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Community > Posts By > TheBlackJesus
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"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
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Topic:
The Rapture Hmmmm
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But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. (NRSV, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
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Topic:
A question for God?
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The Bible teaches us that genuine faith is "more precious than gold that perishes" (1 Peter 1:7). Indeed such faith is going to be "tested by fire". You can expect difficulties and persecutions in your life of faith, as well as blessings. Therefore to encourage you to hold onto and develop your faith, we will consider some of the benefits of faith.
1. Faith brings salvation. (Ephesians 2:8,9). Whosever believes in Him has eternal life. (John 3:16), and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24). The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17) 2. Faith brings answers to prayer. "And whatever things you ask in prayer, really believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22). Since God tells us to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), faith is therefore a key to our material provision. 3. Faith brings all the benefits of salvation into our lives (Ephesians 2:8,9). This includes healing, prosperity, peace, love, joy (1 Peter 1:8), deliverance from demons and the curse, sanctification of the mind and emotions (the salvation of the soul) and any other benefit which the word of God promises to us. 4. Faith is a spiritual force through which our ministry for Christ becomes effective. (Mark 11:23; Matthew 17:19,20). Faith is a major key to ministry success. It brings to you what you need for your ministry, and by imparting it to others through your life and your ministry of God's Word, you enable them to receive the blessings of God's grace mentioned above. 5. In particular, faith is the major key for an effective healing and deliverance ministry. Jesus Christ "the same yesterday, today and forever" lives in the Christian (Hebrews 13:8, Galatians 2:20), and through the Christian wants to reveal the power of salvation to men in a way they can see and feel. In this way, our evangelism concerning the Kingdom of God will not be in talk, but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20). |
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Amazingly, there are thousands of different denominational and independent Christian churches who, for the most part, agree on the basic fundamentals of Christ, but who maintain their separate groups for relatively minor issues. They may not agree on all other matters of doctrine, interpretation, traditions, or the special emphasis placed on certain beliefs.
Regardless of how closely various churches may agree with each other doctrinally, there still will never be two churches exactly alike. This is largely due to the fact that no two people are alike in every detail. Churches are made up of people. Thus, the combined individual personalities in a congregation, creates a distinct “congregational personality.” Sometimes people mistake differences in church personality as differences in belief or doctrine. |
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Everyone has freewill to believe in God or not. Those who believe in God have faith, to various degrees. The strength of one's faith is somewhat porportionate to your will to believe in God. Every human has a certain amount of disbelief, some more than others. Children are very trusting, for instance. Faith can overcome disbelief, but it can be very difficult. Disbelief comes much more easily than faith, disbelief must be overwhelmed by a powerful will to know God. What these three factors: Freewill, Faith and Disbelief give you is a tolerance to God's hand within your life. Scenario 1 Soandso chooses to not believe in God, which means his mind is ruled by disbelief. For God to enter this man's life and prove to him that God exists, that would strip Soandso of his freewill. God does not do this, because we each must believe through faith or not at all. Scenario 2 Soandso chooses to believe in God, but isn't very active in church and he doesn't read the Bible or pray. His will to believe in God exists, but it's very weak. For this reason Soandso's faith is weak and cannot often overcome his disbelief. God can work very small miracles in Soandso's life, but if they are too great of a miracle, then Soandso will have his freewill impinged upon, so God must limit his power in Soandso's life. Scenario 3 Soandso chooses to fervently believe in God. Soandso doesn't just worship God on Sunday, but everyday. Soandso's faith easily overwhelms his disbelief, so God can work great miracles in Soandso's life without worry of damaging Soandso's faith. Soandso's prayers are often answered and maybe God has spoken to Soandso in dreams or even while he is awake. Scenario 1: Your average atheist. Someone who's will is turned to disproving or denying God's existance rather than seeking God's faith. Scenario 2: Your average American Christian. This person might even be "luke warm" as described in Revelation. This person isn't necessarily saved. Scenario 3: A prophet, apostle or Biblical author. Those rare people who fit scenario 3 are the ones who served God by being prophets, travelling with his son or as conduits of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was written by such as these. When someone asks "Why did God write the Bible through men?" the answer is simple. To protect your freewill. If God had written the Bible in words of fire in the sky, everybody would believe...even those who really didn't want to. Everyone would be striped of their free will and God wouldn't know who would have followed him out of love and who followed out of fear. The fact that the Bible is written by men allows God to get his message to the people without effecting their free will. (Those who are spirit filled get a different message(s), aside from the surface message, from the scriptures.) Men have a tendency to question and doubt other men. Jesus worked miracles everywhere he went, but not everyone believed. Many questioned Jesus' miracles and some even stated that Jesus used the power of Satan to work the miracles. By sending Jesus who was undeniably a man, God ensure that mankind's free will would not be impinged. So believe or not. It's your choice and one of the gifts that God gave to all mankind. Man certainly has free will. Otherwise God would be unjust to choose some to be saved and others to be lost based just on his whim. The problem with those who say that once a person is saved he cannot lose his salvation is that such a doctrine necessarily requires the belief that man does not have free will. |
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