¶ … Christ Was and How it Relates to His Work
To be a Christian fundamentally means to believe in Christ, in the person of Jesus. There are many different types of Christians, including Baptists, Catholics, Evangelicals, and Lutherans.
Christians believe that there is only one God, and that God is a Trinity of God the Father, Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is not an example of three Gods (tri-theism), nor is it an example of one God changing forms (modalism). Instead, to Christians, God has eternally existed as one essence with three persons.
Since Christ is the second person of the Trinity, Christians believe that Christ has eternally existed as well. Jesus Christ was "God with skin on." He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless and perfect life, was fully man and fully God, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of his people so that anyone who has faith in Christ shall be saved.
To Christians, Christ really and literally died in order to satisfy the demands of God. Christ was buried, and raised on the third day. He did not remain dead. His body literally came back to life. Jesus visited His disciples after His resurrection, and over 500 people witnessed Him, as according with the Scriptures. Christ then ascended into Heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God. Christ will also come again in an event called "The Second Coming of Christ."
Catholics traditionally believes in Jesus Christ as both God and Man. Christianity has teaches a triple thesis that Jesus Christ is truly man yet He is also truly
God, and that the Jesus Christ, is one and the same person.
Christology is that part of theology which deals with Jesus Christ. In its full extent, it addresses issues concerning both the person of Christ and His works. Christians believe that all of Jesus' words and work imply a Christology.
Christians often speak of "the precious blood of Christ" and it is true that Christianity would not exist if not for the blood that poured from Jesus' body when he was crucified.
At the beginning of every week since Christ died, Christians have gathered for a symbolic ceremony of remembrance. This is the Lord's Supper in which Christians meditate upon the poured-out blood of Christ.
Christians believe that Christ's body was killed, and his blood shed, as a perfect sacrifice for them. They believe in no other means by which their sins, which alienate them from God, can be forgiven and their guilt removed. They have "faith in his blood."
Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
Christians are a people returned to the possession of Christ. They are the redeemed property of God. Christ paid his own blood as the price to remove the sins of his people so that they could return into his possession. However, Christ did not buy their sins with His blood. Rather, Christ purchased the forgiveness of those sins so that His people could be restored to God's possession.
When Jesus was on earth, He was the physical Body of Christ. However, Christians relate to Him because of His humanity. He lived with self-imposed limitations. For example, he could only be in one place at a time. He could only see so many people in a day, could only have a few close friends, needed time to eat and pray, relax and sleep. Also, He would be on earth doing his ministry for a limited number of years.
After his death and resurrection into a new life, Jesus rose to heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit to satisfy His followers. Christians became the new physical Body of Christ on earth called to do the ministry of Jesus in the world. As they preached and taught, prayed and cared for people, the Holy Spirit spread into the lives of many more followers.
Christians today continue in the legacy and the power of being the physical and spiritual manifestation of Jesus' body on Earth.
Salvation is by faith in what Christ accomplished on the cross. Christians feel they cannot work to save themselves. Anyone who believes that they must work to save themselves denies that Christ satisfied all the demands...
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