SHOULD I TAKE A STEP OF FAITH?
Module 2 asks a monumental question. Will you take a step of faith?
Meaning, you can’t go into a scientific laboratory and re-create the resurrection of Jesus. But, that is the ultimate truth of Christianity. It must be accepted by faith. Is there enough evidence for you to believe it?
If so, please know that there is a definite cost to be a Christ follower.
Jesus came to teach about the Kingdom and Himself.
The single foundational element that supports all of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul (a New Testament writer) says that if the resurrection of Christ didn’t happen, then Christian faith is worthless. Furthermore, Paul goes on to say, that others in society should pity those who chose to believe in the resurrection because they will waste their lives ……. believing in a lie.
1 Corinthians 15
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The question, “Should I take a step of faith?,” can be reduced to the matter of the resurrection of Jesus.
If Jesus was actually raised from the dead, then we must take a step of faith in obedience. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, a step of faith is one of the worst decisions a person can make (You should be pitied, according to Paul).
Jesus asked His followers two questions that have monumental significance in our life.
All mankind must answer these questions …………….
Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16: 15)
Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” (John 21: 17)
How would you define yourself?
Believer in Jesus.
Agnostic. Someone that doesn’t know for sure whether or not God exists.
Atheist. Someone that believes God does not exist.
Generic believer in God.
Other?
Is there enough evidence to take the leap of faith?
What’s wrong with Atheism?
6 minutes
The Gospel of John states,
“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3: 16-19
Non-Biblical Sources that indicate a man named “Jesus” existed.
Check out Belief Map
FACT: JESUS WAS A HISTORICAL FIGURE. The person of Jesus Christ is not a myth or fairy tale.
Jesus made an astonishing claim……. He claimed to be God in the flesh.
John 5: 17-18
“So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But, Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I.’ So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, but he also called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.”
If His claim is true, He clearly taught that we must believe in Him to have eternal life. John 3: 16
The Bible teaches that we cannot earn entrance into heaven by being a good enough person.
Ephesians 2: 8-9
Titus 3: 5
Acts 13: 39
The preceding verses clearly teach this truth. Think about this …………. How good would you have to be?
I used to think that I would be good enough (on the “right side” of the cut off line) during God’s judgment. God would weigh my good works and my sin compared to other people. I thought that I was better than most and accordingly, I believed that I would go to heaven. Unfortunately, there is no Biblical basis for this thought process. Furthermore, there is no judicial precedent for this presumption. Consider making this argument [I’m a good person] in a courtroom if you were on trial for a particular crime. Do you think the judge would exonerate you of the crime because you were a “good person"? No. If the evidence indicated that you were guilty, then a just judge (or jury) would convict you of the crime.
We must face the claim of Jesus. Fortunately, God gave each of us free will. We can choose to believe the claim or not. If we choose to believe, we must surrender our lives and make Him our personal Lord AND Savior. There is no middle ground.
If we don’t choose ………….. in essence, we have chosen.
Have you ever thought about your soul?
If we have a soul, what does that mean?
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. THAT is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
Brennan Manning
SOME OF THE MORE COMMON OBJECTIONS TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN
The Christian message is “strange.” Why would God come to earth to live with people? How can someone be born of a virgin? Why did Jesus die on a cross? How could Jesus pay for my sins?
The Christian God allows bad things to happen to good people. If He is all powerful, couldn’t he stop the destruction of innocent people? Crime, health issues and adverse weather kill thousands of people each year.
The Genesis account of creation in the Bible is wrong. Science indicates that the “Big Bang” created the world. What else is fabricated?
If God is love, why would He allow innocent people to be exploited or murdered?
Christianity is intolerant. Christians are haters. Right?
Christianity claims to be the only one true religion. How can Christians hold such an exclusionary view that all other religions are wrong?
You can’t prove Christianity. God may not even exist.
Are these barriers to belief legitimate?
The Bible was written by those who knew Jesus.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1: 1 & 14
More than a Carpenter
by Josh McDowell
Paul warned the church in Colossae about false teachings and false philosophies.
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
Colossians 2: 8
What do you want to believe and why?
If you choose Christ, then you have to submit to His rules and His commands. Right?
BUT ……….. If you reject Jesus, you can do what you want, when you want. Right?
Think through the benefits and consequences of your choice.
Another religion, no religion or what?
For example, if you choose agnosticism or atheism, consider the implications of the following:
TIME + MATTER + CHANCE = YOU
How does this belief structure affect your value as a Human Being?
You’re the product of random events ….. Does chance increase or decrease your value as a person?
How does this belief structure affect your basis of morality?
Lying is wrong because of what evolutionary principle?
How does this belief structure affect your view of eternity?
If there is no afterlife, why shouldn’t we oppress others? After all …. since no god exists, we will not be judged.
How does this belief structure affect your sense of meaning?
Chances are you are a “common person;” therefore, in 200 years, what will remain of your contribution to society?
LIVING WATERS MINISTRIES
The Atheist Delusion Movie
62 minutes
According to a Christian Author and Pastor Tim Keller, people choose to believe in Christianity when the three (3) basic thoughts converge:
Intellectual reasons – if the arguments and evidence for Christianity are compelling
Personal experience – a crisis and interpretation thereof. A person experiences a “need” and Christianity satisfies
The need may be a need for forgiveness, meaning, redemption, etc.
Social circles - if there are communities that people wish to be a part of. A person takes on their belief structure.
What about other religions? Why Christianity?
More in Module 8
But ……. can I trust the Bible?
Hasn’t it has been translated and changed over centuries. Is it reliable?
Consider the Dead Sea Scrolls.
More in Module 4
The Bible was written by those who knew Jesus.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
2 Peter 1: 16
Please don’t underestimate the gravity of the decision to follow Jesus.
The original twelve gave up everything and were eventually martyred. Jesus asks you to give your life away also.
The Gospel writer, Luke, provides the following admonition:
Luke - Chapter 14
25 Great crowds were following him. He turned around and addressed them as follows: 26 “Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters—yes, more than his own life—otherwise he cannot be my disciple. 27 And no one can be my disciple who does not carry his own cross and follow me.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if he has enough money to pay the bills? 29 Otherwise he might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh!
30 “‘See that fellow there?’ they would mock. ‘He started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!’
31 “Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of 10,000 is strong enough to defeat the 20,000 men who are marching against him?
32 “If the decision is negative, then while the enemy troops are still far away, he will send a truce team to discuss terms of peace. 33 So no one can become my disciple unless he first sits down and counts his blessings—and then renounces them all for me.
34 “What good is salt that has lost its saltiness? 35 Flavorless salt is fit for nothing—not even for fertilizer. It is worthless and must be thrown out. Listen well if you would understand my meaning.”
Charlie Peace was a notorious English criminal who lived in the 1800’s. When he was being taken to the gallows, a priest followed him reading about heaven and hell.
At the mention of hell, Peace reportedly turned to the priest and said: “Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!”
With respect to the claims of Jesus Christ / Christianity, does it really matter how today’s “Christians” conduct themselves?
Does Christian conduct, regardless of the era, somehow negate the existence of Jesus or the truth of God’s word?
Maximillian Kolbe was a Polish priest. At a prisoner of war camp (Auschwitz), Kolbe was simply called Prisoner 16670 by his Nazi jailers.
Kolbe’s faith astonished others in July 1941, when a prisoner managed to escape from Auschwitz. As a reprisal for the escape and to deter future escape attempts, the camp commander randomly chose ten men to be killed in “exchange” for the one.
The guards picked out the last of the ten victims: Franciszek Gajowniczek. When chosen, Gajowniczek cried out, “my wife, my children! I’ll never see them again!”. Moved by the man’s response, Kolbe asked the guards if he could take Gajowniczek’s place. They agreed.
Kolbe didn’t know Gajowniczek. BUT, what if he did? What if Kolbe knew that Gajowniczek was a selfish and sinful person? Would Kolbe still have chosen to die for him?
These ten prisoners would be starved to death. After two weeks of starvation, only Kolbe was still alive. The guards decided that it was time to put an end to his life and on August 14, 1941, Kolbe was given a lethal injection of carbolic acid. According to observers, he was steadfast in his faith until the very end.
“But God proves His love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5: 8
But what happened to Gajowniczek?
He died on March 13, 1995, at Brzeg in Poland, 95 years old (53 years after Kolbe had saved him). But he was never to forget the ragged monk. After his release from Auschwitz, Gajowniczek made his way back to his hometown, with the dream of seeing his family again. He found his wife but his two sons had been killed during the war.
Every year on August 14 he went back to Auschwitz. He spent the next five decades paying homage to Father Kolbe, honoring the man who died on his behalf.
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
An excerpt from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis