To validate Christianity, one must consider that the Bible attests to itself and its credibility by its own claim as seen in 2 Timothy 3:16-17~ “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Creation attests to a creator. Psalm 19:1~ “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Similarly, a building attests for the existence of an architect.
In terms of holding beliefs, Christians aren’t in the minority for everyone has them. For instance, claiming there is no God is a belief statement just like saying we’ve evolved over billions of years. When one takes a stance on the beginning of life, they too are demonstrating a belief system.
Christians validate their belief through eyewitness. In 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 Paul tells us: “and he(Jesus) was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Next, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, and finally he was seen by me, as though I were born abnormally late.” The commitment of the Christian faithful in the early church and throughout the ages as demonstrated through martyrdom attests to the validity of Christianity, as no one would be willing to stand for something and die for it if it wasn’t true.
Regarding the Christian Religion in terms of what makes it unique is the belief that a supreme being dwelt amongst His people from the beginning of recorded history going back to Adam and Eve in the Garden. He gave instructions and promises to His people throughout recorded scripture while meeting them personally. In due time, to fulfill prophecy and an eternal covenant, He manifested Himself as a man (Jesus) and accomplished what the first man, Adam couldn’t do which was perfect obedience. This made Him the suitable sacrificial offering to redeem God’s people as He suffered a brutal death on the cross.
Also, in terms of what makes Christianity unique is that, in whom we refer to as the Son of God, the Word, or as Jesus Himself said, the ‘I Am” rose from the dead. This can’t be said about Confucius, Buddha, Muhammed, John Smith, Charles Taze Russell, the Jehovah’s Witness’s founder, or any other cult founder. While, they all died, Jesus’s death and resurrection fulfilled what was said about Him from generations past, gave and does give people hope that not only will things get much, much better but that things are far better right now than we know.
I mentioned Adam’s failure to maintain perfect obedience which consequently brought sin into the world. I heard it said once and put simply, sin is missing the mark. We’ve all missed the mark at times. What about the student who desired a 4.0 upon graduation but got an 85% on a final exam leaving her with a B in one of her classes? What about the golfer who was on his way to victory but in his final put came up two inches from the pin? Then there’s the guy in a darts tournament whose last throw was three inches from bull eye.
While there is frustration and often devastation in all these examples, devastation truly comes when we realize that we’ve fallen short of God’s mark. Romans 3:23 declares, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” While that verse hits us where we’re home, Romans 6:23 declares the consequences for missing God’s mark, “For the wages of sin is death…” The implication of this verse is that without a perfect record, we cannot go before the Holy, Triune, Perfect and Sovereign God. However, I cannot leave out the good news. Romans 6:23 goes on to say, “…. the gift of God is eternal life with Jesus Christ.”
Now, why is Jesus sufficient to be God’s gift of eternal life? As said above, Jesus, unlike the first man, Adam kept a life of perfect obedience. While all of mankind fell with Adam, Jesus redeemed a people so that they would come before God just as holy and righteous as Him.
Some refer to the notion of man striking a balance between good and evil to merit salvation. We’re going to see why this isn’t in anyway realistic. On the one hand, God is completely holy and righteous whereas people, resulting from original sin are a complete disgrace. Two scriptures attest to this. One, Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Psalm 14:2-3 declares, “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” On our own, there is nothing we can do to tip the scales in our favor, not that we would even want to as these verses point to the hardness and wickedness of our hearts. However, as said, with Jesus’s eternal plan to redeem a people which was accomplished on the cross at Calvary, we see that redemption comes solely by Him. Jesus declares in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” In Colossians 1:13-14 Paul tells us, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
So, instead of looking at good and evil from the perspective of a balance that people can tip in their favor, I prefer to consider two sides of a fence. On one side, you have totally depraved man and on the other you have a Holy God with the fence demonstrating that sin cannot be in God’s presence. Thankfully, Jesus served as our intercessor by dying on the cross and still plays that role as He sits at the right hand of God the Father. As He does, He ministers to our hearts, reminding those who have saving faith, that they no longer bear the burden of their sin, and are free from anything separating them from God. 1 Timothy 2:5 speaks to Jesus’s ongoing ministry as He plays the role of our perpetual and everlasting High priest: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” So, not only is the Christian Faith unique in that key figure resurrected but that He continues to play the role of servant leader.
In His Image 