Author : Bobby Graham
Thank you for your interest. I commend your reading of this material. Remember that spiritual matters are more important than physical matters because the spirit or soul is enduring, while the flesh or physical man is temporal (2 Cor 4:18). You will appear before Christ in final judgment to give account for your life (2 Cor. 5:10). Give spiritual matters the priority they deserve. Please read the Biblical passages cited in this study for a deeper understanding of Christianity.
What is your attitude? Your answer to this question will probably have more influence on handling this material than any other single factor. Both the Old and New Testament provide evidence of the monumental role that one’s attitude plays in all of life.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov 4:23)
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)
If you read to find problems, inconsistencies, or contradictions, because you wish to justify self in present beliefs, then you will likely end your endeavor just as you started it — believing whatever you began believing. On the other hand, if you study to seek truth and to discard all else, you will likely find truth. I ask again: What attitude do you bring to this study? What means most to you: continuing your beliefs and practices, proving yourself right and someone else wrong, or learning the truth of God’s Word? You hold the key to your becoming a follower of Jesus Christ or not in your own attitude.
If your attitude is one of placing truth above all else, then you can come to understand the fundamentals of Christianity. You can learn that Jesus Christ is truly God’s final prophet, attested by the miracles that God performed by Him on this earth. You can come to see that the resurrection of Jesus places Him on a plane above that of Muhammad, who is still in his grave. You can learn from the testimony of God Himself that Jesus Christ worked on earth with His approval, died and arose by His decree, and rules according to His will. If you will listen to divine evidence, you can become a Christian. Remember that your attitude toward God’s truth will determine where you spend eternity. God will judge you according to your life on earth-a life governed by your attitude.
Christ-CenteredAll of Christianity is centered in Jesus Christ. If you find any teaching or practice of people claiming to be Christians that fails to harmonize with the teaching of Christ in the New Testament, it is the “Christians” who are wrong, not Christ. Those making such a claim sometimes misunderstand or misrepresent what Jesus Christ taught or authorized the apostles to teach.
Because Christianity is the religious system of Christ, it is imperative to know that the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to sit at the right hand of the Father form the foundation of Christianity (1 Cor. 15:1-28). After His return to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles in revealing all truth, which became as authoritative as His personal teaching (Jn. 14:25-26; 15:26-27; 16:5-15). Jesus taught, proved His deity, demonstrated His authority, and provided for continuing His work by apostles whom He had chosen (Acts 1-2).
Heaven-OrdainedHere we stress the approval of God resting upon Jesus in His work to save people and to spread the gospel of salvation to the world. God spoke from heaven twice to express approval of Jesus in this undertaking-once at His baptism and once at his transfiguration (Mt. 3:17; 17:5). He gave Jesus His endorsement for His entire earthly mission when He said “in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus had the Father’s sanction because He came to do the Father’s will, to carry out His work (Jn. 6:38; 17:4). He came from heaven a divine being-exactly like His Father in deity but also clothed in human flesh (Heb. 1:3; Phil. 2:6-7). There he enjoyed association with the Father, but He came here to complete the work of salvation planned by the Father before creation (Jn. 1:1; Rom. 16:25-26). Jesus never asserted His own will or initiated His own private agenda; His total life was always in complete harmony with the Father (Jn. 5:19; 10:30). He is one with the Father in nature, will, and work.
Resurrection-ProvedGod never expected anyone to believe an unconfirmed message or an unattested messenger. Just as He had enabled His earlier prophets to prove their divine mission by miracles, so He did in the case of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22). The greatest sign was that of His resurrection from the tomb, for by it God spoke to all people for all time to come that Jesus was His son with power, His duly empowered ruler (Mt. 12:39; Rom. 1:4). No other human being in all human history bears the credentials that Jesus has. No other one is so verified as God’s prophet, priest, and king. Muhammad and all other human religious leaders, including those claiming to be prophets, lack such attestation from God.
Imitation of ChristThe purpose of Christianity is to reproduce followers of Jesus Christ. God has saved Christians so they can help save others. In their lives they must live like Christ, reflecting His principles and ideals in their thinking, their words, and their deeds. Paul could say, “I have been crucified with Christ. Christ lives in me”(Gal. 2:20). Observe that Christ will live in the crucified life-that is, in one who has renounced himself in self-denial, for the sake of Christ (Mt. 16:24). He lives so that he might benefit others like salt and light (Mt. 5:13-16). In keeping with what Charles Colton said about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, in the life of a genuine Christian imitation of Christ is the sincerest form of respect for God and love for fellow man.
Sacrificial in NatureChristianity is can be summed up in the idea of sacrifice. The Father sacrificed His Son to come to earth on the mission of redemption (1 Jn. 4:14). The Son sacrificed the glory of heaven when He emptied Himself to come to earth for the sake of human beings (Jn. 17:5; Phil. 2:6-7). The apostles of Christ sacrificed human ties and earthly welfare for the advancement of the gospel (Mt. 8:18-27; 10). All who follow Christ must also be willing to sacrifice whatever would divert them from loyalty to Jesus Christ (Mt. 16:24-26). In order to follow Christ, who forfeited all for the sake of all people, His disciples must also forfeit anything that would claim their loyalty.
Teaching-BasedOnly as people learn from God can they follow Christ (Jn. 6:44-45). Before leaving earth for heaven, Jesus provided for such teaching by His apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit whom He would send. Their work was primarily a teaching work-teaching all the gospel of Christ and urging belief of the message (Mt. 28:19; Lk. 24:46-47). The teaching was accompanied by miraculous confirmation, so the message might be credible to the hearers (Mk. 16:20; Heb. 2:3-4). Some appointed by them as workers in local congregations were also endowed with the power to work miracles for confirmation (Acts 8:14-17; 1 Cor. 12:8-11). God has never saved anyone apart from the exercise of his own free will in learning and obeying the message of truth.
Initiated by GodThe scheme of redemption was divine in origin, for God purposed and planned it all before He even created the first human being (1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:4; 3:11). Christianity did not appear evolutionally, as the product of many centuries of human development. It first occurred in God’s mind, then in the various previews that God gave in Old Testament revelation, and finally in the completed system of the New Testament (1 Pet. 1:10-12; Heb. 10:1). Because the religion of Jesus Christ began with God, man finds many warnings against altering the divine plan.
Accessible to AllUnlike other religions of earth, there is no class/caste system in Christianity. God’s will is that all share alike in the blessings of following and serving Christ. This is evident in His choice of apostles from the working classes; in explicit statements about His impartiality (Acts 10:34); in recorded examples of conversions from various classes in the Book of Acts; and in directions to the apostles to proclaim the gospel of Christ to all. There are no social, racial, educational, gender, national, ethnic, linguistic, or other barriers limiting any person from following Christ, or benefits that give any person an advantage with the Lord (Gal. 3:28). There is no special clergy class in the religion of Christ, for all Christians are priests empowered to serve God for themselves without the need for any human mediator (1 Pet. 2:5,9; 1 Tim. 2:5).
Nothing without FaithChristianity is not the mindless performance of ritual, but the faithful observance of the will of Christ (Heb. 5:9). Nobody can please God without faith (Heb. 11:6). The faith required by God is always based upon the solid foundation of God’s word (Rom. 10:17). All instructions regarding salvation and discipleship stress the role of belief (faith), as do the examples of conversion to Christ in Acts of the Apostles. God asks that we believe His confirmed word, not that we blindly follow the precepts given by men.
Invested with Divine AuthorityAs a divine being in heaven Jesus had equality with the Father (Phil. 2:6), but in coming to earth He voluntarily submitted to the Father’s will, as we learned earlier. In the work that He did and continues to do from heaven until time ends, He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). God has made Him both Lord (Ruler, Authority) and Christ (Acts 2:36). The work and teaching of the apostles were by divine authority (Acts 10:40-42). They taught what the Lord in heaven had already decreed (Mt. 16:19). Disciples of Christ are people who have submitted to the authority of Christ (Mt. 16:24-26).
Tainted by Any AlterationGod designed a perfect system to benefit His creatures (Eph. 1:3-14). The standard by which all human beings must measure their thinking and actions is a perfect one (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3). Jesus is the perfect Savior, and the salvation that He grants is perfect (Heb. 7:25-28). Why would human beings try to change perfection? To change perfection is to destroy it! The warnings of God’s Word about altering it through addition, subtraction, or substitution will preserve divine perfection and will prevent soul-damning presumption (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5-6; 1 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 22:18-19).
Yours for the AskingThe salvation planned by God/implemented by Christ was never designed to be collective, but individual. For this reason John His forerunner called upon individuals to repent in preparation for the coming spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ (Mk. 1:1-8; Mt. 3:2). Jesus often taught individuals like the Samaritan woman in John 4. The apostles taught and urged individuals to follow Christ (Mk, 16:15-16). Conversion to Christ takes place in the individual heart and life, as one believes that Jesus is who He claimed to be-the Son of God and Savior of the world, confesses his faith in Him, and is baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 8:29-39). One can never hope that the faith/good life of another will suffice for him, for the Bible does not teach proxy salvation. If you yearn for the spiritual fulfillment that only Christ can provide you, then we encourage you to seek the salvation of your soul by learning of Christ (Mt. 11:28-30). Then you can respond as the Ethiopian in Acts 8. You will then enjoy fellowship with God, because your sins will no longer be a barrier. You cannot afford to risk your soul to a possible accumulation of good deeds that will hopefully outweigh the bad deeds. Truly there is no risk in seeking mercy from the Lord. He longs to save you and to be with you forever in heaven.
