Christian Faith: The Early Creed The Christian faith is founded on Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

Before the New Testament gospels were even written, the early Christian leaders declared their belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus through a statement of belief known as a creed. The earliest record of the Christian creed is presented by Paul and found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. Christian Faith: Importance of the Early Record for the Creed One of the biggest arguments against the Christian faith is that the resurrection story is a myth that developed over as much as a century after Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross. It was originally thought that the gospel accounts were written as much as 100 years after Jesus walked the earth. Recent scholarship in manuscript reliability and textual criticism now places the gospels at 30 to 50 years after Jesus. Why is the above passage so important? Because Biblical scholars, using the historical records of Paul and his early travels to Damascus and Jerusalem, place the above scripture at about 35 A.D., just 3 to 5 years after the death of Jesus Christ. This is dramatic, because those same scholars would hold that this basic creed for the Christian faith developed far too quickly for a myth to develop and distort the historical record of the resurrection. Christian Faith: Jesus Christ and His Resurrection Since the foundation of the Christian Faith is Jesus Christ and His resurrection, then the historical veracity of His life, death and resurrection are tantamount. For as Paul declared later in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:14-17): And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Although the Christian faith is not based purely on evidence, it is definitely supported by evidence. Faith is not about turning off the brain and merely relying on the heart, or squashing reason in favor of emotion. No, Christian faith is about seeking and knowing Jesus Christ with all facets of the human character. Its about loving Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Hello saint of God, Praise be to our Most High God Yahweh and to the Son of God Jesus. Glory and Honor be to Him and Him alone. Its another blog discussing Christian issues on light of Word of God. Today I will be dealing with foundation doctrines of Christian faith. As the title suggests, if you don't believe them, then know that you are not even a Christian. Why? Simple, if you deny the presence of foundation, then you deny existence of a house also. So if you deny these doctrines, then know you that Jesus doesn't know you! " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Mat 7:21-23 ) So if Jesus said not all saying to Him Lord shall enter into heaven then we must be serious on what we believe. Note that prophesying and casting demons,

and miracles are not even foundational but God's bonuses to believers. This Part will deal with foundation doctrines that damn someone to lake of fire. 1. EXISTENCE OF TRUE GOD Is it ridiculous to say that? Yes some can doubt existence of God and still call hi/herself Christian. The Bible throughout mentions God and claim to be the word of God, which is true. This first part consist two parts: Belief in true God and belief in mind God

BELIEF IN TRUE GOD

It is absurd for somebody who do not believe in God and still claim to be Christian. There are NO christian atheist. The Bible calls them fools. " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.... "(Psalm 14:1). This is verbal denial of existence of God. Another kind of denial is confessing by mouth but deny by your very actions: "And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. " (2Kings 1:15-16) Here Yahweh is condemning king Ahaziah for inquiring to false gods because he saw no God in Israel. Since we know that gods are not God, then this is denial the existence of God and aknowledgement of gods. I talk about monotheism and not polytheism. Any contact with familiar spirits, astrologers, witches, holistic health and all same stuffs is total denial in existence of God of Christianity. So Any denial of God makes you non-christian, and condemns you to hell

MIND MADE gods

The problem of having so many fake Christians and too many lukewarm christians is due to mind made gods. One can say "my god will not send people to hell" while another says "my god does not mind how I wear, just my heart" Look all have created their little gods who will like what they want them to like! So this mind made gods are your Idol, and NO idolater will see the kingdom of God: " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God "(1Cor 6:9-10 ) In summary: Believing in any other god(s), beside Yahweh (Jehovah) God, whether that god be self within, Mary the queen of heaven, Allah, TV, Computer, games, Shiva, Brahma.... apart from true Christian God, is condemned and will send you to hell. Bible permits worship of One God, Yahweh! True Christian God exists in three different persons, yet ONE God. The simplest passage explaining this concept, popular by the name trinity, is 1John 5:7

" For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. " (1Jn 5:7 ) Any belief, apart from Triune God disqualifies you from Christianity and groups you to heretical gods, some already mention above. 2. The Bible is the Word of God Any Christian that denies inerrant of scriptures, is condemned to hell. Since the bible is written Word of God himself, then denial of single jot disqualifies you from being Christian. " For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" ( 2Pe 1:21 ). Any alleged error in the bible is accusing Holy Spirit of a lie and inaccuracy and hence dethroning Him from His deity. This is blasphemy to God and disqualifies you from being Christian. Also the same applies to any Christian that tries to usurp the Authority of scripture. This includes "twisting them" to fit your position, or just disobey them. If scripture restricts, let say abortion, or fornication: Then encouraging these acts will be putting yourself above the word of God and hence equating with Him. That will condemn you to hell. Jesus said: " If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) So if you hate Jesus, you will NOT keep his commandment, and that disqualifies you from being Christian 3. JESUS CHRIST Any Man who call him/herself christian must believe that Jesus is God Almighty in flesh. Any dethroning of Jesus signifies that you are NOT a christian. Jesus wa full and ONLY perfect man, yet was God Almighty. Our Ministry website (coming soon), will discuss this in depth, but Christian must believe this for him to be christian. " I and my Father are one. " (Joh 10:30). There is no question that, the Father is God. If Jesus and the Father are one, then Jesus is God. More proof of Jesus' Deity: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. " (Joh 1:1, 14) " And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1Tim 3:16) 4. SALVATION AND MEDIATION To be Christian, means to reconcile with God. Man is naturally born enemy of God and slave of the devil. Sin committed by Man and Woman at Eden, sold all mankind to the devil. That's why non Christians have no true peace and purpose and are afraid of death. Since Christianity is the way of God reaching and saving human race, we cannot group it with any other religion, man's way to reach God.

Okay Christians are Children of Kingdom. Any Christian or one who wants to be Christian must fulfill the conditions set by God of the universe: " Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God " (John 3:3 ) NO body is Christian (Child of the Kingdom of God) UNLESS he/she is born again. If someone claim to be Christian but is not born again then Jesus doesn't know him/her. Being born again is receiving God's gift of salvation from His coming wrath. When you receive this gift, then you become Christian and you are assured of going to heaven when you die. How do somebody becomes a Christian? The bible is very clear on the matter: " Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. " (Act 2:37-38) It means confessing that you are sinner according to God's standards and you deserve hell, but you receive forgiveness through death of Jesus in your place, His bodily resurrection and Ascension. Then you will be saved and behold you are a Christian! Any Christian, must believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus alone. The reformers loved to use the term "sola fide (by faith alone)". Any belief out of this will mark a cult! Hereby we know that Mormons, Catholicism, Jehova's witnesses, all other preaching salvation apart from faith in finished work of Jesus are NOT christians. " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. " (Eph 2:8-9) " That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom 10:9) On the issue of Mediation the Bible is very clear: " For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1Tim 2:5 ). This verse proves catholicism Mary's co-mediatrix a doctrine of devils. 5. HOLINESS OF GOD AND SANCTIFICATION OF MAN Our God is Holy God, and cannot allow sin in heaven. The work of Jesus was our substitute. He took our sins and imparted to us the righteousness of God. That is why Christians are God's saints. What this implies? The meaning of this is well expressed here: " For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:11-14 ) The work of Grace of God is: 1. Bring salvation - Already discussed

2. Sanctifying us (cleanse us and set us apart for God) by teaching us how to deny ungodliness, worldly lusts and teaches us to live sobely in this present world, while we are waiting for our blessed hope: glorious appearing of our GREAT GOD and OUR SAVIOUR, Jesus The same context tells us that Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from iniquities and purify us to make us peculiar (his special people), who are zealous of good works. So somebody is NOT becoming Christian by good works but rather CHRIT JESUS works in him through SPIRIT OF GRACE to teach him godliness life and make him zealous of good works. So if you accept saving work of Grace, you have to accept teaching work of the same Grace of God. many becomes rebellion to teaching Grace through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Grace: " For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? " (Heb 10:26-29) What conclusion one can make from this? It is clear that anyone claim to be Christian MUST believe and practice these foundational doctrines of Christian Faith. If you ar a Christian, Check yourself if you fulfill these criteria. These God given standards are for Christians Finally one can ask "Who are Christians and where did term came from?" The Bibel Answers: " 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 11:26 ) Grace of God and Love of the Father and the fellowship of blessed Holy Spirit be with you all

REFERENCE http://www.allaboutreligion.org/christian-faith.htm

Foundations of the Christian faith: a comprehensive & readable theology

By James Montgomery Boice