The Difference Jesus Makes

All religions are not basically the same ideals under different wraps, as the Baha'i religion would have you believe. Even many Americans believe they all pray to the same God under different names! Some faiths say that all are equally valid beliefs and what matters is what works for you. But two contradictory views cannot both be equally valid, logically speaking. The funny thing about religion is that most people are misinformed or uninformed and even have disinformation from propaganda sources that spread their faith by name familiarity or blitzing the public.

For instance, did you know that Buddha (Enlightened One) never claimed to be God or even a god but was an agnostic who only sought enlightenment; saying that if there was a God, He couldn't help you with finding enlightenment, you must find it on your own--by the way, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) only sought to reform Hinduism and not start a new faith that is the predominant worldview of the Orient religion-wise. In contrast: Jesus said, "[And] you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32, ESV). He is the embodiment and epitome of truth to be known in Him.

Every faith has its own idea of who Christ is: Mormons believe He achieved godhood or became a god and is our elder brother; Buddhists just believe He was another enlightened teacher; Jews believe He was a gifted, miracle-working, misunderstood, but deceiving rabbi; Muslims believe he was a great prophet and even the Messiah, but lower in rank than Muhammad himself, who is the greatest and final prophet. Jehovah's Witnesses see Him as the first created being and a lesser god, unworthy of worship though; even Scholars believe He is someone special, even if a great moral example or ethical person who died a martyr for a good cause. The point is that if you don't figure out who Jesus is, you are in heresy. "Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God..." (2 John 9). So who is He? He is the one and only Son of God, co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with God the Father.

Buddhists believe in going ultimately to nirvana or being snuffed out like a match in the ocean or candle on a birthday cake when they die. Achieving nirvana is likened to total nothingness: They refer to the extinction of all desire which leads to the cessation of pain and suffering caused by it, via many reincarnations. The Hindus, on the other hand, see nirvana as a reunion with Brahma, after numerous reincarnations or transmigrations. Hindus are pantheistic (all is God) and have many gods (millions--no one knows for sure!) and for this reason, are also polytheistic. 

Jesus was real in saying He was going to prepare a "place for us"(John 14:1-2) and heaven is a real place in Christianity, not of man's imagination, such as the paradise of Islam, where they get 72 virgins and live a life of wine, women, and song for eternity because they abstained from this on earth. Only heaven is beyond that which we could imagine or conceive and is divinely revealed. "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'" (1 Cor. 2:9, ESV).

The whole point of Christ calling us is to spread the Word of the gospel and increase the kingdom of God, because He said His kingdom is not of this world--however, Muslims believe in world hegemony and have geopolitical considerations in their faith and believe Christ is coming to force everyone into Islam, hence "submission." Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." You must be born again to "see" the kingdom of God, and it is like the wind that we don't see, but can see its effects on earth and what it is doing. 

But God opens our spiritual eyes to His truth in the Word and we are made alive spiritually, restoring our relationship with God--this is true salvation! Because of Jesus' resurrection, we have evidence and proof of our final resurrection, and it is not just pie in the sky without any objective, historical fact to back it up like the competing faiths.

It was Judaism that introduced the world to monotheism and Christianity is the fulfillment (not replacement) of this faith. Islam believes that their faith supersedes and replaces or cancels out Christianity and Judaism, not just fulfills them. Muslims have no assurance of salvation unless they die in a Holy War or Jihad (this is a great recruitment tool and why they are so fanatical and have geopolitical considerations). The religion, known as the "religion of the sword," is based on total submission, in fact, Islam means "submission" and a Muslim is "one who submits." 

They even circumcise about 75 percent of the girls to make them obedient and docile and do not believe they should be treated equally on a par with men in a man's world shaped by seventh-century ethics and customs. Girls are not traditionally allowed to even get an education. Jesus changed all this and saw women as men's equals and partners in life and having the same aptitudes and abilities as men. They may have a different role, but they are equal. The woman is the counterpart of the man and his helpmate in Christ--we are all one in Chris--no male nor female!

When you look at all the religions, they all say "do" and are based on works to get salvation. But you never know in a works religion how much is enough to get saved. Christ made it possible to know for sure that one is saved and to have this assurance of salvation, which sets Christianity apart from all other faiths. Christianity is a love affair with Jesus, not a system of ethics, or philosophy, or creed. It's not a religion, they say, but a relationship with the living God Himself. 

Muslims don't acknowledge a personal God that we can know and have a relationship with, and they certainly don't believe God is love, because they see Him as totally arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, and unpredictable, even changing His standards. They sincerely believe that one angel records their good deeds, and another their bad deeds, and at Judgment Day they will see which balances out the most.

One of the biggest mistakes well-meaning and sincere people (but sincerity alone doesn't save--you can be sincerely wrong) is the idea that the essence of Christianity is the Sermon on the Mount or the Golden Rule itself and they only have to sincerely live by a code--Christ didn't come to make bad people good, but dead people alive! To know God is eternal life!  

Religion (knowing a creed, while Christianity is knowing a Person) says "in order to" get salvation (works), while Christianity says "therefore (we are already saved and desire to do good deeds to prove it)." We don't have to do good works but want to, in other words. Religion is basically a do-it-yourself proposition and a way to "lift yourself up by your own bootstraps." Religion believes you are basically good, capable of reforming yourself, and denies the problem is sin per se. Only in Christ do we solve the sin problem by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ from the dead. Religion is the best man can do and is basically man reaching up to God; Christianity, however, is God reaching down to man in grace (love that stoops is called grace). Christ introduced a new concept called grace that means we can never earn, don't deserve, and cannot repay our salvation. 

It is totally a gift of God to be received by faith and there is nothing we can do but believe in Him! Religion says "do" (respecting good deeds to earn salvation); however, Christ says, "done," because He said on the cross tetelestai or "It is finished [paid in full--finis]." It is a done deal in Christ--there's nothing to do but accept it. There's nothing we can do to add to Christ's work on the cross and it would be an insult to God if we tried! "The work of God is this: to believe in the one whom he has sent" (John 6:29).

All the major faiths deal with miracles, but you can take the miracles out of them and you still have the religions intact. Islam doesn't need miracles (recorded only in the Hadith or the traditions dated much later after Muhammad died) and the faith survives without them. But Christianity is different: Without the miracles of Christ, He would have only remained a footnote in history and the movement would never have gotten off the ground. If you remove the miracles from Christianity you disembowel it and there is nothing left but a philosophy such as living by the Golden Rule (some actually do have this as their religious dogma or credo). 

The miracles of Christ are different from other faiths: They were never staged, done on-demand, for personal gain or profit, for a show, or done without skeptics present, unlike the other faiths. Jesus had a reason to do each miracle (really a sign as John called them because they taught a lesson about Him). They are not helter-skelter or done without rhyme or reason, but methodical and orderly as if prearranged and planned from eternity from the Father.

The whole point of Christ's teachings was that He claimed deity and did so convincingly so that the Pharisees made no mistake in what He was claiming and plotted His crucifixion accordingly. No other religion's founder claimed deity: Muhammad just claimed to be the last prophet of mankind, as heard from the angel Gabriel. Buddha never claimed deity. Hinduism was founded about the time of Abraham, but it is polytheistic (many gods) and also pantheistic (everything is God), which is almost like saying there is no God in effect. In all the Scriptures of these faiths, only the Bible claims to be the Word of God propositionally. Many(over 3,000) times it says, "Thus says the LORD"' and so forth--not so in these other "holy" writings. 

However, there is a distinction in that Christ never prefaced himself in such a way, but audaciously and boldly proclaimed His own edicts and spoke as no man ever spoke with such authority and made claims no man ever made, backed them up with such character never seen and proved them by such signs and miracles never been done, that to doubt Jesus, one can never say there is a lack of evidence to believe, but one must not want to believe out of moral reasons and not because of intellectual reservations. The anti-establishment and nonconformist figure that Jesus was, truly upset the applecart and invaded the turf of the Pharisees and threatened their job security! Will Durant calls Him the greatest revolutionist in history.  

Both Hindus and Buddhists also believe in Maya or that reality is an illusion and you cannot bet on it (science never would've developed under such an outlook!). Jesus claimed to be "The Truth," which means we can know reality and count on it and have a personal relationship with the epitome of reality itself--Jesus Christ. This means there is absolute truth or Truth with a capital "T." Christ is totally objective (we cannot be), and is true regardless of our belief or doubt and what He said is true regardless of what someone says expert or not. With man, there is no such thing as total objectivity and we must rely upon revelation from God to know the truth.

It is primarily a way of life and traditions such as bathing in the Ganges River of India and the caste system are kept religiously by ignorant people. Both Buddhists and Hindus believe in karma or that you are your own island and suffer what you deserve: If you are suffering, that is your karma and one shouldn't interfere--how different is Christianity that teaches love for our brother, neighbor, and even enemy! 

But Mother Teresa of Calcutta is an example of how Christian love as shown in Hindu India where she ministered to the outcasts and pariahs that no one cared about. Even Bertrand Russell, the renowned British atheist, and mathematician, said that what the world needs "is more Christian love." Most religions really believe in "looking out for number one" while Christianity shows the world what charity or real godly love is all about (the example of the Good Samaritan, for instance).

The whole purpose of Scripture is not to increase our knowledge or enlighten us (we are not saved by knowledge, secret or otherwise), but the purpose is to change our lives. We aren't saved by being enlightened or by knowledge per se, but in knowing Jesus. Jesus makes a person new from the inside out and is in the resurrection business of changing the lives of those who realize their need. ("I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance," "... [Those] who are sick need a physician.") Religion is only about reforming yourself and turning over a new leaf, as it were, but they don't give you the supernatural power to do it--you must muster all your own strength. In Christ, we not only have changed lives (even some religion can do that much) but exchanged lives, which is the miracle.

Jesus didn't come to be a wise teacher of morals, or a religious martyr for a movement, but a Savior from the sin virus that affects us all. In Christianity, we have Jesus living in us to will and to act according to His good purpose (cf. Phil. 2:13). It is not about imitation, but about inhabitation. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). You can say with Paul in Galatians 2:20 that it is no longer you that lives, but Christ that lives in or through you.

With Jesus in the equation, you have a whole new outlook on life and see life with the lens of His truth so you can see the Big Picture of how to interpret world events--life makes sense! Jesus does make a difference! You can too if you know Him! Viva la difference! In contrast to other faiths, you can take Buddha out of Buddhism, or Muhammad out of Islam, and you still have the basics of the religion; however, you cannot do this with Christianity--taking Christ out of it leaves nothing left: It would be an empty philosophy without any power to implement it and have promised without any fulfillment. When you factor in Jesus, you find that life is worth living and there is meaning a purpose in living for Him. Soli Deo Gloria!

The Good Samaritan As Our Role Model

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, it was the unlikely Samaritan who offered his services to the hapless victim on the road to Jericho.  This story shows what a good neighbor really is--one who comes to the aid to anyone he can help and in need.  This is the summation of loving our neighbor because the teachers asked Jesus who their neighbor was and He used this story to explain. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves! The real test of love is to the ones not so lovable--those outside our tribe or, in today's terms, political affiliation.  Sacrificial love and unconditional love, not with strings attached or quid pro quo. Men always seem to be out for a motive to see what's in it for them.

The remarkable point of this story is the prejudice of the Pharisees who couldn't even answer Jesus' question as to who was the good neighbor.  They didn't even want to mention the word Samaritan because these people were hybrid Jews or illegitimate. The Jews only thought that salvation was for them as a privileged people, nation, or race, but Jesus made it clear that He came to save all men and cared even about the despised Gentiles.  Each of us may have the opportunity to help out someone less fortunate than us or some person in need in our lives and we must take it seriously; for Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of His brethren, we have done for Him.

We must all come to the aid of our countryman in his time of need! We all have a calling to be servants and to lay down our lives as it were as a token of our love and devotion.   The least we can do is to meet the basic needs of someone that we have the opportunity to help and also the means to do it.  God blesses us so we can be a blessing! (cf. Zech. 8:13)    Our cup must overflow!  The ethic of Jesus is the highest bar achievable and only Jesus did, but be not discouraged: direction is the test, but perfection is the standard (cf. Matt. 5:48). We will not become glorified till we reach heaven where we will be rewarded according to our works, not our faith--what we did with it. Even offering a cold cup of water in Jesus name will not go unrewarded and what we've done to the least of His brethren, we've done to Him (cf. Matt. 25:40).

There is a story of a man in danger during a flood and, when climbing to the roof of his house, he prays for salvation from Jesus  A boat goes by and offers help, but he rejects it. A chopper goes by and he rejects it.  Finally, a paratrooper lands and offers help only to be rejected.   When the man drowns and goes to heaven he asks Jesus why He wasn't saved.  The Lord said that He was in the boat, chopper, and paratrooper to offer more personal assistance and He was rejected.  Jesus has no hands but our hands and uses us to accomplish His will.

We may someday have the opportunity to stop miraculously into someone's life to offer life-saving help in a person's time of need as Jesus incognito.  Just think how the parable of the Good Samaritan would be told if the Samaritan had been rejected because of his nationality to offer help.  Today we have Samaritans by another name: those of an opposing or competing political persuasion.   NB:  The Christian ethic is the highest bar to achieve and none of us fulfills it; the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!      Soli Deo Gloria!

The Final Revelation Of God

God's people Israel had killed all the prophets, so God saw it was necessary and sufficient to send His Only Begotten Son--if peradventure they'd listen to Him.  But Jesus is the complete and final revelation and message from God that we reject at our peril--there's no other way.  There is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved ( cf. Acts 4:12).   God spoke in divers manners in ancient times (dreams, visions, audible voices, prophet, etc.) but today in these last days, He speaks through Jesus as revealed in His Word (cf. Heb. 1:1). Even Plato longed for the day of God's revelation via a message to make everything plain and explain it all--to be the Answer.  All men seek the answer, but not the Answerer! They seek the benefits but not the Benefactor!   But we need more than answers--we need the vacuum in our souls filled with the living God. It doesn't satisfy to know God exists but only to know Him personally.

The philosophers of antiquity reasoned out that God was indeed immutable as their first premise:  they pondered the permanence or being versus the flux or motion of matter and realized all cannot change or it all would be chaos.  There had to be a stabilizing factor.  One philosopher said, "Whatever is, is."  This sounded ludicrous but if you think it does make sense--if something exists in a state of permanence, in reality, it cannot change.  God is not an "Is-ness," but an "Is-ing," meaning He's a living Being not a state of Being. One could add that God is not "past tense, "static present tense," nor "future tense," but ongoing present tense--a living Being--is always and forever active and alive, living beyond and outside the time-space continuum (time is no element or relevance to Him).

Note that they are saying, "You cannot step into the same river twice," to illustrate the concept of change or flux in things and all creation.  We also change constantly and learn but God remains the same or He couldn't be God--"I, the LORD, change not," (cf. Mal. 3:6).    Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (cf. Heb. 13:8). That's why God's name is best expressed:  I AM THAT [WHO] I AM ... ad infinitum. God exists in a way we cannot perceive, but we can still know Him with our perceptions.  On the contrary, God represents permanency and constancy, in whom is no variation nor shadow of turning (cf. James 1:17).  

They also saw purpose and meaning and even design in creation and reasoned a Logos or stabilizing power behind it all that held all things together. Logos has many meanings: one is self-expression or authentication [of God].  Jesus is how God revealed Himself to us.  This immutable and changeless Being is God just as Jesus changes not.  The Logos was the opposite of chaos and there must be logic and reason for there to be learning and science at all--you have to start somewhere with some certainty, a starting point of reality.

In philosophy, without logic, you have mere confusion and can know nothing.   All knowledge is contingent on logic. Plato also said that in order to know how to live in reality, we must know what God is really like!  It's a good thing we see Jesus as God's full and final Word or message.  Jesus fulfilled all time and space requirements to be its conclusion and last word and testament.

But the point is that there is a divine footprint on God's creation that shows His presence and power.  Look at DNA as His language in every living creature.  Look at the Anthropic Principle that shows how the earth is perfectly suitable for life and even the slightest change would rule out life altogether.  Think about how God makes kinetic or useful energy out of the random energy of the sun through the process of photosynthesis.  Think about the laws of physics; namely, entropy or the Second Law of Thermodynamics and even gravity, the relationship between time and matter in space, and the expanding universe all pointing to a beginning in time actually when time began, because things run out of usable energy with time elapsing ("In the beginning [implying an end?]").

Even the so-called Big Bang refers to a beginning point of all time, space, and matter--time being the corollary of space and matter and relative to them.  All this only proves there was a beginning which merely implies a Beginner.  We know that nothing (no effect or event) just happens by itself but must have a cause according to the law of causality; therefore, the universe had to have a cause or reason for being--nothing can create or cause itself but needs an explanation.  The wonderful balance of nature and laws of nature, even the harmony of the human body and its beauty imply a Designer and a Supreme Mind because of ID or intelligent design is so apparent.  This ordered cosmos shows an Orderer and that thought is present, but the divine order: Thinker, thought, thing.  

The wonderful news is that we have the full revelation of God in Scripture--the complete canon of the Word of God and this is better than if Jesus were still around doing itinerant teaching of the multitudes.  Jesus also gave us the Spirit to enlighten us and show us the Way, the Truth, and Life. We have no excuse for not knowing God!  We cannot plead ignorance in our day and age!  Ignorance isn't bliss! Even with modern technology, all of us are culpable if we don't heed to the written Word of God.

But just as God created space and time, He gives all of us space and time to repent and the average person does reject Christ 7.6 times before receiving Him as Lord and Savior.  No one is a lost cause!  We reject God before He rejects us, but He changes our hearts, not us.  But God doesn't give up on us; we are all bad, but not too bad to be saved!   Yes, we have an advantage over the ancients who relied on prophets, priests, and rabbis or teachers to explain everything--when He comes He shall guide us all into the truth (cf. John 16:13).  We have pastors and teachers prepare the flock and be a guiding light, the full canon of Scripture, and the resident Holy Spirit's anointing, but this is no excuse for falling prey to heresy; we are not captive nor slaves to church dogma and have the right to dissent, disagree, and protest if convicted--it's called being a Protestant.  

In sum, God's final Word and Testament to man is through His Son and God has nothing more to say to us if we ignore Him; God has created, acted, and finally, spoken His message--our last chance!.   Soli Deo Gloria!