Return To Your Father's House

The main teachings of Christianity can be summarized in five great truths.

They teach us about:

• God’s character
• Our situation concerning God
• God’s solution for us
• Our response
• The result

To know and understand these is to have the seed of all spiritual truth.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

These truths are explained below in more detail.

These form the key to what the Bible calls salvation. This key is known as the gospel, which comes from the Greek word for ‘the good news’.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [meaning all non-Jews]. (Romans 1:16).

Please see items 3 and 5 below for a further summary of the gospel. It is of paramount importance to know, understand, believe and confess the gospel.

For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:10)

Below follow the five great truths of Christianity, summarized in what are also called ‘The Five Spiritual Laws’:

The Bible reveals three of the most important characteristics of God.

• He is Holy:

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY (Revelation 4:8)

• He is just and does not go against His word:

“Far be it from You [God] to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen 18:25)

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

• God is loving.

God is love. (1John 4:8)

The love of God is not to be understood in the same sense as human love. Human love is mostly based on emotion and self interest. It can wither at any time. God’s love is eternal, impartial and always aims for the good of humanity.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

It is important to understand here that God is both loving and just. While He is loving towards humanity, at the same time He will not let our sins go unpunished. How has God resolved this problem? How can He deal both justly and lovingly with mankind ? The answer is below.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

• Mankind is to face judgement.

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement. (Hebrews 9:27)

• Good works are useless. God cannot be bought with favours!

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) [Grace means God's unmerited gift or favour].

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

• Both God’s justice and love have both been forever satisfied in the Cross of Christ.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5:24)

With this the division between mankind & God has been healed. The penalty for our sins has been paid. We can now stand righteous before God.

I [Jesus] came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)