- What is Christianity?
Christianity is a relationship with the true and
living God through the person of Jesus Christ by whom we are forgiven of our
sins.
Followers of Jesus Christ were first called
Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because they believed in Christ and followed
His example. *(Antioch is the modern day Antakya, located in Southeast Turkey).
Christians believe that:
a) There is only one God, the creator of everything that exists (Isaiah 43: 10b - 12), (Isaiah
44: 6b-7), (Isaiah 45: 12).
b) God is a Trinity God (Father, Son and the Holy
Spirit) - (Hebrews 1: 3a) (John 10: 30)
The word “Trinity” comes from the Latin
noun “trinitas” meaning “three are one”. The Trinity expresses the belief that
God is one Being made up of three distinct Persons who exist in co-equal
essence and co-eternal communion as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We as Christians are called children of God (John 1:
12-14)
c)
Jesus is the Christ (Anointed One) from God the
Father who came to this world, (Colossians 1:15-18) fulfilled the Old Testament
laws and prophecies (Isaiah 7: 14-15) (Isaiah 9:6-7), died on the cross for the
forgiveness of our sins (Romans 5: 8) (Luke 24: 46-48), rose from the dead
physically (Luke 24: 39-40) and ascended into heaven (Luke 24: 51).
d) Salvation is through the grace of God
A definition of the Christian
doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from
eternal punishment for sin, which is granted to those who accept by faith,
God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus”.
Scripture is clear that salvation
is the gracious, undeserved gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) and is only available
through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
Why
Did Jesus Had to be Crucified?
When Adam and Eve rebelled, man
was separated from God through sin. (Isaiah 59:2) God’s holiness and justice
demand that sin and rebellion be punished. The only payment for sin is eternal
death. (Romans 6:23). However, our death is not sufficient to atone (pay) for
sin because atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just
the right way.
Jesus, the one perfect God-man,
came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone and
make eternal payment for our sins, (1 Peter 1:18-19) thus restoring our
relationship with God and removing the separation caused by sin. (2 Corinthians
5:21).
e)
Christ will come again (2nd coming) ( 1 Thessalonians
4: 16-18).
- What is Anglican Church?
An Anglican Church is part of the
original Church founded by Jesus Christ (Colossians 2: 18a) when He commissioned His disciples to go into the world to preach the
Good News.
An Anglican Church is a:
a)
Biblical Church – We believe the Holy Scriptures
of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God (John 1:1-3). As God’s Word
to us, the Bible is the lens through which we view and evaluate all other
claims to truth.
b)
Liturgical
Church – The Book of Common Prayer is
the prayer book of our church, which contains the format for how we conduct our
worship services. The congregation will participate in worship by reading
Scripture, receiving the Sacraments and saying prayers together. The seasons of
the Church year (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost) and
sacred music (centuries old and modern) are important parts of our church life.
c)
A
Sacramental Church – We believe in the two sacraments (rituals that
are highly symbolic): Holy
Baptism (administered once to each person either in their infancy or later in
life and the Holy Communion, described by Louis R. Tarsitano
(An Outline of an Anglican Life) as :
… the reception by the power of the Holy
Ghost of Christ’s Body and Blood, instituted by Christ himself at the Last
Supper, for a remembrance of His one sacrifice of Himself once offered as a
full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.
We recite the Nicene
Creed, as a statement of our faith before the Holy Communion. During Holy
Communion, we received consecrated bread (symbolizes Christ’s Body) and dip it
into the chalice filled with wine (symbolizes Christ’s Blood) and say
thanksgiving prayers in our heart.
- What is the authority of the Bible?
a)
God-breathed
When
Christians say that the Bible is inspired, they are saying that it is "God
breathed."
2 Tim. 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate and equipped for every good
work."
The
word for "inspired" is the Greek qeovpneustos, "theopneustos," which means
"God breathed." In other words, this means that the Scriptures
are authored from God, and that God moved through the personality and abilities
of the biblical writers in such a way that what they wrote was without error
and was correct in everything that it addressed.
b) Uncorrupted
When
the Bible is translated, it is translated from the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts
(original language) into our language. It is a one-step process and not a
series of steps that can lead to corruption. Therefore, the translations are
very accurate and trustworthy in regards to what the Bible originally said.
References
- http://www.anglicanbeliefs.com/TraditionalAnglicans.pdf
- http://www.stmarkscheyenne.org/files/Church_Beliefs_2006-11-14.pdf
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