Jesus calls me to deny myself and follow Him. I can't afford to be an atheist. I don't have enough faith to trust there is no eternity... I stand to risk far less if I'm wrong about what I believe in, than if I were to be in your shoes. For if God is real and the Bible is true, I will be in heaven when I die, in the presence of Jesus Christ who died for my sins. If God is fake and the Bible false, I risk nothing. I die and that's it.... But for you, if the Bible is wrong, so what. You die and that's all there is. But if it is true, and there is a heaven and hell, you stand to lose everything.
I don't have any doubt in my mind that the Bible is true and God is real. My struggles are merely how do I follow Him closer, be more like Him, and obey His word like He commands me to. I can only love because He first loved me anyway.
Everything you say speaks of doubt, as a game of chance, yet in the end you state there is no doubt.
If faith becomes a choice based on merrit is it truly faith?
If the choice is made out of fear of loss, is it truly sacrifice or true kindness?
Doubt is essential to reason, faith is the absence of reason. Have faith if you need it but if you are reasoning faith based on merrit then there is no possibility of winning.
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My current state of composure is due to a manic/depressive mood swing. If you'll pardon my inconsistency, I'll be more succinct.
I believe as a result of the evidence of history, testimony, and the overwhelming inability to disprove the Bible, that it is true and the Word of God Himself.
Because of this, I believe what the Bible says about sin, right, wrong, truth, and what it means to follow the example of Jesus Christ, (being a Christian).
I still doubt. I shouldn't, but I do. I still sin and disobey God. I shouldn't, but I do. But the Bible also says that if I sin, I have an advocate with God, Christ Jesus the righteous. And that if I confess my sin, God is faithful and just to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
Faith is not the absence of reason, it is the substance of things hoped for. For without faith, there is no hope in what is not, or what is not yet come. Faith proves the existence of hope by itself and vise-versa. Reason is finite and based solely on logical(critical) thinking. But even reason does not understand emotion and metaphysical elements of human existence.
The spiritual side of life is the equal and opposite reaction to the physical.
I don't reason faith by merit, but rather by choice. I don't regard my faith as an escape route from Hell: for the price of my faith was a high cost to Christ and myself. My doubt is humanity speaking in frailty to the power of God. I limit His ability in my life by my lack of faith.
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