Overview of Christian Doctrine

[creationliberty]

A man in a Catholic college (who was saved while still in a Catholic college and finishing his degree in nursing) has to do a final presentation in his religious studies class where he interviews a "religious leader." He asked me to do a five question interview, and here were my answers:
Raymond from Pennsylvania:
1) An overview of your religious beliefs
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
-Rom 3:10-12
The Holy Bible is the record of God's creation and interaction with mankind, and the source of truth He preserved for us in this world. The Living God is our creator, and we are fallen in that we were created perfect, but sinned against our creator, which separated us from God, and that sin is what causes us to die in the flesh. If we die in our sin, our spirits will face the destruction of hell, and as stated in Romans, there is none righteous.
The only way to gain the status of righteousness is to have it given (as a gift) to us by the Lord God, and the only way He will give it is when men come to repentance (grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing - 2Co 7:10) and faith alone, in His grace alone. We CANNOT earn our way to heaven by good works.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
-Eph 2:8-9
Knowing the terror of hell and gift of eternal life through Christ, we therefore persuade men to the saving of their souls, if they will come to repentance to be forgiven their sin, saved, and healed.
And that repentance and remission [forgiveness] of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
-Luke 24:47
Jesus said that those who are saved and healed are "born again," and that we must be born again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
-John 3:7
This means, just as a child is born into a family, we must be born in the spirit to the family of God; He being our Heavenly Father, and we being His children.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
-Romans 8:16
All those who teach contrary to this doctrine are false, meaning they are not of Christ, and though they claim to be "Christians" with their mouths, they are wolves in sheep's clothing, who are not of God. (Mat 7:15) In the end, God will judge all mankind for every word they have ever thought or spoken, every deed they have ever done, and eventually, at the end of the world, every knee shall bow to the Christian God of the Bible, whether they want to or not.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
-Mat 12:36
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
-Rom 14:11

2) What is the Gospel / how do you get to heaven
I think I answered that in point one. The overview of believe is centered around fallen man in sin, being renewed and regenerated by Christ to enter the Kingdom of God.

3) Academic and religious training
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
-2Ti 2:15
We who have experience in understanding the Word of God teach others, there is no "academia" or "religious training." The knowledge and wisdom of God is given, through His Spirit, to those who fear Him.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
-Psalm 111:10
Outside of God speaking directly to His prophets, like He did in the Old and New Testament Scriptures, there are two things required to understand the doctrines of Scripture:
1. Study.
2. The Spirit of God.
If one does not study with the Spirit of God, they will not understand His Word, and He structured His Word in such a way that those who are not of Christ would not understand His Word, and therefore, they would fall back and trip over themselves; contradicting themselves and teaching false doctrines.
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
-Isa 28:13
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
-Mat 13:13
There are very many pseudo-Christian cults around the world today (the mass majority of those who claim to be of Christ) who have no understanding of the doctrines, although they claim to understand. This is because there are many false converts among so-called "Christian" sects, and therefore, they have developed a system of "religious training" based on the traditions of men, but the Lord Jesus Christ told us they worship Him in vain because of their false doctrines.
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
-Mark 7:7
We who are of Christ are warned to beware the philosophies (i.e. way of thinking) of the world and the traditions of men:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
-Col 2:8
Therefore, no institution of religious training was ever initiated or approved by God, except for those in the church. There is also no requirement, other than the Lord God granting understanding of His Word by His Spirit. In fact, those with titles and fancy degrees are almost never called by God to teach His Word:
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
-1Co 1:26-29 
God chooses those who are weak, despised by the world, those who are hated and lowly, and so it is the least likely the world would consider that God chooses to teach His Word, so that no man would ever glory himself; that only the Lord God would be glorified. Yet, the world today believes that "academia" and "religious institutions" and "licences and certifications" are all what are necessary to understand the Word of God and teach it, and that's a lie; The Lord God does not operate in that manner. In reality, most of them are after money and prestige, in other words, they are covetous in the sinful nature of their wicked hearts.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
-2 Peter 2:3
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly [i.e. they teach false doctrines to make money and feed themselves]; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
-Rom 16:17-18

4) What was your motivation for getting into ministry
I can't really say, other than it was a desire the Lord God put in my heart. I never really had a passion for teaching until after I was born again in the Lord Jesus Christ in September of 2002. From that point on, most of the steps in my life were to try and bring me closer to that goal. Yet, I was trained after the world in the beginning, and I sought to try to earn a lot of money so I could work in ministry, but about 10 years ago, I finally had enough and just started doing the work of teaching, and the Lord God blessed me for it. To this day, I still don't have much support, but the teaching of the Gospel I have done has gone out to tens of thousands of people around the world, and though most of them will not hear, I thank God for the few who have hearkened to His Word.
Come to find out, after looking at recent statistics from polls taken in the U.S., about 3 out of every 4 pastors in church buildings confess that they don't believe they were ever called to be a pastor or teacher; yet, they go through the seminary religious training, and get "certified," but they do not have the Spirit of God because they never came to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing).
I document that information here: "False Converts vs Eternal Security"

5) What if anything makes Christianity different from other religions 
Many things.
--First and most importantly, the foretelling of future events in the prophecy of His Word; predictions very specific and accurate to history which were foretold hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before they happen, all with 100% accuracy. For example, there have been many scoffers over the centuries who have attempted to prove wrong the prophecies of the book of Daniel because in it, the predictions of all the major world empires throughout history were told long before they happened. No one has ever been able to prove that book wrong, and all historical documentation indicates Daniel wrote those things down before the events took place. The Bible is full of such prophecy that anyone could see that the Lord God is real, He left us that evidence to be able to see for ourselves and believe, and that all other gods are false.
--Secondly, the Christian God of the Bible is the only way to account for reason, logic, good, evil, morals, math, science, etc. To put it more clearly, there is no other god in any other religion (e.g. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Atheism, Mormonism, Evolutionism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) that can justify the existence of right, wrong, good, evil, reason, logic, science, mathematics, etc. I discuss that in more detail here: "Everything You Need to Know About Atheism"
--Thirdly, the perfection of the Word of God in His Holy Bible, specifically, in the King James Bible (i.e. no other new-age version can compare because they all have contradictions and errors). There are some other cults out there (i.e. Catholicism, The Watchtower Society, The Latter-Day Saints, etc) who have a version of the bible that they claim to be "perfect," but these can be easily exposed; the King James Bible, however, has no error or contradiction, and those who study it understand this. (It should be noted that these others cults hate the KJB for that reason.) The Word of God is like sword that pierces the hearts of mankind, and this is because the Lord God has told us that He has written His law on the hearts of mankind (Rom 2:15). Therefore, when we give them the law, it strikes a blow to their hearts, typically resulting in them getting angry and upset when we do so because they remain in their willful ignorance that they already know the truth, and the Bible says they are without excuse for knowing Him and the truth of His Word:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
-Rom 1:18-20
They are not angry because we are mean and nasty with them, but we speak to them out of loving care for their eternal soul, that they would come to repentance to acknowledge the truth, but they get angry because the truth of their guilt of sin against the Living God is already known in their hearts. We do not use the carnal weapons of warfare, like other religions (e.g. Islam), but we use the doctrines and philosophy of Christ to pull down the fake imaginations of their pagan stronghold.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
-2Co 10:3-5
--The final point I'll make is that the Christian God of the Bible has instituted the only religion in the world that offers salvation and entrance to heaven as a free gift by His grace. Every other religion in the world requires their followers to work off their debt of sin, and that is a lie of the Devil. The good works we do are a result of our salvation, that once we come to repentance and faith in Christ, we then do good works (bring forth fruits) out of obedience to He who saved us, but they are not a requirement to enter heaven.
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,
-Luke 3:8
We earn reward for our good works, but salvation, heaven itself, and the relationship we have with our Creator, are not earned; they are given freely by His mercy.
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
-Mat 16:27
And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
-Neh 9:17
When standing before the Judgment Seat of the Holy God, there is only one thing we can rely on to save us, and that is the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without that, all who stand in judgment of God will be thrown into everlasting hellfire (See "Hell Is Real And Many People Are Going There"), never to escape, but those who have that repentance and faith in Christ, will enter into life eternal.
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
-1Jo 5:12
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
-1Ti 2:5
If anyone reading this has any questions, contact us at www.creationliberty.com.

[anvilhauler]

Every other religion in the world requires their followers to work off their debt of sin, and that is a lie of the Devil. The good works we do are a result of our salvation, that once we come to repentance and faith in Christ, we then do good works (bring forth fruits) out of obedience to He who saved us, but they are not a requirement to enter heaven.

Reading that I couldn't help but think of the gates at Auschwitz.  The well known phrase that "Work Makes Free" but nothing was further from the truth.
 


I'm not sure if you have mentioned it in any of the teachings but I use it in an explanation to people that they are not good on their own and their works can not save them.

[Hakim Mohamad]

@ Kevin
Wow! This Auschwitz analogy ist an amazing example to explain how the whole world works. (No pun intended) Here in Germany everybody knows this slogan, so this is a really powerful analogy and the similarity between the mindest of the religions and this is hard to deny from a christian perspective.

@ Chris
In my opinion the body of Christ is not a religion, so if you think about it, "Religious Leader" is probably not the best thing to ne called by anyone, but if it servers the purpose to teach others some biblical doctrine, you can count it as an honour to suffer this insult 

I think that this presentation will be awesome. For most of the audience it will probably be the first time they hear any sound biblical doctrine! Great chance to win souls!

[creationliberty]

And again, it's a presumption that I did not consider that, and it's an assumption that I did not tell him this in the letter. I told him that I did not consider myself a religious leader, but he said that was okay.

[Hakim Mohamad]

I was not saying that you we're calling yourself a religious leader and I was not even thinking that you would have liked this title. In fact I do even know your negative opinion about titles in general.
All I did was to give you my own opinion about what the guy said to you in a slightly humorous way.
What I was thinking to myself was that you probably didn't like the term very much, but you we're probably enjoying the opportunity to preach to a bunch of people who otherwiese would have been Out of reach. That also seems to have been a reason why you put "religious leader" between quotation marks.
I was writing jokingly, which maybe I shouldn't have done. I found it somehow funny that he called you a religious leader ... or maybe he didn't. Maybe he was just paraphrasing from his task-position to Interview a religious leader and instead He thought he will rather interview a man of faith, so that the audience can get a bit of truth. I really don't know.
But if it was a catholic religious studies class, then such respecting of persons in the task-position makes perfectly sense.
I was just amused that the guy took this task that was obviously supposedly to promote false doctrines and worldliness and turned it into something so useful.
Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of the Situation but maybe you should just leave words for what they are and not for what they possibly could imply.
I never thought about what else you might have said to the guy and what not, and there is no reason to interpret something like that into what I said.

[Timothy]

Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of the Situation but maybe you should just leave words for what they are and not for what they possibly could imply.
I never thought about what else you might have said to the guy and what not, and there is no reason to interpret something like that into what I said.

Reading the words for what they are, I could also see the assumption behind what you said. It doesn't matter if it was a joke. That's not the problem. And it's not a matter of some interpretation given to it. It's just analyzing the plain english you spoke.

There is no reason to shift the blame on him saying what he should have done because that's just making excuses about what you did. That's not the sort of behaviour we learn from Jesus Christ. All he did was point out your assumption about what you said. That's it.