What Christianity is Not
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As I have been following the election, I’ve been reading some of the various comments that have been made. One of the most interesting things I’ve read is some of the things that liberals and atheists are saying about our government and the history of this country.
According to them, this was never a Christian nation. It was not based on Christianity in any way. Never mind that 55 of the 56 Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution were Christian. The only one who wasn’t was Benjamin Franklin. Never mind that when the Puritans came here, they came here because they wanted religious tolerance. They wanted to be free to worship the way they wanted to.
Ronald Reagan once said that “Liberals know a lot of things but they’re all wrong.” I have to say I agree with him because the irony where liberals and atheists are concerned, facts just don’t matter. They are meaningless.
Although atheists claim to be rational, and to use science to prove their claims, ultimately, the reason many who claim to be atheists are atheists because they don’t like the “rules” in Christianity. There may very well be some who don’t believe in the existence of God at all, but in order to believe there is no God, you first have to believe there is a God. (I highly recommend you read the writings of Thomas Aquinas here. His writings are some of the best on the existence of God.)
Another issue I have with atheists is that they want to blame the ills of the world on Christianity. In order to do this, you have to ignore Mao Tse Tong of China, Joseph Stalin of the old Soviet Union, Pol Pot of Cambodia, and even Adolph Hitler. Although Hitler was raised a Catholic, it is clear he was not a Christian. As for the other three, they were all confirmed atheists and the biggest murderers in history.
With a lot of people, Christianity appears to be a religion of legalism. It is not. It is a religion of grace. First of all, the history and basis of Christianity came from Judaism, a religion that is clearly legalistic. God set forth rules for how the Israelites were supposed to live. Break one rule and you had failed. You were condemned.
In Christianity, although it is to our benefit to follow the rules set out in the Old Testament, we as Christians know that because of sin, it is impossible for us to get it right, to be perfect. Does this mean we should discard the law and give up? No. Life, and the rules, as God laid it out for us, are there for our benefit. Trying to do the right thing is good for us because it helps us avoid the pitfalls in life.
We are saved by grace. Grace is undeserved love. God loves us even though we don’t deserve it because of our sin. God made a way, through Jesus Christ, for us to return to a relationship with him. We are saved by faith, and there’s no path or way for us to work our way into heaven. This negates purgatory, and it negates the legalism of both Judaism and Islam.
That doesn’t mean we should do whatever we want. God created rules for us to follow simply because it’s good for us. It’s the path to a better, more successful, and happier life.
I know that I tried everything in my life to get it on track. I accepted Christ when I was eight years old, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I think I really believed. Like I said, I tried it all: counseling, drugs (both legal and doctor prescribed), AA, Alanon, and anything else I could think of. It helped, but it certainly didn’t get me cured, and it didn’t heal me.
On December 1, 2001r 1, 2001
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
WP-Bible plugin, I stopped taking all of the antidepressants and the drugs I was taking, and I turned it over to Jesus Christ. I dropped to my knees, and I turned it over to him. It hasn’t been perfect. I’m stubborn.
Christianity isn’t about legalism though. It’s about loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves. It’s about helping others when they need us. It’s even about turning the other cheek. Turning the other cheek isn’t about being a doormat though; it’s about ignoring and refusing to give credence to those who don’t accept Jesus as the savior.
Ultimately, it is about wanting to be just like Jesus Christ. If you’ve read the Bible, specifically the gospels, it reveals who He really is and why He came. The ultimate irony here is that the very thing liberals truly want to be is like Christ. The reality is that they simply aren’t willing to do what that takes.
In my next post, I want to talk about some things I’ve learned from being a Christian.
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October 27 2008 09:59 am | Christian News and Real Christianity
