Christianity 101: Rediscovering the Basics of Christianity

By Darryl L. Gay

Many of the foundational truths of Christianity have been lost or distorted by those who have erroneously taken the Holy Scriptures out of context to often make them say something different from their original intent. As a result, the church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has split and splintered in every possible direction, and many are confused by what is currently presented to them as Christianity. The major purpose of this book is to bring clarity to many of the lost or misunderstood teachings that were clearly understood by the first-century church. The Holy Spirit gave the revelation to the first-century apostles, and He has again raised up apostles in the twenty-first-century to bring restoration and renewal to the church that Jesus Christ died for. Let's rediscover these basic but powerful truths together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 25, 2024
• ISBN: 9798886162646

Book preview

ISBN 979-8-88616-263-9 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88616-264-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Darryl L. Gay

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife, First Lady Mireille Pierre-Louis Gay, I praise the Lord for using you to teach and inspire me not to just finish this project but finish every work that the Lord requires of me in the future. Your drive and tenacity inspire me to push harder than ever for greatness. He used you, your patience, and your unconditional love to bring me out of deep darkness and depression; and I am forever grateful to the Lord for bringing you into my life when I needed you most. You have all my heart, love, and gratitude forever.

To my former wife of twenty-nine years, Prophetess and Pastor Elaine Martin Gay, whom the Lord used to encourage and teach me by example how to share His unconditional love with others. She passed and went to be with the Lord on August 8, 2021, which left me heartbroken. I know you are cheerleading for me to complete this work that you were a vital part of from its inception. To my surprise, the Lord decided to bless me with my current wife to help restore my life and get this book across the finish line.

Contents

Chapter 1: Biblical Salvation Explored

Chapter 2: Who Is Jesus?

Chapter 3: Jesus Christ, the Foundation of our Faith

Chapter 4: Repentance and Abandonment of Dead Issues

Chapter 5: An Active Life-Changing Faith

Chapter 6: Teachings about Baptism

Chapter 7: Laying On of Hands

Chapter 8: Resurrection of the Dead

Chapter 9: Eternal Judgment

Chapter 10: Church Membership and Attendance: Is It Required?

Chapter 11: Is Tithing a Biblical Requirement?

Chapter 12: Discipleship: The Missing Ingredient

Notes

Chapter 1

Biblical Salvation Explored

It is assumed when a person continually goes to church he or she is saved. This misunderstanding, which leads to misinterpretation of the Lord and His plan for humanity, has caused many churchgoers to literally misunderstand the concept of salvation and ultimately what is required to spend eternity in the presence of a holy God. We must begin to properly teach those in the church and out of the church what it means to be biblically saved. We must first decide that the biblical definition of salvation is correct instead of man’s feeble attempt to explain a spiritual phenomenon with his intellect and logic. However, we must be careful to not appear as if intellect or logic is being attacked here. As believers, we must understand that we have been spiritually revived through the process of salvation and, as a result, are walking in newness of life.¹ The issue is we should not use human intellect or logic where God clearly means for us to use our recreated spirits, which are connected or married to His Spirit, to obtain the required information.² It is the job of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth unto us.³ As a result of being improperly taught concerning the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, we have come to accept deviant behavior as normal even in the church. Examples of this type of behavior seem to be almost endless. Almost every sin that is done in the world, or by sinners, is done at the church house or by people who claim to be Christians (followers of Christ). Yet the Scriptures are clear that there must be a difference or separation between those who have made Jesus their Lord and those who have not yet.⁴

We have misunderstood the concept of grace by giving people an infinite amount of time to live in their sin without changing or accepting responsibility for their actions. As a result, many have decided they cannot stop participating in the sin and often live their lives feeling like a failure when Christ gave His life so that we could walk in continuous victory. Many blame God for their continuation in sin because they say it is God’s fault for making the sin so appealing.⁵ They further claim that if God wanted them to stop doing the sin, He could just remove the desire to do it from them. Some even go so far as to say that since the temptation comes to them, it must be God’s will for them to participate in it. Yet God’s Word proclaims that God does not tempt anyone to sin!⁶ The Scriptures state that you are cleansed through the Word Jesus has spoken to you.⁷ He also said His sheep would know His voice and not be misled by a strange or unfamiliar voice.⁸ Once we realize that God desires to communicate with us, we will then seek Him to find out what is on His mind. One thing that separates Christianity from the world religions is we can have a personal relationship with the God we serve and worship where we speak to Him and He speaks back to us.

Unfortunately for the believer, there is a part of our tripart being that has no desire to have a relationship with the Lord. Therefore, that part of us will do everything within its power to circumvent the plan of God for our lives. It is imperative that we understand our fleshly nature will always be contrary and hostile against the things of God.⁹ Therefore, as Christians, we must not allow our fleshly or carnal nature to trick us into justifying our ungodly thinking, behavior, and actions. For every Christian to be successful in their daily walk with the Lord, we must spend time praying and reading the Bible. As we spend time with God in His Word, we will begin to understand His character as revealed through the Holy Scriptures. We ask the Holy Spirit, the Teacher, to teach us the Word of God and then trust Him by faith to do it.¹⁰ Believers are commanded to pray without ceasing by allowing the mind of Christ to manifest within us and thereby replace our carnal way of thinking!¹¹ Our mindset must change concerning everything to truly please our Lord. We must conclude that the Lord is always right and, compared to Him, we are always wrong.¹² The Word of God commands us to let or allow the mind that was and is in Christ Jesus operate within us.¹³ The only way we can develop the mind or mindset of Christ is to spend time reading and studying His Word. The Holy Scriptures command us to read and study the Word of God.¹⁴ We must allow the times we spend with the Lord to become so important that it starts to change our mindset, behavior, and lifestyle. The Word of God we prayerfully read and study feeds and strengthens our spirit so that we can overpower the desires of our fleshly nature. Eventually, we will be required by the Holy Spirit to stand up to the sin that has been winning against us and command it to no longer have power over us in the name of Jesus Christ, knowing that, according to our faith, we now possess the victory over it. As we continue to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord and Savior, He will systematically reveal unto us other areas of sin in our lives so that we can conquer them too. As we continue to operate in faith, we obtain victory over all the dictates of the world’s system.¹⁵ To effectively address and deal with sin, we must first admit it is sin and not just a bad habit. Following the example of the God we serve, we must develop a distain and hatred for sin.¹⁶ The Bible teaches we as Christians are to go from faith to faith and glory to glory, not from sin to sin!¹⁷ The Word of God also teaches that iron sharpens iron.¹⁸ We are to sharpen one another with encouraging words and demonstrated actions to live holy and consecrated lives, which clearly is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.

When the average Christian thinks about salvation, usually ROMANS 10:9–10 comes to mind, which teaches us to acknowledge verbally what Jesus Christ died on the cross as payment for our sins and to believe in our hearts that the Heavenly Father raised Him from the dead. Since this Scripture promises salvation when spoken and believed, it is most often used when someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Additionally, they tell the person being converted to Christ to confess their sins and ask the Lord to forgive them.¹⁹ However, Matthew 3:6 and Mark 1:5 literally means we are to acknowledge we are sinners because confessing our sins would be impossible because we are unable to remember them all! Therefore, the prerequisite to salvation is to first admit your need for a Savior based on the lifestyle that you have previously lived and are currently living. Once the person realizes that they are a sinner and they cannot pay the penalty of their sin to a holy God, they should humble themselves and accept the reality that they need a Savior.²⁰ The Holy Spirit will bring conviction to the person who hears the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they will repent and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Only then are they able to begin the trek of a new life in Christ Jesus, which will provide them with the opportunity to develop and incorporate His nature and character into their personal lives.

When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, they hid among the trees and used fig leaves to cover their nakedness.²¹ Their action becomes a type and shadow of how God would view humanity going forward. God would literally in many instances either symbolically call humans trees or He would compare us to trees directly.²² This theme is galvanized or finalized by Christ dying upon a tree to pay the penalty for the sins of humanity, which we call a cross because it was comprised of two pieces of wood.²³ We quickly learn from Adam choosing to sin that God’s recipe for covering or forgiving sin requires a blood sacrifice. We are informed that the Lord killed an animal and used the skin of the animal to cover both Adam and his wife.²⁴ However, initially they tried to cover themselves with what died from the tree, but God knew that leaves, which when separated from the tree, would not be sufficient to cover the sins of humanity. There is no life in the leaves on the ground, but there is life in the blood.²⁵ Moreover, we understand that when Jesus was upon the cross He bled upon the wood, and we also realize that the wood was completely covered with His blood, which is symbolic to His holy blood covering those who choose to accept Him as Lord and Savior.²⁶ By being spiritually saturated with His blood, we are forgiven of all our sins and are in right relationship and fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

However, I believe it wise for us to first understand our need for a Lord and Savior before trying to accept a concept that we do not clearly understand, which was authored by Christ through His Word. The Scriptures informs and reveals that we all are guilty of the act of sin, which leaves us in a fallen state and out of fellowship with the God that created the universe.²⁷ This concept is revealed throughout the Bible so that we will not just blame Adam for his blatant act of disobedience in the garden of Eden. Instead, God wants each human to take responsibility for his own sinful thoughts and actions by accepting the rest or departure from practicing sin that Christ offers through salvation.²⁸ Otherwise, it would be impossible for one to come to the place of realizing that he needs a Savior to redeem him from the curse placed upon his life by having a sin nature, and therefore continually acting upon that sin nature to produce acts of wickedness in the earth.²⁹ Moreover, Romans 3:25 reveals that the blood of Christ was what God required to turn His wrath away from mankind. Understand that, because of the holiness of our Creator, there must be a price paid for sin. Sometimes we almost act as if we are doing God a favor by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and attending church, but the reality of it is that He has done us a favor by making forgiveness of sin and acceptance into His kingdom available to those who will accept and embrace the lordship of Jesus and what He did on the cross.³⁰ Just the thought of this should bring about sincere humbleness into the hearts of us all. We should understand that salvation is a must. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again (anew), and the same holds true for all of us if we desire to spend eternity in the presence of the Righteous King and Savior of humanity.³¹

Romans 10:9–10 tells us to confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts the lordship of Jesus and we are saved! This indeed is wonderful, but have we ever considered what we are saved from? According to God’s Word, we are saved from the wrath to come!³² Accepting Christ does not just secure heaven but also repels the wrath that is to come upon all those who refuse Him. His Word further reveals the wrath of God will be released from heaven against those who are ungodly and unrighteous.³³ This wrath will culminate with hell, death, and the grave being thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, along with those who refused to accept the undeserved gift of salvation offered by the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.³⁴ We must understand that God through His Word defines what godly and righteous behavior is. Scripture states there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death.³⁵ Furthermore, we as humans can always find a way to justify our thoughts and actions no matter how wrong they might be.³⁶ With that in mind, we must allow our definition of what is godly and righteous to coincide with His definition if we really want to please Him.

Furthermore, the Bible warns the believer that the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience.³⁷ We must first understand that this wrath is not just for the future but is also for now. As born-again believers, God expects and requires our behavior to be completely different from the children of disobedience or sinner.³⁸ What causes people to be considered by God to be children of disobedience is their desire to walk in the darkness when He has made the Light available for them. Salvation is a choice that each human has been afforded by their Creator to either accept or reject.³⁹ The only true way that we are His is if we are walking in the Light that He has revealed to us through His Word and by His Spirit.⁴⁰ This Light will shine through those who genuinely believe. When His Light is shining through you, it will allow you to see the areas in your life that needs repair. Sinners sin by nature, but Christians (followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ) do not because we possess a new nature. According to Scripture, when we get saved, the seed of righteousness is placed within us, which means we are no longer our own but we belong to Jesus Christ, who paid our sin penalty by dying on the cross in our place.⁴¹ This seed must continually be watered by spending time allowing His Spirit to teach us His Word. As Christians we are expected to consistently follow the teachings and overall example of Christ. If His seed is not in us, then we are not His. However, the proof of His seed being present in us will be revealed in our daily lifestyles because the tree is known by the fruit it bears.⁴² A Christian will have the character of Christ represented in him because of His seed being deposited within our recreated spirits so that we can effectively do the works of Christ.

To get a better understanding of what biblical salvation is, let us look at Romans 10:9–10 from the Amplified version of the Holy Bible.

Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. (Rom. 10:9–10 Amplified Bible)

This Scripture has been generally applied by having people repeat it with a prayer added and then telling them they are saved and on their way to heaven. So often we never see these people in church again. Although this happens, we still want to believe that they are saved and on their way to heaven. Jesus said only the pure in heart will see (experience eternity with) God.⁴³ The first thing to consider when thinking about salvation is that there must be an acknowledgment of the lordship of Christ Jesus with our mouths. The next thing to notice is that believing in the heart implies that we adhere to (obey), trust in, and rely completely on Christ Jesus and what He has done for us. The confession is not just something with the mouth of the flesh because no flesh will ever glory in the presence of the Lord.⁴⁴ The Lord wants the mouth of your recreated spirit to speak and acknowledge Him by making Him Lord of your life. He wants to sit on the throne of your heart. True salvation occurs as the heart of the spirit speaks what is believed in the heart (mind) of man.⁴⁵ Acts 10:34–37 reveals that while Peter was yet preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles there, and they began speaking in tongues (unlearned languages) and prophesying. Something happened in their heart (spirit) when they heard the Word being preached because no one can be filled with the Holy Spirit without first being saved! When the heart of humans honestly believes in the Lord, they will be declared righteous by God. Justification is the Lord knowing everything about you yet still calling you His and placing you in right standing with Him while choosing to no longer remember your past sins but to cover them with the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This means that Jesus’s death on the cross was payment for your sins! We must remember that salvation is by His grace being bestowed upon us based on the unconditional love that exists within His heart for us.⁴⁶ Therefore, salvation is deeper than walking to the front of the church and shaking the preacher’s hand and repeating some words after him/her. The above Scripture forces us to accept the biblical truth that salvation is something that occurs deep down in the heart of our spirit, which will cause our mindsets and actions to change considerably as we spend more time in the presence of the Father.

Now back to the question at hand: Am I saved? How do I know I am saved? What does the Bible teach about salvation? Since salvation is a change of the heart, does that give me a license to continue practicing a lifestyle of sin? The Word of God answers the above question with a resounding no!⁴⁷ Now we must decide what is required to be found pleasing in the sight of the Lord and what is required to turn the wrath of God from us. Without understanding the salvation plan of God, you will find yourself only facing His wrath. With sin becoming more accepted by churches, I believe it to be imperative that the standard of holiness be raised again in the body of Christ, with the Holy Bible once again becoming the book from which the church makes all its decisions. Is salvation just something that is done with the lips or is it something much deeper than that? As stated earlier, while Peter was still preaching, the people got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and this change was so powerful that Peter’s sermon got interrupted. This beautiful example reveals that your recreated spirit will speak out to the Lord when it hears the preached Word, and when it does, true salvation comes.⁴⁸ The Scriptures teach that God uses the foolishness of preaching to save, deliver and heal us.⁴⁹ Anointed preaching will always water the seed of the Word that has been planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. A watered seed must grow! We must consider that this change of heart will show forth immediately in the life of the new believer. I find it hard to believe anyone can have a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ and not be changed permanently. According to Scripture, our stance concerning sin should be the same as the Father and His Christ.⁵⁰ The God of the universe hates sin, and those who follow His teachings will too. So what does it really mean to be saved?

We need to consider that our salvation is so important that God wants us to know for certain that we are indeed saved or born again.⁵¹ He does not want us to have to wait until judgment day to find out.⁵² He wants us to have confidence not just in the God of our salvation, but also in the fact that we have been regenerated by His Spirit and have access to newness of life.⁵³ He desires for those who have surrendered themselves to Him by making Him both Savior and Lord to reap the benefits of this newfound relationship, which is built upon unconditional love from Him and trust from us. We serve a God who cannot lie, and therefore, all He wants us to do is believe that what He said in His Word is true, especially concerning our salvation.⁵⁴ When we are not confident about our salvation, the Holy Spirit is grieved because He brought us to Jesus Christ.⁵⁵ Again, salvation is a marriage ceremony between the Holy Spirit and our recreated spirit.⁵⁶ When we are confused or unsure about our salvation, we are literally saying to the Holy Spirit that He did not join with our spirits and our spirits are still dead and isolated from the eternal love of the Father. God wants us to rest and have assurance that we are born again by His Spirit.

No one can come to Christ for salvation except he/she is drawn by the Heavenly Father.⁵⁷ The Spirit of the Father brings life to our dead spirits so that we can receive the salvation being offered. The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ.⁵⁸ Therefore, if He, the Holy Spirit, is not present within the heart of a person, then that person is not born again. Those who are saved have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.⁵⁹ The Father gives the Holy Spirit to us as proof or a down payment that we will spend eternity with Him. There is an agreement between the Holy Spirit and our recreated spirits that we are born again.⁶⁰ As we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus as the Holy Scriptures teach, we can be assured that the Holy Spirit will be given to us to seal the deal. So, it does not matter that the enemy will later try to tell us that we are not saved or that what we did was just an emotional experience that has little or no consequence to our lives; we have confidence that the Holy Spirit agrees with us that we have been washed with the blood of Jesus and that we are now part of His kingdom. We can walk with confidence knowing that our eternity is secure because we are serving a God that cannot lie.

Again, we are informed in the Holy Scriptures that our salvation is proven by the Spirit that lives within us. We see the oneness of the Triune God revealed as the Word of God reveals that proof of biblical salvation is that the Spirit of Christ Himself is living within us.⁶¹ With His Spirit living and operating within us, we are assured that we will manifest the nature and character of Jesus Christ. We are also assured that we will walk in the newness of life and that our mindset will be changed. We will find ourselves wanting to only do what pleases our Lord and Savior. We will happily walk away from toxic relationships that Satan has placed in our lives. As the Spirit of Christ reveals that these relationships are only pulling us down and out of His presence, we will exit from them so that we can retain the joy that He has given us through the salvation experience.⁶² We will identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ because of His Spirit living within. We will find ourselves obediently crucifying the deeds of our flesh so that His Spirit can have preeminence in every aspect of our lives.⁶³ Our overall desire to please Him daily will increase dramatically because we are no longer led by our hearts, which are often deceitful and misleading, but we are being led by His Spirit, which is perfect.⁶⁴

As Christians, we understand that salvation is based upon the completed work of Jesus Christ. When from the cross He said, "It is finished," He was making clear to all who would accept Him as Lord and Savior that the penalty for the sins of humanity has been paid and that for those who would accept what He had accomplished would inherit eternal life in His presence.⁶⁵ As believers, we are assured that salvation is not by works but by grace.⁶⁶ God has done us a favor, and all He wants from us is to freely accept the gift that He has given us. The enemy of our souls wants us to believe that we are not good enough to be saved and therefore we must do something to get saved or worse do something to stay saved. His mission is to cause us to have a salvation-based-on-works mentality. He uses this ploy against the unsaved to make them think that they need to get right before coming to God. We believers must actively engage the unsaved by informing them that if they could clean themselves up, Jesus Christ would not have had to die on the cross to pay the penalty for their sin.⁶⁷ For example, once saved, Satan wants us to feel guilty if we do not pray or read our Bible enough. He uses our failures against us by condemning us and causing us to feel terrible and guilty. As believers, we are commanded to put on the helmet of salvation to protect our spiritual head from the attacks of the evil one.⁶⁸ Your salvation covers your head (place of decision-making), and the Lord wants your salvation and relationship with Him to be the determining factor for the decisions that you make. Instead of condemnation, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our failures and encourages and empowers us to change our behavior.⁶⁹ He constantly assures us that our failures have not caused us to become separated from the love of God.⁷⁰

Thus far we have learned from the Scriptures that God has many ways to prove to us that we are saved or born again by His Spirit. We have also learned that salvation is completely a gift from God, which is given to humanity, and that we have done and will not do anything to make us worthy to receive it. Just thinking about this concept is both awesome and humbling that God would love His creation to the point that He would die in our place and pay for our misdeeds. Yet we must admit that the subject matter is both complex and often confusing. Often, people with questions remain silent and come to accept not knowing for sure that they are born again as something that can only be known once they die. The only problem with that mindset is, according to the Bible, once dead, we cannot change our decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. When we look at Nicodemus in John 3, we quickly realize that although he was a teacher and scholar of the Old Testament Scriptures, he was still confused on this topic.⁷¹ Jesus told him how to inherit eternal life, and that same formula will work for us today if we choose to apply it to our lives.⁷² We must genuinely believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the Messiah sent by the Father to pay the penalty of humanity’s sin and sin nature. Once we believe this according to God’s Holy Word, we are saved and sealed with His Spirit.⁷³ To believe means that we will trust, rely, and depend upon God completely to keep His Word that He has promised to us in the Holy Scriptures. We walk in confidence knowing that because of believing, or having faith in what He said, our eternity is secured.

Additionally, we are assured by the Bible that if we call upon the name of the Lord, then we shall or will be saved.⁷⁴ The Greek word for call in Romans 10:13 is epikaleomai, which literally means to invoke for aid. With this understanding, it becomes clear that God is teaching us that when we call upon Him for help, He will come to our rescue and save us from the eternal plan that Satan has for us. We immediately realize the love that God has for us and the power that is released