Faith | beltingebaptist

The Christian Faith

The following are some suggestions to help if you feel you would like to discover more about the Christian faith for yourself. You may find it helps you to know more through attending a church like ours, where the Gospel message of salvation is faithfully proclaimed.

An introduction to the message about Jesus Christ follows these 4 suggestions

1. www.christianity.org.uk where you can find answers to questions you might have, or if you wish, talk to a Christian who can help you.

2. www.christianityexplored.org - where you can find details of courses which explore Christianity.

3. Having looked at the above two websites, you may have found out enough to want to do something about it. The Christian faith begins for each person by taking a step for themselves. This turning point can be put into quite simple words.

The following outlines the three actions necessary to take that step of faith for yourself - ADMIT, BELIEVE, COMMIT: -

i) It is when we accept our need of his forgiveness, and what he has done for us, that we can come to God and know him for ourselves. We can be restored to the God who made us and know him as our Father, and this begins when we ADMIT our sin.

Although we are separated from God because of our sin, he sent Jesus to take our sin away by his death on the cross, so we can know his love for ourselves, as the following verses tell us -

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3v16 (NIV).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1John 1v9 (NIV)

ii) We come to know God when we BELIEVE in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

All that we need to bring us to God has already been done for us by Jesus, and our part is simply to trust in him. We are unable to save ourselves and must depend on what Jesus did when he died and was raised again from the dead. We are putting our trust in what God has promised for ourselves, when we come to him in this way, and we can be sure we belong to him because of this, whatever we may feel.

Romans 10v9 (NIV) says - “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

iii) We have the Spirit of God with us to help us, and the Bible to show us the way, and we grow in knowing the love of God and the new life he has for us, when we COMMIT our life to him.

When we come to know God through faith in Jesus, this is the beginning of a new life, in which we can be sure of the love and help of God. We find this more and more as we learn how to live in the way he teaches us, especially through what Jesus said in the Bible. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of Truth.” John 14v15-17 (NIV) We will be given the help of God's Holy Spirit (the advocate mentioned) when we have accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

A Prayer for you to say if you wish to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

“Father God, I come to you now through Jesus, grateful to learn the truth about him in the message of the Bible. Thank you for the love which made you send Jesus into the world to die in my place, and for the life I can have because he was raised from the dead. Help me to know how much I need your forgiveness, as I now say sorry for my sin, and please answer me as you have promised. Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, and I would like you to be my Saviour. Come into my heart and my life now, and help me to live as you have shown and taught us in the Bible. Amen”

(The words thank you, sorry, and please are simple, but they carry a lot of weight when they are expressed in an important relationship. These words help to make this prayer, which expresses the need to ADMIT our sin, BELIEVE in Jesus, and COMMIT our life to him, the start of our relationship with Jesus, when we come to God for ourselves.)

Remember you depend upon what Jesus has already done, and on his promises, who died and rose again for you. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, however good you may think your life is. Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ is the free gift of God. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2v8 (NIV)

Jesus said “I am with you always” (Matthew 28v20) so with Jesus as your Saviour, you will never be on your own again.

4. You may find it helps to tell others who will understand about your faith, but of course this can be a challenging thing to do. The Christian way of life is a shared one, as Jesus himself showed, so that your faith grows stronger as you learn more. Try to find a church to join so you can share your faith with like-minded people. We here at Beltinge Baptist Church would love to welcome those who are new in the faith, or are just exploring Christianity. If you are unsure about church services at first, how about coming along to one of our groups and talking to the folk there? We are very friendly and welcoming and would love to see you and help you discover more of the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus for yourself. Find out details on our Activities page

We would welcome the opportunity to help you get to know more about the Christian faith, so if you have any questions, please use the contact us page on this website. Anything you say in the email will be treated in strict confidence, and we will reply to all contacts as quickly as possible. The emails are monitored constantly.