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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