Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians, Part 2预览

The Message

There was a British conference on comparative religions that brought together experts from all over the world to debate what was unique, if anything, about the Christian faith in relation to other religions. Was it the idea that a god became a man? No, other religions had variations on that one. Even the Greek myths were about gods appearing in human form. Was it heaven, life after death, or an eternal soul? Was it love for your neighbor, good works, care for the poor or homeless? Was it about sin or hell or judgment? 

The debate went on for some time, until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. Lewis journeyed from atheism to agnosticism and then eventually to Christianity and became one of the most famous of all Christian writers and thinkers from his positions at Oxford and Cambridge. Lewis asked what the debate was about and found out that his colleagues were discussing what Christianity’s unique contribution was among world religions.

“Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “It’s grace.”

And after they thought about it, they had to agree. The heart of the Christian message is the heart of the message Jesus brought to the world: grace, coupled with truth. So how do we understand grace in the way Jesus used it? To answer that, we must understand why we need the truth of grace in the first place. 

So let’s get at the “why” before the “what.” In other words, let’s start with why grace is such a unique and needed message. To do that, you have to understand five background issues: the nature of God, the law of God, the human condition, the Old Testament sacrificial system, and then Jesus himself. But trust me, each is important. Consider the five of them, together, Christian Theology 101.

For today, we’ll look at the nature of God. What you need to understand about the nature of God is his holiness and his love. God is truly perfect and holy—sin is repulsive to him. He is allergic to it and cannot look upon it. His holiness demands either the removal or destruction of sin. But God is also love. Which means that much of the activity and any understanding of God lies at the crossroads of holiness and love. It’s the creative tension of all that he is and does.

From life experience, what do you understand grace to mean? In what personal relationships do you find it most present and/or most lacking?