WHY I
BELIEVE
Someone wrote to me
asking why I believe
because they have
had a hard time believing.
I think as
christians we should
all be able to give
a reason why we believe
as the scriptures
say :
(1 Pet 3:15 KJV) But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
So I thought I would
post the letter I sent to this person
who asked me why I
believe.
There are many
reasons I believe. One reason is because if you look at the world and the universe
and all that has been discovered you know there has to be a creator, it had a
designer. No one would look at a famous painting or the biggest building in the
world or the fastest plane or biggest ship and say it happened by random chance or that it
was formed over millions of years. We know there is a famous designer behind all of
those things. Think about the moon, what if it were just a little bit closer or
further away, what if we were closer or further from the sun, those things all affect life
on our planet and we are the only planet known to support life so far. I believe
there is a God who holds it all in perfect balance for us, who designed us and
everything.
Another reason is because of the bible, it was written over a period of
1500 years by over 40 authors and it all agrees without contradiction, not even 5 people
who claim to be best friends can agree that well on any given subject, I believe the bible
has stood the test of time and has been so scrutinized by men believers and non believers
it has to be the word of God. One man, Josh McDowell, was an atheist. He set
out to disprove the existence of God, he ended up being overwhelmed by the evidence
supporting that their truly is a God and that God is the God of the bible. He has
written many books that you could check out, possibly in the library or you can find
them at your local Christian bookstore. I own a copy of A Ready Defense, it answers
so many questions, he wrote another book called Evidence that demands a verdict.
When Jesus lived here on earth he fulfilled all of the prophecies written
about him and they were written hundreds of years before his birth. In the old
testament there are 60 major prophecies and approximately 270 ramifications that were
fulfilled in one person, Jesus.
One thing that Jesus said in the bible has held true till today, He gave
Peter the keys to the church and told him that the gates of hell would never prevail over
His church. (Mat 16:18 KJV) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Many have tried to destroy the church and the bible, but none have succeeded in
it. All of the apostles except one died a horrible death, the one that wasn't
executed was tortured and imprisoned most of his life. They all died for their faith and
yet the church still goes on today. Check out one of my pages that tells about the
apostles. https://www.angelfire.com/ca/hapie/tidbit.html
There are many things to backup the Christian faith objectively, its not
just a subjective feeling, that is something I am strongly against, basing your beliefs on
your feelings instead of the evidence and what the bible tells us, that is the final
authority for my beliefs because I do believe it to be the word of God.
Since I became a believer now my life has purpose and meaning, my way of
thinking changed, I am not the same person I use to be and I am truly sorry I waited so
long to become a Christian.
I always thought of what I would be giving up, I had no idea how much I
had to gain. Being a Christian doesn't mean that once you believe life becomes easy
or a cake walk, if anyone tells you that they are a liar. The one thing that being a
believer does is give you assurance of your eternal destiny, you will be going back to
your creator who gave you life and who loves you so much He took responsibility for our
sins and took the penalty for us by being the sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
When you become a Christian all of your sins are forgiven past present and future.
I'm not saying you can live however you want to and you will be forgiven, that is not the
nature of a true believer who has been transformed by the power of God. We pray and
ask for forgiveness daily to keep in good fellowship with God because being a Christian is
a personal relationship with God. Sin separates us from God but Jesus is the bridge
that brings us back into right relationship with God, our sins are covered by the blood
and God sees Jesus righteousness instead of our sin.
There was a time when people let me down so bad it really knocked the wind
out of my sails, but God was always there for me, people will let you down but God is
always with us, He promises never to leave us or forsake us, we can depend on Him to be
with us through everything, He gives us strength to get through the hardships in life, the
tests and the trials and the bad things that can happen to people. He's always there
loving and forgiving if we go to Him with sincerity in our hearts.
There's a great website called Jesus and the intellectual, it has allot of
good information there.
http://www.ccci.org/intellectual/
I shall not lay up for myself treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But I shall lay up for myself treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal.
For where my treasure is, there my heart will be also (based on Matthew 6:19-21).
Basic Christian Doctrine
There is only one God - Isaiah.44:6,8; 45:6,14,18,21,22
- God is a Trinity - 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2
- There are no Gods before or after God - Isaiah 43:10
- God knows all things - 1 John 3:20
- God is all powerful - Psalms 115:3
- God is everywhere - Jer. 23:23,24
- God is sovereign - Zech. 9:14; 1 Tim. 6:15-16
- God is spirit - John 4:24
- God created all that exists - Gen. 1:1; Isaiah 44:24
- Spirit does not have a body of flesh and bones - Luke 24:39
- God has always been God - Psalms 90:2
- Jesus is God - John 1:1,14; 8:58; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:6-8
- Jesus became a man - Phil. 2:5-8
- Jesus has two natures: divine and human - Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:5
- Jesus was sinless - 1 Pet. 2:22
- Jesus is the only way to God the Father - John 14:6; Matt. 11:27
- The Holy Spirit is God - Acts 5:3-4
- The Holy Spirit is not a force. He is alive - Acts 13:2
- The Bible is inspired by God - 2 Tim. 3:16
- All people have sinned - Rom. 3:23, 5:12
- Man did not evolve, he was created - Gen. 1:26
- Adam and Eve were real people - Gen. 3:20; 5:1; 1 Tim. 2:13
- Death entered the world because of Adam's sin - Rom. 5:12-15
- Sin separates us from God - Isaiah 59:2
- Jesus died for all our sins - 1 John 2:2; 2 Cor. 5:14; 1 Pet. 2:24
- Jesus' sacrifice was a substitution, for us - 1 Pet. 2:24
- Jesus rose from the dead in His physical body - John 2:19-21
- Those who reject Jesus will go to Hell - Rev. 20:11-15
- Hell is a place of fiery punishment - Matt 25:41; Rev. 19:20
- Hell is eternal - Matt. 25:46
- The unsaved go to hell forever - Rev. 21:8
- Salvation is a free gift of God - Rom. 4:5; 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9
- The Bible is the Word of God - 2 Tim. 3:16
- Jesus will return visibly to earth - Acts 1:11
- Christians will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns - 1 Thess. 4:14-17
- There will be a rapture (being caught up into the clouds with Jesus) - 1
Thess. 4:14-17
- There will be a final judgment - 2 Pet. 3:7
- The damned will be thrown into a lake of fire - Rev. 20:15
- Satan will be cast into the lake of fire - Rev. 20:10
- There will be a new heavens and a new earth - 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1
copied basic christian beliefs from CARM
http://www.carm.org/basicdoc.htm