What Is The Main Point Of Christianity?

 The answer to this question is not so obvious and may seen contraindicative. The average Joe would think that the purpose of Christianity is to live by the Golden Rule or to love one's neighbor or be a good Samaritan or in some way just be a good person. Yes, God is love and he who loves another fulfills the Law of Christ who told us to love each other as He loved us.

But the point is that people of all faiths think they are "good," and that the purpose of all religions is to be good. Yes, if that is all you choose or want or aspire to be is good (in whose eyes though?) then ANY religion will do. There are good Jews, Mormons, JWs, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, and you could even argue for good Secular Humanists or even in some cases, good atheists, which only proves you don't need religion to be good. This sense of good and evil comes from God who gave everyone a moral compass or conscience to judge right and wrong and holds us accountable.

Don't people realize that our righteousness and good deeds are as filthy rags in God's sight and count for nothing by way of salvation? When we say we are good, we contradict the Lord who said only God is good--we are then evil in comparison because God doesn't grade on a curve; however, people play, "Let's compare," and don't realize God is the standard, not our neighbor; in comparison to Adolf Hitler, I am a saint! People all commend themselves!

But God has leveled the playing field and labeled, reckoned, and judged us all sinners who fall short of God's glorious ideal and measure of perfection. Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" yet he is numbered among the saints!

Jesus made an important point to Peter when He asked the disciples: "Who do men say that I AM?" This is what Christ was trying to point out! Jesus also said, "Unless you believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins..." John 8:24 Jesus is God in the flesh! This means that we must correctly understand who Jesus is.

We must realize Christ as our Lord and Savior not just some moral guide, Exemplar, martyr for a noble or good cause, victim of an evil society, but as one who voluntarily laid down His divine life and even chose the moment to expire for us.

The whole point of Christianity is to know God and Jesus His Son. This is eternal life in essence and consists of a vital, growing, living, saving faith and relationship with the triune Godhead. John's Prologue says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! John 1:14 Yes, this is the point we must grasp to be saved. The point then is as the question goes, Do you know God? Not are you a good person. Jesus didn't come to make bad people good but to make dead people live!

All religions teach us to be good and people even know that much by their own conscience. Don’t forget true faith expresses itself and has fruit for we are to be a redeemed people zealous of good works, thus validating our faith in the eyes of men. Soli Deo Gloria!

Is God Fair?

We are in no position to judge God, but He is our judge and we have no right to question His fairness, for what's fair is what He decrees as fair by its very nature and definition. One recalls the parable of the Prodigal Son whereby the elder brother is dispirited at the grace shown the younger one and thinks it's unfair. He should've celebrated the fact that he had always been the son and never suffered estrangement.

Too many Christians think that it is unfair that criminals who make deathbed conversions can get saved when they lived their whole life for Christ. They should've noted that they get to live for Christ, not had to live for Him. It is a privilege to live for Christ and one should be thankful for all the opportunities and be stewards of them. He has become the recipient of greater reward, as God rewards according to our deeds whether we are in Christ a short time or long time. We don't have to be Christians, we get to be Christians! Many who are first shall be last, according to Christ, and the last, first. The classic example of deathbed conversion is the famed thief or malefactor on the cross on the right side of Christ and to whom He said, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise."

In the final analysis, life may not always be fair because some people's portion is in this life and others have to learn the hard way--but God will make it all fair in the end at the judgment and He is just in all His ways. And so, who's to say that inequity defines unfairness? God is the moral center of the universe, thank God! 

Jacob was paranoid: "All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36). Job had his time of being appalled at his circumstances and sudden disaster: "My worst fears have come upon me." But Paul said of his sufferings: "But none of these things move me" (Acts 20:24). We must never give up the faith that "If God can be for us, who can be against us?" They must come because the same hammer breaks the glass, forges the steal, the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay--we either become bitter or better through the crucible of suffering or the school of hard knocks because God never promised us a bed of roses. Hardship or Reality 101 is part of the divine curriculum.

But don't break faith or lose heart--God loves us as His children and discipline means we belong to Him ("Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy Word," says Psalm 119:67). God's grace is not only necessary but sufficient for us ("My grace is sufficient for thee," says 2 Cor. 9:8). Believers have always inquired, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" [There are no good people!] Let's see why the Bible says, "...Can anyone say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'" (Dan. 4:35).

Life is unfair, just look at what happened to Jesus. But don't jump to the conclusion that God is ergo unfair. It doesn't necessarily follow, as I intend to show. The question should not be, "Is God fair?" but are you fair? Who do you think you are? Do you trust yourself and your standards enough to judge the whole earth? God is fair is a given and a no-brainer to any person of faith--but we have a struggle when the trial, tribulation, suffering, adversity or temptation happens to us personally, don't we? Like when Job's comforters reprimanded him that he had preached to others, and now trouble comes to him and he can't take it (cf. Job 4:3ff "See how you have instructed many...but now trouble comes to you and you are discouraged....").

God sees the big picture and we only see our own little world! Who has the advantage? To get specific, is it fair that Jesus had to die? Even the objective onlooker realizes he suffered a great injustice at the hand of Rome, yet God is fair and decreed that this should this; He does not tolerate sin but remains holy, and untouched by sin, We tend to put God in a box, like saying, "I like to think of God as a ...." Luther said to Erasmus: "Your thoughts of God are too human." There is always more to God than we can apprehend! "The finite cannot grasp the infinite", the Greeks said.

Job was told, "Canst thou by searching find out God?" There is no "higher law" that God must obey: He is a law unto Himself--autonomous! Only He can set aside His laws. God wants to see if we will trust Him through thick and thin when the chips are down. Let the chips fall where they may, God is in control! He does what is right, He never does what is wrong, because all wrongdoing is a sin.

"How can God be just, and the Justifier?" The Bible says God's ways are unfathomable and inscrutable and no one can discern His ways, "as the heavens are higher than the earth" (cf. Isaiah 55:9; Rom. 11:33). ("How unsearchable his judgments and His paths beyond tracing out.") We sometimes cry out for justice, but do we really want to get what we deserve? Or do we want mercy and grace? Some will receive justice from God, and others mercy and grace (mercy is not getting what you deserve--judgment; grace is getting what you don't deserve--eternal life), but no one will receive injustice.

Grace and mercy are a form of non-justice, but not injustice--there is a nuance of meaning that you must realize here. Karma is disproved by Christ's sufferings--He certainly didn't deserve what He got at the hand of Rome. God tempers His justice with mercy and only give the evil-doer his due or just dessert, and not beyond what strict justice would demand--God is not cruel. Remember, God is not obligated to be merciful, just because He was merciful to one and we have no claim on His mercy and cannot demand it, but can only accept it as a gift by grace through faith in Christ.

People instinctively think that when something goes wrong that God is unfair. They don't think they could possibly be reaping what they have sown. Even Job didn't accuse God of wrong-doing and accepted evil at the hand of God as well as a blessing. What is fair is the question, not is God fair. For Abraham said, "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" We don't judge God, he judges us! We don't have some standard of right and wrong and see if God measures up!

What God does is fair by definition because God is fair, period, no if's, and's, or but's. Today they say that art is what an artist says is art! It is similar with God. We say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder too. But God said all creation was good after He created it and we are not to object to His standards. R. C. Sproul says, "God is therefore never arbitrary, whimsical, or capricious, He always does what is right." Amen! Amen! He never acts out of character but is always true to Himself.

Because there is no immediate retribution, we tend to think we have gotten away with something--But God is only giving us space to repent and judge He will--either in Christ or at the Great White Throne Judgment at the Last Day. We want revenge sometimes but must not take the law into our own hands but trust God and His using the government to get the job done. "Vengeance is mine, saith the LORD." No one gets away with anything. What seems like God being unfair is often just suffering the consequences for our own foolishness or sin! 

Either they are disciplined by God as believers and their sins are judged on the cross, or they pay for their own sins in the final judgment for all eternity. The point is this: Something is fair because God says so--to have some other standard other than this self-attesting one would be to appeal to some standard higher than God. For instance, if I said, common sense should be the standard, because that's just common sense. (This is circular reasoning when we appeal to the source we are using as proof itself.)

Now in Psalm 73 Asaph bemoans the prosperity of the wicked--a common complaint against God. But Psalm 17:14 says that some people's reward is in this life ("...whose portion is in this life") and the rule still applies that they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). We tend to think that if someone gets something, that we also deserve it. If God saves one person, for instance, He is not obligated to save another--He could have elected to save no one! Remember and keep faith in the goodness of God and the profundity or incomprehensibility of God--we cannot figure Him out and never will!

In the economy of God, it pays to trust God and it is more blessed to give than to receive, but also the laws of reaping what you sow and the promised rewards to people who are industrious and work hard are in effect despite being a believer or not. God blesses some people in all ways, but all in some ways, because of common grace given to all--"God is good to all, and His compassion is over all creation" (Psa. 145:9). God doesn't know how to be anything but good. The proof of the pudding is in the eating--"Taste and see that the Lord is good," says Psalm 34:8. God is good all the time! (Neh. 1:7).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

What Is Saving Faith? ...

"... [A]nd a large number of priest became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, NIV).

"Through him we have received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from or his Name's sake" (Romans 1:5, NKV).
"... [S]o that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith" (Rom. 16:26,NIV).

You gotta have faith! How big is your God, not how big is your faith? It depends on the strength of our God, not our faith. Without faith, you cannot please God! (Cf. Heb. 11:6). A real, genuine faith is one that grows and is not static or going nowhere. True faith consists of right knowledge (you cannot subscribe to heresy), assent or agreement, and trust or reliance on it. We don't have blind faith, for we have sound reasons to believe and don't believe in spite of the evidence. We don't believe something we know isn't true--there is ample and compelling circumstantial evidence for the open-minded and willing person--no one can say there is lack of evidence.


We don't have faith in faith, but in the object of Christ (the object saves not the faith). Faith is a verb and entails action: "By faith Abraham obeyed ..." and so forth. It is a matter of the will--it is volitional. We choose to believe of our own ("If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know..." (cf. John 7:17, ESV), but God quickens faith in us and makes us alive--dead people cannot believe!

We must take the leap of faith from the seed planted. Faith is not a work (if it were we would have merit before God, but we are not saved by works). If it were a work, we would foul it up somehow! The faith you have is the faith you show: Paul says, "I'll show you my works by my faith," while James says, "I'll show you my faith by my works." We are saved by faith alone, according to the Reformation doctrine, but not by a faith that is alone. Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it, as we are saved unto works, not by works.

The theological axiom applies: "Only he who is obedient believes, only he who believes is obedient." Obedience is the only true test of faith and they are correlated in Hebrews 3:18 and John 3:36. The obedience of faith separates the bogus profession of faith and the reality of faith as seen in Acts 6:7 ("... [M]any of the priests became obedient to the faith") and Romans 1:5. You must trust and obey! (Mark 10:9 says, "What God has joined together let not man put asunder.")

Faith is given, not achieved--it is the gift of God and we do not conjure it up. It is the work of God as His gift, but we must use it and take the leap. "... [H]e greatly helped those who through grace had believed" (Acts 18:27, ESV). But there is a difference between head belief and heart belief: the demons also believe and tremble! The first step to faith is a positive attitude expressed in listening, then understanding with the mind, then believing with the heart, and finally trusting and relying on will or volition. The result: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13, ESV).

What is the progression of faith? Openness to the truth (unbelievers reject the truth), acceptance of the gospel message, willingness to obey God's will in relinquishment, surrender to the Lordship of Christ, and self-denial and willingness to follow Jesus. We must give up, surrender, and commit to what we know is true. The elements of faith in progression are: Knowing, reckoning, yielding, obeying, trusting, delighting, committing, waiting, and anticipating.

Its logical conclusion is a relationship with Jesus with a love for Him--"Though you have not seen him, you love him (cf. 1 Pet. 1:8, ESV). Faith begets fruit and works, no fruit, no faith! "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15, ESV). Note that no one has perfect faith: God requires only sincere, unfeigned faith according to 1 Tim. 1:5 says: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (ESV). Final Caveat: Beware of easy-believism whereby one thinks he is saved by merely believing without submitting to His lordship.


Everyone has faith; in what is the question. We are a religious creature made to worship and will worship someone or something if not God, which is idolatry. Dostoevsky said that "man cannot live without worshiping something." We are made for God and can only find our fulfillment in living for Him. But why is man opposed to God when He offers Himself to them? Man is a slave to sin and doesn't want to change his way of life, doing his own thing his way. He doesn't want to submit to authority and grant the ownership of his life to the One who made it. A person of no organized religion may have their faith in the scientific method, that science can solve all our problems--but he is nevertheless a person of faith. And so everyone is a person of faith! We have sound reasons to believe and need not commit intellectual suicide.

Real faith in God is when we go a step beyond so-called story-book faith or head belief and it registers in the heart and we desire to live it out in trust and commitment. We must be obedient to the gospel and to the faith. Saving faith is always accompanied by genuine repentance--they go hand in hand! And we must never divorce faith and faithfulness, for we live by faith and it must grow, not being dead. Dead faith produces no works and that kind of faith cannot save. Good soil produces fruit and saving faith produces the fruit of good works. As the Reformers said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." If we have no works, our faith is suspect. James says that faith without works is dead! James 2:18 also says, "I'll show you my faith by my works!" But we are not saved by works, but not without them either. We don't have faith in ourselves or our ability in trying to save ourselves, because it's the object that matters. We must realize that genuine faith expresses itself!

God opens our eyes to have faith, for we are blinded by Satan. He quickens or kindles faith within us by grace and it's not a meritorious work as Rome would have you believe--for then we would be saved by merit or works. We will have nothing to boast of in God's presence. Faith is the work of God but our act. We must put our faith in the right object to be saved, for we don't have faith in faith, but faith in Christ--faith doesn't save, Christ does! But this faith must be penitent as we turn from sin to God and believe in Christ. That's why it may be termed penitent faith or believing repentance that saves. We have believed through grace, a supernatural act of God regenerating us. God grants both repentance and faith as a privilege of being the elect (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18). He opens the door to faith and repentance (cf. Acts 14:27).

There is a profession of faith and reality of faith, whereas bogus faith is misplaced and insincere. God doesn't ask for perfect faith, only sincere, unfeigned faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5). Without faith, we cannot please God (cf. Heb. 11:6). There are people of great faith but it's misplaced (cf. Romans 10:2; Proverbs 19:2)--sincerity matters but it's not everything (you can be sincerely wrong). There are believers in name only or nominal Christians who go through the motions and have memorized the Dance of the Pious. Saving faith is obedient as Bonhoeffer says, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." (cf. Romans 16:26; Romans 1:5, Acts 6:7). They shall know we are Christians by our love--the ultimate obedience. That is the litmus test! Faith and obedience are correlated in Heb. 3:17-18, HCSB, as follows: "And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." We desire to obey, even if we fall short of perfection (cf. Matt 5:48).

The faith you have is the faith you show! The rallying cry of the Reformation was that we are saved by faith alone and Rome pronounced anyone anathema that adhered to this doctrine at the Council of Trent (the Counter-Reformation). We are not saved by good works, and faith is not a work, but we are saved unto good works, that we may accomplish the will of God. Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it. In fact, God foreordains good works for us to do for His purposes. We must be saved by grace, for this is the only way to have assurance. And "salvation is of the LORD," as Jonah found out (cf. Jonah 2:9) which means it's God's accomplishment, not man's achievement. We receive faith, we don't achieve it, i.e., we don't conjure it up by ourselves, but it's totally a gift of grace (cf. Acts 18:27; John 6:29; 2 Pet. 1:1). But we must put our faith to work and turn our creed into deeds, for faith is knowledge in action. Keeping the faith only works if it's in Christ!

Rome reduces faith to assent or acquiescence or acknowledgment with the church dogma. Just realizing Christ is God and rose from the dead, if one doesn't put the faith into action, will not save. Believing Christ rose from the dead is history; believing He died for you and rose for you and personalizing this is salvation. By faith Abraham obeyed! True saving faith is a surrendered, substituted, inhabited, relinquished, and even yielded life to the will of God, whereas Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit's residence--in other words, He owns us because He bought us and redeemed us! We must take a spiritual checkup or spiritual inventory to find out whether we have the Spirit or not and if Christ is living in us--if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His and he is reprobate (cf. Romans 8:9). In sum, if we love Jesus we will obey Him (cf. John 14:15) and there is a curse on anyone who doesn't love the Lord (cf. Rom. 16:22)--true faith trusts in Christ as Savior and submits to Him as Lord, as Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands." Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Saved By Faith Alone? ...

"So we see that a person is justified  by works and not by faith alone."  James 2:24

First, faith is knowledge in action and must take root and grow to be a living, saving faith.  We are not saved by living a good life or achieving human success, in fact, works of the flesh or done apart from the Spirit count as filthy rags in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6), au contraire, we are saved on account of our faith.  Righteousness then is imputed from Christ as we are reckoned as just forensically in God's court but not made just or righteous till we reach glory in heaven and are wholly sanctified and separated from sin forever. 

And we are not saved by works, any Protestant would agree with that and that we are saved by faith.  It is also true that  we are "saved" by faith and works!  What is meant by "saved" is in question though.  We are justified in men's eyes by our fruits. The battle cry of the Reformation was that we are "saved by faith alone!" 

But Catholics say that the Bible never says that but that we are not saved by faith alone in James.  "We are not saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone" is the formula of the Reformers. That kind of faith, that stands without works, is dead faith and cannot save.  True faith manifests itself in works and proves itself.  Do you have anything to show for your faith?  Put it into practice! 

We are known by our fruits or works, not our faith; anyone can claim to have faith but we show it by our works as evidence.  James 2:18 says, "I will show you my faith by my works." Or "I will show you my faith by putting it into action."  God has therefore redeemed for Himself a people "zealous of good works," for which we are "foreordained" to do (cf. Eph. 2:10).  God has prepared certain works for us to do as obedience to His will. 

It appears to men that the faith we have is the faith we show! Remember, our eternal reward is not for our faith but in accordance with our works or deeds (Rom. 2:6; Matt. 16:27; Psalm 62:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). 

We are not therefore saved by works, but not without them either!  If we have no works to validate our faith, it is suspect and dubious or in question.  We must turn our creeds into deeds! Or our faith is spurious!   We must be examples of good works which "adorn" our doctrine. 

To be authentic, we must have a faith that is growing and living in good works.  "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col. 1:10). Our faith is not a "to-do list" either, we do not do them because we must or have to but because we want to (our nature has been transformed into new creatures).  True faith expresses itself! 

There are only four possibilities of salvation to consider: works equals justification (religion); faith plus works equals justification (legalism); faith without works as a byproduct equals justification  (antinomianism or libertinism leading to easy-believism ,cheap grace, or "no-lordship" salvation); and finally the correct one of the Reformers is that faith equals justification producing works as a byproduct or fruit. Thus the relationship between faith and works can be distinguished but not separated or divorced.  They go together hand in hand!  

Thus, in conclusion, works do play a role in our salvation, they prove it and make it complete and are not its substitute, and he who thinks he can live as he pleases simply because he has faith is in error and may not be saved at all. Soli Deo Gloria!