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Christianity is not a religion. Religion is humans trying to
work their way to God through good works. Christianity is God
coming to men and women through Jesus Christ. [5]
Jesus claimed to be God, and to Him it was of fundamental
importance that men and women believed Him to be who He was.
Either we believe Him, or we don’t. He didn’t leave us any
wiggle room for in-between, watered-down alternatives. One who
claimed what Jesus claimed about Himself couldn’t be a good
moral man or prophet. That option isn’t open to us, and Jesus
never intended it to be. [27]
After personally trying to shatter the historicity and validity
of the Scriptures, I have been forced to conclude that they are
historically trustworthy. If one discards the Bible as
unreliable historically, then he or she must discard all the
literature of antiquity. No other document has as much evidence
to confirm its reliability. [87]
Most people understand God to be a loving God, but they don’t go
any further. He is not only a God of love but also a God who is
righteous, just, and holy. He cannot tolerate sin in His heaven
any more than you would tolerate a filthy, foul-smelling,
diseased dog to live in your home. This misunderstanding about
the basic nature and character of God is the cause of many
theological and ethical problems. [152]
When God looks at us, in spite of His tremendous love for us, He
has to bring down the gavel and say
death because He is a
righteous and just God. And yet, because He is also a loving
God, He was willing to come down off His throne in the form of
the man Jesus Christ and pay the price for us, which was His
death on the cross. [156]
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