Christians and Muslims have different views of God. Christians and Muslims both believe in One eternal God who created all that is. Both view God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. The major differences between the Islamic and Christian views of God revolve around the doctrine of the Godhead, nature of God, nature and ministry of Christ, the original sin, the judicial solution to the sin problem, and salvation.
The Muslim God
In Contrast, Islam does not offer a judicial solution to the problem of sin. Allah simply forgives the sinner and asks for good deeds to atone for sins. In Islam, a human receives forgiveness and eternal life when his good deeds exceeds his evil deeds in the Creator’s balance of justice (Sura 21:47; Sura 7:6-9). But where is the justice in this belief system? Can a fair judge simply forgive the crimes of the guilty? Or can money and good deeds redeem the criminal of the punishment he deserves? This concept is rejected by any judicial court even in our sinful world. For true Justice demands fair punishment.
The Christian God
In the Bible, God has revealed Himself as One God in three entities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are One in goal, purpose and character. This doctrine is a mystery to our limited human minds.
God is both just and merciful. His loving-kindness is abundant (Isaiah 55:7; Romans 5:20). The Almighty is merciful to repentant sinners, but He cannot afford to weaken His government by not upholding its righteousness and justice (Psalms 85:10; 89:14). Without Justice God could not be God. For a God all mercy is a God unjust.
In the Christian faith, Jesus is Divine and because of this, His life or existence is more than equal to all of His created beings. When humanity sinned, instead of them receiving death, the penalty of sin, Jesus died so that they could have a second chance. God the Son came in the form of man (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-3) to offer His life to pay the penalty of man’s sin (Romans 6:23).
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).
Christ will come again to judge and rule the world (Acts 10:42, 43). All that accept Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf and live righteously by His grace will be given eternal life and all those that reject it will have to pay for their own sins (John 3:35-36). Thus, in Christianity, God’s infinite justice and mercy are fully satisfied.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
