Simplicity in Christ?

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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?
 
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Bluerose31

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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?
I like the phrase "the simplicity in Christ" that you have wrote here. I feel there is a simplicity to him, that is beautiful.
 
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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?

I would change the word "believe" to "trust."

Trust in Jesus Christ our God as Savior and Lord, believe in His death for the redemption of our sins and believe in His resurrection.

I want to make these changes because "believe" can be misunderstood to mean simple intellectual knowledge or "head knowledge"

 
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TheSeabass

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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?
What about repentance, (Luke 13:3)?
 
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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?
It depends on what you mean by "believe".

I agree that salvation is simple. But I disagree that a moment of mental assent, for example, is all that is necessary. (I'm not saying that you're saying that.)

If we believe in Christ, we believe what He says, and we will do it - to the best of our ability. It's not about perfection, it's about following Christ, doing what He says, depending on Him for our salvation and trusting in God's mercy, repenting when we fail and keep at it until we die. Living the life of a follower of Christ, in other words, cooperating with the grace of God to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

There are many things we can do in this process, many tools we can use, many ways God can extend His grace to us. But it's not a formula or checklist. Just that God loves us and WANTS to save us, and we (hopefully) cooperate with Him and don't reject His work in us.
 
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mark kennedy

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It's the idea of without worldly wisdom, the Jews seek a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom but the gospel is Christ and him crucified:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).
Grace and peace,
Mark
 
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Friend-of-Jesus

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I like the phrase "the simplicity in Christ" that you have wrote here. I feel there is a simplicity to him, that is beautiful.

I like it a lot, too. It's from 2 Corinthians 11:3 where it says that our minds shouldn't be corrupted from the simplicity in Christ.
 
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Friend-of-Jesus

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I would change the word "believe" to "trust."

Trust in Jesus Christ our God as Savior and Lord, believe in His death for the redemption of our sins and believe in His resurrection.

I want to make these changes because "believe" can be misunderstood to mean simple intellectual knowledge or "head knowledge"


Trust, belief, faith are all synonyms. Because much of Christianity is fake, you really have to emphasize faith by using a stronger version of the word, or "trust". To believe is to accept something as true. To believe in the gospel of Jesus is to understand our life and the world around us in a certain way. Head knowledge does not imply any faith. For example, I know much about Islam, but I don't believe in it.
 
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It depends on what you mean by "believe".

I agree that salvation is simple. But I disagree that a moment of mental assent, for example, is all that is necessary. (I'm not saying that you're saying that.)

If we believe in Christ, we believe what He says, and we will do it - to the best of our ability. It's not about perfection, it's about following Christ, doing what He says, depending on Him for our salvation and trusting in God's mercy, repenting when we fail and keep at it until we die. Living the life of a follower of Christ, in other words, cooperating with the grace of God to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

There are many things we can do in this process, many tools we can use, many ways God can extend His grace to us. But it's not a formula or checklist. Just that God loves us and WANTS to save us, and we (hopefully) cooperate with Him and don't reject His work in us.

I absolutely agree with what you're saying. Not hearers, but doers. That's the division line between faith and unbelief. If you truly and genuinely believe your house will imminently catch fire, you won't drink tea and laugh with co-workers but will run home and try to save your family, pets and possessions. So, your actions or works aren't part or pre-requisite of faith, but simply an outwardly manifestation of it. Like we don't see the wind but we see the tree leaves moving.

However, what I see in what is called Christianity, is total ignoring of the simplicity of Christ, complete deviation from it. For example, Jesus says don't worship in a temple or on a mountain. But we see people building "Christian" religious buildings that sometimes they happen to call "temples". Or Jesus says, don't gather any riches on earth, but strive and spend all your money on charity in order to obtain riches in heaven. Well, we see that very few people who claim to be Christ followers do it. Especially the religious leadership. They even wear the clothes of gold and gems, wear golden crosses and hold a staff clad with gold and gems. It's a complete contradiction to Jesus, which is an obvious red flag of absence of true faith.
 
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It's the idea of without worldly wisdom, the Jews seek a sign and the Greeks seek wisdom but the gospel is Christ and him crucified:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).
Grace and peace,
Mark

True! Thank you for the quote. Worldly wisdom is in fact human wisdom. Which may seem "smart" intelligent and correct, but is really flawed. God's wisdom revealed in Christ contradicts our worldly logic in all aspects, that's why it's always made more complex and is twisted in all possible ways.
 
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mark kennedy

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True! Thank you for the quote. Worldly wisdom is in fact human wisdom. Which may seem "smart" intelligent and correct, but is really flawed. God's wisdom revealed in Christ contradicts our worldly logic in all aspects, that's why it's always made more complex and is twisted in all possible ways.
There is also those who mocked him on the cross, come down from there and we will believe. They wouldn't, but God has chose the foolish things of the world and the weak things as the worldly count strength, to confound the wise and the strong:

Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,… (1 Cor. 1:26-28)​
 
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There is also those who mocked him on the cross, come down from there and we will believe. They wouldn't, but God has chose the foolish things of the world and the weak things as the worldly count strength, to confound the wise and the strong:

Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,… (1 Cor. 1:26-28)​

Yes, the actions of God completely defy our human logic. He does things in unexpected ways. Well, should we be surprised? Why should the Creator follow His creature's logic? We don't see the whole picture, but a very small fraction of it.
 
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mark kennedy

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Yes, the actions of God completely defy our human logic. He does things in unexpected ways. Well, should we be surprised? Why should the Creator follow His creature's logic? We don't see the whole picture, but a very small fraction of it.
God's not big on human ego, it's one of the things that surprised me about the New Testament. Blessed are the poor but cursed are the rich, it really seems the opposite in the world. God is forever choosing the least likely candidate, Paul's my favorite example. The Pharisees were the villains of the Gospels then one becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles.
 
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The Bible asks us not to "deviate from the simplicity in Christ". I see that in Christianity, salvation is often made to be something more complex than what it is. I think it's very simple. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ our God, in His death for the redemption of our sins and His resurrection. That's it. Would you agree or not and why?

The word simplicity is how Jesus related to an eye when the body is filled with light ...
 
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amariselle

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What about repentance, (Luke 13:3)?

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God..." - Hebrews 6:1
 
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God's not big on human ego, it's one of the things that surprised me about the New Testament. Blessed are the poor but cursed are the rich, it really seems the opposite in the world. God is forever choosing the least likely candidate, Paul's my favorite example. The Pharisees were the villains of the Gospels then one becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles.

And for Jesus, being poor means have almost nothing. I'm from Asia, but I live in Canada now. I consider myself pretty poor by the standards of Canada. For my relatives in my native country, I live like a super rich Raja. I was looking at poverty or low income cut offs for my city. The income that makes one eligible to receive all kinds of social support here, would be considered an unreachable dream come true back home. Like an income of a king or smth.
 
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"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God..." - Hebrews 6:1

Repentance from dead works. Repentance from foolishly trusting your flesh to save you. Thank you for the wonderful quote from the Bible
 
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amariselle

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Repentance from dead works. Repentance from foolishly trusting your flesh to save you. Thank you for the wonderful quote from the Bible

I think it is so important to remember. Unfortunately many (and I was one of them) think that "repentance" means you must stop sinning and never sin again to be saved.
 
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I think it is so important to remember. Unfortunately many (and I was one of them) think that "repentance" means you must stop sinning and never sin again to be saved.

In modern language, it's akin to feeling very remorseful. When in the Bible it's turning away from wrong ideas
 
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