The Biblical God.
Most, but not all of the world's major religions are theistic: having as the basis of their practice a belief and faith in the existence of one or more deities, or gods, that are distinctly separate from mankind and with whom it is possible to have a relationship.
The Biblical God.
But God’s Word tells us that believing in the real true God of the Bible is not enough to secure Salvation, let alone believing in some false god, or some non existent god, that is just the figment of your imagination.
Agnosticism and atheism.
Atheism
This is, in the broadest sense, an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Wikipedia
Agnosticism
This is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist." Wikipedia
Agnostic Theism.
Agnostic Theism
Agnostotheism (or agnostitheism) is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism.
An agnostic theist believes in the existence of a god or gods, but regards the basis of this proposition as unknown or inherently unknowable. Wikipedia
Whereas atheism and theism deal with belief,
agnosticism deals with knowledge.
The Greek roots of the term combine a (without) and gnosis (knowledge). Hence, agnosticism literally means
“without knowledge.”
Polytheism.
The term polytheism is based on the Greek roots poly (many) and theos (god).
Thus, the term is used to describe belief systems in which several gods are acknowledged and worshiped.
Throughout the course of human history, polytheistic religions of one sort or another have been the dominant majority.
The classic Greek, Roman, Indian and Norse religions, for example, were all polytheisms.
Henotheism.
Henotheism is based upon the Greek roots heis or henos, (one), and theos (god).
But the term is not a synonym for monotheism, despite the fact that it has the same etymological meaning.
Another word expressing the same idea is monolatry, which is based on the Greek roots monos (one), and latreia (service or religious worship).
The term appears to have been first used by Julius Wellhausen to describe a type of polytheism in which just a single god is worshiped but where other gods are accepted as existing elsewhere.
Many tribal religions fall into this category.
Pantheism.
Pantheism is the belief that God and the universe are one and the same. There is no dividing line between the two. Pantheism is a type of religious belief rather than a specific religion, similar to terms like monotheism (belief in a single God) and polytheism (belief in multiple gods). Pantheists view God as *immanent and impersonal. The belief system grew out of the Scientific Revolution, and pantheists generally are strong supporters of scientific inquiry, as well as religious toleration. The early Egyptian and Hindu religions are also regarded as pantheistic
Animism.
Pantheism is not animism.
Animism is the belief that animals, trees, rivers, mountains, all things have a spirit. However, these spirits are unique rather than being part of a greater spiritual whole.
These spirits are frequently approached with reverence and offerings to ensure continued goodwill between humanity and the spirits.
Pantheism.
Famous Pantheists.
Baruch Spinoza introduced pantheistic beliefs to a wide audience in the 17th century.
Albert Einstein stated:
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."
He also stated that "science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind," underscoring that pantheism is neither anti-religious nor atheistic
Panentheism.
Panentheism (Greek pan which means "all," en which means "in," and theos which means "God") is the position that God is greater than the universe, that the universe is in God, that he permeates every part of nature, is part of nature, extends beyond nature, and is also distinct from it.
Panentheism should not be confused with pantheism which says God and nature are the same and cannot be distinguished.
However, panentheism maintains that God is changing. "Panentheists think of God as a finite, changing, director of world affairs who works in cooperation with the world in order to achieve greater perfection in his nature...they believe the world is God's body."
Impersonal Idealism.
In the philosophy of Impersonal Idealism, universal ideals are identified as god.
There are elements of impersonal idealism, for example, in the Christian belief that "God is love," or the humanist view that "God is knowledge."
One of the spokesmen for this philosophy, Edward Gleason Spaulding, explained his philosophy thus:
God is the totality of values, both existent and subsistent, and of those agencies and efficiencies with which these values are identical.
Worldview models.
Transcendent describes something so excellent that it's beyond the range of human understanding.
Something immanent is inherent in and spread throughout something else — it's innate, intrinsic and inborn.
Worldview models.
We live in a day when there is a great war going on in the society in which we live. There are many battlefronts and aspects to the war, but the primary war in our day is between Christianity and secular humanism. Secular humanism is a religion and a philosophy of life which views man as the supreme being of the universe. It rejects the existence of God and the supernatural. It sees moral values as relative and changing and varying from person to person.
Renaissance Humanism.
Humanism is not something that is new and unique to our modern day era and in fact it pre dates the renaissance in ancient philosophy.
The central focus of Renaissance Humanism was, quite simply, human beings. Humans were praised for their achievements, which were attributed to human ingenuity and human effort rather than divine grace.
Humans were regarded optimistically in terms of what they could do, not just in the arts and sciences but even morally.
Human concerns were given greater attention, leading people to spend more time on work that would benefit people in their daily lives rather than the otherworldly interests of the Church.
Worldview models.
Deism is actually a form of monotheism, but it remains distinct enough in character and development to justify discussing separately. In addition to adopting the beliefs of general monotheism, deists also adopt the belief that the single existing god is personal in nature and transcendent from the created universe.
Deism.
Deists reject the belief, common among monotheists in the West, that this god is immanent, presently active in the created universe.
Symbols from Deism sites and literature.
Voltaire and Albert Einstein were deists. (Deism.com)
As most Deists know, Deism and Deists have played important and essential roles in making a much better world. From Enlightenment Deists like Voltaire, to Deists of the American Revolution and the founding of the American Republic, to important people of progress who held Deistic beliefs in modern times, such as Albert Einstein, Deists and Deistic thinking are indispensable components of human progress.
Unfortunately the vast majority of people are not aware of these facts, and they are not even aware of Deism. A primary purpose and goal of the World Union of Deists is to correct this problem by educating people about Deism. One way of accomplishing this important goal is to point out to people the important and famous people who they are probably aware of, who were Deists.
Neil Armstrong a deist. (Deism.com)
Another very important person in the progress of humanity who was a Deist is the American astronaut and first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969 when Armstrong first stepped foot on the moon, 500 million people around the world were watching. What they did not know, and what most people still do not know, is that the Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, was a Deist. When he was a young man and applying for a position as a Boy Scout troop leader at a Methodist church, he answered the question on the application regarding what his religious beliefs were by writing that he was a Deist.
(An interesting and concise biography of Neil Armstrong that brings out his Deism is Neil Armstrong 1930 - 2012: Biography, Interview, Quotes by Almanzo Wilder.)
THE CONVERSION OF ADONIRAM JUDSON –
THE FIRST MISSIONARY TO BURMA.
As the sun was going down he came to a small village. He found an inn, put his horse in the stable, and asked the innkeeper for a room. The inn was nearly full. There was only one room left. The landlord told him that the room was next to that of a young man who was extremely sick, perhaps dying. He might be disturbed in the night. “No,” said Adoniram, he would not let a few noises next door stop him from having a good night’s rest. After giving him something to eat, the landlord took Adoniram to his room and left him there. Adoniram got into bed, and waited for sleep to come.
But he could not sleep. He could hear soft sounds coming from the next room, footsteps coming and going, a board creaking, low voices, groans and gasps. These sounds did not disturb him too much – not even the thought that the man might be dying. Death was common in Adoniram’s New England. It might happen to anyone, at any age.
What disturbed him was the thought that the man in the next room might not be prepared for death. Was he, himself, prepared for it? These thoughts went through his mind as he lay there half dreaming, half awake. He wondered how he himself would face death. His father would welcome death as a door opening to eternal glory. But to Adoniram, the unbeliever, death was the door to an empty pit, to darkness, at best to extinction, at worst to – what? His flesh crawled as he thought of the grave, the slow decay of the dead body, the weight of the soil on the buried coffin. Was this all, through the endless centuries?
What disturbed him was the thought that the man in the next room might not be prepared for death. Was he, himself, prepared for it? These thoughts went through his mind as he lay there half dreaming, half awake. He wondered how he himself would face death. His father would welcome death as a door opening to eternal glory. But to Adoniram, the unbeliever, death was the door to an empty pit, to darkness, at best to extinction, at worst to – what? His flesh crawled as he thought of the grave, the slow decay of the dead body, the weight of the soil on the buried coffin. Was this all, through the endless centuries?
But another part of him laughed at these midnight thoughts. What would his friends at college think of these terrors of the night? Above all, what would his friend Jacob Eames think? He imagined Eames laughing at him, and he felt ashamed. When he woke the sun was shining through the window. His fears had vanished with the darkness. He could hardly believe that he had been so weak and fearful the night before.
He dressed himself and went downstairs to have breakfast. He found the innkeeper and paid his bill. Then he asked if the young man in the next room was better. The man answered, “He is dead.” Then Adoniram asked, “Do you know who he was?” The innkeeper replied, “Oh, yes. He was a young man from Brown University. His name was Eames, Jacob Eames.” It was his best friend, the unbelieving Jacob Eames, who had died in the next room the night before. Adoniram was never able to remember how he got through the next few hours. All he remembered was that he did not leave the inn for some time. Finally he left, riding his horse away in a daze. One word kept going through his mind – “lost!” In death, his friend Jacob Eames was lost – utterly lost. Lost in death. Lost to his friends, to the world, to the future. Lost as a puff of smoke is lost in the air. If Eames’ own views were true, neither his life nor his death had any meaning.
He dressed himself and went downstairs to have breakfast. He found the innkeeper and paid his bill. Then he asked if the young man in the next room was better. The man answered, “He is dead.” Then Adoniram asked, “Do you know who he was?” The innkeeper replied, “Oh, yes. He was a young man from Brown University. His name was Eames, Jacob Eames.” It was his best friend, the unbelieving Jacob Eames, who had died in the next room the night before. Adoniram was never able to remember how he got through the next few hours. All he remembered was that he did not leave the inn for some time. Finally he left, riding his horse away in a daze. One word kept going through his mind – “lost!” In death, his friend Jacob Eames was lost – utterly lost. Lost in death. Lost to his friends, to the world, to the future. Lost as a puff of smoke is lost in the air. If Eames’ own views were true, neither his life nor his death had any meaning.
But what if Eames had been wrong? What if the Bible was literally true and a personal God was real? Then Jacob Eames was eternally lost.
And already, that moment, Eames knew he had been wrong. But now it was too late for Eames to repent. Knowing his error, Eames was already experiencing the unimaginable torments of the flames of Hell. All chance of being saved was lost, eternally lost. These thoughts went through Adoniram’s shocked mind. Adoniram thought that his best friend dying in the next room could not be a coincidence. He thought that his father’s God had arranged these events by providence, that it was not by chance at all.
And already, that moment, Eames knew he had been wrong. But now it was too late for Eames to repent. Knowing his error, Eames was already experiencing the unimaginable torments of the flames of Hell. All chance of being saved was lost, eternally lost. These thoughts went through Adoniram’s shocked mind. Adoniram thought that his best friend dying in the next room could not be a coincidence. He thought that his father’s God had arranged these events by providence, that it was not by chance at all.
Suddenly Adoniram felt that the God of the Bible was the real God. He turned his horse around and started home. His journey had lasted only about five weeks, but in that five weeks what had begun as the throwing off of the control of his parents had turned into a soul-shaking inner convulsion. He was now in a deep turmoil, in mortal fear for his own soul. He returned home an awakened sinner.
The Biblical God (Answers in Genesis)
The God of the Bible the Creator and triune God.
The God of the Bible is not merely one of a plethora of gods from which we may pick and choose to worship, nor is He to be put on par with other supposed deities. He is the omnipotent Creator and Redeemer of mankind.
The Creator has revealed Himself in both science and history, and the two subjects are intertwined. It is just as wrong to leave God out of the study of bacteria and volcanoes as it is to leave Him out of the rise and fall of nations or the extinction of dinosaurs. God made everything and He sustains everything.
God the Father, in the power of God the Holy Spirit and through the agency of God the Son Jesus Christ, created everything that exists. The doctrine of the Trinity is not derived from pagan beliefs but was developed from the plain teaching of Scripture. God is one Being in three Persons.
The Biblical God.
James 2:19.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that, and shudder.
James is showcasing the difference between mental agreement and a genuine saving faith. Many people were claiming that, because they believed in the God of Moses and they could chant Deuteronomy 6:4, which says, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” they were right with God. James shatters that false hope by comparing that kind of belief to the knowledge held by Satan and his demons.
If all that is required for salvation is mental agreement with the truth about God, then Satan and the demons can be saved, too. They know it is all true. Satan’s minions are more aware of God’s reality than most people, yet the demons are not right with God.
The demons may believe some things that are true about God, but they’re certainly not saved. (gotquestions.org)
Yet the demons believe in the Biblical God unlike most humans.
Monotheism.
The term monotheism comes from the Greek monos, (one) and theos (god).
Thus, monotheism is the belief in the existence of a single god. Monotheism is typically contrasted with polytheism, which is a belief in many gods, and with atheism, which is an absence of any belief in any gods.
The three Monotheistic religions in the World are Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The God of the Christian and the Jew is the Biblical God, but the god of Islam is not.
Knowing God.
Believing in the only true God and His existence is not enough, you need to have a relationship with Him. “You need to KNOW HIM”
John 4:22-26.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.
Then Jesus declared, I, the one speaking to you, I am he.
Christianity
Christianity
From the Greek: Christos, 'Anointed' - referring to Jesus Christ
Islam
Derived from an Arabic word for 'submission'. Also related to the Arabic word salaam, 'peace'.
Origin of the name
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Founder
Jesus Christ ( 4 B.C. - 30 A.D.)
Mohammed (570 - 632 A.D.)
Christianity
Christianity
Three main groups: Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic
Islam
Two main groups: Sunni and Shia (The division occurred due to a dispute as to the legitimate successor of the prophet Mohammed). There is also a mystical/ ascetic movement in Islam known as Sufi
Divisions
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Followers
(2009 Estimates)
(2.2 Billion)
1.5 Billion
Christianity
Christianity
One God, who exists in three distinct persons (The Trinity): Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
Islam
One God (Arabic: Allah), who is not a trinity. The Islamic view of God is called strict Monotheism (Quran 112:1).
Nature of God
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Christianity
Christianity
Islam
The Quran or Koran (Arabic: 'recitation'), revealed to the prophet Mohammed over a period of about 20 years. The Quran is the final revelation given by Allah to mankind.
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Holy Book(s)
The Bible (from the Greek: Biblos, 'books'), given by God to man. The Bible writers were inspired by God in their writings. Thus Christians refer to the Bible as the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).
Christianity
Christianity
The second person of the Trinity and born of the Virgin Mary. "...true God from true God" (Nicene Creed)
Islam
Isa (Jesus) was a prophet, sent by Allah and born of the Virgin Mary, but not divine (Quran 5:17).
Jesus Christ
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Jesus Mission
To reconcile Man to God, through his death as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.
To proclaim the Injil, or gospel. This gospel has been corrupted over time by human additions and alterations.
Christianity
Christianity
For our sake he was crucified, he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven..." (Nicene Creed)
Islam
Jesus was not crucified (Quran 4:157), but was raised to Heaven by Allah (4:158).
Death of Jesus
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Holy Spirit
The third person of the Trinity, truly divine: "....with the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified." (Nicene Creed)
Identical with the Angel Gabriel, who appeared to the Prophet Mohammed giving him the Quranic text.
Christianity
Christianity
The writings of the early church fathers and ecumenical councils, including the Creeds.
Islam
The Hadith, a collection of traditions/ sayings of the Prophet Mohammed. The Hadith functions as a supplement to the Quran, giving guidance to Muslims for daily living.
Other Traditions
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Christianity
Christianity
Islam
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Rituals &
Sacraments
Baptism and Holy Communion In Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism five more are added viz:
Confirmation
Marriage
Penance
Holy Orders and Anointing of the sick
Prayer is also an important part of the faith.
Five important rituals (known as the pillars of Islam):
Shahadah - A profession of faith
Salat - Prayer five times daily
Zakat - alms giving
Sawm - Fasting during the Holy month of Ramadan
Hajj - Pilgrimage to the Holy city of Mecca.
Christianity
Christianity
We inherit a sinful nature through our common ancestor Adam, who rebelled against God. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins through his death on the Cross (Romans 5:12-17).
Islam
There is no concept of original sin, nor vicarious atonement. All Humans are born sinless, but human weakness leads to sin.
Sin
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Salvation
By grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8- 9)
Achieved through good works, thus personal righteousness must outweigh personal sin (Quran 23:101-103).
Christianity
Christianity
A place of everlasting punishment for the unrighteous (Matthew 25:46). There is no crossover between Heaven and Hell.
Islam
A place of torment and fire (Quran 25:65, 104:6-7). In Islam, Hell is known as Jahannam. Jahannam has several levels and a person may not necessarily spend eternity there.
Hell
Comparison of the two largest monotheistic faiths.
Muslims regard Mohammed more as the restorer of the true monotheistic faith, rather than the founder of a new religion
Figures taken from The World Almanac and Book of Facts
Misplaced hope.
There are those who have placed their hope in false religions and in their own good works or in man and his limited knowledge.
Islam is a Monotheistic religion, where people have blown themselves, and others up, in the hope of entrance to heaven and 72 virgins, so we don’t have to look far to see flaws in the writings that they consider as Holy books.
In my research, I was shocked at some of the articles around the subject of sexual behaviour, obviously aimed only at what would appeal to the sinful nature of depraved men.
It is no wonder that in the reign of Isis we saw woman raped and sold as sex slaves.
Misplaced hope.
https://forum.samharris.org/ forum/ viewthread/ 9702
Here is where I am a bit confused, the few Muslims that I know are very moral people (in an American cultural backdrop) and I view them (compared to my own set of morals) as being sexually repressed. They are wonderful family people (as I view them).
Now someone please take me from the concept of modesty, demonstrated by the wearing of headgear, and complete misogyny displayed in social interactions to the big sex party in heaven for martyrs.
I may be overstating it a bit, but doesn’t that marginalize and objectionalize the ladies? Doesn’t a good father come to the conclusion that each of those 72 are somebody’s daughter.
Dualism.
The essence of religious dualism usually manifests in the cosmic battle between the forces of good and light against the minions of evil and darkness, which exists as an all-embracing conflict defining arcane mechanisms of the universe.
In some traditions, such as Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, this cosmic struggle is between two distinct and coeternal principles, and the battle is everlasting, for it is the very definition of the universe itself.
In more moderate dualistic traditions, such the Gnostic school of Valentinianism, the source of evil and darkness is inferior to the principle of good and light, with the former being an extension of the latter.
Dualism (Mere Christianity CS Lewis)
What is the problem? A universe that contains much that is obviously bad and apparently meaningless, but containing creatures like ourselves who know that it is bad and meaningless.
There are only two views that face all the facts. One is the Christian view that this is a good world that has gone wrong, but still retains the memory of what it ought to have been. The other is the view called Dualism. Dualism means the belief that there are two equal and independent powers at the back of everything, one of them good and the other bad, and that this universe is the battlefield in which they fight out an endless war. I personally think that next to Christianity, Dualism is the manliest and most sensible creed on the market. But it has a catch in it.
Dualism (Mere Christianity CS Lewis)
The two powers, or spirits, or gods, the good one and the bad one are supposed to be quite independent. They both existed from all eternity. Neither of them made the other, neither of them has any more right than the other to call itself God. Each presumably thinks it is good and thinks the other bad. One of them likes hatred and cruelty, the other likes love and mercy, and each backs its own view. Now what do we mean when we call one of them the Good Power and the other the Bad Power? Either we are merely saying that we happen to prefer the one to the other like preferring beer to cider or else we are saying that, whatever the two powers think about it, and whichever we humans, at the moment, happen to like, one of them is actually wrong, actually mistaken, in regarding itself as good.
Dualism (Mere Christianity CS Lewis)
Now if we mean merely that we happen to prefer the first, then we must give up talking about good and evil at all. For good means what you ought to prefer quite regardless of what you happen to like at any given moment. If "being good" meant simply joining the side you happened to fancy, for no real reason, then good would not deserve to be called good. So we must mean that one of the two powers is actually wrong and the other actually right.
“Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.”
Do you believe in the Biblical God.
Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor, This is one of his quotes.
He said there were two kinds of Christians: those who sincerely believe in God and those who, just as sincerely, believe that they believe. You can tell them apart by their actions in decisive moments.
Richard Wurmbrand (Tortured for Christ)
The Biblical definition of faith.
Is your idea of God, the idea, that God wants to make you happy and give you your hearts desires and satisfy your every whim? Satan can offer you that, he offered Jesus the “Nations of the world”
Hebrews 11:1.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Your faith can be defined by what you hope for.
Ask yourself these questions:
What or who is my hope in?
Is my hope in man, or is my hope in God?
Is what I have put my hope in worth sharing with others?
Is your hope in man?
Psalm 146:3-5.
Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God.
Psalm 147:10-11.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Psalm 118:8.
It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.
Or is your hope in God.
Psalm 33:13-22.
From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
Hope is the eye of Faith.
Biblical hope is not crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, it is the foundation of our faith, and can be seen by the way we behave.
Once we have spiritual sight we then have the choice of what to set our eyes on.
Hebrews 12:1-2.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.
Biblical hope is evidenced by striving to be holy.
Do you have a desire to be Christ-like?
1 John 3:1-3.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Biblical hope is evidenced by striving to be holy.
Holiness means being set apart, not sinless perfection.
1 Peter 1:13-17
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
Hope is evidenced by obedience.
Hebrews 11:6-7. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,
in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
What are you doing in holy fear? ( working out your Salvation ??)
2 Corinthians 4:18.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Is your hope in worth sharing?
1 Peter 3:14-16.
But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
How did we receive this Hope?
Ephesians 2:12-13.
Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Romans 15:4.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
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