Christian beliefs

Below is a list of some things that Christians believe:

100 Prophecies, explains how Bible prophecies have been fulfilled in history. Click for more information.

1. God created all that is seen and unseen

Christians believe that God is the creator of all people, the world, the universe, and everything seen and unseen. This is based on various Bible passages, including the Bible's book of Genesis.


2. Jesus is the Son of God and is One with God

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is one with God, and that He was sent here for our salvation. In John 10:30 (English-NIV), the Apostle John quotes Jesus as saying, "I and the Father are one."


3. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary

Christians believe that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit of God and born through the Virgin Mary. As explained in Matthew 1:18 (English-NIV), "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."


4. Jesus suffered and was crucified

Jesus suffered for our sins and was crucified. As explained in Matthew 27:23-56 (English-NIV), Jesus was falsely accused of being an anti-government rebel. He was brought to Pontius Pilate to be crucified. He was mocked, beaten, taunted and crucified.


5. Jesus died and was buried

Jesus died after being crucified. He was buried in a tomb owned by a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who was a follower of Jesus. In Matthew 27:57-60 (English-NIV), the Bible says, "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."


6. Jesus rose again (the Resurrection)

Jesus was resurrected, which means that He died, but was brought back to life again. You can read more about the resurrection in the New Testament book of John, chapter 20. People who believe in Jesus will also be resurrected after they die, and brought into the kingdom of Heaven.


7. Jesus ascended into Heaven

Jesus ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. This happened after Jesus was resurrected. We too will go to Heaven, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. As explained in Mark 16:19-20 (English-NIV): "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."


8. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead

Jesus will return again to judge the living and the dead, and to establish a kingdom that will have no end. In Matthew 24:30-31 (English-NIV), Jesus is quoted as saying that He will return during the last days of man: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."


9. People who repent their sins will be forgiven

People are "saved" and forgiven if they confess their sins and confess their belief in the resurrection of Jesus. As explained in Romans 10:9-10 (English-NIV), "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."


10. Anyone can have salvation

All people may receive salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:12 (English-NIV), for example, it says: "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him…"


John 3:16 (NIV):

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

http://aboutbibleprophecy.com/christianity.htm

ID have to admit to believing all but the first

at least DIRECTLY speaking, there are many things I can see that God did not create, but that his creation(mankind) did

Man can only create material things from
those things which are already at his disposal.

- a flower
-Koolaid
-liquer
-sign for language
-light bulbs to see in the dark
-a brick wall
-cigarettes
-sunglasses
-sleeping pills and drugs
-bombs
-problems for himself and others
-ways to show love
- ways to hurt others

etc.

I understand that. I just mean in the context of 'bringing about'

I could give credit for the stop light to the same person who created the light or the one who created the post, but I think of its creator as the one with the intuition to put them together and make something NEW


at the base, we were created by HIM

I guess Im just differentiated between what has occured with NO interference from mankind (nature) and that which required DIRECT action from mankind (man-made)

ok

What Christians Think
About the Bible

2 Timothy 3:16-3:16

If you take away the Bible,
and you’ve taken away the entire Christian message. Yet lot of confusion exists today about the Bible. According to a 1996 Barna survey, 42% of Americans say they believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. Yet almost half of Americans believe that the Bible is too hard for them to understand, so on given week very few people actually read the book they claim to embrace as God’s literal word. Clearly there’s a discrepancy between what we say we believe and our true beliefs as demonstrated by our actions.

This series is designed to help people understand
the basics of the Christian faith--to tell the world --in a way that people can understand and make sense of. This sermon explores what Christians believe about the Bible.


1. What Is the Bible?

Before we actually start,
I need to clarify what I mean by the word "Bible." There are lots of books out there with the word "Bible" in the title that have nothing to do with what we’re talking about. There’s "The Beauty Bible," "the Freshwater Fisherman’s Bible," "The Golfer’s Bible," even "The Cooking Bible." These books are not what I’m talking about.

So let’s go back to real basics:

What is the Bible?

The word "Bible" means a book or collection of books regarded as authoritative on a topic. Books like The Beauty Bible and The Fishermen’s Bible use the word Bible in the title to claim that they’re the standard authority on that particular topic. I recently heard a local newspaper claim, "If your religion is sports, then our newspaper is your Bible."

No other book is more authoritative
on the topic of the Christian faith than the Christian Bible.

The Christian Bible is
a collection of 66 different books divided into two sections (Old and New Testaments) written by over 40 different authors over a span of 1,500 years in three different languages, yet it presents a unified message of God’s plan and purpose for humanity. Thirty-nine books make up the Old Testament, which was written between around 1,500 BC and 400 BC, starting with the book of Genesis and ending with the Malachi. The Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Bible contain the same 39 books, though they’re listed in different order.

(The Roman Catholic church also
includes 15 other writings in their Old Testament called the Apocrypha which means "hidden books." The Roman Catholic church added these books in their Old Testament about 500 years ago at the Council of Trent, but for the first fifteen hundred years the

Apocrypha was considered good devotional literature,
but not part of the Bible).

The 27 books that make up the New Testament
were written over a 50 year span, and they deal with Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection, the beginning of the Christian church, and instruction about how to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is written primarily in Hebrew, with a little Aramaic, and the New Testament is written exclusively in Greek. Yet these diverse authors each in their own way present a unified portrait of God’s plans and purposes in our world.

As to different kinds of literature,
the Bible contains history, poetry, humor, prophecy, romance, letters, biographies, songs, journals, advise, laws and stories. So the Bible is an entire library of different kinds of literature. The Bible was also the first book every printed on the printing press, it’s the best selling book of all time, and portions have been translated into over 1,946 different languages.
So when I say "Bible" this is what I’m talking about, these 66 books that have been the foundation for the Christian faith since it’s very beginnings.

Now as modern Americans, we’re Bible rich.
We have over 30 different English translations of the Bible available to us. I use the New International Version of the Bible, though there’s also the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and so on. Twenty-four percent of Americans own at least five Bibles.

Now this brings us to our original question:
What Do Christians Believe About the Bible?
We’re going to look at four key concepts on this topic starting in 2 Timothy 3:16.

2. The Relevance of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16)

Let’s look at what the Bible says about itself.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV).

Here here we’re introduced to another word
that describes the Bible,
the word "scripture."

This word "scripture" means "sacred writings."
Other religions have their own sacred writings, for instance Islam has the Koran, Mormonism has The Book of Mormon, and Hinduism has the Bhagavad-Gita. The Bible is the Christian faith’s sacred writings--or Scripture.

These sacred writings are said to be "God breathed."
Now some English translations render this word "inspired by God," but that’s not totally accurate because the word "inspired" means breathed into, as if God looked at all the different religious books in the world and then chose to "breath into" the Bible. But this word means to breath out rather than in, and that makes the focus of this word on God’s breath being the source or origin of the Bible. What Paul is saying here is that the fundamental characteristic of scripture--what makes these writings sacred writings--is the fact that God breathed them out, that they have their ultimate origin with God himself.

Now this fundamental characteristic
of being God-breathed makes the Bible is "useful." This word means "practical," and "beneficial." I think the word "relevant" captures the meaning here, that because of the Bible’s source, it has vital practical relevance for our lives.

This relevance is seen in four areas:
Teaching,
rebuking,
correcting,
and training in righteousness.

Teaching
focuses on the Bible as giving us instruction to live life. Now this assumes that we come to the Bible as learners, because only learners can be taught. This instruction or teaching isn’t just about heavenly things, but it’s about practical things like being a good spouse, being a good parent, loaning out money, starting a business, and so forth.

Rebuking
sounds kind of harsh, but really it just means confronting our wrong ideas about life. This assumes that all of us carry around misconceptions and distortions about God, about ourselves, and about life that need to be changed. For instance if I measure success in life by how much money a person has, but the Bible measures success by a person’s faithfulness to God, then my criteria for success has been rebuked, and I need to change my definition to conform to God’s definition.

Correction
is similar to rebuking, but it focuses in on behavior instead of beliefs. This assumes that all of us lose our way in life sometimes, that we can easily wander off the course God has for us and end up roaming around in circles. The Bible corrects us when it gets us back on track in life, when it shows us where we are and how to get back on course with where God wants us to go.

Finally, training
in righteousness focuses on the Bible’s role in helping us live the kind of lives that please God. This assumes that a life of integrity doesn’t come naturally to us, that we need help to live the kind of life of integrity we want to live. The Bible trains us to do that which we could not do on our own when it comes to a life of integrity.

All of this results in being thoroughly equipped
to life for a spiritually vital life with God. The Bible provides us with the equipment we need. It’s been said that when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Well the Bible provides us with a complete spiritual toolbox to live a full and rich spiritual life of devotion to Jesus Christ.

This brings us to our first key concept.
SINCE GOD GAVE US THE ENTIRE BIBLE, ALL OF ITS TEACHINGS ARE RELEVANT FOR OUR LIVES.

Once my wife Chris and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast Inn in Santa Barbara, and in the sitting room there was a library of out of old books. One of the books caught my eye, so I took it out to look at it. The book was obviously old and worn. Yet as I tried to open it I found that the pages hadn’t been cut properly and it couldn’t be opened. Here this book that looked old and worn had never been opened.
Many Bibles are like that: they’re used as decorations, family heirlooms, or as a kind of good luck charm. Yet the Bible was meant to be an open book, a book with incredible relevance to the ordinary details of our daily lives.

Pastors have sometimes been guilty of taking book and making it boring to people. I think it’s a sin to bore people with the Bible. You see, we don’t have to make the Bible relevant, it already is relevant, we just need to get out of the way and allow it to speak to our life situation.

3. The Bible Communicates God’s Voice (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Now at this point many people are skeptical,
and they protest, "But everyone has their own interpretation of the Bible."
This is true if we treat the Bible as an encyclopedia
of disconnected thoughts and ideas. It’s easy to take one or two verses and make them say anything you want them to say. The classic example of this is the guy who wanted to know God’s will for his life, so he opened the Bible randomly and read the verse that says, "Judas went and hanged himself." Then he closed the Bible, and repeated the same procedure, and this time the Bible opened to a verse that said, "Now go and do likewise." If that’s the way we treat the Bible, then everyone does have their own interpretation of what it says.

This is where 2 Peter 1:20-21 comes in:
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (NIV).

Here we’re introduced to another term for the Bible,

the word "prophecy."
We think of prophecy as predictions about the future, but biblically prophecy refers to God revealing things that we couldn’t figure out on our own. Future events could be included in that, but the focus of prophecy is God revealing himself.

Now some Bible translations
render v. 20 "private interpretation" instead of "the prophet’s interpretation" and there’s some confusion as to whether this is saying that the Bible is not a matter of the reader’s own interpretation or it’s whether not a matter of the human author’s own interpretation. Really both are saying the same thing, that we can’t make the Bible say whatever we want it to say, whether we as readers or the original authors. This verse is warning us not to read our own ideas into the Bible or to force our own interpretations it, but to take the Bible on its own terms. Why? Because the ultimate origin of the Bible is God. God initiated the process of giving us the Bible, not the human authors, and although the human authors did write the words, they spoke from God.

The word "carried along"
in v. 21 is a sailing term that was used in Greek to describe the wind blowing into a sail, which "carries along" the sailboat. The human authors were consciously involved in the writing process--they weren’t robots, we can even detect their own unique writing style--but behind the process God "carried them along" to ensure that the end result would be what God wanted to say.

Here we find our second key concept.
SINCE GOD HAS SPOKEN THROUGH THE BIBLE, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO LISTEN TO ITS MESSAGE.

For 2000 years
the Christian faith has affirmed that God has spoken through the Bible. Our role as readers then is to hear the message of the Bible, not to read into it what we think it ought to say or to use isolated parts of the Bible to justify our own ideas.

Before the civil war
people who believed in slavery tried to justify their sin by quoting bits and pieces from the Bible. They used the Bible selectively, trying to rationalize their involvement in slavery. The refused to let the Bible speak for itself. Whenever we try to read our own ideas into the Bible we put ourselves in danger of missing God’s voice and hearing our own voice instead.

4. The Bible is Our Standard (John 17:17)

John chapter 17 is Jesus’ prayer before his arrest:
"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17NIV).

Now what exactly is truth anyway?
Truth is that whatever corresponds to the facts, something that matches the way things really are. So a truthful statement is a statement that corresponds to reality.
A key characteristic of the Bible is its truthfulness. Really, this idea of the Bible’s truthfulness must be the case if the Bible is truly "God breathed" because if God is the origin of the Bible, and if God is truthful, then the Bible must be truthful. By saying that the Bible is truthful, we’re saying that the Bible tells us the way things really are, that it accurately describes reality.

Here’s the next key concept.
SINCE GOD HAS REVEALED HIS TRUTH TO US IN THE BIBLE, IT IS OUR FINAL STANDARD FOR WHAT’S TRUE.

Now not all churches today believe
that God has revealed His truth to us in the Bible.

Some churches reject this idea completely,
and claim that although we can personally experience God in the Bible, there’s no real truth to find there.

Others believe that the Bible has truth in it
but that it also has mistakes in it, so it’s up to us
as readers to sift the truthful statements
from the mistakes, which of course makes the reader the ultimate authority instead of the Bible.

Whenever people tell me
that the Bible is full of contradictions

I ask them which contradiction bothers them the most.
Undoubtedly there are some difficult passages in the Bible, but a careful reader can see how these passages can be harmonized, and at no place does the Bible contradict the findings of modern science or history. Our commitment to the truthfulness of the Bible--that there are no errors or mistakes--is part of what makes Life Bible Fellowship Church an evangelical church.

Now it’s important to clarify
that this conviction only applies to what the Bible itself affirms to be true.

The Bible is a historical book,
and as the Bible tells us historical stories,
some of the characters in those stories say things
that aren’t true.

The Bible tells us in the book of Job, for example,
that Satan claimed the only reason Job served God was because God had blessed Job.

Now it would be foolish to say
that because that statement is in the Bible it’s true.
The statement may be recorded in the Bible, but the Bible is not affirming that statement as being truthful. But wherever the Bible itself affirms something as true, that’s where Christians historically have believed God has revealed his truth.

This makes the Bible a Christian’s final standard on what’s true.

Now there are lots of things that are true in life that the Bible doesn’t tell us about.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how to change a flat tire

or how to cure the measles,

it doesn’t tell us how to build a home
or how to master calculus.

We know these other things through experience, reasoning, science, and so forth. So there are other sources of truth in the world, and let’s face it, all truth is ultimately God’s truth. The Bible’s focus is telling us the truth we need in order to have a relationship with God and to understand God’s purposes. This is truth we could never discover through science or experience. The Bible touches on areas of science and history, and when it does speak to these issues it does so truthfully, but it wasn’t written to be a science book. It’s purpose is to reveal truth about knowing God and God’s ways.

This makes the Bible the Christian’s ultimate standard
for what’s true. Just like a ruler is the standard for measuring an inch, so the Bible is the Christians ultimate standard for what’s true.

5. The Bible Changes Us (Hebrews 4:12)

Although the Bible reveals God’s truth to us, it’s primary purpose is not merely to educate us. Look at
Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (NIV).

Along with "scripture," and "prophecy"
we’re introduced to another description of the Bible as

"the word of God" or "God’s word."
Even though our Bibles are printed with ink on pages, the author of Hebrews says that somehow God’s word is also living and active. This means that there’s a dynamic energy at work whenever a person reads the Bible, that somehow the living God is actively working in and through the words of the Bible to impact the reader’s life. This makes the Bible different from any other book.

The Bible is described as a sharp double edged sword,
which focuses on it’s ability to penetrate into our lives. The Bible has no blunt edge, but every part of it is sharp enough to pierce into our lives with it’s message. Soul and spirit, joints and marrow, focuses on the Bible ability to penetrate our defenses into the very core of our personality, where our true self is. There, at the core of our personality, the Bible evaluates and discerns our inner thoughts and motives, sifting through our intentions and ideas.

Here’s the final key concept.
SINCE GOD WORKS IN OUR LIVES THROUGH THE BIBLE, IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR OUR SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION.

Just as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly,
God works through the Bible to transform us into fully devoted followers of Jesus who wholeheartedly love God and others.

You see,
the Christian faith is not merely a set of ideas.

Being a Christian is not just about spouting off doctrines or reciting creeds. Being a Christian is first and foremost about a personal love relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. This love relationship is a life transforming one, because a person can’t encounter Jesus Christ without being radically changed. Being a Christian isn’t merely accepting certain facts about God or about the Bible, but it’s becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, a devoted disciple of Jesus in our lives, as we seek to live lives of passionate devotion to Christ. I meet many people in our community who have right ideas about God, who intellectually accept Jesus as being God’s Son, who believe that the Bible is God’s word, but who’ve never entered into a personal love relationship with Jesus through faith. All these doctrines will do them no good, because the Christian faith is about being transformed not merely about being informed. Once we enter into a relationship with God through Christ, the Bible is God’s primary means of changing us.

God certainly isn’t limited to the Bible

because he also changes us in worship,
through suffering,
through prayer
and so forth.

But the Bible is essential and central
to our transformation
into the image of Christ,

it’s a primary means God uses to penetrate past our defenses, to invade our hearts with his truth, so he can sort our our thoughts, intentions, and motives.

If you don’t want to be transformed,

don’t read the Bible.

Conclusion

Now we’ve gone quite rapidly through these things, and frankly I spend eight weeks in a college course I teach just on what we’ve covered today. But we’ve defined what the Bible is, and that Christians believe that God gave us the Bible, that God has spoken through the Bible, that God has revealed His truth to us through the Bible, and that God works in our lives through the Bible.

For most of us, I suspect, the real struggle comes in actually living as if we believe this is true, by actually seeking the relevance of the Bible for the problems we face, by actually listening to the Bible’s message, by actually holding up the standard of truth in the Bible, and finally, by actually allowing God to transform us through our interaction with the Bible.

by Timothy Peck
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=33127

The Foundation of My Faith

It is absolutely vital for believers to have a solid understanding of why they are members of the Christian faith. Millions of people think they are part of the body of Christ, but they have no idea what it really means to be saved. I've known dozens of people who confessed to be Christians for a time, but who later simply wandered away from the flock. It is like their faith in God came with an expiration date.

We tend to view salvation as being a boundless commodity. Jesus warned that it is a finite resource with a limited time offer: “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:14).

The key reason some people have no grasp of faith is that they never established a meaningful relationship with their Creator. True believers stand firm in both good and bad times because they have a firm foundation for their faith. Carnal Christians will blow away when adversity, comes or even when the Christian experience becomes boring to them.

In June of 2008, I got a first-hand look at the importance of having a good foundation of support. On a Saturday afternoon, severe thunderstorms came roaring through my area with 90 mph gusts. The force of the wind blew down two huge spruce trees in my front yard. After the storm, I was amazed to see that a group of cottonwood trees, which were twice as tall as my spruce trees, had suffered little damage. While surveying the mess, I realized why my spruce trees had fallen and the cottonwoods had remained standing: the trees' root system. Spruces are big and broad, but they have very shallow roots. Cottonwoods endure the wind because they have deep roots. In fact, I later learned that nurseries warn people not to plant cottonwoods too close to houses because their aggressive root systems can get into sewer lines.

There is a mirror reflection of my tree experience in Luke 6:47 “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”



Don't Lean on Man

I frequently receive emails from people seeking my support for their particular doctrinal views. They want me to validate their beliefs by agreeing with them. It astounds me that some people base their view of truth on a thumbs-up from someone else. The Bible is the only foundation we should use for our faith.

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh. 1:8).

One day, I was sorting through a bunch of old teaching tapes I had collected from as far back as the early ‘80s. I pitched many of these tapes in the trash because I know now the people who authored those tapes held to some grievous doctrinal errors. Hobart E. Freeman is one such case. He believed that all sickness was a lie from the devil, and that it was a sin to go a doctor. Despite Freeman's claims of being able to rebuke all illness, he came to sad end in 1984, when he died of bronchial pneumonia and congestive heart failure complicated by an ulcerated gangrenous leg. One report said that 19 members of his church also died from needless neglect of medical conditions.

I didn't learn of Freeman's death until many years later. I had simply lost interest in his teaching because it was in conflict with the Bible. I have found that anyone preaching some new truth is most likely a false prophet. The best teachers are those who stick closely to the Word of God.



Don't Even Trust a Fool

The devil uses every trick in the book to deceive us. I was once searching through the YouTube site, looking at videos on evolution. I found a series of videos by someone named Edward Current, who was defending creationism. After listening to some of the messages, I was amazed at how poorly Ed was doing at defending his cause. About a month later, I was reading through the mountain of email I get each day, and I ran across a note that alerted me to the fact that Mr. Current was an atheist pretending to be a believer.

Some of the videos produced by this deceiver have been viewed nearly a million times, so I'm sure thousands of people have watched them and concluded that Christianity is a bunch of nonsense. Because even the fool might be working for Satan, we need to confirm everything with the Word of God.

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” ( Psalm 118:8-9).



Firm Foundations

Everyone has their own reasons for placing their trust in the Bible. Some reasons have such strong basic truth, they should be universally applied to the lives of most Christians. Listed below are the top four reasons I believe the Holy Bible is the supreme authority on all matters.


1. Prophecy Fulfillment

Many books claim to be the inspired writing of God. What makes the Holy Bible stand out from the crowd is that it is the only religious document that contains historically verifiable prophecies that have consistently been fulfilled. The Koran makes no attempt at predicting the future.

I'm at a loss to find a book that can be remotely compared to the Bible. Even the best soothsayer can only claim an accuracy rate of less than 4 percent. The writing of Nostradamus is widely acclaimed for predicting the future, but it's all based on smoke and mirrors. The success of his book, Les Propheties, rests on the fact that it is nothing but a collection of vague gibberish. For example:

“The year 1999 seven months from the sky will come the great King of Terror. To resuscitate the great king of the Mongols. Before and after Mars reigns by good luck.” (X.72).

Too much good times, too much of royal goodness, Ones made and unmade, quick, sudden, neglectful: Lightly will he believe falsely of his loyal wife, He put to death through his benevolence. (X 44).

Any predictions that have come to pass that can be attributed to Nostradamus were made so after the event occurred. The only connection is the resolve of people's active imaginations.

The Bible makes clear predictions, and there has never been a case when one of its prophecies has not come to pass. The Good Book has been so successful at foretelling the future, I believe people who scoff at it are making a "Sucker's Bet." They fail to realize that 87 percent of end-time prophecy is already in an advanced state of fulfillment.

The accurate prediction of the rebirth of Israel is Bible prophecy’s most stunning achievement. The Word of God also said that China would rise to be a world power; Europe would form a single government; the world would someday have a globally integrated financial market; and that there would be a diplomatic struggle (which we’re seeing today) over who should control Jerusalem.

There is no need for blind faith in what God has said in His Holy Word. I trust in the Bible because it has proven itself through prophecy.



2. God's Deliverance of the Jewish People

About 150 years ago, the King of Sweden was having personal doubts about the Bible's divine nature. He called for Count Von Zinzendorf, who was the bishop of the Moravian Church, to provide evidence that the Bible is inspired by God. When the Count arrived, the King told him he had set aside 10 hours to be enlightened on this matter. Zinzendorf said that much time would not be necessary because all he needed to do was to say two words. The King, skeptical, asked, “What words might those be?” Count Von Zinzendorf replied, "The Jews."

One of the greatest miracles of God is the preservation of the children of Israel. No other group of people has ever been completely annihilated as a nation and then later reborn. The rebirth of Israel in 1948 is the key indication that we are in the end times.

"Therefore behold the days are coming, says the Lord, that they shall no longer say 'As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt', but 'As the Lord lives who brought up and lead the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I have driven them' (Jer. 16:14-15).

The regathering of Israel is a remarkable task alone, but what makes one have to admit that the hand of God was involved is how the Jews managed to overcome unbelievable persecution. Each of the following nations and tribes has failed in its attempt to destroy the Jews:

Amalekites
Arameans
Assyrians
Babylonians
Canaanites
Edomites
Egyptians
Germany
Hittites
Midianites
Moabites
Persians
Philistines
Romans
Spain
The whole Muslim world

Of course, God is not finished preserving the Jewish people. During the tribulation, Satan will inspire several genocidal attacks against Israel. Anyone reading this article near the end of the tribulation will be able to add a few more names to this list of defeated foes.


3. Testimony of Jesus Christ

The Bible verse, John 3:16, is regarded as the one everyone in the Western world knows: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Being familiar with this passage doesn't make one a believer. Jesus may be a savior, but is he your Savior?

What causes people to fail to connect with Jesus is a failure to realize the importance of making him Lord of our lives. You can’t get a firmer foundation than realizing Jesus is your only hope for eternal life. "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).

Testimony of Jesus in the Gospel is proof enough of His deity, but the Bible has an added bonus. The Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah in great detail. They listed several prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

He would be a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 12:3; Gen. 22:18).
His tribe would be Judah (Gen. 49:10).
He would be an ancestor of David (2 Sam. 7:12 and 13).
He would be born in the city of Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).
He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech. 9:9).
The Lord would lay on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:5-6).
He would remain silent before his accusers (Isa. 53:7).
He would be considered a criminal and executed with criminals (Isa. 53:12).
He would bear the sin of many (Isa. 53:12).
He would be killed (Isa. 53:8).
His hands and feet would be pierced (Ps. 22:16).
His clothing would be divided up and gambled over (Ps. 22:18).
He would be buried in the tomb of a wealthy man (Isa. 53:9).
His body would not see corruption (Ps. 16:10).
He would rise from the dead (Isa. 53:9-12).
He would ascend into heaven (Ps. 110:1).


4. The Work of the Holy Spirit

My last foundation of faith is the greatest one of all, but it is probably the least understood by most Christians. The Bible tells us that one of the missions of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the nature of God to those who seek knowledge. I know Jesus is Lord because the Holy Spirit revealed this truth to me.

“Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13).

In Matthew 16:16-18, Simon Peter said to Jesus, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

It is the function of the Holy Spirit to reveal and confirm that we are a part of the family of God, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together " (Rom. 8:14-17).

Many people make the error of just assuming that the Holy Spirit is directing them. If you have any doubt about your foundation of faith, seek the Lord's guidance and He will eventually bring you an assurance of salvation and understanding.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Prov. 3:5-7).



By Todd Strandberg

http://www.raptureready.com/rr-faith.html

There are many Christians, indeed, but we all don't believe EXACTLY the same things.

There is ONE common denominator!!!


+ + +


Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior!!!