Living the Christian Way

There is a deeper meaning of being a Christian than just prayers and adoration for Jesus Christ. Since time immemorial has long been evident in the lives of many people in the world who believe in prayers, sins, heaven, hell, prophets, and miracles. Jesus of Nazareth’s famous crucifixion and resurrection came to be known for the believers, thereby calling him Jesus Christ.

So what’s more with the now largest religion in the world? A faction that is so large with almost 2 billion followers, this most prominent and dominant religion in the western side of the world having different varieties of belief forms and practices has centered its faith to Jesus Christ. Thus, it is called Christianity.

Christianity is based on several key aspects as described below:

1. Living the Christian Life – It is how the way people should live according to Jesus Christ and with accordance to the teachings of the bible. The most common manifestations are the following:
   • Prayer – It is not just a simple prayer but something from the heart. Prayers in secret are advised. With prayers, a Christian is said to communicate with God in order to create a personal relationship with Him.
   • Discipline – A good Christian knows how to handle precautions; by this, it means self-discipline. A disciplined person is unlikely to create chaos and sins.
   • Repentance – As the saying goes, “To err is human, to forgive is Godly.” It is innate in a man to be prone in committing sins but it is only through repentance that God will forgive the sinners. Sometimes making a U-turn is not really that bad for a person who travels along the wrong path. Turn around and repent.
   • Service – To promote and improve one’s spiritual life, a Christian needs to provide service to others by which he can make use of his God-given talents and abilities to help them, especially the neediest.
   • Evangelism – When Jesus Christ said to spread his teachings to the world, He meant to evangelize the world with Christianity. Thus, a Christian, at one point in his life, should evangelize others to the word of God. This is the way Christianity is spread over the globe.
2. Fellowship with God – Jesus Christ has only one great commandment and that is to build a better personal relationship with God. The only way to do this is to love God and thy neighbors above all else.
3. Living away from Sins – The challenge of sins has always been the problem of humans. By being a Christian, it is a challenge to stay away from them and become a person worthy of emulation by doing good deeds and abiding the commandments of God and the teachings of the Bible.

There are also beliefs that distinguished Christian among other religions in the world. Some of them are:

• The Christian God – this is a belief that there is one great Creator.
• Jesus Christ – the belief of God the Son.
• The Virgin Mary – Jesus Christ’s Mother.
• The Trinity – that God is in three forms: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit – God the Holy Spirit.
• Human Nature – the creation of human in the bible version of Adam and Eve.
• Angels – the cherubim in heaven.
• Devils and Demons – the forces of evil.
• The After Life – the life after death: purgatory, hell, heaven.
• Heaven – the kingdom of God.
• Hell – the kingdom of Satan.

There are also practices that sort Christians from others. Common practices are:

• Baptism
• Honoring the Saint
• Praying the Rosary
• Marriage
• Sainthood

With all these beliefs and practices, a normal Christian should be able to do this by heart and by soul for it is already manifested in them by the time they are conceived in their mother’s womb until the time they will return back to the ashes and face the life after death. Living the Christian way is not simple but there is no other way to live the life in this world where everything is just a means to an end. Following Christ’s life is the only way to heaven — It is just a one-way ticket, a sure ride, so to speak.

Christian Beliefs and Practices

People have their own beliefs and values and it is brought about by the different teachings they have learned from their spiritual leaders. There are many religions that have emerged and all of them have one single denominator which is faith. It has been said that the largest religion present in the world today is Christianity. This religion is based on the scriptures written in a sacred book which they call Bible. It contains the life and the different teachings of Jesus Christ as stated in the New Testament. Those who are part of this religion are called Christians. Christians deeply believe that Jesus is the son of God and he was sent by God to become the savior of humanity. He played a major role in the lives of the Christians. He sacrificed his life to save the people from their sins which led to his crucifixion and death. Jesus was then resurrected from the dead on the third day and opened the gates of heaven for those who live by him. His body was never found in his tomb and was believed to have ascended to heaven. It is also believed, that Jesus will return on what others call judgment day. Christians also believe that the ancestors of man had committed a great sin which was passed to their next generations and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was a form of reconciliation to God. These are the foundations of the Christian religion and these accounts are accepted by the believers as true. They consider the cross as a holy symbol which somehow has different interpretations by the Christian community but whatever their interpretations are; they still have one common denominator, love for Jesus.  The Christians are guided by the messages of Jesus Christ which is reflected in the Bible known to them as Gospels. They believe that these Gospels should be applied to their lives so that they will be able to live up to what God wants for them and have eternal life when the so called judgment day arrives.

For Christians, their day of thanksgiving and worship is the seventh day of the week which is Sunday. For them, this is the day that God rested after he had created the world and the universe. They set aside all the other things that they have been doing for the entire week and gather on churches, listening to Gospels. They also receive God through their Holy Communion which is somewhat a re-enactment of the Last Supper. They receive the bread and wine which becomes the body and blood of Christ after the consecration. Christians communicate with God through their prayers and hymns. The Christians also incorporates in their practice the Seven Sacraments. Each child should be baptized with holy water which serves as an initiation to the religion. They also submit themselves for confession which is repentance of the sins committed. Other sacraments include Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Communion, Holy Orders and Matrimony. Some Christians based their worship on the Liturgical Calendar which comprises Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter and Advent. Christians also believe in the Holy Trinity which comprises The Father who is God, The Son who is Jesus and The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is represented by a dove which symbolizes peace and reconciliation. It is an important symbol in Christianity because it serves as a guide to the members of the religion.

The Christians believe in the existence of heaven and hell. Those who do good things and live their lives through the Gospels are welcomed in the gates of heaven and those who commit evil are burned in hell. They also believe that God has great love for humanity. He has provided humans with their needs and is righteous in making judgments. This has greatly affected the culture of many individuals. This provided them with many positive outlooks in life and had gained a lot from their beliefs. They are able to teach their children with the right things and stay away from those bad ones to be accepted in heaven. The beliefs somehow provide hope to those who suffer and who are lost in the tracks of life.

Christianity’s View on How to Live Life in the Way of the Cross

A person who believes and follows the ways of the Lord, Jesus Christ, is known as a Christian. Being a believer of Jesus, an individual is expected to follow how God lived his life in the world. It is believed that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for the sake of humanity and gave up His life to save the whole mankind. His life is very well written in the Bible, a holy book for the Christians. According to the beliefs of Christianity, the human being is made from the image of God Himself. It is therefore, believed that the human race is far more superior to animals since man is a rational being capable of deciding what things to do and what things not to do. Being rational, Christians are given by Jesus Christ the free will to do whatever, he or she wishes whether it is good or evil in nature. Jesus Christ offers a human being who has done good things in his life, to other human beings and for the welfare of all people when he or she was still living in the world an eternal life in heaven. In heaven, man will achieve true happiness in the presence of God and among the angels of heaven. The Lord, Jesus Christ, teaches man to love oneself and to love, thy neighbor’s. He wants world peace and unity among countries under the influence of hatred and anger. He wants the human beings to know that His love is supreme and immeasurable. Hence, His message to the human race is simply summed up to one word and that is love.

Christians are also expected to follow the Ten Commandments made by the Lord. This is a guide for Christians on how to live life following God’s path. Written in the Ten Commandments are the things that a Christian must do and must not do in order to live life in the way of the cross. Anyone who commits or has violated the Ten Commandments of God has thereby committed a mortal sin. A mortal sin is the worst form of sin that a human being can commit according to the beliefs of Christianity. Another form of sin is called venial sin. This form of sin is actually lesser than mortal sin in terms of wrongness or degree of sinfulness but nonetheless, a sin is a sin regardless of its form. Another form of sin is what we call original sin. Its roots can be traced a long, long time ago when the first human beings were made by God in the form of Adam and Eve. Adam was tempted by Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the beautiful Garden of Eden. When the Lord knew about Adam and Eve’s mistake and insubordination, He threw them out of the Garden of Eden into the world as a form of punishment and the rest was history. So according to the Christian beliefs, every newborn infant has already committed a sin and that is brought about by the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the original sin.

Christianity is by far one of the most widely spread religions in the whole wide world. The country that has the most number of Christians is Brazil and next to it’s the United Mexican States or Mexico. However, not like the other religions existing today, Christianity firmly believes that religion will not save a human being. If an individual has done things against the law, hurt other people in different forms or has committed a mortal sin, Christianity will not save him from the fires of hell and neither will Buddha in the case of Buddhism nor Allah in the case of Muslims. If you have done wrong and have not repented for your sins, then you are not allowed to enter the gates of heaven where eternal salvation and true happiness await.

Therefore, we can say that the religion of Roman Catholic is indeed very influential in the society. Jesus Christ died on the cross in order to save the human race. With that, Christians have great love and faith to their supernatural deity. The Lord has become their source of strength, courage, and hope during times of despair and difficulty. Above all, the Lord has become their father guiding them to the right path, the path of goodness.