All or Nothing, Colossians 1:15-18
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
There are many people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, even some who call themselves Christians. There are cults who claim Jesus is a created being, such as an angel, and who deny His deity (His being God). They say that they follow the Bible... But do they?
The Bible clearly states that Jesus is God. You cannot say that you follow the Bible, that you believe the Bible, and yet disregard this matter. You either believe the whole Bible, or don�t believe the Bible at all. There is no middle ground.
To pick and choose what parts of the Bible you believe in is utter foolishness, as we shall see. Logic itself would dictate that this is nonsense. How can you take a book, and say that part of it is right, and part of it is wrong, and base your life on the parts you feel are correct? Who are you to say what is right and what is wrong? What are you basing your judgment on?
If you claim belief in God as the Bible declares Him, then you have to agree that He is all-knowing and all-powerful. The Bible declares this to be so. He is perfect and without fault, holy and pure. It is by His ideals and His standards that our lives are to be lived, for He created us for His pleasure.
And if you agree that the Bible is the word of God, you would have to agree that every word of it is without error, because to say otherwise is to say that God is confused and doesn�t know what He�s talking about. And to deny the Bible as being the word of God would mean that you could not logically or rightfully base any of your spiritual beliefs on any of its teachings, because there are several religious books out there that claim to know the way to live, the answers to life, and yet they contradict each other in many points. On what basis are you choosing the Bible?
If the Bible were not the word of God, what reason would you have to believe that its teachings hold any more validity than any other book? On a similar note, if you claim that Jesus is not God, and yet you say that He was a good teacher and desire to follow His teachings, you are in the same boat. Jesus Himself claimed to be God. He claimed that He would die and rise from the dead. He claimed He would one day come again and judge the earth. If none of this was true, then He was surely a madman. And if He was mad, as in crazy, then what reason do you have to follow His teachings above anyone else�s?
On the other hand, if you believe Jesus is God, and you believe that the Bible is the word of God, and you claim to be a follower of Christ, then you must accept all that He has said. You must realize that following Christ demands a selfless life of devotion to the purposes of God. You must accept that to do anything but is displeasing to God�for Jesus said to be "hot or cold, but not lukewarm, or [He] will vomit you out of [His] mouth" (Revelation 3:15-16).
So you see, with Christianity, with Jesus, with the Bible, it is all or nothing. There is no middle ground.
However, God doesn't expect us to live a life of selfless devotion to God and His purposes in our own efforts and by our own strength; When we believe in Jesus (that is, when we accept Him into our hearts and put our trust in Him as Lord and Savior of our lives, putting our lives in His hands), He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us. With the Holy Spirit guiding us and showing us the way, it is not hard to accept all that Jesus taught.
We don�t have to study hours on end to find out what we can and cannot do�When we do something displeasing to God, when we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us. He does this so that we realize what we did was wrong, and so that we will repent, or turn away, from it and ask for God�s forgiveness. It is not so that we will feel ashamed and rejected by God. And when we do something good, something that pleases God, the Holy Spirit confirms it by giving us a peace that fills our hearts and makes us glad.
Christianity is all about knowing Him who created us, and about having a loving relationship with Him. God took the form of human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (Jesus is God incarnate), because He loves us so much He wanted man to see who He is. He died for our sins so that we would not be disqualified by sin to be in His presense, that we would be able to have a close, loving relationship with Him. Christianity is not just another way, another philosophy, another religion�Christianity is Christ, and He is all in all.