Here are a few questions worth asking — for understanding Christian conversion and growing as a disciple. Each answer points you back to scripture so you can dig deeper. Share them with others, and enjoy.
A Christian is a person who believes that the living God is revealed in and through Jesus Christ, who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who lives in obedient communion with God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and who takes his or her place in the community of Christ's Church.
The word Christ comes from the Greek word that means anointed and is comparable to the Hebrew word Messiah. Jesus is Christ because in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things (Colossians 1:19-20).
The people of God in the Old Testament looked forward to a promised Messiah who would establish the reign of justice, love, and peace over the whole world. Jesus is that Messiah.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from and is one in being with God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit convinces the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
The Spirit leads human beings through faithful response to the gospel and into the fellowship of the Church, and the Spirit comforts, sustains, empowers, and guides them in their pursuit of truth.
All people are invited by God to repent, to trust and follow Jesus Christ, to learn from His words and deeds, and to share in His mission — through the power of the Holy Spirit and in company with other Christians.
To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, to call people to see the Kingdom, to repent, to enter the Kingdom, and to live obediently in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God is God's active and sovereign reign over all creation — over all that God has made. It is a new order of things where antagonism between peoples, nations, sexes, races, and generations is overcome, and a renewed environment of justice, love, freedom, and peace prevails.
Only those persons who turn from their sin and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can fully see and enter the Kingdom of God. In the end, God's reign will be acknowledged by all when God judges the whole human race through Christ.
Sin is a condition of estrangement from God that affects the whole human race and results in rebellion against God and God's Kingdom. This rebellion leads to […] — specific actions, words, or thoughts that arise from our sinful condition and deny God's presence, purpose, and reign.
Sin corrupts our relationship with God, with one another, with ourselves, and with the whole creation. Its primary result is […], and thus sin is more than a transgression — it is […]. It not only alienates us from God but also brings us into captivity.
Sin is more than an outward act or habit; it is a deep-seated inward condition. It is not only a contagious disease but also a communal, cumulative process tied to the social and cosmic dimensions of the world. It pollutes not only us but every aspect of our existence, and infects the very structure of human life and society.
The good news is that God has acted decisively and uniquely in Jesus Christ to deal with our sinful condition. God has acted to save us by offering us love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and new life.
Grace is God's sovereign act of love and unmerited favor to all. It is initiated by God and freely given to undeserving and ungodly people.
Salvation is the forgiveness of our sin, deliverance from […], and the gift of new life in Christ. It is a process that begins now, gives victory over sin and death, and is completed with God in heaven.
It is the change that God works in us as we respond to God's grace through repentance and faith. Repentance and faith are necessary responses to Jesus and his message of the Kingdom; through them, the saving initiative of God is translated into human experience.
We must keep in mind that Paul's conversion should not be taken as the only model for Christian conversion — many people experience a more gradual process.
Repentance is turning away from sin and toward God. It is the turning of one's total life toward the total will of God. It is a response to God's initiative and grace.
Christian faith is a centered, personal, relational response to God that involves trust and obedience. Faith in Jesus Christ is trusting that through Him alone, God gives us eternal life.
Jesus came to reveal God to humankind and to offer God's grace. To achieve this, Jesus shared our human life and death. He died on the cross, but God brought him back from the dead, thereby conquering death and sin and opening the Kingdom of God to all who repent.
New birth, regeneration, or conversion are terms used to describe the process — both in its instantaneous and gradual aspects — by which we are brought by God from the state of sin into a new life in Jesus Christ, and in which we grow through the inspiration and workings of the Holy Spirit within us. To be born again is to see and to enter the Kingdom of God.
We are put right — that is, justified — when we accept God's forgiveness of our sin in Christ Jesus, and when, through the grace of God, we become God's children. God restores us to a right relationship on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done for us in his death and resurrection, and on the basis of our faith. We are put right when God forgives our sins, accepts us, and declares us to be God's children.
We become God's holy people — that is, we are sanctified — through the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we are made new from within. We are transformed by God's love into the likeness of Christ. We are given the power to do the will of God, and therefore we grow up into Christian maturity, both individually and corporately.
Assurance of salvation is given to us in the Bible, by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, by the evidence in our own words and deeds, and through the inspiration, support, and encouragement of our brothers and sisters in the fellowship of the Church.
They show the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — but the greatest of all marks is love.
The Church of Jesus Christ is a worldwide community of all those who have been called into being by God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is a redeemed and redeeming fellowship in which the Gospel is proclaimed and the sacraments are offered. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church seeks to provide opportunities for worship, growth in faith, and witness to the world.
Methodists share a common heritage with all Christians everywhere who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Every local church is a local outpost of the worldwide community of believers.
A local church is a community of people who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. It is a place where the gospel is preached and the sacraments are celebrated.
The function of the local church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in accordance with Scripture, is to help people know Christ Jesus personally as Lord and Savior and to live their lives in the light of their relationship with God. Local Methodist and Wesleyan congregations have evangelistic, nurturing, serving, and witnessing responsibilities for their membership, surrounding area, and the entire world.
The message is summed up in these words: all need to be saved, all may be saved, all may know they are saved, and all may be saved to the uttermost.
All people who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who accept the challenge to serve Him in the life of the church and the world are welcomed as full members. Those seeking membership who have not already been baptized will be baptized before being received as full members.