Q: How many faiths does the Bible say that we have?
Why am I not surprised?
I was given an NIV when I was converted and it fell apart with use within 18 months. One day I was in Genesis and came to the verse, And God said to Noah, ''go into the ark''….I was not happy about this and could find no comfort. I checked with a KJV and discovered that the Eternal had said to Noah, ''COME into the ark''. I had great comfort in this and wondered what else my be amiss that would affect my soul. There are of course thousands of omissions and perversions in the NIV.
And I believe the Bible. For I am a "Bible believer"; And I am not a "Bible agnostic."
Q: How do we get our faith?
You are grasping at straws with this one. There is no mistranslation here. Here is what
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown says in their commentary:
"Ye shall know my breach of promise—that is, in consequence of your violation of the covenant betwixt you and Me, by breaking the terms of it, it shall be null and void on My part, as I shall withhold the blessings I promised in that covenant to confer on you on condition of your obedience."In other words, God owns the punishment or the breach of His promises. So God can say "my breach of promise." For those who break God's Laws forfeit the promises of God. They will instead experience what it is like to know His breach of promise or punishments for disobeying His Laws.
At least the NIV does not teach that the Lord will break His promises, as does the KJB:
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise" (Num.14:34; KJV).
The NIV does not make that error:
"For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you’ " (Num.14:34; NIV).
And I believe the Bible. For I am a "Bible believer"; And I am not a "Bible agnostic."
You are grasping at straws with this one. There is no mistranslation here. Here is what
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown says in their commentary:
" For those who break God's Laws forfeit the promises of God. They will instead experience what it is like to know His breach of promise or punishments for disobeying His Laws.'
These did not lose their salvation.
Then please address what I said about your comments here:
If someone does not meet the conditions of a "conditional" promise then the one who made the promise cannot be said to have broken his promise.
Besides, the Scriptures make it plain that the Lord did not break His promise:
" Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant" (1 Ki.8:56).
You see error where none exists. Like any other verse, it must be read in context. Your translation from NIV tries to explain what needs no explanation. The contract was declared null and void by God. The reasons are clearly pointed out by Him.
Jeremiah 3:8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
I have already shown you according to Scripture what the passage is actually saying. It is up to you if you want to accept it or not.
Q: How do we get our faith?
A: The Word of God (Romans 10:17).
You missed a critical step here, Jason. Faith comes by hearing. And hearing comes by the Word of God. And if you read Romans 10, you see Paul detailing Israel's hardness of heart, unbelief and deaf ears. It's important, I think, that he quotes Isaiah who was told to make the people deaf by prophesying (Isaiah 6:10). So it was God who created that situation after Israel provoked God to His face multiple times. And in the state of deafness, one doesn't just decide to hear and believe - one must first have his ears unstopped. That can only be done by God - by the Word of God (as the scripture says). Then, once someone hears, then they can believe. So it isn't a willingness to believe that evokes real faith, it is the quickening by the Spirit of God that causes men to hear and then respond to the gospel. It can't be otherwise. So a man's faith is not created by reading scripture, it is created by (spiritually) hearing the Word. It is only done by a supernatural work of God. In that sense, faith is God's gift.
You cannot have faith or being born of water if you do not hear some word or words taken from the Bible. For you cannot have the gospel without the Bible.