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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
A choice to be made
The story is told of a man who dreamed that he built a ladder from earth to heaven, and when he did a good deed, up went his ladder a few feet. When he did a very good deed his ladder went higher, and when he gave away large sums of money to the poor, up it went further still. By and by it went out of sight, and as years rolled on, he thought it would go clear up into heaven. He expected to step off his ladder into heaven when he died. Suddenly, however, he heard a voice roll out from paradise. He heard words that had been spoken by Jesus himself when on earth. "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). Down he came, ladder and all, and he awoke. He realised that if he wanted to receive salvation he must receive it in another way than by good deeds. He took the other way, which is by faith in Jesus Christ.
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"Whether
we get what we deserve, or whether we receive mercy, can be our
choice"
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The Bible is very clear that these two ways to heaven are mutually exclusive. We cannot have a bit of one and a bit of the other. "We... have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified...for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:16,21). "If by grace [the undeserved goodness of God], then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace" (Romans 11:6).
Paul is very clear about the things he trusted in for acceptance with God before becoming a Christian. After listing his religious background and attempts to keep God's moral law, he declares, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ...I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9). We must each choose which path we will take. That we will face God's judgement is sure. Whether we get what we deserve, or whether we receive mercy, can be our choice. "There is...no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
Jesus illustrated this choice very clearly in his story about the Pharisee and the Publican who went into the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee told God what a good fellow he was. The Publican, though unaware that Jesus would die for his sins, prayed, "God have mercy on me, a sinner." It was the Publican who "went home justified [acquitted of his sins] before God," rather than the Pharisee.
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The kind of faith that will get you into heaven
A choice to be made
If salvation is by faith, do good works matter?
