Basic Christianity

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Joh 13:34-35 ESV) These are the words of our Lord and Savior,

In Part 1 we looked at the definition of the word holy: Something that is holy is something that is set apart for God’s purposes. We also looked at how that our call to holiness is a call to good works. We discussed how we are saved by grace and those good works don’t save

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in

Many people know the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3.  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold.  Then he made it a capital offense not to bow down and worship the image: Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1Co 15:26 ESV) Death is such an enemy.  The fear of death drives so many decisions in our lives.  We have safety standards, guidelines, practices to avoid injury and death.  We have medical systems, doctors, clinics, pharmacies, hospitals to avoid sickness and death.  We have fire departments

Sections of church history are like sections of the Old Testament.  While there are glorious moments, there are many periods where people just plain messed up!  In the previous post, Part of the Good News is Bad News, I include an appendix that lists 40 verses where the people “did evil in the sight of

In the previous post 03.8.2 The Sanitizing of the Writings of the Church Fathers I wrote about the sad state of affairs where the Roman Catholic Church made it the law of the land where Christians persecuted and even killed heretics and burned their writings.  As a result the record of what happened after the

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s president Rev. Mark G. Schroeder made the statement: “We rejoice that even in the Catholic Church (where we believe the gospel has been distorted) there are many Catholics who hold to a simple faith in Jesus Christ as their savior and who will ultimately be saved,”i I focus here of

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also

From the very first the church has baptized; And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for

In the first century, there wasn’t any New Testament. There weren’t any gospels, epistles, or book of Revelation. For gosh sakes, the original believers still went to Temple. But they lived together, ate together, and fellowshipped together around a simple faith based on what they had seen in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of

Our God is good.  He loves us. He rewards us.  He protects us.  And contrary to what some claim his rules are for our good.  David wrote this: The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  The precepts of the LORD are

…to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion (emphasis added) by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God: (Acts 1:3 ASV) Easter Sunday is the celebration of Jesus’ return to life. It is a glorious day in Christianity, everywhere celebrated

We discussed in The Importance of Praise; Hezekiah Was Allowed To Live, At Least in Part, Because He Chose To Praise about Hezekiah’s deliverance because he was a praiser.  We discussed in Speak Koine (Biblical) Greek 23 – The first part of the Lord’s Prayer is full of praise that when the Lord taught how

In the last post we talked about how important praise is, and that the prophet Isaiah said that man was made to praise God.  The story of Hezekiah gives a great insight into the power of praise, how God rewards them that praise him. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the

While theologians have struggled with the nuances of the meanings of individual words for millennia now, Christians have been worshiping God simply and praisefully all the while. When bishops were battling over adding the word “homoousios” (“of the same substance,” a nonbliblical greek word used to substantiate the deity of Christ at Nicea) believers were

I went to see the movie Letters To God with my wife the other day, and it demonstrated to me what the basic Christian message is, that the world can be hard and cruel, but with God in those trying times we can live joyfully. Spoiler Alert!  This paragraph gives key details about the movie. 

The core belief of Christianity centers around the resurrection. Jesus Himself declared that he was the resurrection. He was the resurrection because any that believe on him gains the resurrection of the just, is saved from wrath, and lives eternally with the Lord: Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he

Jesus wasn’t just a nice guy who did all kinds of incredible things for people. He wasn’t just a good teacher whose words you should consider before you decide for yourself what is right. He wasn’t just a prophet. Of course, he is the nicest guy, the greatest teacher, and the greatest prophet of all

Prayer is universal to most religions and is central to Christiainity. In more mainline denominations prayer appears more ritualized centering on the “the Lord’s Prayer”, and pre-written orations compared to the composed on the fly, free flowing petitions of Pentecostal and Bible centered churches. Nevertheless faithful followers in groups from Assemblies of God to Baptists

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Mat 4:10 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13 in this response to the devil’s attempt to get Jesus to worship the devil. This speaks to the high importance of the worship

Salvation is the most basic truth about Christianity. Salvation centers on what Jesus Christ did for all men. Being a sinless man, he substituted as payment for your sin and mine. That’s good news. Now the Catholic Church teaches that if you die with a mortal sin on your soul you can go to hell,