The Mystery of Creation: Chapter 1: The Seven Basics of Christianity: The Main Four

The Main Four

                These are the Main Four Basics and all you need to be saved.  Actually, Basic #4 is the only one you absolutely have to know and do to be saved and go to Heaven.  Even if you aren’t totally sure that you believe Basics 1-3, if you cry out “Jesus!” and desire forgiveness and your heart seeks to change and no longer continue sinning, you will be saved.  Again, the key is that you want Jesus to be your King moving forward! 

                However, believing in the Basics 1-3 will solidify your faith and are usually necessary in order for a person to even accept Jesus as King.  Still, it is possible to be saved even if you don’t fully believe or understand all of Basics 1-3. 

1.            You must believe in God. 

                He is One God but three distinct persons; a Holy Trinity.  Man is Soul, Body and Spirit and man is made in the likeness of God.  Therefore, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  God has always existed and He will always exist both in space and time.  He is indestructible, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.  Indestructible means that He cannot be destroyed.  Omnipotent means that He is all-powerful.  Omniscient means that He is all-knowing.  Omnipresent means the He exists everywhere.  He is also the highest form of intelligence, perfect, loving, merciful, just, faithful, truthful, and extremely patient.  God cannot make mistakes and He cannot do wrong.

2.            You must believe that God made Adam and Eve to rule over the Earth, that they were perfect when they were first created, but they sinned and rejected God; rebelling against Him.  This is the reason we suffer and die.

                When they were made, they were perfect, for an omnipotent God cannot make mistakes.  However, by their own choice, Adam and Eve rejected God and rebelled against Him.  Thus, the reason mankind suffers pain and must die is because mankind is a race of people that rebels against God.  Rebellion is treason regardless of which country we’re talking about.  The typical punishment for treason is death.

                It is like a medieval kingdom.  God is King.  Angels are His public officials and His soldiers.  Humans are like His citizens.  We bring suffering upon ourselves because we have together rejected God as King.  Thus, we are not citizens of God’s Kingdom and therefore we are together rebels.  Rebels have no rights and privileges.  They receive no protection from the King and His soldiers.  Rebels live in hostile conditions, outside the walls of cities, for they desire their own laws and rules over those of the king.  Because they do not submit to the king and his laws, they suffer and die and are hunted in the cold wilderness instead of living in peace in the city. 

                The same is true for all humanity.  We are all criminals and rebels, and the Earth is our wilderness where we fight to survive and live according to our own laws.  And so, the protections and blessings of the King, God, are far from us.

3.            You must believe that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to live on Earth, to die on the cross to forgive humanity’s sins, and to be resurrected so that all who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will live forever in eternal paradise.  Those who reject Jesus, therefore, are condemned to Hell and an eternity in the Lake of Fire.  Basically, accept Jesus and you aren’t guilty of anything you have ever done or ever will do wrong.  Reject Jesus and you are guilty of everything you have and everything you will ever do wrong.  The key, therefore, to being saved is accepting Jesus as King. 

                But you might ask, “Saved from what?”  The answer is Hell and eventually the Lake of Fire.  What are these places?  Hell is a terrible prison where all rebels are placed to wait for their final execution date.  The Lake of Fire is that final execution.  If you accept Jesus as King, you are saved from Hell and the Lake of Fire.  If you reject Jesus as King you basically say, “I don’t care that you died for me, I’m not accepting you as my king.  I’m going to continue to live as I want to live, as a rebel.”  Therefore, you are sentenced to live for all eternity in the Lake of Fire.

                Why would God throw people into a terrible Lake of Fire for all eternity?  Jesus paid the price so all sins are erased forever if you accept Jesus as King.  He died the most painful and excruciating death in history for all humans, no matter how terrible they are or were, so that He could make it super easy for everyone to be saved. 

                He made it stupidly simple because of His love for us.  All you have to do is accept Christ as King.  All you have to do is tell God that you do not want to live your life your way anymore.  You want to live it God’s way, following God’s rules the best way that you can.  You don’t even have to be perfect!  He’ll still forgive you when you mess up time and time again even after you are saved.  That’s how much He loves you.  You just have to WANT to live by God’s rules and try your best to live by them.  Then you will live forever with God in paradise, a citizen once again of His kingdom.  You will be restored as a citizen of the Kingdom of God! 

                If you reject Jesus, regardless of your reasons, you are guilty of all of your sins; the most heinous of them being that you continue to reject Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins.  It’s like you are slapping Him in the face because you are rejecting Him even after He did so much for you.  You may think He hasn’t done a lot for you.  You may think that He’s abandoned you.

                He hasn’t.  No matter how hard your life has been or where you are in life, God is with you and He loves you.  The problem is that you are a rebel.  You were born a rebel.  You’ve grown up outside the city of the King.  You’ve grown up in a wilderness far from the protections of God, the King.  His soldiers, angels, comb the wilderness day and night searching for you to help you, but your family, friends, and even you, have fled from them.  You run away from God instead of to Him.  How, then, can He help you and protect you if you are always running from Him?

                “But Christians also suffer!” you might argue.

                This is true.  However, there is a difference.  Christians suffer because they were once rebels who have remained in the wilderness to help rescue other rebels.  They also go through hardships and trials and pains and sufferings, but it is only because in order to help other rebels they must endure the pains and sufferings of “the wild plants and animals” of life.  It isn’t that they don’t have God’s protection.  It is that they don’t have the protection of the city where the defenses are impenetrable.  Instead, they must face the same demons that you do in order so that they can help you accept Christ as your king.

                And so, because of His love, any who accepts Jesus as King will be restored to citizenship in God’s Kingdom.  Then you will live inside the walls of the city where nothing can harm you.  If you love Christ and accept Him as King, you will no longer be rebels and worthy of execution.  In fact, God loves us so much that He has promised that He will make you more than mere citizens.  He wants you to be His friends, His children…in other words…Royalty!

                However, if you reject Christ, even though He died for you, then you are worthy indeed of execution, for you refuse to stop being a rebel.  Remember, the punishment for rebellion, which is treason, is always death, no matter what country you live in.  This death is Hell and the Lake of Fire, for all eternity.  It’s your choice.  If you go to Hell and the Lake of Fire it is only because YOU choose to go there.  YOU choose to remain a rebel worthy of execution for treason.

4.            You must accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and King. 

                It takes more than just believing.  You must actually accept Jesus.  This can be as simple as saying, “Jesus!” and in your heart you are saying His Name because you want to be forgiven and you are submitting your life to Him.  This is why the scripture says, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Literally, a man’s last breath could be “Jesus” and if his heart is repentant and he desires Jesus to forgive him, he will be saved.

                This is why you can never know if someone is really saved or not.  They could live their entire lives as horrible, wretched criminals.  However, if at their last moment before dying they even just think, “Jesus” in a way that God can see that they are repentant, that person is saved.

                However, confessing your sins will help you to feel better.  Saying a prayer that is more than just “Jesus!” will help cleanse your conscience of all of your past failures, mistakes and evils.  Therefore, you should pray to Him, as soon as possible, and you should tell Him all that is on your heart.  A person who is truly repentant will do more than simply say, “Jesus!” if they can help it.  They will pray to God and tell God all that they have done wrong and ask Him to forgive them.  Then they will tell God that they accept Jesus as their King.  For the rest of their lives they will do whatever they can to follow and obey Jesus.  This!...is true repentance, and it is only by truly repenting that a person can be saved.

                It should be something like this (with heartfelt meaning and passion, for God knows if you are sincere or not): “Jesus!  Please forgive me.  I have done so many things that are wrong in my life.  I have (insert sins here).  I don’t want to do these things anymore.  Guide me!  Teach me!  I want to make my life better.  I want to be a better person!  Be my God!  Be my King!  Let me serve You today.  In Jesus Name…amen.”

                It is the heart that counts when you make this prayer.  God can see, as no one else can, your heart.  If He sees that you are sincere, He will have great compassion and mercy upon you.  He will be moved deeply, and He will forgive you.  He will then send His Holy Spirit to live within you.  This Holy Spirit is His very own presence.  It is as if He is plugging His own power generator into you to give you new power and new life.  The eternal God’s very own life force is now yours, for when He forgives someone, the first benefit they receive is His life force flowing through them.  This is how much God loves you! 

                From this moment on, you are saved, and God’s Holy Spirit will empower you and help you live your life.  From this moment on, God Himself will inspire you to do things that are good and holy and just and true.  He will guide you through inspiration as well as many other things.  He will help you overcome your addictions and your bad habits.  He will guide you to a good church (which you should make every endeavor to find a good one no matter how hard it is; DON’T GIVE UP!).  He will help you understand the Bible when you are reading it.  Over time, for it usually occurs over some time (so be patient), you will begin to see over and over again just how amazing God is as He takes you from one bad thing to another and teaches you how to handle all life throws at you.  He will begin to change you and make you into a better person, the person He has always dreamed that you would be.