• Sin corrupts: The essence of sin is rebellion against God – our ignoring God in the sense of behaving as if he does not exist (Genesis 3), or choosing to do things that are wrong. The Bible states since the fall of man and woman (Adam and Eve) after creation, sin has corrupted our being, thoughts and deeds towards God and one another. Sin causes man fall short of the image that God has originally created us. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). Jesus said from within our hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ’ (Mark 7:20–23). These things corrupt our lives. Sin is prevalent in our lives, our communities, our societies and culture. It causes conflicts, divisions, addictions and brokenness in the world we see and live in.
• Sin destroys: Man can be addicted to bad temper, envy, arrogance, pride, selfishness, slander or sexual immorality. These things can take hold of our lives and makes us slave to it and hence the destructive power of sin over our lives.
• Sin condemns: The Bible says that if we break any part of the law we are guilty of breaking all of it and hence condemned us as law breakers.(James 2:10). The result is that we are cut off from God. When we die, we will be subjected to the judgment of God (Hebrews 9:27). The judgment for sin is death and eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). The death the Bible speaks of is not only physical but also a spiritual death.

• By grace all man are saved, not by good deeds, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2: 8-9), because no man is able to meet God’s perfect standards. We all have to depend on Jesus’ righteousness to be considered righteous in God’s eyes.
• The important thing is the relationship between each Christian and God. Each one is accountable to God, not people. So, one does not have to be resentful of Christianity, because of the bad behaviour exhibited by some Christians.
• For the “good” unbeliever, since he sees himself good enough without God, though he knew God, he chooses to live independently of God. And he is already living in a state called “hell”, an eternal separation from God, from the moment he made that decision.
• God wants everyone to be saved, not to perish (2 Peter 3: 9)

• Expressions of God in nature: Science cannot prove God exists any more than Science can prove love exists. We know there is love through the expressions of it. Hence, God demonstrates His power through the creation in the earth and the cosmos- all the living things and non-living things both big and small (Romans 1:19-20).
• God is super-materiality and cannot be proven by Science: Science is limited and deals with material reality that is measurable, but when we talk about God, we are discussing . God is eternal and is outside time and space, and hence He is not governed by the natural laws. That is, God is super-natural, which is outside the realm of Science. However, we can look for evidence, that would support whether it is reasonable to believe in the existence of God: that is, signs of his existence.
• Other Evidences: There are abundance of evidences and reasons to show the existence of God:
  • Cosmological argument: it argues from cause and effect to deduce that there is an ultimate First Cause for the Universe – God.
  • Telelogical argument: It suggests that the universe was created with a specific end or purpose in mind. Eg, our solar system and our planet, are designed orderly and perfectly for the existence of human life. Currently, Earth is the only known inhabitable planet in our solar system.
  • Objective Morality and uniqueness of man: Man is also the only known living being that has rationale, values such as compassion and integrity. Man is creative and able to innovate and a spiritual desire to worship the divine being . This is not evident in other living creatures and animals and hence does not support the evolution theory. The Bible says about a Creator God who gave made man in His image and breathe in them God’s breath (Genesis 1:26; 2:7).
  • Historical and Archaeological Evidences: There are countless evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and that supports the narratives and happenings in the Bible. (Example: Noah’s Ark – an large ancient ark/boat that has been found on the high mountains of Ararat in Turkey can only be explained by the narrative of Noah, whom God instructed him to build a large ark and the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat after the flood (Genesis 8:4). (References: gotquestions.org/amp/Does-God-exist.html)

• Ancient Texts and Christian writings: There is a great deal of evidence for Jesus’ existence. This comes not only from the Gospels and other Christian writings, but also from other sources. For example, the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius both wrote about him. The Jewish historian Josephus, born in ad 37, describes Jesus and his followers.
• Archeological evidence: In Israel, there are archeological evidence that were uncovered and supports the narrative of Jesus in the Gospels. Many scholars and believers travelled to witness the archeological sites and findings and their fit in the biblical narratives. Furthermore, the growing number of believers since the time of Jesus supported the existence of Jesus.

• The Strong is needed to help the helpless: We would all fairly know that the enslaved and the weak would be helpless to help themselves in their situation and need a stronger person to deliver them. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to deliver man in slavery of sin from the penalty and power of sin.
• Removes The Penalty of Our Sins- In the person of his Son, Jesus, God came to Earth to die instead of us (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). God loves man and do not want us to perish (John 3:16). Being just, God has to punish man for their sins and yet the love of God over his creation, drives him to save man from the eternal punishment. God knows we can’t meet His high standard of perfection, hence God send His son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. In doing so, the justice of God to punish sins is met in the death of His perfect sinless son Jesus so that man can be justified from sin and receive God’s grace of love (Romans 3:25-26).
• Removes Us from the Power of Sin and Purifies Us: Before we received Christ, man is under the slavery of sin. However, at the cross, Christ offered himself to pay the ransom price (Mark 10:24) to redeem us (Romans 3:24). Jesus said, ‘If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’ (John 8:36). Jesus blood purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7). It purifies us and removes the power of sin. It is not that we never sin again, but that sin’s hold over us is broken and makes it easier for us to break free from the bondages and rule of sin over lives.

• A Christian receives the gift of God: Suppose you are one of the many poor on the streets trying to eke out a living and has no permanent place to reside in. Life is difficult on the streets and you and your family starves often. You even have to fight, lie and steal just to have a meal and secure a simple shelter. One day, a rich loving man came by and builds a home. He invites the poor to live in it. Outside the home, it declares,” All payments have been fulfilled by the master of the home. Come and reside in this home without cost!”.The invitation to reside in the home is available to all. The full payment for all expenses has already made by the master of the home out of his love. Those who choose to reside in it will no longer have to fight for themselves and be amply supplied while others who remain outside continues with their struggles. God values freewill of man to receive the gift of his son Jesus Christ into our lives. The payment has been made by God but the choice is to be made by each one of us to receive the grace and gift of Jesus into our lives. (Reference: Matthew 22:8-10).
• A Christian enjoys a restored relationship with God: Sin resulted in our broken relationship with God. The cross provides the opportunity of a restored relationship with God. The Bible says that ‘God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus says he is the only way, the truth and the life and that no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). We enter into a relationship with God when we repent of our sins and believe in God’s gift of redemption for us in Jesus. We choose to follow Jesus and begin our eternal life with God that makes us Christians. The Bible says whoever believes in Jesus shall be saved, but whoever does not believe in Him remains condemned (John 3:17). In addition, those who believe in Jesus become the children of God (John 1:12). The Christian is now part of the family of God and the body of believers worldwide.

• Prophets are men who are God’s representatives to bring the word of God to man. Some prophets are empowered by the Spirit of God to perform miracles. The gospels show Jesus has the words of God and works of a prophet perform miracles. Jesus gave the words of God (John 17:8) and performed miracles (raising the dead, healing the blind, calming the storm, delivering the possessed). Jesus also alluded to Himself as a prophet in Mark 6:4. But Jesus is more than a prophet!
• God affirms Jesus as His Son and God: God the heavenly Father declares of Jesus to be His beloved son when Jesus was baptized by John (Matthew 3:17). The Father also says “But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’” The Father refers to Jesus as God, indicating that Jesus is indeed God (Hebrews 1:8).
• Jesus is uniquely divine: Jesus declared he existed before Abraham (the great forefathers of the Jews) and that he is one with the Heavenly Father (John 8:58; 10:30). Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit in the womb of virgin Mary making His birth a supernatural birth without the intervention of mankind (Matthew 1:18). Jesus life fulfilled over 300 prophecies (spoken by different voices over 500 years), including 29 major prophecies fulfilled in a single day – the day he died of being the promised Messiah send by God.
• Jesus carries himself as God: Jesus has the authority to forgive sins on earth (Matthew 9:6) which is an authority of God. Jesus never rebukes people for worshiping Him (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; Luke 24:52; John 9:38). If Jesus were not God and merely a prophet, he would have told people to not worship him, for this act is rebellion against God, as Jews believe they can only worship God and not man. Furthermore, Jesus told His disciples to pray in His name and their prayers will be answered (John 14:13-14; 16:24). Before his ascension, Jesus instructed his disciples to baptize future disciples in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, making him equivalent to God.
• Only God can redeem man: If Jesus is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). A created being or man could not pay the infinite penalty required for sin against an infinite God as only God could take on the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21), die, and be resurrected, proving His victory over sin and death. The fact of Jesus resurrected from the dead confirms all His declarations of being God or else why would God want to raise a man who falsely claimed to be God to mislead others.

• Could Jesus survive the crucifixion? The physical pain of a Roman flogging was enough to kill many people. Jesus was then nailed to a cross and hung upright for 6 hours. It would be challenging for Jesus to recover his strength 3 days later without food and water in his tomb and had the strength to roll away the stone weighing probably a ton and half, that laid over it to escape. Furthermore, the Roman soldiers were clearly convinced that he was dead. When the soldiers discovered that Jesus was already dead, ‘one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water’ (John 19:34). This appears to be the separation of clot and serum which we know today is strong medical evidence that Jesus was dead. The soldiers would not have taken his body down from the cross and be liable to face death penalty for themselves if Jesus did not die.
• Could Jesus’ disciples have stolen his body? The disciples were depressed and disillusioned at the time of Jesus’ death. Jesus disciples ran away when they saw Jesus was caught and crucified. Their master had died and it would be inconceivable to think they would risk their lives to fight with the soldiers to steal Jesus body which was already rested in a sealed tomb.
• Could his followers be prepared to die for a lie about resurrection? When one considers how much the disciples had to suffer for what they believed about resurrection of Jesus, (floggings, torture, and for some even death), it seems inconceivable that they would be prepared to endure all that for something they knew to be untrue. The fact of Jesus did rose from the dead had a dramatic impact on the world. The church was born and grew at a tremendous rate. The fact that Jesus Resurrection is also mention in a Jewish historian Josephus’ : “At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.” (10th Century Arabic Text)
• Could the authorities have stolen the body? This seems the least probable theory of all. If the authorities had stolen the body, why did they not produce it when they were trying to quash the rumor that Jesus had risen from the dead? The authorities (both Jewish and Roman) would certainly have used all the many resources at their disposal to display Jesus’ body publicly if they had actually been able to locate it. Today, no one has claimed to have the body of Jesus.
• Could Jesus resurrection and appearances to the believers be hallucinations? Jesus appeared to his disciples on eleven different occasions over a period of six weeks. Furthermore, over 500 people saw the risen Jesus. Maybe it is possible for two or three people to share the same hallucination. But is it likely that 500 people would all share the same hallucination?

• The Bible is a library of books written over a period of 1,500 years by more than 40 different authors of all kinds of background, from common people to royalty.
• When we say that the Bible is inspired, we are saying that the Author behind the Bible is God Himself, though He has employed human agencies in the production of it. God uses imperfect men to impart perfect divine truths. God speaks through the limitations of the human vessels, but the Holy Spirit enables us to look beyond the humanity of the containers to the content of divine revelation.
• There are some arguments to support the claim that the Bible is no ordinary human writing:
  • Testimony of Christ: Jesus Himself accepts Old Testament scripture as God‘s Word (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35)
  • Internal testimony: Scriptures make the claim to be God‘s word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • Fulfilled prophecies: of Israel‘s & world history before Christ & of Christ Himself; also subsequent history after New Testament.
  • Unity of Scriptures: Despite the many authors (40+) and time span (1,500 years), the Bible has one central message: God is love and forgiving and seeking to restore sinners back to fellowship with Him
  • Ethical superiority: Biblical ethics form the foundation of western civilization
  • Changed lives: Where the Bible has been read, lives have been transformed
  • Historical reliability: Despite critics’ attempt to relegate bible stories to mythology, archaeological discoveries to date continually attest to the historical accuracy & reliability of biblical stories.

• Relationship with God: Christianity is more than a religion; it is a loving relationship between God and man. We acknowledge that every religion teaches man to live morally upright lives and is helpful to people. Good religions have often produce good works to communities as well. Christians do good deeds as an expression of love for God and man, not as means of earning merits.
• Only One Way Ordained by God: The Bible says, God has ordained all man to be saved ONLY through Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12) and Jesus himself declares no one can come to God, our heavenly Father, except through Him (John 14:6). Hence, only through Jesus, the son of God, does he has the authority and ability to save us from our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness and lead us to God. All other religions, despite how good and noble it is, are not ordained by God to save us or lead us to God.

The original language of the Old Testament (OT) is primarily Hebrew, with some Aramaic (dialect of Hebrew). The original language of the New Testament (NT) is Greek, though Jesus spoke in Aramaic. All translations of the Bible start with the Scriptures in their original languages. The same goes for all English translations. But all translations try to faithfully reflect the meanings of the original languages.

• The Bible tells the story of the Towel of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) on this.
• In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve in the image of God. All human can be traced back to these two people. However, the Bible tells us in Genesis 11, that there was a time when humans rebelled against God, by settling at Babel and refusing to spread out in the world. God was concerned of the great evil man can do to themselves if they continued to understand one another. Because of this, God confused their language, and scatter them throughout the earth. Groups of people separated and moved away from one another. As a consequence of Babel, the people groups could not easily mix. They became genetically isolated, and as the years passed, each group developed its own culture and ways of doing things.

• Denominations are as inevitable as cultural variations and personality differences. They are all expressions of Christianity. Despite the denominational labels, all Christians nevertheless agree on the fundamentals of the faith, and that is, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
• The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which different traditions of Protestantism would emerge. The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings. The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership—the Greek word for elder is presbyteros. Baptists got their name because of their emphasis on baptism. Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others. The point of difference is never Christ as Lord and Savior.

While there have been many attempts in recent years to find common ground between the two groups, the fact remains there are 4 major differences:

• Sufficiency and authority of Scripture: Protestants believe that the Bible alone is the source of God’s special revelation to mankind and teaches us all that is necessary for our salvation from sin, and is the standard by which all Christian behaviour must be measured. Catholics believe that both the Bible and sacred Roman Catholic tradition are equally binding upon the Christian.
• Office and authority of the Pope: According to Catholicism the Pope is the “Vicar of Christ” (a vicar is a substitute) and represents Jesus as the head of the Church. Protestants believe that Christ alone is the Head of the Church.
• Means of salvation from sin: Catholics teach that the Christian must rely on faith plus “meritorious works” in order to be saved. Protestants believe that, on the basis of faith in Christ alone, believers are justified by God, as all their sins are paid for by Christ on the cross and His righteousness is imputed to them.
• Condition after death: Catholic doctrine of purgatory is the belief that man can and must pay for his own sins in a temporal place after death before he can enter heaven. Protestants believe that because we are justified by faith in Christ alone and that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us—when we die, we will go straight to heaven to be in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-10 & Philippians 1:23) (References: gotquestions.org/difference-Catholic-Protestant.html)

• A person is given salvation from the time he surrenders his life to Jesus, not from the time when he goes through water baptism. However, water baptism is a step in obedience to Christ‘s command that all believers be baptized (Matthew 28:19). Christ himself was baptized (Mark 1:9). Water baptism is a public proclamation that we belong to God and incorporated into God’s family universally (1 Corinthians 12:13).
• Baptism is not just a symbol but also a spiritual experience of dying to the old self and being raised to a new life in Christ. It breaks off the claims of the old sinful nature and spiritual powers over the believer so that he can now stand in his new authority in Christ to resist the devil and his demons (Romans 6:3-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2).

• The church is a people, a community of faith, not just a meeting place. We are not saved to be individual Christians, but we are saved to be part of the Church. In other words, we are called to be a new loving community of brothers and sisters in Christ. As much as the members of the body (arms, legs, eyes, etc) are meaningless and grotesque when separated from one another, so a Christian that is not vitally joined to a local body of believers is like a dismembered part of a human body, useless and incomplete.
• God has ordained the church to be the place where His presence and power is demonstrated. Furthermore, spiritual gifts are exercised in the context of a community of believers: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:26) It is through the church that the believers are strengthened and built up.
• Our witness is powerful when it is a corporate one. Jesus says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). We cannot exhibit this special love for one another until we enter into a community of loving relationship with other believers. When the world sees Christians loving one another, then they will believe that we are Christ‘s disciples. Witnessing is not a program, but a community of believers loving one another.

Many churches encourage their members to give a tithe (i.e. 10%) of their income to support the church staff and ministries. Some churches make the tithe mandatory for members while others set the 10% as a goal or guideline for giving. Christians are encouraged to give cheerfully and joyfully, not under compulsion and with great reluctance – “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

• Christians do not become like Jesus overnight, as it takes many years to change our old ways, as we get to know Him more and more, through the Bible. Unfortunately, in the process, we continue to sin and inevitably hurt people.
• Is it less of a miracle that a small seed can grow into a large tree just because they take many decades? Therefore, it is no less a miracle to see so many people whose lives have been transformed, as they move progressively from loving self to loving God and others.
• The conditions of the heart of each believer influence how much the Bible can impact his or her life (Matthew 13: 18- 23).We never really finish learning as there are so many areas to learn from. And so, in your interaction with us, we hope you will be patient when our certain raw and not-sanctified-yet ways rub you up in the wrong way. Please don’t let us put you off from such an important decision in your life!