Monday, September 14, 2009

The Gift of Faith

“To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.” 2 Peter 1:1

I pray almost every day that my children will be given faith, trust and belief in Creator God. The above verse shows at least two things. One, that faith is a gift. You can’t buy it, barter for it, work for it or steal it. Faith can’t be borrowed or conjured up. Faith is a gift from God to those of His choosing. Faith is a gift to those whom God knows will accept His offer of salvation. That means that we cannot brag that we have faith as though there is something in us that warrants God giving us faith. The other thing about faith that we know from this verse is that it is precious. It’s a treasure worth more than anything else in this world.

Out of all the good that has happened to me in my life, the gift of faith in Creator God is the best of them all. The ability to believe. The ability to trust. The gift of wideband awareness to know that there is more to life than what meets the eye is a wonderful, wonderful ability. To know that “what is seen was made from what is not seen,” is a wonderful gift. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not yet seen.” Hebrews 11:1. This ability makes for the best life possible. In fact, after almost thirty years of following Jesus, I can say without doubt that my worst day on earth with Jesus as my guide is 1000 times better than my best day on earth without Jesus in my life. For the Christian, this life is as difficult as it gets. For the atheist, this life is as good as it gets.

17 comments:

Rabhimself said...

"Faith is a gift from God to those of His choosing. Faith is a gift to those whom God knows will accept His offer of salvation."

Yet despite this, i'm going to hell. He already knows how i am (partly due to omniscience and partyl due to him creating me this way), yet i'm fucked.

Nice.

salvage said...

See if only your god were a sane being whose story made sense then perhaps I'd have a gander but the reality is your go is quite made, his rules bizarre and contradictory (anything beyond natural law that is) and his attitude shit.

Love me or go to Hell? C'mon, if that really is the case then I would have no choice but to join Satan in his rebellion. That was one angel with his wings on right.

Thesauros said...

Yet despite this, i'm going to hell."

You don't know that. In fact that won't be known until your dying breath. John says in his letter that the point of his writing is, "So that you may believe." And you know how much proof he gives? Seven. Out of three years of who know how many signs Jesus gave, seven miracles is all that John describes. Because he was there, because to John Jesus is so obviously the Messiah he can't believe that his brief description of Jesus life won't be enough.

I think we can trust John. His life and the way he lived it betrays honesty.

Rabhimself said...

I will never believe in your god unless he unambiguously, irrefutably reveals himself to all.

According to you, when he does this, it will be too late.

Therefore, i'm going to hell, through no fault of my own.

N.B: From your world view.

Thesauros said...

From the world-view of your Creator, you will be held guilty for rejecting the evidence that He has provided for you, deeming it suffcient for anyone with an open mind.

salvage said...

>He has provided for you, deeming it suffcient for anyone with an open mind.

Well he's obviously wrong because you can't seriously say that every atheist has a closed mind or is incapable of changing their opinion when presented with sufficient evidence.

So either your god is wrong or doesn't exist.

Thesauros said...

That's exactly what I'm saying.

atlasmann said...

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not yet seen.” Hebrews 11:1.

Or, it is an expression of infantile helplessness. Sigmund Freud

Thesauros said...

Or, it is an expression of infantile helplessness. Sigmund Freud"

Yes and wasn't he ever an example of mental stability.

Rabhimself said...

There is no evidence makarios, for fuck's sake. How many times?

Thesauros said...

There is no evidence makarios, for fuck's sake. How many times?"

Rab, do you imagine that your saying there's no evidence makes some kind of difference? Like I sit here and think, "Gee, if Rab says there's no evidence then, maybe there isn't."? I mean c'mon man.

J Curtis said...

There is no evidence makarios, for fuck's sake.

From freedictionary.com, Evidence: 1. A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment.
2. Something indicative; an outward sign
3. The documentary or oral statements and the material objects admissible as testimony in a court of law.

The atheist who argues that there is no "evidence" for God's existance is very easily shown to be an incorrect.

Thesauros said...

Thanks JD. Have a good night. God bless.

"I can lie down and sleep in peace, knowing the the Creator of the Universe, provides for my safety."

Flute said...

Question: Which definition are you using? One, two or three?

J Curtis said...

Take your choice Flute, although I think the testimony of eyewitnesses and certain documnts go a long way toward providing evidence. The problem I see is that the "evidence" demanded by certain atheists cannot be found in any dictionary in the world.

Rabhimself said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rabhimself said...

The pair of you know exactly what I am getting at here and I have seen you do that before JD.

Keep kidding yourselves on all you want.

If compelling evidence, and I mean real, irrefutable, unambiguous evidence (not some farcical document composed of ridiculous stories) existed, then almost everyone would be a christian.

Think about it.

There is overwhelming evidence, despite the fact we can't see, taste or smell it, that we breathe oxygen.

Find me someone who doesn't believe this.

September 17, 2009 10:58:00 AM PDT