How an atheist became a Christian

Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by theChristianatheist

 

Ding! First star!

I owed you one from your intro anyways... plus i like giving first stars

Welcome to Ats bro

Thank you Akragon Nice to see some good people around. Looking forward to debating with you sometimes =P

reply to post by theChristianatheist

Thank you for tbhose encouraging comments.

OK so I am going to make comments, I am not bashing, slamming or accusing you. Most of it is just to let you see this through another eyes. And not to worry I am a sinner too, saved by the grace of God through faith on Christ.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
I thought of Christianity as a psychological crutch, but I was tolerant enough to recognise that not everybody was strong enough to manage without it.

Literally SAMECH in the section that is found in Ps 119:113-120, means a crutch or support. I often surprise people when they say I am using the Bible as a crutch and I agree. The Holy Bible AV1611 is more than just a crutch it is the support one needs as a Christian to stay the course. Ps 119:116 shows that upholding support or crutch that is God's words as found in the AV1611.

Then I went to university, which brought me up against the most important question in the universe; How do I go about meeting girls?

One good way to meet people seemed to be the bread-and-cheese lunches which were organized in different colleges to raise money for War on Want.
Nobody warned me that War-on-Want lunches were a hot-bed of Christian activity.

That was how I found myself, one afternoon, having coffee with a girl who then set about presenting the case for the Christian faith.

She wasn’t the first person to make the attempt, . . . We finally agreed that I had been driven by curiosity, which was (she said) the result of the Holy Ghost working in me”.

It is amazing that this "meeting girls" idea is more present in our purpose for going to college. It is an unspoken truth but almost 80% of people meet their mate in college, whether or not they complete college or not. Even I at Seminary knew that the Lord would reveal my mate. It was very distracting to say the least to my school work. He did reveal her by the way. Another interesting fact is that many people come to know the Lord after about (not always) hearing the gospel a minimum of 7 times. So she was correct the Holy Ghost was working.

This may have been more true than I realised at the time. . . The real deciding factor had been personal preference; unbelief was a much more comfortable, less demanding, option, and that was my reason for choosing it.
Once again, this was the moment of honesty. If my unbelief was a "personal preference", it took away the defence that I “could not help” not believing. If I was held accountable for making the wrong choice, there wasn’t any answer I could give.

Now while it is a free will choice we are to make, it is in no way that you "could not help not believing", if that were so then you are talking about three points of Calvinism, the U. I. L. to be exact.

This process came to a climax when I took back to my room, and began reading, the book she had lent me (“My God is real”, by David C.K, Watson). The book set in motion a number of thought processes. I began to recognize how much of my character was governed by pride (“ the acknowledgement of sin”). In fact the real remaining barrier between myself and Christianity, I realized, was that wanting to stay free of any emotional dependence on religious support; in effect, I was proud of my self-sufficiency. Another train of thought was set off by the page which described how Jesus was separated from his Father in the moments before death, a concept which had a great impact on me (“recognition of the Cross”).

Are you actually saying you recognized Pride as sin? because not all pride is sin ( I am sure you are not speaking of the other types of pride) I am assuming your meant the Puffed up with your own sense of superiority of knowledge Pride. Ok so I see a first step here you are recognizing you are a sinner, like me.

There was one brief distraction; I went down to the student bar to get chocolate from the machine there. I caught sight of my previous girl-friend with my successor, and this was enough to disrupt any train of thought for the next half-hour. . . .

That may be true. however the Bible is clear that Satan knows every one is going to hell unless they believe Christ died for there sins. But what he doesn't know is that you will or were going to ask God for forgiveness for you sins and your recognition that Christ died in your place bearing the penalty for your sins personally. It is your faith that is justified by his resurrection, and you have been made just before God by Christ work on the cross and his resurrection from the grave.

I finally came to the point of making a decision. Giving up the attempt to work things out on my own, I decided to put my trust in an action of faith, and I made the suggested prayer. I was expecting some kind of tangible spiritual change, but nothing seemed to be happening, so I went to bed.

Your Faith i.e. your trust is in the Actions i.e. works of Christ, not your own faith or actions, and we are not saved by praying a prayer. The prayer is in this case just a communication between you and God about what you believed about yourself that He already knew. That communication should have been the result of your conviction by the Holy Ghost that you were a sinner in need of God's salvation (BTW I am not saying you are not saved I am clarifying facts and points just to be sure you know them).

Nevertheless, the point had been settled. I had made a commitment which I was taking for granted from the next morning on-wards. So whether Christianity could be “proved” was beside the point, in the end; it was a commitment of trust, based on the event of the Cross, and a greater understanding of what the faith entailed was built up from there.
Yes, I had given up the “taught” religion, only to begin replacing it with a much more conscious and voluntary faith.

Just remember it is not a commitment or a decision. It is an act as you say, not of provable facts, it is faith in the work of Christ. So these are his works (I will be brief), 1) His going to the cross was in substitution for you. The suffering and death he died on the cross was the death that was yours as required for your sins. 2) He went into hell where you were supposed to go but himself being sinless hell i.e. death could not hold him. His body stayed in the grave 3 days, while his own soul communed with those who are already captive both those who . 3) On the Third day he rose from the grave to show the world He was Holy and that he fulfilled the prophesy that he spoke about taking his life up again. This resurrection as explained by Paul in Romans as being our faiths justification, meaning we are justified in putting our faith on him for our salvation,it is our assurance.

If these that I mentioned are the true reasons of your faith on His cross then yes ye are saved. I do believe that being saved comes out in our everyday conversations, our post and our lives as we continue on the way until we are gathered unto him in the clouds ever more to be with him. Only be clear in your writings that no obedience to rules, laws or commandments saves anyone. "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." Also every Christian should memorize 1Thess chap 1.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
Now while it is a free will choice we are to make, it is in no way that you "could not help not believing", if that were so then you are talking about three points of Calvinism, the U. I. L. to be exact.

This wasn't any kind of theological theory. It was an non-believer's potential defence, remember, against being blamed for non-belief. The idea being that a person can't be expected to believe in something if no evidence has been provided.

I did indeed see many unbelievers try and convince you not to stay in Christ. Saying things like be fluid, flexible, learn new things. I think you have enough knowledge of the world and no more is needed.

It is because of people like these we need the words of God as preserved for us in the inspired English AV1611. We are to remain steadfast unmovable in our faith by the words of God, especially our salvation. We are assured of God and we should comfort those where with the comfort we were comforted of God, His words.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I know, but for your sake I could not but at least state the truths, so I would not be accountable for your blood, not that you are not saved, but as you know I do not know who is saved and who is not, I only have the assurance of my own salvation.

Our Salvation comes out in all we do and say.

Be blessed.

a reply to: DISRAELI

But as an outsider I still don't know what faith means to you. What's Christianity standing for in your opinion?

a reply to: Peeple
The answer to that question can't be condensed beyond the other threads which I've already recommended.
Especially "New Testament salvation", which was written for that purpose.

This thread was launched ten years ago (plus a couple of days), which means that fifty years have now elapsed since the events described. My own jubliee.
Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

Dear Disraeli, thanks, I will just read.