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Mere Belief In God Is Not Enough: The Three Essential Steps To Becoming A Believer
‘Those that come to God, first thing, essential thing, must believe that he is---that God really exists’ (cf. Hebrews 11:6a).
I. The first step in coming to a real relationship with God is that you have to believe that God exists in the first place (duh). That’s a no-brainer. You first have to prove, conclusively, to the best of your ability, that God does exist. How does an intelligent person do that? And let me say, the evidence is there, anyone with half a brain can prove it’s conclusive. So, how does an intelligent person prove God exits? David says in Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visiteth him?” David didn’t have the scientific ability to look into God’s creation in the heavens like we do, but he was looking in the right direction, looking at the universe and creation around us, looking at what scientists now have labeled Intelligent Design. The apostle Paul looked in the same direction, and said in Romans 1:19-20, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse…” Intelligent Design can be seen and proven in the physical universe around us. Recently discoveries into the macro of the universe by Einstein and Hawking in physics prove that all physical matter came into existence at once, and didn’t always exist, and it came apparently out of nothing, 15.75 billion years ago (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Genesis%201%201-31.html). And then the science of Quantum Mechanics (another branch of physics going in the opposite direction from the macro of Relativity physics) shows us that all matter is really nothing more than a holographic image which is coming from a higher invisible source outside of Space & Time (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Hebrews%2011%201-4.html). Also, by taking a close look into the study of the micro, the atomic-molecular study of the living cell, cellular structure, the very schematic of life on earth, Intelligent Design virtually jumps off the pages. Michael Behe, a PhD majoring in the atomic-molecular level of cellular structure and design conclusively shows, reveals undeniable Intelligent Design in his masterful work “Darwin’s Black Box” which details the atomic-molecular structure of living cells. By the way, it’s not a religious book, but a scientific treatise, work. If you love science at this level, you’ll love the book, even if you don’t like the conclusions he draws in his closing chapters. An example of his work can be read at http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/molecularmachines.htm. Then if we take a look into earth’s archeological history going back to when life first showed up on planet earth, we see what paleontologists call “Extinction Level Events” (E.L.E.’s) which have periodically occurred in the distant past. In most cases, these E.L.E.’s erased most if not all life from off the planet (especially the last E.L.E. where the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago). After each E.L.E. life re-appeared, often different from what had just suddenly died off. One such re-appearance of life after a significant E.L.E. has been dubbed “the Cambrian Explosion” because a virtual explosion of new life-forms came onto the scene. This one gives evolutionists apoplexy, along with the vastly different type of life-forms that re-appeared after the dinosaurs died off 65,000,000 years ago (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm). Then we come to the Bible itself, the written Word of God. How does one prove that it really is the written Word of God and not some ancient writings of nomadic Jews wandering in the deserts of the Middle East? The science of the law of averages says that if you have say four or five predictions that are made sometime in the past, and they all come true, perfectly, then that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt divine authorship, that such a level of prediction is simply impossible by man’s way of reasoning and the law of averages. Well, that is just exactly what fulfilled Bible prophecy does. And the proofs of this can be found by looking at any particular fulfilled prophecy in the Bible, finding out the historic time it was given in, and then looking in the history books and seeing when that prophecy was fulfilled, to the letter. The Bible is full of them, some big prophecies, some little ones. I have put together a few as an example of how to do this (see, http://www.unityinchrist.com/ProofOfTheBible-FulfilledProphecy.htm).
So the first step to coming to God is: You, yourself, have to prove, for your very own self, that God exists. No one can do this for you, you have to do it for yourself. The articles I’ve written can help you do this, but you have to at least verify them. Ordering and reading Michael Behe’s “Darwin’s Black Box” and reading it is something you can do all on your own (it’s available at http://www.amazon.com). In the dinosaur article, I took an existing article, got permission to use it, and then looked up more information online to prove those things were true, and added that to the end of the article. So you can do this, most intelligent people can do this quite easily. God does not want blind faith, when it comes to your belief that he exists, he wants a faith that is based on proof, both scientific and prophetic-historic Biblical proof. Oh, by the way, most intelligent people don’t even want to look at the evidence, simply because they don’t want God in their lives, not fully realizing who and what God is, a loving Creator that wants only the best for those who decide, on their own, that they want to be his children. God’s not forcing anyone to become a believer. He’s a gentleman, and will never force himself on anyone or down anyone’s throat. And that form of evangelism by misguided Christians is not of God, it’s just not his way. So don’t give me any guff that I’m forcing my beliefs down your throat, you’re reading this for yourself, you can log off at any time. So there [raspberry sound].
II. Laying out the spreadsheet. So, is that all there is to becoming a believer? Is that it? Is that all there is to becoming a believer in God, proving that he exists? No. That is only the first step out of three essential steps. The demons, by the way, fallen angels, have this level of belief, they know God exists. That doesn’t make them loyal followers of Jesus Christ. James 2:19-20 says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils [demons] also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” In Hebrews 11:26 we find a verse which describes Moses, where he takes this essential 2nd step in coming to faith. Hebrews 11:26, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” That underlined word “esteeming” can also be translated “accounting.” Somehow at age 40 Moses had come to a realization that God was real and that the enslaved Israelites were God’s people, his people. So somehow, we’re not told how, Moses had come to a firm understanding that God existed, by age 40. So what did he do? Again, Hebrews 11:26, “Esteeming, accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” As we saw, that King James word “esteeming” can also be translated “accounting,” that’s the idea. He put out the spreadsheet in front of him, and examined all the assets and all the liabilities of his choice. He examined the present, which he had in his grasp, he had the throne of Egypt easily within his reach, the sceptre of Egypt, the most powerful leadership position in the world back then, uncountable wealth, harems, wine, women, song as they say. So if you reach this 2nd step, lay out the spreadsheet. On the right-hand side list all the assets of accepting and asking Jesus Christ into your life. And on the left-hand side list what you have in this world which you may have to give up by asking God, Jesus into your life. Everyone’s different, and everyone’s spreadsheet will be different, that’s why you’ve got to do this for yourself. For example, you might list your close friends and family in the world which you might lose by asking Jesus into your life. But on the right-hand side you would list a whole new group of friends, new families you will gain, new brothers and sisters in Christ (and their loyalty and love and outgoing concern for you will tend to be unquestionable). Jesus said this, when Peter made a statement about how much the disciples had given up to follow Christ. Mark 10:28-30, “Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” Right here, as Peter kind of negatively counted the cost in conversation with Jesus, Jesus turned right around and really helped lay everything out on the spreadsheet for Peter and all of us, too. We’re going to loose friends, that goes on the left-side of the spreadsheet, we’re going to gain a lot of new friends, that goes on the right side, we’ll suffer persecution for accepting and following Christ, that goes on the left-hand side of the spreadsheet. We’ll gain eternal life in the end, at the 2nd coming of Christ, now that’s a big plus on the right-hand side. And we find this “accounting” on his spreadsheet is exactly what Moses did in Hebrews 11:26. I had to give up a job once, when I was coming to faith. It was a very good job, too, as a towerman on the railroad. But almost immediately I was blessed with another job, the experience of which I wouldn’t have traded, as they say, for love nor money. So on the plus side of my spreadsheet, I discovered I had God on my side, “He had my back” as they say. What’s listed on the left-hand side of Moses spreadsheet are “the pleasures of sin.” You can only imagine what that might have been like for Moses, for a future Pharaoh of Egypt. Sin is pleasurable, or else the Bible wouldn’t warn people about it. The Bible doesn’t warn people not to hit themselves on the head with a ballpeen hammer, doesn’t have to. The Bible doesn’t warn women about men, doesn’t have to, but it warns men about women (we’re just that stupid, we need the warning, guys). But sin always has nasty and often deadly side-effects. i.e. misuse of drugs and alcohol can be real fun for awhile, but the addictions that result from either are no fun in the end, and often proves to be deadly, as well as destroying family and friendships and marital relationships. So on the left-hand side, giving up “the pleasures of sin” and on the right-hand side or plus side of the spreadsheet, living a productive, healthy life, with God on your side. And as Jesus showed in Mark 10:30, after a lifetime of developing a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ through his indwelling Holy Spirit, prayer, and the daily study of his Word, finally, being given eternal life, immortality, at the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm).
So if you take an honest inventory of your life and list all the pluses and minuses on a spreadsheet, you should come to a conclusion that accepting and asking Jesus Christ into your life is a good healthy choice. But the choice is still yours, and always will be. At this point (if you’ve read though those articles in part I. and done some verifying research on your own) you know God exists. But the choice now is yours. You are still free to go your own way, or you are free to ask Jesus Christ into your life as your Saviour, and all that will bring you on the plus side of the equation. It’s funny how this world has gotten that turned upside down, and think that everything on the plus side of the equation is a giant minus for them. When you lay out the spreadsheet, be honest with yourself, list both the positive things and negatives things about asking God into your life, and your pluses and minuses, to some extent will be different than mine in some personal ways. None of us are giving up the opportunity of having a harem, like Moses did, although some of our lifestyles may match that, and we may view that as a big negative, in having to give that up. But be honest.
III. How does one ask Jesus Christ into his or her life? So now we have come to step #3. If you choose to ask Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Saviour, how do you do that? How do you ask Jesus into your life, becoming a believer in the true sense, and not just knowing God exists, but as one who learns to refuse what this world has to offer, esteeming what God offers as being far more valuable? See http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm and scroll to the paragraph title “How To Become A Christian” and read from there down. Also see http://www.unityinchrist.com/baptism/What%20is%20Baptism.htm. The next step is yours. God’s not forcing you to do anything.
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