Posted on 03/15/2021 8:08:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A man was on a bridge, intending to jump and end his life. Another man saw him and cried out, "Don't do it! God loves you. Do you believe in God?" The conversation then went on like this:
First man: "Yes."
Second man: "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
First man: "A Christian."
Second man: "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?"
First man: "Protestant."
Second man: "Me, too! What franchise?"
First man: "Baptist."
Second man: “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
First man: "Northern Baptist."
Second man: “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
First man: "Northern Conservative Baptist."
Second man: "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?"
First man: "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region."
Second man: "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"
First man: "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."
There was then a slight pause, after which the second man shouted "Die heretic!" and pushed the first man off the bridge.
Maybe it’s Premillennialism vs. Amillennialism. Or Arminianism vs. Calvinism. Or young earth vs. old earth. Or ransom theory of Christ’s atonement vs. penal-substitution.
Take your pick, debates and divisions occur all the time in Christianity over matters of doctrinal belief. But when it comes to true saving faith, is there a must-have set of things a person must believe to be saved?
Moreover, once you settle on what a person must accept to be a Christian, then you’re staring the next question right in the face: why do you believe that? And then comes the final question: what difference does that make in your life?
THE BEDROCK OF BELIEF
When it comes to what teachings a person must hold to be saved, the answer isn’t as hard as you might imagine. While there are a number of doctrines that form the foundation of Christianity, they all contribute to one high-level belief.
What does a person have to believe in order to be a Christian? They must believe the Gospel.
Young earth vs. old earth? That doesn’t matter for salvation.
Pre-mill vs. post-mill vs. a-mill? That also doesn’t matter for salvation.
When I was saved at age 19, I had no deep understanding of the divinity of Jesus, the inspiration of Scripture, the virgin birth, creation out of nothing, etc. But what I did get was John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
In a very real sense, my experience was like the tax collector Jesus describes in Luke: “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified” (18:13-14).
Of course, understanding all the doctrines that contribute to and support the Gospel message (e.g. divinity of Christ, inspiration of Scripture, etc.) are vitally important, but a deep understanding of them typically comes later for most people as the Holy Spirit teaches them through God’s Word and via great Bible teachers. But as for the Ground Zero of saving faith, the Gospel message is it.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?
So, the Gospel is what we believe to be saved, but why do we believe that? What are the necessary and sufficient conditions that make believing the gospel message credible?
Just like the answer to what a person must believe to be a Christian is simple to understand, the response to the question of why a person is justified for believing in the Gospel is equally straightforward. When anyone asks me why I am a Christian, I tell them it’s because:
1. God exists.
2. Jesus exists and He rose from the dead.
That’s it.
If those two truth claims are correct, then Christianity is true and all other teachings opposed to it are false. Like with the Gospel message, of course there are a lot of supportive teachings, questions, facts, and more behind the existence and identity of God, His Son, and the Resurrection. But from a high-level perspective, when everything is boiled down to the absolute essentials as to why Christianity is true, these are it.
SO WHAT?
This leads to our final questions of, so what? If the gospel message is true, and the core reasons for believing it are correct, what difference does that make in our lives?
It means, as C. S. Lewis wrote, “You have never met a mere mortal.”
Surprisingly, the ones who have best articulated the answer to the “so what” question of Christianity are the atheistic existentialist philosophers. For example, Nietzsche had the courage to admit that the rejection of God ends in nihilism. Another, Jean-Paul Sartre, well describes existence without God with the chosen title of his book Nausea and the portrayal of life as “an empty bubble floating on a sea of nothingness”.
Sartre’s study partner, Albert Camus, tells us in “An Absurd Reasoning” (contained in The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays) that a God-less life leads to there being “only one really serious philosophical question, and this is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.”
It’s what Daryl on The Walking Dead calls “opting out”.
But life with God? Then we have actual purpose and meaning in life, real moral values, a path worth living, and the promise of eternity where “God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new”” (Rev. 21:3-5).
So, in the end, the answers to some seemingly weighty questions about Christianity and belief are relatively simple.
What do you have to believe to be a Christian? The Gospel.
Why is the Gospel worthy of belief? Because God exists, Jesus exists, and Christ rose from the dead.
Why does all this matter? It gives us true purpose, an objective moral path to follow, and meaning in this life as well as glorifying God both now and in eternity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robin Schumacher is an accomplished software executive and Christian apologist who has written many articles, authored and contributed to several Christian books, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at apologetic events. He holds a BS in Business, Master's in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament. His latest book is, A Confident Faith: Winning people to Christ with the apologetics of the Apostle Paul.
We are saved by Grace alone!
- - - - - -
Peter (the Lord, really) says, in his letters, “Baptism now saves us.”
And that edifies how James used ‘dead when stating that fiath without works is dead, as in no0functioning, not non-existent.
pigaling
Thank you!
You actually quoted Scripture.
Doesn’t happen very often.
Thank you!
A great thought!
If faith alone saves, then Satan and the demons are saved.
Thank you.
To be saved:
John 3:16 belief is needed
Acts 2 — Peter preaches repentance and baptism
Romans 10 — Confess that Jesus is Lord
Mark 16 — The Lord, himself, says, belief and baptism
Then comes the hard part, working and maturing as a Christian — it keeps you busy.
The parable of the talents is appropriate here.
Three servants are given 10, 5, 1 talent(s).
The 10 and 5 talent servants double their money and made rulers over much (note that both get the same reward)
The 1 talent servant, out of fear of losing money, buries it and returns the one talent to the master.
The servants are Christians; they are given a job to do; they must work.
The one who didn’t work was termed by the master to be *evil* and *lazy*.
Not only will we be condemned if we don’t believe, but if, as Christians, we are lazy, we will be condemned.
Once saved, ALWAYS saved:
Revelation 3:5 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not *BLOT* out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
— Maybe, not so much.
I apologize for my own creative editing for brevity also I'm probably not the best source for resolving the understanding you seek.
Your quarrell is probably with those far above my pay grade
anyway I'll give it a shot.
In your list, Commandment Number Two (Graven Images) from the Law of Moses is completely missing.
I believe this is covered in #1 because creating and worshiping idols would be in effect worshiping other gods.
In your list, Commandment Number Ten (Covetness) from the Law of Moses is split and is presented as two commandments, nine and ten.
I don't know why that is but I think it nicely separates a man's wife from his goods. Men don't own their wives do they?
If your only issues are with the way two of the commandments are listed I think that's pretty good really.
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And one more timeL What did Jesus mean when He told the disciples to ‘let the dead go bury the dead?’ If you answer that truthfully you will see that the word ‘dead’ as used by James can definitely mean non functioning, non-functioning, not non-existent. But then to understand the truth therein you would need to be seeking the Turth James is teaching, rather than the cultish deceit you’ve settled upon to believe.
“Let the spiritually dead bury those who are literally dead.”
Are you constipated? Have you been taking your metamucil? If you want to talk about the word, DEAD, JUST SAY SO.
Let the dead...
νεκροὺς (nekrous)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong’s Greek 3498: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. From an apparently primary nekus; dead.
Bury their dead...
νεκρούς (nekrous)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong’s Greek 3498: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. From an apparently primary nekus; dead.
Faith without works is dead...
νεκρά (nekra)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong’s Greek 3498: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. From an apparently primary nekus; dead.
Matthew 8:22, Luke 9:60, James 2:17, 26. Same story, same word, same meaning. IT MEANS DEAD.
YOU AND ANDY ARE WRONG!
Maybe the REAL issue is in changing the law of God?
One theory is: The second commandment was deleted because some denominations wanted statuary in their religion.
There were no graven images in the Jewish worship at the time the Lord created his church. The church consisted of almost all Jews for about 10 to 15 years since the church was mostly in Jerusalem. We can imagine that statuary-free worship was continued since there logically might be some momentum from their previous experience worshiping as Jews.
The New Testament is silent about statuary in the church, (altars, too). Some have taken the silence to mean that the matter is unimportant or the writers of the New Testament books would have mentioned it. Then they step into the abyss by saying, “Now we are free to choose.”
Our choices are, scripture is silent because it didn’t matter or scripture is silent because it didn’t happen (there were no statues).
Am I in more trouble if I take the silence to mean that I can make my own choice, have statues. Or, am I in more trouble if I assume the silence means statuary was absent from the worship and therefore I will choose to not have statuary in worship. To me, the infallibly safe path is the latter.
Disclaimer: It matters whether the issue is critical or not. Being baptized, believing, repenting, confessing, is critical to our salvation, deciding to sit in pews or chairs is not. The silence about pews or chairs is no big deal. Pews or chairs are not intimately connected with salvation. Statuary was — in the Old Testament — and was carried forward.
When checking doctrine against the scriptures, keep the “tradition of the elders” in mind to avoid making the doctrine of men a requirement rather than an option.
Some man/committee decided to delete the second commandment and split commandment 10 into two.
One of blessings of America is that we can worship God in our own way. That is a dangerous path. The BIG question is: How does the Lord WANT to be worshiped? That is critical. We mustn’t screw that up.
Hmmm...
There was something mentioned about that somewhere...
something about keys...
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The passage you reference regarding talents is found in Matthew 25. This series of teachings were given to Jewish men regarding Israel not the Church. The only reference to church was made when Jesus said 'upon this profession I will build my church.' Beginning in chapter 23 and running through chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew's Gospel Jesus is answering the questions posed by his disciples reagrding Israel and the end of the age for ISRAEL. The parable teachgn in this section is about ISRAEL not the church.
Matthew's Gospel was written by a Jewish man to convince Hebrew Christians that Jesus was/is indeed the Messiah they were to welcome but whom the ISRAELITE leaders rejected.
Indeed! And when Peter preached the Gospel in the House of Cornelius, he was using the ‘keys’ to open salvation by Grace to the gentiles. Heretofore The Grace had been open to the Jews. The kingdom was in a state of posponment. But the kingdom will once again be offered to the Jews at the end of the Tribulation when the Jews call upon Jesus as their Messaih declaring He IS their Messiah. Seems the Jews always get it right the second time but very rarely the first.
Please forgive the typos, I am nearly blind and am a ‘hunt and peck’ typer.
Now it’s my turn. I’ve REPEATEDLY asked you specifically why you (and your teachers/prophets like Andy Woods) will not comment on the Antichrist and what the reformers believed and the biblical evidence. Same goes for who the early church fathers believed the restrainer of the Antichrist to be. Here’s a little recap:
EVERY reformer named the Catholic church as the Antichrist power.
http://www.redeemerfw.org/resources/reformers_antichrist.pdf
The Catholic church got tired of EVERY reformer dumping on them and accusing them of being the Antichrist power and came out with Jesuit diversionary theories (preterism and futurism). “Look, the Antichrist either already came or comes in the future. Nope, IT’S NOT US.”
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm
The Jesuit theory of Futurism is EXACTLY the same as the pre trib rapture theory.
FUTURISM
Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) was a Jesuit doctor of theology, born in Spain, who began writing a lengthy commentary in 1585 on the book of Revelation (Apocalypse) titled In Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarij, and published it about the year 1590. He died in 1591 at the age of fifty-four, so he was not able to expand on his work or write any other commentaries on Revelation. In order to remove the Catholic Church from consideration as the antichrist power, Ribera proposed that the first few chapters of the Apocalypse applied to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future period of 3 1/2 literal years, immediately prior to the second coming. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church would have fallen away from the pope into apostasy. Then, he proposed, the antichrist, a single individual, would:
• Persecute and blaspheme the saints of God.
• Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
• Abolish the Christian religion.
• Deny Jesus Christ.
• Be received by the Jews.
• Pretend to be God.
• Kill the two witnesses of God.
• Conquer the world.
So, according to Ribera, the 1260 days and 42 months and 3 1/2 times of prophecy were not 1260 years, but a literal 3 1/2 years, and therefore none of the book of Revelation had any application to the middle ages or the papacy, but to the future, to a period immediately prior to the second coming, hence the name Futurism. A 1591 edition, 1593 edition, and a 1603 edition of his commentary are now online.
Today, Futurism has been renamed PRE TRIB RAPTURE.
The biblical identifying characteristics of the Antichrist are as follows:
1. It will rise to be a great power after the fall of the pagan Roman empire (after 476 A.D.). See Early Church Fathers on Antichrist.
2. It will be a geographically small nation (a little horn).
3. It will rule over many people, nations, and tongues (it will be universal).
4. It will be headquartered in the city of seven hills, Rome.
5. It will be a religio-political entity — a political city-state ruled by a priest-king.
6. Its priest-king will make great and blasphemous claims.
7. It will claim authority over all kings.
8. It will claim its power to change the holy times and laws of God as its mark of authority.
9. It will be an apostate church, that makes the nations drink her cup of apostate doctrine.
10. It will be a “mother” church, with apostate daughters coming from her.
11. It will be a persecuting power, killing the faithful saints of Jesus Christ as heretics.
12. It will hold power and authority for 1260 years following the fall of pagan Rome.
13. It will suffer a deadly wound that will end 1260 years of dominance and persecution.
14. It will be revived after the deadly wound, and all the world will wonder at it’s revival.
The early church father named pagan Rome as the restrainer of the Antichrist
http://aloha.net/~mikesch/fathers-on-antichrist.htm
Why do you and your teachers/prophets refuse to discuss this clear evidence on the Antichrist?
Why do you and your teachers/prophets refuse to discuss who the early church fathers CLEARLY identified as the restrainer of the Antichrist?
(I believe the reason is because if it’s true, and it is, then the pre trib rapture theory is Strong’s Greek 3498….DEAD!)…..see what I did there?
But the kingdom will once again be offered to the Jews at the end of the Tribulation when the Jews call upon Jesus as their Messaih declaring He IS their Messiah. Seems the Jews always get it right the second time but very rarely the first.
Nope. There are no second chances and God is not a respecter of persons. If the Jews of today wanted to believe, they could do it today. You follow the Jesuit Ribera and Futurism (now named the pre trib rapture). Anyone who believes in the pre trib rapture has been fooled by the Antichrist power.
No worries, there is something also about how many times should I forgive my brother
Seventy times... now what is that number?
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LOL, Phil, sorry cultist you have not found your precious ultimate gotcha. Phil, can the spiritually dead be made spiritually alive? Once someone is made spiritually alive Who does the Bible sat is thereafter and forevermore abiding in that born again spirit? [ Hint: 1 John 3:9 ].
Answer the questions, hypocrite.
Why do you and your teachers/prophets refuse to discuss this clear evidence on the Antichrist?
Why do you and your teachers/prophets refuse to discuss who the early church fathers CLEARLY identified as the restrainer of the Antichrist?
Bye,cultist.
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