The Simplicity of Christianity

 

"The Second Mile" (used only with Michael Belk's permission

"I question the simplicity of the Christian invitation to accept the gift of salvation; 'Just accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior' and you will have it all - redemption from sin and a seat in Heaven."

(That's a quote from a devotional by Michael Belk found in YouVersion. I first met Belk through his photographs, now he has a fuller site as he shares his faith and invites us to "Come Along for Journeys with the Messiah.")

The person being quoted is absolutely is right - there is a simple answer to the question:

Then he led them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved---you and your family." (Acts 16:30-31 GNB)

- and Belk is right in saying it's a bit wrong. Living as a follower of Christ is not simple.

The speaker reworded John 3:16’s simplicity without the “believeth in him,” which Paul basically repeated in Acts 16:30. So let’s take a look at how those believe in words impact the simplicity. 

Believing in Jesus requires believing what He said about Himself.  

Believing in Jesus requires we keep God’s commandments, which include loving God and our neighbors.

Believing in Jesus means we understand that we will break some commandments. We also need to understand how/why we receive forgiveness for doing so. 

If we believe what Jesus says about Himself, He is God. Just this month I used a scripture example where religious leaders condemned Jesus:

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33 KJV)

Yet many today will tell us that Jesus did not mean that He was God, ignoring a verse just above that one:

I and my Father are one. (John 10:30 KJV)

Paul also quoted scripture he knew to confirm who Jesus was:

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. (Isaiah 44:6 KJV)

But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. (1 Corinthians 8:6 KJV)

There are other such scriptures, but this would be way too long to read if I copied many more, so let's move on to keeping God's commandments. Begin with my favorite:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. (John 14:23-24 KJV)

Believing in Jesus means understanding what God wants us to do besides believing He exists and following His commandments:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

The primary reward is being with God for eternity - which brings us back to John 3:16 and preceeding verses:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14-16 KJV)

Jesus was not a Christian. We who strive to follow His example were first called Christians in one city after spending a year spreading the good news that Jesus was born, preached the Word of God, died for the sins of others, and rose on the third day to show mankind what God was and could do.

Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26 KJV)

Jesus came to change the lives of individuals. His life showed what we should do about governments, and there was never a move to overthrow anyone - except greedy money changers who turned our Father's house into a den of thieves. 

A house of prayer. That's pretty simple, too. We are to talk to God, read His word, follow His commandments. They are simple, too. Love God and love our fellowman. Yet we fail at that simplicity, and God still loves us. We all are coming up short on any measurement against God's plan for us, but God is able to forgive a repentant soul

But God has shown us how much he loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! (Romans 5:8-9 GNB)

What makes all that simplicity difficult is an enemy promising us mirror images of God's reality. Here's Peter's example and encouragemenet:

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:7-11 KJV)

Walking With God

 

Dog Walk, Bandon, Oregon

As I looked for a graphic to fit today’s subject, I looked at pages and pages in Commons, this one spoke to me before I read the caption and noticed the two dogs. Sometimes a walk alone does give us time to reflect upon our relationship with God.

The theme for this post came to me as I was dozing off. I used my Echo to tell Alexa to remind me in the morning about those who walked with God. Ridiculous, of course, if this was to be the theme, God Himself would remind me.

I do spend time at night and in the morning with God, even before considering what I might get from His word. At times, my conscience speaks of things that I do need to discuss with Him. I do not wish to hide as Adam and Eve did:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:6-8 KJV)

I cannot explain “the voice of the Lord God,” but I understand why Adam and his wife would hide themselves. That much I’ve felt as regrets were on my mind. Regrets from my own actions. When I do think of voice, I think of words, which brings to mind a verse I’ve used often:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2 KJV)

Two verses mention another man walking with God:

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24 KJV)

Those are all the verses about Enoch. We have no biblical information about his life, except he begat Methuselah, and was the grandfather of Noah. We do know from two of the verses that Enoch walked with God.

While we don’t know about Enoch’s father Jared, nor his son Methuselah, but the Bible does tell us about Noah:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9 KJV)

In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we learn a bit more of Enoch:

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5 KJV)

We also learn that God expects us to come to Him believing:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

The chapter has many verses that begin “By faith,” then names a person who lived his faith in God. In Hebrews 11:4 we find that those included in the Old Testament as being righteous have God, through His inspired word giving testimony to their righteousness, and though they are dead, they still testify about God’s closeness in their lives.

The book of Micah is also inspired by God, and I love this verse:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

We may not be judged by, but we are certainly known by the people we have in our lives. Outside of family, we identify them as “My friend . . .” and we testify to the times we spend with them, where we go, what we do, and the pleasure it gives us. This Friday I’ll have lunch with a lady I met at our church. She lives in the northwest corner of another state, but when we comes, I will enjoy her company and mention to others that we had lunch. That’s a testimony to our friendship.

I do the same with our God. Through the workings of the Holy Spirit He provided as our Comforter when Jesus ascended, I do walk with His word as a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105) and I use His word that I might not sin. (Psalm 119:11.)

Psalm 199 is an awesome study on its own. No other verse/book in the Bible was written as an acrostic poem. For each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet there are eight verses. With so much available to read, there is no end to the opportunities to seek God through His word. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to end a blog, though! There are good times walking through God’s word with Him.

Americans and Christianity

 

Wikipedia Commons: Child Jesus

“Christianity Today” website had an online article that caught my attention. It had to do with whether Jesus was the Son of God.  It begins:

Christmas is a celebration of a real event, according to most Americans. Just don’t expect them to know exactly why Jesus was born and came to earth.

Personally, I don't know why anyone would be a member of a church purporting to be "Christian" without knowing who Jesus Christ claimed to be. If such a person could not accept that He was the Son of God, why belong to a church worshipping Him as such. Yet, according to the Christianity Today (CT) survey, 9 out of 10 Americans will celebrate Christmas, while not nearly that 90% are members of a Christian church, and an even smaller percentage believe Jesus is the Son of God.

Let me be clear on one point. I believe that Jesus is both the Son of God and is God, too. I know, that doesn't sound possible, but His disciple John wrote an explanation:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1-3 KJV)

There are additional verses following this, but that first verse in John is just as important as Genesis 1:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

In an earlier blog I stated that when a person can believe both Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, they would have no trouble accepting Jesus as the Son of God.

You see, we do not worship three different gods. Christianity is a monotheistic religion worshipping one God, described in the Hebrew Shema:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)

When we read the story of Abraham willing to trust God sufficiently that he would physically sacrifice his own son Isaac, we read a verse very important to me:

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8 KJV)

Jesus is God in human form. Why else would Jesus say:

I and my Father are one. (John 10:30 KJV)

The Jewish religious leaders believed He said it and tried to kill Him:

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33 KJV)

That's my take. I'd love for you to comment with yours. Then we can compare ours against what CT said:

A new study from Lifeway Research finds close to 3 in 4 Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Even more say Jesus is the son of God the Father, but less than half believe Jesus existed prior to being born on that first Christmas.

CT continues with percentages from the Lifeway Research study released in 2022:

90% of Americans will celebrate Christmas;
72% say Jesus was born in Bethlehem two millennia ago;
80% say Jesus was the Son of God the Father;
41% say God's son existed before Jesus was born.

The body containing Jesus' mind, spirit, and soul was born 2,000 years ago. On that I agree wholeheartedly, but my God, the Father Jesus exampled us in prayer, is not confined by time as we are:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8 KJV)

I find it sad that just over 40% of those who celebrate Christmas do not understand the biblical reason for His birth, as stated in the CT article:

". . .  some Americans do not connect the Jesus born in Bethlehem with the Messiah who already existed as God now coming in the flesh. . . . Despite widespread belief that Jesus really came to earth as a baby, there is far less familiarity with why Jesus said He came."

I suggest getting a digital King James Version and search the phrase "I am come" to see what Jesus Himself said why He came. Also do a search for all the verses containing the words: no man Father me, to find the seven verses where Jesus spoke of He and His Father. Also check Luke 19:10 and John 14:6.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
(Luke 19:10 KJV)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 KJV)

What we will celebrate during Christmas is a birth prophesied for centuries, fulfilled. After that, read the rest of the story.