UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

Christianity is often included together with the other "World Religions", but in reality it is not a "religion" in the strict sense. A religion is a certain way of acknowledging and worshipping the "Higher Power" that people believe in. Their goal is usually to prove to this "god" that they love him/her or it. Some religions have many so-called gods, or goddesses, while others have only One God. The followers of Mohamed, for example call their religion "Islam", and their "Holy Book" is called the "Koran", and their god is called Allah. And most other religions have their own Holy Books, and are founded by some person that is the center of their worship. On the other hand the followers of Jesus understand our "Religion" to be a "Relationship" with the one true Creator God, through His Son Jesus Christ. The name Christian comes from His name, and means a "Christ-In", or in other words someone who has received Jesus as their Savior. Jesus is the only religious founder who was dead, but rose again from the dead, and lives now forever with His Father God in heaven.

We have a "Holy Book" called the "Bible", that explains all about our universe, and what God expects of us as inhabitants of this planet earth. He knew we would need a manual to instruct us in spiritual things, so He chose certain men and women, and inspired them by His Holy Spirit to write 66 books over a period of time, which make up our Bible. It gives the answer to all of our questions, about creation, where evil came from, what is sin, and how can we be free from it, is there life after death etc? These are questions that we all need to have reliable answers for, and God's Word, the Holy Bible, has answers to every one!

We all need a Savior from sin, and Jesus came from heaven over 2000 years ago, He was the Son of God, but by the miracle of the "Virgin Birth", He became a human being, lived a completely "sinless" life, and died on the Cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for our sins. All we have to do is repent of our sins, ask God to forgive us for our sins, and receive Jesus as our own personal Savior. We are then "born again", and are taken by God into "His Forever Family". So belief in what Jesus did for us on the cross is our doorway into a "Relationship with God"! That's much better than any form of "Religion", I believe.
Sincerely submitted!
Dave Jamer.

NO CONDEMNATION

NO CONDEMNATION

These words, taken from (Rom 8:1) should resound in our ears like the words "you are pardoned" must sound to a prisoner on "death row" in prison who has just received the word that at the last minute the Governor has granted him a full pardon! Paul begins this chapter with the words "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus". Every one of these words is important, and we need to look at each one carefully, if we are to really understand the full meaning that Paul had in mind. Whenever we see the word "therefore", we need to look back a few verses to find out why this word is used. In this case the reference is to the last two verses of the previous chapter. Here we see that Paul asked a question, and then answered it. This set the stage for this profound and awesome statement, "there is therefore now no condemnation". Notice the little word "now", this means right now, in our present situation, as long as we are "in Christ Jesus". Paul uses this same phrase in (2 Cor 5:17) "Therefore if any man (woman, boy or girl) be in Christ he is a new creation----". In this case he is referring back to verse 14 "if one died for all, then all died". This is certainly the theme that Paul has been dwelling on in chapters 6 and 7, and wants to reinforce here in chapter 8. This brings us to the words "no condemnation" which we will explore now in a little more detail.

Who among us has never felt "condemned" at one time or another? Usually it is our guilty conscience that will condemn us for some wrong thought, or action! Even after we have been forgiven by God, when we repent of our many sins and receive Jesus as our personal Savior, we often still feel condemned. This is because we have an enemy called Satan, sometimes referred to as the "accuser of the brethren". Not only is he the one who tempts us to do wrong, but then makes us feel condemned when we yield to his temptation. We have learned from our study of Rom 6 and 7 that our old sinful nature that we were born with, died with Christ on the cross. However we all have what Paul refers to as our "flesh", that part of us that wants to protect "self", and fights against the Spirit who now dwells in all believers. The Holy Spirit will "convict", but never "condemn" us when we do something wrong! Condemnation always comes from our enemy. We need to learn to distinguish between his condemning voice, and the affirming still small voice of the Spirit of God! This is part of the process of "sanctification" that comes with maturity in our walk with the Lord daily! There is no shortcut, or easy way that I know of!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer                                                                     24/09/11

BUT GOD

BUT GOD

This expression appears in several of Paul's letters. For example in (2 Cor 7:5-7), we see Paul in a very discouraged state. Actually this great apostle states in verse 5 "When we arrived in Macedonia there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside". Just imagine, this is Paul the apostle confessing to having fear! But notice how he starts the next verse "But God, who encourages those who are discouraged,-----". (NLT) Yes even great men like Paul can become discouraged by times, "but God" always comes to the rescue! In this case it was by the arrival of Titus with good news about the church in Corinth. Another example of Paul using this expression is in (Eph 2:4), after stating the sad condition of every one of us in verses 1-3, that we were all born in sin, he begins verse 4 "But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Jesus from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)" (NLT). In my opinion, this second chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesian church, gives us a very clear picture of both the universal need of salvation, as well as how to receive it!

Just in these two uses of this expression "But God" by Paul, we can see clearly that they apply to us all, at some time or other. Certainly we were all born as sinners, and I expect that we have all been discouraged a few times. We should be greatly encouraged to know from God's Word that He is concerned about every one of us humans. This supernatural [Agape] love of God is so far above and beyond any sort of natural love that we can muster up, that we find it hard to understand. In (John 3:16) where we read that God loved us "so much that He gave His one and only Son", John used this Greek word [Agape] to describe this supernatural love. Whether we can really understand it or not, we can all take advantage of God's offer of His supernatural [Agape] love. First we need to receive it, and then we need to extend it to all those we come in contact with!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer