Christianity Made Easy

[djbcrawford]

no verses in the scriptures will tell about personal relationship with God

Adam and Eve had a personal relationship with God in that he physically walked with them in the garden of eden and spoke to them. Various other biblical characters heard his voice and experienced his presence in a variety of ways. Jesus said when we pray we should refer to him as Our Father (Dad) and said he himself said he would be always with us and where one or two are gathered in his name he would be there. The bible talks about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as in a bit of Gods presence inside our very soul. That sounds like personal relationship to me.

I think the personal relationship bit is about treating God as someone we want to get to know, who cares about us and wants to guide us to be the best we can be (like a father, teacher or friend), as opposed to some abstract remote force. We should serve God out of love as opposed to blindly following religious ritual.

 

[djbcrawford]

I think that Messianic Judaism is the proper way to follow Christianity. The reason I say this is because messianic judaism follows the laws of the old testament.

That is an interesting idea, although according to the New Testament, the non-jewish Christians did not have to convert to Judaism (the early church did have some disagreements about this until the matter was was sorted out by Paul).

 

[Kamtre]

Indeed yes, Judaism has it's own good traits, but Paul said that It doesn't matter how you show your religion, it's that you have the religion, nothing else really matters.

 

[heavb30]

Great Job

 

[yshwa4life]

i'll be the first to say that salvation is a free gift of God and that finding your way to the cross is pretty simple; but Christianity itself isn't easy, it's a struggle for survival at times.

Many in our world have watered down the gospel (good news) to fit there own personal tastes. We as believers have an obligation to Keep the integrity of the Word of God absolutely intact...without error.

Doctrine (the truth of God) is very important to Him. All throughout the bible, God warns of false teachers and prophets because He wants each person to know Him for who He is...the truth, not what people are saying or their opinions about Him.

There are many in our world today that are being slaughtered by the thousands because they refuse to change with the times and to give up what they know to be true about Jesus and Gods ultimate plan for the world.

i'm probably just re-affirming what you as a believer already know...but just in case there may be others, we can know many things about God; but not know Him.

...that is the issue of our time, "Who is Jesus?"

 

[Zahava]

Very nice paper.
Only through surrending, repenting, and receiving Yahushua (Jesus) into your heart-life that you will be forgivened and saved. Seek for the Kingdom of Heaven before all else. Make your reservation in Heaven this very moment. Commit yourself to Yahushua.

Is that so? Pray tell where you find that in Torah or the Prophets.

 

[Zahava]

You need to believe that Jesus is God almighty, the Creator(ref john 8:24, 1 john 4:1-3)

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

 

[LivingLifeHisWay]

The OP should have also added that before confessing our faith to the Lord we need to repent which is turn away from sin. We need to acknowledge sin for what it is - rebellion aganist God. We need to be totally done with ourselves and come to the cross stripped down to nothing and then HUMBLY confess to the Lord that you bieleve and trust in Him.

On that day you will be lavished with God's love and grace - for all eternity.

Life is short, 80 years on earth vs an ETERNITY in the heaven or hell....choose today how you will spend it.

Today is the day of salvation.

 

[shmee]

One problem I see in your essay is that it wouldn't do much to convince someone who doesn't accept the Bible as true. If I have my doubts that the Bible is the word of God that essay isn't going to convince me of the existence of God or that he wants me to do anything. I don't think it's possible to know whether or not the Bible is the word of God so I don't find your essay very convincing. People who believe the Bible is God's word accept this on faith, there's no proof, so without that faith there's no reason for me to accept anything the Bible says as God's truth.

 

[djbcrawford]

One problem I see in your essay is that it wouldn't do much to convince someone who doesn't accept the Bible as true. If I have my doubts that the Bible is the word of God that essay isn't going to convince me of the existence of God or that he wants me to do anything. I don't think it's possible to know whether or not the Bible is the word of God so I don't find your essay very convincing. People who believe the Bible is God's word accept this on faith, there's no proof, so without that faith there's no reason for me to accept anything the Bible says as God's truth.

That is a point. Remember though that the bible consists of many books. Do you doubt all of them or are there some of them you would consider true?

Any essay on Christianity must refer to the bible. Without the bible we would be left adrift. We can debate the existance of God without it, but how can we discover what he is really like or what he wants of us without a point of reference. How do we know what is true and real in relation to God. Without the bible we end up following our own whims and feelings whatever they may be at the time and however right or wrong they are.

 

[shmee]

I agree that it would be difficult or impossible to convert someone to Christianity without the Bible, but this requires that the person believe the Bible to be the word of God. All I'm saying is that the essay is going to be ineffective for someone who doesn't already believe the Bible is true. I don't believe the Bible can tell us anything definite about God because there's no way of knowing if it's the word of God or inspired by God or whatever. I doubt all of the books of the Bible, because I have no way of knowing if they are the word of God, or if God even exists. Belief in the Bible is based on faith, there's no way to know for certain. That's what faith is, after all. If you had proof there would be no reason for faith. It just irritates me when people act like they know the Bible is true or that they can know anything about God, when really it's a belief, not knowledge.

 

[SH89]

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Zahava, Numbers 23:19 was written before the incarnation of Yeshua. At the time of Numbers 23, which was circa 1000 B.C., God was not a man. However, God became a man through Yeshua the Messiah 1,000 years later.

God is all powerful, so becoming a man is not impossible, nor is it without God's capacity and power. Furthermore, the old testament states that God will be the Messiah Himself.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will beno end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.(Isaiah 9:6-7)

“ Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD,

“ That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:

THE LORD(YHWH) OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS(Jeremiah 23:5-6)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.(Isaiah 7:14)

 

[djbcrawford]

I agree that it would be difficult or impossible to convert someone to Christianity without the Bible, but this requires that the person believe the Bible to be the word of God. All I'm saying is that the essay is going to be ineffective for someone who doesn't already believe the Bible is true. I don't believe the Bible can tell us anything definite about God because there's no way of knowing if it's the word of God or inspired by God or whatever. I doubt all of the books of the Bible, because I have no way of knowing if they are the word of God, or if God even exists. Belief in the Bible is based on faith, there's no way to know for certain. That's what faith is, after all. If you had proof there would be no reason for faith. It just irritates me when people act like they know the Bible is true or that they can know anything about God, when really it's a belief, not knowledge.

C S Lewis wrote a book called Mere Christianity, which explains Christianity really well without coming from the bible side and why he believed in it. (he started as an atheist and ended up a Christian when he tried to disprove it). Well worth a read if you're interested and can find a copy.

 

[Cynical1]

Quote:Of course, by definition, stealing, at the least, is taking another's property wrongfully."

Now the problem becomes who is defining what is wrong and under what circumstances.

B&H is correct to an extent when he says that those "evils" are not absolutes. They are all conditioned on the circumstances inwhich they occur. Personally as a Christian the only absolute that I see Christ, his teachings, his divinity and the salvation offered which I accepted. (I am saying this very simply so don't beat me up if I am leaving things out.) Aside from this just about everything else in this world that one would call sin is usually dependent on the given circumstances of who is calling the sin and who is committing the sin.

I think that the point of the descriptions of "sin" in the paper was just to illustrate the point that biblically we are born in sin. But sin in this context should be defined generally.

So B&H, DON'T TRIP OVER THE DETAILS UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE SEEN THE BIG PICTURE. Good luck and God Bless!

 

[Kamtre]

Actually, one thing I learned recently is that we should not define sin by what is in the bible, but from what jesus said. He said Love one another.. And if you examine all sins defined in the bible, they are all commited after discarding love for another. Act in love and you will never sin.. Just wanted to put that tidbit in there. There is no certain right and wrong, so thus because of this, right and wrong are defined by a standard of Love.

 

[Janice702]

Jesus said "If you love Me, keep My commandments"

 

[Janice702]

Jesus said "If you love Me, keep My commandments" John 14:15

 

[lonelymuslim]

interesting article

 

[elijahorao]

I agree that it would be difficult or impossible to convert someone to Christianity without the Bible, but this requires that the person believe the Bible to be the word of God. All I'm saying is that the essay is going to be ineffective for someone who doesn't already believe the Bible is true. I don't believe the Bible can tell us anything definite about God because there's no way of knowing if it's the word of God or inspired by God or whatever. I doubt all of the books of the Bible, because I have no way of knowing if they are the word of God, or if God even exists. Belief in the Bible is based on faith, there's no way to know for certain. That's what faith is, after all. If you had proof there would be no reason for faith. It just irritates me when people act like they know the Bible is true or that they can know anything about God, when really it's a belief, not knowledge.

It is an interesting stance for you to take, however, if such an entity as 'God' exists, it is certain that this 'being' has the capacity to have created all else, and to take an interest in that creation (not to mention having a reason for creating). Anyway, to examine the human perspective here, we find that we are the 'creatures' capable of having the greatest effect on the rest of the creation (within our dimension), thus, it is not logical to suppose that this 'being'/God would fail to leave some message for the creatures who He knew would struggle with their freewill and the consequences of having it.
On this supposition, we would have to assume that God was effective in getting His communication medium recognised. This leaves us with the various 'supposed' holy writings of different religions to examine. To shortcut the examination process, we would do well to accept that if such an 'entity' as God exists, then He understands well the human psyche (since He created humans) Any communication medium chosen by God is going to have an intelligent motive behind it, and the motive can only be about how we relate to reality, the rest of creation. The fact is, that humans are created with a sense of justice, thus, all religions believe in some sort of accountability/judgement. We are then left with the fact that we cannot wind back time to 'right' our wrongs, and of all religions and religious writings known to humankind, we find only one that testifies of a Creator Who has made provision for people to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start. This 'Provision' is the man/being Jesus Who died for our sins, and the bible is the witness of Him. This means that of all 'sacred' writings, only one testifies to having been inspired by The One Who understands the human condition and the fact that we need atonement. Only christianity offers an incentive to start again, only christianity has the power to be 'world changing' for the positive (rather than dashing our hopes by telling us we will reincarnate as an ant because of our 'sins') and the bible is the testimony of 'christianity' down through the ages and into the future. If we humans cannot trust this word, then we have been created by a 'God' Who is unable to effectively communicate or inspire His messengers.
For God to be 'God', He will not be inadequate to the task of communicating with us. Think it through and pray about it and you will realise that the bible can only be inspired by The God Who IS God and all others are an attempt at finding another way with flawed human ideas and provisions.
In essence, if 'God' has ever tried to communicate with His human creatures, it can only be through the bible.
On this basis, it can only be trustworthy.

 

[I_are_sceptical]

(snip)

The fact is, that humans are created with a sense of justice, thus, all religions believe in some sort of accountability/judgement. We are then left with the fact that we cannot wind back time to 'right' our wrongs, and of all religions and religious writings known to humankind, we find only one that testifies of a Creator Who has made provision for people to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start. This 'Provision' is the man/being Jesus Who died for our sins, and the bible is the witness of Him. This means that of all 'sacred' writings, only one testifies to having been inspired by The One Who understands the human condition and the fact that we need atonement. Only christianity offers an incentive to start again, only christianity has the power to be 'world changing' for the positive (rather than dashing our hopes by telling us we will reincarnate as an ant because of our 'sins') and the bible is the testimony of 'christianity' down through the ages and into the future. If we humans cannot trust this word, then we have been created by a 'God' Who is unable to effectively communicate or inspire His messengers.
For God to be 'God', He will not be inadequate to the task of communicating with us. Think it through and pray about it and you will realise that the bible can only be inspired by The God Who IS God and all others are an attempt at finding another way with flawed human ideas and provisions.
In essence, if 'God' has ever tried to communicate with His human creatures, it can only be through the bible.
On this basis, it can only be trustworthy.

Would you have any interest in a non-Christian's response to this?