How to Know God
If you sincerely would like to know God, he will make himself known to you. How will He do this? Please let explain. God has intentionally made himself invisible because He wants people to approach Him in faith and also because He does not want people to make an image of Him and worship that instead of Him.
"Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel. (Isaiah 45:15 NIV)
That is why we must believe in Him by faith. Because God is invisible we must first believe He exists, then seek to know Him. God himself will provide you with the faith to do this once you have made the decision to believe in Him. He will do this by his Holy Spirit.
"We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey him." (Acts 5:32 NIV)
In the bible, Exodus chapter 20, God gave ten laws to His prophet, Moses. We call these "The Ten Commandments." Here they are:
[ 1] And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me."
[ 2] "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."
[ 3] "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."
[ 4] "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
[ 5] "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
[ 6] "You shall not murder."
[ 7] "You shall not commit adultery."
[ 8] "You shall not steal."
[ 9] "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."
[10] "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:1-17 NIV)
Think about all this for a few minutes. Have you ever wished that you had that car your neighbor owns? Have you ever told a lie (even a "little white lie?") Have you ever stolen anything (even a ballpoint pen?) If you have ever done any of these things, you have brokwn the tenth, ninth, and eighth commandments respectively. This might sound trivial. But, it takes only one sin to send a person straight to hell.
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just
one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:10 NIV)
These laws are God's standard of holiness. Unless a person keeps all ten of these laws perfectly, he or she has sinned. It's as simple as that. The problem is, nobody has ever kept these ten laws perfectly - except for Jesus. The reason God gave these ten impossible-to-keep laws to Moses was so that people could learn that it is impossible to become holy as a result of his or her own efforts. Because of this fact we need grace, or forgiveness, from God.
God provided a way for people to be forgiven of their sins. At first He established a complicated system of sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament. These foreshadowed the one great sacrifice that would be made for all sins by God's own son, Jesus. Now Jesus has become our great high priest before the Father in heaven.
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV)
All we need to do to are these two things:
1. Admit that we are sinners according to God's perfect laws and repent of our sins. (This means to genuinely be sorry for our sins and have no intent of ever repeating them.)
2. Pray to God, the Father, and ask his forgiveness of our sins because of the sacrifice made by His son, Jesus.
That is all there is to it! It isn't complicated. The hard part, for most people, is admitting to one's own sins. We tend to look at everybody else and say we are just as good (or bad) as the next person. The problem is, God doesn't grade on a curve. Sin, and the forgiveness of sin, is an all-or-nothing deal.
What's next? Find a bible-believing church, ask to be baptized in water, and seek God's guidance for your life in prayer. Read your bible often.
Warning! Beware of people who tell you things like "Jesus was a prophet, or a good man, but not the son of God." These are antichrist. Also, beware of people who tell you that there is more to salvation that the two steps above. These are legalists. Beware of the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and other cults who will come knocking at your door.
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