Is belief a choice?

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

 Yes, belief was a choice I made.

 

The one and only reason I could choose was because God gave me that choice. If you've heard the Gospel, He's extending that choice to you as well. I'm praying that you take it.  

How do I take it?  You are saying that if you have heard the gospel that God has given you the choice to believe.  If this is so, since I have read the gospel, how do I make that choice to believe?

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

The OP highlights the Church's failure in the area of discipleship.  People make a profession of faith, but then they are left flounder.  This is particularly a problem for someone who comes to know Jesus, but remains living in the same environment with no discipling influence.   They often end up confused and frustrated because they have no way of dealing with the challenges their preivious culture poses to their new found faith. 

What are you saying here exactly?

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

I think this is actually a pretty tough question. It does seem to a large extent we can't actually help what we believe- we believe what seems true. How can we really help what seems true to us? I believe if you are open and praying for guidance God will give you the evidence you need that it will, truly, seem like the truth to you.

 

 

I have prayed many times for faith

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

It sounds to me like you do believe, but it also sounds like your human side is trying to keep you from having faith in something it can't see, smell or touch. Jesus asked, "who do men say that I am?" Peter then listed all the people he had heard people call Jesus. then Jesus asked "but who do you say that I am? Peter said, "you are the son of the living God." Jesus told Peter that God the Father had revealed this to him. Look in your heart. The Bible says, seek and you shall find, Knock and it will be open to you. God must listen to a person repenting of their sins. Jesus loves you. I will be praying for you.

I have been seeking, i have been knocking.  I just want to know how to get the faith that is required to be saved.

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

 

  there are many obstacles which cause doubt and those who receive the Gospel and accept it  go forwards to produce spiritual fruit from their belief. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you accept it?  And what does accept it actually mean?

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

 

 

Jesus said:

ESV > Matthew 7:7-8:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

Seek Jesus himself, and you will find him. That I promise you. Then things will begin to make sense to you again.

 

I have asked for alot of things and have not recieved them.  I have seeked and seeked for answers to questions that I can't understand and am still confused.   

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

There have been some good thoughts here.  I can't really add much, but I was a little troubled by your view of the Bible, that reading it would create more problems.  I don't think this is the case at all.  When it is read with an agenda or preconceived notions, of course it will not be effective.  But if you approach it with an open heart and mind,  the sky's the limit. 

 

I don’t think anyone picks up the bible and starts reading it with a purpose or “agenda” other than to find truth. 

[NothingMakesSenseAnymore]

 

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven,

and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,

and maketh it bring forth and bud,

that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 

so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11

What is he talking about when he says "my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth". 

[gray wolf]

I always took it to mean whatever God says, which would include His written word. Anybody else have any ideas?  A similar verse is 

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  

Certainly his words in Scripture are included here.

Edited December 7, 2013 by gray wolf

[WillfromTexas]

Belief is a choice.  That's what free will is all about!  We all have a choice to believe what the Bible says, believe Jesus died for our sins, and believe he was raised from the dead.  If God forced us to believe then we wouldn't have free will.  What God does is give us faith to believe once we've made the choice to follow him.

 

Personally I believe if you are sincere when you say the sinner's prayer, and accept Jesus as your savior, accept the gift of forgiveness, then you are saved.  What you do with this gift is what is important.  We follow Jesus for what he has done for us and strive to be like Jesus who is our example.  All God wants is your thanks, recognition of Jesus work, and an honest desire to follow him.  We don't follow God out of fear but because we love him and appreciate what he has done to deliver us from damnation.

 

If you've confessed Jesus as your savior then you are saved!  Jesus did everything that needed to be done to get you to Heaven.  Many don't accept Jesus because they think it is too simple.  They think- that's it?!  Don't I have to read the Bible every day?  Don't I have to do this or that?  The answer is no.

 

Does this mean we can live like those who aren't saved?  Once again the answer is no.  We have a higher calling not to live like the world does.  We prove our faith and what we believe by our lives.  When we share Christ, help the poor, love our enemies, read the Bible, and try to avoid sin it shows we are Christians.  It isn't the thing that gets us to Heaven but it's evidence we believe what we believe.  I help that stranger because Jesus lives inside me and is what he wants me to do.

 

Your faith will grow the longer you stick with your faith.  I'm 42 now and have been a 'true' Christian for around 20 years and it's still a learning process.  When you first start it's easy to be swayed by the world and nonbelievers because you're ignorant of God and what the Bible says.  Through time your faith grows and all the things people say don't matter. 

 

There's nothing that could ever be said or done that would take away my faith in Jesus now.  Which goes back to your original question is it a decision.  It is even a decision to this day but I know so much now about God and Christ it's an informed decision.  Every Christian could walk away tomorrow and worship the devil but we don't because we know it leads to destruction.

 

John 5:23-25

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²³ So that all men may give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [in fact] whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, Who has sent Him.

²⁴ I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words [who listens to My message] and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (possesses now) eternal life. And he does not come into judgment [does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation], but he has already passed over out of death into life.

²⁵ Believe Me when I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the time is coming and is here now when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it shall live.