Question about Jesus/God/Bible...the honest truth,?

Question

Is this what I am being asked to believe: Christian belief came out of Judaism, the rules now have changed, no more law we are now in grace. God sent his son to die for all of us. Since then his established church has split over 20,000 times each saying the other is wrong. The vast majority disagree to what Jesus came to say or who he was, some say the son of God some say he was God. At best God's response to man is confusion beyond belief. We are told to just ask the Holy Spirit to show you truth...(I have)..ZERO BTW for 20 plus years. We are told that Jesus loves us more than we will ever know but if you make a mistake and pick the wrong road Mormon, Jw's, or 100's of others you will burn 24-7 for eternity. I have read the N.T numerous times (and prayed), I've attened numerous Churches (they want $$$) I'm not an idiot. At BEST this is a mine field of choices. I would LOVE it if one Christian would tell me for the first time EVER...YOUR right...this is very hard to understand.

I amNOT interested in answer's that say...well just ask the Lord or let the Holy Spirit show you...bla,bla,bla,,,been there a MILLION times.

MAKE Sense of this for me

thanks you Liz!!!!!

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses have the true religion. They are Christian (of course), but they are unique for their rejection of paganisms, use of God's personal name, and global preaching by every active adherent. No other religious organization can claim such purity of worship.

These facts about Jehovah's Witnesses are perhaps relevant to this question. The more one compares this Christian religion with others, the more remarkable it is shown to be.

1. Jehovah's Witnesses have no paid clergy. Yet they remain tightly organized with more than 6.5 million active Jehovah's Witness preachers (about 16 million associate themselves with the religion). Even fulltime preachers and workers at their branch offices are unpaid volunteers.

2. There is no elite class among Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the few 'anointed' among them enjoy no special privileges in their congregations on earth. An anointed person (one of those relative few with a heavenly hope) is not elevated above his fellow congregants in any way, and he may not even qualify for appointment as a simple 'deacon' or elder. There are no titles; EVERYONE is addressed as 'brother' or 'sister'.

3. No person benefits economically from the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the 8 to 20 men who serve on their Governing Body receive simply room, board, medical care, and reimbursement for certain personal expenses according to the exact same provision as every other branch volunteer.

4. About a hundred men have served on Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body committee during the past 125 years or so. The vast majority of them have spent the vast majority of their adult lives volunteering for their organization's purposes, and the vast majority have died faithfully and near-pennilessly while still under their legal 'vow of poverty'.

5. Amazingly, Jehovah's Witnesses did not splinter as a sect from some other religion. Instead, a truly tiny but sincere group of bible students studied only the Scriptures to determine the will of God. Thus their religion remains absolutely independent of and not carrying the sins of Christendom's history, yet carries the authority of Christ's teachings.

6. Despite the distortions of anti-Witnesses, throughout their modern history Jehovah's Witnesses have refused to claim divine inspiration or infallibility for their teachings. They have pointed to the bible (and not any particular translation) as the only inspired infallible means of knowing God's thoughts. For over 125 years, their teachings have been presented as merely the results of sincere bible research by imperfect but godly humans.


Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm?article=article_07.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20040601/article_02.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/who.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/statistics.htm

Answer 2

I don't necessarily disagree with you...

2 Timothy 3:1, 2, 5 states that people will be lovers of money. You stated that's what you see in churches.

You say that there's a confusion of beliefs... Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets will arise and mislead many and because of the lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off."

But look at what 1 John 4:1 states: Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

If you are truly interested, keep asking questions about the Bible and listen with an open mind. If you want to learn, don't ask a question and think you already know the answer. Depending on what the question is, try finding the answer yourself first, then ask around and see which one makes more sense to you. You can't always ask for something in prayer and expect it to fall out from the sky.

James 2:26 Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

If you're going to pray about it, be sincere about it and play your part as well.

Answer 3

you haven't "been there" if the holy spirit hasn't put an understanding in you. The bible says that God is not a confusing God.....If you don't want to find the truth in God then stop asking questions about it....you obviously already have your mind made up about what you believe or don't believe...AND it's not if you make one mistake then you are going to burn in hell!!! The bible also says that God is a forgiving God!! If you don't except him as your personal savior then that's when you face eternity. You have chosen to believe bits and pieces of what you have heard. Maybe if you open your ears up a little bit more you will see exactly what God is wanting you to hear! God doesn't speak to those who have a closed up heart. Try actually humbling yourself instead of just going to him for answers!! I don't even like preaching, but you seem really lost..... so hopefully this will help you SOME HOW!

Answer 4

I will make sense of it for you... and your conclusions are all correct.... If you had a background in history or paleo-anthropology, you could come to these conclusions on your own: and they are, briefly:

Man fears death, and always has. The idea of never again being anything was scary to even ancient men. Thus, invented religion... any religion that appeared to comfort, and later to "save" (from what, is never clear). Enter the discovery of writing, first just to keep tabs on grain and storage, and later to write down folk lore and thoughts.

If we now jump to the Middle East, we have a surviving lump of knowledge collectively now known as the bible, and from it stems the god of Abraham who/which is the god for all the jews, muslims and christians.... same god....three religions. and from these, hundreds of sects, each all claiming to have THE Revealed truth.... Also, enter the 14th century, when it was discovered that the sun was the center of our solar sys. not the EARTH the center of the universe. At this point, the Roman Catholic Church had a cow, and a further one with Martin Luther... christianity then split, and split and split again... And tho several guys were coming up with evolution, Darwin himself in the 1835 voyage really had do idea what he was seeing and didn't put it together until the development of his book during the 10 years prior to its publication in 1859. From that point on, the believers were on the loosing side in logical arguments , as witnessed by the Scope's trial in Tennessee... Clarence Darrow made mince meat of William Jennings Bryant. It is now only the insecure and the uneducated, as well as (let's face it) the stupid, who still believe in sky daddies and fairy tales. Read the God Delusion.... on the Best Seller list for months until just recently. Very nicely done, well written, probably the guy's best book. Worth every dime.

"In every village there is a torch,-- the teacher, and an extinguisher -- the clergy"

Victor Hugo.

Helpful?

I had an ongoing discussion with a christian who in the end confessed that there was no way to prove god or heaven existed without the bible... In the end??? .He was at least bright enough to stop with the bible quotes and realize that there was no logic, just faith.....

Answer 5

what you have to understand is that since Paul took over the church has not really been the church....all since then is hogwash....If you want real answers from God Almighty then you have to fast and pray...there's no other way...you'll start to figure things out by dreams and visions...but they'll only be from the pure source of truth if you fast.....lucifer(the devil) is in complete control of this planet, including everything we think is the truth! The Jews of the old testamnet never spoke Hebrew...hebrew is a cabbalistic creation that they ponded off on us...the name Jesus is really a compound of zeus the greek supreme god-and if you study greek history you'll realize that zeus is lucifer...all religions and denominations are falsehood...fasting and an intimate relationship with the father and son are the only way to truth....it's not easy though and closer you get to the truth the more lucifer tries to trick you....remember the prophet Daniel after fasting forever it still took 3 weeks before an angel could get a message to him because he was being thrawted! I know where your coming from, I've been up and down and all over the place spiritually...faith and patience is all you can have!

Answer 6

You ARE right, it is confusing. However, it is not impossible.

First, allow me to ask you this: do you think God is aware of that you are searching ? Do you think that he wants to to find the truth, his truth ?

Since you are familiar with the bible, please open up to 1 Timothy 2:4. According to that verse, what is Gods will ?

So he does want you to find the accurate knowledge, the truth.

Okay, so how do we find it ? By continuing using Gods word the bible as a map.

CHRISTian = A follower of Christ.

Remember the saying, what would Jesus do ? Well what did he do when he walked on this earth some 2000 years ago and what did he command his followers to do after him ?

You could use that as a start.

And prayer is very important, because no one will be able to find the truth without the involvement of God himself. (John 6:44)

So who do we pray to ?

Who did Jesus pray to ? Let's take a look in for an ex these scriptures:

Matthew 6:9;John 17:3;Mark 14:36.

He adressed him 'Father'. In that way acknowledging that he himself have a beginning, a Creator who is higher.

With a similar attitude we can adress our Creator, perhaps saying something like "God, Father, I need your help. I cannot do this by myself. I am looking for the truth. I am confused by all the different religions. They all claim to be true Christians. How will I know ? Can you please give me understanding ? Can you help me to clearly identify which group are practising your will ?"

How does all this sound to you ?

I hope I have been able to help you somewhat. At least to start.

I would be glad to share what I found as far as what Christ did and said for his followers to do.

So if you ever feel like it, feel free to contact me.

Take care !

Sincerely, [e-mail].

PS
As for 'burning 24-7 for eternity'...the bible does not really teach that...
Just wanted you to know that... :o)

Answer 7

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.


God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three in one.

When the first man and woman were cast from the Garden of Eden, it was because they had sinned against God's command. Since then, we have lived in a sin-filled world, in need of mercy, grace, and atonement.

The wages of sin is death. Payment for sins was originally done by way of animal sacrifice. A life for a life. The shedding of blood is necessary for transgression of God's law.

God sent Jesus as a sinless, perfect man (all God and all man) to provide the perfect sacrifice. Only a sinless, perfect man would afford the high cost of every sin. He was brutally beaten and died a horrible death to pay our debt. He then defeated death and poured out His Holy Spirit to guide us.

This is all biblical. If you are sincerely seeking the Truth, read the Bible for yourself. It's all in there. Jesus himself said that unless you repent, you will not see the Kingdom.

Repent of (turn from) your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ. This is called being "born again." You will have a new heart with new desires, and your eyes will be open to the Truth.

Answer 8

No wonder you're confused and frustrated. You have confused God's Works with men's responses. You need to go back to basics. First, God's Word does not change or go out of date. But you must understand that His response to men DOES change over time. If you think about that, it's logical.

You do need to develop a personal relationship with Him. And you can't do that if you are convinced that He is imaginary or evil. All I can suggest is that you try to read the Bible with a willingness to give the benefit of the doubt to passages that look strange. Over time you will learn what HE means, rather than what some preacher means. Look for a small but flourishing nondenominational church, and compare what they say to Scripture - with an eye to judge [evaluate] the preacher, not the Book. It'll take time, but eventually your questions will be answered.

Answer 9

This is a very detailed question, but explainable if you will listen. Im not asking you to believe anything, I will simply tell you what the Holy Bible says, not the Book of Mormon, the Watchtower (JW's), or any other book. Christianity first of all didn't come from Judaism; however, Jews and Christians both worship the same God (i.e. the God of the Bible: Jehovah/Yahweh) God set up His perfect lifestyle as you may know in Eden. (Gen. 1,2,3) Man trespassed against God and from that point an atonement (payment) had to be made for sin. God says in Genesis 3:15 that someone was coming to forever atone for sin (a preview of the Jew's Messiah). The Israelite people came to be known as the Jews, God's chosen people. Contrary to Islamic belief, Those Israelites came from Abraham's son Isaac not Ishmael (The two fight to this day). God couldnt forever accept the blood sacrifces of animals,so a final sacrifice had to be made. God sent Himself in the form of man, JESUS,to live a perfect life and sacrifice Himself as the spotless lamb. Jesus told the Jews specifically that He was their Messiah, but they couldnt see it because they were confusing facts about His second coming with His first. Jesus says multiple times that He is GOD incarnate (John 10:30, John 4:25-26, John 8:23-24, Matt. 26:63-43...too many to list all) Jesus set His church up in Matthew 16 and contrary to Catholic belief, the rock he spoke of was not Peter but rather his confession that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. Jesus made it very clear, in John 14:6 that no one is getting to Heaven except through Him and Him alone. As far as the Spirit speaking to you, that is dependent on you: Jesus says in John 14:16-17 that you cannot have the Sprit speak to you unless you are a born-again child of God (John 3, and 1:12). Once you are "saved" from hell and born into God's family Jesus says in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. Sadly there will be people from every religion and denomination in Hell. Heaven is not gained by a church (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9), good works, or sacraments. Someone can do all those things and not make Heaven. Christ, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, came once to offer Heaven, soon He will come to judge the world at His second coming for rejecting Him. The offer is so inviting: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And WHOSOEVER WILL, let him take of the water of life freely."-Rev. 22:17

Answer 10

You are right!! With all of the different cultures and religions it is hard to know what to believe. I have been a christian for approximately 19 yrs. Jesus does loves us with an agape love. The bilbe says that if we do not accept the free gift of love from God that yes we will go to hell, but God is not a God of deception, if we do ask for forgiveness and try to live a life pleasing to Him we WILL go to Heaven. God knows that we are human and that we make mistakes and yes sometimes we will choose the wrong path and go our own way, but that is the wonderful thing about forgiveness. He will always forgive us if our hearts are truly repentful. Now about who Jesus is, yes he is the son of God and yes he is God. It is just like an apple, you have the seeds and the core and the meat of the apple, even though they are all separate they are all still part of an apple. This may be very hard to comprehend, it is even hard for me to fatham, that is where trust comes in, God is the same way, you have God the Father and God the son and God the holy spirit, They are all three diffent but they all three make one person or God. In the world today everyone wants to have their own religion, but it is not about religeon, it is about God. I do not know if this is what you wanted to hear or if this even answers your question. But I do hope that it brings some kind of peace to you. God bless you and may you find God in your life if you have not already.

Answer 11

Jesus did not say for us to be Mormon or Catholic, or Baptist, etc..He said for us to follow _Him_......
He said, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.
If you only will accept Jesus as the resurrected Son of God and your savior and will tell others about Him, then you will be a part of His flock.
There is no money involved in this salvation, it is a freely given gift.

If you do find a congregation that teaches truth then I urge you to attend and be a part of them, but it really is not a requirement.

Get to http://www.biblegateway.com and check out the book of John chp 3, verse 16..that will tell you the only requirement.

BTW, Jesus did not say that He is God, he stated repeatedly that He is the Son of God, as did God Himself when Jesus was baptised by John.