FAITH is probably the most debated topic in Religion forums.
Christians are so confused on FAITH.

Don't be left in the dark;
know what your FAITH is about...how it works...whether you have it...whether it is necessary!

We need to know why and what we believe.

What makes us Men and Women of FAITH.

Let's examine ours!

The starting point is here...

..."THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS"...:


"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;
prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates?"
2Cor 13:5



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Faith Consists of Three Parts

A.Knowledge, then

B.Agreement, then

C.Trust


It is important that someone at least have a basic knowledge of something in order to believe in it.

While this certainly does not mean that one has to be a theologian in order to become a Christian, it does mean that your faith would be misplaced if it were not grounded in the essentials.

If you become a Christian, you will spend the rest of your life growing in your faith—learning more and more over time. (Really fun!) But to start with, God will accept you just as you are.


It is enough to understand that the Bible teaches that:

•There is one and only one God (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10)

•That Jesus Christ is truly God (Titus 2:13; 1 John 5:20)

•That Christ is unique (John 14:6; Philippians 2:9-11)


And as the most famous passage of Scripture says:


"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."
-- John 3:16


www.faithfacts.org

THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS:


•THERE IS ONE AND ONLY ONE GOD !!!



Genesis 1:1;

v1, "In the beginning GOD
created the heaven and the earth."




Exodus 20:3;

v3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."




Isaiah 43:10

v10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD,
and my servant whom I have chosen:
that ye may know and believe me,
and understand that I am he:
before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me."

THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS:


• THAT JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY GOD


Titus 2:13,14

V13, Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing
of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

V14, Who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.



1 John 5:20

V20, "And we know that the Son of God is come,
and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that is true,
and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God,
and eternal life."

THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS:


•THAT CHRIST IS UNIQUE !!!

John 14:6

V6, "Jesus saith unto him,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."




Philippians 2:9-11

V9, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name:

V10, That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of things in heaven,
and things in earth,
and things under the earth;

V11, And that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Faith is ALWAYS necessary; "...without faith it is impossible to please God." You cannot call yourself Christian if you don't understand faith. It is simply believing that God DOES exist, that he DID send His Son to die for us, that Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us, that He will never leave us or forsake us. Faith is at the core of what it means to be a Christian.

Oh but there is not only one God. Because if there wasn't, this would have been pointless for God to say. Because if there were no other "Gods" then we couldn't possibly put any Gods before our Father.

Exodus 20:3
King James Version (KJV)


3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

We worship one God, yes. But that does not mean there is only one. Know ye not that ye are Gods?

We also have to keep the meaning of words in context to understand exactly what is being said. For we have Jesus saying this -

Isaiah 44:6

6Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Notice, besides me there is no other God. Then we have Jesus saying this on the cross.

Matthew 27:46

46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?


This why it is important to keep the context meaning of the word in context. For we have Jesus saying there is no other God besides him, then while he was on the cross he yells out my God. So from this, we can gather Jesus is OUR God, he is the authority over us. God does mean a being in authority. There is no other with authority over us but Jesus himself, thus he is our God. And his father, is his God eg., his father has authority over him. And is why Jesus did the will of the father. I mean, he didn't do it out of duress or being forced. He did it out of love, to show his submissiveness and obedience to his father, his love to the father.

I will use the verse you submitted, Cowboy!


"Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel,
and his redeemer the LORD of hosts;
I am the first, and I am the last;
and beside me there is no God."
Isaiah 44:6

There is ONLY one God!

Matthew 27:46

"And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Jesus was, agonizingly and on purpose, quoting a passage from the Book of Psalms written by David. Psalms 22:1

The excruciating pain, anguish, and suffering He was experiencing was to some degree a fulfillment of that psalm.

Some scholars have described the sins of man which the Saviour bore upon Himself to have been so awful that His Father turned away from looking. Thus the momentary sensation of forsakeness.


You should get a better understanding or experience after that entire Chapter is read.

I'll post it here:


Psalms 22:1-31


1, "To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar,
A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

2, O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not;
and in the night season, and am not silent.

3, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4, Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5, They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee,
and were not confounded.

6, But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7, All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip,
they shake the head, saying,

8, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him,
seeing he delighted in him.

9, But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope
when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10, I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

11, Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12, Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13, They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint:
my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15, My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
nd thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16, For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:
they pierced my hands and my feet.

17, I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18, They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19, But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20, Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

21, Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

22, I will declare thy name unto my brethren:
in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23, Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him;
and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24, For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25, My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation:
I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26, The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him:
your heart shall live for ever.

27, All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD:
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28, For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.

29, All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship:
all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him:
and none can keep alive his own soul.

30, A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

31, They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born,
that he hath done this."

There were some who worshipped false gods or man-made idols instead of the True and Living God. The Lord will not have us to make graven images to bow down to. He is our God & Creator!




I assure you, Cowboy, we are not gods in the literal sense.


In John 10:34, Jesus was quoting from a passage in Psalms 82


See:

"What does the Bible mean by 'you are gods' "

http://www.gotquestions.org/you-are-gods.html

www.GotQuestions.org

You say we are not Gods in the literal sense. That just makes no sense at all.

The literal definition, the literal meaning of "god" is as follows

1 person or thing of supreme value
2 a powerful ruler

And besides the judges it is exactly what you said. This is the exact thing I been saying this entire time about "god" and what that word means. And is why Jesus is our God, he is the authority over us. He is our ruler. And again is why Jesus called out my God, my God, when he was crying out to his father on the cross.

Please keep what the verse is saying as what the verse is saying. This verse does not speak of any false Gods, man-made idols, or anything of such. Says specifically thou shalt have no other Gods before me.

How do you figure? The only thing in common with the two are the words "Why hast thou forsaken me". Doesn't have the eli eli part in the song. And you truly think Jesus was up on the cross singing?

Definition if psalms - originally meaning "music of the lyre" or "songs sung to a harp" and then to any piece of music.

The Psalms were also prayers and praises to God
expressing the condition of the hearts of men toward God.

Much of the Psalms were prophetic utterances.
Many of them described future events.

Jesus, the Son of David, very much loved the Psalms.
He fulfilled the Psalms and all of the scriptures.

Jesus said:
"Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of me.
John 5:39


Cowboy, try to keep in mind this is not a debate.

Take time out to study your word.

Early in my post it was noted that Faith has three important points or steps.



+Knowledge of the Word of God

+Agreeing with the Word of God

+Trusting the Word of God



Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:2

I appreciate all that, but already knew it. My entire point was because of your comment



He wasn't quoting any Psalms, nor did he necassarily do it on purpose. A prophecy is not a set in stone thing to happen, for example say a prophecy said Jesus was going to feed a poor hungry lady on Tuesday at 2pm. Jesus isn't going to do this to specifically fulfill it. A prophecy is a forseen action, the action committed wasn't done to fulfill the prophecy, but was going to happen anyways and the prophecy is merely knowledge of the event before it happened. Please bare with the example lol, it's not ment to demean anything or anything of such, just an example.

I see the example you are attempting to display here, Cowboy!

But Jesus Christ was aware of His purpose and His role in Biblical Prophecy.

He knew that He was sent.

No one knew the Prophetic Word as perfectly as Jesus Christ.

He knew that He was the fulfillment of Prophecy.

He was/is the Living WORD.


And before we continue...
Your posts to this thread may become a farce
if you aren't at least under the persuasion or the understanding
that there is no other God beside the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This is foundational teaching and understanding to a Christian's Faith.

Be certain that you don't take a skeptic approach to God's Word.

Have you spent far too much time conversing with those of various beliefs
than you have in God's Word...?