Bible Question:
Thank you. I understand gospel is the way we have to live in order for us to be good Christians as well as good people.I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus the son and the god. I also believe that god is loving and kind and he wants to deliver us from suffering. I am also thankful that he made his sinless son suffer and die to give us a message that we can all abide by his laws. I am faithful that Jesus will comeback and end all the sins our world has invented. I am sorry I was unable to make my question more clear. Here in Nepal we Christians are a very small minority. But none the less we are a growing minority. I think it is the need of the hour that we should be able to identify ourselves as Christians.There are some Churches but they do not have a very good service. So, I have taken it upon myself to educate my fellow countrymen on the tenants of Christianity. I know I am not yet worthy but I think I should try. So, for this particular reason I just wanted to know if there was any ritual i could perform to convert(i do not prefer this word) somebody to Christianity. I know how you convert somebody to Islam. I read a little bit on baptism. Can you shed a little more light on the actual process of Baptism or if there is any other way. I would like to know the process. Humbly, God Bless. |
Bible Answer: Dear sankalpa, This is a wonderful vision you have for Nepal. I have no doubt that God has placed this in your heart. I wish that I could sit with you, showing you the Scriptures, that you might understand more clearly. Nevertheless, I will look for materials to help you. We all live in the context of our own culture, our own history, and our own individual experience. Therefore, the words we hear or read hold meanings that influence the way we think. I can see that happening to you by the way you ask your questions. So I will try to explain. All peoples of the world sense that there is a gap between themselves and God. Thus, the problem they face, is how to draw close to God. Thus we have religion. All the many religions in the world provide people with things to do in order to please their god or gods -- to remove the gap that they sense. Think about this with religions you see around you in Nepal: Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Kirats all have a set of practices and beliefs that are needed for a person to become a good person. They believe that who and what they are can be changed by doing things (practice and belief). They believe that they can be made more acceptable to God by doing those things. They believe that people are able to cross the gap to God. Christianity is the exact opposite of religion. The Bible teaches that the gap between man and God is so vast that people cannot cross it. Religion is man reaching out to God. Christianity is God reaching out to helpless man. The Bible teaches us that God is the creator of this world (Genesis 1:1). He is the judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). He is perfectly holy (Isaiah 6:3). The Bible teaches us that the sin committed by Adam and Eve (Romans 5:15) killed every single human being who would ever be born. Man sins by choice and by the motivation of his very nature. Sin fills every aspect of his being from head to toe (Isaiah 1:5-6). His heart and mind is filled with it (Ecclesiastes 9:3, Ephesians 4:17-19, Titus 1:15, 1 Timothy 3:8, 6:5). There remains no good in men (Romans 7:18). Man is basically evil, not good. His heart is as hard as stone (Ezekiel 11:19, Jeremiah 23:29). Man imagines that he is only sick, but the Bible says he is dead (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13). Man feels he is, at worst, near-sighted, but Scripture says he is blind (2 Corinthians 3:14). Man dismisses his sins as minor, but the Word says he is a slave (John 8:44, Ephesians 2:2, 2 Timothy 2:26). The religions of the world try to shrink the gap between man and God. They do this by minimizing the holiness of God or by minimizing the wickedness of man or by doing both. But in the Bible, God reveals the truth of His holiness and the truth about man's wickedness. Therefore, if anything is to be done, it must be done by God. The thing that God has done is the good news -- the Gospel. The Son of God was born as a human being (Matthew 1:23). He lived a perfectly holy life in every way (Hebrews 4:15). God placed upon Him all of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21), put upon us His own righteousness (Philippians 3:9), and raises us by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:19-20). The point I am making is that there is nothing a person can do to become a Christian. God must do the work. Your task is to present the truth of the Gospel to people. The Holy Spirit will produce the results. Do you have a church there that you attend? In Him, Doc |