(tim_from_pa;52608)
You hit the nail on the head. Actually, in and of oneself, one cannot believe. It's not intrinsically there. This is why atheists have trouble believing God, because they were trying to find evidence for him on their own terms. But then again, so that you do not think I am picking on atheists, the same can be said of any "religious" person. The bible makes it clear that God choses the person, and then this in turn allows them by their own free will accept him by faith. If that sounds confusing, think of electromagnetic induction where the primary induces current in the secondary, and the secondary current then reflects (i.e. reflected impedance) to the primary again.Or maybe it can be explained like romantic love. There is no empirical evidence for romantic love, as nobody can seem to nail down "love", but the effects are there.The same goes with God.However, if you dabble enough with this thing called Christianity, you may find yourself one day becoming a believer. If that does not appeal to you, then maybe you should consider a forum with another topic.
tim_from_pa --Referring to your phrase "God choses the person and then this in turn allows them by their own free will accept him by faith..." -That is probably not a good way to put it because that would be implying that God doesn't choose certain people, and that is simply not true, especially according to Scripture. God wants everyone to believe in Him. He doesn't chose certain people so that the others have no way of believing in Him because He didn't choose them. If you are referring to Romans (vessels of wrath and honor), the truth is that although there are vessels of wrath and vessels of honor, if the vessels of wrath repent, they can become vessels of honor. God knows the heart, so He knows from the beginning what a person will do; therefore, if a person chooses not to repent, God knew it from the beginning and that person is a vessel of wrath (But like I said, if they repent, they can become a vessel of honor). Lunar --First of all, I just wanted to let you know that I was NOT trying to insult you with what I said to Tim; I was just clearing up a mistake he made. However, you may find what I said to him helpful, I don't know...The Bible says that God has placed it in the heart of man to know Him. Like Jackie was saying, every person knows the truth innately. God is no respector of persons. You say that the truth of God is not innately in you, but it's probably because you can't see it, and you don't know where to look. Lunar, if you would throw away all of your preconceived ideas about God, you will find the truth. By that I mean that you are looking for the truth about God, while at the same time holding on to all your biases against Him; therefore, any "truth" that is presented, you can't see or seem to grasp your brain around. It's really simple, but those who won't open their eyes can't see the truth for what it is, the TRUTH. I guess what I'm trying to say is that before you can open your heart to God, you have to open your eyes to His truth. But some will choose to keep their eyes closed; they could see if they would just open their eyes, but they WON'T see because they choose not to open their eyes. BUT Jesus said that He came to "open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light." Anyone can choose to truly accept Jesus, but it takes true faith. God sees your heart, Lunar, and you can't just decide that because you're board you will try to accept Jesus. It is not a game; it must from sincerity, and if God sees that you're playing a game with Him, He won't fool around with you. I know you're trying, but my point is that you have to change your mind-set in order to fully appreciate and understand everything about God and His great love for YOU. :read:The choice IS yours, but maybe you just aren't ready to make that decision yet.