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Summing it Up

E

elijah23

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I’ve been trying to sum up what I believe in a few sentences, and this is what I came up with:

I believe that God is omnipotent and motivated entirely by love.
I believe in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, as found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
I believe that we will have eternal life if we believe in Jesus (John 3:16).

That seemed to say it all, for the moment.

If you had to sum it all up in three sentences, or four or five, or one or two, what would you say?
 
elijah23 said:
I’ve been trying to sum up what I believe in a few sentences, and this is what I came up with:

I believe that God is omnipotent and motivated entirely by love.
I believe in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, as found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
I believe that we will have eternal life if we believe in Jesus (John 3:16).

That seemed to say it all, for the moment.

If you had to sum it all up in three sentences, or four or five, or one or two, what would you say?
Click to expand...

Good, but I would say there needs to be something about sin separating us from God, requiring atonement.

Also, that Jesus was and is fully God.
 
Mike said:

Good, but I would say there needs to be something about sin separating us from God, requiring atonement.

Also, that Jesus was and is fully God.
Click to expand...
The part about obeying the teachings of Jesus sort of says we must refrain from sinning, doesn’t it?

The part about Jesus being fully God—we constantly seem to be arguing about the Trinity thing. I didn’t want to get into that.
 
elijah23 said:
Mike said:

Good, but I would say there needs to be something about sin separating us from God, requiring atonement.

Also, that Jesus was and is fully God.
Click to expand...
The part about obeying the teachings of Jesus sort of says we must refrain from sinning, doesn’t it?

The part about Jesus being fully God—we constantly seem to be arguing about the Trinity thing. I didn’t want to get into that.
Click to expand...

I was talking about the original sin. I think it needs to be understood that this is the point at which a Savior was needed.

About Jesus being God, I'm just saying this is how I would briefly sum up Christianity. I believe He was and is. You asked how we would sum up our faith, and that would be a part of my summary.

If someone else has another set of statements that sum it up for them, they're welcome to post them, but to elijah's point, let's keep this from a debate on the Trinity. Perhaps this thread can remain civil by posting our takes and not criticizing others.
 
I believe in reading the Bible (every day).
I believe in praying (every day).

How could Christ not exist, for He saved me? Belief doesn't enter into that equation, only the obedience to walk in His ways.
 
I believe we all have broken God's Law, and because of this we all deserve eternal damnation.
Through the selfless act of death, Jesus Christ became the lamb for all our sins and allowed His Father to bring about salvation for all who believe in Him.
Through faith we can be given salvation and God's very Spirit to guide our daily lives and to come closer to the One true God, Creator of all things.
 
To believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and being obedient to His teachings and commandments which is in the New Testament until the end.
 
Pard said:
I believe we all have broken God's Law, and because of this we all deserve eternal damnation.
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This seems harsh to me. If John Doe steals a loaf of bread, is he deserving of eternal damnation?
 
elijah23 said:
Pard said:
I believe we all have broken God's Law, and because of this we all deserve eternal damnation.
Click to expand...
This seems harsh to me. If John Doe steals a loaf of bread, is he deserving of eternal damnation?
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Christianity is harsh.

Man is entirely sinful by his very nature. Pard is right. All men well deserve damnation.

There can be no man whose only sin would be to steal a loaf of bread in hunger. Otherwise, I might agree with you.

That man will earlier have lusted, been prideful, lied. Check out the Sermon on the Mount. Who can measure up to God's standard of excellence? Even if he rejects God's morality for his own, a man will prove himself unable to adhere even to this lesser standard of "goodness"; whatever it might be.

The whole concept of Christianity is based on the fallen nature of man and his need for a mediator. Arguments to the contrary assume that there could be a sinless man - a man who doesn't need a mediator to reconcile him to God. It’s like saying “But what about a man who is basically good?…†Well, there is no man such as this:

Romans 3:

10As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
13"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Even a tiny infraction is plenty to bring about the full and terrible wrath of God:

James 2:

10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

You bet it's harsh, Bro...

-HisSheep
 
The Laws are harsh and they are an impossible thing to follow, and yet we MUST try. The Law is designed to bring us to our knees, to tear us of our selfish ways, and to make us wish we never existed. They are meant to be harsh and the only answer for breaking these Laws is eternal and complete damnation.

We deserve nothing because we sin. We deserve absolutely nothing. This is the cold, harsh reality of it.

The world is harsh, the secular one. It is full of Satan's trickery. It uses devilish tactics to feign pleasure, but is it pleasure at all? No, it is sin, and nothing less. This is the cold, harsh reality.

Christianity is the only even mildly soft thing in this world. It embraces us sinners and says "There, there, you will not be punished for you have shown love for Me. And still, Christianity is harsh. Ask any Christian in northern Africa, or the Middle East. It is a harsh life, we just are lucky enough to live in a land where the persecution of Christians is currently at a minimum. But don't let this fool you, Christianity is harsh and it is a life sentence. It confines you to a narrow path with many obstacles and crosses to bear. Yet it is the soft path because it comes with the buffer of God's love. That is why we go through with it, right? It's all about love for God and Hi love for us.

Still, the only place that is not harsh is Heaven.
 
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