Why I am a Christian – 20 Reasons

I am a Christian. I am a believer in an almighty God who sent his son to die for my sins. My reasons for being a Christian are many and varied but I plan to offer the top 20 here. I’ll list them today and then expand upon them in coming weeks.

This list is prompted by a similar but opposite list by a former believer at a blog called The BEattitude. This individual recently offered up a list of why he is no longer a Christian. His article is not particularly hateful. He’s not a raging maniac with a chip on his shoulder. But he has clearly lost his faith. It is terribly sad and pitiful. My article is an attempt to answer his complaints. Some of what he says is difficult to answer but not impossible. Some of the things on his list are rather shallow. All have been hashed and re-hashed over the centuries. But I suspect we have all struggled with something on the list at one time or another. I am a Christian because:

1. The wrath of God demonstrates how horrible my sin really is and how righteous God really is. If sin is so bad that God had to send heaven’s best to die it makes perfect sense that God would be full of wrath against that sin.
2. A devil’s hell, in all of its horror, is the only place for unbelievers. All have the opportunity to believe and to seek God. Men are judged according to their own works. While we neither know nor fully understand we can be certain that God’s judgment will be fully righteous. It is nothing to rejoice in but it is something to be believed and feared.
3. God shows me the way. Frankly, I am just not smart enough to figure it all out on my own. God is infinite in all ways. It is positively impossible for finite man to fully comprehend infinite God. But this same God has offered to show me the paths of the unknowable. In this revelation God also allows me to make choices. I am no robot. When my choices are bad terrible consequences may follow for both me and others.
4. As a Christian I stand in the culmination of centuries of careful, real life development of a divine system of faith. My faith and beliefs did not just pop out of thin air. They were carefully, consistently and deliberately developed in the lives of men and women much like me. The wealth of information I have learned from them is immeasurable.
5. God has shown himself to me in many ways. I see God clearly in the design of the universe, from the delicate wings of a butterfly to the cataclysmic eruption and collapse of stars. I see him in my fellowman when beauty pours forth from an ugly event. I saw God in the gentle curves and smooth, perfect skin of my once infant children. It is true that the “heavens declare the glory of God!” (Psalms 19:1).
6. God has confirmed his presence and intervention through wonderful miracles. There is no need for ongoing miracles in order for me to believe. I can believe that atomic bombs work based upon their use in World War II. It does not have to happen over and over.
7. God answers my prayers in a way fully consistent with his word and his being. Remember that Jesus prayer in the garden went unanswered in the affirmative because there was no other way than the way of the cross. Prayer is not a call to Santa Claus.
8. Prophecies were all fulfilled concerning the Son of God. Not one prophecies was left unfulfilled, an amazing fact considering the centuries between prophecy and fulfillment.
9. The Bible reveals Jesus, his love and his life to me through the inspired words of holy men. No other book has such internal consistency as the Bible. Difficult passages exist but open themselves with careful and serious Bible study.
10. The Bible perfectly fits God’s intended purposes. If I stop to think of what I would expect from a divine being, a reach a conclusion that amazingly fits the Bible.
11. The Bible can be understood properly just as God intended. If there were a divine being we would expect that he would communicate clearly with his creation. And if he created the world, as we believe he did, he can certainly communicate clearly.
12. The Bible is a bright and loving beacon of hope to a lost world. That some use the Scriptures to justify their horrific, sinful actions is not God’s fault.
13. The Bible is a message of love to all people, especially the sinner who will face the wrath of God. There is no hate in God – only love. As a dear friend often says, “we have to hate the sin and love the sinner.”
14. Heaven awaits all who remain faithful unto death. God allows me to choose the paths of my life while telling me plainly there are only two destinations. The choice is mine to make.
15. I am a Christian because my parents were thankfully Christians and were willing to pass the truth on to me. It is a blessing to grow up in a family that serves God always. I’ll try to provide the same atmosphere to my children.
16. Christianity is perfectly logical and well founded intellectually. Unbelief requires one suspend rational thought and bow at the throne of modern science.
17. The Church gives support and family to my beliefs and sustains me in difficult and in good times. That the church has been corrupted by men is no complaint against God. Divisions among believers are wrong. Unity is Jesus’ prayer (John 17).
18. God provides the moral foundation for all of life. Apart from God there is no reliable basis upon which we can base any moral code. Any other code is man and subject to constant change and modification
19. All men stand equal at the foot of the cross. There is no clergy in Christ’s church to receive special treatment. All are accountable to God. Errors and sin of a church leader in no way indict the entire body.
20. The Bible answers the great questions of life which have not and cannot be answered through any other endeavor. From the beginning, God has always offered answers to the most important questions. I trust his revelation.

I hope you will watch for each installment. At the bottom of each installment you will see a tag called “20 reasons.” Clicking will give you a complete list of all installments published so far. Please offer you comments as we go along.

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