Christianity 101

I was watching one of those entertainment magazine shows and they had a celebrity guest host on the show who is the ex-wife of a comedian. The ex-wife, who is a business woman in her own rite, was asked how everything was going and she proceeded to talk about her faith in God along with how she uses crystals and burns sage and I thought, it’s time for a blog post about basic Christianity. lol

Now, there is real Christianity and there is peoples own brand of Christianity. So how do you determine, which is which? Well by reading and studying the Word of God. I am saddened by people who profess Christianity and don’t have a clue. So let’s get back to the basics. Here are a few of the basics of the faith.

First, John 3:16 is clear. God loved the World so he gave his son to die for the sins of the Word and whoever accepts that will have everlasting life. Romans 10:9-10 is about confessing with your mouth that you believe and receive that salvation and when you do you are saved.

Mankind needed a redeemer; a Savior. And that is why God gave his son. Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins. That pretty much is Christianity in a nutshell. Man was separated from God and needed to be reconciled and God came up with the plan to sacrifice His son for the salvation of mankind.

So after you accept Him here are a few important steps to growth in your newfound faith.

1. One of the next steps which many people never get to is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is receiving the power of God in your life. Some segments of Christianity do not believe in this, but they are missing out. It’s a separate experience apart from accepting Jesus as your Savior. This is why in Acts 19, 1-2 Paul asked some disciples of the faith if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed. It is made clear that this is a separate experience. Receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues makes all the difference after you receive Christ.
2. You need to develop a prayer and devotional life and it needs to expand and grow. You should be praying longer than 15 minutes a day if you have been saved 20 years. It’s a challenge, but you have to work on having a devotional life with God
3. You have to read and study your Bible. This may include  your own personal study, but you can also go to Bible School and go to Bible study, but you must get into your Bible to learn the basics. If you don’t you will be using crystals and burning sage and consulting mediums. You’ll be doing those things because you don’t know the Word of God.
4. You need to go to church. The Bible is clear about Church attendance. You should not forsake the assembly of God. I don’t care who you are. You can tell when people have been out of church for long periods of time. And I means faithful attendance and commitment. But in the case of you not being able to get there (due to sickness or geography), you can get online and attend church just like you are a member. But when at all possible, GO to the house of the Lord. The anointing flows from the head down and you need to be there for that impartation
5. Once you become a Christian, eventually, your relationships will change. All of my close friends are saved. I can talk to and pray with any of my friends. Do I believe you can be friends with an unbeliever. Yes, but there are limitations. You cannot be closely yoked with unbelievers. And your goal with any friend who is an unbeliever is to win them to Christ.
6. Your faith should eventually affect your lifestyle. I see so many people living in sin. Living in sin, refusing to marry and fitting into the World and they think God is pleased. He is not. Eventually, when you get to know God, he infiltrates your lifestyle. He should be able to make you give up fornication, drinking, smoking, lying, stealing etc. Your lifestyle has to change and if it doesn’t you should examine yourself and see if your really know him. Now I am not talking about struggling with sin issues, but eventually we should overcome. Some issues take longer than others, but you have to at least acknowledge that it needs to change.
7. Finally, put God first. Not your career, not your relationships, not your family, but God must be first. Not saying those things are not important, but God must have first place in your life to the point that He can dictate to you what you can and cannot due. And what you should and should not do. Well doesn’t that make me a robot? No it does not. It’s makes you a disciple. It’s makes you a follower of Jesus Christ!