What makes Christianity different from other religions?


Christianity and Other Religions

Religion is defined as a “belief in God or gods to be worshiped, which is expressed in conduct and ritual.” 90% of the world’s population follows some form of religion. All religions hold that humanity is separated from the divine and needs to be reconciled back to that entity.

There are 7 major religions in the world. The polytheistic religions that believe in many gods are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. And the monotheistic religions which believe in one God are: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the monotheistic religions, Christianity is a fulfillment to Judaism, while, Islam contradicts both Judaism and Christianity in beliefs.

What Makes Christianity Different?

Christianity draws the most perfect picture of the Divine, the God of infinite love and justice. In Christianity, God loves His creatures and sacrifices His Son to save them. When Adam and Eve fell, and were condemned to death, Christ came to bear their death penalty. He suffered greatly to save humans from eternal death. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

God’s love is infinite and also His justice is infinite. This means that a sinner can’t live in the presence of a Holy God because in God’s government, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). God’s love and His justice were fully satisfied by Christ’s death on the cross. The Creator redeemed His created being and fulfilled the demands of His just government. So, in Christianity the problem of sin is fully solved.

To help humanity believe in Christ, God empowered Christ to do great miracles. Christ healed all sickness (Luke 5:15-26), fed thousands of people (Luke 9:12-17), had authority over nature (Luke 8:22-25), cast out demons (Luke 4:33-37), raised the dead (Luke 7:11-16), lived a sinless life (1 Peter 2:22), sacrificed His life for humanity (1 John 3:16), and then was resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). No other man on earth ever did such mighty works. In all these aspects, Christianity is greater than the other religions.

What Is True Religion?

True religion is not a ritual-based religion. True religion is a love relationship with the Creator. True religion solves the problem of sin by recognizing that only God can re-create in fallen humanity a pure nature. True religion recognizes the following:

1. We have all sinned and are, therefore, separated from God (Romans 3:23).

2. If not redeemed, the just penalty for sin is death and eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).

3. God redeemed us through Jesus Christ who died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve, and rose from the dead to demonstrate that His death was a sufficient sacrifice (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

4. If we receive Jesus as the Savior, trusting His death as the full payment for our sins, we are forgiven, saved, redeemed, reconciled, and we are given a new pure nature to help us overcome sin (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Christianity has a law to obey (do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not lie, etc. which are found in Exodus 20) and ceremonies to observe (water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper/Communion). But, these observances can’t make evil people good. To be good, humans need God’s gift of the divine grace (Ephesians 2:8). A person becomes good by receiving Jesus Christ as his Savior and allowing Him to give the new good nature and the grace to live a righteous life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In His service,
BibleAsk Team

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