Summary: This article is written for both Christians and non-Christians. I decided to write this article because I saw that some churches do not teach according to the Bible. For non-Christians, it is not to persuade them to become Christians immediately, because we know that this cannot be done in one article, just like “Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.””(Acts 26:28) So our motivation is to hope, to have a correct understanding according to the Bible before making a decision. This article is divided into seven parts. First, from “The beginning of the title of Christian”, we see that Christians are a group of people (disciples) who have the life of Christ Jesus. Second, in “Christianity is not a man-made religion”, we explain why Christianity is not a man-made religion that persuades people to do good. We see that good deeds are only the natural result of faith. Christians have life changes from the inside out. Do not put the cart before the horse. Third, in “Human Nature is Evil, Everyone Needs Salvation”, we talk about the inherent evil of human nature and its origin, we see that everyone needs salvation, and see that the sin mentioned in the Bible refers to disobedience to God. It’s not what some people think, that only non-compliance with the law, such as murder and arson, is a crime. Fourth, in “The Word became flesh because God loved the world”, we saw that Jesus (the Word) was nailed to the cross instead of us, and suffered the penalty of sin (death). The (precious) blood washed away our sins and gave the world a chance. Each of us has free will and the opportunity to decide whether to believe or not, and God will respond accordingly to our decision. Fifth, we have seen “Believing and being baptized into the kingdom of Jesus”, which is the kingdom of heaven. Sixth, in “A Life of Faith, Hope, Love, and Prayer, and Praise”, we talked about that after believing, we will eventually live a life that is “separated (holy) from the world”, a life of faith, hope, love, and prayer, and praise. And describe a life that is actually attainable. Seventh, in “True faith before death is absolutely effective, but you should be baptized when you have the opportunity”, we can see from the examples in the Bible that it is never too late to be able to truly believe.
Some terms that are taken for granted by Christians may be new to non-Christians and they require explanation. If Christians feel that it is too long-winded at this time, please take this explanation as a way to confirm whether this term has such a meaning! If non-Christians can assume that “the words of the Bible are correct”, they should be able to understand the meaning of this article, because there is no logical problem. As for whether you can finally accept this assumption as a fact, it depends on the individual! Some people just want to quickly know what Christians believe, and some people want to know whether there is a biblical basis behind their beliefs, because Christians believe that the Old and New Testaments are “…inspired by God …”(2 Timothy 3:16) [1] In order to take into account different personal interests, we have adopted a compromise in our writing method, that is, we try not to quote scriptures in the main text, so that the former can be completed in one go and be read smoothly, while the scriptures behind are placed in the references, so that the latter can freely select the texts of interest or doubt. Unless, like the passage just quoted, the passage from 2 Timothy 3:16 fits right into the text, it should not be included in the references! For some Christians, some references don’t belong in the introduction anymore. Because there are various translations of the Bible, we all refer to the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
1. The beginning of the Christian title
The scriptures say, “…the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”(Acts 11:26) We see what is called the Great Commission, commanded by Jesus himself [2]. Antioch is a Gentile city, not a Jewish city. It can be seen from the Great Commission, “teaching them to observe all that I (Jesus) commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:20) They obviously obeyed the teaching, and even the Gentiles felt that they had the life of Christ and called them Christians. So Christians are a group of people who have the life of Christ Jesus, believe and are baptized, and have the promise that the Lord will always be with them.
2. Christianity is not a man-made religion
Some people think that Christianity worships a God created by man, so let’s discuss this issue. First of all, we know that Christians will study the Bible, and we see that Jesus Himself said that the purpose of studying the Bible is to have life, and life can only come from God [3]. In this regard, God is absolutely sovereign, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.””(Romans 9:15)
In short, Christians are transformed in their lives. The Bible clearly says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”(Romans 7:18) So the old self (referring to the flesh) is only worthy of death, but Christians deeply believe: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”(2 Timothy 3:16-17) If you have true faith, you will naturally have acts of faith, and you will have the promise of a more abundant life [4]. These acts of faith are all good, so Christianity is not a man-made religion that persuades people to do good. Good deeds are only the natural result of faith. Christians have life changes from the inside out, so don’t put the cart before the horse. Christianity gathers disciples based on God. Whether people believe it or not, God always exists there.
3. Human nature is inherently evil, everyone needs salvation
Regarding the fact that human nature is inherently evil, we can see that children can tell lies without having to learn to do so, so teaching that human nature is inherently good is absolutely wrong. In short, people are inherently sinful when they are born, and we are sinners. We sin because we are sinners. We do not become sinners because of our sinful behavior. Why is this so? It is because people have had free will since Adam and Eve, and they can choose not to obey God. Let’s first look at God’s command to Adam, which is very clear not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [5]. We also see the result of Eve being seduced by the (ancient) serpent in the Garden of Eden, “…she (Eve) took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband (Adam) with her, and he ate.”(Genesis 3:6) It is true that Eve was first tempted, but Adam obviously committed the crime knowingly and disobeyed the word of God. “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”(Romans 5:12) [6]
The scriptures say, “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, …”(Genesis 5:3) This is similar to heredity, our descendants are also like us, we are those who came into this world after Adam was polluted by sin were born with sin, and our descendants are also born with sin. Therefore, human nature is inherently evil, and everyone needs salvation. The sin mentioned in the Bible refers to disobedience to God [7]. God says not to kill, and the murderer disobeys God and commits a sin. God says not to lie, to lie is to disobey God and commit a sin and so on and so forth.
4. God became flesh because God loves the world
The Gospel of John says very clearly about the “incarnation”, “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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”(John 3:16-17) People have free will and can absolutely choose to believe or not to believe, but we must know the difference between believing and not believing: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:18) In the last book of Revelation, it is said, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”(Revelation 20:15) This refers to unbelieving non-Christians. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8) So it was Jesus who took our place on the cross and took the (sin) punishment, and the (precious) blood washed away our sins [8].
5. Believing and being baptized into the kingdom of Jesus
Sin comes from Satan. After being defiled by sin, man was originally born in the kingdom of Satan. The Bible says that there are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of Jesus and the kingdom of Satan, so we must believe and enter the kingdom of Jesus. The kingdom of Jesus is the kingdom of heaven [9]. When we first believed, God “…rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”(Colossians 1:13-14) So be sure to be in Christ. We emphasize once again that going there is the result of our own free choice.
6. A life of faith, hope, love and prayer and praise
After “belief”, one must eventually live a life of “separation from the world”, a life of “faith, hope, love”, and “prayer” and “praise”, and embark on the road to holiness (sanctification). For example, our values and perceptions at this time will become different from before. After you “believe”, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit and water, and you will have the indwelling Holy Spirit [10]. The promise in the Great Commission is true, that Jesus of the Trinity always lives with us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
We must be in Christ, because Jesus has replaced us, and we must be conformed to the image of Jesus [11]. This is just like someone said with the example of a piece of paper clipped into a book, where the book is, the paper is there. What God sees is the sinless Christ, and we are sinless in the eyes of God in Christ, which is the so-called “positional sanctification”. The way to sanctification is to stay in Christ, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”(Colossians 2:9) You can “pray” after you believe. In fact, you can also pray before you believe. At least you can ask for a believing heart. Paul’s prayer is an example of a post-letter prayer: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” (Ephesians 1:17) After believing, there is hope, hope that the promise of Jesus’ return will come true. This promise is like what the scriptures say, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”(John 14:3) Ordinary prayers also hope that things can be accomplished, but you must know that God has absolute sovereignty. Whether there is a response depends on Him, and whether there is a promise depends on Him. Even if it is promised, the time for its fulfillment is in His hands, because there is a time for everything. After believing, we also have the “love” of God, “…because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”(Romans 5:5) “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”(1 Corinthians 13:13) It is necessary to have all three, but love is the greatest [12].
The life we can live now is, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) In Christ, this is certainly possible. Seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing to us today, how can we not give thanks in everything? How can we not praise God willingly? There are many scriptures about praise in both the Old and New Testaments [13]. Praise must be willing, and it must come from the heart. God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance. The Bible clearly says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”(Proverbs 4:23) We look at the scene of the church after Pentecost, and know that the early church lived in praise, and we should do the same [14]. A life of faith, hope, love, prayer, and praise is something everyone can live. Even if a person has a stroke and can only lie in bed, what can’t be done?
7. True faith before death is absolutely valid, but you should be baptized when you have the opportunity
In this last part, we discuss a problem that we often encounter in missionary work, that is, as long as I believe, why does it matter if I am baptized or not before I die? It is definitely related! First, why don’t we get baptized and enjoy a more abundant life earlier when we have the opportunity? Second, we don’t know when we will die, maybe before we are baptized? Regarding the second point, if it is a true belief, it will definitely be effective at the last minute, and there is no need to be baptized at all. Just look at the example of a criminal.
The scriptures say that there were two criminals who were crucified with Jesus. “One of the criminals …was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””(Luke 23:39-43) We see that the criminal believed that Jesus is the Christ, and had an act of faith to ask Jesus to remember him. Apparently he went to Paradise without being baptized. So whether we should be baptized or not, the Bible says that we should be baptized because of faith, and the Great Commission also clearly states that we should be baptized, and Jesus is our model for baptism [15]. Although it is okay not to be baptized under special circumstances, we cannot use the criminal’s example as an excuse not to be baptized. What should be asked is whether our situation is similar to that of the criminal in true faith who did not have the opportunity to be baptized? And you must know that although he is a Christian and his sins are forgiven, he still has to pay a human price.
References:
[1] Christians believe that the Old and New Testaments are “…inspired by God…”(2 Timothy 3:16) One could say that when Paul wrote this, only a part of the New Testament existed, since for example the book of Revelation hadn’t been written yet, and his words were referring to the Old Testament, which is true, but in faith, Christians believe that both the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God, so Christians need faith. Therefore, even though we are human beings, we can still see things in the aspect of God (the Bible) by without discounting the words of the Bible. The opposite is not true, because God is infinite and the words of the Bible are finite, and the finite is impossible to be equal to the infinite, so when reading the Bible, you should not use the equal sign casually, or you will artificially create a God that is not mentioned in the Bible, without knowing by yourself. What we want to emphasize is that when we quote the scriptures, we are not taking them out of context, but from the concepts seen in the whole Bible. The scriptures quoted are only used to show that the Bible does have such sayings, usually an example out of many. For example, the God mentioned in the Bible is a “Trinity” God, even such a word is never mentioned in the Bible. “Trinity” means that there is only one God but three persons. The Bible clearly states that the Father, who is called Jehovah, is God, the Son, Jesus Christ, is God, and the Holy Spirit is also God, so these three are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Concerning oneness, the text says, “…The Lord (singular) is our God (plural), the Lord is one!”(Deuteronomy 6:4) God uses the plural because all three are God. We have seen that the “Trinity” is absolutely possible. Under normal pressure, “water” will exist in three different states at different temperatures, namely ice, water vapor, and ordinary water, but these are just one “water”. Of course, this cannot fully explain the concept of the Trinity, because God is three persons rather than three states. For humans, the “Trinity” is a mystery, but Christians believe that God is a “Trinity” God. Concerning the fact that Yahweh is God, “Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’””(Exodus 3:13-14) Concerning Jesus Christ as God, the text says, “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”(Romans 9:4-5) Concerning the fact that the Holy Spirit is God, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.””(Acts 5:3-4)
[2] The “Great Commission” was commanded by Jesus Himself. “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””(Matthew 28:18-20) We have seen that Paul was very effective in carrying out the Great Commission, because the scriptures say, “And he (Barnabas) left for Tarsus to look for Saul (Paul); and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”(Acts 11:25-26) From God’s point of view there is only one Church, not referring to the people who gather in the church of buildings on the earth, but regardless where the physical location of each person in this group is. Concerning the fact that there is only one Church, the text is clear, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.””(Matthew 18:20) Paul is very clear in this point, as the scriptures say: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”(Galatians 3:26-27) So we must also “believe and be baptized”. We know that Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father because the scriptures say, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”(John 1:14) So what does it mean that those who believe in Jesus are the sons of God? After we believed in Jesus, we became legally valid adopted sons, so we see that there is no conflict in these scriptures. From the perspective of God and from the perspective of man, sometimes it is very different. For example, we have seen that some churches did not put the Lord Jesus first, just like the church in Laodicea mentioned in Revelation 3.17. From a human point of view, “Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” In the viewpoint of God, “and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked ” We saw how different the two views are! On top p of that, the church in Laodicea really shut Jesus out without realizing it, and thought they had everything! The Bible clearly says, “Behold, I (Jesus) stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”(Revelation 3:20) When these two views are different, we should “Do not quench the Spirit “(1 Thessalonians 5:19) and believe, ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9)
[3] Jesus himself said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me (Jesus); and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”(John 5:39-40) We also see the importance of life, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”(Matthew 16:24-26) After we willingly search the Bible and know what God is telling us through the Bible, we know that we can have life. The scripture says, “I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”(1 Corinthians 3:6-7) Therefore Life can only come from God.
[4] “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”(James 2:17) As the scriptures promise, Christians will have a more abundant life, “I (Jesus) am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief (that is, Satan, also called the devil, the ancient serpent, see Revelation 20:2) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:9-10) Jesus is the only door, through which Jesus is the only door to be saved, although “…Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) We can overcome it if we “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert” and “resist him, firm in your faith”. (See 1 Peter 5:8-9)
[5] “The Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying, “From any tree of the garden (of Eden) you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day (on the same day) that you eat from it you will surely die.”” (Genesis 2:16-17) So the command was not given directly to Eve. Because there were only Adam and Eve at that time, we can see from the scriptures that Eve was tempted by a snake, she did not know this order clearly from Adam. We know this by reading the scriptures, “The woman (Eve) said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’””(Genesis 3:2-3) God did not say, “You shall not touch either”.
[6] So Adam could have lived forever, because “Then the Lord God said, …and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”(Genesis 3:22) After a period of time when man was defiled by sin, the scene was: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”(Genesis 6:5) Therefore, it is a terrible thing for people to be polluted by sin without dying. This also shows that although God loves the world, everyone is mortal.
[7] Based on the words and logic of the Bible, the definition of sin we are talking about is disobedience to God, which can be seen from the following arguments. That is, we are to prove that sin equals disobedience. First of all, from the scriptures, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, …”(Romans 5:12), this is because of Adam’s disobedience, so disobedience means sin. For the two to be equal, we also need to prove the other way around that sin means disobedience to God, or we need to prove the logically equivalent statement that obedience to God means no sin. God is absolutely sovereign, and obedience to God is absolutely not a sin, so this statement is true. The logical conclusion is that sin equals disobedience to God. Let’s look at other evidences. One of the purposes of Jesus’ coming to earth is in this scripture: “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.”(1 John 3:5) How does He take away sin? It is obedience, as the scriptures say, “…but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”(Philippians 2:7-8) So He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “…My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”(Matthew 26:39) He obeyed God all his life, as the scriptures say, “…I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. …”(John 14:31) His obedience took away sin. Isn’t sin not disobedience? This is a controversial topic, so let’s finally look at where does sin come from? First, sin was not created by God, for “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”(James 1:17) Let’s look at some scriptures related to Satan again, ““How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:12-14) When Satan was created, he was indeed the star of the morning, the son of the dawn. But look how proud it is afterwards! God created it, it was under God, and it wanted to be equal with the Most High. And it acted out of the pride, disobeyed God and became an enemy, this is its sin, and sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience. In short, the origin of sin is disobedience to God.
[8] True faith is not just saying you believe with your mouth, but you will truly know it from your heart and act on it, just like the scriptures say, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”(James 1:22) When Jesus was incarnated on the earth, He completely obeyed the Father as the scripture says, “…I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. …”(John 14:31) through the leading of the Holy Spirit. As for this leading by the Holy Spirit, we can see it from His choice of the Twelve, “until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.”(Acts 1:2) If we truly believe that “All Scripture is inspired by God …”(2 Timothy 3:16), we will not discount the words of the Bible, and know that we should obey them. When Jesus was incarnated on earth, he indeed completely obeyed the Father and was led by the Holy Spirit. Obedience does not mean an order and an action. If this is the case, God would choose to create a robot when He created man. We see that Jesus was “…being made in the likeness of men,” (Philippians 2:7) so He also has emotions like us, free will, etc. But like his prayer in Gethsemane, when He and the Father didn’t agree in a viewpoint, He would say, “…My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) He knew in advance that He would go to the cross, because on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ face was changed and His clothes became white and shining. “…they (Moses and Elijah) were …appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”(Luke 9:30-31) As a human being, how difficult it is for Him to still pray like this! But “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”(Philippians 2:8) “…through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”(Hebrews 9:12) He obeyed willingly, so it would say, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8) So it was Jesus who took our place on the cross and took the (sin) punishment. The (precious) blood washed away our sins, thus giving the world a chance. “He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”(2 Corinthians 5:21) By this way, it completed the justice of God. We have also seen that God uses the strategy of feedback. For those who are not very clear about the strategy of feedback, we can explain it by driving a car. While driving, we can maintain our position in the road because of the feedback we see with our eyes. Similarly, each of us has free will and the opportunity to decide whether to believe or not, and God will respond accordingly to our decision. There are many places in the Bible that talk about the strategy of feedback. An example of scriptures that use the strategy of feedback can be found in the book of Ezekiel: ““But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.”(Ezekiel 18:21-24) Near the end of the book of Revelation it says, “Then I (John) saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”(Revelation 20:11) This is the so-called “Judgment of the Great White Throne”, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”(Revelation 20:15) The names of Christians are all written in the book of life, but although they are justified by faith as the scriptures say, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”(Romans 3:28) But still, “…and the dead were judged …according to their deeds (works out of faith).”(Revelation 20:12) Don’t forget that God is fair, “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”(Luke 12:48)
[9] The kingdom of Jesus is the kingdom of heaven, as the scriptures say, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” (Matthew 4:17) We also see the importance of repentance. In fact, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9) We need to repent.
[10] After baptism, there will be the indwelling Holy Spirit. As this scripture says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”(1 Corinthians 6:19-20) When you are baptized, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist made it very clear, “As for me, I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”(Matthew 3:11) In the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””(John 3:3) He also said, “…“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”(John 3:5-6) How can there be life without the indwelling Holy Spirit? How can there be the indwelling Holy Spirit without the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Where does the indwelling Holy Spirit come from? From above. That is to say, we are born of the Spirit. We were born of the flesh when we were born. After we believe, we are really born again of the Holy Spirit. This is rebirth.
[11] “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”(Romans 8:29)
[12] Because “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; …” (1 Corinthians 13:12) When we face the face of God, we see it, so why do we need faith and hope? So the love that can last forever is the greatest.
[13] For example, in the Old Testament it is said, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!”(Psalm 150:6) We see that David worshiped in song, for “Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.”(1 Chronicles 15:16) Song worship is obviously a form of praise. Examples in the New Testament are, “And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.””(Revelation 19:5)
[14] “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. …we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.””(Acts 2:1-11) “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. …”(Acts 2:46-47) Don’t Christians have the habit of giving thanks for meals? Didn’t we just share that we can live a life of constant joy in Christ right now? Has anyone not testified that even in pain there is joy over pain? It’s not a feigned joy in front of people, but one really saw what Paul said, “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.”(Philippians 1:23)
[15] It is clearly recorded here that Jesus set an example for our baptism, “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.””(Matthew 3:13-17) Perhaps this is a good place to look at one other thing Jesus did that would unravel an misunderstanding caused by the behavior of some churches, that is, some non-Christians think that Christianity is to force people to believe in Christian religion. On the contrary, if we look at what Jesus did, we will know that this is not the case. “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” … And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things (commandments) from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. …The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!”(Mark 10:17-24) You see, Jesus told him and invited him, although he loved him, He knows that man has free will, and is not to persuade him to make the final decision which was made by himself. We are trying to make people have a correct understanding of Christianity, and we respect individual decisions, even if someone insists on making a decision in a wrong understanding, this is free will. In the process, we learn quite a lot, because God is infinite and man is finite, and we can only see what He lets us see. Yes, we have the command of the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”(Matthew 28:19) How do you “make” someone be a disciple? When you have the opportunity, you must preach, and even “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”(2 Timothy 4:2) But it’s useless to just talk about it. You must set an example and “make” unbelievers envy your good deeds and want to do the same. Your good deeds will naturally “make” them ‘I want to be a disciple!’
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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