Last week we asked some hard questions about standing out from the world as Christians, and why it matters. You can view that post here. In this post, we’re going to look at how Christianity stands out from other religions and ways of life. Contrary to what many people believe today, not all religions are the same. I’m going to point out why Christianity is like no other religion or way of life. For sake of space, I will not go into depth about the beliefs and customs of the other main religions of the world. I encourage you to look them up yourself for understanding the differences. At the end of this post, I’ll list some books that I recommend reading for better understanding.
God Became Man
To start off, there is really only one reason Christianity is set apart from all other religions and ways of life around the world. That’s Jesus Christ. Jesus makes Christianity special. Jesus makes all the difference. There is no one like Jesus. He is God’s one and only Son, fully God and fully man (John 1:1-5,14). Jesus willingly stepped down from His heavenly dwelling to become man and sacrifice Himself on the cross, paying the price for all our sins. This was the only way to restore our relationship with God because of our sin.
Historically, Jesus lived on earth a little over 2,000 years ago during the Roman Empire. He was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1). Jesus’ birth occurred in Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea, ruled by King Herod (Luke 1:5). His birth was prophesied long before He was born by several prophets, including Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 23:5-6). At the end of His life, Jesus was sentenced to death (Matthew 27:11-26), crucified on the cross for all to see (Matthew 27:32-44), declared dead (John 19:28-37), and buried in a tomb sealed by a large rock and guarded by Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:57-66). After three days, God the Father raised Jesus from the grave and He appeared to thousands of witnesses (Luke 24:1-49, John 20-21). He then promised the Holy Spirit and ascended to Heaven (Luke 24:49-53, Acts 1:1-11). After all of this, Jesus’ disciples shared what they witnessed, creating many generations of disciples throughout the world.
Only Through Jesus
During His time on earth, Jesus declared that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). The hard truth for most of us is that salvation is not in ourselves or in this world. We can’t achieve it through good works, by the strength of our will, or in searching the depths of our minds. Salvation is through grace alone.And that grace was given to us through Jesus Christ by His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. In this, He defeated both sin and death so that whoever believes in Him would be born again, become children of God, and find true life in eternity.
There is no other religion or way of life where a Person is the way to salvation and eternal life. All other religions give you a set of instructions to practice in order to reach some type of perfection or happiness. There is usually one disciple or follower who claims to reach this state of mind and guide others down a path to experience the same thing.
Undeserved Grace
Christianity is all about grace. It’s the only religion that freely offers salvation. There’s no cost or prerequisites. And it’s offered while we are deep in our sin. We don’t have to get our lives all put together before we seek God. No, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. Look at Romans 5:6-8: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And we did not deserve this. God didn’t have to send His Son to pay the price for our sins. He chose to because He loves us.
God knew we couldn’t perfectly follow His Law given in the ten commandments. That’s why the Law was never intended to save mankind. Here’s what Charles Spurgeon said: “The Law never came to save men. It never was its intention at all. It came on purpose to make the evidence complete that salvation by works is impossible, and thus to drive the elect of God to rely wholly on the finished salvation of the gospel.” We are completely dependent on the grace shown to us through Jesus for our salvation. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn our salvation or our way to God.
Restored Relationship
The whole purpose of Jesus paying the price for our sins is to save us from ourselves and from God’s wrath on our sins in order to restore our relationship with God. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our sin separates us from the Holy and Righteous God. Because of our sin, it’s impossible to have a relationship with God. All we deserve is His wrath. But, because of Jesus and His grace, we have an opportunity to have a restored relationship with God the Father. God desires a relationship with us, so He made a way through His Son. And this is open to all peoples. Jesus does not discriminate by your social status, gender, or nationality. All are welcome. All we need to do is repent of our sin and our turning away from God; believe that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and God the Father raised Him to life; and proclaim Jesus is Lord of our lives, surrendering our all to Him. Romans 10:9-13 explains: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Other religions are about a distant and impersonal god or they are simply about a self-seeking spiritual experience—an awakening or enlightenment. Why would God create us and not want to be part of our lives? And why wouldn’t we want to experience all of who He is by getting to know Him in a personal and intimate relationship? God created mankind to be in relationship with Him. Mankind turned their backs on Him, breaking the relationship. But God never gave up on us and never stopped loving us. So, He sent His one and only Son to pay the price for us to enter into a restored relationship with Him.
Our life is not our own. It was bought at a great price for a special reason. God is a personal God and wants a personal relationship with you and I, His creation and children. He doesn’t need us. He didn’t have to save us. He simply chose to because of who He is. He offers each and every one of us an amazing invitation to experience all of Him. And then He calls us to share this same invitation with everyone around us. It’s an invitation like no other. Are you ready to accept and spread the word?
Christianity is about a Person, not a religion.
It’s about grace, not following a bunch of rules, trying to be a “good” person, in hopes of earning your salvation.
And it’s about a relationship, not a self-seeking spiritual awakening.
I now encourage you to seek Jesus in prayer and in the Bible. Talk to a believing friend or family member, or a pastor about Jesus. I also want to provide you with a list of books I recommend for more understanding:
When Skeptics Ask by Norman L. Geisler & Ronald M. Brooks
The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona
