What is Christianity?

To accurately tell the story of Christianity, one has to travel back to the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, including the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Because God is our Creator, we are accountable to Him. When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, they fell, and because God had put His creation under their control, all of creation fell with them. All the problems in the world including sickness and death, accident and tragedy, sadness and depression, loneliness and heartache, are ultimately caused by sin. The greatest tragedy resulting from sin was the spiritual death of Adam and Eve, and therefore the separation of the human race from perfect fellowship with God. God is perfectly holy and cannot abide sin. God is absolutely just and cannot overlook sin. But God is also completely loving and merciful and could not leave mankind without a remedy for sin. Do you see the problem? Sin is so awful that we are not able to make up for it ourselves. We can't work our way out of it. We could never do enough good deeds to outweigh it. We can never endure enough punishment to pay for it. What was God to do?

He did the only thing He could do. He gave Himself in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer the penalty for our sin, so that our slate is clean. Our debt is paid. Our sin has been fully punished - and Jesus took that punishment upon Himself, even though He never sinned.

Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. He was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures. This is called the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

It is good news because all who repent or turn from their sin and accept what Jesus did for them on the cross as payment due on their account are saved from the penalty of sin, which is eternity in hell. When you accept the gospel of Jesus Christ as applying directly to you, God does not only wipe out your sin, He wipes out the very record of the debt you owed. Now a holy God can look at you through the cross and see the righteousness of His Son. Now a just God can declare you justified. But God does not stop there. At the very moment that you believe the gospel of your salvation, God seals you with the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and guarantees that what God has started will be completed. We are saved from hell and guaranteed eternal life in heaven.

This process that takes place when one believes the gospel from the heart is an act of God, and cannot be undone. That is why Jesus can truthfully say, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:37-40)."

Once a person has been sealed by the Holy Spirit, that person is "in Christ." We have the Spirit of Christ. We who were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins are made alive by God through Christ. We become new creations in Christ. We are born into the family of God and become brothers and sisters with Jesus.

Christianity is not simply a way that people choose to live until they choose some other way. Christianity is a total conversion, a complete transformation, that changes not only our standing before God, but also our very nature. This is what separates Christianity from all other religions. When one is born into Christ, one is permanently restored to right relationship with God and sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit as proof of that restoration.

Of course, when you are changed by God, you are changed in many ways. One way is that you will now want to live the way God wants you to live. We call the way we live our "walk." It is the desire of every Christian to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which God has called us. Some people think this means following a bunch of rules; do this; don't do that; and that Christians are going through life in misery, burdened by trying to keep impossible standards. Some churches are guilty of reinforcing these ideas. But real Christianity is not miserable at all. The real Christian life is full of love, joy, peace, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is the fruit of a Spirit filled life. Obviously, we have a lot to learn, so we become disciples, or students, of Christ.  We study the Bible which is God's word. We pray, or talk to God and stay close to Him. We receive instruction from the Holy Spirit and He leads us and guides us. We walk and talk with Jesus who never leaves us. And we do all these things in fellowship with other Christians. Together we make up the church, which is the body of Christ.

As a church, we worship God together, minister to each other, teach and learn together, rejoice and cry together, pray for each other, and enjoy Christian fellowship together. And don't forget the pot luck dinners! As one body, we enjoy a spiritual bond that does not exist anywhere else in human experience. We form a community of folks who genuinely care for each other.

All of this is Christianity. It is a lifelong journey that begins the day you accept Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, Savior, Lord, and God.

At Maple Hill Community Congregational Church, we welcome you to come and begin that journey with us.

Let's talk. I would love to meet you, give you a Bible, and help you get started on life's greatest adventure. See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Blessings,

Pastor John Wallace