Seven Important Things to Remember about the Christian Faith  
By Dave Redick

"...God, our Creator, has let us know what He is like and what He wants us to do. He has not left us to guess or to stumble around in the darkness. He has not told us everything there is to know but He has told us all we need to know in order to seek Him and find Him and have a relationship with Him. He has not left us to speculate or guess about the important things of life. God has spoken to man."

I’d like to dedicate the following two stories to those of us who struggle to remember things…

A very absent minded professor was having breakfast with his family. His wife said to him, "Now, remember. This is the day we move. When you come home, go to the new house and not this one." All day he knew there was something he was supposed to remember, but the professor just couldn't recall what it was. He went home after class, and the house was empty.

"Oh yes, we moved. I wonder where we moved to."

He saw some children playing in the yard. He said to one little boy, "Do you know the people who used to live here?"

The boy said, "Yes, sir."

He said, "Do you know where they moved?"

The little boy replied, "Mother said you would forget."(1)

A preacher shared this one in a sermon:

Because the groom was an amateur golf champion, I had decided to use a golf illustration - complete with golf ball - in the wedding meditation. I recruited the best man to bring a golf ball and hand it to me at the appropriate time in the ceremony.

The following day as the processional began, I asked the best man if he had remembered the ball. Smiling, he reached into his pocket. Then his expression suddenly changed. Yes, he'd remembered the golf ball, but he'd forgotten to bring the bride's ring.(2)

Forgetting a bride’s ring is a serious thing. I know. I’ve done weddings where the location of the bride’s ring was momentarily in jeopardy.

It is probably even worse to forget where you live and who your children are.

Yet there is something even more serious than forgetting these things and that is forgetting the fundamental characteristics of the Christian faith that is supposed to save us.

Yet it is happening. Because the word of God isn’t regularly preached in many places, people are forgetting the very basic characteristics of the faith. As a result, many view Christianity as just another item on a rather large menu of competing religions.

It is fun and exciting to hear about all of the latest and greatest. It’s gratifying to be on the cutting edge. But it is also necessary on a regular basis for us to review the basics, lest we forget them.

I try not to do our reviewing all at once, but rather to toss in a message on the fundamentals from time to time just to keep us sharp.

That is what we’ll do in this message which I’m calling Seven Important Things to Remember about the Christian Faith. There are additional characteristics that we could mention. These will suffice due to our limited time.

The first thing to remember is that:

What I mean is that God, our Creator, has let us know what He is like and what He wants us to do. He has not left us to guess or to stumble around in the darkness. He has not told us everything there is to know(3) but He has told us all we need to know in order to seek Him and find Him and have a relationship with Him.(4) He has not left us to speculate or guess about the important things of life. God has spoken to man.(5) He has revealed Himself in a way that we can understand, using the language of man. The written word of God, the Bible, is His communication. It was written by special men that God chose called prophets.(6) He has spoken to us through the writings of these prophets. All that we can know for sure about Him while we are on this earth is there - open, available, and waiting to be learned, accessible to all those willing to study it.

"All Scripture is inspired by God," wrote Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

And, lest we somehow get confused between the revelation and the Revelator, He has revealed himself in a very special way by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, the very embodiment of that Word of God.(7)

John the apostle said, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."(8)

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews wrote, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."

This concept of a written revelation stands in sharp contrast to much of man’s religion today, many cases in which individuals are left to try to ascertain truth by whatever inner prompting they may sense or imagine.

The Christian faith is a revealed faith.

Some religions are national, that is, they are only for people of one nationality. In these, religion is bound up in racial or ethnic identity and because of this, the adherents are non-proselytical. They don't reach out beyond the limits of their special group. Said in Christian terms, they don't evangelize.

Even the Jewish faith, the religion of the Old Testament, was for the most part a religion of only one nation. Having said that, however, we know that provisions were made for proselytizing under Judaism - the ultimate example found in the coming of the Messiah, which brought Christianity to the world.

In contrast to the national religions, the Christian faith is universal. It is supposed to go to all nations and all people of every tribe and tongue. Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…."(9) He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…."(10) The Christian faith is intended for all nations, for all people, and for all cultures. Peter said in Acts 10:34-35, "…God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him."

The Christian faith is a universal faith.

The national religions we just mentioned are entered by physical birth. Their characteristics are seen externally by racial resemblance like hair color and facial features. And, while they demand external conformity, many of them do not demand a new heart and inner conformity. In contrast, Christianity is a spiritual faith. It demands that we be "born again," that is, reborn spiritually. Jesus said "You must be born again…"(11) The first birth (which is physical) is not enough. He spoke of being "born of water and the spirit."(12) Bible writers speak of renewing the "inner man."(13) Concern is not merely for the external but also for the heart. "God is spirit," wrote John the Apostle, "and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."(14) Outward rituals, mindless chanting, heartless prayers, and even outward conformity to religious norms, are simply not sufficient. Nor is bowing to artifacts, relics, statues, or shrines. In the Christian faith, until the heart is changed, man is not acceptable to God. Herein lies the tremendous power of the Christian faith for change and for good. But that force for societal change is incidental to the real change that happens to those who are converted to Christ because they are converted from the inside out, a change involving the total person.

The Christian faith is a spiritual faith.

Christianity has often been misrepresented in this area. Many today, even those who claim the Name of Christ, have tried to reduce the Christian faith to a philosophy, putting stress on its social and ethical value. While the teaching of Christ surely contains an excellent ethic, it is far more than this. Jesus Christ did not come to earth merely to reform society. He was not a philosopher who came to take his place among other great and wise men of renown. Jesus Christ came for one purpose - to save sinners.

He said it Himself: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."(15) Paul the Apostle said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."(16) The Bible says that all of us have sinned(17) and that the penalty for sin is death.(18) Man cannot save himself because he has only one life to give and that was mortgaged the very first time he did wrong. Thus he is helpless in the presence of a holy God, in dire straits and in desperate need. As the prophet Isaiah cried out when he realized he was standing in the presence of Almighty God, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."(19)

It was to resolve the problem of man’s sin that Jesus came to earth. While the Christian faith has done much for society, it has done so by changing the lives of those it has saved from sin. While many have forgotten that man is accountable to his Creator for his wrongdoing, this fundamental characteristic remains the same: The Christian faith is a saving faith.

"All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth,"(20) Jesus said. Because He has all authority, there can be none leftover for anyone else. That means several things.

First, it means that only those He has authorized to speak with His authority may do so, and that is limited to His original twelve apostles, the Apostle Paul, and the several prophets who wrote the New Testament. Any other claims to authority from God are fraudulent. Any other claimants to this authority are frauds and usurpers.

It also means that we do not have the right to make up our own religious teachings. We must submit to Christ and His authority alone. "Anyone who goes too far," wrote John the Apostle, "and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God."(21) "In vain do they worship me," Jesus said, "teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."(22)

"This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased," said God the Father. "Listen to Him!"(23) Submission to the authority of Christ is necessary, therefore, to participation in the Christian faith. It is necessary to be right with God. Any who do not submit to His authority simply do not belong to Him.

Jesus Himself said, "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"(24)

"And by this we know that we have come to know Him," wrote John the Apostle, "if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…."

The Christian faith is an authoritative faith.

In an earlier point I said that the Christian faith is a universal faith, that is, it is intended for every person and all nations. I'm not contradicting that here. God wishes for everyone to be saved. The New Testament writer, Luke wrote, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."(25)

The Apostle Peter wrote, "The Lord… is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance…"(26)

God wants all people to be saved. But not all people will accept the offer of salvation on His terms. Not all will repent. Not wishing to repent, many will seek to make up their own way of salvation, exclusive of Jesus. Yet to those Jesus says very clearly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me."(27)

In our day this is probably the most difficult saying in all the words of Christ. Many stumble over it, just as the Bible predicted. The Apostle Peter said of Jesus, "The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone," and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense."(28)

"Do you mean to say that only Christians will be saved in the judgment and that only Christians will go to heaven?"

That is exactly what I mean to say because that is exactly what the Bible teaches.

The apostle Peter said in Acts, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."(29)

There are many religions throughout the world, but there is only one that will get us to heaven. It may not be popular to say so, but it is true that Christianity is an exclusive faith – inclusive of all those who will repent and obey Christ, but exclusive of those who will not.

By complete we mean that there is nothing that needs to be added to it.

Jude exhorts us to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all [time] delivered to the saints."(30)

The revelation of the Christian faith took place during the first century. It was during that time that the apostles and prophets of the New Testament lived and worked and wrote what is considered now to be a full and complete revelation of the will of God.

The Apostle Paul admonished the Galatians, "But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."(31)

The gospel of Jesus Christ, as it was revealed through those first century apostles and prophets was complete. Nothing needed to be added to it. Thus, the very last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, could contain these words: "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."(32)

Christianity is a complete faith, yet many since then, not content with what God says is complete, have sought to add their own teaching to it. From claims of angels with golden plates to usurping hierarchies to creeds written and bound by mere men, teaching has been added and added until many resulting religious groups bear little resemblance to the primitive simplicity(33) of the gospel of Jesus Christ - a simplicity, I might add, that would go a long way toward healing the religious division we find all around us.

Having trouble remembering from time to time? We all forget on occasion. Though we learn more as we age (both in Christ and in years) we are also more prone to forget what we have learned. I encourage you not to forget the important things we have covered in this brief lesson.

The Christian faith is a revealed faith, a universal faith, a spiritual faith, a saving faith, and authoritative faith, an exclusive faith, and a complete faith. Anything faith that drifts into areas that differ from these fundamentals is not the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Footnotes: Use your back button to return to your place.

1. Frank Pollard, "Our Greatest Victory," Preaching Today, Tape No. 175.  
2. Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois. "Rolling Down the Aisle," Christian Reader.
3. Deuteronomy 29:29
4. Acts 11:14; Ephesians 3:5; John 1:1
5. Hebrews 1:1-2
6. 2 Peter 1:21
7. John 1:1, cf. v. 14
8. John 1:18 NKJV
9. Matthew 28:19
10. Mark 16:15
11. John 3:3
12. John 3:5
13. 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:16
14. John 4:24
15. Luke 19:10
16. 1 Timothy 1:15
17.  Romans 3:23
18. Romans 6:23
19. Isaiah 6:5
20. Matthew 28:18
21. 2 John 9
22. Matthew 15:9
23. Matthew 17:5
24. Luke 6:46
25. Acts 17:30
26. 2 Peter 3:9
27. John 14:6
28. 1 Peter 2:7-8
29. Acts 4:12
30. Jude 3
31. Galatians 1:8-10
32. Revelation 22:18-19
33. 2 Corinthians 11:3

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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