home
base
my
name is...
land
of links
usual
suspects
gotta
have faith
picture
perfect
random
thoughts
again
So you've heard all the terms before - the church, God, Jesus, and so on. So you want to know what it all means? I'll give it my best shot to help you understand what Christianity is all about and how you can become a Christian.
What do Christians really believe in?
Well, it comes down to a few easy-to-remember principles...
(1) People have rebelled against God, so our relationship with God is broken.
"Sin" is probably the more common term for our rebellion against God. This covers everything from murdering your enemy to cheating on an exam - there's no extreme. We "missed the mark" of God's standard - that God is perfect, we are not. We have the choice to follow God's standard, but we decide not to.
Because of our rebellion against God, we are separated from God. Don't get me wrong - God cares about us, but sin keeps us away from God. Without a relationship with God, the punishment for sin is death.
(2) There's nothing within our own power to re-establish our relationship with God.
This is contrary to a LOT of popular thought. It seems more intuitve to think that we can "earn back God's favor," so to speak, by doing good deeds. No matter what you do or what you sacrifice, God doesn't work that way. You CANNOT earn back God's forgiveness or re-establish a relationship with God.
It's kind of like doing favors for your parents, but not really acknowledging the love relationship you have for your parents. Works mean nothing to your parents without a relationship.
(3) Our relationship with God can ONLY be re-established through Jesus Christ.
There's hope. Like I said before, God cares about us - He loves us and has grace. He doesn't want to leave us hanging. Because we cannot come up with the perfect deed/sacrifice under our own power, God came up with the perfect sacrifice to mend our relationship with God. Himself.
God came down in the form of a man... probably heard of him - Jesus.
Jesus was a man that lived without sin. Makes sense, right? He was God, in the flesh. But just like people rejected God, people rejected Jesus. So Jesus was killed - hung on a cross. Jesus, however, resurrected from the dead.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to reconcile our relationship with God. There's a symbolism here - that God, in the form of a man, was willing to live just like the people He created. And died for them. Jesus died so that we can have a relationship with God again. Jesus's resurrection confirmed our opportunity to eternal life, not death, with God.
So
what does it mean to "be a Christian"?
Just knowing the above principles isn't enough to re-establish a relationship with God. Repairing the relationship takes initiative on OUR part to act on those principles we know. And the repairing of that relationship with God goes through Jesus.
(1) Admit you are a sinner, separated from God.
By this, we have to admit that we have rebelled against God. Our rebellion (sin) has cost us our relationship with God, and without that relationship, we face eternal death for our sin.
(2) Recognize that there isn't enough that you can do on your own power to regain a relationship with God.
By this, we acknowledge that our good deeds, our sacrifices don't mean squat without a relationship with God.
(3) Trust in Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior.
Through Jesus, we are "saved" from death (Savior, get it?) by faith, not by works. By believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, the relationship with God is reconciled.
Pretty neat, huh?
But
what if I still don't get it?
In case there was something that didn't seem right, or something that didn't make sense, I'd like to try to clear the confusion. I'm sure there are lots of other questions out there, but as for Internet resources on Christianity, try Gospelcom.net on How To Know God. For more topical issues, try Biblical Guidance.
Of course, you could always ask me. But please just write it in the guestbook - for security issues, not because I'm trying to load up on the hit points!