Frequently Wondered Questions
Sometimes people have questions about God, Jesus, or Christianity. Today there are tons of books and radio stations designed to appeal to a Christian. However, all of them are not good. Here is a few questions people generally ask and get confusing answers.
How do I become a better Christian? Are there rules to being a Christian?
Q: What is a Christian?
A: A Christian is someone who has a relationship with God. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus did not come to die for our sins.
John 17:3 tells us Jesus came that we may know the Father. The sole purpose of every human being's existence is to glorify God. Sin
has separated us from that fellowship. When Adam and Even sinned, as recorded in the book of Genesis, they essentially chose to
serve and please themselves rather than God. As a result of that decision, God told them they would die. That death was first
spiritual. Now every person born is born dead to God, without a relationship with Him, and blind to His existence. The sole purpose of
Jesus coming to earth was so that we may have a relationship with the Father. And since every person was born dead to God, the only
person capable of helping us get right with God was someone as perfect as God, God Himself. Jesus was the perfect example, the
brightness of God's glory as Hebrews 1 tells us. Jesus' death was necessary in that He was perfect and died. The only way death is
made possible is by sin. Since Jesus was perfect and sinless, He was made sin for us by being placed on a tree. God exclaimed that
anyone put on a tree is a curse. He also stated that if we break one law we have broken them all. Christ being placed on the tree of
crucifixion was how he became sin. However, He was raised from the dead because He was sinless. God in His justice raised Jesus
from the dead because He had never done anything worthy of death. Now we must come to God through Jesus. We must imitate Him
and love Him because He is the only person that fully pleases God. God is perfect and requires perfection, but we can't possible come
close to perfection because we were born dead to God. Jesus is the only perfect person, and we must accept Him, and all He told us
in the Scriptures, as the way to please God. Without following Jesus there is no way else to God.
So, a Christian is a person who has accepted Christ as the only way to God and has vowed to follow His ways in order to please
God. And since we will never do it perfectly, God has given us His grace to cover where we mess up. Jesus did not come to die for our
sins; His death was necessary for Him to get us back to God. This is our reason for living. We were created for fellowship with Him.
Anything outside of His way is false.
Q: Why do I need Church?
A: Church is not a club, organization, or gathering. Church is a group of Christians, as described above, coming together with one
heart and one mind, intent on praising and worshipping God. Church is to strengthen those who are weak, pick up those who have
fallen, pray for those in need, and fellowship in the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit.
Church is where Christians come to meet God, collectively praise His name, receive instructions, receive reproof, receive
encouragement, and pray as a unified body of people who have been made alive to God by accepting and following Christ.
Q: Why does Church seem pointless?
A: Today church is a program and an event. It has lost the power of the Holy Spirit. It has lost its power all together.
Most people go to church for the wrong reason. Our idea of church these days is simply to gather together to meet people we are
familiar with and who have a similar set of beliefs. But this is not what church is about. If you are bored with church or find yourself going
through the motions, it is either because you have come for the wrong reason, or the church leadership is conducting services for the
wrong reason. Boring, repetitive, useless church is almost always linked to having the wrong motive whether it be from the individual or the
leaders of the church.
Q: How do I become a better Christian?
A: Acknowledge that you are a sinner, and that the only way to God is through Christ. Confess every sin known to you before
God and ask His Son to cleanse you of the death and stench of sin and make you whole in Him. Becoming a Christian is simple but it
is also an experience. It has nothing to do with emotions, music, guilt, or anything we associate with salvation these days. Becoming a
Christian is about having received light in the fact that you are worthless without God and your destination is to be separate from Him
for eternity. It is realizing your purpose that you were called to serve God and that not serving Him is a dysfunction. You must
acknowledge, understand, believe, and accept that Christ was raised from dead for the purpose of providing a way to God.
Q: Are there rules to being a Christian?
A: Yes. Jesus told us if we love Him we will keep His commandments. Now, I'm not talking about legalism. Legalism is claiming that
doing certain things will assure you a spot in heaven. Christianity is doing what Christ commanded because you realize you are here to
please God and know that Christ and His example is the only way to please God.
False teachers have flooded the church with doctrines that teach you once a person accepts the belief that Jesus died and rose from
the dead, you are saved forever. Don't believe it. This false teaching sounds right especially when you put grace in the picture. So most
people think it is correct because they think grace does all the work while we sit back and enjoy the ride. True Christianity is not so
much a matter of what you do or don't do as it is what you desire the most. As a Christian grows in God, His desires become more holy
and all the things of this life become nothing. You then begin to recognize, as you read and study God's Word to know what to do,
things in your life that are done for selfish motives to please and glorify self. True Christians must die to self. Anyone who claims to be
a Christian and doesn't die to self is a liar. Christianity is a fight, a struggle against the flesh, Satan, and the world. Scripture says His
commandments are not grievous. Therefore we should be happy to give up the things of this life and follow God's "rules". Following
those "rules" don't make you a Christian; you follow God's "rules" because you are a Christian and want to please Him. Those who
ignore His law are a disgrace and an abomination.
Q: What am I suppose to do?
A: Cultivate a relationship with God. The only way to do this is to cultivate a relationship with Christ. The only way to do that is to
read God's Word and follow its example. Whenever you fail, God's grace is there to cover you failure because we are still in this body
of sin. When we displease God there is forgiveness. However, this grace and forgiveness is not for deliberate sins. God didn't save us
to sin on purpose. He saved us from sin. Any one who claims Christ and purposefully, deliberately, defies God, is not a Christian.
Understand, I am not talking about weaknesses. I'm talking about deliberate sin, knowing its wrong and doing it anyways. That is a devil.
Do you have a question about salvation? Ask it here.