Tag: Bible

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Bible

The Essentials of Christianity: Examining Christianity’s Differences from other Religions

a photo of the page from a dictionary for the word "definition" to point out the need for knowing the essentials of ChristianityWhat defines Christianity? What are the essentials? And if we can determine them, what should we do with them? Well, if you make up your mind about any given issue and then you encounter a Biblical truth that is contrary to what you believe, then you have a choice to make: 1) reject the Bible and cling to your belief, or 2) cling to the Bible and change your mind. What do you do when this happens in your life? When this happens, many people determine some way to justify their own beliefs and therefore reject what the Bible says.

It certainly sounds nice to say things like, “If God is love, then a loving God wouldn’t send anyone to hell.” But that isn’t what the Bible says. What should we believe? Our feelings or the actual words in the Bible? Which do you think is more trustworthy?

It sounds more pleasing to the ear to hear something like, “If God is love, then there must be many ways to God, and Christianity is just one of the ways. It can’t be the only way.” But that isn’t what the Bible says. Again, what should we believe? Our feelings which can change with the wind or the Bible that has remained constant?

Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father, except through faith and belief in Him. If that is the case, then Christianity is an exclusive religion. It excludes all of those who will not come to God through Jesus. Therefore, the Christian religion clearly states that belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation. And if our religion is the only way because Jesus is the only way, then we need to know what is so unique about Jesus so that we can explain it to others.

So, what makes Christianity unique? What are the essential aspects of Christianity that set it apart from other religions?

My last two posts led up to this post, as they dealt with: “how do you know what is right theology?”
(If you missed them, you can click on them here:
      Doubt: How Do I Know that Christianity is True and Right?
      How do you know that what you are hearing and being taught is truth? )
Jumping off from what we began in those posts, let me now share with you the Christian Essentials.

The original lists that I worked from were found at CARM.org and GotQuestions.org, as well as from a fellow pastor.

Nine Essentials of Christianity
1. The Bible as Inspired
2. Monotheism (There is only One God)
3. the Trinity (God in Three Persons)
4. the Deity of Christ (Jesus is Fully God)
5. the Virgin Birth (Jesus is Fully Man)
6. the Death of Christ for the payment of sins
7. the Resurrection of Christ
8. Salvation by Grace thru faith, and Not by works
9. Salvation is only thru Jesus

I’ll share a bit more about this next time.
And while you wait for the next post, maybe you can look over this list and see if you think there is something else missing from the Essentials? Certainly there are other important truths in the Bible, but is there anything else that is Essential to being a Christian?

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Categories
Bible

How do you know that what you are hearing and being taught is truth?

In my previous post I shared that I had received this question:
How can a person know that what they are hearing and being taught is truth?
I also asked you to consider how you would have responded. But here is the response I sent to them:

My simple answer to your question is this:
Through time in God’s Word studying and meditating on the meaning of the Scriptures.

We can say… “Well many people are reading the Bible and getting different ideas.”
But I would actually disagree with that premise. I believe that a straightforward reading of the scriptures leads a majority of us all to the same place (at least on the major matters).
a photo of the front cover of a Bible, reminding us that truth is within its pages
It would take a lot of linguistic acrobatics to say that the sin of lying, adultery, homosexuality, murder, or theft is okay in God’s eyes. In fact, a straightforward reading of the Word does not leave any room for doubt for any of these issues. It would be difficult to read the New Testament and not be able to say that Jesus loves us and calls us to love others. It would take even more linguistic acrobatics to say that many roads lead to heaven. A straightforward reading of the New Testament does not leave room for any way but one: faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Any honest reader of the Bible will come to these same clear ideas. That is why we have can have solidarity among denominations among the essentials of the faith, while still having differences regarding church governance and worship style practices.

But what about those things that have changed in church practice, such as dancing or the use of alcohol? Again, I think that by us not taking a straightforward approach to such items, we have come up with differing views at different times. A straightforward approach to the Word does not condemn dancing. David danced before the Lord as they moved the Ark into Jerusalem. A straightforward approach does not condemn drinking, though it clearly does warn against the sin of drunkenness.

A straightforward approach allowed Martin Luther to read the Word and discover that many of the practices by the Catholic Church were not biblically-based. This same honest approach allows me to read the same Word hundreds of years later and agree with a German on the major issues.

So, How do we know? We have to read it for ourselves and allow God to show us His truth. If we are not willing to spend time reading it ourselves, then we will be in danger of being led astray by those who are doing linguistic and intellectual acrobatics to have the Word say what they want it to say. Most Pastors of solid churches, no matter the denomination, are all saying the same things due to a straightforward reading of the Word. When you hear someone who is not… Beware! They very likely will say things that “tickle” the ears and sound good, because doing so makes more of what we do as sinful humans permissible!

Adrian Rogers said, “We don’t need a new and a modern gospel for a new and a modern age. Friend, if it’s new it’s not true.”

Ha! Exactly right – If it’s new, it’s not true. And if it’s true, then it’s not new! It has been in the Bible for about 2000 years or more!

The Bible hasn’t changed since the moment it was penned. The primary understanding of its doctrines also hasn’t changed. The way some do mental acrobatics to change the meaning to fit their sins… that continues to change with the times!

Categories
Jesus

How Narrow is the Path that leads to God?

a narrow path

In my previous post I shared the quote:
“No wonder the world has passed by the church. We don’t need reforming; we need to be regenerated. We need to be born again.”
–J. Vernon McGee
            (click here to see the previous post)

But aren’t most of us pretty decent people? Aren’t we pretty good? Do we really need to say such negative things about people in general? No. No we are not. And yes we do. Here is why we must say we need to be regenerated:

We need a new nature because we naturally have a sinful nature, and that sinful nature is not going to make it into heaven. Therefore you have to get rid of your sinful nature. But you can’t do it on your own. You don’t have the ability. If you go to heaven and enter the presence of Holy God, it will only be because you trusted the One who died for you – Jesus.

Your only way to come to God is through Jesus.

Now some will want to argue with this statement and say “That is so narrow-minded. There must be another way. God wouldn’t make forming a relationship with Him that narrow.”

But such ideas go directly against the words of the Bible. Specifically they go against the very words of Jesus who said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” That is pretty narrow. But who should I believe? Who do I trust? Jesus? Or someone who is “not Jesus” but who insists to me that there must be another way?

Hmmmm…. I think my best option is to believe Jesus.
I imagine He has a better handle on the situation than Uncle Jim, my neighbor Bob, or even myself.

If I were a betting man, I think it will be a much better “bet” for me to to take Jesus at His Word than for me to hope that my unbiblical guesses about God are right and that He’ll let me into His presence anyway. Can you imagine saying to God: “Oh. Ummm. You mean, God, that you were serious about all those words in the Bible? Such as the fact that I had to choose Jesus during my lifetime on earth? I was kind of hoping that some of those words were wrong. I was figuring that whoever wrote down Jesus’ words didn’t write them down correctly. So is it OK that I didn’t believe them? You’ll let me slide on it, right?”

It would not be wise to end this life with your hopes set with that type of mentality.

God is big enough to preserve His words the way He wanted them recorded. I mean, He’s God. And the words that God has recorded for us in the Bible make it very clear: Your one and only way to be in the presence of Holy God for all eternity is through a relationship with Jesus.

Yes, that is narrow.
But it is very clear.
God Himself tells us: To be with Me for eternity, you need to be regenerated. You need to be born again.

Categories
Bible

Does Reading the Bible Have Any Value?

“Does Reading the Bible Have Any Value?”
  by brian rushing

“They tell us that the Bible is the Word of God… a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. They tell us that we shall find within it the knowledge of God and his will for our lives….

“So we take our Bibles and start to read them… because we really do want to know God. But as we read, we get more and more puzzled. Though fascinated, we are not being fed. Our reading is not helping us; it leaves us bewildered and, if the truth be told, somewhat depressed. We find ourselves wondering whether Bible reading is worth going on with.
photo of person reading the Bible symbolizing the question - does reading the Bible have any value? Is it important?
“It is all intensely interesting, but it all seems very far away. It all belongs to that ancient world, not to this world. We feel that we are, so to speak, on the outside of the Bible world, looking in. We are mere spectators, and that is all. Our unspoken thought is — “Yes, God did all that then, and very wonderful it was for the people involved, but how does it touch us now? We don’t live in the same world.

“How can the record of God’s words and deeds in Bible times, the record of his dealings with Abraham and Moses and David and the rest, help us, who have to live in modern times?”

Have you ever felt like this? Dr. Packer explains exactly how I have felt at times. That as I read God’s Word, I have certainly thought that there were portions of the Bible that were rich and wonderful, but there were also portions that were dry and tedious and puzzling. And many times it got me frustrated and discouraged and therefore I’d just stop reading the Bible.

But what I have learned is two-fold. 1st – Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t good. In fact, one of my favorite quotes about life is about the hard stuff in life: “”It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” (From the movie, “A League of Their Own”). So I’ve learned to press on even in the hard spots of reading God’s Word. And as I do so (with the help of Bible commentary to assist me in difficult spots), I find that it isn’t as hard as I once thought, and even the “puzzling parts” become less tedious.

2nd – I’ve learned that I should come back to the parts that I most enjoy when I start getting frustrated. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell us the story of Jesus. This is our “meat and potatoes” and anytime I start getting bogged down in the Old Testament, instead of allowing my Bible reading to become frustrating or discouraging, I simply stop reading that portion for a while and go back to the “meat and potatoes.” Then after a few days or weeks, I go back to where I left off in the difficult spot, and I have a new attitude about reading it.

The more we read God’s Word – and ALL of God’s Word – the more we understand that it all works together – it is all God’s revealing Himself and His story to us. It should amaze us. It should excite us. It should direct us. It is the most important book ever written. We should give serious attention to it. Yes, there are places where it might seem hard – but as we spend more time with it, we find that we even enjoy the hard parts, because as we study them, we learn more about who our great God is.

Dr. Packer summarizes our lack of attention to the Bible by saying: “It is feared that many today who profess to be Christ’s never learn wisdom, through failure to attend sufficiently to God’s written Word. . . . How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do even with the newspaper? What fools some of us are! And we remain fools all our lives, simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom which is God’s free gift.”

Take some time today to stop reading all the other stuff beside your chair, on your desk, or on your phone or tablet for a little while, so that you can pick up God’s Word. If you are not sure where to start, go to the gospel book of Mark. It is a fast-paced account of Jesus. Take time to start digesting the very Word of God to you. It truly is worth it!


        (Quotes in today’s post are from Knowing God by J. I. Packer)


Categories
Christian Living

Kevlar Body Armor

Did you put on your Kevlar this morning? Planning to pack a bullet-proof vest for vacation? Did you remind the kids to bundle up in body armor before sending them out to play? I don’t need armor for the playground or vacation. But military personnel need Kevlar vests because they are going to the battlefield where their lives are in danger.

ancient knight's armor representing the spiritual armor we needBut why does God tell me to put on armor in Ephesians? Why would I need a spiritual Kevlar vest if the Christian life is safe, secure, and comfortable? The reason is that the Christian life is not easy. In fact, God knows that I am headed into a battle, and so I better be prepared.

Too often I want to believe the Christian life is supposed to be a life of leisure, comfort, and security now that Jesus is on my side. I get into a playground mentality. And that is exactly what satan wants! He doesn’t want me to believe that I am in the midst of a battle or preparing for war. He wants me in a playground-mentality Christianity. God says put on combat boots (“shod your feet with the boots of the Gospel”), but satan says – just put on some cheap, foam flip-flops – they’ll be fine, that’s all you need. And too often, I slip on the flip-flops as if I’m going to the beach.

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” If satan doesn’t exist, then I can be safe and comfortable playing on the see-saw with a friend. But if satan does exist, and if he really is trying to kill, steal, and destroy my happiness, my family, & my very life, then I need to put on the proper armor for the battle. As Christians, we are the only ones who know this to be the truth, and therefore we are the only warriors available. But instead of running to the battle, too often I find myself running to the swingset.

So today, instead of having a playground mentality of Christianity, I’m gonna put on my spiritual Kevlar by spending time in God’s Word and prayer! Be sure to grab yours before you go out the door today!

— brian rushing