In the journal Territory, Chinese artist Beibei Nie has brought to life the lies that many in Chinese society hear about themselves, about life, and about the Christian faith. The artist shows the despair that many feel about faith and life, but then counters those lies with truths about the Christian faith.
The captions of the characters in the drawings are the lies that they hear. These are at the top of the drawing. The caption at the bottom of the drawings are the truths from Scripture and the Christian faith.
25 Misconceptions and Truths about Faith. Do You Fall for the Lies?
“Faith makes people lose themselves!” “Why are my problems still there and I’m still unhappy?” “Despite believing in God, it’s still hard to escape my fate!” “Bad things happen after believing in the Lord. . . . I’m afraid!” “My problems are too big for God to control, right?”
[Lie:] Only people who can’t live a good life need God’s salvation.
[Truth:] Not just the ones who have problems need God’s salvation. People need God’s salvation for their whole life, for their entire life.
[Lie:] What you only need in life is to be happy.
[Truth:] Who can be lucky enough to be only happy for their whole life? That’s why God came for me and turned life from something rotten into something miraculous.
[Lie:] I have sinned so much, God won’t forgive me.
[Truth:] Jesus Christ has forgiven all my sins in my past, present, and future, and he has set me free completely from my sins.
[Lie:] Death is totally a bad thing; it means losing everything and life is set back to zero.
[Truth:] The length of God’s children’s lives does not stop at the moment they die. When the body dies, the soul goes to the next stage, from death to life.
[Lie:] Not everyone needs God.
[Truth:] People think you need a thousand and one reasons to believe in God. But God only had one reason why he came for people: love.
[Lie:] Any kind of religion is good for me.
[Truth:] The Bible tells us that only Jesus is the Christ, the problem-solver for everything in life.
[Lie:] God is on vacation, he does not care about me.
[Truth:] The silence of God is also an answer, depending on whether you still want to believe in him when he is silent.
[Lie:] Faith in Christ means losing myself.
[Truth:] What God made me lose was the old me when I did not know God. What he gives me is the new me who is with God.
[Lie:] Bad things happened after coming to faith in the Lord. I’m afraid of the Lord.
[Truth:] The demon is more afraid of the Lord than you. He is afraid of the name of Jesus Christ. Time for the spiritual warfare!
[Lie:] My problems are too big. God cannot handle them.
[Truth:] God is always greater than my problems. What he gives me must be something I need and I can bear with.
[Lie:] After I believed in the Lord, my problems are still there. I am still unhappy!
[Truth:] Jesus Christ has solved my fundamental problems. Now my problems become a chance to experience and testify to the Gospel.
[Lie:] A faithful life should see miracles happening – resurrection!
[Truth:] Even if miracles do not happen, I am still a child of God. It is a fact that God loves me and saves me, there is no need for it to be proved by miracles.
[Lie:] God is there to help me be good person who is successful.
[Truth:] If God’s children do not become good and successful people, then that is what God made me to be, to discover God’s beautiful will.
[Lie:] What can I do to make God love me more?
[Truth:] God’s love is not earned by my extra effort in doing things, but has been given me 100% through grace in salvation; no returns or exchanges.
[Lie:] Faith in the Lord make me smarter and closer to perfect than others.
[Truth:] Thanks to the salvation, I love myself for who I was created by God to be. This is self-love, but it is completely different from narcissism or being proud of oneself.
[Lie:] Help! Although I believe in God, fate is hard to escape.
[Truth:] Ever since I met Jesus Christ, I have a reconciled relationship with God. I have escaped the evil claws of fate and now my life is in God’s control.
[Lie:] For some things, I can completely depend on myself.
[Truth:] We are uncontrollably rebellious and knowingly sin. God knows them all and has been waiting for the day when rebels return to him.
[Lie:] Belief in God is enough. Belief has nothing to do with the demons, right?
[Truth:] A faithful life is a life of spiritual warfare. Demons must be defeated by the name of Jesus Christ.
[Lie:] A faithful life is a life of legalism.
[Truth:] Legalism cannot save a person. The gospel and God’s words can. Salvation is by the grace of God.
[Lie:] Faith in God [requires] loving with all one’s strength.
[Truth:] The strength and love people can give is ultimately limited. But God is unlimited. Pray for the strength to love others.
[Lie:] God will answer me only if I try my best to pray.
[Truth:] Answers to pray is not about how hard I pray, but about whether my prayer is conformed to God’s his will and that I clearly understand his promises.
[Lie:] Prayer is to meet my needs (I want… I need… help me…)
[Truth:] God is the Lord of my life, not my servant. Prayer should be in line with God’s desires. Let God guide my life.
[Lie:] Pastors and believers should be perfect people.
[Truth:] They are as weak as me. We are all sinners who need the grace of salvation. I need to pray for myself and for them to have God’s grace.
[Lie:] He left the church, his is doomed.
[Truth:] You can be disappointed by people, but be confident in God. God never gives up on any one of his children. Pray for him.
[Lie:] He is unrepentant. Just leave him.
[Truth:] Evangelism is not about whether I or someone else has done a good job. God himself is the one doing [the saving]. The salvation souls comes from the grace of God.
Original Article: 漫画丨25个对信仰的误解和真相，你中招了吗？ by Territory (WeChat ID: newjingjie).
Translated, edited and reposted with permission.
Image credit: Cory Doctorow via Flickr
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