The Basics of Christianity – My Eternal Pursuits

We are going to be talking a lot about Christianity and since there may be some of you who don’t know about it, we will be covering the basics of it.

Words

Jesus Christ: The Christians believe he is the son of God. Others believe he was a Jewish leader.

Christian: A follower of Jesus Christ

God/Yahweh: Is the God of the Bible.

Trinity: It’s what Christians believe Yahweh is, and the word Trinity means tri-unity = three together

The Bible: It’s the book Christians follow, and they believe it is the inspired word of God. The word Bible means: Book of many stories

Prophet: Is someone who proclaims the will of God.

Old Testament of the Bible: The Old Testament has 39 books of the bible in it.

New Testament of the Bible: The New Testament has 27 books of the bible in it.

Septuagint: The Septuagint is the Old Testament of the Bible with extra books in it. The extra books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.

Tora: The Tora is the first 5 Books of the Old Testament

The Gospel: The Gospel is the first 4 books of the New Testament

The Cross: A Roman execution device.

Section One: Understand The True Basics

So the basics should be as easy as the ABCs, and not full of this nerdy stuff that you are about to read in 3ish minutes. Well, speaking of the ABCs, there is a Christian ABCs. Let’s talk about it. “A” is for Admit, “B” is for Believe, and “C” is for Confess. Now you’re probably thinking, “What the heck does any of that even mean?” Well, that’s a good question, so let us break it down real quick🕺

Admit: that you are a sinner and that you need a savior

Romans 3:23 (NIV)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Believe: In Jesus Christ

Acts 16:31 (NIV)

“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Confess: and Call upon Jesus as Lord

Romans 10:9–10 (NIV)

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

Now that is the ABCs of Salvation.

Section Two: Understand The True Basics (Part 2)

Now, the second part of the whole thing, what do Christians believe?

I. That Jesus is the son of God (Matthew 16:13-17)

II. That Jesus is 100% God and 100% Human (Colossians 2:9)

III. That Jesus died for our sins (John 3:16)

IV. That Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship with God.

Okay, let’s talk about that one on a deeper level.

We should have a Friendship with God (John 15:15)
We should abide in Christ (John 15:4-5)
We are Children of God (John 1:12)
We are adopted children of God (Romans 8:15)
We are to know God personally(John 17:3, Jeremiah 9:23-24)

But how do we do this?

To seek God with a sincere heart (Jeremiah 29:13, Hebrews 11:6)
Read and Meditate on the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalms 1:2)
To worship God with are bodies and minds (Romans 12:1)
Be with other Christians (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Obey God’s Commands (John 14:15)
Talk with God through prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Philippians 4:6)

Let’s talk about prayer a little bit. You’re probably thinking, “How do I pray?” Well, Good question, lets answer it. Praying is talking with God, either out loud or inside your head. Typically, when you pray you start it off with “Hey God” or “Dear God,” or something like that. But you don’t always have to do it that way. It’s ever way you feel convicted to do.

But there are a few things to make sure to do when you are praying

Do not pray for everyone to see, but pray for your heavenly Father(Matthew 6:5-8)

…Yeah that is basically it for making sure what not to do while praying. But what is recommended to do while praying?

To praise God(Matthew 6:9-10)
Acknowledge and tell God your Sins and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9, Psalms 32:5)
To pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44)

So that is how to Pray and Follow God, AKA how to be a Christian. Now let’s get into the nerdy stuff

Section Three: The Trinity

Like I said before, the “word Trinity means tri-unity = three together” but three of what together?

The Trinity is made up of the Father, the Son(Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. They are all 100% God.

This is a good picture of how the trinity works. If that does not help I would recommend reading the Athanasian Creed.

“But The Bible Does Not Have The Word Trinity In It”

So this is true. The Bible does not have the word Trinity in it. But if that is true, then where do Christians get the Trinity from? Well, the word Trinity is not in the Bible, the idea of it is in the Bible. Let’s look at some Bible verses that back up the idea of it.

God is a Group of one

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Now let us look at the Hebrew. The word “God” used here, in Hebrew, is Elohim, and elohim is a plural word. And the word “one” used in this verse is Echad, and echad is a group of one, so like one family or one pile of rocks.

The Father Being Called God In The Bible

Matthew 6:9 (NIV)

“This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

The Son Being Called God

Luke 19:37 (NIV)

When he(Jesus) came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

The Spirit Being Called God

Acts 5:3-4 (NIV)

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

YouTube Videos About The Trinity

(Remember you can click on words with lines on them and it will take you to the video or link)

The Trinity is BOTH Logical and Biblical

The Trinity in the Old Testament

The Trinity Explained

The Trinity Explained in UNDER 3 Minutes!

Section Four: The Bible

When I quote the Bible, it will look like this

John^a 3^b:16^c NIV^d

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’^e

(a) This is the Book of the Bible, right now it’s John

(b) This is the Chapter of the Bible

(d) This is the translation of the bible. Right now, it’s the New International Version (NIV)

(e) When I highlight anything (like this), it’s the important part.

The Bible has 66 or 81 different books in it. The different books in the bible change depending on which bible you are reading. There are 3 main Bibles out there. Let’s take a look at them.

The Canon Bible AKA The Holy Bible AKA The Protestant Bible

The Canon Bible has 66 books in it. It’s made up of the Old Testament (which has 39 books in it) and the New Testament (which has 27 books in it). Most Christians follow the Holy Bible

The Catholic Bible

The Catholic Bible has 73 books in it. The Septuagint (which has 46 books in it) and the New Testament (which has 27 books in it). Only Catholics follow the Catholic Bible.

The Orthodox Bible

The Orthodox Bible has 81 books in it. It’s made up of the Septuagint (which has 46 books in it). The New Testament (which has 27 books in it) and the Additional books (which has 4 books in it, and they are 1 and 2 Esdras, Baruch, and the book of Enoch). Some Orthodox Bibles have 76 books in and it’s very rare, but those would be called the Greek Orthodox Bible.

Small History Of The Bibles

So the Canon Bible is the main Bible, and Protestants follow it. Protestants believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, and we should not change it. Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that their leaders and the word of God are equal, so they think they can add to or take away from it.

Conclusion

These are the basics of Christianity. There is a lot more I could touch on, like the history of the church, the messianic prophecies, etc… But I hope this will be enough. BUTTT if in a later post there is something that is not in the basics, I will be sure to break it down for you🕺

If you did enjoy or found this helpful, please consider joining the Mailing list. We will send an email every week of some of are newest content, and by joining, you will be supporting the work that we do, so thank you! You can sign up down there. (PS: it’s Free)