How do we know Christianity is the one and only true religion?

Sincerely,
Sweetly Broken

Dear Sweetly Broken,

Why? Christianity forces us to choose.  Many of today’s religions allow tolerance for multiple belief systems, but the Bible isn’t one of them.  If we believe in the Bible and Jesus (read “Who Wrote The Bible?” for proof that the Bible is written by God), then we can’t accept other religions as well because the Bible condemns all other religions (Ex 34:14, Lk 16:13).  Jesus claims to be the only way to heaven (Jhn 14:6).  A common myth today is that we can believe in Jesus and also accept other religions, but Jesus strictly condemns that lifestyle.  We are told that there is only one way to heaven (Eph 4:4-6).  Either Jesus is the Messiah or He isn’t.  There is no room for plurality in Christianity.  Christ is an all-or-nothing Savior.

In short, if we accept the Bible as true, we must accept all other religions as false.  If we accept other religions as true, we must accept that the Bible is false.  There is no in-between.  The Bible is accurate, time-tested, consistent, contains supernatural information, and holds specific and fulfilled prophecies… no other book can make those claims.  The Bible stands alone – and it likes it that way.

I was watching a History Channel documentary about God vs. Satan, and my dad asked me if I believed in all of that stuff like the rapture.  I said, “Yes.”  He said it was a bunch of garbage and asked my mom what she thought.  She thought it was made up, too.  This really disappointed me to find out that my parents are not true believers and don't believe everything in the Bible.  I am very sad.  What is the right thing to do?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Disappointed Kid

Dear Disappointed Kid,

We don’t believe in the rapture either… but we do believe in everything the Bible says.  To clear up the misunderstanding about the Rapture, we recommend you read “Premillenialism” and “Tripping Over Tribulations”… if you want even more in-depth study on the subject, listen to our series on the book of Revelation.

However, that particular issue sounds like more of a side issue than your real problem.  If we understand you correctly, you are wondering what to do to try and bring the truth of God’s Word to your parents.

It is never easy to touch the hearts of our relatives; even Jesus said that He received respect everywhere but his hometown and household (Mk 6:4).  All you can do is let your light shine (Matt 5:16), be prepared with answers when questions are asked (1 Pet 3:15), and be unafraid to stand firm by your morals.  Jesus made a great impact as a child by asking humble questions at opportune moments (Lk 2:46).  Honor your parents and never be rude or disrespectful (Eph 6:2), but a kindly asked question about why they believe what they do can challenge their current worldview.

Does it matter what religion you are as long as you worship the right god because all the Ten Commandments say is to ‘worship no other gods’?  And if it does matter, how do you know you have the right religion?

Sincerely,
Looking Around

Dear Looking Around,

It does matter what religion you are – it matters more than any other decision you will ever make.  Jesus said that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him” (Jhn 14:6).  This single statement by Christ nullifies Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.  Jesus is the only one that offers salvation to mankind.

But the Bible takes it one step farther.  Paul condemned the Jews because they worshipped God without knowledge (Rom 10:2).  He also warned that there would come a day when false teachers infiltrated Christ’s church and started teaching things contrary to Scriptures (2 Tim 4:2-4).  Paul told the first century christians to watch out for the “falling away” (2 Thess 2:3).  Division and false teaching in the name of Christ is a very common thing.  There are tens of thousands of different religions in America that refer to themselves as “Christian”… yet God says there is only one true faith (Eph 4:4-6).  So how can you know whether a church is Christ’s church?

Jesus says that we can know them by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20).  A church is faithful if the way they worship, preach, and live is in accordance with Christ’s teachings.  A faithful church keeps Christ’s commandments (Jhn 15:14).  Most churches today have added all sorts of things to their worship (from rock bands to belly dancing) and leadership structure (popes, community boards, franchised churches, etc.) that were never intended by Christ.  We should never add to God’s Word, and we should never take away from it (Rev 22:18-19).  A faithful church should be able to give you book, chapter, and verse for everything they do.  We recommend the posts “Down With Denominationalism”, “Finding A Church”, and “Preacher Interrogation” for further information on what questions to ask.  If you would like us to help point you in the right direction of a congregation in your area, please e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we will do our best to put you in contact with a Bible-founded congregation.

In one of your posts, you made a statement that instrumental music is a form of worship that God does not desire. How can you make such a bold statement? For all you know, He does enjoy it, but you haven't been able to tell or not, so that's why you don't do it. Other than that, you simply do not know whether God desires it or not. The onus is yours to prove God does not desire it. It's one thing to choose not to worship in a way you are unsure whether it is acceptable, but to boldly proclaim you know that God has no desire for it is not yours to make. You don't know if God desires His people to build places of worship, do you?

Sincerely,
Why So Bold?

Dear Why So Bold,

We feel comfortable making that bold statement (and you are right, it is bold!) because God says He has told us what is good (Mic 6:8) and that the way to worship Him in a pleasing way is to listen to what He says He wants in worship (Eccl 5:1-2). It isn’t enough to say, “The Bible doesn’t say I can’t worship God in such and such a way”… according to Heb 7:14, 1 Cor 4:6, and Rev 22:18-19, silence in the Bible is prohibitive.  If the Bible is silent on a subject, we must be, too.  That is exactly why we don’t have instrumental music in worship – the Scriptures never authorize it, so, by default, it is prohibited. We would disagree with you that the burden is on us to prove that you can’t do something – we would say the opposite.  Whenever we do something, we must prove that the Bible authorizes it.

With that under our belt, lets talk about how we can know whether or not God is okay with things like building church buildings or any other behavior not specifically found in the Scripture – it all comes down to authority.  If God authorizes something through His Word, then we can know He is okay with us doing it.  There are three ways to establish Bible authority:

1. A direct command.  If the Bible gives us a direct command on a subject, that is the easiest way to find authority.  For example, 1 Cor 16:2 is a direct command to take up a collection on the first day of the week.
2. Approved examples.  If we find an example in the New Testament that clearly is approved by God, we can use that to establish authority.  2 Thess 3:9 says that it is proper for Christians to imitate the faithful actions of those we read about in the Bible.
3. Necessary inference.  ‘Necessary inference’ is another way of saying that something must logically be true.  Necessary inference means that we use logic to put Bible concepts and teachings together to come up with proper conclusions.  For more on that subject, read “Necessary Inference”.

After finding authority through the Scriptures, the last thing to consider is how specific the authority is.  Every command that you find in the Bible has specific and general qualities to it.  For example, when God told Noah to build the ark, He told Noah to use a specific kind of wood (gopher wood – Gen 6:14) and build the ark to specific dimensions (Gen 6:15-16), but He left the details of how to cut, fasten, and construct the ark up to Noah.  It would have been wrong for Noah to use oak or birch, and it would have been wrong for Noah to change the dimensions of the ark, but aside from that, Noah had freedom to use his own wisdom in the engineering of the ark.  The things that God was specific on, Noah had to be specific on, too… but the things God was general about, Noah had freedom to decide for himself.

Another way of saying this is that anything required to fulfill a command is inherent within the command.  This means that if I ask someone to fill my car with gasoline, by default, I have given them permission to drive my car and take it to a gas station of their choosing.  Why?  Because driving my car and going to a gas station are necessary to fulfill that command, and I didn’t tell them which gas station I wanted, so I’ve left that to their discretion.

There are many things that congregations do today (such as own buildings, purchase songbooks, etc.) that the Bible never specifically authorizes, but they fall under general authority.  For example, the commands that give a congregation the authority to own property can be found in Heb 10:24-25 and 1 Cor 14:26.  In both those verses, the church is commanded to assemble.  We are told that we must assemble, or we will be displeasing to God… but we aren’t told where to assemble; that detail is left to our discretion.  We could meet in homes (if we had ones that were big enough), we could meet in a park (if it were legal and weather permitting), or we could buy some property and a building to use.

This is a lengthy answer, but it is a difficult question to answer without some length.  Hopefully, that helps as you try and find Bible authority for everything that you do.

CAN ANYONE PLEASE ANSWER ME THIS: Is there a pre-tribulation rapture?  Before the seven years of tribulation???  I would highly appreciate if you could e-mail me and also post it on here for everyone else.  God bless.

Sincerely,
Rapt Attention

Dear Rapt Attention,

The word ‘rapture’ means ‘caught up’ in Latin.  The term ‘rapture’ is used to describe an event that many think will take place right before the days of tribulation in Revelation.  The problem with this theory is that it is wrong.  There will be a time when all christians will be caught up into the air to be with Christ – the end of time (1 Thess 4:14-18).  The book of Revelation doesn’t describe events in the future; it describes events in the past.  The book of Revelation deals with problems that the church was to “shortly” see come to pass (Rev 1:1).

Furthermore, the tribulation taught by many denominations is based off of a misinterpretation of Matthew chapter twenty-four.  Matt 24 is dealing with the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Jewish temple that would happen in 70 AD.  If we carefully pay attention to the context, Jesus is talking about the Jewish temple’s destruction, not a worldwide trial thousands of years in the future (Matt 24:1-2).  Jesus specifically said that the tribulation would occur within that generation’s lifetime (Matt 24:34).

There will be a day when all the faithful are caught up to meet Christ in the heavens.  The day He returns (Acts 1:11), all mankind will be judged at the same time (Jhn 5:28-29).  In that great day (Jude 1:6), the whole world will be burned up with fire (2 Pet 3:10-12).  There will be no post-tribulation, pre-tribulation, semi-tribulation, etc.; there will only be the great Day of Judgment (2 Pet 3:7, 1 Jn 4:17).