|
Table-of-ContentsI. Preface II. Christianity Defined III. Christian Vocabulary IV. False Beliefs V. What Must I Know to Be a Christian? VI. How Can I Become a Christian? VII. What Do I Have to Do to Keep My Salvation? VIII. What Should I Do Afterwards? IX. What About Works? Doesn't the Bible Teach Works? X. I Think I Am Saved. How Can I Tell? (When to Doubt Salvation) XI. How Do I Hear What God is Telling Me? More: More Advanced Christian Information PrefaceThis web page's purpose is to explain Christianity: what it is and what we believe. I have information about my christian life if you are interested in stories. I would appreciate any comments you have about my page, especially if anything is confusing. Note: All verses are from the Authorized King James Version (KJV or AV) unless otherwise specified. Christianity DefinedChristianity at means "A follower of Christ". In order for a person to be a true follower of Christ he must accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. This can be done by three simple steps (ABC): 1) Admit that your a sinner (know that you have done things that displease God and that you deserve Hell for them) click 2) Believe in Jesus (that He is the son of God, He died on the cross for our sins, and He rose from the dead) 3) Choose Jesus Christ as your personal savior (Offer a prayer of some sort that you believe in Jesus and want to accept His free gift of forgiveness). For more information on how to be saved click here. There are many "forms" of Christianity like Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, etc., which are not true Christianity as I have defined it. Most of these do not believe in the trinity (one God in three persons) or the diety of Jesus (Jesus is not God). Three of these are the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Christian Scientists. Catholicism on the other hand emphasizes rituals and obedience to the Church, not a personal relationship with God. Also in general Christianity there are many denominations like Baptist, Lutheran, and Pentecostal. Within these denominations are even a wide variety of beliefs. Some of these have good beliefs (doctrine), and some do not. It is crucial that one makes sure a church teaches the correct doctrine. (One cannot base good doctrine on terms like Baptist. Some Baptist churches are good and some are bad.) Christian VocabularyThese are Christian jargon (technical words) that need to be defined for some people. I. Bible II. Doctrine, Dogma III. New Testament IV. Old Testament V. Saved, Salvation VI. Sin BibleDefinition: The Bible is a collection of writings from many different authors and it is inspired (God's own words expressed through the writers) and is perfect. It should be noted that the inspiration is for the original greek and Hebrew manuscripts, the translations (like the English versions) are usually good but contain some errors. The Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Doctrine, DogmaDefinition: Doctrine (or dogma) is a set of beliefs that make up the core of the religion. It is very important to make sure that any church one joins has good doctrine. Some examples of doctrine are Bibliology, (the Bible) Angelology (Angels), etc. For a list of important doctrines click here. New TestamentDefinition: The New Testament (NT) is a series of Greek writings after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (probably 45 AD to 90 AD). This consists of 27 books. The first four books tell of the life of Jesus and after that are letters written to various churches and people during the time shortly after Jesus' life. Old TestamentDefinition: The Old Testament (OT) are a series of Hebrew and Aramaic writings from before the time Jesus. This consists of 39 books which were written over thousands of years. The Old Testament talk about things like how the world was made and gives a lot of the worlds early history. The last book was probably written around 400 BC Other names: The Old Testament is also called the Tanakh and the Hebrew Scriptures Saved, SalvationDefinition: This simply means to having accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Simply speaking, it is a person going to heaven. A person who is "saved" or has "salvation" has been saved from a life of pain in hell. Common phrases: One common phrase for salvation is "Ask Jesus into your heart" i.e. ("Are you saved?" is the same as "Have you asked Jesus into your heart?") SinDefinition: Sin is anything we say, think or do that displeases or dishonors God. Examples: Killing, Stealing, Adultery, Cheating, Lying, Thinking Bad Thoughts, Disobeying authority (speeding) Scripture: According to 1 John 3:4, sin is breaking the law (Old Testament Regulations) New and Old Testament: The main words for sin in Greek (hamartia) and Hebrew (hata') mean missing the mark. This also implies hitting another mark. e.g. (An archer shooting and hitting the wrong target) When a person sins, he does do what God wants but does something else. False BeliefsMany people believe that being a Christian means that you must live a perfect life, you have to give ten percent of everything you own to the church or God, you have to go around helping people, and be nice all the time. While these all please God, they are not necessary to be a Christian. The only requirement for a person to be a true Christian is to accept Jesus as your personal savior. What Must I Know to Be a Christian?These are a few basic passages about Christianity that explain why a person needs to be "saved" and how this can be accomplished. This first idea a person needs understand is sin. Sin is anything that a person does that displeases God. This not only does this includes big things like stealing, murdering, fighting, and drunkenness, but it also includes lying, being dishonest, cheating, and being mean to people. The Bible even teaches that bad thoughts are sin too. (Thinking, "I really hate that person!") What does that Bible tell us about sin? For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23) This states that everyone has sinned (or done bad things) and that we cannot be as good as God wants us to be. Can you think of one thing you have done that would displease God? Of coarse you can, I can think of many. So what is so bad about sin? For the wages of sin is death; (Romans 6:23a) To help you understand this, it is useful to know what wages and death exactly are. Wages are something you earn (Like you earn wages or money in a job) and death is a separation (from your body or from God). So this verse tells us that because of our sin, we earn death which here means a separation from God. Now that you know that 1) Everyone has sinned (I have sinned and you have sinned too) 2) that because of your sin, you have to be separated from God (so you can't go to heaven) but there is still hope! But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) This verse sounds tricky if you don't speak the English that they used in the 1700's but it is very simple. Commendeth simply means shows, so this sentence means that God shows his love because he sent his son (his only son) to us to die for us, even though we all have done bad things that God does not like. Why would God send his one and only son to us when God knew he would die? This verse tells us. It is because God loves us so much. But what is the point in Jesus dying for us? This next verse tells us. but the gift of God is eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23b) God gave Jesus to us as a gift so that we can have eternal life. Eternal life in simple terms in Heaven, living with God forever. How can we have eternal life if we have earned death which is a separation from God? Jesus forgives us of our sins when we accept him as Lord. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) How Can I Become a Christian?Many people believe that it is hard to become a Christian or it takes a lot work to be one but that is simply not true. All it takes is to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation (Jesus dying to forgive you for your sins) and to allow Jesus to enter into your life. Living a "good" life, attending church, tithing (giving 10% of what you earn to the church) have nothing to do with becoming a Christian but they are things you should do after becoming one, but they will come as you grow in the Lord, do not worry about this, it is not required to be a Christian, and God will give you a desire to do it as you become closer to him. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the death, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) Sweet and simple, all you have to do is believe in Jesus and accept him as your Savior (confess with your mouth). But what do you have to do to confess with your mouth? Pure and simple, all you need to do is make a very simple prayer to God accepting his gift of sacrifice, making him your lord and savior. It can be as simple as Jesus, thank you so much for dying on the cross for my sins. I want you to come into my life and forgive me for my sins. If you can pray that and mean it from your heart, then you are now one of my fellow brother's in Christ and I will see you some day in heaven. If you do accept Christ as your Lord from this web page or if this page has influenced you to do it, please e-mail me and tell me, I would love to know and to help you out in any way I can. If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to give me your e-mail address but I would really like to talk to you about it. What Do I Have to Do to Keep My Salvation?So what do you have to do to keep your salvation? Nothing! Once you have received God's gift of salvation he will never take it away. There are many people who do not believe this but if you look at what the Bible says about it, it never talks about loosing salvation. There are many verses that support this. One is the ever famous John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Notice how it says whosoever believeth should not perish. Does it say whosoever believes to the end or whosoever goes to church, and reads their Bible, and gives 10% of their money shall go to heaven? No! The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith through grace (or the ABCs). The Bible never gives one instance or a person being saved and than losing it. That is absurd. Many times God is disappointed with those Christians not following Him like they should. God will discipline them but he never take away their salvation. When you accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you are born into God's family. It is like a mother who has a child. No matter what she does, she cannot make her son or daughter no longer her child. She can spank them, kill them, or ever disown them, but the fact still remains: it is her child. One Bible example that supports this idea is Matthew 7:21-23. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23) Notice how it said I never knew you. If you were once saved, then God would have to say, I used to know you, or I no longer know you. Also, there are many verses like Romans 10:9 that by the way it is worded, salvation is absolute, a promise, which is something that cannot be taken away (God cannot lie Hebrews 6:18). If you notice in Romans 10:9, it states that thou shall be saved. If you look at the word shall, it means something very similar to will but with one big difference: in 1st person shall is a future tense helping verb and will is a promise, in 2nd and 3rd person it is the opposite, will is future tense helping verb and shall is a promise (people today misuse this all the time). The word thou in Romans 10:9 is in 2nd person (the subject being thou) so shall here is a promise and not in future tense. If I lost you I am sorry, I know that is a bit complex, but it is the best way I can explain without putting too much work into it. When you accept Jesus, it is not conditional on anything. What Should I Do Afterwards?After you become a Christian, there is nothing you have to do, but there are many things God wants you to do. Here, I am going to list the four main things that you should do as a Christian. I. Follow Christ in Baptism II. Read the Bible and Pray III. Find and Attend a Church IV. Tell Others About Jesus Follow Christ in BaptismThe Bible teaches us that one of the first things we are to do is to follow Jesus' example and to be baptized (Acts 8:35-40). What is baptism? Baptism is simply being put under the water and pulled out of it by another Christian. Even if you have already been baptized, you should be baptized again because the Bible clearly teaches us that salvation comes first, then baptism. What is the purpose of baptism? Baptism is simply a public display of your faith in Jesus, as is symbolic for your new birth in Jesus, and his death (put under the water), burial (completely under the water), and resurrection (pulled out of the water). It is an important step but it is not required for salvation. Read the Bible and PrayAs you probably know, communication is very important today. It is hard to get a good job or to have a good marriage or to accomplish much of anything if you are not able to communicate. This is also true with God, we need to communicate with him, and the main way we do that is though prayer and reading the Bible. Here are some important verses about prayer and reading the Bible. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8) But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. (Acts 6:4) Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; (Colossians 4:2) Matthew 4:4 clearly tells us that we need to live by His word, which is the Bible. Also, if you look at Joshua 1:8 He tells us that we should be in His word day and night. If you are a new Christian, you need to be reading your Bible every day, and eventually twice a day (day and night). Why is this important? Because it will make our way prosperous, it will be a way we can learn more about God, and because that is one of the main ways God speaks to us (I will talk more about this later). Also, it is important to be in prayer. Acts 6:4 and Colossians 4:2 both talk about continuing to pray. What exactly is prayer? Well, prayer simply is talking to God just like you would talk to your best friend. In fact, you don't even have to close your eyes, or bow your head; those are ways of giving respect to him and to focus your attention on him. Also, prayer can be silent (he can hear what you think) prayer can be out loud, it can be in groups, or and can be by yourself. Why is prayer important? Prayer is very important because it is a direct line of communication between us and God. It is a way we can give thanks to God, worship him, confess our sins (we do not have to go though a priest), ask for something for yourself or others, or even just to fellowship with him. It is an easy way to set our heart right to focus on God, and is a good time to listen to what he has to say to you (which I will talk more about later). Find and Attend a ChurchIt is very important to get involved in a local church that teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for you sins and was risen again (I personally like Baptist Churches the best, but you still have to be careful with them). Why should you join a church? It is important for four different reasons: 1) You can fellowship (make friends and talk)with other Christians. 2) You can learn more about God. 3) It is a time you can set aside every week to get closer to God. And most importantly 4) God asks us to (Hebrews 10:25). Once you find a good church, you should try to get active in it. Also, you must make sure you read the Bible every day and that you pray every day. These are both musts to grow as a Christian. (I will add more to this later...) Tell Others About JesusThe Bible clearly commands all saved people (true Christians) to tell others about our faith. God expects us to not be selfish and take what He has given us and give it to others. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us of God's great commission, to tell the whole world about Jesus Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20) The Bible also tells us that people will not hear about what Jesus did unless people tell them How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14) In fact, the Bible says we should not be ashamed of Jesus in any situation. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; (2 Timothy 1:8) The Bible tells us that if we tell of Jesus before people here on earth, God will tell of us to God when we go to heaven. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33) Witness is very important for every Christian and there is no excuse for anyone to not witness. If you are willing to take a stand for God, He will help you in what you do. One last important verse to remember is Hebrews 13:5 where God tells us that... ... I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5) What About Works? Doesn't the Bible Teach Works?The Bible teaches these two truths about works. I. Works cannot save you II. You will have works if you are saved Works cannot save youDoes the Bible teach works? Yes, of coarse it does, but the works do not give you salvation. Works are a way of expressing your salvation (see Part II for more information). The Bible clearly teaches that nothing we can do of ourself can save us. This means that we can never be good enough to deserve heaven. The Bible clearly indicates that none are good (Romans 3:10) and that all our goodness is nasty in God's eyes (Isaiah 64:6). As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6) Need more proof? How about Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) This passage explains salvation is a gift God gives us. Nothing we do can earn our way into heaven. Nobody will be able to say to God "I am good enough to go to heaven". It is not of work so that nobody will be able to boast to God "Give me heaven I earned it!" ("...Not of works, list any man should boast.") This passage clearly teaches us that salvation is though faith and not of that works that we do. Can I be saved if I have no works?! Yes it is possible, but not probable. That thief of the cross with Jesus of coarse had no works (Luke 23:39-43), but he also did not have a chance to do any. For an explanation please keep reading. You will have works if you are savedCan you be saved without works? Yes, but the Bible teaches that if you are saved, you pretty much can not get away from works. The Bible teaches in several areas that works will be demonstrated if you are truly saved. For example, if you read the book of James, it is easy to come away thinking that works bring salvation. If you read it in context, you will learn that works do not bring salvation, but are a result of salvation. Let us look at James 2:14. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? (James 2:14) These are two rhetorical questions (Questions stated with one obvious answer). What does faith profit without works? None. Can faith save him? humm... let us consider what James continues to say. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2:17-18) Here, James basically states that if you have "faith" without any works, that you do not have real faith and it is dead. James says that he will show you his faith through his works. Don't have works? then you probably don't have true faith that leads to salvation. James 2:19 uses sarcasm to express this fake kind of faith. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19) This basically states that if your faith is a head-knowledge faith in Jesus, than you do not have the true type of saving faith. If you believe in your head that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross, and rose from the grave, than your doing well (sarcastic comment: your not really doing well); Satan and his demons have that kind of belief. Are the saved? No! The rest of James chapter 2 explain about how Abraham and Rhahab were justified their faith. Did their faith save them? No, but it sure did prove that they were saved. Now let us examine another verse: Romans 8:29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29) This verse simply explains that who God knew would be saved ("Whom he did foreknow") would be changed into the image of Jesus Christ ("he did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son"). If you are saved, God has already chosen that you are going to be made like Jesus, a perfect person. This does not mean you will be perfect, but you will be closer to being perfect than you were before. This passage does not say, God wants you to be conformed; it says he did predestinate (completed action) to be conformed. You cannot get around it. If you are saved, you will be conformed to the image of God's son. If you do not have works in your life, or are not sure you do, please read the next section on No Works in the next section. This does not mean if you have no works than you are not saved! Please read on. I Think I Am Saved. How Can I Tell? (When to Doubt Salvation)As far as I know there are only a few reasons to doubt your salvation. If you know of more, please e-mail them to me.
Please remember, if you can agree to one or more of these it does not mean you are not saved, just that you have reason to doubt your salvation: Even if you are truly saved! I am going to split this up into three categories to look at each reason to doubt ones salvation. I. Cannot remember accepting Christ as savior II. No works, God's not important, or Can't understand Bible III. Never "heard" God speak to me Cannot remember accepting Christ as saviorIf you do not remember a specific time that you trusted Christ as your savior (ask him to come into your life and forgive you for your sins), it does not mean your not saved, but you better make sure for your sake. If your parents or someone else claim you did when you were young (and you do not remember) you may want to just quickly pray a salvation prayer to be sure. I would not claim this as your salvation date unless you truly think you were not saved before (i.e. all of a sudden God becomes important to you, you understand the Bible, etc.). If on the other hand, you think you were saved or are not sure and you do not remember praying a prayer to trust Christ as your savior, then there is a good chance you never did. Once again, I would pray a salvation prayer to be sure that you are truly saved. If you are unsure about what exactly a salvation prayer is, you can refer to How Can I Become a Christian? No works, God's not important, or Can't understand BibleIf you think you are saved, but have not be doing any kind or works (giving money to church, witnessing, helping out in Christian ministries, etc.) or you do it just because your supposed to, or you just struggle to understand the Bible, than I can think of only two possible situations: 1) Your not truly saved the way the Bible teaches (I fell under this category from 3rd grade all the way until my senior year in high school), or 2) You are saved but your heart has been hardened by some sort of sin. I will explain these two categories: I. Not truly saved A. My Testimony B. Explanation II. Saved but hardened by sin Not truly savedMy Testimony Explanation 1) you will not understand the things of God If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior you will not experience the benefits of being a true Christian. You may want to lead people to the Lord because there is a strong emphasis in your church for such but you will not have God's desire to witness to people. The Holy Spirit might speak to you but His influence will be restricted to sin (right and wrong, similar to your conscience) and things that will lead to your salvation. Even if you have lead people to the Lord and have many works for Christ, if you have never trusted in Jesus for your salvation and accepted Him as your personal savior, than you are working off your own strength. Saved but hardened by sinThis is the other possibility to being unsaved. If you have trusted Christ as your personal savior and you know that you were sincere, than God has promised that He will give you eternal life and He will not take it away (Matt 10:28-29); however, one of two things will happen: 1) you will be conformed to the image of God's son (Romans 8:29) or 2) you will commit a sin unto death and God will kill you (1 John 5:16). God will not tolerate sin. In fact, 1 John 5:18-20 tell us that saved people will not live in sin (We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;). Do not take this to mean that if you are saved, you will never sin again. That is absurd. Even Peter sinned when he denied Christ three times (Mark 16:66-72). The Bible simply teaches that saved people will have works and will not continue in their old life of sin. In hopes that you do not want to die as a result of your sin, I hope you will choose to live a life conformed to the image of God's son Jesus. If you are still holding onto your life and your sins, your sins will make your heart hard and you will not be more and more like an unsaved person that harder your heart becomes. God loves you; wants to be with you; wants to talk to you; however, while you have sin in your life, God can not because He is a perfect and holy God and does not want to have anything to do with sin. Your prayer life will become fruitless, your heart will become cold to the Holy Spirit and thus you will not understand the Bible, you will not "hear" God speak to you, and the things of God will become unimportant to you. The only way to restore your relationship with God is to repent from your sins and turn away from it. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) God tells us we are to confess our sins to Him. This confession is not for salvation, but to restore our relationship with God. The more sin we have in our lives, the less God can be with us. We must ask for forgiveness for our sins and turn away from those sins. This is the idea behind confession and repentance. Then God will forgive us and cleans us from all the unrighteousness and restore our fellowship with Him. Never "heard" God speak to meFor now, read the section above. How Do I Hear What God is Telling Me?God no longer today speaks to us through audible words (words you can hear). Instead, he speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. When God speaks to us (saved people), he speaks in a way that is very similar to spoken words. It is very hard to explain, and unless you have experienced it, you cannot really fully understand it. When He speaks, He gives you something that you can put into words that He said and it is something that you just "know". It is very important to realize that God does not speak through emotions. If you "feel" something is right, or "feel" God is leading you to do something, there is a good chance it is not from God (not to say God will not use your emotions). One such example would be if I were to cheat on a test. When I though about it "You know I could easily just look at my neighbor's paper and nobody would know", God might speak to me in my mind. He would say something like, "James, you know that is wrong." God did not actually speak to me, but yet I know what He is saying to me. If you are saved and have never heard God speak to you, I would suggest 3 things. 1) Get rid of any major sin in your life (what you think is the worst things that you are doing 2) Start reading a little bit of the Bible every day 3) Pray that you can hear what God is saying to you This page was last updated August 24th, 2003. Copyright © 2006 James Hanenkamp. All Rights Reserved.
|