A
True Christian
Jesus is the Christ, the One and
Only Begotten Son of God, who sacrificed His life to keep us from
eternal hell and if anyone believes otherwise, they have no idea what
it means to be a Christian. True Christianity is based upon the
teachings and miracles of Jesus. It is having a relationship with the
One and Only True Living God through the person of Jesus Christ by
whom we are forgiven of our sins and escape the righteous judgment of
God. The word "Christ" means anointed one, hence, Jesus is
the anointed one from God the Father who came to this world and
fulfilled the Old Testament laws and prophecies. He died on the
cross, and rose from the dead physically three days later. He
performed many miracles which were recorded in the Gospels by
eyewitnesses. He is divine in nature as well as human, He has two
natures and is worthy of worship and prayer.
Being a true
Christian means that one believes that there is only one God in all
existence, that God made the universe,the Earth, and created Adam and
Eve less than ten thousand years ago. God created man in His image.
This does not mean that God has a body of flesh and bones. It means
that He created man in the likeness of His character, rationality,
etc. Because we are made in the image of God, every person is worthy
of respect and honor. Furthermore, this means that we did not evolve
through some random processes from a single celled organism into
rational, emotional beings. Being a true Christian means that one
believes God is a Triune, He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, not three gods, but one God in three ways. Jesus Christ is
the second person of the Trinity and He died on the cross and rose
from the dead physically, to release all who sinned against God.
Jesus is the only way to be saved from the coming judgment of God and
that salvation is received by faith in the work of Christ on the
cross and not by anything that we can do to please God.
Where
all other religions in the world teach that we must do some sort of
good in cooperation with God in order to achieve the right to be in
God's presence, a true Christian believes what the Bible teaches that
salvation is achieved by grace and not by the works that we do. "For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God:"- Ephesians 2:8. This means that we
are not made right before God by our efforts, sincerity, or works.
Instead, we are made right before God by faith in what Christ did on
the cross. True Christianity further teaches that once a person is
"born again" (becomes saved) that the Holy Spirit lives in
that person and becomes a new person, "Therefore
if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things pass
away and new things come." - II Corinthians 5:17. This
means that God actually lives in the person and the Christian then
experiences a true and living relationship with God.
