What is Christianity — Paul Washer

It's a great privilege for me to be here with you this evening, and can you all hear me okay? Let me pray Father I come before you in the name of your son Jesus Christ. I pray that you would Honor him that his name would be exalted in this place.

And in this country that the gospel of Jesus Christ Would enter into hearts here tonight. That people would know your love your forgiveness How you are a kind and a merciful God. That your steadfast love extends to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds.

Lord help us so that people will know we have been helped Do a work in our midst Jesus name. Amen. Let's go to first Corinthians chapter 15. I know that this is a conference on revival but I Know there are people here tonight.

Defining Christianity and the Uniqueness of Christ

You you are inquiring as to what is Christianity? Possibly you're wondering what is all this about? Who is Jesus Christ? What is? Christianity. I have to admit that when you look around today at what is called Christianity there is not a clear definition we see people doing all sorts of things in the name of Jesus Christ a Great deal of it is wrong and is not biblical and does not bring glory to the name of Christ, but rather Because of the things that are done in his name his name is blasphemed and insulted among people Who don't truly understand what Christianity is all about?

Tonight I want to share with you Christianity What it truly is now before I read the text though. I need to say this in Christianity We do not have little messiahs running around. We have one Messiah one Christ one Savior.

It's Jesus Christ. The people who preach the gospel are not great men of God. There is no such thing as a great man of God there are only weak and tiny and sinful Pitiful Men of a great and a merciful God so if you're not Clearly introduced to Christianity tonight.

I want you to know that you're not coming here tonight to hear some man because what are men the Bible says nothing more than a nose full of air a Vapor. I stand before you a very needy person. Many many years ago Jesus Christ came into my life.

I Needed him then I need him now. He has changed me some he has not changed me completely. I Struggle with all sorts of things, but he is faithful. I Want I know I'm proud I Don't want to be that way.

I Know that if I could take all the gifts I have I would trade them just to be able to love my wife as Jesus Christ loves the church. So if you're new to Christianity, I want you to realize you didn't come here tonight to hear some self-proclaimed prophet.

Tonight you're only going to get a small broken man. Who's being fixed? Who has been changed some? Who loves Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ loved him first. Who is broken? Because of all the foolishness in the world that is called Christianity and all the wild Preachers that have no business preaching.

I just want you to know a clear definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that if you walk out of here tonight and you reject the gospel at least, you know Exactly what you're rejecting you understand it from a scriptural and a historical Foundation now, why do I say historical for this reason?

When we studied the Bible I studied the Bible. I am one individual. Living within a certain time living within a certain culture. Do you understand that? Don't you see how that makes me prone to error?

There's so many preachers today and they'll say well this is what my Bible says and another preacher will say well This is what my Bible says. You can say all kinds of things about what the Bible says one of the things that we do to know that we are truly preaching the Word of God is that we take our Understanding and we compare it to 2 ,000 years of Christian history.

To find out are we in the center of historic Christianity or have we just invented a new doctrine and about to create a new cult. So what I'm going to teach you is not new. It's not some new revelation.

Anybody comes to you with a new revelation run. It is an old revelation it was a thing handed down given to the apostles By the Spirit of God and then handed down By faithful men to faithful men the gospel of Jesus Christ now, let's look in 1st Corinthians Chapter 15.

Now I make known to you brethren the gospel which I preach to you. Which also you received and which also you stand by which also you are saved if you hold fast the word. Which I preach to you unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as the first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins According to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day According to the scriptures.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now let's start at the beginning verse 1. Now I make known to you brethren the gospel now. I want you to notice something here. Paul has already preached the gospel to these people.

These are believers. These are people who have repented of their sins and they have believed in Jesus Christ. God has done and is doing a work in their life, but he comes back to them now. And he says I make known to you the gospel.

What does that teach us that the gospel the message of the gospel is not only for the person who has yet to know God. It is also for the believer even the most mature believer. You see, I am saved because Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again from the dead.

Is seated at the right hand of God and in him in his name pardon is granted to men. But I continue on also in my Christian life because of the same thing. The gospel of Jesus Christ not only saves us, but it is the great motivating factor in the Christian life.

Why does a Christian do what they do? Why do they seek to walk in a manner pleasing to God? Why do they care about being obedient to the commands? It's all because of Christ. Our entire life as Christians revolves around this one thing.

Jesus Christ shed his blood for our souls. It is this magnificent work of God that motivates us, that moves us, that changes us. And that is why Paul will go on to say here I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received.

In which also you stand, by which also you are saved. Now let's go on. Paul, I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received. Now, I suppose there are some good things that have come out of my country.

But I know that there are some terrible things that have come out of my country, particularly with regard to the gospel. We have taken the gospel of Jesus Christ and reduced it down to four little spiritual laws.

And if you say yes to each one of them and then pray a prayer, someone calls you Christian. That's not true. That's not what it means to receive the gospel. The gospel presentation is this. Jesus Christ died for your sins.

To receive that message is to recognize your sin. Turn from your sin and turn your life over to Christ. Not only as Savior, but as Lord. We receive Him, not as some little contract we make with God. But we receive Him by trusting in Him, by throwing our lives upon Him.

And by building our lives upon His teaching. It is the most radical, difficult, dangerous, life-changing thing that you could ever do. You see, many today look at it kind of like this. I've heard preachers say this.

They look at a congregation and say, you have a wonderful life. You have a great family. You have a wonderful job. Things are going well for you. But you lack one little thing. You need Jesus to make your life complete.

That's blasphemy. I'm here to tell you tonight That if you do not have Jesus Christ You have nothing. Your success in this world will rust. Your fame will rot. Your pleasures will turn into vapors and fly away.

I am telling you tonight, if you're listening to me That Jesus Christ is not something you receive into your life. As some addition to make your life better. Jesus Christ becomes your life. He's everything.

He's the reason you are alive. He's the reason you breathe. He's the reason you do what you do. Now it's not a controlling slavery. No. We follow him. We serve him. Because he loved us. Because he made the greatest sacrifice in our place.

He died for our sins. So what does it mean to receive Jesus Christ? It doesn't mean that one time you were baptized. It doesn't mean that one time you prayed a little prayer. And now you're going to get to go to heaven.

To receive Jesus Christ means That you've acknowledged who you are before God. You have seen that you cannot save yourself. And you have thrown yourself upon the virtue and merit of Jesus. You are trusting in him alone.

And he goes on, he says I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you. Which also you received. In which also you stand. This is very, very important. The Christian life is not something you do just in a moment.

And then that's all. But it is believing in Christ. And then continuing to believe in Christ all the days of your life. You begin in the Christian faith by repenting of your sins. But if you have truly repented of your sins unto salvation.

You continue repenting all the days of your life. You believe in Jesus at the moment of your salvation. You receive him as Savior and Lord. But you continue believing in him. It is true that the moment we repent The moment we believe we are saved.

But the great evidence that we have truly repented And truly believed is that we continue doing so. We continue standing upon Christ. If I came to you personally tonight And I said, if you died right now, where would you go?

And you said, well, I think I'd go to heaven. Why? Well, I'm trusting in Jesus Christ. And I'm trying to be a good person. And I'm trying to keep his commandments. And I'm trying to do the right thing.

I would lovingly have to tell you That I fear for your salvation. I fear for your soul. Because you're not standing on Christ alone. You're standing on Jesus Christ plus something else. And that is not Christianity.

If you ask the true Christian Why do you have a hope of heaven? He will tell you It is because of Christ and Christ alone. And if you even begin to suggest To that person that they're going to heaven Because of some moral deed or virtue on their part They will become so nauseous.

They may even throw up. They'll scream at you Get away from me. You're wrong. I am not saved. I am not Christian. Because of my personal virtue. Because of my personal merit I am saved because of what Christ did for me on that tree.

That's my singular, my only hope. Now he goes on and he says this. In which also you stand. By which also you are saved. You know one of the things that really bothers me About contemporary Christianity.

Is it promises all sorts of things that God never promised. And it lures people into Christianity With promises of the very things that God hates. Prosperity Power Fame. If you trust Christ Everything is going to be wonderful.

Rubbish. That's not true. You do not come to Christ For the sake of any other thing but Christ. You come for Him. You come because He died on the cross for your sins. You come because through Him you can be pardoned.

You come because through Him you can know God. Not because you can get your best life now. Or you can prosper economically. Or you can be healed. No! You come for Him. And you come because He promises the forgiveness of sins The cleansing of your conscience.

And a new life in God's favor. That's why you come to Christ. That is the Christian life. So that even if you are a beggar And even if your body screams out 24 hours in pain It does not matter. Because you have Christ.

And Christ is enough. Goes on and he says By which also you are saved. If you hold fast the word which I preached to you Unless you believed in vain. All of you probably know someone Who claims to have been born again.

And then after a few weeks it seems to wear off. Or people who will say something like this Salvation is by faith. Therefore we can live like the devil and still be saved. We hear things like that all the time.

What Paul is teaching here is something very very different. Look what he says He says by which you are also saved. If you hold fast the word which I preached to you He says you are truly Christian. You are truly born again.

You truly have a hope in heaven. Not only if you believe in Christ. But if you hold on to that faith. And you continue on until the end. And if you let go of that If you abandon that If you walk away from that You are not Christian.

Now is Paul teaching us that we can lose our salvation? I don't think so. This is what I believe he's saying. The evidence that a person has truly come to know Christ Is that they will continue on. They will hold fast.

Because he who began a good work in them Is still working. The evidence that you are truly Christian Is not what comes out of your mouth. It's not that one time you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus to come in.

It's not that one time you were baptized. The evidence that you are Christian Is that you continue on In the Christian faith. You continue repenting. You continue believing. You continue growing. And although there may be a great struggle.

And your Christian life might look like Three steps forward and four steps back. And five steps forward and one step back. You will nevertheless progress to the goal. Because he who began a good work in you Is going to finish it.

The Gospel as Christianity’s First Importance

Now he goes on and he says this Verse 3. For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received. Now look at that. For I delivered to you as a first importance. That should cause us to doubt The ministry of many, many preachers.

And I can tell you why I visit many churches. And I listen to a lot of people preach. And I can hear men preach Day after day after day. And never hear the true gospel come off their lips. Never hear them exalt the cross of Christ.

Never hear them speak much about the gospel. You need to understand something. The most important thing in the Christian life Is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Understanding it and being conformed to its truths.

Now here's the problem. Most people think well I do understand the gospel. I understood it the first day. No you didn't. Let me share with you something. There are a lot of people Who think that the book of Revelation And the eschatology and the study of last things Are so great and so mysterious.

Well they are. But they're nothing In comparison to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen to me. The day that Jesus Christ comes back You're going to understand absolutely everything About the book of Revelation.

But you will be an eternity of eternities in heaven. And you will still not comprehend What God has done for you in the cross of Christ. It is no mystery to me Why Charles Spurgeon has gone down in history As the prince of all preachers.

Because if you study his sermons And I have studied many of them You find out that they're all almost just alike. He only has one theme. He only talks about one thing. And that is Jesus Christ. And what Christ did on the cross.

And Christ resurrected from the dead. And the power of Christ to save. That's the most important thing. It's the thing you begin with in Christianity. And it's the thing you never end with in Christianity.

I know a church is solid. I know a believer is solid When they make much of Jesus and His gospel. And I know that when people leave that behind And speak more of other things They have gone down a path of error.

Now he goes on in verse 3 And he tells us what the gospel is. That Christ died for our sins. Do you know that I have spent. I want to be careful here. I would imagine I have spent the last 12 years of my life.

If I were to add it up I don't know the average of hours a day I have spent in my study On that one thing. That Christ died for my sins. There's enough here in this passage In these few words To preach an eternity.

There's enough here to study for an eternity. And at the end of that eternity Acknowledge that you have not advanced Very far in the things of God. Listen to me. To be saved. You must understand and appreciate the gospel To grow in Christ.

The gospel must become the center theme in your life. If you are truly going to advance in the things of God You must give yourself to the study Of the person of Christ. And what He has done for us On that cross.

He died for our sins. And He was buried. Why does Paul put that there? To let you know that He really died. He was really buried. Because He really died. And why is that important? Without the death of Christ There is no salvation.

He really died. And then He was raised again on the third day. Why is that important? It is the public declaration of God That He accepted the sacrifice of His Son In payment for the sins of His people.

Now I don't want to alarm you. But that was the introduction. No, honestly It was. You can watch a football game three hours. You can study the gospel that long. Now we're going to take a look at the gospel.

Humanity’s Sin and the Need for Righteousness

Let's go to Romans chapter 3 Verse 23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. My dear friend I'm not an angry man. I'm not trying to manipulate your emotions. But if you had any idea Who God really is.

This statement that I have just read would terrify you. It would terrify you. Now you may object and say Okay, pastor, what are you going to do now? Are you going to terrify us with terrible visions Of a holy and just God full of wrath?

Let me share with you something. Do you know what your greatest problem is? Your greatest problem Is that God is good. That ought to scare you. Your greatest problem is that God is love. That ought to terrify you.

And you say, well, brother Paul Why should the knowledge that God is good terrify me? Because you're not good. That's why. You see, criminals are not terrified of corrupt judges. They're terrified of good judges.

Noble judges. You see, all have sinned. And that causes one of the greatest problems in scripture. God is good and He must do something About your violation of law. You have sinned. What does that mean?

It means to not be conformed to the law of God. It means to not be conformed to the will of God. It means to miss the mark. As though you were pulling back a bow And shooting an arrow into a bullseye.

To not only miss the bullseye But the entire target. That's what you have done. You have sinned. And I have sinned against a good God Who is worthy of all obedience. Who is worthy of all praise. I want you just to imagine this for a moment.

Imagine on the day of creation. God speaks And it is. He tells the stars To put themselves in certain areas of space. And they all bow down, worship and obey. He tells the planets To mark out a path for themselves And to not be moved from the order He gives them.

And they all obey. He tells the mountains to be lifted up And the valleys to be cast down. And they all obey Him. He tells the sea You will come to this point and go no farther. And the sea worships God.

Then He looks at you and says, come. And you go, no! All have sinned against God. You say, I haven't sinned against God. I don't even know if He exists. And I don't even know what His law is. This is the Bible's answer To your declaration.

You are lying. The Bible says you do know who God is. And the Bible says That you do know something of His law. And the Bible says That rather than listen to what you know to be true. Since you want to live in your own freedom And your own sin.

You deny the truth. You suppress it and hold it down. Mark this. You do know Not only that there is a God. You know something about who He is. And you do know that God has given a law And you have violated it.

Now let's look for a moment at the extent of sin. I want you to go with me To the book of Genesis Chapter 6, verse 5. Then the Lord saw That the wickedness of man was great on the earth And that every intent of the thoughts of His heart Was only evil continually.

Now In His omniscience God looked into the heart of all men Living during that time And saw that there was continual evil In the heart and thoughts of men. Now you say, well that was back then. Well, it's still today.

The flood judged man. But it did not change man. When Noah got off that boat Men were still just as sinful. And his own children, his own sons proved that I was preaching about sin one time. And a reporter came up to me.

And he was so angry. He said, how can you say these things about people. And I said, first of all, listen to me. I am not saying these things. I am reading the text. I am telling you what God says About the heart of all men.

But why are you doing that? Well, let me ask you a question. If I was a doctor And someone had cancer And I refused to tell them about the cancer That would take their life. Would I not be treated as immoral Even criminal in my profession?

He said, well, yes. But there's something greater than cancer In your heart. It is sin. And though you try to wash yourself With the strongest soap Though you try to purge yourself with fire You will never be free From that sin.

There is only one who can do it That is through His cross The cross of Jesus Christ. Now if you still don't believe me About the content of your heart Then I will give you a challenge. Let's say right now That I could take out your heart Every thought you have ever thought in your life From the time that you first remember Even until this very moment Every thought that's ever entered into your mind.

And I could take those thoughts And put them on a DVD. And I could show them here tonight. You would run from this place. And you would never show your face here again. Because you have thought things so vile That you cannot even share them with your closest friend.

As a matter of fact You have thought things about your closest friend That are so vile That they would no longer be your friend. You know what I'm saying is true. I'm speaking to your conscience. It's true.

See, when God testifies about a man His words are true. You have to admit. You would not want your thoughts exposed. Now, would you want your deeds exposed? The things you've done in darkness When no one has been there.

The words that you have spoken Even against your closest friend. Would you want that exposed? Now I want you to think about something for a moment. You would do everything in your power To keep me from showing the film of your life.

Of your heart before these people. Even though you know these people are just like you. If the thought of other sinful men Knowing the evil of your heart bothers you. Then what is it going to be like on the day of judgment When you stand before a holy God who has never sinned?

This is what the Bible testifies about us. Now let's look in Genesis chapter 8 Verse 21. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma. And the Lord said to himself I will never again curse the ground on account of man.

For the intent of man's heart is evil. From his youth. Now, this is not just speaking about the young. This is speaking even further back From childhood. From even the point of being a mere babe. We can see the evil in the heart of man.

Why is it that you do not have to teach children how to lie? Why is it that you do not have to teach them how to manipulate? Why is it that you don't have to teach them Even in their earliest years in primary school To create a pecking order And make fun of and hurt other children?

They do it! Why? Because what the Bible testifies about man is true. Let me give you an illustration that will be appalling to you. It will offend you. But it's true. Let's say that I'm holding an 18 month old baby in my arms.

And that baby sees my watch And reaches for that watch. And I take his hand away and say, No, is he compliant? He'll probably reach once again for the watch. And if I tell him no, he may start squirming and moving his body And frailing his arms even in my direction.

I submit to you That if that 18 month old baby had the strength of an 18 year old man The baby would slaughter me. Take the watch off my arm And walk over my bloody body without feeling an ounce of remorse.

And human history proves me to be true. Look at our history. Look at what we've done. Look at what we do. Everyone talking about peace. There's no such thing as peace. If there is a supposed time of peace.

It's just that everybody's reloading. You know that's to be true Things that we are capable of. And as Ireland And England And Wales And the United States And the West Moves further and further away From the Christian heritage And the Bible that created them They become more vile.

Look at the crimes that are committed In your own cities here in Ireland. Unspeakable things Unmatched. Except for my own country. Look at what we do. Look at what our children do to one another. And why?

Because what the Bible says about us is true. And the only way we can be healed Is to acknowledge it. To acknowledge it. Now let's go to Isaiah for a moment. Isaiah 64 6. For all of us have become like one who is unclean.

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. Years ago I helped build a church in a leper colony. Have you ever seen leprosy? In its worst state? It's a horrible thing. A body rotting Full of pus Blood Fluid.

You can smell the person Before you can even see them If you catch the wind just right. That's what he is portraying here About us before God. He says that we have become corrupt In our hearts. And that is why even some of the greatest pagan moralists And philosophers Have sat in silence in the dark Pondering the evil of their own heart And how they can escape from it.

And most of them end their life Without hope. Because no matter what they attempt to do To fix the evil in their own hearts And in the evil of their countrymen They fail. Why? Our problem with sin Is not just that we do some things wrong.

Our problem is that we are wrong. We are wrong. And that's why we do things that are so wrong. We sin because we are sinners by nature. And since it is by nature It cannot be escaped. A coyote In the western part of the United States Cannot escape From what he is.

He is a coyote. He is a scavenger. He kills He eats sheep. The same way we are sinners In our very deepest recess In the very heart of hearts. We are corrupt. And therefore our deeds are corrupt. And this is the reason why Religion cannot save you.

Good works cannot save you. Because you do not have any. Let's just imagine for a moment That we had a leper standing here And we wanted to make him presentable. So we go out here in Dublin And we find the finest store that sells cloth.

We buy the finest white silk imaginable. And we take that silk And we wrap that man from his head to his toe With that beautiful silk. And we say look we've made him presentable. But only for a moment.

Why? Because the corruption of the man's body Is going to bleed through the silk. And the silk that we have wrapped him in Will become just as filthy as the man himself. In the same way All our good works are like filthy rags.

Do you understand that? Before a holy God. Now think for a moment. The one thing the devil does not want you to do. Think Is it not true What I'm saying Even some of the deeds that you have done That people admired.

You knew in your heart of hearts You were doing it for the wrong reasons. Secret sins. But not before God. Let's go on. Go with me to the book of Romans again. Chapter 3. Look at verse 9. What then? Are we better than they?

Are the Jews better than the Gentiles? Not at all. For we have already charged That both Jews and Gentiles Are all under sin. As it is written This is what God says about man. There is none righteous.

And then look what he says Not even one. I think if he had said I think this is a perfect demonstration Of the wisdom of God And his knowledge of human nature. If he had simply said There is none righteous.

Someone would have said Yes, I know, but He said No, there is none righteous. No, not one. The idea of righteousness in the scripture It refers to conformity To being conformed to a standard Having a straight line Or a straight pole And having another pole Right beside it.

Parallel Showing that the both Are conformed together. To be unrighteous Is to deviate from that To lack conformity. Another synonym could be used Is twisted. We are unrighteous. It means that we are twisted.

Another word that can be used Is that we are perverted. Another word that can be used Is that we are dislocated. That there is nothing sound in us. From the top of our head To the bottom of our feet. Sin.

There is none righteous. No, not one. Go on to verse 12. He says There is no one who does good. There is not even one. Yet if I go through the streets of Dublin If it's anything Like my own culture I will walk up to person after person And ask them about their hope For eternity.

And most of them will go back To the belief That they are somehow good. Sir, if you died right now Where would you go? Well, I think I'd go to heaven. Why? Well, I've never killed anybody. You know, I try to be good.

Does our pride so blind us That we can't see what God's saying And what we know to be true? No No. You're not good. You're not. You're just not. You're not. Let me ask you a question Adolf Hitler. Just think about that for a moment.

Do you know at one time He was a little boy playing with his toys. You ask yourself How did he become such a monster? The question you ought to ask is Why wasn't he more of a monster than he was? The question that you ought to ask even further May be this Why am I not like Hitler?

Or Why am I not so evil That I make Hitler look like a choir boy? I'll submit to you the reason You judge Hitler And rightly so He was evil. But the only reason That you have not made Hitler Look like a choir boy.

Is that the common grace of God Has restrained your evil. If he were to let you go Madam Gentleman If he were to pull off of you As I said You would run farther past Hitler Than any historian could ever imagine And make him look noble.

You see this is one of the hardest things For men to understand. And I don't think at times That preachers are clear enough When we talk about sin. You see If you're walking around here And you think yourself a good person.

But you do not trust in Christ. You do not care about Christianity. You boast about being good And not needing a crutch. What you need to understand Is if you do have any moral fiber in you. If there is any goodness in you It is because of the God you're denying He is holding you back.

When I travel around universities at times Students will come up to me and go What about the good atheist? What about the good atheist? And I always say You know Could you give me that guy's name. Because I've been hearing about him all over But I've never met him.

Do you have his phone number? I'd like to talk to him. The good atheist Well let me share something with you. Let's say That an atheist In Dublin Understands that his enemy in London Is sick and is dying.

But the atheist in Dublin Discoveres that there is a medicine he can purchase At the cost of everything he owns To save his enemy. And so the atheist in Dublin Sells everything he has Buys the medicine Swims across the ocean Walks all the way to his enemy Gives him the medicine And he is saved.

Is that a good thing? Or is that sin? You say, well it's a good thing. No, the Bible says it's sin. How? In this way God made you. And He made that atheist. And He made both of you for His own glory. And everything that you do Whether eating or drinking Is supposed to be done Unto the glory and praise.

But God doesn't fit in this atheist equation. Another thing you need to understand Is the only reason That atheist Can do any moral deed whatsoever Is because he is being restrained By the grace of the very God he denies.

And so this atheist Will come under the greatest judgment. Because the good that he does He takes credit for Not knowing that it comes from the God Whom he denies. You see, what you need to understand Is this is a God-centered universe.