Dear reader,
Often in Islamic lectures, Christianity is derided, claiming that Islam is the religion of Allah and Christianity is not a religion. These statements have deeply hurt Christians, especially when they are asked to provide a verse from the Bible that says Christianity is a religion.
My dear friends, today I would like to address this weak and unfounded accusation against Christianity and the false claim that God has a religion.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD CHRISTIANITY?
The word Christianity derives from the name "Christ." Therefore, a Christian is a follower of Christ. It's like saying a Tanzanian comes from Tanzania or the term Tanzanian derives from the union of "U" and "Tanzania."
The goal of a Christian is to seek close fellowship with God. This fellowship is made possible by the work of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life.
The Holy God has no fellowship with sin and does not have a religion. Between Him and man, there is a great divide of sin. Man tries to reach God through many ways: RELIGION, good deeds, prayer, etc., but these are all insufficient. Man remains sinful.
WHAT DOES CHRISTIANITY MEAN?
Christianity is a unique faith compared to others because it focuses more on fellowship with God rather than religious acts. Contrary to adhering to a list of dos and don'ts, the goal of a Christian is to seek a close relationship with God the Father.
Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God and its teachings are the final authority (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21). Christians believe in one God existing in the Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
WHAT DOES RELIGION MEAN?
Religion is man's attempt to have a relationship with a Holy God despite being sinful. The Christian faith is a relationship with God because of what He has done for us through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION BUT A UNIQUE FAITH THAT FOCUSES MORE ON FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD THAN RELIGIOUS ACTS THAT CANNOT LEAD TO HEAVEN.
There is only one way to fellowship with God.
JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO REMOVE SIN.
He died for us so that we may know God's love and plan for our lives.
WHAT IS TRUE FAITH?
True faith is not about focusing on laws but on principles. True faith is a relationship with God. Two things that all religions acknowledge are that man, in some way, is separated from God and needs to be reconciled with Him.
False religions seek to solve this problem by keeping laws or rules. True faith solves the problem by recognizing that only God can fix the separation, and He already has. True faith recognizes the following:
• All have sinned and are separated from God (Romans 3:23).
• If not remedied, the just penalty for sin is death and eternal separation from God after death (Romans 6:23).
• God came to us through Jesus Christ, died for us, took the penalty we deserved, and rose from the dead to prove that His death was a sufficient sacrifice (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
• If we receive Jesus as our Savior, believing His death as the full payment for our sins, we are forgiven, saved, redeemed, reconciled, and made righteous with God (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Therefore, while other religions require their followers to perform or abstain from certain acts, Christianity is about having fellowship with God.
Thus, Christianity is the followership of Christ, who is God. Jesus Christ is God.
Max Shimba Ministries
Copyright © Max Shimba Ministries 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment