Question

Answer briefly the following question :

Examine the basic principles of Christianity.

Answer 1

Amidst the current mass-media storm involving religious freedom, many are charging Christians as the worst of cultural offenders because of their refusal to obey the one rule of our post-modern society: tolerance.

Here are some simple biblical truths that I think are helpful to return to in the midst of this cultural storm. For the Christian, I hope you find them encouraging. For those who reject Christ, I pray that God would use this to help you better understand Christianity, and most importantly, that you would come to a true knowledge of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

1) True Christianity teaches that God is King of the universe and Creator of the universe and is sovereign over it. Therefore all people are ultimately accountable to God.

2) True Christianity teaches that God’s Word is true because God is the one, who has established truth. This truth is found in his special revelation to men, the Bible, which is breathed out by God and therefore without error. By this Word, we understand God’s sovereign rule as king, our need for redemption, and God’s provision in Christ as our Savior.

3) True Christianity teaches that since God, as a sovereign ruler, has ultimate authority, he alone is the final arbiter of justice. Therefore, all creatures, Christians and non-Christians, have a moral obligation to obey his laws, even if they contradict man’s laws in the example of a photographer opting out of shooting a “gay wedding,” they are choosing to honor the highest authority rather than compromise their conscience before God. The laws referenced here are the moral laws set out in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The national laws of the OT only applied to the nation of Israel, and the sacrificial laws of the OT are fulfilled in Christ.

4) True Christianity teaches that every person, male and female, of every race and nationality, is an image-bearer of God and is equal before God. This means primarily that humans are made by God to take dominion over the earth reflecting the rule of God on the earth. Christians are therefore moral creatures, consciously knowing God’s moral law, in ways that animals do not.

5) True Christianity teaches that every person without exception has sinned and broken God’s moral law and is therefore deserving of spiritual death in hell. The moral law includes numerous sins including stealing, coveting, idolatry, fornication, adultery, and homosexuality among others. They can be summed up in the love of God and the love of neighbor. Homosexuality and other sexual orientations that are contrary to God’s law are therefore not on the same ground as race or sex (as created as good by God)—they in fact are a violation of God’s law.

6) True Christianity teaches that every person is in desperate need of rescue from God’s wrath. Every person is a wretched sinner, whose heart beats for the gratification of self, and there is no amount of “willing” or “running” a person could do in trying to obey the law that would change the fact that we are all law-breakers without exception.

7) True Christianity teaches that Christ in his love and mercy has absorbed the penalty we deserved by dying for our sins on the cross. His resurrection is proof that those who seek refuge in him will also escape the penalty of death and inherit his righteous deeds so they can stand before God.

8) True Christianity teaches that every person must repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Only Jesus Christ, the perfect law-keeper and atonement-maker, is a legitimate refuge from God’s wrath and punishment for sin. Furthermore, the Christian life is one of continual repentance towards Christ and faith in Christ. Therefore when a Christian calls for another’s repentance before God, it is not a hypocritical “we” versus “them” statement, but rather a call to walk the path of repentance that each of us is already on—and it’s a path of the most love and grace and mercy than one could possibly imagine.