this is a topic that comes alot. hopefully these passages can help you. god bless.

isaiah 37;20
(thou art the lord, even though only)

1 John 5:7
there are three that bear record in heaven; the father, the son and the holy ghost and these three are one.

isaiah 43;10
before me there was no god found, neither shall there be after.

isaiah 44;6
i am the first and the last, and beside me there is no god 

The other two postings addressed the first question very well. My input is on the second question. Perhaps you should be asking yourself why satan doesn't just give up and stop trying to lead us away from realizing the love of Jesus Christ. The bible tells us what the outcome is going to be, and satan knows the bible better than any of us. So why doesn't he just give up now?

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The one question that matters the most is: Do I know that I am a sinner and the only thing that could ever get me to heaven is the blood of Jesus Christ? If you believe in the death, burial, and resurection of Jesus Christ and the grace of God is the only thing that gets you to heaven. Your name will be put in the book of life, never to be erased. So, at the last day you won't be cast into the lake of fire.

Rev. 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

HERE ARE SOME BIBLE VERSES I FOUND THAT CAN HOPEFULLY HELP YOU...IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL ME.

1. [Psalms 46:10] " Be still and know that I am God."

2. [Isaiah 4:4] "Who has perfomed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He."

3. [Daniel 7:26] "For He is the Living God."

4. [John 1:1-5] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2.He was in the beginning with God. 3.All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4.In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5.And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

5. [john 14:6] "Jesus said to Him...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

6. [Mark 5:36] "Do not be afraid, only believe."

May the Lord be with you always, God Bless!!!! 

Joseph,

I don't have all the answers but I can tell you that He is the living God. Okay, what about other gods performing miracles? You can read it in the old testament and in the new testament. Even when Moses wanted to take the people out of Israel, Pharaoh had his own sorcerers and people who practised witchcraft. If God is real, so are other spirits.

Now, your friend has been helped by God's grace many times. How sure is he that the god who is helping him is not our God?

[John 19:10]
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

You can see here that Pilate was not a believer but the power that he had was given by God.

[Matthew 5:45]
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Hey, God loves us even while we are still sinners. I believe that He guide me and preserved me even before I knew Him. The difference now is that I have now entered into a relationship with the living God. He has given me His Spirit and opened my eyes to His truth.

The other thing is that God says that He is a holy God. Holy here means that He is separated. We cannot believe that He is God and at the same time believe that other gods are God.

Point 2:
I do not know much about the Lucifer bit and what happened. But even when God created man, He created us in His image and He gave us a free will. He gave all creation a free will. The choice is up to us. If God were to control our every move, we would become robots and we will not be capable of having fellowship with God which is achieved when we exercise our free will to love Him. Not being forced into it, but because we chose. Similarly, I believe that the devil had a choice. He chose to rebel.

I don't believe that we live in a fatalistic world in which it was decided before time that we would walk in this way or that way. I believe that we can move in free will and because of that our lives can go that way or this way based on choices we make. How can God still be in control of our lives? He can't if we choose not to let Him. He will not violate our free will. But He preserves us and protects us (maybe that is what your friend means grace) to a certain extent. If we choose to step out of His ways and disobey certain natural and spiritual laws, we have to bear the consequences of these laws. If you eat too much fat, you might get sickly and unhealthy. It is a natural law which is upheld through time. God's grace is when He heals and protects us. If we are in Him, He will give us wisdom how to live a healthy life. But if we choose to jump off a building, we have to bear the natural consequences of our choice. Unless someone or God intervenes.

That is my view. Free will. Not fatalistic. 

changed on Wednesday, April 18, 2001 8:41:02 AM