I believe Christ is God because of the following reasons in order of importance:
1.His sacrifice by his death on the cross.
No other God incarnate or prophet performed such a sacrifice, not Krishna, Buddha or Mohammad.
2.His message of love, charity, hope, peace etc for all mankind.
I cannot find anything in the scriptures of other faith that can compare with Christ sermon on the mount as far as the above virtues are concerned.
3.His miracles.
No one performed the kind of miracles he did.
In the Bible stories before ?Adam? was created ?Satan and the Demons? were fully functional to wise up Eve into GETTING KNOWLEDGE! Because of it God did not promise to destroy SATAN with Noah?s Flood, BUT LATER ON AT THE END OF THE WORLD in a ?Hell? that God already created in a ?bottomless pit? under the Earth! The Preachers claim that there are NO ?SINFUL? ALIENS of the wrong Church brand anywhere else in this humongous universe in need of a bigger HELL than the ?bowels of the Earth? can accommodate!
1,000 Bible years after ?Creation? GOD GETS REAL MAD with everybody, especially children and pregnant women and kills them all with a worldwide flood, BUT HE SAVES NOAH, SATAN AND ALL THE DEMONS! The fresh and salt water fish survived together outside of Noah?s Ark to become the emblem of Christianity!
God the Son Jesus Christ comes in 3,000 BIBLE YEARS later walking on water to ?SAVE? THE JEWS. But he will come a second time to send to HELL the rest of humanity that never heard about him or are of the wrong Church brand including all the stingy JEWS!
Matthew 25:41 (KJV) (Jesus is telling the ?lost? JEWS that he came to ?save? from the Bible Hell that he created) DEPART FROM ME, YE CURSED* (*JESUS IS TELLING CHRISTIANS THAT THE JEWS ARE CURSED!) into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,
Only a mentally deranged FIRE AND RESCUE person would start a fire to save anybody out of it ONLY IF THEY BELIEVE THAT HE CAN SAVE THEM!
CHRISTIANS today believe that the JEWS are cursed for rejecting Jesus? NOT SO! The Bible writers say that the JEWS WERE FORCING JESUS TO BECOME THEIR KING, BUT JESUS KEPT SHYING AWAY FROM THEM!
John 6:15 (KJV) Jesus, knowing that they* (*THE JEWS) intended to come and MAKE HIM KING BY FORCE, withdrew AGAIN* (*it happened over and over again in the GOSPEL stories!) to a mountain by himself* (*obviously, some smart JEWISH Bible writers were putting together a new CHRISTIAN RELIGION away from Judaism).
Luke 11:51 (NIV) (JESUS, THE FUTURE ?JUDGE/KING OF THE WORLD SAYS) from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah* (*from A-Abel to Z-Zachariah)? YES, I TELL YOU* (*NO BULL CRAP!), this generation* (*ALL JEWS! Jesus really hates them even before there was any JEW in the BIBLE world. They are guilty and GO TO HELL!) WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR IT ALL!* (*hear ye? hear ye? THE JUDGE HAS RENDERED A VERDICT ON THE JEWS BEFORE ?JUDGMENT DAY!? Hitler hardly took the Jews on a picnic!)
Christians refuse to believe that THE JEWS ARE CURSED not because they are responsible for all the silly murders in history, BUT BECAUSE OF THEIR INEXCUSABLE FAILURE TO PAY THE 10% DUES TO THE TEMPLE CLERGY!
Malachi 3:9-10 (NIV) (GOD says) YOU* (*THE JEWS!) ARE UNDER A CURSE?THE WHOLE NATION OF YOU* (*ALL JEWS ARE CURSED! JESUS is following the SAME BIBLE SCRIPT calling the Jews ?YE CURSED? -Hebrews 10:7, BUT NOT FOR CRUCIFYING HIM! The preachers are not one bit HONEST! In the Bible stories the JEWS REALLY LOVED JESUS FOR KING ALL ALONG -John 12:13!) because you are robbing me* (*ROBBING GOD! That?s the CORE MESSAGE OF THE JEWISH BIBLE WRITERS! The Clergy/Preachers are satisfied with at least the 10% of the laity?s gross income to make a good living! Malachi 3 is the last chapter in the Old Testament Bible. THE VERY LAST WORD IN IT IS A CURSE ON THE JEWS! Bring the whole TITHE* (*10%) into the storehouse* (*?Clergy Bank Account), that there may be food IN MY HOUSE* (*the Clergy/Preachers place of business).
The Bible writers say that ALL THEIR FELLOW JEWS ARE CURSED, ESPECIALLY THE RICHER ONES! They have Jesus going after them! In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus is telling the story of a RICH JEW GOING TO ?HELL? FOR BEING RICH and a POOR JEW LAZARUS GOING TO A ?HEAVENLY PARADISE? FOR BEING POOR!
Mark 12:42-43 (KJV) And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites* (*2 bits of money), which make a farting. And he* (*Jesus) CALLED UNTO HIM HIS DISCIPLES* (*a special meeting was set to tell them how much MONEY people drop in the offering box!), and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you* (*this time IT IS REALLY NO BULL CRAP!), That this POOR WIDOW hath cast more in, than ALL they which have cast into the TREASURY! (New Christians learn this lesson as soon as they are converted! In old Israel the Clergy ate from the sacrificed ANIMALS? but in the Roman Empire THEY ARE AFTER MONEY!):
Acts 5:1-11 ends with ?Then the young men came in and, finding her dead* (*for not paying the FULL PROMISED DUES TO THE CHURCH), carried her out and buried her beside her husband!* (*without telling any next of kin!) GREAT FEAR SEIZED THE WHOLE CHURCH AND ALL WHO HEARD ABOUT THESE EVENTS?? (the Mafia would give you at least a fair warning!)
Your point is well taken. So, all I can do is ask you to consider what faith is:
Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Php 1:27; 2Th 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. ?
Temporary faith is that state of mind which is awakened in men (e.g., Felix) by the exhibition of the truth and by the influence of religious sympathy, or by what is sometimes styled the common operation of the Holy Spirit.
Saving faith is so called because it has eternal life inseparably connected with it. It cannot be better defined than in the words of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism: "Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel."
The object of saving faith is the whole revealed Word of God. Faith accepts and believes it as the very truth most sure. But the special act of faith which unites to Christ has as its object the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 7:38; Acts 16:31). This is the specific act of faith by which a sinner is justified before God (Rom 3:22, 25; Gal 2:16; Php 3:9; John 3:16-36; Acts 10:43; Acts 16:31). In this act of faith the believer appropriates and rests on Christ alone as Mediator in all his offices.
This assent to or belief in the truth received upon the divine testimony has always associated with it a deep sense of sin, a distinct view of Christ, a consenting will, and a loving heart, together with a reliance on, a trusting in, or resting in Christ. It is that state of mind in which a poor sinner, conscious of his sin, flees from his guilty self to Christ his Savior, and rolls over the burden of all his sins on him. It consists chiefly, not in the assent given to the testimony of God in his Word, but in embracing with judicial reliance and trust the one and only Savior whom God reveals. This trust and reliance is of the essence of faith. By faith the believer directly and immediately appropriates Christ as his own. Faith in its direct act makes Christ ours. It is not a work which God graciously accepts instead of perfect obedience, but is only the hand by which we take hold of the person and work of our Redeemer as the only ground of our salvation.
Saving faith is a moral act, as it proceeds from a renewed will, and a renewed will is necessary to believing assent to the truth of God (1Co 2:14; 2Co 4:4). Faith, therefore, has its seat in the moral part of our nature fully as much as in the intellectual. The mind must first be enlightened by divine teaching (John 6:44; Acts 13:48; 2Co 4:6; Eph 1:17, 18) before it can discern the things of the Spirit.
Faith is necessary to our salvation (Mark 16:16), not because there is any merit in it, but simply because it is the sinner's taking the place assigned him by God, his falling in with what God is doing.
The warrant or ground of faith is the divine testimony, not the reasonableness of what God says, but the simple fact that he says it. Faith rests immediately on, "Thus saith the Lord." But in order to this faith the veracity, sincerity, and truth of God must be owned and appreciated, together with his changeableness. God's word encourages and emboldens the sinner personally to transact with Christ as God's gift, to close with him, embrace him, give himself to Christ, and take Christ as his. That word comes with power, for it is the word of God who has revealed himself in his works, and especially in the cross. God is to be believed for his word's sake, but also for his name's sake.
Faith in Christ secures for the believer freedom from condemnation, or justification before God; a participation in the life that is in Christ, the divine life (John 14:19; Rom 6:4-10; Eph 4:15, 16); "peace with God" (Rom 5:1); and sanctification (Acts 26:18; Gal 5:6; Acts 15:9).
All who thus believe in Christ will certainly be saved (John 6:37, 40; John 10:27, 28; Rom 8:1).
The faith=the gospel (Acts 6:7; Rom 1:5; Gal 1:23; 1Ti 3:9; Jude 1:3).
?Easton's Illustrated Dictionary
Why a specific religion, because they have had it pushed on them since they where a child; It is the most popular religion in the country they live in or grew up in or their peer group belongs to it.
Without Faith It is impossible to please God. Read Hebrews 11. The just shall live by faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
The answer is simple.
God provides an infinite amount of love for us. All he asks is that we open ourselves up to receive his love in return. It takes a huge leap in faith to risk all your earthly goods to follow him. It can be hard to turn away from excitement and enjoyment of our time on earth and focus on growing closer to him. By focusing on God you risk losing it all, so that you can share in God's love. That takes great love on your part to be willing to sacrifice yourself out of desire to grow closer to God. That is how people of all religions get into heaven.
Whether you are Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc your religion leads you to abandon your own path and take up God's path. They are all about creating that blind love that can only come through faith.
If you are a good Muslim and your heart truly desires to do Allah's will, to the point that you sacrifice your earthly goals and dreams, if you die and find out that 'whoops!' Christians were right. You are already spiritually capable of the intense love that can only come out of blind faith. Which is what God desires.
So the intense love that is formed through faith is what gets you to heaven. It doesn't exactly matter the religion; however...
To my knowledge (through several different studies, but may not be 100% accurate), Christianity is the only religion in which God expresses a desire to be one with his people. Other religion's gods want to draw their people near to them, but it still remains a servant-master relationship. The Christian God wants you to have a personal relationship with him... treat him like your friend not your supreme leader. If you get mad, yell at him (of course, be sure to ask for forgiveness). If you are sad, cry to him. If you are happy, praise him. If you are anxious, talk to him. He wants you to treat him like your closest friend, because he wants to be your closest friend. For me, that fills my heart with hope and lifts me up in a way I cannot describe. That is why I choose Christianity.
But above all, choose faith. If no one can provide a description of Christianity that speaks to you, find a religion that does. Grow in your faith and create a blind love based solely on faith.
P.S.
You can't fake a relationship with God just because you don't want to go to hell. It has to come from deep within your heart, God knows the difference. It comes out of a genuine desire to be with him, not from fear of suffering.
Why Christianity? Faith?
