving sinner from himself, forgave my sin, made me His own, and gave me eternal life with Him. The “impossible” had just happened to me, and all I did was, in a sense of helpless desperation, turn from myself and sought after God, who I wasn't sure existed, in a book that I wasn't sure was true. Yes, it was impossible for me to convince myself of the Truth, but for God, the Holy Spirit, it was a simple matter of doing what He will do for anyone who seeks the truth in earnest. The following scriptures describe what the Holy Spirit did for me and will do for anyone. John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [I]they[/I] are spirit, and [I]they[/I] are life.” (KJV) He used the words of the Gospel of John to give me life. But, we must seek Him in earnest as stated in the following scriptures: [I]Jeremiah[/I] 29:13; “And you will [I]seek Me[/I] and find Me, when you search for [I]Me with all your heart.” (KJV)[/I] Dueteronomy4:29; “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” (KJV) [I]Here are 2 other important scriptures from the Gospel of John. [/I] [I]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.” (KJV)[/I] [I]John 6:44 “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.” KJV)[/I] [I]God will draw anyone to Jesus when He sees that he/she is seeking Him with all their heart and soul, and Jesus will not turn anyone away who comes to Him in that attitude.[/I] Much more could be said about this matter, but this is already very lengthy so I will end it here as I give you my answer to your question: Jesus, is the only one who died on the cross to pay your sin debt to God. (And mine) [I]Don[/I] [/QUOTE]
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