To Be A Christian

In today's world, many people become Christians without receiving enough instruction and preparation. For instance, some individuals were baptized as infants and raised in a nominally Christian environment. Despite having some measure of faith, they often lack comprehensive knowledge about it.

You need to be clear from the beginning that God creates human beings for intimacy with himself; but no one naturally fulfills this purpose. We are all out of step with God. In Bible language, we are sinners, guilty before God and separated from him. Life in Christ is, first and foremost, God taking loving action to remedy a dire situation.

From the earliest ages of the Christian Church, and in every part of it all over the whole world, until modern times, the rite of Confirmation has been considered essential to the full perfection of Christian life in those who have attained to years when they can discern fully between right and wrong.

A creed is a statement of faith or belief from the Latin word credo, meaning “I believe.” Latin root = ‘to place one’s heart in’; ‘to trust with the heart.’ The church composed creeds to clarify right belief or orthodoxy in response to the emergence of wrong belief or heresy.

When making our case for a particular doctrine, is it fine to reference the Creeds, or would it be best to just stick to Scripture? Isn’t the Bible enough for Christians to establish our doctrine and practice?

The Apostles (AD200), Nicean (325, 381), and Athanasian (500) creeds are the most widely utilized and generally known as The Ecumenical Creeds. These creeds are called ecumenical or catholic because “They contain chiefly the orthodox doctrine of God and of Christ or the fundamental dogmas of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation.

Additional teachings found within the Apostles Creed: He descended into hell; He Shall Come Again to Judge; The Holy Catholic Church; The Communion of the Saints; The Ressurection of the Body.

Understanding what the moral law teaches us is central to the Christian Faith. When we talk about the moral law we mean the teachings given by God in the Bible, which are the standard of conduct for God’s people. The moral law is rooted in the “decalogue,” “ten words” or Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28) that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17).

Another way to categorize sin is the Seven Deadly Sins. These definitions developed in the course of Christian history. It is also helpful to talk about the virtues that correspond to the Deadly Sins. As we have said, it is not enough to not sin. The goal is to grow in virtue (cf. 2 Peter 1:4-9).

Anglican faith and practice is rooted in the Book of Common Prayer. One goal of the Book of Common Prayer is to include all Christians in the prayer life of the church. The seven daily prayer offices of medieval monasticism were observed only by monks. The Book of Common Prayer reduced these to two (Morning and Evening Prayer) and envisioned participation by each and every member of the church.

The Lord’s Prayer is the model for all other prayers and the Divine warrant for all forms of prayer used in the Church.

The church refers to one’s habits of prayer and worship as a “Rule of Life.” One’s rule states how often and according to what form or pattern one will pray each day. It states one’s commitment to worship God in his church each week, one’s frequency of confession, one’s habits of fasting (cf. BCP pp. l-li). Developing your Rule of Life is a central part of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

The Bible uses the word “grace” to describe how God saves us. Ephesians says, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (2:8 KJV). The word grace describes both God’s attitude of undeserved favor towards us and also divine energy or strength. God gives us to accomplish his will in us. Sacraments are a means by which we receive God’s grace.

The sacraments focus on God's presence in the ordinary. Though we pray for and sometimes experience miraculous healing and extraordinary signs of God’s presence, we also see Christ in ordinary water, bread, and wine, in ordinary Christian people, and in God’s sovereign control of daily life. From the sacramental perspective, the greatest miracle is Christ’s redemptive presence in all things (Romans 8:28) rather than the odd moment when something unusual happens.