If we allow the Bible to define what true Christianity is all about we will conclude that the Christian faith is indeed unique among world religions. We are making a distinction here between Christendom (the secular view of the Christianity) and Christianity (the biblical view of the work and worth of Christ).
1) In Christianity, God is presented as a Unique Being:
Christianity uniquely presents a monotheistic God manifested in 3 Persons…… the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is no other religion that does so. This provides us with answers to the puzzling if not perplexing philosophical question to the eternal nature of love. In the eternal state before time if there were only one Person, love could not exist since there would be no recipient object or other being to receive it. But a monotheistic God of plural beings can share that love among each member of the Godhead. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and the Holy Spirit completes this circle of love.
2) The founder of Christianity is a person like no other who has ever lived.
Jesus (by the claims he made and as recorded in scripture) had his origin from heaven. He had no earthly father but an earthly mother. He was born of a virgin. His birth was miraculous in that he was conceived of the Holy Ghost. He was sinless and did no sin and knew no sin as scripture declares.
a) He had power over life, demonstrating this by raising the dead and by healing the sick.
b) He had power over nature, calming the storms so that the winds and seas obeyed him.
c) He had power over death, raising himself from the dead so that he now lives forever seated on the right hand of God the Father.
3) In Christianity, the message of Salvation is without an equivalent.
World religions unanimously present a moral code or law that is set forth as the standard by which one lives his/her life in order to procure salvation. Christianity’s most basic and earliest teaching digresses dramatically from this representation.
In the Bible, man is described as without any hope of meeting all the just requirements of a moral code or standard so it is beyond his ability to save himself. Instead, God provides a remedy for this “illness” called sin, sin that is wholly and completely debilitating. God’s remedy is salvation found completely and exclusively in His Son.
In the Christian faith, as taught by the scriptures, achieving salvation requires one to simply trust in what God has already done on his/her behalf. But what has God done? He has sent His Son to be our Saviour. A Saviour is required because we cannot save ourselves. This is a true meaning of what is meant by a “Saviour”. Using this definition no other religion offers a true Saviour.
What is the basis for His ability to do this? Jesus was the perfect sinless man (being the Son of God) who fulfilled the just requirements of the Law on our behalf and in doing so, became our sacrificial lamb. He bore our sins in his own body on the cross and died in our place. The law allows us to go free once we place trust in Jesus Christ and we are declared righteous once and for all time by the higher courts of Heaven.
This is an act of grace. Our faith in Christ’s death is the only requirement to guarantee our salvation. This type of salvation is both complete (lacking no other requirement) and final (not needing it to be repeated) and so this salvation finds no equivalency in the world’s religions.
How you trusted Christ for your salvation? Will you place your faith in Christ if you have not already done so? Will you resign yourself to God’s plan of salvation and abandon all other vain attempts at acquiring heaven by your own means. Trust Christ today! Don’t delay!
McLeod Hill Assembly 