My Personal walk with God part 1

[H. Richard]

This is my personal walk with God through faith (on 4 pages)

I have talked with many representatives of religions. Some of them come to my door and many others are on Internet forums. Although I placed my faith in Jesus at the early age of 9, talking with these representatives caused me to examine what I really believe about God and my relationship with him.

These representatives keep telling me that their religious organization has gleaned the truths in the Bible text and have the correct interpretation of Bible teachings. They believe that they are the true people of God in the world based upon their teaching. I emphasize that they are trusting that their interpretation of Bible scripture has placed them on the right path to salvation. Jesus said, in JOHN 5:39 40, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to ""come to me”” to have life".

These representatives say that I must trust and believe in their religious organization and work within their organization in order to be saved. Living a good lifestyle and doing religious works are something that must be done in order to earn and/or keep salvation or to show you have faith.

What kind of work? Read JOHN 6:28 29 "Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent," (trust in the one He sent). For me, I have found that this work of God is that you place your trust in him when all the world is telling you that you are lost and you must belong to their organization, believe their scripture interpretations, live a good lifestyle, and do more than just trust God. For me, this is what is meant by the "trying of my faith." Read the story of Job in the Bible. Weren’t Job’s religious friends telling him the same things most all religious people say? I feel that they were.

Paul said that salvation is the gift of God (See Ephesians, 2, verses 8 10). If it is a gift that I have received (accepted) in my heart then must I now earn it? Then where is the Gift? Did God create a plan of salvation in which he starts it and it is up to me to keep and finish it? Does salvation depends upon my power, to understand all the scriptures and keep my salvation by righteous perfect living, or does it depend on God's power? If salvation depends upon my understanding of scripture and my ability to earn it and keep it by what I do then I am lost, and for me, Christ died in vain. But it is not true. It is written in ECCLESIASTES 7:20 "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins" and again in PSALM 143:2 and ROMANS 3:10.

I find it interesting that when someone is completely trusting in God for their salvation, and witness that their trust in God is what saves them, not their attempts at good works, the religious people of this world always say that faith in what Jesus did on the cross is not enough, it is just a starting point, you must have works (see James). When they say this they are not trusting in God's love and power in His plan of salvation. For it is God that forgives sin and it is God that has provided Jesus Christ as a sin offering. If you can't go to heaven if you sin! Then no one is going to heaven. But it is written, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit" (deceit = dishonesty) (Psalm 32: 1 and 2). It is also written, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:4), "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5), "Blessed are those that trust in the Lord", and again, "He that comes to me I will in no wise cast him out". As for TRUST in God look at what the scriptures say about it. Do a word search in the Bible for all the references listed under "TRUST", "FAITH", and "BELIEVE". There are hundreds.

I cannot see how people can place their trust in religious organizations that are based upon that religious organization's interpretation of Bible scripture. Think about the time of Jesus Christ. There were all kinds of different beliefs. The Pharisees believed salvation was in the promises made to Abraham and by keeping the law. The Sadducees believed they had the truth and it denied the resurrection. Look at what Jesus said about them. They were blind, leading the blind, and the truth was not in them. The Catholic Church has religious leaders and they fleeced and tormented the illiterate people in the middle ages and seem to worship idols. The Muslims believe in the Islamic religion. The Jehovah Witness people have their interpretation of the Bible. The protestant denominations have their interpretation of the Bible. The point is that they disagreed in the meaning of religious writings.

Am I really supposed to place my trust (faith) in a Religious organization's leadership and wisdom? Where I spend eternity depends upon where I place my faith (trust).

. . . . . . . . . . Which one should I choose????
. . . . . . . . . . I will choose none of them.

John 5:39 40
39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
NKJV

 

[H. Richard]

Part 2


I do not believe that Jesus Christ came to set up just another new and improved physical organized religion run by men who can deceive themselves? I, personally, don't think so since he said that the time will come, after his death, when man will not say, let us go here, or there, to worship God, for man will worship God from within his/her heart, in other words, a personal worship of God whose spirit will be living within the hearts of those who love him. The following scriptures support my conclusions. Notice, in verse 28 below, how the verse acknowledges that men are weak and that the Son has been perfected forever. He did not leave us in the hands of weak human (leaders and priests). He has become our "high priest" and we need no other.

Heb 7:25 28
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
(NKJ)

Men use human wisdom interpreting the Bible, or other religious books, to build up an organized system in which he can place the responsibility for his salvation. They usually include things that men/women have to do. Most people feel that if they, belong to the "right church or religious organization", go to the meetings, spend some time there, and try to live a good lifestyle they are okay with God. Their only relationship with God is through their religious organization and what they do. But God looks into the heart and he knows those that have faith (trust) in Him.

As for man's wisdom I quote 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 through 5 from the Living Bible to see what Paul said about man's wisdom.

" Dear Brothers, even when I first came to you I didn't use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God's message. For I decided that I would speak only of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness timid and trembling. And my preaching was very plain, not with a lot of oratory and human wisdom, but the Holy Spirit's power was in my words, proving to those who heard them that the message was from God. I did this because I wanted your faith to stand firmly upon God, not on man's great ideas."

What should I trust in? Is it to be man's great ideas or my great works? No, it is not. I trust God's promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is God's gift to me. He holds me in his hands and nothing can pluck me out of His hands. He is my Father and I am his child. Because of His love, someday I will be with Him. I will love Him and he will love me throughout eternity. All praise and glory go to my Father in heaven and to His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to pay for my sins. Salvation is by faith (trust). Read Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 1 through 40 in the Bible.

Matthew 11, verses 25 and 26

"And Jesus prayed this prayer: "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise, and for revealing it to little children. Yes, Father, for it pleased you to do it that way!"

Please note that in this testimony I have not exalted any religion or myself. As for my part I have only said I trust in God's love for me. But I have used this testimony to glorify God and to witness to "His power" in the salvation of all those who place their faith, trust, confidence, and hope in Him. God is the "author and finisher" of salvation. Because of this all glory, honor and praise belong to HIM.

For the purpose of clarity, let me define what I feel is the relationship between the words Religion, Christian, and Church.

Religion = Organized groups of people professing certain religious beliefs and having a hierarchy of leadership. The leadership determines their religious beliefs based upon their interpretation of their reference book writings (the Bible or similar book) and doctrine studies.

Christian = A person who is personally trusting that God loves him and sent his son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die on a cross for his/her sins. A person that trusts God to save and keep him/her just as Abraham did. (Read Romans 4:1 8) A Christian is a person that has been reborn (filled) with God's Holy Spirit by God Himself. Jesus describes a true Christian in John 3:7 & 8; 7: Do not marvel that I said to you, 'you must be born again.' 8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit

Church = The Church is a "Spiritual Church" (spiritual house 1 Peter 2:4 5) (Mark 14:58) (Acts 17:23 25) (2 Cor. 5:1) (Heb 9:11 and 24) made up of Christians. Since it consists of 'born again Christians' (see above) the true Church is as Jesus described a born again Christian in John 3:8.

John 3:8 NKJV
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Therefore, the Church is a spiritual entity, made by the will of God and built without human hands of flesh, and the head of the Church is Jesus Christ who gave his life for it. I, personally feel that no man is to be considered as head of the Church. The Church's visibility in the world is shown through Christians that profess that faith in Jesus‘ work on the cross has saved them, individually and as groups. It is not a religious organization, or building, or certain place.

In Christian love, H. Richard

 

[skypair]

I find it interesting that when someone is completely trusting in God for their salvation, and witness that their trust in God is what saves them, not their attempts at good works, the religious people of this world always say that faith in what Jesus did on the cross is not enough, it is just a starting point,

I see the word "trust" bandied about as if it means "faith" .. as in "faith alone." But the kind of trust spoken of is simply strong belief. In my life I have believed many things that proved later to be false (just as you have of others' religions). But they trust in their religion just like you trust in yours, right? What's the problem?

The problem is that neither of you has proof from God that He has saved you. And you won't get proof until you obey the gospel. I have known many men like you who "trusted" God to save them long before they understood sin .. much less sin against God. The reason you need salvation is sin.

So obedience to the gospel means dealing with our sin. And the way the gospel commands us to do so is through repentance (Isa 55:7, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20, 2Cor 10:5) turning back to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This, as I understand it consists of 2 things. 1) Acknowledgement and repentance from sin making Him your Savior and 2) dethroning "self" and enthroning Christ as Lord/Master of your life .. making yourself a "servant" as He did in becoming man, Phil 2:7-8.

When we do this, God will answer our prayer for salvation in such a way that our "trust" will not be blind trust .. trust without evidence (Heb 11:1). He will take the burden of sin from your conscience (soul), give you a new heart (soul), open your spiritual eyes, and give you "joy unspeakable and full of glory, Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul." (1Pet 1:8-9).

So we know that God only gives His Holy Ghost to those who obey Him, Acts 5:32. If you don't have those evidences of your trust, chances are you need to repent.

skypair

 

[H. Richard]

I see the word "trust" bandied about as if it means "faith" .. as in "faith alone." But the kind of trust spoken of is simply strong belief. In my life I have believed many things that proved later to be false (just as you have of others' religions). But they trust in their religion just like you trust in yours, right? What's the problem?

The problem is that neither of you has proof from God that He has saved you. And you won't get proof until you obey the gospel. I have known many men like you who "trusted" God to save them long before they understood sin .. much less sin against God. The reason you need salvation is sin.

So obedience to the gospel means dealing with our sin. And the way the gospel commands us to do so is through repentance (Isa 55:7, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20, 2Cor 10:5) turning back to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This, as I understand it consists of 2 things. 1) Acknowledgement and repentance from sin making Him your Savior and 2) dethroning "self" and enthroning Christ as Lord/Master of your life .. making yourself a "servant" as He did in becoming man, Phil 2:7-8.

When we do this, God will answer our prayer for salvation in such a way that our "trust" will not be blind trust .. trust without evidence (Heb 11:1). He will take the burden of sin from your conscience (soul), give you a new heart (soul), open your spiritual eyes, and give you "joy unspeakable and full of glory, Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul." (1Pet 1:8-9).

So we know that God only gives His Holy Ghost to those who obey Him, Acts 5:32. If you don't have those evidences of your trust, chances are you need to repent.

skypair

**
I feel sorry for you. You feel that you have to deal with your sins. Jesus as already paid for those sins. He dealt with them for us.

So I say that God has already saved me because I have faith, trust in Jesus' work on the cross. But you say I can't be saved by trusting in God's work on the cross. You want proof of salvation. I thank God that my salvation is not based on your idea that a person has to do the impossible in order to be saved. You and I both live in a body that is sinful. But in order to believe as you do you think you are now sinless.

John 20:29
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
NKJV

Obedience to the gospel? Which gospel yours or Paul's? In this age of God's grace obedience is placing faith in Jesus' work on the cross. But the religious think they are obedient because of their works. They think they are earning their salvation by what they do. Jesus shed His blood on the cross paying for all the sins of the world. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus' work on the cross not by man's obedience to religious works. When a person thinks that Faith in Jesus' work on the cross is insufficient for salvation it is a slap in Jesus' face. Either you trust in His work on the cross or you trust in your's. As I see it you are trusting in your's.

 

[bbyrd009]

A person that trusts God to save and keep him/her just as Abraham did.

i just read a thing on the Oaks of Mamre, which is the school of thought that Abram came from, interestingly this is considered a poor school of thought, and is another way to illustrate how we come to understand truth that is new to us. i'll see if i can extract a relevant quote here, without lending any justification to the notion that simply believing in Jesus will somehow cancel out any future sins (which i don't believe is true; confession is made unto salvation is warped in this model imo)

 

[bbyrd009]

As I see it you are trusting in your's.

seek your own salvation
pick up your cross and follow

these are not empty commands, after all

 

[bbyrd009]

He dealt with them for us.

"i see that religion is wrong, and i have abandoned it, all except for this most religious part"
"please don't make me do stuff"

 

[bbyrd009]

if you try to worship Jesus like the Two Greeks did, Jesus is going to hide from you too, i guess

 

[skypair]

When a person thinks that Faith in Jesus' work on the cross is insufficient for salvation it is a slap in Jesus' face. Either you trust in His work on the cross or you trust in your's. As I see it you are trusting in your's.

The issue really is .. is what you call "faith" anything more than simply "belief?" Is it any more than "I think I am saved?"

How have you proved to yourself that you are saved? Or does God have to prove that to you? Faith comes by evidence, Heb 11:1. What is your evidence?

So there is a difference between your trust and my trust. In my case, God has answered my prayer for salvation by the means that I described. Your trust is not so much in Christ but in the Scriptures .. front-loaded with all the inferences that your theology teaches you to believe. But how did God respond to your trust?

skypair

 

[H. Richard]

The issue really is .. is what you call "faith" anything more than simply "belief?" Is it any more than "I think I am saved?"

How have you proved to yourself that you are saved? Or does God have to prove that to you? Faith comes by evidence, Heb 11:1. What is your evidence?

So there is a difference between your trust and my trust. In my case, God has answered my prayer for salvation by the means that I described. Your trust is not so much in Christ but in the Scriptures .. front-loaded with all the inferences that your theology teaches you to believe. But how did God respond to your trust?

skypair

***

How can you judge my faith? Can you see into my heart? It may just be getting my answers from God's word in the scriptures. You do not see that the gospel of Grace given to Paul BY JESUS is any different than that given to the Jews but i see it in the scriptures. I have placed my eternal salvation in God's work on the cross. You seem to think it is by what you do. I know it is by what Jesus did on the cross. Salvation is the gift of God and it is obtained by trusting in HIS work on the cross + nothing. To say a person has to do something to make that work be trues is to say a person has to save himself.

Look skypair, if what you believe is the way you want go then go. But don't down play my trust, belief, faith, and confidence in the work of Jesus on the cross to be sufficient for my salvation. It will not change where I have placed my trust. I can make accusations too by saying I see where you have placed your trust and it is in yourself by what you do. But I don't really want to say that. It does not accomplish anything.

What I really see is that you want me to doubt my salvation. But it will not work. If you trust in yourself you are trusting in a man.

 

[Helen]

The issue really is .. is what you call "faith" anything more than simply "belief?" Is it any more than "I think I am saved?"

Hi there.
Faith is not a "once and for all". Faith is ongoing.
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. "
Only those who know how to "hear His Voice" can have the God kind of faith.

We have faith that the sun will rise again..that is not active faith. The faith which hears, is the faith that we walk in daily.
"Man shall not live by bread alone but by ever word which proceeds from the
mouth of God. "
We cannot live on old manna, we need fresh manner daily from God.

I believe we live in childlike Trust...we trust out heavenly Father is all that He has said that He is. We trust Him unto the end, we trust Him with our life.
He can keep our life better than we can.
Trust is not faith... active faith which needs an open, attentive ear.

My two cents.

 

[pia]

We have faith that the sun will rise again..that is not active faith

I do get your point here, but a little thought came......You're right, we do seem to do more than just believe each day that the sun will rise, we take it utterly for granted........But from what He has shown me, that is what childlike faith is like.....We know He is Love....We know there is no law against Love.....So we should be able to totally believe and trust that what He says , He means....so we ought not have such a hard time of it with our faith, as we all seem to do at times......He has promised to be with us, even till the end of the world......He has told us that nothing can separate us from the Love of God.....That His answer is always 'Yes and Amen' to requests made from Love........BUT do we actually really and whole heartedly believe this ? Faith, Hope and Love, I'm sure there is always room for growth, but I have found they work somewhat like human muscles, if not used, they become weakened.........When I hear something, that is when I choose whether to believe that or not........Faith is described a couple of places as 'substance' ( Heb 11:1 I think ) and 'evidence'....... followed by pages of who did what through faith....I do know that I need to press into Him more, to get to understand more of how things work 'through the faith that works through Love'....I would dearly love to grow and grow in this area, but I guess all is in His time lol

 

[Helen]

@pia Faith grown through testing,..so you should have an abundance of faith because of all the things that you have endured in life and gone through..
I'm not sure that I would still be standing if I had to go through what you have gone through. Your faith has been tested and tried for sure. ✟

Many blessings...H

 

[pia]

@pia Faith grown through testing,..so you should have an abundance of faith because of all the things that you have endured in life and gone through..
I'm not sure that I would still be standing if I had to go through what you have gone through. Your faith has been tested and tried for sure. ✟

Many blessings...H

Thank you, but it seems to me, you have endured just as much, and you still do at times !...Perhaps believing / faith does take constant 'work outs' in order to keep them functioning and growing...Certainly apathy doesn't work does it ? hahaha.....I do not believe that it has been God putting me through those things though....He's been there with me, throughout, that much I do know, but He is not the instigator of them....His faithfulness never ceases to amaze me nor His patience, His Love and so on.......He is simply the fullness of all things from Love, all things from good, because Love is good lol.....I need to learn how to resist the stuff and how to let Him make me whole again.....working on that one hahaha