[Home][Back to Sermons] The Basics of the Faith 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Far too often in the church we assume that everyone understands the language we use. We assume that all the key words like salvation, repentance, forgiveness, grace etc. mean the same thing to everyone. We also tend to believe that just because we call ourselves Christians and we worship together, that our non-religious beliefs, things like politics, social issues etc., are or should be all the same. Well, all of the above are false assumptions or beliefs.

We are not all called to have the same faith. Even when Paul talks about being of the same mind in some of his letters, he is not referring to believing the same things as much as he is talking about being able to discern between right belief and wrong belief. In Paul's faith, there is room for differences in understanding, as long as they fall within some acceptable parameters. As we look at Paul's writings throughout the New Testament, we see differences in belief that some have said represent contradictions, but are better described as the evolution or growth or development of his faith over time.

For example, in Paul's earliest letter, 1 Thessalonians, he believes that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent. Jesus is coming back very soon so you better live your lives in certain ways. Paul doesn't get overly theological, because there is no point in doing so. He hardly mentions the Church because he is not concerned with permanent earthly structures. But in Paul's' later writings, we observe a movement away from talk about Jesus imminent return and into talk about setting up a permanent church structure. There's also more theological debate, which leads to more difficult concepts and more rules for right Christian living.

So even in Paul's own life there was room for growth and change and different beliefs, just like there is in our church today. But still, we must have boundaries within which we fall. There must be things about Christian belief that make us Christian. I have had half a dozen discussions lately with people in our congregation and people outside our church that have forced me to reflect on my own beliefs and what is acceptable and what may be outside the realm of right Christian beliefs. I do not see myself as judge of other's faith, but more as one called out by the church to reflect on such matters.

So let's outline the Christian faith using some of our Corinthians reading today. Remember, this is not definitive Christianity, it is more of a gauge by which we should all measure where we stand. The key to any person's Christianity, what makes us say we are Christians whether we claim to be liberal or conservative is an understanding that Jesus Christ was raised from the Dead. This is called the resurrection and I believe it is the cornerstone of faith. When we accept the resurrection as historical, the rest of Christianity makes sense. As Paul says in our reading today, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith."

So without a belief in the resurrection, it is difficult to make a claim for one's Christianity. Of course there are numerous ideas about what it means to be resurrected but we do not need to discuss that now. Once we have established that we believe Christ was raised from the dead, we open ourselves up to a whole new world of ideas and terms. The first and most important is salvation.

Salvation is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Not only do you believe that Jesus was risked from the dead, but you also believe that somehow God has provided for your eternal life in that act. Salvation is God's gift to the world and reflects how much he loves us. Without the Death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross, we could not have full access to God because we are sinful people who have not and maybe cannot live up to God's expectation of us. So instead of never being able to reach his creation, God chose to make provision for us once and for all in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is desire to have our sins forgiven and believe that Jesus' resurrection seals the deal.

Often you will hear Christians say that, "You have to accept Jesus in your heart" if you want to be saved. All that really means is to believe in the resurrection and accept that in the resurrection God is providing for your salvation. Once you believe that, you are called born again. Unfortunately, that term has come to be associated mainly with ultra-conservative Christians, but it is really a term for all believers because it represents our new life in Christ as opposed to our old lives in the world. Once you are in Christ, you are a new creation who seeks to serve God not the self. You desire to please God and not to sin.

The desire to be forgiven is known as repentance. It is literally a turning around of one's life, a re-orienting of oneself from walking away from God to walking towards God. Repentance is our part of the equation. It represents what we do in response to what God has done for us in Jesus. It shows our desire to be united with God. I think sometimes where it gets confusing is that too many people believe that once you repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you, that you can never sin again. But that is false. We sin through our whole lives no matter how good we try to be. We can never be good enough to please God. Repentance is a lifelong process. It isn't a one time thing where we ask forgiveness and then never sin again, although, that would be ideal. People say the church is full of sinners and hypocrites and they are right. It is. But amen, because that is just who should be in church. Jesus came specifically for sinners and the fact that you are in church means that you have recognized that you are and that the only way out is through Jesus. So what we have done today is to give a very broad overview of some basic concepts about the Christian life. The first was resurrection. The second was salvation. The third was what it means to be born again and the fourth was repentance. I have not attempted to go into too much detail about any one of them and I have left quite a bit of room for interpretation because I believe through the Holy Spirit, God guides each of us to our own understanding of these ideas. For any church or any person to claim that you have to believe exactly what they believe is not godly but is worldly and sinful. We love and serve a great big God who is far greater than our limited human understanding. To compartmentalize and limit God would be a big mistake for any of us. All we can do is use the tools that God has provided us with, namely the Bible, the tradition of the church, our experience and our reason under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to mold and shape our faith the best we can. In the end, God will be the judge and we will be the judged. Develop your faith and grow in your love of God as much as possible and God will surely bless you. Amen.

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