Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘belief’

Faith

Posted in Faith, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 01/17/2011| 1 Comment »

Faith

What is it?  Where does it come from?  How do we obtain it?

      It has been a main source of topic for me as of late.  Each Mormon I speak with tries to tell me it is from within us.  That it is a work we perform with our own free will and we should try to have more faith.

They tell me that faith in Jesus comes into effect only after we have done good works.  Then we can start thinking about faith.   In the same breath, they claim that faith in Jesus is essential if you want to go to heaven.

Since there are people even in the Christian community who have some tendency towards works for salvation, me included at times, I have decided to explore this subject.

     Hebrews 11:1 says ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’.    The Greek word for this is pis’-tis.  It is the reliance upon Christ for salvation.   It is the reliance upon the truthfulness of God.

     The Hebrew word for faith is emuwnah.  It means steady or truth.

     In Habakkuk 2:4 it says ‘Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith’.

In these two verses we see that truth is a key phrase here.  Therefore, we believe that God is telling us the truth in His Word.  That believing in His Son will save us.  Our lives actually mean something not only to Jesus, but to God as well.

So where does this faith come from?

    Go back into your memory banks and think about the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.  I remember the overwhelming feeling of humbleness and brokenness I had in my heart.  I could not fathom why I had not accepted Him sooner.  What was I thinking before that time?  I finally took comfort in knowing I was saved, born again by God’s mercy.  I knew then that I loved Him.

     Then there was the period that my quote, unquote, intelligence stepped in.  Okay, I’m saved, I’m going to heaven and I was just living out the remainder of my days.

The more I studied, the smarter I thought I was.  I had all this knowledge just floating around in my head and I could quote scripture, but there were still these lingering doubts in my head.

     Why couldn’t I have faith in Him like all of the other Christians I knew?  They seemed to have an endless wealth of it.  They never questioned anything; they just took it all on faith.  I asked God to show me where they got this.  I thought that if I worked hard enough, or studied more I would have it nailed down, not realizing that I could not force myself have faith in Him.

     Then God, in His bountiful grace showed me through His Word that He was the provider of my faith.

     Hebrews 12:2a says; ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.’

The key words here are author and finisher.  In the Greek the word for author is archegos, the transliteration being; the chief leader or captain.  The Greek word for finisher is teleiotes meaning the state of completion or perfection.  Now read with me in Hebrews 5:9; ‘And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.’  The word author in this verse is aitios; meaning the causer.  He is the giver of all good things and the constant provider for us all!

Ephesians 2:8 says; ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’

     I am constantly using this scripture with the Mormons in telling them that it is faith, not works which saves them.  So not only is salvation a gift but your faith as well.  The LDS Church says in 2 Nephi 25:23; ‘For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.’

     The problem that I’ve noticed over the years is that after being told all your life that you’re not going to heaven if you don’t have faith and you can’t have faith if you don’t have works, then my friend you soon believe that you’ll never be good enough!  In Mormonism this is true; you’ll never be good enough for the Mormon god.  You’re never told where the faith you need comes from, just that people have it and you need it as well.

     The LDS Church has made it their job to sound Christian.  This type of grammar to the untrained Christian or non-Christian alike is why the church claims so many converts into their fold each year.  We need to be aware of what Jesus says so that we are not deceived!

     Take a moment here and read between the lines of the verse from Nephi.  We labor diligently; we are saved only after all we can do.  In other words from the mouth of a Mormon, ‘we are worked unto death’.  It completely takes away the meaning of grace.  There’s no reason for grace if you need to work for everything. 

 Furthermore, there is no reason for God to intervene.

      We have this ministry to point to the glory of God and His great mercy upon us.  We want you to know that if you’re a member of the LDS faith we love you deeply and we’re fully aware of how much you love Jesus.  But my friend, you’ve been deceived and want to encourage you to think upon the simple things of the Bible.  The things mentioned here are great places to begin!

     One other thing to think about is this; with the Bible we can go to the original Greek and Hebrew to see what the full transliteration of every single word used.  Because the Book of Mormon claims the original text was written in ‘Reformed Egyptian’ and has since been lost, we have nothing to go to for the definitions to back it up.  This is problematic for two reasons.

     The first reason being is that the Book of Mormon keeps changing.  The changes are not typographical in nature but grammatical; therefore the whole meaning of the text changes along with it.  Secondly, which book are you going to place your faith into? 

 When the meaning of a sentence changes, the understanding of who God is must change as well.

      If we can’t trust God to be the same all the time, then how do we know with certainty that we are saved, how do we know what to expect from Him and what does He expect from us collectively as well as individually?

     As always I ask the Mormon to take an objective look at this.  Can you go back to the original “Reformed Egyptian” to gain a deeper understanding of God’s word and to know that what is being said matches up with the rest of this work?  If not then why keep trusting in this god? 

     We’re praying diligently for the Mormon people and hope they will come to know the truth.

 With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18

Read Full Post »

Who Are You? Your Identity in Christ

Posted in Jesus, tagged , , , , , , on 10/25/2010| Leave a Comment »

Today my pastor gave an outstanding sermon on finding our identity in Christ.  He based his sermon on the passage of four definitive miracles found in the gospel of Mark 4:35-5:43.  

This sermon reminded me of a conversation I had with a Mormon a few years back.  A Mormon woman who is a professor at a prestigious university in the States told me that she is “Mormon doctrine”.  When I asked her if she’d do a debate with me about this on radio she declined saying all I needed to know is that she could be defined in this “Mormon doctrine”. 

The key here is who we make our identification with.  When we identify ourselves we have a tendency to label ourselves as a mom, dad, single person, husband, wife, doctor, teacher, policeman, engineer, attorney, etc.  While these things are all admirable, they don’t define us as individuals. 

Let’s go back to when Jesus was having that famous conversation with His disciples.  He asked Peter in Matthew 16:15; “Who do you say that I am?”  Remember Peter’s response?  “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”  What better way to make an identification of Jesus other than declaring Him the Messiah? 

In turn, our identification isn’t what we do, but who we are.  We are not rules and regulations that have been written down on a piece of paper.  We are not a “restored gospel” anymore than we can morph ourselves into a dog.  Can the doctrines of the Mormon Church come to your aid in the midst of a storm as Jesus did for the apostles in Mark 4:37-41?  And I’m not talking about the Church’s welfare system.  But can they sustain you spiritually during the storms in your life? 

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” 

If it’s the Church you’re looking to for protection and guidance then you are not a Christian.  A Christian goes to Jesus for the peace they need during a storm.  They fall at His feet to have Him cast out the demons they fight with day in and day out.  Christians know they can’t fight the inner struggles without Him, no matter how big or small they may be. 

Mark 5:2-6, 12-15; 

“And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.  5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.  6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him…And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.  13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.  14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.  15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.” 

They bypass all others for help because they know Jesus is God incarnate and can perform miracles as He did for Jarius and his young daughter. 

Mark 5:21-23. 35-43; 

“And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.  22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,  23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live…While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?  36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.  37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.  38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.  39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.  40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.  41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.  42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.  43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” 

They run to Him for healing when fighting a debilitating disease as the woman did who was hemorrhaging for twelve years.  Just to touch the hem of His cloak… 

Mark 5:24-34; “And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.  25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,  27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.  28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.  29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?  31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.  33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.  34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” 

Let me tell you something, if you don’t go to Him in the deepest, darkest times of your life you’re in a boatload of trouble.  Miracles don’t just take place on the outside where everyone can see.  Sometimes those miracles take place inside of your heart as it did for the disciples while out on their own boatload of troubles.  The main problem was not understanding at first whom they had on board with them. 

Maybe they thought He was a prophet or just a good guy who loved God and knew scripture.  It’s obvious from the passage in Mark they didn’t realize that God Himself was on that boat.  What they soon realized is that it had to be God.  Only He can control the air, water and storms.  Only the creator of those things can control them. 

The hemorrhaging woman, the rich leader Jarius, and even the crazy guy knew the only way they’d find relief for the pain is through Him.  They all had one thing in common and that was to make sure they were totally and unabashedly devoted to Him.  They knew whom to call on and where to place their faith.  Oswald Chambers said this about our identity with Jesus (Feb. 13); 

“If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him…If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things—things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?” 

Ask yourself; what does His identity mean to you?  When there’s evil around you, who do you run to, the Church or Jesus?  When there’s disease in your body on whom do you call for a cure?  Where my friend is your devotion? 

As my pastor said today “You need a God for the calamities in your life.  We’re lost in our own identity but are found in His.” 

I can debate and know all there is to know about Mormonism but I have a confession.  My greatest source of joy comes in witnessing a Mormon when they come to know the Lord of Hosts.  I pray that if you’re a Mormon you will open your bible and look to Him who can save you today. 

With Love in Christ;

Michelle Grim

Jude 1:24-25; “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

Read Full Post »