Christian/Muslim ThreadsMr Kenneth L. JenkinsHello Uzebek, I am a member of a Baptist church in the town where I grew up. However, from the time I was 20 years old (I'm now 42) I have lived amongst indigenous people in a Africa and Australia and have attended their churches. This has meant under trees as well as in church buildings. I work for an interdenominational mission, which means that I am constantly around people from various different churches. I prefer to say I worship God than I am a particular type of "christian" . Yes you are right in what you say.. but it's not quite as simple as you say. In the New Testament it says that the message of the cross is foolishness to wise people. It's so simple and it seems so unfair that considering how God views our sins, all it took was a death to bring about salvation. But you see, on the other hand, what took place on the cross was not simple. If you try and look at it from human perspective, you would be right in thinking "how could anyone believe in it". But, if you look at it from God's perspective, what took place on the cross was completely of a spiritual nature. The Bible teaches that angels look at what was happening on the cross and shake their heads, longing to look into it and understand it. When you become a Christian, you don't just have your sins forgiven. The Bible teaches that because of the cross, sin is conquered .. The power of death is conquered. What happened on the cross is the subject for another thread if you are interested, but because it is in the realm of God, when a person becomes a true follower of God through Christ, it's not as simple as saying "I believe". it involves placing one's entire life under His control. It means making him "Lord" of my life and my life no longing being my own. You see, it's not just me saying "jesus I believe you died on the cross for my sins, and becoming a Christian. It involves me understanding that I can never become acceptable to the Holy God in the natural state. Realising He knows that and has provided for the power of sin and death to be conquered forever in my life and give me the assurance of eternal life. In recognizing that, and in accepting it, I place my life totally in His hands. That is true Christianity. Uzebek.. you don't go to church to become a Christian.. you go to Jesus.. God come in the flesh. You are not coming to another God .. one of three Gods, you are coming to God Himself and admitting that you are a sinner, that no amount of obedience to any law will bring you to Him, but that He himself died and rose again, to destroy sin in your life. Once you have come to Him, he puts His Holy Spirit in you and confirms that you are His Child, and you KNOW you are forgiven. Then you choose to go to a church, any church, where there are other believers who can encourage you, help you and praise God with you. This is one very good question. It's one that oneday many Christians will need to answer before the throne of God. In the book of the revelation, where there is a great unnumbered throng worshipping God around the throne, it says there are people of every tribe, tongue and nation worshipping. There is no such thing as denomination or race in the Kingdom of God. It says "we are all one in Christ Jesus". All I can say is the reason why I am involved in missions is so that I can be part of the universal church. When our church meets together, we have indigenous Australians, New Zealanders, Tongans, Fijians, Indonesians, and Australians meeting together. This is how it should be. Do you remember I said that the true Christian makes Jesus, the God-man Lord of His life? ie he sees Jesus as His example and he gives up all claim to his own life? What you see and call Christian is not what the true Christian would call Christian. What you see is the western world, which both Islam and true Christianity rejects. The answer to this question from a true Christian perspective is the life of the believer MUST be adjusted according to religion. It says "The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Uzebek, do you remember in one of my posts recently I quoted from a jewish messianic source that said how the Torah (the Law) did not produce the relationship with God for the jews, but was a measure of that relationship? I am a Christian because I am in relationship with God, through Jesus Christ (God come in the flesh). I attend church and I worship church, but church attendance has nothing to do with my christian faith. HOWEVER the bible teaches me that I should meet together with other believers weekly. The bible teaches me I should pray without ceasing, the Bible teaches me I should give money to the poor. See, my relationship to God makes me want to do these things.. not as something I HAVE to do , but something I want to do as a measure of my appreciation for all He has done for me. Religion makes you worship ritual and law, faith leads you to worship God. Uzebek not any more. when I was younger, it was being frightened of death that led me to God through Jesus. I had nightmares about death and was terrified of death. terrified of judgement. Then I met Jesus and he took all my fear away. Now, death for me is something to look forward to. When I die, I will see my Lord face to face. I will hear him say "enter into the joy of my presence" and I will be with him for eternity. Death for me now, is no more than the end of life on this earth, and the beginning of life with God in the next. There is a lovely hymn we sing in church which has become one of my favourites. it says "No condemnation now I dread Jesus and all in Him is mine" You see, when I accepted that God had provided a way for me to know I have eternal life with Him all fear of death disappeared and I was left instead with a deep peace and such an intense love for God, that death is now something to look forward to. Yes, this is exactly what I was meaning. You see, if you are hungry for a relationship with God.. and we all are. Unless that hunger is satisfied you will keep searching until you find that hunger satisfied. If I try and find that hunger satisfied by attending church or calling myself a Christian, it won't be. Only one thing satisfies me.. and that is Jesus Himself. There is one very important word you have missing from this list of definitions.. and that is the word "relationship". You see, in true Christianity those things all exist too. But, you see Islam begins with the assumption you have to go find God. True Christianity begins with the assumption God came to find you. Islam is a religion of regulations to maintain acceptance with God Christianity begins and end with relationship being the basis of acceptance with God. You see, Islam equates religion and God and acceptance, Christianity says it's all of God. I can't do anything to make myself acceptable to God. So, how can Islam be true religion based on obedience when God demands we come to him by His terms not ours.. and He said "No one comes to the Father except through the Son." If Islam was truly calling people to obedience, wouldn't it be calling them to serve God in the way God wants? What Muhammad wanted in the very beginning of his search for God, was to find God. He couldn't find Him in the religions being practised around him. But just because heresies abounded in his part of the world, does not mean that truth was not there.. and that he missed the truth by only seeing the errors. I'm not sure which Christians you have been around.. but all praise is for the Father.. and we come to worship the Father, through the Son. Jesus taught us to pray "Our Father who is in heaven". When I pray, I pray to the Father, but in the Name of the Son. If it were not for the Son, I would not be able to approach the Father. See, Jesus is not just a prophet. To try and pray through a prophet would be like the Catholics using saints to pray to and that is something I can't do. The Bible teaches me, that I can go straight to the Father.. and because of my relationship to God the Son, he hears and answers my prayers, and I am encouraged to tell Him everything and ask anything of Him. You may be trying not to quote the Qur'an, but you can't help it, for your beliefs are based on the Qur'an and what it says. The same is true for Christians. See, if I came to you and tried to tell you something I believe, but it doesn't have the Scripture as it's basis, I'm only speaking to you from human perspective, not God's. My faith is based on the scriptures, and not on my own wisdom. The Bible says it, so I believe it. Yet, for the Christian, it's not just a matter of reading the Word of God and trying to make sense of it. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to me, helping me to understand all the things Jesus has said. I respectfully try and be careful which scriptures I use, but please never presume any discussion you or I have, will ever leave our the words we believe come from God Himself. May you know his peace Carol |
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