Has religion served its purpose?

@kellyjay said
I believe you are an atheist, you deny God, and your little spin on adding agnostic to your belief system, okay fine, sure.

I don't believe in your God figure, but I am open-minded about the existence of a creator entity

@pb1022 said
How often were you praying?

How often were you reading the Holy Bible?

Were you interested in hearing sermons?

Did you enjoy fellowshipping with other Christians in venues like church and Bible study?

Those are good questions to consider, imo, when trying to determine if you had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Walking out our faith is doing what we should, but what is important is not our checklists; it's Jesus Christ. Our lives will display the change if God changes us, you cannot encounter God and not affect you; you will have to become forgiving as you are experiencing God's forgiveness in your life, you will start to become more loving as God's love enters into your life, His kindness towards us will make us kinder, He meets our needs will have us meeting the needs of others.

If we say we are God's and our lives are no different from before, there is a disconnect.

@pb1022 said
What version of the Holy Bible is that verse from? Are you sure you have the citation right? I’m interested to read that in the KJV, but that verse in the KJV is nothing like what you posted.

'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.' 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

'That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.' 2 Timothy 1:14 KJV

@fmf said
Not at all. This is a Sprituality Forum not a Christian Forum. His faith seems extremely strong to me. We're all bound to find ourselves on different sides of issues in a community like this.

So what’s an atheist doing on a spirituality forum?

@fmf said
Aren't you?

I don't know you; I can only look at what you say about yourself.

@kellyjay said
Walking out our faith is doing what we should, but what is important is not our checklists; it's Jesus Christ.

Well done for calling him out on his facile "checklist".

@fmf said
Because of my faith. I was convinced I had a relationship with God, just like KellyJay [still] is. I have a feeling you don't understand the actual point KellyJay are disputing. How many times KellyJay goes to church or prays or how many times I went to church or prayed is neither here nor there.

Agree

@kellyjay said
I'm not the one jumping through hoops here; that would be you; you were once this now that, the two are incompatible with each other. You are the one stressing two things that cannot be true at that same are. Either Christ was in you, either you had a relationship with God, or you didn't, right now you say it cannot be real for me because it wasn't for you, which tells me, i ...[text shortened]... you had. All the contorting here is you, I'm not the one asserting things about your life, you are.

If you lose your faith one day, will you have never been a Christian?

@pb1022 said
So what’s an atheist doing on a spirituality forum?

There are interesting things to discuss here.

@fmf said
How do you, or how does anyone, know for sure this isn't true about you?

You go to God, seek Him with all your heart, He promises you'll find Him, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come into our lives. The only one that matters here will not be me or anyone else in your life; it will be you and God. If that relationship is good, what others think about you will be meaningless as what they think about me.

@kellyjay said
Walking out our faith is doing what we should, but what is important is not our checklists; it's Jesus Christ. Our lives will display the change if God changes us, you cannot encounter God and not affect you; you will have to become forgiving as you are experiencing God's forgiveness in your life, you will start to become more loving as God's love enters into your life, His ...[text shortened]... others.

If we say we are God's and our lives are no different from before, there is a disconnect.

I don’t view any of that as a checklist. I enjoy reading and handwriting the Holy Bible, I enjoy praying and I enjoy listening to Grace-based sermons and worship music.

It’s odd you would consider that a checklist.

My point was if someone doesn’t enjoy doing any of that (and therefore doesn’t do it) then I doubt he or she has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A relationship is all about communication. If someone doesn’t enjoy communicating with God and isn’t doing it, are they in a relationship with God? I don’t think so.

@fmf said
Not at all. This is a Sprituality Forum not a Christian Forum. His faith seems extremely strong to me. We're all bound to find ourselves on different sides of issues in a community like this.

Believe it or not, I think you are honest about where you are and even what you are asking. I'm happier talking to you than someone apathetic to the questions surrounding God and reality. Even Jesus said He would be happier with someone cold or hot versus the lukewarm, them He would spew out of his mouth.

Revelation 3:16
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

@kellyjay said
You go to God, seek Him with all your heart, He promises you'll find Him, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come into our lives. The only one that matters here will not be me or anyone else in your life; it will be you and God. If that relationship is good, what others think about you will be meaningless as what they think about me.

Let's say you have done all this, and are doing it all, and it is part of what makes you a believer in Christ. If, say, between 2024 and 2028 you gradually lost your faith, would that then apply retrospectively and mean you were not a believer in Christ in 2022?

@fmf said
Well done for calling him out on his facile "checklist".

The fact you think praying to God, reading the Holy Bible and listening to sermons is a “checklist” and not enjoyable tells me you were not a Christian.

@pb1022 said
I don’t view any of that as a checklist. I enjoy reading and handwriting the Holy Bible, I enjoy praying and I enjoy listening to Grace-based sermons and worship music.

It’s odd you would consider that a checklist.

My point was if someone doesn’t enjoy doing any of that (and therefore doesn’t do it) then I doubt he or she has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A relati ...[text shortened]... oy communicating with God and isn’t doing it, are they in a relationship with God? I don’t think so.

If that was not what you meant, sorry, it came across to me that way. Our lives will be altered having God in them, He is the most profound one in the whole universe, how could it not change us?