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!

How Do You Prove Evil Exists Without God?

Don’t you know that Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? They go hand in hand and can be distinguished but not separated. Good and evil are metaphysical ideas and not physical ones. They can be logically deduced but not proven by normal means as you would think. Note that you cannot prove anything without making some assumption that cannot be proven, even in science they assume that nature is orderly, consistent, and knowable and put faith in the scientific method. NOTE: All knowledge is contingent and begins in faith!

You would have to first assume that good exists, and then define evil as its privation, distortion, or twisting. For instance, if you assume justice, injustice must also exist by definition whether realized or not; also laws exist so lawlessness must also even if not reckoned; and if there can be righteousness, there is also unrighteousness by nature. An atheist may even assume he is good without God in the equation and even think evil of others or think they are evil compared to him (not God!).

Note: there’s no perfect evil but it’s always mixed with enough good to deceive just like lies that have an element of truth—enough to make you immune to the real thing or the ultimate Truth with a capital T. That’s why cults thrive—they have enough truth to inoculate from the truth and reality which it corresponds to.

It is difficult to define good without God in the equation as Plato defined God as the only Supreme Good and standard of it to recognize it by. How can you conceive of justice without a Judge, order without an Orderer, laws without a Lawgiver, righteousness without rights? You may ask how is this possible, yet Communists believe in justice without a Judge and laws without a Lawgiver. Atheists will tell you they are or can be moral without a moral center to the universe, God the Judge.

If there were no moral or good and evil, what is the purpose of our conscience or moral compass (given us by God)? Does anything repulse you at all, not even the Holocaust? Is there anything you wouldn't do because of your principles, scruples, or inhibitions? That’s why we see good in light of evil, light in view of darkness, blessings in spite of cursing, love in contrast to hate!  Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Goodness Of The LORD

 There is a reason that we are to seek God with all our hearts, soul, and spirit; we will find Him but only because He first sought us. We must have the eyes of our hearts opened and the door of faith by the Almighty Himself.   (cf. Isaiah 65:1.  King David exhorts us to "taste and see, that the LORD is good." (cf. Psalm 34:8).  Once we do, we long to recapture the experience and make it our own  We need to own Christ as our personal Lord.  In other words, put out the fleece for God and put Him to the test as God invited it.  Find out for yourself and don't go by second-hand knowledge but know first hand.  Capture the rapture of knowing God in person.  

It can be problematic trying to recapture that unforgettable encounter with god or even describe it to others.  In a sense, it may be like chasing pots at the ends of mythical rainbows or some will-o-the-wisp. No one can adequately describe God in detail or define Him to our specs or even know Him exhaustively, but we can be content to know Him truly. God wants our faith to be a properly basic belief or one interwoven into our experience and one that cannot be taken away from us.  It becomes a personal thing.   

As Oswald Chambers said, that of maturity is not ecstasy but obedience, we must not base our assurance on our experience though but keep faith in God.   Our own experience with God is unique and personal and we know what God means to us in our own experience  This can be our own experience and differ from the individual.  To know the loved of God that surpasses knowledge!  But it is unforgettable and you associate it with something that remains in your mind and you long for it if you are deprived.  No one has our unique experience and can relate to us in this way.  The LORD is meant to be a heavenly experience but what doesn't mean we always walk on Cloud Nine or on some perpetual religious high as if everything is Pollyanna.  

God is the source of all goodness and all the good we have comes from God, the Supreme Good, as Plato called Him.  Without God's goodness, we couldn't know what goodness is, relate to it nor measure it.  We want to experience the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 27:13).  Note that God is good to all in some ways and to some in always.  (cf. Psalm 145:9).  We all deserve a taste of heaven to know what to look forward to and in worship, we gain the experience of a personal encounter with God.  For example, we all experience the love of God sometimes in life. But we must be careful not to seek the benefits without the Benefactor!  To know God is to love him and this is what it's about: love in God. God's love reaches down to us in grace and we reach up to Him in worship.  We thank our Provider for all His provisions. This is only a foretaste of glory in heaven and gives us all the more expectation and hope to live on in aspiration doing His will.  Once we taste, we'll never "settle," we'll want Him and only Him. 

God's goodness is shown in manifold ways: answers to prayer, freedom from fear, deliverance from enemies, protection from evil, healing of broken hearts, consolation in loss and grievance, encouragement in depression, comfort in trouble and pain, victory over sin, power over sin, provision of needs, the taste of glory, justification in condemnation, presence in loneliness, and healing of broken hearts. God promises that our afflictions will never overwhelm us or overcome us as we can pass through the fire and not be burned (cf. Isaiah 43:2).  

Our Christian experience isn't just about the bye-and bye or hope in the future but in the here and now as we are called to live the more abundant life of flourishing in Christ as He prospers us and gives us success in all we do in His name and even provides the means and needs for them.  Our eternal life doesn't begin in eternity but now upon salvation (cf.. John 3:36; 5:24). We learn on a daily basis what it means to experience the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. Psalm 27:13). 

Our salvation is in three tenses: we are saved from the penalty of sin, we are being delivered from the power of sin, and we shall be delivered from the presence of sin.  Our past is forgotten and forgiven, or present is given meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, and our future is secured! How much more could goodness be than that blessed hope and salvation?  "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (cf. Heb. 2:3).   Soli Deo Gloria!

God Is Great But Also Good

 In C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Mr. Beaver tries to describe Aslan the lion (and Christ figure) to Lucy who recognized him asking if he's safe, "Of course, He isn't but he's good; He's the King!"  Also, we are in awe of  God's power and might, but should be comforted that He is also good that we may fear and worship Him. David prayed in Psalm 34:8 that we should "taste and see that the LORD is good," saying that God challenges us to find this out for ourselves and not take someone's word for it; Put God to the test and put out the fleece here on this promise.  This is one of only a few experiments we can do with God.  We can experience and know God personally and find out ourselves that God will be good to us and that we do not deserve it, but only condemnation if we got only what we deserved. We must confess that only God is truly good as Jesus said, (cf. Matt. 19:17). 

I will hope to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. 27:13) and realize that our faith is not "pie in the sky," but a realistic one that stands up to scrutiny and life's pitfalls and trials. Our faith isn't just for the good times, God wants us to turn to Him in times of trouble too,  "Call unto Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me," (cf. Psalm 50:15). In evil times, we must not forsake God or name Him, for He intends good even from evil (cf. Gen. 50:20). It is so easy to forget God in good times and sometimes we need a spiritual wake-up call! God sometimes just seeks to get our attention (cf. Job 36:15) or to see what is really on our hearts and where our priorities are (cf. 2 Chron 32:31). 

One thing we must realize that the goodness of God isn't the whole picture for the unbeliever. He is blessed by association as God blesses them that bless Israel by analogy. The unbeliever and even apostate Israel is experiencing the sternness or severity of God in these days,  "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of the LORD," (cf. Romans 11:22).  Some mistakenly believe God is all --good or omnibenevolent and can't curse, for instance,  

A cursory reading of Deut 28 will change your outlook there. The Old Testament ends with a curse!  The goodness of God, as far as the sinner is concerned, is meant to lead one to repentance (cf. Romans 2:4).  We ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and have been sinners ever since. "Surely the goodness of the LORD will follow me all the days of my life," (cf. Psalm 23:6). But God is good to all in some ways and to some in many ways but no one can deny His goodness (cf. Psalm 145:9). We do not call Jesus the good Lord for nothing!  

What else is worship but the recognition, cognition, appreciation, and praise of God's goodness; both in who He is and in what He does for His children and to His glory. We shall behold the beauty of the LORD known as the beatific vision--we shall be satisfied with seeing the glory of God as Moses did on Mount Sinai.  God is not only good but desires to share His goodness with us and He will not withhold any good thing from him who walks uprightly (cf. Psalm 84;11) 

Plato called God the Supreme Good, meaning we would have no concept or perception of goodness if there were not some standard to judge by--some perfection which he called God.  James 1:17 says that all good things come from God.  He is the source of all blessings!  We rarely give Him the thanksgiving glory,  recognition, and worship He desires and deserves. For God said after creation that it was all very good and it has been us that have tainted and corrupted the world.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

What's Wrong With Eating Of The Tree of Good and Evil?

 You mean: “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” That’s important to point out. It was simply wrong to disobey. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the tree or its fruit nor even the knowledge that it would impart. God may have intended to let them eat of it at some future point after they passed His test of obedience and love just when children grow up when don't become evil automatically. The forbidden fruit merely represented a test of obedience love can not be forced but not have some test of faithfulness or obedience and loyalty.

Adam and Eve obviously were innocent in that they were unaware that there was an evil alternative to good and its threat to peace with God. They were as children before the age of accountability for their evil in God’s eyes. They had to decide which side they would be on—for or against God. The fruit wasn’t obviously a proverbial apple but something that did delight to the eyes and had natural appeal or temptation.

Their sin of eating of it was the prototype sin that represented all sins to some sense of the word in this sense: spring God’s grace, contradicting His truths, rejecting His authority, disputing His wisdom, repudiating His justice, and resisting His grace. What Adam and Eve sought was their own will, delight, plans, and wisdom while rejecting God’s; and we do the same today when we do our own thing and do things our way instead of God’s way according to God’s will or even seeking it—we still think we know better or more than our Maker. A believer actively seeks God’s will and submits to it