: First of all, how could he have died for my guilt when I hadn't even been born yet? What guilt could I have acquired prior to my existence?God is not confined to time and space. He knows everything that happened, is happening and will happen. He knows everything about everyone. He new you in your mothers womb and new you before he created the first man. "Even the hairs on Your head are numbered." Matthew 10:30. He was there when you scraped a knee, when you made vows to yourself that you would never be hurt again, when your parent dies. When Jesus was on the cross, he experienced everyone at one time, past present and future. He felt every pain, every sorrow and every disappointment of everyone who ever existed or ever would exist. "He himself bore our sins in His body."1Peter 2:24 "For Christ died for sins ONCE FOR ALL, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. HE WAS PUT TO DEATH IN THE BODY but MADE ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT." 1Peter 3:18
Jesus literally took our sins in his body so that through his death, our sins and the deseases, pain and ultimate death they cause would die with him. He was the only ONE who could do this since He is not confined by time, depth, or space. When he was on the cross 2000 years ago, he felt you, knew you, wept for you and then died for you. Even before you were made alive by his will, you were very real to Him.
There is not one single person on this earth that doesn't have access to this reconcilliation with the Father. But God is a respectful God who is not going to force you to accept the life he died to give you. But whether you choose to accept it or not does not nullify the fact that it has been done for you.
: Secondly, I can't honestly say that I currently "BELIEVE" that this fella died to absolve me of my guilt (Especially since I hadn't even been born yet). How do I go from a state of NOT BELIEVING to a state of BELIEVING?
I don't know of many who have strong faith in God when they first receive Him. Most people up to the point of accepting God are used to doing things in their own strength. They have a hard time letting go of control. When you first meet someone, you are not going to automatically trust them. First you give them a chance to prove they are trustworthy. No president has ever been elected after coming on the scene for only an hour. You have to come to know the person you are putting your faith into or else it is blind faith. Let me give you a scripture that has been so misunderstood by people... and I'm sure you've heard it.........
As the body without spirit is dead, so FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD." Jas. 2:26
Many interpret this to mean that if your not constantly working and doing good, your faith is dead. That if your a "good" Christian you'll do good things. But this is not so.
Let me explain what faith without works (motion, acting on) means. Let's say a man decides to buy a guitar. He's been hanging out with friends who are musicians and he really believes that he's musically inclined and wants to try and see if he could learn. A couple of days goes by, he does nothing. He still intends to buy one because he believes he could be good. A few more months go by and he thinks of it less and less. A couple of years go by and he's forgotten. Then on his birthday, 5 years later, his friend who is visiting gives him his old guitar because he remembers his interest in it. The man thanks him but never picks it up because his inspiration, desire and faith that he could learn to play it is gone. He never acted on what he started to believe therefore their was no result. The belief is dead.
A girl wins all sorts of awards for acting in highschool. She believes she has talent and she wants to go somewhere with it. She decides that after highschool she will go and study theatre in Universtiy. She graduates, takes a couple of years off, then gets married, but meanwhile in the back of her mind is a strong motivation to still go back to school and take theatre. She never does anything about it and when she turns forty, the town is putting on a play and asks her if she'll be the lead. She says no because she no longer believes she could do it. Her faith is dead because she never acted on it.
Anyone who has done anything in their life have acted on a seed of faith that told them they could. As they venture out in fear and courage, they start their goal in motion. They may not have much confidence in the beginning or even fully understand the process it will take to get there but, as they continue, they see more, learn more and understand more the object of their faith. The more they step out in faith the more faith they have because they are starting to see results. Small at first then larger and larger. Soon they arrive at their destiny because they originally acted on the mustard seed of faith. Every invention, every movie, every song, every talent that has ever been used and fullfilled all began with a seed of faith and all came about to it's fullest bacause of the action taken to achieve it.
Same thing with God. If when I first started to see the lives of others who were transformed and healed by this God and I had ignored the incling in my heart to look into it, we wouldn't be having this discussion. If I hadn't acted on that first seed of faith, (an extremely small and questioning seed of faith,) I never would have given God the chance to prove to me He is real. When I first asked Jesus into my heart I had tons of doubts. I felt strange, I thought "Is this real or am I losing it." I didn't at first say take my life and transform it. I only had enough faith to say "'IF' you are real, show me." My degree of belief in Him is a direct result of slowly coming to know who He is. The more I know Him the more I trust Him and the more I put my life onto His hands. The more I put in His hands, the more chances he gets to show me He's faithful, and the more I believe and trust Him. But it all begins with tiny faith. When we act on it, it grows. If we don't it dies. Faith must be put in motion or it goes nowhere. Faith with works is the difference between great men, and small men.
The Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
He replied, "If you have faith as SMALL as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you."
: Thirdly, how do I ask a dead guy to come into my heart? He did DIE, didn't he? You said he "died to free us from our guilt".
He died and put to death our sin in his body and then rose again to give us His Spirit. The power of the gospel is not just about the death of Jesus for our sins, it is about Him being made alive so that we could be partakers of His Spirit. This is what seperates mere religion and those who walk with Jesus. Religion says, "Jesus died for our sins, go on your way, sin no more, and I'll see you on Sunday." Living in Jesus is about being transformed, living in grace, not trying to conquer sin and habits that are destructive but allowing the redemptive nature of His Spirit (The Counseller of Truth) to heal, restore and and set free. We are called to be His Body (the church.) This is not a building. The body is made up of individuals who have Jesus living in them. God chose for us to be his dwelling place, His temple. Not just Sunday nay sayers. The moment you ask Him into your life, you become ONE with Him and He and it is no longer "You but Christ who lives in You." Galatian 2:20 If this weren't true than I would probably be at the pub right now, drinking copious amount of red wine, telling drunken lies, and believing I was living the good life. Because if Jesus wasn't trully living in me a peaceful, fullfilling life I wouldn't bother with the whole religious thing? I wouldn't be able to stand the boredom.
: Fourthly, it is not true that my attempts to absolve myself of guilt have been to "no avail" as you state above. Many times I have screwed up and many times I have done what was necessary to make good on my mistakes and have come out the other end feeling darn good about myself for it and much less likely to make the exact same mistake ever again. How do you account for this? How do you account for someone being able to have such experiences and growth when they can't even understand the instructions for salvation much less EXECUTE them?
Making amends is good. I don't disagree I've had to make a ton of them myself. I always felt better myself but all the good things I have done in my life never atoned for the bad. Being forgiven by man is great and lightens the load of the heart that is why God calls us to do so but it doesn't atone for the sinful "nature." In fact none of my good qualities atone for my bad ones. I used to think that I wasn't such a bad person. Hey I might call in sick to work because I'm to tired or don't feel like going but hey, when I'm there, I'm a good worker. Think my boss would by that? Amends don't atone for our sin. Amends only help clear the wreckage of it. Making an amends does not destroy sin and lead to salvation. Only Jesus atones for the crap we think, do and react to.
: (P.S. "Wayne" is an alias ALSO. Na na na Na na.)
You've got to be impressed that I even remembered. wink wink, nudge, nudge.
In His awsome Love
Kristin :-)
