Believing Faith

People are constantly asking, “What’s so special about Jesus? Why is He the only way that someone can know God? Along with the problem of the unbeliever, there is no question asked more often than this one. Christians are accused of being narrow-minded because we assert there is no other way to get to God. The first point to make is that we did not invent the claim of Jesus being the only way. This is not our claim; it is His. We are merely relating His claim, and the claim of the writers of the New Testament. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6, New Americans Standard Bible) and, “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins (John 8:24,NASB). The apostle Peter echoed these words, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for these is none other name under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12< King James Version).St. Paul concurred, “there is one god, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus….” (I Timothy 2:5, KJV). It is therefore the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ.

One of the most misunderstood ideas in the Bible concerns the teaching about the Trinity. Although Christians say that they believe in one God, they are constantly accused of polytheism (worshiping at least three gods).The Scriptures do not teach that there are three Gods; neither do they teach that God wears three different masks while acting out the drama of history.What the Bible does teach is stated in the doctrine of the Trinity as: there is one God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three persons are the one God.Although this is difficult to comprehend, it is nevertheless what the Bible tells us, and is the closest the finite mind and come to explaining the infinite mystery of the infinite God, when considering the biblical statements about God’s being.The bible teaches that there is one God and only one God: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NASB).

“There is one God” (Timothy 2:5, KJV). “ Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.” (Isaiah 44:6, NASB). However, even though God is one in His essential being or nature, He is also three persons. “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26, KJV). “God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us..” (Genesis 3:22, Revised Standard Version).God’s plural nature is alluded to here, for He could not be talking to angels in these instances, because angels could not and did not help God create. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, not the angels, created all things (1 John 1:3;Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2).In addition to speaking of God as one, and alluding to a plurality of God’s being, the Scriptures are quite specific as to naming god in terms of three persons.

There is a person whom the Bible calls the Father, and the Father is designated as God the Father (Galatians 1:1).The Bible talks about a person named Jesus, or the Son, or the Word, also called God. “The Word was God…” (John 1:1,KJV), Jesus was “also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18, NASB).There is a third person mentioned in the Scriptures called the Holy Spirit, and this person – different from the Father and the Son – is also called God (“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?… You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3,4 RSV).
The facts of the biblical teaching are these: There is one God. This one God has aplural nature.

This one God is called the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all distinct personalities, all designated God. We are therefore led to the conclusion that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, the doctrine of the Trinity.

Take a leap of faith with me and allow God to be God. Job says it better than I. Job 9:37…” and I am paraphrasing, Job comes to the realization and to see one thing clearly, that mere mankind cannot enter into litigation with almighty God. To my way of thinking, god is not our peer, our thoughts and our ways are not His thoughts and ways. God can do anything. Paul says to us,…” all things work together for good to them that love God…

Our problem is we want god to be Superman, e.g. snatch a child out of the way of a backing car, stop a bullet, etc. and out coercing the forces of the world. Christianity offers no knockdown solution, but the Bible does give us ground to stand on as we try to live in a world where suffering is real.

The Bible teaches us that the world God made was utterly good. (Gen. 1:31) Even though God did not create evil, nor does He will it, He nevertheless uses it to accomplish His purpose. For example, god sometimes uses pain in profound way to draw people to Himself. God has done something, came as the Son of man who was well acquainted with suffering. On the cross, He dealt with the problem of evil at its root.

The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, truth, without any mixture of error. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ. We must have a strong conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. That makes it special.

The proclamation of the Christian Gospel involves interpretation. The question must be asked, what did it mean, i.e. what did the biblical passage mean in the mind of the writer. Who wrote it? And what were the problems or needs to which this biblical passage was addressed. Which brings us to the term “hermeneutics” whose basic meaning is to interpret. Hermeneutics is involved in the exacting business of the translation of meaning. One can say Hermeneutics means to translate into one’s language, its translation and commentary. Or one could say Hermeneuticsis exegesis (refers to the process of interpreting a text).

Henry Mitchell’s Black Preaching, set forth this hermeneutical principle…” one must declare the Gospel in the language and culture of the people. The vernacular…”

The Bible says,…” you have heard that it was said to those of old,, “You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…”

The Bible is unique because it is the only religion in the world in which God seeks man. Its divinely inspired, for all mankind, permanent and fulfilled and it’s the Standard of Truth, full of wisdom and full of Instruction. The Bible says,…” for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

One writer says that the Bible is not written in heavenly language, not transcripts, but emerged out of oral reports. Which brings to mind the concept of the inerrancy of the original autographs, which can neither, be proved nor disproved. No theologian claims inerrancy for subsequent translations of scripture. If inerrancy is held as a formal concept of truth, i.e. God cannot speak truth through error.

The Scripture’s concern for error is not a technical or scientific precision with regard to reporting, but a reliability in Witness. Error is “swerving from the truth” and upsetting the faith says Berkower.

The Bible says, NKJV…Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David,was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory…Remind them of these things, charging them before
the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers….”II Tim 2:18-14.

For example, the Samaritan woman did not have to be mathematically and exactly precise in giving directions to her fellow villagers, but had to be close enough to being correct in order to place her friend in the proximity of Jesus. Scripture does not convert, edify and inform us of God’s will and purpose merely through precision and technical accuracy, but through the reality of Jesus Christ himself as the living word of God. Jesus says,… do not think that I come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Paul who speaks and wrote in the 1st Century is actually heard by humankind who live in the 20th Century. The message will not be a different message. When we read the plight of the oppressed Israelites, one can identify with any ethnic group about their oppressors and exploiters and the oppressed and exploited people of the world. The Bible still speaks and addresses the belief that the better day is coming.

The preached Word enables one to transcend the vicissitudes of life, to trace the sunshine through the rain and look upon the world with quiet eyes and a soul of tranquility. In the Bible, God Himself speaks to mankind. It is a book of divine instruction, advice for our problems, rebuke for our sins, and daily inspiration for our every need. The Bible is full of insight relevant to everyday problems. The Bible is a story to be interpreted in the light of the human situation.

The Bible says, Heaven is a free gift…” for by grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast….”Ephesians 2:8,9

If you can say for certain that if you were to die today, you would go to Heaven, you have eternal life. If not, you need the Gospel and a Savior. Why? Because of the Gospel, a merciful God has extended to sinful man; the free gift of eternal life. By Grave through Faith, in His Son Christ Jesus.

The Bible says, … “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting live. John 3:16.

And Titus 3:3-5 says, …”For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, through t he washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

True, hypocrite is one who seems or professes to be what he/she is not, especially in the matter of religion. Whereas, hypocrisy is the act or practice of being a hypocrite. It is a deadly sin, since it is a profession of religion where none is felt. Or where none exists.The Bible says,…”For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul.” Job 27:8.And Psalms 50:16,17 says…”But unto the wicked God saith, what has though to do to declare my statues, or that though shouldest take my Covenant in thy mouth?

Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee…”And Titus 1:16 says… “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate…”

Yes.

The Bible says,… “and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day….” John 6:40

Because He is the Redeemer of mankind, whereas, all mankind are sinners and separate from God. But God has the solution, through His Son, He paid the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary, therefore, we have the responsibility to except this free gift.

The Bible says, … “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned…

”Again, the Word says,… “But what does it say, the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: (that is, the word of faith which we preach) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For withthe heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession ismade unto salvation… How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they havenot heard: And how shall they hear without a preacher? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…” Romans 10:8-17.

End time falls under the Greek word, Eschatology, which literally means “discourse about last things and refers tot hat part of Christian doctrine concerned with the final end of man. We find in the Word that Jesus rejected any speculation concerning the last days. The Bible says, … and Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and will deceived many and you will hear of wards and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet…” But of that day and hour no one know, not even the angels, but my Father only….”

The Bible says, I Thess 4:13-18 … “But I do not want you to be ignorant brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus… For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an Archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.