What Is Christianity?

Published on 04/28/24 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

How do you define Christianity?

Christianity is a love relationship with our Creator, Yahweh God, and our Redeemer, Lord Jesus the Christ. It is not a rigid system of beliefs and practices whose aim is to treat God like a genie in a bottle (at least, that's not how it should be). It is a love relationship established upon and governed by a sacred covenant between God and His people, with the Bible as the life's manual for righteous living that brings good to its doers and glory to God.

To seek after a love relationship with God is the most beautiful desire we can ever have. It is how Psalm 42 describes it--panting after God like a thirsty deer in the desert. We're to go after God as the greatest love of our life.

Being a Christian is a dynamic relationship with God, a lifestyle of love and worship that's to be reflected in everything we think, desire, say and do. We cannot achieve this alone--we need to walk with God by His grace.

Studying the Bible is just one aspect of this dynamic love relationship, albeit a very crucial one. I always look at the Bible as a love letter from God. In it, He tells us about Himself, shares His heart with us, what He desires from us and how we can walk with Him so we can fulfill the purpose of our lives.

A relationship has open communication: listening and talking on a regular basis. When we study the Bible, that is the listening part, where we listen to God. Praying is the talking part, where we talk to God and wait patiently on Him for His answer.

Studying the Bible is all about carefully searching out God's truths and then live out those truths in our lives. Basically, to achieve that, we need to:
1. Read a chapter or two, and pray for God to open the eyes of our mind (enlighten/illuminate us) by His Spirit so we can understand what He intends us to know and understand
2. Consider what the chapter teaches
3. Consider how you can apply what it teaches to your life
4. Live it out. Put the principles to practice. Obey the commandments (if those commandments are applicable). Follow the righteous examples of the saints. Avoid their mistakes.

Consistency and persistence are the keys to a successful Bible study. I always strongly advise that students study the Bible from start to end, at least for the very first time, without jumping around. This is because the Bible is like any other book: it has a beginning, a middle, and an end with a logical flow. So we can't expect to fully understand what Christ has done for us, if we don't study Leviticus, for example.