A question about faith

[JLB]

Does God say that his followers must put their faith only in him and in nothing else?

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word (Rhema) of God. Romans 10:17

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Faith comes from hearing God speak to you.

Faith is the divine substance you have, before you get the thing you are hoping for.

If you have faith, it came from God Himself.

People may call their "religion", as their "faith", but that is a general expression about their "belief" in that particular religion.

Noah had faith from God.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Hebrews 11:7

Noah heard God speak to him and warn him of what was coming.

Noah obeyed what he heard God say to him.

Noah believed God, because Noah obeyed God.

Noah saved his household through the obedience of faith.

Noah had faith in God.

Noah had faith from God.


JLB

 

[smaller]

Faith works through love. That's as close as any of us will get in this present life, and it's close enough. Some might say it's trust, and I wouldn't disagree. There is no reason to trust that loving will work out, as it often doesn't, without trust that it does. So, these are somewhat intertwined matters. Love isn't necessarily a matter that brings gain. More often, it can be quite painful, as noted by Jesus, on the cross. Especially when loving acts are despised or people end up hating of even distrusting you for loving, as many often do. Love can be quite painful and strange in this way. I do however believe it's the right way to walk in faith and trust that it will all work out in the final analysis.

 

[Free]

I'll but that, it's scripture. And leads right into the point I was trying to make. Ok, we do reason, no matter what type of being that we are, (physical or spiritual). From when is the source of the reasoning though? From the brain or from the heart?

From the mind, which uses the brain. The heart pumps blood.

So it is my belief that man "thought" with his heart before the fall, for this is how the spiritual being thinks. We were created in Gods image, and had daily relationship with God. We are spiritual beings... and then we fell, and began to think with our brain instead of our heart and became accustomed to living and thinking this way (after the flesh).

There simply is no reason to think that we are thinking and reasoning now any differently than Adam and Eve did before the Fall.

I have been reasoning, you are correct. But there is a point where reasoning and faith cross. and the source of the reasoning comes from the heart, and the reasoning is taught to us by God, and is exactly where the trust comes into play. There's always unknowns and unseens with trust/faith.

Faith is based on reason; it is based on the evidences given to us in Scripture, for most people anyway. We have to then trust that what God revealed to us is true.

 

[YosefHayim]

I would say yes.

Psalm 100:3 says know that Yehouah is God, it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.

The New Testament says that we only come to the father through Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ (Aka Yeshua HaMashiach in Hebrew). There is only one name by which men are saved, and we are saved by faith in that name.

Yehouah, the I AM said "I am the first and the last, there are none beside me."

Yeshua said "Before Abraham was I AM," and "I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last".

So we must place our faith in God alone, for no man or thing in creation can save us. Only the creator who entered into his creation can save us.

 

[Edward]

From the mind, which uses the brain. The heart pumps blood...

You do not know that brother. You're speaking from traditional thinking. They are making strides into understanding exactly how and where consciousness and thinking works and from where. Here's a few links to some of it:

(The idea that we can think with our hearts is no longer just a metaphor, but is, in fact, a very real phenomenon. We now know this because the combined research of two or three fields is proving that the heart is the major center of intelligence in human beings.)
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/brain-cells-in-the-heart/

http://www.ted.com/conversations/17643/is_the_heart_overlooked_when_i.html
http://www.rewireme.com/explorations/your-heart-and-stomach-may-be-smarter-than-you-think/

Just Google do we think with our brain or heart, and you will get slews of things to read about this question and most from the medical/scientific community. I'm not making this stuff up. Just because you're stuck on a 50 year old line of reasoning doesn't make you right, or an authority on the subject. New discoveries are made every day. Some right, some wrong, but one thing is clear, there's something to this and in order to make progress and learn, we have to be open minded enough to consider new ideas and scientific findings.

...
There simply is no reason to think that we are thinking and reasoning now any differently than Adam and Eve did before the Fall...

Why?
Genesis 3:4-6
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat./(KJV)

Reading in context, the serpent was explaining to Eve that after eating the fruit, she would be wiser, and know good & evil. (They would think differently?) They would be carnal then, and perhaps have a fleshy thought process (brain) rather than a spiritual thought process (heart). If not then why the biblical admonitions to guard diligently the heart.
Proverbs 4:23
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life./(NKJV)

So if the heart pumps blood only and nothing else...what in the world could this mean?
No brother. There's more to the heart than pumping blood and scripture speaks of this here and in other places. Open your mind brother.

...
Faith is based on reason; it is based on the evidences given to us in Scripture, for most people anyway. We have to then trust that what God revealed to us is true.

Hmmm, perhaps there is reason involved in faith, I'll give you that. We choose to have faith and put our trust into the Lord, and no matter how you stack it, one must reason and choose. BUT! From whence and where does this reason spring forth from? The brain or the heart? I've shown that scripture and science both point down a road which speaks of the heart having more significance than once supposed.

The Lord does not look at the outward man, but the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”/(NKJV)

Why would the Lord look at the heart. Why doesn't this say the Lord looks at the brain and thoughts of the man? ...but the Lord looks at the heart, because it has no significance except to pump blood...Uhh, yeah brother, I'm following you here. There's no reason to think that the heart has any significance other than pumping blood. (not).

Man may indeed be able to think with his brain. Man may also indeed be able to think with his heart. There may not be a whole lot of difference, but, any difference may be a whole lot more significant than you think. Like for instance, one is carnal and flesh bound, the other is spiritual and bound to God.
Now THAT brother, is reason enough right there to open our mind and consider the possibility of the truth of it. We're to live for the spirit. Maybe, just maybe, that learning to think with the heart is part of it. The renewing of the mind, as scripture says. Could that be what it is talking about? Perhaps.

Could all those teenage girls be wrong?