It may be more conducive to comprehending our faith by delineating what it is not. Religion is a do-it-yourself proposition, a lifting up of yourself by your own bootstraps (i.e., God helps those who help themselves), a believing in yourself, and having self-esteem and self-actualization (achieving the good life or finding fulfillment, meaning, or purpose in life), a search for God, a reaching out to God (in our faith God reached down to man--this stooping or condescension is called grace). We are not saved by good works, philosophy, and ritual, legalism, morality, or good behavior--we aren't on probation! (God didn't come to make bad people good, but dead people alive!)
In religion, you don't know God but are just demonstrating religiosity and going through the motions, and memorizing the Dance of the Piousa s it were. However, Christianity is a matter of knowing a personal God through a living and growing relationship and fellowship. In religion, you have to do it to please God, in Christianity you want to do it because you are grateful and want to bless God. In religion, since it is always based on good works, not grace, you never have assurance and can never be sure how much is enough. Religion is essentially probation and being on your best behavior, never sure of your status; however, Christianity is knowing for sure your position in Christ and your future status. In Christianity your past is forgiven (solves the problem of guilt via the cross of Christ), your present is given meaning, and your future is secured in heaven--so salvation in Christ is past, present, and pending--Christianity is not living for the here and now nor living for yourself, it is living in light of eternity and dying to self. It is not just a changed life but an exchanged life! Religion does works in your own strength; but we are led by the Spirit and empowered by God--"Apart from Me you can do nothing." You will see that it is not a list of don'ts or taboos (we're not afraid God will hurt us, but that we'll hurt Him), but our faith is a list of dos that you want to do--you yearn to know and obey God because of your new nature. Religion is the best man can achieve; Christianity is the best God can accomplish, Note that religion is based on wise sayings, traditions, myth, supposed, assumed, or claimed Scripture, but Christianity is based on first-hand evidence, verifiable historical and circumstantial evidence and genuine accounts of miracles (in fact it is based on the miracle of the resurrection). Christianity is based on the person and work of Christ (He is known for who He is, rather than what He said), it is not a system of ethics or behavioral expectations. Take Christ out of Christianity and you disembowel it; however, you can remove other key religious figures from their faith and it remains essentially intact. Christianity is not religion by any of these definitions then.
We are not saved by what we know (this is intellectualism or Gnosticism thinking there is some secret knowledge or enlightenment to attain to like in Buddhism). We are not saved by what we feel either: this would be emotionalism or sentimentality--some people are stoical and others demonstrative. We are not saved by what we do: this would be legalism. morality, or ritual. We are not saved by good works, neither without good works--faith must result in good works! We are not saved by faith in faith either because it is the object of faith that saves, not the faith (which is the instrumental means and a gift of God to be exercised in a leap of faith). We don't believe despite the evidence, God respects our minds and reasoning faculties and gives us a sound reason to believe. We are not saved by our innocence or ignorance, for God puts no premium on ignorance, and ignorance is not bliss--we are accountable to God for all that we could have known. We are not saved by mysticism, which is having religious experiences or revelations that others don't have either. We are not saved by asceticism or abstention either since we don't punish our bodies, Christ took the punishment on our behalf and died for us. We are not saved by any effort, it isn't how hard we try, but whether we trust! Sincerity doesn't save either (you can be sincerely wrong!); it is a requisite but not everything--you must be serious in your quest for God and seek Him with your whole heart to find Him.
What is the formula then? We know God through Jesus our Lord (must accept Him as Lord of your life in a moment of surrender); by virtue of His cross or passion; on the basis of His Word and promise; and by the power or renewal of the Holy Spirit; via a personal exercise of faith or leap of faith that God has given us (faith is not a work or something we conjure up or catch by being around the right crowd). It is faith, not emotionalism, knowledge, wisdom, works, that pleases God and we are rewarded for the works He has ordained and predestined beforehand for us to follow in His steps.
The formula of the Reformation was that we are saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (soli Christo), by the authority of Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), and giving God alone the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!). These are known as the five only's and formed the foundation of all Protestant thought and dogma as opposed to Romanism or Roman Catholicism. You must realize salvation as the gift of God by grace and that means you didn't earn it, cannot repay it, and don't deserve it--we all deserve hell if God were only just and not merciful. We don't mix works and faith, grace and merit, or assurance and conjecture. These are all mutually exclusive in God's economy! Where is the place of works then? We are indeed saved by faith alone, they said, but not by a faith that is alone. We are not saved by good works, but unto good works--they are the logical consequence of love in action. It is not mere belief, but belief lived out; not merely faith, but faith acted upon and bringing forth fruit.
The new life (putting on the new man being renewed in the image and glory of Christ) was described by Thomas a Kempis: "Without the way there is no going, without the life, there is no living, and without the truth, there is no knowing (cf. John 14:6) Jesus promised an abundant life to be found in a relationship with Him and knowing true joy compared to temporal happiness (depends on happenings) that religion offers. Christianity offers the only worldview that gives dignity to man and solves all man's problems and dilemmas, having a perspective on every academic discipline that is consistent and fulfilling.
To sum up: Christianity is not "pie-in-the-sky" thinking, but about "the God who is there" according to apologist Francis Schaeffer. Christianity is not self-esteem, but God-esteem; not self-help but God-helped. Only Christianity deals with the sin and guilt questions and issues--and offers salvation. But the qualification to be saved is that you stop trying to save yourself and realize you aren't qualified to be saved! What is so unique about Christianity then? It is based on grace (a foreign word to religion) and on God achieving the divine atonement to bridge the gap between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Religion says do, do, do! Christianity says done, finis, fait accompli, tetelestai! That is to say, it is the ultimate done deal. In the final analysis, we are not just forgiven for what we've done, but delivered from who we are! Soli Deo Gloria!
In religion, you don't know God but are just demonstrating religiosity and going through the motions, and memorizing the Dance of the Piousa s it were. However, Christianity is a matter of knowing a personal God through a living and growing relationship and fellowship. In religion, you have to do it to please God, in Christianity you want to do it because you are grateful and want to bless God. In religion, since it is always based on good works, not grace, you never have assurance and can never be sure how much is enough. Religion is essentially probation and being on your best behavior, never sure of your status; however, Christianity is knowing for sure your position in Christ and your future status. In Christianity your past is forgiven (solves the problem of guilt via the cross of Christ), your present is given meaning, and your future is secured in heaven--so salvation in Christ is past, present, and pending--Christianity is not living for the here and now nor living for yourself, it is living in light of eternity and dying to self. It is not just a changed life but an exchanged life! Religion does works in your own strength; but we are led by the Spirit and empowered by God--"Apart from Me you can do nothing." You will see that it is not a list of don'ts or taboos (we're not afraid God will hurt us, but that we'll hurt Him), but our faith is a list of dos that you want to do--you yearn to know and obey God because of your new nature. Religion is the best man can achieve; Christianity is the best God can accomplish, Note that religion is based on wise sayings, traditions, myth, supposed, assumed, or claimed Scripture, but Christianity is based on first-hand evidence, verifiable historical and circumstantial evidence and genuine accounts of miracles (in fact it is based on the miracle of the resurrection). Christianity is based on the person and work of Christ (He is known for who He is, rather than what He said), it is not a system of ethics or behavioral expectations. Take Christ out of Christianity and you disembowel it; however, you can remove other key religious figures from their faith and it remains essentially intact. Christianity is not religion by any of these definitions then.
We are not saved by what we know (this is intellectualism or Gnosticism thinking there is some secret knowledge or enlightenment to attain to like in Buddhism). We are not saved by what we feel either: this would be emotionalism or sentimentality--some people are stoical and others demonstrative. We are not saved by what we do: this would be legalism. morality, or ritual. We are not saved by good works, neither without good works--faith must result in good works! We are not saved by faith in faith either because it is the object of faith that saves, not the faith (which is the instrumental means and a gift of God to be exercised in a leap of faith). We don't believe despite the evidence, God respects our minds and reasoning faculties and gives us a sound reason to believe. We are not saved by our innocence or ignorance, for God puts no premium on ignorance, and ignorance is not bliss--we are accountable to God for all that we could have known. We are not saved by mysticism, which is having religious experiences or revelations that others don't have either. We are not saved by asceticism or abstention either since we don't punish our bodies, Christ took the punishment on our behalf and died for us. We are not saved by any effort, it isn't how hard we try, but whether we trust! Sincerity doesn't save either (you can be sincerely wrong!); it is a requisite but not everything--you must be serious in your quest for God and seek Him with your whole heart to find Him.
What is the formula then? We know God through Jesus our Lord (must accept Him as Lord of your life in a moment of surrender); by virtue of His cross or passion; on the basis of His Word and promise; and by the power or renewal of the Holy Spirit; via a personal exercise of faith or leap of faith that God has given us (faith is not a work or something we conjure up or catch by being around the right crowd). It is faith, not emotionalism, knowledge, wisdom, works, that pleases God and we are rewarded for the works He has ordained and predestined beforehand for us to follow in His steps.
The formula of the Reformation was that we are saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (soli Christo), by the authority of Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), and giving God alone the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!). These are known as the five only's and formed the foundation of all Protestant thought and dogma as opposed to Romanism or Roman Catholicism. You must realize salvation as the gift of God by grace and that means you didn't earn it, cannot repay it, and don't deserve it--we all deserve hell if God were only just and not merciful. We don't mix works and faith, grace and merit, or assurance and conjecture. These are all mutually exclusive in God's economy! Where is the place of works then? We are indeed saved by faith alone, they said, but not by a faith that is alone. We are not saved by good works, but unto good works--they are the logical consequence of love in action. It is not mere belief, but belief lived out; not merely faith, but faith acted upon and bringing forth fruit.
The new life (putting on the new man being renewed in the image and glory of Christ) was described by Thomas a Kempis: "Without the way there is no going, without the life, there is no living, and without the truth, there is no knowing (cf. John 14:6) Jesus promised an abundant life to be found in a relationship with Him and knowing true joy compared to temporal happiness (depends on happenings) that religion offers. Christianity offers the only worldview that gives dignity to man and solves all man's problems and dilemmas, having a perspective on every academic discipline that is consistent and fulfilling.
To sum up: Christianity is not "pie-in-the-sky" thinking, but about "the God who is there" according to apologist Francis Schaeffer. Christianity is not self-esteem, but God-esteem; not self-help but God-helped. Only Christianity deals with the sin and guilt questions and issues--and offers salvation. But the qualification to be saved is that you stop trying to save yourself and realize you aren't qualified to be saved! What is so unique about Christianity then? It is based on grace (a foreign word to religion) and on God achieving the divine atonement to bridge the gap between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Religion says do, do, do! Christianity says done, finis, fait accompli, tetelestai! That is to say, it is the ultimate done deal. In the final analysis, we are not just forgiven for what we've done, but delivered from who we are! Soli Deo Gloria!
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