The Truth of Christianity

Andrew Riddle

Christian Worldview

The Truth of Christianity

        How do we know what to believe or what is truth? There is so much in this world that tries to explain why things happen. So many people try to explain or disprove the existence of God or the incredibility of Christianity. There are hundreds of different philosophies and belief systems  that claim to be truth floating around. So on what basis do we claim that Christianity is the truth? Christianity is truth because it is set apart from religion.

        Christianity is the truth because man did not make it. It was made and inspired by the Son of God. Christianity is built off of Jesus Christ and his principals. Anything that is in the realm of spirituality aside from Christianity is considered religion. This is why religion is so harmful. It is a human belief system. Christianity is a lifestyle and a relationship. To be a Christian it means to be Christ like. That means to imitate Jesus. How dare us put the label of religion on that. James 1:26 says, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” I have seen religion do more harm then good and cause separation in the Church. Christ calls us to be one. Psalms 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brother to dwell together in unity!” The only way the whole church can be in unity as one is if the whole church has it’s eyes on the same thing. And that is Jesus Christ.

        So why is this all relevant to the basis that we claim Christianity to be truth? Because one must first understand that Christianity is set apart. This is so that we can establish why Christianity is the truth. But what exactly makes Christianity different or set apart form other religions?

        Number one; works cannot make us right with God. Many religions believe that if one does enough good works, they will receive salvation and go to whatever after life corresponds with that religion. There is no such thing as man rising up from sin by his own goodness to achieve acceptance from God. There is a poem by which the author is unknown, but it goes like this, He came to my desk with a quivering lip,  the lesson was done.  “Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?  I’ve spoiled this one.” I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one all unspotted.  And into his tired heart I cried,  “Do better now, my child.” I went came to the throne with a trembling heart;  the day was done.  “Have you a new day for me, dear Master?  I’ve spoiled this one.” He took my day, all soiled and blotted and gave me a new one all unspotted.  And into my tired heart he cried,  “Do better now, my child.” This poem paints a beautiful picture of forgiveness. Christ is the one who forgave our sin and continued to seek us. We had to do nothing but accept it. No doing a certain amount of “good deeds” to outweigh the “bad deeds”.  We disobeyed God and sinned against him so he sent his only Son do die on the cross for our sins so that we my be forgiven and walk in new life. Works cannot make us right with God, only Jesus can.

Number two; Christianity has a personal God who seeks sinners aside form other religions where a select few are accepted by a god after they did something or a certain amount of something. God sough us, we did absolutely nothing. No other religion values humanity the way Christ does. Humans are valued as being justified before God even though we sinned against him and put Jesus on the cross. Romans 5:18 says, “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” The mere fact that humans were made by the very hands of God makes humans a valued being. But why is this important for the claim that Christianity is the truth? Ravi Zacharias said this in one of his lectures. “I will tell you this; outside of Christ you will have a very hard time giving me a definition of essential human dignity.” Outside of Christianity a person’s value is found in worldly things. A person’s value in the world comes from the accomplishments they have done or where they stand in the social food chain. Christ loves me and that is who I am. So when a person becomes a Christian they find their real identity, which is in Christ. They learn that they are justified despite all they have done. Christianity is not only the truth but also shows us the truth about whom we are. Galatians 3:26-28 says, “ 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, and there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  

Number three; the most predominate point that sets Christianity apart from other religions is the person of who Jesus Christ was. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus came down from heaven to die on the cross to take the sins of the world and free captives, and he did it all unconditionally and out of love. If we look at the leaders from religions, they are far different from Jesus. If you took Buddha out of Buddhism, the core doctrine still remains. If you take Muhammad out of Islam, the core doctrine still remains. If you take Jesus out of Christianity, nothing will remain. This is evidence that Christianity is true. The reason why is because it was not a belief system man crated like Islam or Buddhism. Christianity was divinely inspired because Jesus is the Son of God.  

        These are some of the reasons as to why Christianity is set apart or different from other religions. Christianity at its roots is rock solid. They are unshakable and that is exactly how God intended it to be. The over all reason is because it was not man made.

        Another way of showing the truth of Christianity is by looking at those who were radical Christians that went before us. These people were some of the first people to follow Christ and by definition, were the first to be Christians. So the best place to start would be the disciples. Eleven of the twelve disciples died with the name of Jesus on their lips. Josh McDowell raises a very interesting point. This is what he said, ” I can trust the apostles’ testimonies because eleven of those men died martyrs’ deaths because they stood solid for two truths: Christ’s deity and his resurrection. These men were tortured and flogged, and most finally faced death by some of the cruelest methods then known. The perspective I often hear is, “Well, those men died for a lie. Many people have done that. So what does it prove?” Yes, many people have died for a lie, but they did so believing it was the truth. If the Resurrection had not happened, obviously the disciples would have known it. Therefore, they would not only have died for a lie—here’s the catch—but they would have known it was a lie. It would be hard to find a group of men anywhere in history who would die for a lie if they knew it was a lie.