Thursday, March 15, 2012
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Need Confidence
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Hebrews 13:6
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:35,36
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:19
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 1 John 5:14, 15
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2
For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:26
I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. 2 Corinthians 7:16
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Ephesians 3:12
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1 John 3:21
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
Troubles Hit Your Life
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. Psalm 138: 7
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who the are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; Psalm 31:7
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1, 2
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15, 16
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5: 7
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:34
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Have A Physical Sickness
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 9:35
And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. Luke 6:19
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
Who forgiveth all thine iniquites; who healeth all thy diseases; Psalm 103:3
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Heal me, 0 Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. Jeremiah 17:14
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; Jeremiah 30:17a
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Matthew 8:8
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5:14,15
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:17, 18
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
When You Are In Financial Trouble
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Psalm 34:10
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Deuteronomy 28:2-8
And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: Deuteronomy 28:11-13
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 1 Corinthians 16:2
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Matthew 19:29
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of Spirit. Ecclesiastes 2:26
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Proverbs 13:22
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land, which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:7-14,18
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:31-33
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Are Having Marital Problems
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ' s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31, 32.
And, the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2: 18
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For ye are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:1-7
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose! you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:10
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. 0 when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. Psalm 101:2
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1 Peter 3:8-11
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5, 6
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10:12
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 1 Peter 1:22
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Are Deserted By Loved Ones
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 9:10
For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Psalm 94:14
When my father and my mother for sake me, then the Lord will take me up. Psalm 27:10
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:20
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. Isaiah 62:4
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:9
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25
For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. Deuteronomy 4:31
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psalm 91:14, 15
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:15,16
Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43:5
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6
For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. 1 Samuel 12:22
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Do Not Understand God's Ways
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, 9
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:35-37
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:30
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Jeremiah 32:40
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, 0 Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psalm 138:8
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12, 13
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
Waiting On God
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. Psalm 62:5
Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:15, 16
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm 130:5
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Hebrews 3:14
And it shall be said in the day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:9
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Hebrews 13:6
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:35,36
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:19
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:37
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 1 John 5:14, 15
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2
For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:26
I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. 2 Corinthians 7:16
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Ephesians 3:12
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1 John 3:21
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
Troubles Hit Your Life
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. Psalm 138: 7
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43:2
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who the are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; Psalm 31:7
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1, 2
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15, 16
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5: 7
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:34
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7
Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Have A Physical Sickness
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 9:35
And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. Luke 6:19
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24
Who forgiveth all thine iniquites; who healeth all thy diseases; Psalm 103:3
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Heal me, 0 Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. Jeremiah 17:14
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; Jeremiah 30:17a
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Matthew 8:8
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5:14,15
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:17, 18
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
When You Are In Financial Trouble
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Psalm 34:10
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Deuteronomy 28:2-8
And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: Deuteronomy 28:11-13
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 1 Corinthians 16:2
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Matthew 19:29
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of Spirit. Ecclesiastes 2:26
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Proverbs 13:22
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land, which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:7-14,18
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:31-33
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Are Having Marital Problems
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ' s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31, 32.
And, the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2: 18
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For ye are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:1-7
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose! you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:10
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. 0 when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. Psalm 101:2
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1 Peter 3:8-11
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5, 6
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10:12
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 1 Peter 1:22
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Are Deserted By Loved Ones
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Psalm 9:10
For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Psalm 94:14
When my father and my mother for sake me, then the Lord will take me up. Psalm 27:10
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:20
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. Isaiah 62:4
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:9
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25
For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. Deuteronomy 4:31
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psalm 91:14, 15
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:15,16
Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43:5
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6
For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. 1 Samuel 12:22
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
You Do Not Understand God's Ways
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, 9
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8:35-37
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:30
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Jeremiah 32:40
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, 0 Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psalm 138:8
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12, 13
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
Waiting On God
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. Psalm 62:5
Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:15, 16
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm 130:5
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Hebrews 3:14
And it shall be said in the day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:9
JESUS IS YOUR EVERYTHING
JESUS IS YOUR EVERYTHING
WHAT JESUS IS TO YOU
JESUS IS YOUR Saviour
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; Titus 3:5,6
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47
... For we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. John 4:42b
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Romans 3:24,25
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:4,5
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6:47
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2 Timothy 1:9
Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. Psalm 106:8
JESUS IS YOUR Lord
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9, 10
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:13-16
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1, 2
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. I Corinthians 6:19, 20
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:8
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. Psalm 73:28
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm 86:5
For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50: 7
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:30
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Acts 2:25
JESUS IS YOUR Love
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:16, 19
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:9-13, 17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8:17
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. Hosea 2:19
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. Psalm 42:8
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:13
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38, 39
JESUS IS YOUR Peace
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:13, 14
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:6, 7
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Romans 16:20
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isaiah 26: 12
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:9
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Romans 5:1
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:11
Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7
JESUS IS YOUR Forgiveness
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Ephesians 1:6, 7
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Psalm 85:2
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1 John 2:1
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 8:12
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:7
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:13
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Colossians 2:13
And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. Jeremiah 33:8
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Isaiah 43:25
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Psalm 32:1, 2
JESUS IS YOUR Righteousness
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 1 Corinthians 1:30
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:9
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Galatians 3:6, 7
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Romans 3:22
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:24-26
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5
Far what the law could not do; in that it was weak through the flesh, Gad sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:3, 4
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. Romans 9:30
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover wham he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29, 30
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Isaiah 32:17
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isaiah 54:14-17
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10
JESUS IS YOUR Deliverer
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he ,hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Isaiah 61:1
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:32, 36
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:22
For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Isaiah 9:4
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:18
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mark 16:17
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are, of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even, now already is it in the world.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:1-4
JESUS IS YOUR Fellowship
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:23
Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. Zechariah 2:10
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:4, 5, 7
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippians 2:1, 2
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. Psalm 119:63
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.. Ephesians 5:2, 19, 30
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7
For more click on the link
http://www.pathlights.com/Bible%20Promises/Bible%20promisestoc.htm
WHAT JESUS IS TO YOU
JESUS IS YOUR Saviour
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; Titus 3:5,6
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47
... For we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. John 4:42b
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Romans 3:24,25
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:4,5
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6:47
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2 Timothy 1:9
Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. Psalm 106:8
JESUS IS YOUR Lord
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9, 10
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:13-16
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1, 2
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. I Corinthians 6:19, 20
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:8
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. Psalm 73:28
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm 86:5
For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50: 7
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:30
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Acts 2:25
JESUS IS YOUR Love
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:16, 19
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:9-13, 17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8:17
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. Hosea 2:19
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. Psalm 42:8
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:13
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38, 39
JESUS IS YOUR Peace
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:13, 14
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:6, 7
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Romans 16:20
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isaiah 26: 12
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:9
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Romans 5:1
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:11
Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6, 7
JESUS IS YOUR Forgiveness
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Ephesians 1:6, 7
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Psalm 85:2
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1 John 2:1
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 8:12
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:7
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:13
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Colossians 2:13
And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. Jeremiah 33:8
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Isaiah 43:25
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Psalm 32:1, 2
JESUS IS YOUR Righteousness
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 1 Corinthians 1:30
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:9
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Galatians 3:6, 7
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Romans 3:22
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:24-26
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5
Far what the law could not do; in that it was weak through the flesh, Gad sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:3, 4
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. Romans 9:30
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover wham he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29, 30
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Isaiah 32:17
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isaiah 54:14-17
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10
JESUS IS YOUR Deliverer
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he ,hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Isaiah 61:1
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:32, 36
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:22
For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Isaiah 9:4
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:18
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mark 16:17
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are, of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even, now already is it in the world.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:1-4
JESUS IS YOUR Fellowship
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:23
Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. Zechariah 2:10
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:4, 5, 7
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippians 2:1, 2
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. Psalm 119:63
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.. Ephesians 5:2, 19, 30
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7
For more click on the link
http://www.pathlights.com/Bible%20Promises/Bible%20promisestoc.htm
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Trinity, Trinity Doctrine
The Doctrine of the Trinity
The Christian Doctrine of God
2.1 Biblical Origins of the Trinitarian Doctrine
Muslim: The Bible nowhere teaches that God is a Trinity. The word "trinity" does not appear in the book. Jews believed in one God while Greeks and Romans believed in many gods. The Church invented the three gods in one theory to placate them both.
The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the great divisive issues between Christians and Muslims. The latter believe it strikes at the very heart of God’s absolute oneness which is one of the fundamental themes of the Qur’an. Muslims believe that any attempt to attribute partners to Allah is shirk ("associating"), the greatest of all sins and the only one which cannot be forgiven:
Truly Allah will not forgive any associating with him but will forgive anything else to whomever he pleases. For whoever associates (shirk) with Allah verily commits a great sin. Surah 4.48
The Christian doctrine is viewed as precisely that - an association of Jesus with God together with the Holy Spirit. For Allah to beget a Son is presumed by Muslims to be the ultimate expression of unbelief. From childhood all Muslims are taught this particular Surah by heart, already quoted in this book, and regarded as one of the greatest in the Qur’an, indeed as equivalent to one-third of the whole book:
Say, He is Allah, the One, Allah the Eternal One. He does not beget, nor is he begotten, and like unto him there is not one. Surah 112.1-4
In witness with Muslims you will soon find that, on the one hand, Muslims will strenuously deny any possibility of God being Triune while, on the other, they will vociferously attack the doctrine which they presume to be the weakest point of Christian belief. After all, how can three persons exist in one God? When Christ died, did God die? Did all three persons expire on the cross? They must have if they were one, Muslims will argue. They will also, as the argument cited above does, claim in any event that the Trinity is not found in the Bible. Let us begin by examining clear proofs that the doctrine is firmly founded on the Bible.
The Deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
With Muslims it is necessary to emphasize the nature of the Triune God as he is revealed in the Bible - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us consider each one in turn.
1. God the Father
This is the commonest name for God in the New Testament - the Father - although it is rarely found as a description for God in any other religion and never in Islam. Jesus always spoke of God in heaven as "my Father" (Matthew 18.11), "your Father" (Luke 12.32), "the Father" (John 14.12) and when praying simply addressed him as "Father" (John 11.41). The important point here is that God is spoken of in relational terms. He is not just the sovereign ruler of the universe, he has a definite relationship within his divine being beyond his own individual personality.
2. God the Son
It is with a second personality - the Son - that he enjoys his primary relationship. This second person became the man Jesus Christ. He always spoke of himself as the Son of the Father in absolute and exclusive terms. No one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son (Matthew 11.27). Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him (John 4.23). He came from the Father into the world, he was to leave it and return to the Father (John 16.28). It is important, when discussing the Trinity with Muslims, to emphasize such texts to show the divine relationship between the Father and the Son which no other human being enjoys on such exclusive terms.
3. God the Holy Spirit
Throughout the New Testament a third personality constantly appears - the Holy Spirit - and he enjoys an obviously intimate relationship with both the Father and the Son at their divine level. He would be sent by the Son from the Father, he proceeds from the Father, and he bears witness to the Son (John 15.26). The Father would send him in the Son’s name and he would bring to remembrance all that the Son had taught his disciples (John 14.26).
All these quotations are from Jesus Christ himself, the great Word of the Father who was in the beginning, was with God, and is God (John 1.1). He is constantly called the Son of God in the Bible, by no less than the Father himself who twice spoke from heaven and declared "This is my beloved Son" (Matthew 4.17, 17.5).
Biblical Trinitarian Statements
There are a number of statements in the Bible which speak of all three persons of the Trinity in one breath. We will consider three that can effectively be quoted in discussion with Muslims on this subject.
1. Matthew 28.19: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
In this passage Jesus Christ himself commands his disciples to make further disciples throughout the world, "baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit". It is very significant that Jesus spoke of the name of all three, using the singular to denote an absolute unity between them. Likewise the word "name" in the Bible is often used to define something about a person, for example Mosheh (Moses) who was so-called because he was drawn out (mashah) of the water. In Matthew 28.19 Jesus used the word to express the common nature of the three persons, saying in effect "baptising them into the one essence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit".
2. 2 Corinthians 13.14: The Triune blessing
Paul concludes this letter by commending the Corinthian Christians to the grace of the Son, the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Once again each person of the Trinity is cited in union with the other two and it is a benediction and communion of overall divine goodwill which is commended to them.
3. Ephesians 2.18.Access to the Eternal Father
Paul again mentions all three persons of the Trinity together in a statement of common purpose and divine union. In Jesus Christ the Son both Jewish and Gentile believers have access through the same Holy Spirit to the Father. Once again the unity between the three persons cannot be missed and the emphasis, yet again, on the divine realm in which they relate to each other. In Matthew 28.19 it is a common divine nature, in 2 Corinthians 13.14 a common divine blessing, and here a common divine accessibility that are presented to the reader.
There are numerous other proofs of the Trinity throughout the Bible. Even in the Old Testament the second person is often mentioned as the Son to the Father as we have seen in the last chapter while the Holy Spirit is often spoken of as God’s direct agent and his own spirit (Genesis 1.2, Psalm 51.11). It is essential, in witness with Muslims, to show that the Church did not invent the Trinity or adapt its belief about God to prevailing monotheistic or polytheistic beliefs, but obtained it directly from the teaching of its original scripture, the Bible.
It is also useful to point out that it was the coming of Jesus Christ into the world that opened up the revelation of God as a triune being. Before him the Old Testament generally spoke of God as Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, but when Jesus began to teach he frequently spoke of God as the Father, himself as the Son and of the coming of the Holy Spirit in such terms as to leave no doubt that all three shared the realm of the divine glory, that they shared a common nature, essence and purpose, and that there was an absolute unity between them. The New Testament, in consequence, focuses consistently on each of the three persons in the divine Trinity as the sphere in which Christian believers can come to know God (the Father), be forgiven by him (through his Son Jesus Christ) and enjoy his divine presence (in the Holy Spirit). All references to Yahweh disappear in the light of the intimate unity which all believers enjoy with God now more fully revealed in his true nature and triune personality.
2.2 The Incomprehensible Nature of God
Muslim: The concept of God is very easy to understand in Islam but your Christian doctrine of the Trinity defies reason. Even if you were to write a thousand books you could never fully explain it. Yet our doctrine can easily be placed on a postage stamp: Huwallaahu ahad - He is Allah the One.
Muslims sincerely find it very hard to understand how God can be triune and, in explaining the doctrine, Christians are often likely to confuse themselves as much as the Muslims! It is not a simple concept as we should freely concede. Nonetheless its complexity is not an argument against its tenability, if anything it is the strongest point in its favour. After all, we are dealing with the nature of the eternal God of the Universe. He is greater than the heavens and the earth - would it be surprising to us, who are merely mortal, finite creatures, to find that his basic character is incomprehensible? As the Bible itself says:
Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven - what can you do? Deeper than Sheol - what can you know? Job 11.7-8
Muslims claim that Islam’s concept of God can very easily be comprehended and is therefore more acceptable than what Christians admit is an incomprehensible doctrine. One cannot help asking whether a concept of God that can easily be understood in the human mind was not perhaps conceived there in the first place. As Kenneth Cragg has said, a doctrine of God does not commend itself by its ability to be reduced to a statement on a postage stamp. We are not dealing with simplicity here. The Muslim writer Afif Tabbarah is more to the point when he says that the Almighty God is much dissimilar to his creatures and more sublime than simple minds can imagine.
Searching Out the Knowledge of God
The doctrine of the Trinity is not contrary to reason. Quite simply it is above the realms of finite human reasoning. It requires a different approach to come to terms with it. A rational, analytic study of its tenets will yield little of substance. The Apostle Paul once said:
Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Acts 26.8
Paul, addressing King Agrippa and other members of his court, made no attempt to rationally explain how the dead can be raised back to life. All scientific studies of the world of nature will never be able to give a rational explanation of how this can be possible. The issue here is one of faith. All Muslims, on faith alone, will concede the resurrection of the dead to life. Why then, we may ask, is it thought incredible by any of them that the Almighty God who rules this universe is incomprehensible in his infinite and eternal nature?
The New Testament is far more concerned about our relationship with God than our understanding of his nature. What we know about God is not nearly as important as the need to actually know God. The pursuit of his holiness, the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of eternal life are the concerns of the Christian scriptures. As Paul says, we have come to know God or, rather, to be known of God (Galatians 4.9). It is through the revelation of God in his eternal triune nature, especially as revealed to us in Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1.15) in whom the whole fulness of God dwelt bodily (Colossians 2.9), that we have come to know God and to be known of him. Muslims need to be told that what is most important is that we should be right with God, approved of him, loved and forgiven, rather than that we should we able to understand or comprehend his nature. God wants to be loved and obeyed, not studied or analysed.
The Trinity: A Divine Revelation
It is important also to point out to Muslims that although the mainline Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches have differed on many subjects, they have never even remotely argued over the doctrine of the Trinity including its finer details. The reason is simply that the Church never created this doctrine, it discerned it from a study of the revelation of God in the holy scriptures. It is the only doctrine of God that can be formulated from an objective study of the books of the New Testament.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD finally defined the Trinitarian doctrine. The term Trinity was first proposed by Tertullian, the great early African Christian scholar. Muslims often fasten on this as a proof that the doctrine is an invention of the Church some centuries after Christ. Crudely put, some Muslims argue that God had always been a unitarian being until the third century when the Church turned him into a Trinity. I can suggest a very useful line of argument that I have found to be very effective in getting past this objection.
For centuries all mankind believed that the earth was flat and that the sun, planets and stars revolved around it. A few centuries ago Galileo, Copernicus and other astronomers began proclaiming that in fact the earth is round, is suspended in space, and is revolving around the sun. The theory was denounced (most prominently by the Church!) for the simple reason that throughout history it was common knowledge that the earth was flat and, in any event, common sense could tell anyone that this planet was not moving and that the sky was rotating around us. The idea that we are circling at more than one thousand miles an hour on our own axis daily, are revolving around the sun at tens of thousands of miles an hour, and are spinning through the universe at even phenomenally greater speeds, was to the minds of people of those days entirely irrational. It is only because we have scientific proof that we accept the theory today but it is still very hard to comprehend. God’s nature, however, cannot be scientifically proved. He may, however, turn out to be very opposite to what people naturally would expect just as the planetary system has done. Yet the Church discerned the Triune nature of God some fourteen centuries before the truth about our universe was discovered. Why? Simply because God revealed his true nature to us in the scriptures. The Church did not turn God into a Trinity - he was so from all eternity.
Some Muslims argue that the Trinity cannot be mathematically proved. After all, 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, they argue. There is no way they can be made to be one. Yet even mathematics uses an independent symbol, ∞, to define infinity, simply because it cannot be multiplied, divided, added to or subtracted from by ordinary numerals. So too the infinite God cannot be comprehended in finite terms and our mathematics are a quite inadequate standard for determining eternal realities!
Christianity makes no attempt to present a comprehensible God to the world. Its aim is to reveal a knowable God - the Father who loves his own children, the Son who died to redeem them, and the Holy Spirit who renews and sanctifies them. Man’s goal is to get to heaven and to be with God - not to able to plot heaven on a map or produce a concept of God that can be easily comprehended, analysed or reduced to a statement on a postage stamp.
2.3 The Unity of God: The Basis of the Trinity
Muslim: The truth is that Christians in fact worship three gods and are guilty of shirk. The Bible emphasises the fact that God is one God. Your doctrine is inconsistent with your own scripture. You cannot put three personalities into one God.
It is intriguing to find Muslims arguing that the Bible emphatically teaches that God is one as if this undermined the Trinity doctrine. The Old Testament declares that "the Lord is God on heaven above and on earth beneath - there is no other" (Deuteronomy 4.39) while the New Testament likewise states "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12.29) and that "God is one" (Romans 3.30, Galatians 3.20). It is useful in conversation with Muslims on the Trinity, nevertheless, to quote these texts to establish the point from the outset that the unity of God is as much a fundamental teaching of the whole Bible as it is in the Qur’an. The issue is the complex nature of this unity in the Biblical doctrine of the Triune God.
God: A Tri-Unity, not a Tritheism
How can three be one, the Muslim fairly asks? All human beings are distinct creatures and personalities. In no way can three of them become one being with one single nature. Our answer to this has to be to go to the Bible and see how it projects the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
1. 1 John 1.5: God is Light
The Bible focuses on this theme often. God is called the "Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1.17). The Son of God, Jesus Christ, also declared "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8.12) while the New Testament also says of him that he likewise will never change, being the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13.8). Through the Holy Spirit, furthermore, God shines into our hearts to give "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4.6). There is clearly an absolute unity of essence and purpose between them.
2. John 3.33: God is True
Just as this text declares Truth to be an essential essence of God the Father, so the Son of God could declare "I am the Truth" (John 14.6). Likewise the Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth" (John 15.26). There is no falsehood in any of them. Once again one discovers that, while human beings may differ in personality and character, there are no such differences between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are the Truth.
3. 1 John 4.8: God is Love
The New Testament often speaks of the love of the Father (John 16.27) but goes on to say that the love of God was made manifest in the fact that he sent his Son to redeem us from our sins (Romans 5.8, 1 John 4.10). Likewise it states that God’s love has been "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5.5). Again we have an absolute unity in essence and purpose between the three persons of the Trinity.
Much the same can be said of the life of God. As the Father is the source of all life, so the Son called himself "the Life" (John 11.25, 14.6) and is called the Author of Life (Acts 3.15). The Holy Spirit is likewise the one through whom God will give eternal life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8.11). In all these texts we can see a divine tri-unity, not three independent personalities. Our doctrine is only held within a definition of God’s unity. Without it the Trinity’s fundamental nature falls away. You quite simply cannot establish the doctrine outside of God’s essential oneness. As Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10.30) and this total unity is shared with the Holy Spirit.
Early Muslim Reactions to the Trinity
It is very interesting to see how early Muslim writers responded to the doctrine of the Trinity. The most important and exhaustive work was a dissertation in the ninth century after Christ by Abu Isa al-Warraq which he titled Ar-Radd ala al-Tathlith ("The Refutation of the Trinity").
Abu Isa wrote purely in response to the Christian theorists of his day. They taught the tri-unity of God in a very technical manner and focused on the Son as the Word and the Spirit as the Life - a poor distinction as Jesus Christ so often spoke of himself as "the Life" as we have seen. Just as modern Christians often use illustrations to define the Trinity (such as the one egg with three parts, its shell, yolk and white), so the Christians of those days also used what in my mind was an inadequate (and often misleading) approach. They tried, from reason, to prove that three separate hypostases could be one being.
Abu Isa responded in kind. He followed the principle first stated by the Muslim scholar Al-Kindi, namely that God is a being who is neither multiple or divisible in any way, not by his essence nor by something other than it, and one whose substance likewise cannot be divided or multiplied in any way. While most Muslim writers usually attacked the Christian doctrine from a Qur’anic standpoint, namely that Allah could not have a Son, has no partners, and that Jesus was only a messenger, Abu Isa took the doctrine at face value. He made himself well acquainted with it.
He argued that if the hypostases are the substance, and the substance is one and undifferentiated while the hypostases are three, then the Christians have made what is differentiated not differentiated. Again, he argued, if the substance is identical to the hypostases, the one must be the other. There cannot be three of one and one of the other. If they are distinct, the substance is a fourth.
Abu Isa based his arguments on the popular rational theories of his day, one of which was that human reason is always the sole criterion of judgment and that prophets must speak within its dictates. You can see what happens when Christians try to prove the Trinity by analytical reasoning and on finite principles. Once again I must emphasise the point made in the introduction to this book - be Biblical and not doctrinal, rational or illustrative in your answers. Our response to the Muslim is that our doctrine is the product of divine revelation and cannot be judged by finite human reasoning. We respond to what God has revealed about himself because, as Carl Pfander said, human reason cannot grasp the eternal being. Its dim torch must give way to the bright sunrise of truth.
2.4 Does the Doctrine have Pagan Origins?
Muslim: Your doctrine is founded on contemporary pagan religions which all had their own trinities of gods long before Christianity came into being. The Egyptians, Hindus, Romans and Greeks all had triads of deities in which they believed.
The Muslim tendency to overlook the essential unity of the Triune God and to regard the Christian faith as tritheistic leads to charges that the doctrine has parallels in ancient pagan religions where a plurality of deities were worshipped. All sorts of examples are proposed in Muslim writings on the subject.
Specific Examples of Supposed Parallels
All sorts of triads are mentioned in Muslim writings, such as the Greek gods Zeus, Demeter and Apollo, even though there was never any suggestion of an absolute unity between them or any semblance to the actual Biblical Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We will look at two of the commonest examples Muslim writers cite to prove their case.
1. The Egyptian Gods Osiris, Isis and Horus
In Muslim publications it is often argued that the Egyptians also had their own trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus and that these were, as claimed by a Muslim writer, a "kind of trinity of gods" who were supposed to be the Egyptian equivalent of the Trinity. It is once again important, in discussion with Muslims, to emphasise the essential unity of God and the fundamental monotheism of the Christian faith. The very word Trinity embodies a divine unity and only a Muslim can know what he means when he speaks of a "trinity of gods". The very expression is self-contradictory.
The mythological family of gods known as Osiris, Isis and Horus constituted a family of father, mother and son - as far from the Christian doctrine of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as you can get. Furthermore they were only three of a multiplicity of Egyptian deities which also included Nun, Atum, Ra, Khefri, Shu, Tefnut, Anhur, Geb, Nut and Set.
There were also more than one Horus - Horus the elder, Horus of Edfu, Horus son of Isis, etc. The Egyptians were not trinitarians believing in one Supreme Being who is triune in personality and nature. They worshipped many gods of whom Osiris, Isis and Horus were but three and they did not believe that these three shared an absolute unity. As will be seen these pagan triads are closer to the Qur’anic misconception of the Christian doctrine than they are to the actual doctrine as it is founded on the Bible.
2. The Hindu Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva
The Hindus have a belief in a Trimurti - a triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Muslims often claim that the Christian Trinity is founded on this concept as well. An historical analysis of the Hindu theory will soon show, likewise, that there is not even a remote parallel between the two.
Brahma is an impersonal deity in Hinduism with no personality, representing everything that exists in a state of perfect nirvana (absorption in a universal state). Vishnu was married to a female deity and Siva is the great god of the Hindu Savites. They have no particular relationship with each other. Hinduism has numerous other deities such as Krishna, Rama, Sita, Ganesh, Hanuman, Kali and others. The Upanishads, Vedas and other ancient Hindu texts taught no such thing as a threefold relationship between Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The Vedas acknowledged at least thirty-three different deities who were separate gods, often opposed to each other. Most of them were married to Hindu goddesses.
The Trimurti concept is only found in late Sanskrit and cannot be dated earlier than the 5th century after Christ - long after the Christian doctrine of the Trinity had been fully established. Muslims are, quite simply, doing all they can to father the Christian belief in a Triune God on all sorts of pagan deities even though there is no similarity between them.
The Uniqueness of the Biblical Trinity
Muslims who argue that our doctrine has pagan origins will have to produce far better proofs and actual chains of evidences to prove that it is dependent on pagan beliefs. The doctrine of the Trinity is an absolutely unique one which has no parallels in any other religion or philosophy. No one could have invented it and it would never have been discovered had it not been revealed to us in the pages of the New Testament. It originated in a dominantly monotheistic Jewish world and represents a deity entirely consistent with the God of Israel of the Old Testament.
When Muslims argue a pagan origin for the Trinity the Christian has a great opportunity to witness very effectively to the glory of God and his great work of salvation for us. The unique feature of our doctrine is its threefold personality of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The New Testament writers themselves made no effort to define the Christian doctrine of God or to codify or explain it. They simply proclaimed it! It was left to later generations of Christian scholars to interpret their teachings in a clearly defined doctrine.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and the other New Testament authors were concerned primarily to project the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to Christian believers. The aim was to call forth a response of faith from the heart and to strengthen it. As pointed out already, God does not want to be defined, analysed or conceptualised as much as he wants to be believed, obeyed and implicitly trusted. He cannot be seen, materialised, computerised or reduced to anything that can be finitely determined. He can, however, be known and the issue between Christians and Muslims is not so much one of his identity but rather of what we most urgently need to secure, namely to be forgiven by him, to receive his Spirit, to personally know him, to become his children and to eventually inherit his kingdom.
In the next section we will look at the best ways of canvassing the Trinity with Muslims and will see why it is better to use this subject as an opportunity for witness rather than one to be argued or proved.
2.5 The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Muslim: The Qur’an teaches that man’s highest honour is to be a servant of Allah who is our Lord and Master. What is required is that we should obey his laws and believe in the Last Day when we hope he will forgive us our sins.
To a Muslim God’s favour cannot be guaranteed, his forgiveness cannot be assured in this life, and it is not possible to know him or to enter into a personal relationship with him. The Qur’an says:
There is no one in the heavens and the earth who can come to the Compassionate except as a servant. Surah 19.93
The word used for servant is abd and earlier in the same surah Jesus is recorded as declaring "I am a servant of Allah" (Surah 19.30) where the same Arabic word is used. According to Islam this is the highest status of any man before Allah - no more than a servant to his divine Master and Judge. Hence Muslims believe that they need to live purely as servants of God, working to earn his favour and hoping for his good pleasure on their lives when the great Day of Resurrection comes. Here the Christian has a glorious field to proclaim the Trinity in such a way as to set forth a much greater hope and more glorious God.
The Father: God For Us
According to the Hadith records of Islam Allah has ninety-nine "beautiful names" (al-asma’ ul husna) which are his attributes. Whoever recites them can expect to enter into Paradise (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 4, p. 1410). The first thirteen occur in order in Surah 59.22-24 and begin as follows: Ar-Rahman (The Compassionate), Ar-Rahim (The Merciful), Al-Malik (The Sovereign), Al-Quddus (The Holy), etc. According to Sufi Muslims Allah has a hundredth name which has been revealed only to the great Sufi masters of history.
I have often suggested to Muslims that, if a name is missing from the hundred names of Allah, it is not the hundredth but rather the first, the commonest title for God in the New Testament - the Father. It is most significant to find that God is nowhere called Father in the Qur’an or any other work of early Islamic literature. The point is, logically, that if the greatest role men can have towards God is solely to be his servants as the Qur’an teaches, then he can only be their Master (Al-Malik). The Qur’an quite simply does not allow for the possibility that we can become children - in fact it states the opposite quite emphatically (Surah 6.100).
When Jesus began to preach, however, he consistently taught that God is the Father of all true believers. This title, given to the first person of the Trinity, tells us that God is for us. If he has become our Father, then we are no longer just slaves and servants of God but his children. It is very useful to compare the roles of a servant and a child with Muslims in conversation. A servant has to earn his keep every day. His master does not necessarily have any affection for him, he only expects him to do his duty. The servant can be dismissed if he does not perform his task properly. He likewise will live outside his master’s home in his own quarters. A child, however, knows he is loved by his father and that he will never be dismissed from his father’s home. He does not have to earn his place, he has it by right. He lives in his father’s home in his own room. He experiences a freedom a servant never has because he knows his father is for him. So it is with true Christians who know God’s love personally.
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3.1
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12.32
It is only by knowing God as Father that the fulness of his love can truly be known and that believers, as his children, can be assured of his goodwill towards them and their place in the coming kingdom.
God the Son: God With Us
Jesus Christ constantly not only called himself the Son of God but also assured his disciples that, through faith in him, they too could become children of God. It is in the willingness of Jesus to lay down his life for us that we see the love of God actually revealed to us. Here, too, is God with us. By taking human form the Son, the Second person of the Trinity, also brought God and man together in a new and unique way. I have often asked Muslims what the greatest act of Allah’s love towards them has ever been and have received a variety of answers. Has he, however, ever given of himself to reveal his love for them in the same way that Abraham did when he was prepared to sacrifice his own son as the supreme test of his love for God? Islam has no positive answer to this question. Only in the revelation of the Triune God can you find such a perfect display of love. It is summed up in these words:
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation of our sins. 1 John 4.10
God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5.8
In Jesus we can be assured of the forgiveness of our sins and are able to behold just how great God’s love is for us. Muslims do not know such love. When the Qur’an speaks of the love of God and calls him the Al-Wadud - the Loving One (Surah 85.14), it means (according to Muslim scholars) only that he expresses approval over those who follow him. It does not mean that he has any personal feelings towards them or that he is prepared to make any sacrifice to show his love towards mankind.
In my experience there are numerous Muslims who warm freely to the Christian revelation of God’s love in Christ. Human beings are capable of expressing the greatest acts of sacrificial love towards those they cherish and many Muslims long to know God in the same way and actually be assured of his eternal favour and personal love towards them. In Jesus Christ alone they can find it, the very one who fulfilled his own saying that no greater love can a man have for his friends than to lay down his life for them (John 15.13). It is our most powerful point of witness.
God the Holy Spirit: God In Us
It is in the third person of the Trinity that God’s love can not only be known, seen but also actually personally experienced. Jesus spoke often of the need to receive him - the Holy Spirit. It is not just some special force or divine power, he is the very Spirit of God and, when he indwells anyone, in a unique way (true only of believers) God himself actually lives in that person. Here we see the third great effect of the revelation of the Triune God - God in us. No wonder the New Testament writers made no effort to define the Trinity or explain it. To know God, to be assured that he is for us, with us and in us, is all that we need to know to fully relate to him. The Spirit gives believers power to live according to God’s holy laws but, more than this, he gives a living experience of God’s presence in us. God sent forth his Son so that we might become his children but, because we are children, he also sends his Spirit into our hearts so that we may actually be able to cry out "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4.4-6).
When we cry, "Abba! Father!", it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Romans 8.15-16
Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Romans 5.5
I have found an illustration very helpful at this point. A couple may decide to adopt an orphan and will go through a legal process to officially confirm the adoption. The child will still not know he has parents and a home but when his new father and mother take him to their own home, show him his room and tell him that the house is his also, thereafter embracing him affectionately, he will know he is no longer an orphan and will personally experience their love for him. This what happens when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts.
There is no better way to explain the Trinity to a Muslim than to show him this threefold revelation of God’s love for us - a revelation that stops at nothing less than perfection itself. It is only in the Triune God that such love could ever be, or has ever been, shown in all its fulness. In the introduction to this book I said that Christians must be Biblical in their witness and nowhere does this apply more importantly than to the subject of the Trinity. Do not let Muslims weigh you down with arguments against the logical reasonableness of the doctrine, nor try to make your point through defective three-in-one illustrations. Use the opportunity to show them that the Triune personality of God was only finally revealed when Jesus Christ came to earth and spoke freely of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was only when the time had fully come for God’s love to be completely expressed in Christ that the true nature of God’s whole being was imparted to us and this is why the New Testament writers focused on this theme and no other when dealing with the Trinity. We will do well to do likewise in our witness to Muslims.
2.6 The Qur’an and the Christian Doctrine
Muslim: The Qur’an denies the Trinity expressly. God is only one God - not three as you believe. It is a great blasphemy to say that Allah has any partners. Everything in the heavens and the earth gives glory to him alone.
The great cause of Muslim misconceptions about the Trinity is the complete misrepresentation of it in the Qur’an. The word "Trinity" also nowhere occurs in this book but it is clear that the Qur’an is out to oppose the Christian belief in a threefold divine existence, no matter what form it may take. Nonetheless it does not even begin to address the basic Christian belief in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit but reacts to a perversion of it possibly derived from sectarian beliefs in and around the Arabian peninsula.
The Qur’anic Threesome: Jesus, Mary and Allah
The Qur’an quite emphatically rejects the Christian belief as a triad of deities and names them as Jesus, his mother Mary, and Allah - in that order! In three passages this concept is assailed as polytheistic and blasphemous. The first reads as follows:
And do not say: Three. Desist - it is better for you! Truly Allah is only One. Glorified be he above taking a son to himself. Surah 4.171
The word used here for "three" is thalathah, a common Qur’anic word appearing nineteen times in the book. It always means "three" and cannot be translated or rendered "Trinity". The command not to speak of Allah as a threesome is contained in a passage exhorting Christians generally not to exaggerate in their religion. By contrasting the oneness of God with the threefold Christian deity it is clear that the Qur’an is unaware of the essential unity of the Christian doctrine of God.
In another passage the Qur’an actually identifies the three different deities which Christians supposedly worship. Interestingly all three passages which deal with this subject come from the very last portions of the Qur’an to come to Muhammad and it seems that it was only late in his life that he first heard of a Christian divine threesome without ever having the opportunity to discover precisely what the Trinity represents. The second verse on this subject reads:
They speak blasphemy who say that Allah is the third of three. There is indeed no god except the one God. Surah 5.73
The words used in the first sentence to express the "third of three" are thalithu thalathah. Once again there is no specific reference to the Trinity or any awareness that the Christian God is a Triune being. The distinction, yet again, is purely between one and three with no allowance for a threefold unity. A few verses later the Qur’an identifies the other two deities in the triad Christians are supposed to worship:
The Messiah son of Mary was only a messenger; messengers before him had passed away. And his mother was upright. They both had to eat food. Surah 5.75
The argument is quite clear. Jesus and his mother Mary were only human beings. Though he was a messenger of Allah others just like him had preceded him. And his mother was no more than a righteous servant of Allah. After all, they both had to eat food to sustain themselves. So how could they be deities along with Allah? The Qur’an has clearly mistaken the Christian doctrine and represented it as a triad of Jesus, Mary and Allah. It is most significant to find Allah described only as the third of these three. In the Christian doctrine of the Triune God the Father at least has first place!
There were various sects such as the Nestorians, Monophysites and others in the vicinity of Arabia who had confusing beliefs about God, Jesus and Mary but none of them represented the Trinity as consisting of these three. You can see why Muslims think our beliefs are based on the Egyptian Father-Mother-Son family of Osiris, Isis and Horus. What is most probable is that Muhammad was totally unaware of the actual Triune God of the Christian faith and simplistically confused it with pagan beliefs in a Father-Mother-Son triad. If God was indeed the author of the Qur’an it is hard to see how he could make such a mistake and not even remotely represent the Christian doctrine, held to by all the major Christian churches of the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one eternal Supreme Being.
The third passage which canvasses the supposed Christian belief in three separate deities is this one:
And when Allah will say: O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to mankind "Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah"? He will say, Glory to you! I would not have said what I had no right to say. If I had said it, you would have known it. You know what is in my mind though I do not know what is in yours. You are the Knower of the Unseen. Surah 5.116
Once again the other two deities are said to be Jesus and Mary. The veneration of Mary has been a major article of Roman Catholic belief and the Ethiopian Church, in particular, has historically revered her as the mother of God. It seems, however, that their excesses and confusion have only resulted in the Qur’an compounding the confusion! No Christian Church, no matter how much it reveres or glorifies Mary as, for example, the Queen of Heaven, has ever confused the Trinity or made it out to be what the Qur’an represents it to be.
When Muslims challenge the doctrine of the Trinity and will not allow that it is an expression of divine unity in a different form to the unitarian concept of the Qur’an it is important to raise these texts as evidence, firstly, that the Qur’an misrepresents the doctrine completely and, secondly, that it is the source of the erroneous Muslim conviction that we believe in three separate gods.
It is also important to know that the true Christian doctrine was known in Arabia prior to Muhammad’s time. Edward Glasser, an explorer in Yemen, discovered an inscription there in 1888 in a narrative about the revolt against the Ethiopian rule in the country in pre-Islamic times. The inscription dates to 542 AD - twenty eight years before Muhammad’s birth - and it reads in Arabic (without vowels which were not written in the Arabic of the time): Rhmn w mshh w rh qds - "(In the power of) the Compassionate, and the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit". Thus the true nature of the Christian Trinity was known in the Arabian Peninsula many years before the Qur’an ever came to be written and the book’s total misrepresentation of the doctrine can only be ascribed to Muhammad’s personal ignorance of Christian theology.
For more infromation
http://www.trinitydogma.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any Question so u can contact with us @ E.mail # joinchristlove@yahoo.com
The Christian Doctrine of God
2.1 Biblical Origins of the Trinitarian Doctrine
Muslim: The Bible nowhere teaches that God is a Trinity. The word "trinity" does not appear in the book. Jews believed in one God while Greeks and Romans believed in many gods. The Church invented the three gods in one theory to placate them both.
The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the great divisive issues between Christians and Muslims. The latter believe it strikes at the very heart of God’s absolute oneness which is one of the fundamental themes of the Qur’an. Muslims believe that any attempt to attribute partners to Allah is shirk ("associating"), the greatest of all sins and the only one which cannot be forgiven:
Truly Allah will not forgive any associating with him but will forgive anything else to whomever he pleases. For whoever associates (shirk) with Allah verily commits a great sin. Surah 4.48
The Christian doctrine is viewed as precisely that - an association of Jesus with God together with the Holy Spirit. For Allah to beget a Son is presumed by Muslims to be the ultimate expression of unbelief. From childhood all Muslims are taught this particular Surah by heart, already quoted in this book, and regarded as one of the greatest in the Qur’an, indeed as equivalent to one-third of the whole book:
Say, He is Allah, the One, Allah the Eternal One. He does not beget, nor is he begotten, and like unto him there is not one. Surah 112.1-4
In witness with Muslims you will soon find that, on the one hand, Muslims will strenuously deny any possibility of God being Triune while, on the other, they will vociferously attack the doctrine which they presume to be the weakest point of Christian belief. After all, how can three persons exist in one God? When Christ died, did God die? Did all three persons expire on the cross? They must have if they were one, Muslims will argue. They will also, as the argument cited above does, claim in any event that the Trinity is not found in the Bible. Let us begin by examining clear proofs that the doctrine is firmly founded on the Bible.
The Deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
With Muslims it is necessary to emphasize the nature of the Triune God as he is revealed in the Bible - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us consider each one in turn.
1. God the Father
This is the commonest name for God in the New Testament - the Father - although it is rarely found as a description for God in any other religion and never in Islam. Jesus always spoke of God in heaven as "my Father" (Matthew 18.11), "your Father" (Luke 12.32), "the Father" (John 14.12) and when praying simply addressed him as "Father" (John 11.41). The important point here is that God is spoken of in relational terms. He is not just the sovereign ruler of the universe, he has a definite relationship within his divine being beyond his own individual personality.
2. God the Son
It is with a second personality - the Son - that he enjoys his primary relationship. This second person became the man Jesus Christ. He always spoke of himself as the Son of the Father in absolute and exclusive terms. No one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son (Matthew 11.27). Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him (John 4.23). He came from the Father into the world, he was to leave it and return to the Father (John 16.28). It is important, when discussing the Trinity with Muslims, to emphasize such texts to show the divine relationship between the Father and the Son which no other human being enjoys on such exclusive terms.
3. God the Holy Spirit
Throughout the New Testament a third personality constantly appears - the Holy Spirit - and he enjoys an obviously intimate relationship with both the Father and the Son at their divine level. He would be sent by the Son from the Father, he proceeds from the Father, and he bears witness to the Son (John 15.26). The Father would send him in the Son’s name and he would bring to remembrance all that the Son had taught his disciples (John 14.26).
All these quotations are from Jesus Christ himself, the great Word of the Father who was in the beginning, was with God, and is God (John 1.1). He is constantly called the Son of God in the Bible, by no less than the Father himself who twice spoke from heaven and declared "This is my beloved Son" (Matthew 4.17, 17.5).
Biblical Trinitarian Statements
There are a number of statements in the Bible which speak of all three persons of the Trinity in one breath. We will consider three that can effectively be quoted in discussion with Muslims on this subject.
1. Matthew 28.19: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
In this passage Jesus Christ himself commands his disciples to make further disciples throughout the world, "baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit". It is very significant that Jesus spoke of the name of all three, using the singular to denote an absolute unity between them. Likewise the word "name" in the Bible is often used to define something about a person, for example Mosheh (Moses) who was so-called because he was drawn out (mashah) of the water. In Matthew 28.19 Jesus used the word to express the common nature of the three persons, saying in effect "baptising them into the one essence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit".
2. 2 Corinthians 13.14: The Triune blessing
Paul concludes this letter by commending the Corinthian Christians to the grace of the Son, the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Once again each person of the Trinity is cited in union with the other two and it is a benediction and communion of overall divine goodwill which is commended to them.
3. Ephesians 2.18.Access to the Eternal Father
Paul again mentions all three persons of the Trinity together in a statement of common purpose and divine union. In Jesus Christ the Son both Jewish and Gentile believers have access through the same Holy Spirit to the Father. Once again the unity between the three persons cannot be missed and the emphasis, yet again, on the divine realm in which they relate to each other. In Matthew 28.19 it is a common divine nature, in 2 Corinthians 13.14 a common divine blessing, and here a common divine accessibility that are presented to the reader.
There are numerous other proofs of the Trinity throughout the Bible. Even in the Old Testament the second person is often mentioned as the Son to the Father as we have seen in the last chapter while the Holy Spirit is often spoken of as God’s direct agent and his own spirit (Genesis 1.2, Psalm 51.11). It is essential, in witness with Muslims, to show that the Church did not invent the Trinity or adapt its belief about God to prevailing monotheistic or polytheistic beliefs, but obtained it directly from the teaching of its original scripture, the Bible.
It is also useful to point out that it was the coming of Jesus Christ into the world that opened up the revelation of God as a triune being. Before him the Old Testament generally spoke of God as Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, but when Jesus began to teach he frequently spoke of God as the Father, himself as the Son and of the coming of the Holy Spirit in such terms as to leave no doubt that all three shared the realm of the divine glory, that they shared a common nature, essence and purpose, and that there was an absolute unity between them. The New Testament, in consequence, focuses consistently on each of the three persons in the divine Trinity as the sphere in which Christian believers can come to know God (the Father), be forgiven by him (through his Son Jesus Christ) and enjoy his divine presence (in the Holy Spirit). All references to Yahweh disappear in the light of the intimate unity which all believers enjoy with God now more fully revealed in his true nature and triune personality.
2.2 The Incomprehensible Nature of God
Muslim: The concept of God is very easy to understand in Islam but your Christian doctrine of the Trinity defies reason. Even if you were to write a thousand books you could never fully explain it. Yet our doctrine can easily be placed on a postage stamp: Huwallaahu ahad - He is Allah the One.
Muslims sincerely find it very hard to understand how God can be triune and, in explaining the doctrine, Christians are often likely to confuse themselves as much as the Muslims! It is not a simple concept as we should freely concede. Nonetheless its complexity is not an argument against its tenability, if anything it is the strongest point in its favour. After all, we are dealing with the nature of the eternal God of the Universe. He is greater than the heavens and the earth - would it be surprising to us, who are merely mortal, finite creatures, to find that his basic character is incomprehensible? As the Bible itself says:
Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven - what can you do? Deeper than Sheol - what can you know? Job 11.7-8
Muslims claim that Islam’s concept of God can very easily be comprehended and is therefore more acceptable than what Christians admit is an incomprehensible doctrine. One cannot help asking whether a concept of God that can easily be understood in the human mind was not perhaps conceived there in the first place. As Kenneth Cragg has said, a doctrine of God does not commend itself by its ability to be reduced to a statement on a postage stamp. We are not dealing with simplicity here. The Muslim writer Afif Tabbarah is more to the point when he says that the Almighty God is much dissimilar to his creatures and more sublime than simple minds can imagine.
Searching Out the Knowledge of God
The doctrine of the Trinity is not contrary to reason. Quite simply it is above the realms of finite human reasoning. It requires a different approach to come to terms with it. A rational, analytic study of its tenets will yield little of substance. The Apostle Paul once said:
Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Acts 26.8
Paul, addressing King Agrippa and other members of his court, made no attempt to rationally explain how the dead can be raised back to life. All scientific studies of the world of nature will never be able to give a rational explanation of how this can be possible. The issue here is one of faith. All Muslims, on faith alone, will concede the resurrection of the dead to life. Why then, we may ask, is it thought incredible by any of them that the Almighty God who rules this universe is incomprehensible in his infinite and eternal nature?
The New Testament is far more concerned about our relationship with God than our understanding of his nature. What we know about God is not nearly as important as the need to actually know God. The pursuit of his holiness, the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of eternal life are the concerns of the Christian scriptures. As Paul says, we have come to know God or, rather, to be known of God (Galatians 4.9). It is through the revelation of God in his eternal triune nature, especially as revealed to us in Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1.15) in whom the whole fulness of God dwelt bodily (Colossians 2.9), that we have come to know God and to be known of him. Muslims need to be told that what is most important is that we should be right with God, approved of him, loved and forgiven, rather than that we should we able to understand or comprehend his nature. God wants to be loved and obeyed, not studied or analysed.
The Trinity: A Divine Revelation
It is important also to point out to Muslims that although the mainline Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches have differed on many subjects, they have never even remotely argued over the doctrine of the Trinity including its finer details. The reason is simply that the Church never created this doctrine, it discerned it from a study of the revelation of God in the holy scriptures. It is the only doctrine of God that can be formulated from an objective study of the books of the New Testament.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD finally defined the Trinitarian doctrine. The term Trinity was first proposed by Tertullian, the great early African Christian scholar. Muslims often fasten on this as a proof that the doctrine is an invention of the Church some centuries after Christ. Crudely put, some Muslims argue that God had always been a unitarian being until the third century when the Church turned him into a Trinity. I can suggest a very useful line of argument that I have found to be very effective in getting past this objection.
For centuries all mankind believed that the earth was flat and that the sun, planets and stars revolved around it. A few centuries ago Galileo, Copernicus and other astronomers began proclaiming that in fact the earth is round, is suspended in space, and is revolving around the sun. The theory was denounced (most prominently by the Church!) for the simple reason that throughout history it was common knowledge that the earth was flat and, in any event, common sense could tell anyone that this planet was not moving and that the sky was rotating around us. The idea that we are circling at more than one thousand miles an hour on our own axis daily, are revolving around the sun at tens of thousands of miles an hour, and are spinning through the universe at even phenomenally greater speeds, was to the minds of people of those days entirely irrational. It is only because we have scientific proof that we accept the theory today but it is still very hard to comprehend. God’s nature, however, cannot be scientifically proved. He may, however, turn out to be very opposite to what people naturally would expect just as the planetary system has done. Yet the Church discerned the Triune nature of God some fourteen centuries before the truth about our universe was discovered. Why? Simply because God revealed his true nature to us in the scriptures. The Church did not turn God into a Trinity - he was so from all eternity.
Some Muslims argue that the Trinity cannot be mathematically proved. After all, 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, they argue. There is no way they can be made to be one. Yet even mathematics uses an independent symbol, ∞, to define infinity, simply because it cannot be multiplied, divided, added to or subtracted from by ordinary numerals. So too the infinite God cannot be comprehended in finite terms and our mathematics are a quite inadequate standard for determining eternal realities!
Christianity makes no attempt to present a comprehensible God to the world. Its aim is to reveal a knowable God - the Father who loves his own children, the Son who died to redeem them, and the Holy Spirit who renews and sanctifies them. Man’s goal is to get to heaven and to be with God - not to able to plot heaven on a map or produce a concept of God that can be easily comprehended, analysed or reduced to a statement on a postage stamp.
2.3 The Unity of God: The Basis of the Trinity
Muslim: The truth is that Christians in fact worship three gods and are guilty of shirk. The Bible emphasises the fact that God is one God. Your doctrine is inconsistent with your own scripture. You cannot put three personalities into one God.
It is intriguing to find Muslims arguing that the Bible emphatically teaches that God is one as if this undermined the Trinity doctrine. The Old Testament declares that "the Lord is God on heaven above and on earth beneath - there is no other" (Deuteronomy 4.39) while the New Testament likewise states "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12.29) and that "God is one" (Romans 3.30, Galatians 3.20). It is useful in conversation with Muslims on the Trinity, nevertheless, to quote these texts to establish the point from the outset that the unity of God is as much a fundamental teaching of the whole Bible as it is in the Qur’an. The issue is the complex nature of this unity in the Biblical doctrine of the Triune God.
God: A Tri-Unity, not a Tritheism
How can three be one, the Muslim fairly asks? All human beings are distinct creatures and personalities. In no way can three of them become one being with one single nature. Our answer to this has to be to go to the Bible and see how it projects the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
1. 1 John 1.5: God is Light
The Bible focuses on this theme often. God is called the "Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1.17). The Son of God, Jesus Christ, also declared "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8.12) while the New Testament also says of him that he likewise will never change, being the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13.8). Through the Holy Spirit, furthermore, God shines into our hearts to give "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4.6). There is clearly an absolute unity of essence and purpose between them.
2. John 3.33: God is True
Just as this text declares Truth to be an essential essence of God the Father, so the Son of God could declare "I am the Truth" (John 14.6). Likewise the Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth" (John 15.26). There is no falsehood in any of them. Once again one discovers that, while human beings may differ in personality and character, there are no such differences between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are the Truth.
3. 1 John 4.8: God is Love
The New Testament often speaks of the love of the Father (John 16.27) but goes on to say that the love of God was made manifest in the fact that he sent his Son to redeem us from our sins (Romans 5.8, 1 John 4.10). Likewise it states that God’s love has been "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5.5). Again we have an absolute unity in essence and purpose between the three persons of the Trinity.
Much the same can be said of the life of God. As the Father is the source of all life, so the Son called himself "the Life" (John 11.25, 14.6) and is called the Author of Life (Acts 3.15). The Holy Spirit is likewise the one through whom God will give eternal life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8.11). In all these texts we can see a divine tri-unity, not three independent personalities. Our doctrine is only held within a definition of God’s unity. Without it the Trinity’s fundamental nature falls away. You quite simply cannot establish the doctrine outside of God’s essential oneness. As Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10.30) and this total unity is shared with the Holy Spirit.
Early Muslim Reactions to the Trinity
It is very interesting to see how early Muslim writers responded to the doctrine of the Trinity. The most important and exhaustive work was a dissertation in the ninth century after Christ by Abu Isa al-Warraq which he titled Ar-Radd ala al-Tathlith ("The Refutation of the Trinity").
Abu Isa wrote purely in response to the Christian theorists of his day. They taught the tri-unity of God in a very technical manner and focused on the Son as the Word and the Spirit as the Life - a poor distinction as Jesus Christ so often spoke of himself as "the Life" as we have seen. Just as modern Christians often use illustrations to define the Trinity (such as the one egg with three parts, its shell, yolk and white), so the Christians of those days also used what in my mind was an inadequate (and often misleading) approach. They tried, from reason, to prove that three separate hypostases could be one being.
Abu Isa responded in kind. He followed the principle first stated by the Muslim scholar Al-Kindi, namely that God is a being who is neither multiple or divisible in any way, not by his essence nor by something other than it, and one whose substance likewise cannot be divided or multiplied in any way. While most Muslim writers usually attacked the Christian doctrine from a Qur’anic standpoint, namely that Allah could not have a Son, has no partners, and that Jesus was only a messenger, Abu Isa took the doctrine at face value. He made himself well acquainted with it.
He argued that if the hypostases are the substance, and the substance is one and undifferentiated while the hypostases are three, then the Christians have made what is differentiated not differentiated. Again, he argued, if the substance is identical to the hypostases, the one must be the other. There cannot be three of one and one of the other. If they are distinct, the substance is a fourth.
Abu Isa based his arguments on the popular rational theories of his day, one of which was that human reason is always the sole criterion of judgment and that prophets must speak within its dictates. You can see what happens when Christians try to prove the Trinity by analytical reasoning and on finite principles. Once again I must emphasise the point made in the introduction to this book - be Biblical and not doctrinal, rational or illustrative in your answers. Our response to the Muslim is that our doctrine is the product of divine revelation and cannot be judged by finite human reasoning. We respond to what God has revealed about himself because, as Carl Pfander said, human reason cannot grasp the eternal being. Its dim torch must give way to the bright sunrise of truth.
2.4 Does the Doctrine have Pagan Origins?
Muslim: Your doctrine is founded on contemporary pagan religions which all had their own trinities of gods long before Christianity came into being. The Egyptians, Hindus, Romans and Greeks all had triads of deities in which they believed.
The Muslim tendency to overlook the essential unity of the Triune God and to regard the Christian faith as tritheistic leads to charges that the doctrine has parallels in ancient pagan religions where a plurality of deities were worshipped. All sorts of examples are proposed in Muslim writings on the subject.
Specific Examples of Supposed Parallels
All sorts of triads are mentioned in Muslim writings, such as the Greek gods Zeus, Demeter and Apollo, even though there was never any suggestion of an absolute unity between them or any semblance to the actual Biblical Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We will look at two of the commonest examples Muslim writers cite to prove their case.
1. The Egyptian Gods Osiris, Isis and Horus
In Muslim publications it is often argued that the Egyptians also had their own trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus and that these were, as claimed by a Muslim writer, a "kind of trinity of gods" who were supposed to be the Egyptian equivalent of the Trinity. It is once again important, in discussion with Muslims, to emphasise the essential unity of God and the fundamental monotheism of the Christian faith. The very word Trinity embodies a divine unity and only a Muslim can know what he means when he speaks of a "trinity of gods". The very expression is self-contradictory.
The mythological family of gods known as Osiris, Isis and Horus constituted a family of father, mother and son - as far from the Christian doctrine of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as you can get. Furthermore they were only three of a multiplicity of Egyptian deities which also included Nun, Atum, Ra, Khefri, Shu, Tefnut, Anhur, Geb, Nut and Set.
There were also more than one Horus - Horus the elder, Horus of Edfu, Horus son of Isis, etc. The Egyptians were not trinitarians believing in one Supreme Being who is triune in personality and nature. They worshipped many gods of whom Osiris, Isis and Horus were but three and they did not believe that these three shared an absolute unity. As will be seen these pagan triads are closer to the Qur’anic misconception of the Christian doctrine than they are to the actual doctrine as it is founded on the Bible.
2. The Hindu Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva
The Hindus have a belief in a Trimurti - a triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Muslims often claim that the Christian Trinity is founded on this concept as well. An historical analysis of the Hindu theory will soon show, likewise, that there is not even a remote parallel between the two.
Brahma is an impersonal deity in Hinduism with no personality, representing everything that exists in a state of perfect nirvana (absorption in a universal state). Vishnu was married to a female deity and Siva is the great god of the Hindu Savites. They have no particular relationship with each other. Hinduism has numerous other deities such as Krishna, Rama, Sita, Ganesh, Hanuman, Kali and others. The Upanishads, Vedas and other ancient Hindu texts taught no such thing as a threefold relationship between Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The Vedas acknowledged at least thirty-three different deities who were separate gods, often opposed to each other. Most of them were married to Hindu goddesses.
The Trimurti concept is only found in late Sanskrit and cannot be dated earlier than the 5th century after Christ - long after the Christian doctrine of the Trinity had been fully established. Muslims are, quite simply, doing all they can to father the Christian belief in a Triune God on all sorts of pagan deities even though there is no similarity between them.
The Uniqueness of the Biblical Trinity
Muslims who argue that our doctrine has pagan origins will have to produce far better proofs and actual chains of evidences to prove that it is dependent on pagan beliefs. The doctrine of the Trinity is an absolutely unique one which has no parallels in any other religion or philosophy. No one could have invented it and it would never have been discovered had it not been revealed to us in the pages of the New Testament. It originated in a dominantly monotheistic Jewish world and represents a deity entirely consistent with the God of Israel of the Old Testament.
When Muslims argue a pagan origin for the Trinity the Christian has a great opportunity to witness very effectively to the glory of God and his great work of salvation for us. The unique feature of our doctrine is its threefold personality of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The New Testament writers themselves made no effort to define the Christian doctrine of God or to codify or explain it. They simply proclaimed it! It was left to later generations of Christian scholars to interpret their teachings in a clearly defined doctrine.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and the other New Testament authors were concerned primarily to project the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to Christian believers. The aim was to call forth a response of faith from the heart and to strengthen it. As pointed out already, God does not want to be defined, analysed or conceptualised as much as he wants to be believed, obeyed and implicitly trusted. He cannot be seen, materialised, computerised or reduced to anything that can be finitely determined. He can, however, be known and the issue between Christians and Muslims is not so much one of his identity but rather of what we most urgently need to secure, namely to be forgiven by him, to receive his Spirit, to personally know him, to become his children and to eventually inherit his kingdom.
In the next section we will look at the best ways of canvassing the Trinity with Muslims and will see why it is better to use this subject as an opportunity for witness rather than one to be argued or proved.
2.5 The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Muslim: The Qur’an teaches that man’s highest honour is to be a servant of Allah who is our Lord and Master. What is required is that we should obey his laws and believe in the Last Day when we hope he will forgive us our sins.
To a Muslim God’s favour cannot be guaranteed, his forgiveness cannot be assured in this life, and it is not possible to know him or to enter into a personal relationship with him. The Qur’an says:
There is no one in the heavens and the earth who can come to the Compassionate except as a servant. Surah 19.93
The word used for servant is abd and earlier in the same surah Jesus is recorded as declaring "I am a servant of Allah" (Surah 19.30) where the same Arabic word is used. According to Islam this is the highest status of any man before Allah - no more than a servant to his divine Master and Judge. Hence Muslims believe that they need to live purely as servants of God, working to earn his favour and hoping for his good pleasure on their lives when the great Day of Resurrection comes. Here the Christian has a glorious field to proclaim the Trinity in such a way as to set forth a much greater hope and more glorious God.
The Father: God For Us
According to the Hadith records of Islam Allah has ninety-nine "beautiful names" (al-asma’ ul husna) which are his attributes. Whoever recites them can expect to enter into Paradise (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 4, p. 1410). The first thirteen occur in order in Surah 59.22-24 and begin as follows: Ar-Rahman (The Compassionate), Ar-Rahim (The Merciful), Al-Malik (The Sovereign), Al-Quddus (The Holy), etc. According to Sufi Muslims Allah has a hundredth name which has been revealed only to the great Sufi masters of history.
I have often suggested to Muslims that, if a name is missing from the hundred names of Allah, it is not the hundredth but rather the first, the commonest title for God in the New Testament - the Father. It is most significant to find that God is nowhere called Father in the Qur’an or any other work of early Islamic literature. The point is, logically, that if the greatest role men can have towards God is solely to be his servants as the Qur’an teaches, then he can only be their Master (Al-Malik). The Qur’an quite simply does not allow for the possibility that we can become children - in fact it states the opposite quite emphatically (Surah 6.100).
When Jesus began to preach, however, he consistently taught that God is the Father of all true believers. This title, given to the first person of the Trinity, tells us that God is for us. If he has become our Father, then we are no longer just slaves and servants of God but his children. It is very useful to compare the roles of a servant and a child with Muslims in conversation. A servant has to earn his keep every day. His master does not necessarily have any affection for him, he only expects him to do his duty. The servant can be dismissed if he does not perform his task properly. He likewise will live outside his master’s home in his own quarters. A child, however, knows he is loved by his father and that he will never be dismissed from his father’s home. He does not have to earn his place, he has it by right. He lives in his father’s home in his own room. He experiences a freedom a servant never has because he knows his father is for him. So it is with true Christians who know God’s love personally.
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3.1
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12.32
It is only by knowing God as Father that the fulness of his love can truly be known and that believers, as his children, can be assured of his goodwill towards them and their place in the coming kingdom.
God the Son: God With Us
Jesus Christ constantly not only called himself the Son of God but also assured his disciples that, through faith in him, they too could become children of God. It is in the willingness of Jesus to lay down his life for us that we see the love of God actually revealed to us. Here, too, is God with us. By taking human form the Son, the Second person of the Trinity, also brought God and man together in a new and unique way. I have often asked Muslims what the greatest act of Allah’s love towards them has ever been and have received a variety of answers. Has he, however, ever given of himself to reveal his love for them in the same way that Abraham did when he was prepared to sacrifice his own son as the supreme test of his love for God? Islam has no positive answer to this question. Only in the revelation of the Triune God can you find such a perfect display of love. It is summed up in these words:
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation of our sins. 1 John 4.10
God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5.8
In Jesus we can be assured of the forgiveness of our sins and are able to behold just how great God’s love is for us. Muslims do not know such love. When the Qur’an speaks of the love of God and calls him the Al-Wadud - the Loving One (Surah 85.14), it means (according to Muslim scholars) only that he expresses approval over those who follow him. It does not mean that he has any personal feelings towards them or that he is prepared to make any sacrifice to show his love towards mankind.
In my experience there are numerous Muslims who warm freely to the Christian revelation of God’s love in Christ. Human beings are capable of expressing the greatest acts of sacrificial love towards those they cherish and many Muslims long to know God in the same way and actually be assured of his eternal favour and personal love towards them. In Jesus Christ alone they can find it, the very one who fulfilled his own saying that no greater love can a man have for his friends than to lay down his life for them (John 15.13). It is our most powerful point of witness.
God the Holy Spirit: God In Us
It is in the third person of the Trinity that God’s love can not only be known, seen but also actually personally experienced. Jesus spoke often of the need to receive him - the Holy Spirit. It is not just some special force or divine power, he is the very Spirit of God and, when he indwells anyone, in a unique way (true only of believers) God himself actually lives in that person. Here we see the third great effect of the revelation of the Triune God - God in us. No wonder the New Testament writers made no effort to define the Trinity or explain it. To know God, to be assured that he is for us, with us and in us, is all that we need to know to fully relate to him. The Spirit gives believers power to live according to God’s holy laws but, more than this, he gives a living experience of God’s presence in us. God sent forth his Son so that we might become his children but, because we are children, he also sends his Spirit into our hearts so that we may actually be able to cry out "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4.4-6).
When we cry, "Abba! Father!", it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Romans 8.15-16
Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Romans 5.5
I have found an illustration very helpful at this point. A couple may decide to adopt an orphan and will go through a legal process to officially confirm the adoption. The child will still not know he has parents and a home but when his new father and mother take him to their own home, show him his room and tell him that the house is his also, thereafter embracing him affectionately, he will know he is no longer an orphan and will personally experience their love for him. This what happens when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts.
There is no better way to explain the Trinity to a Muslim than to show him this threefold revelation of God’s love for us - a revelation that stops at nothing less than perfection itself. It is only in the Triune God that such love could ever be, or has ever been, shown in all its fulness. In the introduction to this book I said that Christians must be Biblical in their witness and nowhere does this apply more importantly than to the subject of the Trinity. Do not let Muslims weigh you down with arguments against the logical reasonableness of the doctrine, nor try to make your point through defective three-in-one illustrations. Use the opportunity to show them that the Triune personality of God was only finally revealed when Jesus Christ came to earth and spoke freely of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was only when the time had fully come for God’s love to be completely expressed in Christ that the true nature of God’s whole being was imparted to us and this is why the New Testament writers focused on this theme and no other when dealing with the Trinity. We will do well to do likewise in our witness to Muslims.
2.6 The Qur’an and the Christian Doctrine
Muslim: The Qur’an denies the Trinity expressly. God is only one God - not three as you believe. It is a great blasphemy to say that Allah has any partners. Everything in the heavens and the earth gives glory to him alone.
The great cause of Muslim misconceptions about the Trinity is the complete misrepresentation of it in the Qur’an. The word "Trinity" also nowhere occurs in this book but it is clear that the Qur’an is out to oppose the Christian belief in a threefold divine existence, no matter what form it may take. Nonetheless it does not even begin to address the basic Christian belief in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit but reacts to a perversion of it possibly derived from sectarian beliefs in and around the Arabian peninsula.
The Qur’anic Threesome: Jesus, Mary and Allah
The Qur’an quite emphatically rejects the Christian belief as a triad of deities and names them as Jesus, his mother Mary, and Allah - in that order! In three passages this concept is assailed as polytheistic and blasphemous. The first reads as follows:
And do not say: Three. Desist - it is better for you! Truly Allah is only One. Glorified be he above taking a son to himself. Surah 4.171
The word used here for "three" is thalathah, a common Qur’anic word appearing nineteen times in the book. It always means "three" and cannot be translated or rendered "Trinity". The command not to speak of Allah as a threesome is contained in a passage exhorting Christians generally not to exaggerate in their religion. By contrasting the oneness of God with the threefold Christian deity it is clear that the Qur’an is unaware of the essential unity of the Christian doctrine of God.
In another passage the Qur’an actually identifies the three different deities which Christians supposedly worship. Interestingly all three passages which deal with this subject come from the very last portions of the Qur’an to come to Muhammad and it seems that it was only late in his life that he first heard of a Christian divine threesome without ever having the opportunity to discover precisely what the Trinity represents. The second verse on this subject reads:
They speak blasphemy who say that Allah is the third of three. There is indeed no god except the one God. Surah 5.73
The words used in the first sentence to express the "third of three" are thalithu thalathah. Once again there is no specific reference to the Trinity or any awareness that the Christian God is a Triune being. The distinction, yet again, is purely between one and three with no allowance for a threefold unity. A few verses later the Qur’an identifies the other two deities in the triad Christians are supposed to worship:
The Messiah son of Mary was only a messenger; messengers before him had passed away. And his mother was upright. They both had to eat food. Surah 5.75
The argument is quite clear. Jesus and his mother Mary were only human beings. Though he was a messenger of Allah others just like him had preceded him. And his mother was no more than a righteous servant of Allah. After all, they both had to eat food to sustain themselves. So how could they be deities along with Allah? The Qur’an has clearly mistaken the Christian doctrine and represented it as a triad of Jesus, Mary and Allah. It is most significant to find Allah described only as the third of these three. In the Christian doctrine of the Triune God the Father at least has first place!
There were various sects such as the Nestorians, Monophysites and others in the vicinity of Arabia who had confusing beliefs about God, Jesus and Mary but none of them represented the Trinity as consisting of these three. You can see why Muslims think our beliefs are based on the Egyptian Father-Mother-Son family of Osiris, Isis and Horus. What is most probable is that Muhammad was totally unaware of the actual Triune God of the Christian faith and simplistically confused it with pagan beliefs in a Father-Mother-Son triad. If God was indeed the author of the Qur’an it is hard to see how he could make such a mistake and not even remotely represent the Christian doctrine, held to by all the major Christian churches of the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one eternal Supreme Being.
The third passage which canvasses the supposed Christian belief in three separate deities is this one:
And when Allah will say: O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to mankind "Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah"? He will say, Glory to you! I would not have said what I had no right to say. If I had said it, you would have known it. You know what is in my mind though I do not know what is in yours. You are the Knower of the Unseen. Surah 5.116
Once again the other two deities are said to be Jesus and Mary. The veneration of Mary has been a major article of Roman Catholic belief and the Ethiopian Church, in particular, has historically revered her as the mother of God. It seems, however, that their excesses and confusion have only resulted in the Qur’an compounding the confusion! No Christian Church, no matter how much it reveres or glorifies Mary as, for example, the Queen of Heaven, has ever confused the Trinity or made it out to be what the Qur’an represents it to be.
When Muslims challenge the doctrine of the Trinity and will not allow that it is an expression of divine unity in a different form to the unitarian concept of the Qur’an it is important to raise these texts as evidence, firstly, that the Qur’an misrepresents the doctrine completely and, secondly, that it is the source of the erroneous Muslim conviction that we believe in three separate gods.
It is also important to know that the true Christian doctrine was known in Arabia prior to Muhammad’s time. Edward Glasser, an explorer in Yemen, discovered an inscription there in 1888 in a narrative about the revolt against the Ethiopian rule in the country in pre-Islamic times. The inscription dates to 542 AD - twenty eight years before Muhammad’s birth - and it reads in Arabic (without vowels which were not written in the Arabic of the time): Rhmn w mshh w rh qds - "(In the power of) the Compassionate, and the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit". Thus the true nature of the Christian Trinity was known in the Arabian Peninsula many years before the Qur’an ever came to be written and the book’s total misrepresentation of the doctrine can only be ascribed to Muhammad’s personal ignorance of Christian theology.
For more infromation
http://www.trinitydogma.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any Question so u can contact with us @ E.mail # joinchristlove@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)