Sarde~
Please read ALL of this thoroughly... it is as thoughtful and insightful as I have ever written (I know you are having trouble with Christianity and its teachings versus the rest of the world... I was once the same)
Firstly, the Bible says, in John Chapter seven, that God is a Spirit and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Also, Jesus said, in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man commeth unto the Father but by me."
The Bible also says that All those who call upon the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)
Furthermore, Romans 3:23 says "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God..." and Romans 6:23 says "the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now then, what the Bible is saying is that the only way to get into heaven is to trust Jesus and devote your life to him. Romans 10:9 says "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." All this adds up to the principle that if we pray to Jesus, confessing our sins and wrongdoings and believe in the resurrection, then we may be saved. (Saved implies eternal life... walking with God in Paradise).
I have gone through so many doubts as you have. In fact, i used to be so torn between atheism, evolutionism, Christianity, and ridicule from the two former types of people that depression led me to contemplating suicide. I gave my life to Christ and it has made a major turnaround (I have gone through so much turmoil and distress that i thought NOTHING could help me... i felt like i was lost in the middle of nowhere among feelings of worthlessness and now I feel revitalized 100%).
Matthew chapter 19 tells us that anybody who forfeits earthly treasure and wealth, land, or family members for Jesus' sake (for the sake of living a Christian life) then he/she will be repayed a hundredfold in the kingdom of heaven (verse 29).
Now this all sounds good and everything, right? What about if what Jesus is saying is wrong? first off, when Jesus was talking to his disciples in Matthew chapter 24 verse 35 he said: "heaven and earth shall pass but my words shall not pass away." Now, Jesus was born in a barn in the small town of Bethlehem in Israel over 2000 years ago... he was only 33 when he died and he was executed--he died a criminal's death. furthermore, he was a carpenter and not known by the pharisees (Jewish leaders) to be an authority figure. However, if Jesus was a Jewish carpenter who was executed at the age of 33 and never held a seat of political authority and never wrote a book, how is it that his words could never be forgotten?
--Bear with me: the mere fact that the Bible is the most prevalent book in the history of the world is a fulfillment of the prophesy that Jesus' words would never be forgotten. If Jesus was not wealthy, not politically powerful, a carpenter with no formal education, and a 33-year-old martyr, doesn't it seem bizarre that HE above all people has made a bigger impact on the world than anybody else in history? Christianity is the largest religion in the world. The Bible is the most-printed book (with over 6 billion copies of the Christian Bible in print). Also, Jesus never wrote a book, yet the books written ABOUT him total more than all other books in the world combined. Jesus never composed a song, yet the music devoted to him add up to more than all other songs put together. Jesus was killed at the age of 33, as i've said earlier, yet his legacy lives on as the man who changed the world through peaceful preaching to the people around him. Sound compelling?
Furthermore... the Old Testament (All of it written more than 400 years before Christ's birth) contains over 120 prophecies concerning who the coming Messiah will be. Such prophecies include:
The lineage of the Messiah was prophesied in Genesis 3:15/9:26/22:18/26:4 and 49:10 and in II Samuel 7:12-16. His birth from a virgin woman was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. The prophecy that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem is given in Micah 5:2. The prophecy regarding his forerunner, John the Baptist, was given in Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Aspects of the teachings and healings of the Messaiah's ministry are given in Isaiah 61:1-2, Isaiah 42:1-4, Isaiah 9:1-2, and Psalm 40:7-10. "Palm Sunday"--the Messiah's entry into Jerusalem upon an ass was foretold in Zechariah 9:9-10, the prophecy regarding the rejection of the Messiah's coming is foretold in Psalm 118:22-24.
Now then, the original Old Testament books that prophesied all this were written NO LATER than the fifth century B.C. And, according to what was written about his life in the New Testament and in the gospel accounts given by the followers of Jesus, Jesus Christ is the only man in history to fit all of the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. Therefore, there are only two options: (1) Either the entire New Testament was fabricated to be a deliberate scam for the purpose of convincing the world a lie that Jesus was the Messiah (HIGHLY unlikely since every story in the entire New Testament is in perfect harmony with one another even though the New Testament was written by at least seven different people over a period of a half-century) OR (2) Jesus truly is the Messiah. If you believe the latter, then please, don't waste another minute: if you die tomorrow, and you stand before God and he asks why he should let you into heaven, what would you tell him?
I personally would tell him that I had given my life to his son Jesus for the sake of serving God's will and that by faith I was saved and accounted for by Jesus' blood that was used to cleanse me of my sins. The Bible says, in I Timothy 2:3-4 that God WANTS all men to be saved, but that can only happen if all men confess their sins and CHOOSE to be saved (God promised that salvation is a choice, not an indoctrination, which is WHY people don't understand why a loving God allows death... it's because of Sin on man's behalf).
Now then, in regards to the anti-Christian websites out there, there are and always have been people who hate Christians. The Bible also says, in II Peter chapter 3, that in the last days (the future) there would come scoffers (mockers) of the Bible, who are walking after their own lusts and saying "all things have continued as they were from the beginning..." Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is almost and EXACT definition of uniformitarianism. You see, the Old Testament foretold the coming of Jesus as the Messiah before Jesus was ever born. Likewise, the New Testament FORETOLD the coming of people who mock and hate Christianity. It's all there for a reason--Matthew chapter 5 says that: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God... Blessed are the which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake."
You see, Jesus BLESSES people who are persecuted and ridiculed for his sake (which is why I don't mind getting insulted and persecuted because of my faith--because I know that Jesus is coming back for me).
Sarde, I thank you for taking the time to read this, and i hope it helps. I leave you with one final thought, the Bible says that we walk by faith not by sight (that means that we must humble ourselves and become like little children, who trust without seeing). In other words, don't worry about the anti-Christian world that is attacking us relentlessly, for our faith (not sight of "evidence") is what will see us through it all.
If you would like to talk to me for any reason, my email address is:
swordsman_75@hotmail.com
Thanks again,
and I pray for you.
--Servant
P.S. This message is for Sarde and I am NOT open to discussing this information with ANYBODY but her (unless somebody out there finds that he/she has the same issue concerning faith as she does). So, if you have a comment or a criticism, keep it to yourself or take it somewhere else, thanks.
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