Christianity in a Nutshell

Like many folks, I suppose, before finally turning my life over to the Author and Finisher of my faith , I maintained an agnostic position for many years.

I tried to convince myself that I was an atheist, but couldn't pull it off...there was always that small voice, that feeling of conviction, inside of me.

It takes far more faith to believe that this world was created through a series of random acts, than to believe in a Creator.

There are all kinds of religions out there, acknowledging a Higher Power, and I can't say I have studied them all, but I have the impression there is more of a contrivance to them, then to the Judeo/Christian religions, if you know what I mean by that.

At some point I started to listen to the Gospel and accepted Jesus as Savior.

There seems to be a lot of confusion, even among long time Christians, about Salvation.

I look at it this way:

God created a perfect world, giving man and woman everything they could possibly ever need for a happy and prosperous life.

And He also gave them free will.

Not a decision made and acted upon goes without a consequence, no matter how small.

Of course, Adam and Eve were the first to be scammed - by the master of deceit - and led by their own greed to a bad end and we have been paying for it ever since.

God's chosen people were the Jews and He led them out of bondage, and passed down to Moses a set of 10 rules to follow. And, no one could live up to them.

So we get to the part of God so loving us that He gave His Son to die so that we should have life.

Now listen to this - When we come into the world, we are born dead - spiritually dead. That is because, by nature, we are sinners, without exception - the degree, large or small, is only measured in our own minds, not by God - a murderer is no worse than a petty thief, or a liar, or a lustful person, whatever...we all fall short of living up to the Law.

The wages of sin are death - which is separation from God - we are born sinful, therefore dead...do you follow?

God knew that we needed an escape from everlasting death, so He sent Jesus to die a painful, hideous death, both physically and spiritually, taking ALL of the sin of the world all the way back to Adam and Eve and ALL the way into generations yet unborn, so that we should not perish, but have life everlasting.

And it is a Gift.

And all it requires is to reach out and take it.

Our Lord's last words were "It is finished" and He meant it. Simply accept the Gift, believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died so we could live AND that he was buried and rose again, Born again, and we will spend eternity in the presence of God.

And that is where I see some people are missing the point. They still try to fulfill the Law. Even though they have turned to Christ, with a contrite heart, in repentance, and believed in Him as Lord and Savior, they still ask to be forgiven when they stumble. We don't become perfect people when we accept the Gift of Forgiveness! When I do something that I know in my heart would be unacceptable behavior in the eyes of the Lord, I don't ask for forgiveness.

I already have it! To constantly ask for forgiveness is, is essence, to crucify Christ again and again.

I say 'Thank you!' Thank you Lord for loving me so much and please help and guide me to be more like you each day.

Be assured, this is not to say that we are to expect to "be saved" and go merrily on our way doing whatever we please! There is no mere incantation of a word formula, which, if uttered, will redeem us. But, having given our heart to the Lord, in sincere belief and repentance, if we stumble (and we will) we are to repent immediately and turn aside from our sins, growing ever stronger in our convictions to be as Christ-like as is humanly possible.

That in a nutshell is what Christianity means to me.

The 10 Commandments are great guidelines now, but not the road to salvation. The New Testament really only gives two commandments and if we would all live by them what an awesome world it would be.

Matthew 22:

37Jesus said ...., Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Can it be any simpler?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16