I hope this title doesn’t make sense to you.

God said in Leviticus 24:22: “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.”

Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate… strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matt. 7:13-14).

He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Again and again, when God deals with mankind, he sets the terms and makes a single way to approach him and have a relationship with him. There is no alternative to repentance. Jesus Christ stands alone as the one and only way of being acceptable to God. He has one form of doctrine, which is not optional. “The unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3) is only possible because there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father.

It should stand to reason, then, that if there are two different kinds of Christianity, one is true (because God is true), and one is false (because it is not the truth). In this article, we are going to contrast them. Of course, there is a lot of overlap between the two, so I’m going to focus on the difference - which is significant. May God give you wisdom and discernment if you are truly seeking him with all your heart.

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The first “Christianity” is based on the idea that Jesus Christ provided the mechanism for the salvation of mankind from the penalty of sin. We are all depraved sinners by nature (which we inherited from Adam), unable to save ourselves, unable to do anything except sin and reap the wages of sin. The gospel is that Christ died for our sins, and his blood is sufficient to wash away all of our sins; that is, to render us clean in the sight of God, on the basis of Christ’s righteousness, regardless of any presence of sin or absence of good works in our lives. This salvation is acquired by being born again at a specific moment of time when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: i.e. that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Once saved, we have eternal life as a present possession and can never lose it; because our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus, and God now sees us as righteous because he looks at Christ’s righteousness instead of ours. The only part of our salvation yet to be completed is the transformation of our vile bodies into glorious bodies at the return of Christ. Until that happens, we continue to sin because we are bound in sinful flesh; the best we can do is be humble and confess that we still sin. Fortunately, God understands that we are sinful creatures, so he has grace with us.

Most importantly, how is this “Christianity” actually based on Jesus? Well, both Jesus and Paul taught that salvation is through Christ, because of his death and resurrection; that it is through faith in him; and that its end is eternal life. What the above version of Christianity does is focus almost exclusively on verses that emphasize the above themes, and interpret them as special, independent, self-encapsulating verses that describe “salvation” in entirety. These popular verses, such as John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Romans 6:23, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, are used alone (or in conjunction with each other) to simplify the gospel to the point of triviality. Although none of these verses mention a timespan of faith, they are often interpreted to mean that ANY duration or amount of faith is sufficient for “getting saved”. So as long as one has a moment of “saving faith”, one has received eternal life, and can never lose it because it is, after all, eternal.

The second “Christianity” is based on the idea that Jesus Christ is simultaneously the Lord, the Saviour, and the salvation that mankind needs. God created man to be upright; but each individual, from Adam until you and I, has sinned against God through unbelief. Some have chosen the way of unrighteousness and actively commit sin, disregarding the law of God entirely; others have sought righteousness, attempting to do what is right in the sight of God. Nevertheless, ALL have sinned. The need for salvation is threefold. First, the individual must repent toward God, confessing his sins and forsaking them, which results in forgiveness: God only forgives those who repent. Second, his past sins must be atoned for, and their wages paid. Man is unable to do this for himself, which is reason #1 why he cannot save himself. Third, the individual must be changed from the inside out, from a creature of sin to a creature of righteousness. Again, man cannot do this himself. He can choose in his heart to seek righteousness (repentance), but he cannot do anything to make himself righteous. This aspect of salvation must be from something external to him, that is able to enter into his heart, and purify him from the inside out. It must be the work of God’s Spirit, entering into the heart of man by the receiving of God’s Word through faith. That faith is counted by God to be righteousness, because it causes the heart to issue forth the righteous fruit of his Spirit, instead of the corrupt fruit of iniquity and sin. Because of that “righteousness by faith”, we find grace in the eyes of the Lord (as Noah did), and he finds us worthy of eternal life.

This is where Jesus comes in. It is from him that we learn which version of Christianity is the truth.

The first thing Jesus does (like John the Baptist, his forerunner) is preach repentance. Repentance forms the basis for a relationship with God. Without repentance, God does not forgive sin, does not have fellowship, and does not bestow his grace.

Secondly, he preaches the gospel of his kingdom. He tells us what the kingdom is like, what it takes to enter therein, and describes those that are fit for the kingdom and worthy of eternal life. And just who is he to demand such behavior? Why, he is the Lord!

The third thing he does is preach that he himself is the way to the Father, that he must be believed in and followed. Jesus knew exactly what was needed for man to be acceptable and pleasing to God, and his disciples believed him implicitly. They did not always understand him immediately, but they believed him and followed him and desired to learn his doctrine. He is the Master.

Fourth, Jesus died for our sins. The importance of this cannot be overstated. His death and blood provided the necessary atonement for all the sins of mankind, without which God would be unable to justly forgive sins. It also provided the ultimate catalyst for the love relationship between God and his people: in Christ’s death, God commended his love toward us while we were yet sinners, the greatest example of love possible; and we love him because he first loved us. There was literally nothing else God could do to foment a love greater than this! In Christ’s death, we see the compassion of God’s heart, his willingness to go to the greatest length to rescue each of us from our own self-destruction.

Fifth, Jesus rose again from the dead. This is ultimately the proof and assurance that God’s way of salvation in Jesus Christ actually works. Jesus is the forerunner, the example, and the firstfruits. He is the first begotten of the dead. As a Master who demonstrates his technique and finished product to his apprentices, Jesus gives us assurance that his method works, and is acceptable to God, and truly leads to salvation and immortality.

Sixth, Jesus set forth his life and doctrine, together with his death, burial, and resurrection, as a gospel: the good news that there is an established, sure, guaranteed way to the Father; and that he himself is that way, that truth, and that life.  Wrapped up in this gospel is the love that God has for us; the truth of what is good and right and acceptable to God; the pattern of how to be pleasing to him; the very heart and mind and faith of the Son of God. As Jesus is literally the Word of God himself, the hearing and belief of his gospel allows that Word to enter into us, filling us more and more with the fullness of Christ as we continue in him by faith.

Finally, just as Jesus himself was resurrected bodily from the dead, so also those in Christ will be raised bodily in the last day; their corruptible bodies changed to be incorruptible, as fitting those who are accounted worthy to obtain eternal life.

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The salvation of Christ is rich, full, and deep, and that is why the scriptures are rich, full, and deep to describe and explain it. It is not merely a magical moment when God sees that you have faith, and then gives you eternal life. It’s not praying a prayer. It’s not admitting that you’re a sinner. It’s not some small part, token thing, or aside that can be isolated from everything else that Christ and his apostles taught.

Don’t get me wrong. You MUST admit that you are a sinner in order to repent. You MUST call upon the name of the Lord in truth. You MUST believe in who Christ is, in what he taught, in his death, burial, and resurrection, and that he is able to accomplish the same in you. But these things are not a magical formula that, when combined at the right time and place, will cause God to save you. They are part of a process and journey that MUST continue forever in order for you to eternally have a relationship with the eternal God - which relationship IS eternal life.

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When I was young, I was taught the “first Christianity” that I mentioned at the beginning of this article. That was Christianity to me. The way it was explained to me always made sense.

Over time, I read the Bible and sought the truth from the Lord. I initially asked him for the truth about Dispensationalism, whether it was really the truth or not. (He showed me that it was not; you can read my testimony as Dispensationalism Debunked in the Documents section of this site.) As God showed me that Jesus and Paul were on the same page, I started to take a deeper interest in the words of Jesus; and I began to see that Christianity is not what I once thought it was. It is not merely a moment in time when I did a thing, followed by a bunch of optional fluff.

It is an eternal relationship with my loving Creator, made accessible only by and only in Jesus Christ, who really is the way, the truth, and the life. And it is important to continue in his words by faith: to keep seeking, and walking, and pressing; that I might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.