Has anyone ever asked you "Why is christianity true?" or said "All religions are basically the same" I dive into that and a little more on this episode of No apologies, Apologetics with David King.
Sermon, 2/6/22 Why Christianity
Has anyone you know ever asked you. So why Christianity? Or what makes christianity true?
This sort of question can often catch us off guard, and in the moment we try to answer in such a way that is simple, but also impactful.
We want to make sure we answer right, for our own witness but also so that maybe we could convince the person asking the question.
But this sort of question does not provide a short and simple answer. Instead if anyone ever asks you that question you should first respond with, “Well, how much time do you have because that is not a question that can be answered in short order”
The second response may be a more difficult one, so oftentimes the best way to respond back is, “well why don't you believe christianity to be true?” This sort of question will allow the other person to be engaged with you and allow them to be open about their ideas while revealing to you exactly what it is they think and how you can best answer the original question. “Why Christianity”
After all that's a hard question to answer because it elicits multiple responses, and not all of those responses are relative to the person asking the question. We need pinpoint precision here. And the best way to get that is to turn it around and ask them back, why don't you believe christianity to be true?
This follow up always allows you to gauge where the person is on their journey to find Christ. The thing to remember here is you are not trying to save this person in this conversation. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SAVE EVERYONE YOU TALK TO ABOUT GOD. In fact you shouldn't be trying to. Instead it is our job as evangelicals to plant the seed, and let God water it.
Maybe eventually you do bring them to Christ, but its a process, and you must be patient and in prayer asking God for guidance.
Once we have a response we can move forward with an answer. Some times that response elicits a simple and quick answer, but more often you will need to sit down and explain it in detail.
So what are some common questions we may receive as followers of God and what could be the responses we give?
Bullet points:
Opening statements:
One of the biggest questions we face is:
“What makes christianity true over other religions”
Oh how much time do you have?
This is probably the question that often requires the longest response, take your time with this one.
Generally we hear “what makes christianity true? Aren't all religions the same anyway?”
While it's true that Religions have superficial similarities, they have essential differences.
They differ on the nature of God, the nature of man, sin, salvation, heaven, hell and creation.
While religion is about people working their way to God, Christianity is God working his way to people.
For instance Jesus teaches us that we are to have a personal relationship with God
John Chapter 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus christ whom you have sent”
in the Muslim faith it is blasphemy to claim to have or want a relationship with Allah as he is unknowable, even in the afterlife you will never know Allah. (How can your creator not know you or you not know him?)
Jesus taught us that God is our father, but in islam its blasphemy to call alah your father.
Jesus taught us that we are made in the image of God, In islam Alah has no image and thus can not be made in his image.
And since I am on the topic of the Muslim religion, some key differences between our savior Jesus Christ and the muslims profit Muhammad:
Jesus never killed anyone, Muhammad killed over 3000 people
Jesus never led armies, Muhammad led armies, and conquered land.
Jesus never owned slaves. Muhammad owned slaves
Jesus never married, Muhammad had 11-22 wives including his favorite a 9 year old.
Jesus never lied, Muhammad permits lying
Jesus never forced anyone to believe or follow him, Muhammad killed those would not follow him.
Jesus never permitted rape, Muhammad did.
Jesus Conquered death, by the resurrection. Muhammad, he just died, in-fact he was actually poisoned by one of his wives. She said she was trying to see if he was truly a profit.
Jesus tells us to love our enemies, Jesus teaches us to forgive one another, to seek God in all things.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you
Ephesians 4:22
The muslim faith is the most opposite of the christian faith, and is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Not because its true, but Muslims are having children at a higher rate than Christians… But its why I focused so heavily just now as an example of differences.
The corps principle of christianity is that you are to have an intimate and strong relationship with Christ, and seek to have your life resemble his as much as you possibly can. This is the key to salvation, is acknowledging that Christ is our savior, he came down from heaven to be our direct line to the father so that we could be saved from our transgressions and he did this by living a perfect sinless life and then dying for our sins on the cross and resurrecting 3 days later as he promised.
Your salvation in christianity is not based off works like other religions,
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2: 8-9
Other religions are formulated around your works as salvation. Judaism does not believe in a heaven or hell per say and believes that good works for the lord should be focus and that will lead you to a new world.
The same can be said about the muslim religion, if you can not know allah and allah cant know you, and this you must do all you can to have a prosperous afterlife, this corps of beliefs in my opinion is why its so easy to radicalize non moderate muslims into hanous acts of violence.
This is not to say that a christian is not supposed to live a good life and do good works. We are commanded by god to live a life that resembles that of Jesus, that means we are to help others, to do good works, and spread the gospel that is Jesus Christ, but those works wont be the deciding factor for your afterlife. Your relationship to christ is, and SIN destroys to soul and hardens the heart but it also leads us on a path away from Christ, that Sinful path will eventually lead you in an eternal separation that is hell.
The mere fact that Christianity is a religion of love for one another, but also a true and deep relationship with our creator over anything else leads me to believe that this is true over all other beliefs. This is not a religion of selfishness, this is not about me, its about all of us, seeking God and having a relationship with him.
Knowing that God knows us, because he created us, and that he is the omnipotent creator of the vast universe and desires to know you and me, and to help us, to guide us, and love us. And that Jesus sacrificed himself for you and me, when I do not deserve it, and I to this day do things that further prove that point… he still is there arms open to embrace me. That my friends is the truth.
But there's more, and I will touch on it in future episodes, For instance the chain of custody and how it affirms the biblical Jesus. We have a lot of evidence that proves the existence of Christ and what he did. And just how powerful the bible truly is, its incapable of being a creation of man. Thats why I said earlier, when some one asks why christianity, ask why not? And then follow up with “How much time do you have?”
Its not a simple question with a simple answer, there's hundreds of reasons why and very few arguments of why not…
A follow up response to the Why christianity? May be why do we have to be saved?
And I believe that this reason is another affirmation of the Truth of Christianity because we can see it in the world around us.
Simply…
The reason we have to be saved is because we are born of sin, we are sinners, living in a fallen world, inherently provoked by our fleshy desires.
When Eve took the bite of the apple and offered it to Adam in the garden when they were commanded not to this was the first sin, it opened our eyes to the true world that is the fallen world.
There was nothing Adam or Eve could do in that moment to redeem themselves for acting out against God. After all how could they? And what kind of God would he be if he allowed this sin or that sin.
GOD SAID YOU SHALL NOT EAT FROM THIS TREE! And they blatantly disobeyed God and for that we now live in this broken world, filled with sin, and eventually will return to it as the dirt from which we came.
No one is capable of their own salvation because no one is without sin. You see we can not do enough, say enough, or sacrifice enough to be saved from the sins that we commit. You may not think that you're a sinner but my friend you sin everyday and you probably dont even realize it.
And so because of that you can not save yourself by any means.
We had to have a perfect, sinless man sacrifice himself for all of us, to go as be a liaison between us and God. And that person was the son of God because thats the only way you could have a man on this earth live a perfect life, because a mere mortal of a man will certainly fall short.
So Jesus came, in the form of man to live amongst us a perfect sinless life and to lead us to God and eventually he would sacrifice himself and conquer death through his resurrection so that we may have everlasting life in heaven with the father.
Jesus said no one comes before the Father but through me.
That means the only way you’re getting to God is to seek Jesus, believe in him and what he did and follow him.
Now what does that mean to be saved?
This is important
This is third follow up question you may be asked.
To be saved means to accept who Jesus is, what he did, and that you are a sinner, and that you know that you need Jesus in your life and accept him in to it. You can say the sinner’s prayer it goes something like this:
“Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe You died for my sins so I could be forgiven. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for coming into my life. Amen.”
But listen let me tell you something friend there are many people who said this prayer and are dammed to hell. Because theres more to being saved than repeating a few words you church has told you.
To be saved means to that you believe that prayer 100% in your soul and that you actively live it out every day of your life. You surrender your life to the lord, why? To be a slave to him? No…
To loose free will over your life? No… you wont lose that
But to understand that God has a plan for you. That your life has purpose, that you're not just some soul and bag of bones wondering the earth looking up and saying hey god every so often…
TO SEEK the lord in all things of your life, to Seek a relationship with him. That means making time every day for him, praying, and listening to when he speaks to you.
To be saved is more than a catch phrase it is an act of life, it is a change in you, you are born again, cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Does this mean you will never sin? No…
Does this mean you will never have hard times? No….
Life will always be hard thats the burden we bare for our fallen nature. But when you are saved and have a relationship with christ you now have the omnipotent, loving God who knows all and whats best fighting with you in your corner.
Its just that simple.
Theres no guessing, no wondering, you know that your soul is saved and that its written in the lambs book of life when you accept christ as your lord, and live your life for him.
Wrap up