Faith

I hope you will read and think about what is written here. However if you read and do not agree, that's ok. Just don't feel the need to tell me you don't agree. I really would like for you to accept Jesus as your savior. I would like that very much. But I refuse to debate the Bible.

There are many different, sometimes apparently conflicting definitions of Christianity. Is there any wonder that non-Christians are confused by the belief. We don't seem to know how to define ourselves. Probably the most erroneous definition ever is the one that says a Christian is one who believes in Christ. Satan believes in Christ. He knows beyond a doubt that Christ exists. He is not, and never will be a Christian.

Here is my definition: A Christian is one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he lived, taught, performed miracles, foretold the future, died, rose again, and later ascended into heaven. That with his death, burial, and resurrection, he took the past, present and future sins of the world and is now capable of forgiving them. That Jesus was all man and all God. And lastly that Jesus will forgive us of our sins if only we admit to him we have sinned, that we believe he can forgive us, and we ask him to do just that.

For the purposes of this document, when the term Christian is used, this is what is meant by the term.

My beliefs concerning Jesus, God, Satan, Heaven, and Hell:

1. I believe there is a heaven and a hell. Both being places outside of anything we presently know.

2. I believe that Jesus is the only Son of God born of Woman.

3. I believe Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins so that we will not have to.

4. I believe there is God, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity.

5. I believe that the Trinity is one God.

6. I believe we are all sinners (with the possible exception of the very young ).

7. I believe that should we die without requesting Jesus to forgive us and believing he can and will, we will go to hell, which will be a place of eternal torment.

8. I believe the Bible. I don't believe it is a legalistic document to be debated and argued over. I believe it is meant to be read and have what one reads be interpreted by God. From that viewpoint it doesn't make much difference which version you use. I personally like the King James and readily admit it is the least accurate when compared to the original transcript. When I allow God to translate it, it is totally accurate.

9. I believe the Old Testament to be historical, philosophical, prophetical and sensual.

10. I believe the New Testament to be THE guide for living if one wishes to live a Christian life.

11. I believe that God gives us the freedom, and Jesus demonstrated it, to believe as we wish. We can worship any god we choose. We can do anything we choose. If we break God's laws we can expect God's punishment. Luckily Jesus will intercede on our behalf if we ask him to.

And just so you will know, there is absolutely no basis to believe that God is female. If you believe that God and Jesus, the Christ are one and the same, then God cannot be female as we know Jesus was not female. The nice thing about our God is that he will allow us to believe anything we choose. We have total control over our faith. He will only allow those who have followed his instructions to go and join him in heaven. His path to do that is clearly written and demonstrated. We have no excuse.

There are people that choose to believe there is no sin. In doing this they are categorically denying the Bible. The bible tells us in more than one place that we are all sinners. Everyone. And I know you are saying "Well yeah, you but not me." I only ask that you read the Bible. If you do not believe in sin, start with Romans 10: verse 9 and 10.

Now don't go away just yet. There is more here and it is not bad. It is wonderful. Because we have all sinned God gave us a way to be saved. He sent Jesus, his only begotten son as our sacrifice. So we don't have to be sacrificed. And when we fail to do as we should we ask forgiveness and receive it.

One last thing. God does not differentiate sin. He does not see large sins and small sins. He has room for all sinners that have asked forgiveness. This includes ALL sinners. Let your mind focus on that for a moment and realize what it means.

God is a wonderfully great God, all the time. Prove him for you.