This is my understanding of the Christian Faith. I actually wrote this for me as a reminder, in case I lose my way, but I thought I would share it with ya’ll as well.

Peace and Love,

Mikey

1) We are all sinners in God’s eyes and are under His wrath (Romans 1:18, 3:9-18,23).

2) God’s Law (Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, James 2:10) shows us how terribly sinful we are (Romans 2:1-16, 3:19, 7:7-24).

3) But God loves us and is not willing that any should perish and go to Hell (2 Peter 3:9). So He sent His only son, Jesus, to die on the cross as a payment for our sins (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). Jesus was the only person to live a perfect, sinless life and had to die because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 4:15, 9:22). He therefore took our place and died the death that we deserve for breaking God’s Holy and Righteous Law (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, Isaiah 53:5-6).

4) God has set a date when He will judge the world (Romans 2:5-6, 2 Peter 3:7), and only those who repent (turn away from their sins) and believe (trust) in Jesus will escape Hell on Judgment Day and be welcomed into Heaven where Jesus has prepared a place for His followers. (Acts 17:30, Acts 2:37-38, Romans 2:4, 10:9-13, Mark 1:15, John 14:2-6). Not because of anything we have done, but by the grace of God, to all, and on all, who believe in the Lord Jesus (Romans 3:19-30).

5) Those that do repent and believe are free from the Law and its death sentence (Romans 8:2). However, we are not to use our liberty as a license for sin (Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 2:16), but to serve one another and God in love and righteousness (Luke 10:27-28). We are to be holy, as He is holy (1 Peter 1:13-16). So what is sin? The Moral Law (Exodus 20:1-17) revels sin to us (Romans 3:20, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Galatians 3:23-25, Matthew 19:16-26). Sin is anything that is not done in love (Romans 13:8-9, Matthew 22:37-40, 1 John 2:10). We are also commanded to share the gospel and be prepared to defend our faith if asked about it (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Peter 2:9, 3:15).

6) Of course, no body can do this on their own. But once we repent and believe, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and gives us the strength and the power to say no to sin (John 14:15-18, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Titus 3:1-8, Romans 8:13).

7) We may stumble into sin, but if we do, we can confess our sin and God is just to forgive us, for we have Jesus, the propitiation for our sins, as an advocate on our behalf before the Father (1 John 1:9, 2:1-2). However, if we trample the grace of God and willfully turn away to practice a lifestyle of sin, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26-31, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

8) If we do turn away from God, there is still hope. For God is not willing that any should perish, and as long as we are alive we can still repent and believe, for God is rich in Mercy and Love (Ephesians 2:4). But don’t put it off, for death rarely comes when we expect it (Luke 21:34-36). So if we do go astray, simply go back to step 1.

The first of the 10 Commandments, the foundation of God’s Moral Law, is this, “You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 3:20).” Pretty straightforward, God, the Creator of the universe wants to be number one; and He is worthy to be that. He is the one who gave us life. Now, some may say, “See! there are other gods!” But there are no other gods, only the one true God. What God is commanding is that we put nothing and no one before Him. Jesus expounded on this in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” There is also another part to this (which I will talk about in more detail in my next post), we also create God in our own image, a God not of the Bible. We create a God who is not Holy and Righteous, even though the Bible tells us clearly that He is (Leviticus 11:45, 1 Corinthians 3:17, Deuteronomy 32:4, Romans 2:5).

So I ask you now, have you ever made God in your own image? A God who would never judge you or send you to hell. James 2:10 tells us, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” God’s standard is perfection. So think about it, is the God you believe in the God of the Bible? I know what you’re thinking, ‘aren’t you guilty of this?’ And I’ll tell you I surely have been. Everyone has broken this commandment. When we serve ourselves and forget God’s commandments, we break this one as well.

Now some may say, ‘So what, nobody’s perfect. I’m a good person, I help people out, I give money to charities, I’m nice to people, etc.” But try that in court! If you commit a crime, say murder, and the judge is a good judge, he can’t let you go just because you may be a nice person. He has to see that justice is served [1]. And God is a good judge.

But God is not just holy, and righteous; God is love (1 John 4:16). And 2000 years ago God sent His only Son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and for my sins. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life, and was therefore the perfect Lamb of God. And on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. It would be as though a stranger walked into the courtroom I mentioned earlier and said, “I know you don’t know me, but I love you, and I’ll take your punishment.” Then the judge can let you go free without being punished [1]! And if we’ll humble ourselves, repent (turn away from our sins), and believe in the Lord Jesus, God will forgive us of all our sins. We will be a new creation and will inherit an eternity in heaven with Him. My friends, this is the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus.

Until next time, grace and peace to you all,

Mikey

References:

1) Courtroom analogy, Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, “Way of the Master” TV program

2) All Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

    Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.