The Most Important Thing in Christianity
Christians believe that there is one God who created the heavens and the earth. They also believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and died on the cross to offer forgiveness of sins.
Many topics are discussed in the Bible, but Jesus focused on a small number of them far more than any other topic. These subjects are the most important things in Christianity.
1. The Gospel
The Gospel is God’s saving message, the good news that Christ has paid for our sins and rose again. It is the central and most important thing in Christianity because it proclaims God’s chief end – His glory. The Gospel also humbles and abases man, as it proclaims that he is nothing in his own right and is totally dependent on Christ’s grace. In addition, it most fully displays the excellencies and virtues of God.
The gospel is the word of reconciliation for sinners, and it is God’s plan to save men from sin, death, Satan and the curse that covers the earth (Genesis 3:21). The gospel consists of three essential elements: the identification of sin in mankind; the fact that Jesus has been put to death on the cross to pay for those sins; and the offer of salvation for anyone who will believe in Jesus. The Gospel is the foundation of Christianity and the only way for men to be reconciled to a holy God.
In the Bible, the Gospel is proclaimed in the four canonical Gospels – the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. While each Gospel shares the same basic information (Who is Jesus and what did He do), it does so in a different narrative format, with its own emphasis.
In addition to the canonical Gospels, there are many non-canonical gospels, which are not part of the Bible, and which advocate various theological views of their authors. However, the Gospel of John is probably the most well known of these. It is unique in its description of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection. It is also the most detailed of the gospels in terms of its eyewitness account of what really happened.
2. The Bible
The Bible is central to Christianity. It is the book that tells us about God, His plan for humanity, and His salvation. It is also the source of Christian faith, hope and love. It contains stories of God’s interaction with humankind over the course of thousands of years. It tells of His creation, His plan for the world and for Israel, and it details how He saves us from sin and spiritual death by sending Jesus to live on earth as a man and die for our sins.
The Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was written by many authors over a period of 1,500 years. It is written in three languages: Hebrew, koine or common Greek and Aramaic. The Bible was inspired by God, which means that He guided the authors at a conceptual level so that what they wrote, with their personality, propensities, vocabulary and worldview, was still the precise message God wanted them to communicate in a particular setting for a specific purpose at a particular time.
As you read through the scriptures, it is important to remember that Jesus is present throughout the Old Testament. He is spoken of by prophets and psalmists. And the New Testament explains how He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament as He lived, died and rose again from the grave.
The church is responsible for putting the Word of God into its canonical location, or what we call “the Bible.” But it was the Holy Spirit that inspired the authors and guided them in what they wrote. The Bible is the most widely available, familiar and dependable source of spiritual, moral and intellectual ideals in the Western world.
3. The Church
The Church is the most important thing in Christianity because it is God’s means of bringing salvation to people who don’t know Him. It is also God’s avenue for believers to utilize their spiritual gifts in ministry (Romans 12:3-8).
The word “church” refers to the whole body of Christian believers, both dead and alive, and to local gatherings of Christians. The church is rooted in God’s promises to Israel and inaugurated by Christ. It is also the means God uses to display his grace, wisdom, love, unity, and holiness.
Evangelism is the main job of the church. It involves telling the world about Jesus and sharing the good news that he died for their sins and rose from the dead. The church is also responsible for equipping its members to spread the Gospel and defend the faith when challenged. The church is also supposed to be a place of fellowship and community where its members encourage and support each other.
Finally, the Iglesia Cristiana Fort Worth is meant to be a source of teaching and study. The early church regularly gathered together to hear the apostles’ teaching and respond in worship. They also devoted themselves to prayer and fellowship (Acts 2:42). In addition, the church is supposed to provide moral and ethical guidance for its members. It is also responsible for promoting a lifestyle of holiness through Spirit empowered self-discipline and by lovingly and humbly helping believers who struggle with sin. Unlike many other institutions and organizations, the church has been given the sole authority to guard and proclaim the basic truth that can save a person’s soul and give them eternal life. This makes the church the most important institution in all of history!
4. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity and co-equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ. He has all the qualities of a person—He feels, shows willfulness and discretion, communicates, testifies, teaches, and prays (Neh 9:20; Jn 15:26; Ac 13:2; 1 Cor 12:11). He was present at creation, gave supernatural power to the prophets of the Old Testament, and was present with Jesus as He lived, died, and rose from the dead. He is active in guiding believers and empowering them for ministry (Acts 1:8; 2 Tim 3:16; Eph. 6:19). On occasions, He directed apostles to go somewhere (Acts 16:29; Acts 20) or not to go somewhere (Acts 19:21). He also reveals truths about Christ’s deity and incarnation, His suffering and death, His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation to the right hand of God.
The Spirit is active in sanctifying believers, setting them apart as sacred and helping them become more Christlike (Galatians 5:16-18). He convicts sinners of their need for Christ and leads them to salvation. He also equips believers with spiritual gifts and empowers them for service (1 Cor. 12:4-11).
Have you ever been in a situation where a Scripture verse that you read or memorized years ago suddenly popped into your head? That was the Holy Spirit speaking to you! Sometimes the Spirit will speak directly, but most often He will use a Bible author who spoke for Him to write what He wants you to know. The Bible is the source of all spiritual information, so the Spirit’s guidance will always line up with what the Bible says. If it doesn’t, you can be sure it is not from the Spirit.
5. Love
The greatest of all Christian virtues is love. This is because love expresses the nature of God and the fact that he cares for humankind. The Bible teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 13:13). Jesus taught that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all one's heart, soul and mind, and to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus emphasized that his saving love embraces not only those who believe they are righteous but also the poor in spirit, such as the tax collector who pleaded with him, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).
It is for this reason that Paul says that faith, hope and love will remain—and that the greatest of these is love. The other biblical markers, such as spiritual gifts, knowledge and prophecy, will come to an end when Christ returns, but love will never die.
This is because the love of God is poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). It is because of this that Scripture speaks so often about loving one another, including strangers (Matthew 25:40; Galatians 6:10) and even enemies (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Unfortunately, the great misunderstanding of love has led many Christians to regard it as little more than a matter of being nice to everyone. This has resulted in the church being characterized by watered-down teaching that lacks strong preaching of God's law and commands, and by a failure to distinguish between true and false teachers (Matthew 7:15; 2 Timothy 4:1-5). As a consequence, the love of many believers is stultified. They become like noisy gongs or clanging cymbals. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul warns Christians not to neglect the love of God (Colossians 3:14).
Christians believe that there is one God who created the heavens and the earth. They also believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and died on the cross to offer forgiveness of sins. Many topics are discussed in the Bible, but Jesus focused on a small number of them far more than…