Why Do I Believe What I Believe ?                                                     12-04-14

Psalm 119:105 (NASB)  Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Have you ever asked yourself that question? I have..but first, the rest of the story. When I first got saved I had a voracious appetite for God's written Word. I couldn't get enough of it. I studied and read the Bible endlessly. As a good friend about his salvation experience," When I got saved, I got saved!" That describes my experience also. Once what had happened to me took hold, nothing else mattered. I was totally absorbed and I saturated myself with the things of God. Now as all of you seasoned Christians out there already know, that feeling goes away after a while; and "walking the walk" takes it place. After a few years of walking I found that I had some questions about what the Word of God was saying. Now don't get me wrong..I didn't lose my faith in God Or Jesus. Neither did I lose my faith in the men of God whose ministry and teaching I was sitting under; but I had questions mostly about the consistency of the Scripture. Here's an example. If we have eternal life
when we believe:

Romans 10:9 (NASB) ⁹  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
John 3:16 (NASB) ¹⁶  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Then why do we preach that it can be lost?
Matthew 10:22 (NASB) ²²  "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Hebrews 3:6 (NASB) ⁶  but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

 


Consider this. If the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the subsequent gifts, is a blessing that is given after salvation, a "second blessing" if you will.
Acts 19:2 (NASB) ²  He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."


Then why does the Bible say this?
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NASB) ¹³  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
 


Are spiritual gifts(especially speaking in tongues) given to us for the asking?)  If we ask and are willing to receive, does God oblige? If so then why this.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (NASB) ¹¹  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

For most of my Christian life, I entertained these and other questions, but in my mind only.I never discussed them, thinking that they really weren't essential. I knew what I had been taught and believed.
Then a few years back during a very critical period something happened. Not going into detail, I will give a brief summary. I spoke a prophecy over a person and a situation I believed was from God. "Thus saith the Lord" I began..... That prophecy was not fulfilled and remains unfilled as I speak. That day was the starting point for me and my search for truth for my life. It has haunted me many times since I "spoke it." I have asked for and received forgiveness from God and have been delivered from condemnation(the self kind) and have moved on. However, my question to myself(the title to this message) remains a work in progress. My personal Bible study from that day to this is a quest to answer that question to my self satisfaction.

A few weeks back I decided to write about doctrine. Now doctrine can be divisive if you approach it with the perspective of I'm right and everybody else is wrong. There are many different interpretations out there and I believe everyone has a little bit of truth. However, if doctrine wasn't important, God would not have included it in His Word would He? Jesus and the Cross is the Divining Rod of doctrine. Once we start looking beyond Calvary,EVERYTHING IS DOCTRINE! That being said there is some destructive doctrine being preached these days that is bewildering and harmful to the faith of  many good Christians, both young and old. I hope you will enjoy and become interested in what I have to say. I plan to take four or five basic doctrines that I believe are important to our daily lives and discuss what I have come to believe. Agree or disagree, you are free to do both. I hope you somehow are blessed by these messages.

 Psalm 119:11 (NASB) ¹¹  Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. 



God Bless