What is Distinct About
Christianity?
This is a copy of my reply to a question that was sent to me asking the question "What makes Christianity distinct?"
As usual the parts of his message I quoted are begun with the > symbol and I have set them in a different colour so they stand out.
But first!
A brief overview...
>What is the core, essential distinction about Christianity?
It is not what you do yourself to be right with God but what he has done for you in the person of Jesus Christ.
>what makes for distinctive Christian counseling?
Christian Counseling is distinct in that Christians know the truth about our fallen sinful nature and also the change that being a Christian brings about. It is not so much focused on fixing behaviour although that will change, but about working on our heart, and it sees the power not in ourselves, or in our faith but in the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is not to make us feel better or to please others but to enable the person to worship God better and to serve Him more effectively.
I hope that you will take the time to read the whole passage though.
Mail me with your comments.
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Thanks for your question, Terry.
Sorry about the huge delay in answering it.
It sounds like you are a christian and I want to encourage you as you deal with these questions. Hopefully my answers will be based on what God says is distinct about christianity and christian counselling and will encourage you to greater Godliness.
>I noticed your web site and thought I would ask you a question the Lord
>is impressing me with. What makes Christianity distinct - distinct from
>the world, distinct from other religions? What is the core, essential
>distinction about Christianity?
I think the most distinct difference of christianity is all wrapped up in its name. CHRIST. By this I mean that Christianity is distinct in that it is all about what God has done for us, not what we have to DO for ourselves.
Most religions seem to recognise that we do bad things, and then set about dealing with this problem. Most give you good deeds to do, mantras to chant, something that if only we can do enough of then we will get nirvana or heaven or paradise or a better next life of some sort.
The problem with this of course is that when we take a deep look inside and are really honest with ourselves then we can not hope to keep all of these rules 100% of the time, and lets face it if "god" accepts less than 100% then it isn't much of a God.
Of course God expects 100% obedience from us. And I guess in theory if one could obey the totality of the Mosaic law as laid down in the first 5 books of the Old Testament then in theory that person would be allowed into heaven.
In Theory that is.
In Reality we can't do that, because we all fail on the very first command of God "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me". And this is the rub - we want to be God. We want to usurp God and put ourselves up as the ruler of our own lives.
Romans 3:10-11 says
"There is no one righteous not even one, there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away."
And there is a consequence of this rebellion, death and judgement which since we are all gulity leads to punishment.
Hebrews 9:27 says
"Man is destined to die once and after that to face judgement."
This sounds harsh and yet it is right - if God is God and is just and fair and righteous and creator/king then he must punish those who rebell. Not to do so would not be fair.
Because of his love, God sent his son into the world - Jesus Christ. Jesus always lived under Gods rule. Yet by dying in our place he took our punishment and brought forgiveness.
See we could never have paid off the debt we owed God. Even a place to pay it off after death before heaven wouldn't do it - pergatory is not in the bible.
So God came down and died, taking the punishment we deserved. Sort of like me paying off your credit card, not because you deserve it, you have racked up the bill and should pay it off, but out of a love for you.
1 Peter 3:18 says:
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."
And that of course isn't all....
God raised Jesus to life again as the ruler of the world. Jesus has conquered death, now gives new life and will return to judge.
1 Peter 1:3 says-
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
So where does that leave us?
There are only 2 Ways To Live. Either:
1.Our own way, relying on our own goodness to make it to heaven as we go about running life our own way.
The Result: - death and judgement
2. Gods new way - trusting in Jesus' death n the cross to make it to heaven as we go about following gods rules as best we can with him the king of our life.
The Result: - forgiveness and eternal life.
One final distinction is that Christianity is the only way to God. Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life - no one come to the father but by me."
Also Jesus is the only religious leader who came back from the dead.
>ALSO, what makes for distinctive Christian counseling?
>A person doesn't need Jesus to get sober -
>there's Alcoholics Anonymous for that. He doesn't need Jesus to get off
>drugs - plenty of people do it through rehab centers. He doesn't even
>need Jesus to deal with strong emotions such as anger or fear or
>depression - there are all kinds of "programs" that can help him with
>that. So what makes for distinctive Christian counseling?
I think to answer this question I have to let a christian counsellor answer and I one I found was Dr Larry Crabb. And I am quoting from his book "Effective Biblical Counselling" [Marshall Pickering 1994]
p24
"The goal of biblical counseling is to promote Christian maturity, to help people enter into a richer experience of worship and a more effective life of service. In broad terms, Christian maturity is developed by (1) dealing with any immeadiate problem circumstances in a manner consistant with Scripture and (2) developing an inward character which conforms to the character (attitudes, beliefs, purposes) of Christ."
I would have the 2 bits turned around since the inward change I think is more important - but anyway that's what Dr Larry Crabb says.
As for my thinking.......which of course is shaped by the bible and stuff I've read of Crabb.
Christian Counseling is distinct in that Christians know the truth about our fallen sinful nature and also the change that being a Christian brings about. It is not so much focused on fixing behaviour although that will change, but about working on our heart, and it sees the power not in ourselves, or in our faith but in the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is not to make us feel better or to please others but to enable the person to worship God better and to serve Him more effectively.
And only a Christian can lead a person to true freedom. AA, behaviourists, they can fix the outside but only Christ can set a person free from the bonds of sin that bind us and blind us so much. Our sinful nature is the problem, our rebellion is our greatest need - Jesus is the only person that can bring about that change - forgiveness.
Well I hope that answers your questions.
I have two of my own..
Q1 If you died tonight would you go to heaven
Q2 If you did die tonight and you stood before God and he asked you - "Why should I let you into my heaven?" - How would you answer?
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