"It" is the one thing, that we compare everything else to, for all definitions are simply a comparisons to some norm; and call those comparisons reality. "It" cannot be described nor named because there is no deeper base on which to compare it to.
Basic or foundational question is, "Do you view your God as Creator and are you the part of all creation that was created in his image?"
The efforts of justified sinners that are motivated by the certainty of salvation and final glory conditioned on Christ are good, and will be judged accordingly as these works are evidences of a justified state. These works are good not because they are perfect or equal Christ's obedience, not because they can earn anything from God, and not because the Holy Spirit has enabled us to meet the standard of God's holiness. They are good only in that they are performed by one, a sinner, who is in a justified state, and because they are the fruit of God's sovereign, unconditional grace (John 3:21). They are hence called "fruit unto God." Our ground of salvation determines our state before God. The only standard whereby a person is either declared guilty or justified is the holy law of God (Love God supremely, love your neighbor as yourself). God's law cannot pronounce any sinner righteous based on faith, repentance, or character and conduct. We need a righteousness we cannot produce, and it can only be found in Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness, His sinless obedience to the precept of God's law, and His perfect satisfaction to the justice of God's law, is the only thing that will remove God's wrath and gain God's favor. All who have His righteousness imputed to them will be resurrected unto life. They have done good. All who are found without it (even as religious and moral persons) will be resurrected unto death. They have done evil. God who is omniscient is not going to compare you with me. Read Acts 17:31 -- Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Does your obedience equal Christ's obedience? God cannot save you unless His law pronounces you perfect and righteous. Admitting that we are not perfect will not help us at all unless it drives us to Christ for atonement and for righteousness. God's law must pronounce us righteous and holy or God cannot be just in saving us. How can we know our ground of salvation? Read Romans 6:17-18 -- It is by the doctrine we believe (John 3:36). The ground of salvation is revealed in the Gospel as the righteousness of God (Rom. 1:16-17), and thus we define the righteousness of God in Christ as the entire merit of the obedience and death of Christ. Before we hear the Gospel, we know nothing about the true Christ and His righteousness imputed. Therefore, we are utterly ignorant of the only acceptable ground of salvation before a holy God. All we know is conditional salvation and trying to establish our own righteousness (Rom. 10:1-3). Until we freely receive Christ as identified and distinguished from all counterfeits by the Gospel, we are lost and under God's smoking and just wrath. All we can do is produce fruit unto death. In light of God's omniscience, we see the futility of hypocrisy. A hypocrite pretends he or she is righteous and saved before God, but is ignorant of or not submitted to the righteousness God requires (the imputed righteousness of Christ) and thus is ignorant of or not submitted to the only ground of salvation. Christ unmasked the hypocritical religious leaders of His day by saying they were "like whitewashed tombs" (Matt. 23:27). They appeared righteous outwardly but inwardly were hypocrites (Matt. 23:28). They thought they were saved based on personal character and conduct, something other than the righteousness of Christ. This hypocrisy is when sinners expect salvation or any part of it based on their efforts, anything other than the righteousness of Christ. Any sinner who is not submitted to the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel is a self-righteous, Satan-inspired hypocrite. So many religionists will admit God knows and sees all, but they use this to frighten sinners into legal repentance. We ought to tell men and women that God knows and sees all their sins, but we ought to tell them what they do not know by nature, that all their efforts to please God motivated by legal fear are dead works. Our goal is that they seek THE God who justifies the ungodly based on the righteousness of Christ. We desire that they run to Christ, flee the wrath to come upon the ungodly, and find salvation and relief in Him alone. The vast majority of churches are filled with hypocrites, because they believe Christ died for all without exception and salvation is conditioned on the sinner. The vast majority of Calvinist churches are filled with hypocrites, because they believe that sinners sitting under such doctrine are nevertheless their “brothers in Christ†and that Arminians are saved despite that anyone who believes universal atonement in fact denies every attribute of God's character and casts shame and reproach upon Christ's person and work. This motivates sinners to seek righteousness by works of the law and not by God-given faith in the true Christ. God who is omniscient knows the difference, and He reveals this difference in the preaching of the law and the gospel. But hypocritical sinners refuse to admit of this hypocrisy and continue in unbelief.
Nah, and I feel like even if a God did exist that it wouldn't be worrying about whether I acknowledge it or not.
There is more proof for a God than there is proof against a God. Everything points to God but most want to do their own thing and not accept it.
Would you care to share some of this "proof"? Without using religious doctrine or unsubstantiated copy/pastes from religious apologetic websites, of course...
of course, what kind of proof would you want? I am watxhing the ball drop with the fam but just ask me waht u need and ill R
Happy New Year! I only ask for the "proof" that you've proclaimed... Without using religious doctrine or unsubstantiated copy/pastes from religious apologetic websites, of course...
Good deal, ok do you mean evidence about creation or about the New Testament? Look back about 2 pages and if what i say doesnt make sense maybe i can try to explain or make a new argument. Also i dont claim to have definite proof but only conclusions or evidence that point to a creator in my opinion. Nobody has definite proof either way, either side can only make logical conclusions about the universe. Its not that anyone has definite proof. I love to think we have a purpose in life instead of our minds or our thinking only being products of evolution. The bible or any other religious writing doesnt come into the discussion at this point, only conclusions that prove or disprove a creator. Happy New Year!
I'm sorry. What was it that you had to say "back about two pages"? I can't seem to find it... So WHAT is the evidence that points to a "creator"? In your opinion or course... Without scripture, there is no "evidence".
Yeah your probably right, it might have been on another thread, not at a computer but ill sum it up. This will be a very rough summary. Also I'm finding it hard to debate multiple people so if anyone is interested in a private debate I'm game. Second law of thermodynamics- running out of usable energy The universe is expanding- originating from a single point? The radiation afterglow The great galaxy seeds Einsteins law of relativity(i believe that's the one I'm thinking of, yeah pretty sure)
Without explanation/reference, there is no "debate". Public or private. If your argument was even remotely cogent, you would have expressed it by now, in any of the various threads that you've been posting in. You have not done so... You've become rather boorish...
The reference is in itself to some of those. Like i said ill go into it more later when i have time and also have a private debate just say the word. Whats your argument that it is eternal?
I definitely believe in God and creation. I recently went through a period in my life where I would say I was agnostic or at least questioning my beliefs and decided to step back from what I've believed all my life and look at everything from a different perspective. I studied both creationism and evolution + the Big Bang theory. I tried to find holes in the bible and see if there were explanations. I read about historic events scientifically dated (most of the characters in the bible really did exist, pharaoh, king Solomon, ceasar and yes there was a human named Jesus Christ that lived and died from crucifixion but whether you believe He was the messiah is a different debate. I read/watched many interviews and debates, articles etc from atheist point of views on what they personally believe and why and I also took a completely different view and thought "what if no one is right? Both believers and non believers, what if this really is the matrix or some other realm that hasn't even been thought about yet". All from an agnostic and unbiased perspective. At the end of all this I concluded that the the most plausible explanation was that God is real and created us. There's way too many avenues I pursued to come to this conclusion and is not practical for me to go into this but as the OP requested I am simply voicing my beliefs so that others who have similar beliefs or others who come from a different background can take from this whatever they wish. I will not enter into a debate because that's not why I posted. Instead I suggest that instead of just being lazy and continue believing in what you thought you knew your whole life or in fact if you're too lazy to believe in anything to actually research it yourself.