From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

There is something that distinguishes Christianity from all the religions of the world. Not only does it carry the truth of the redemption, by the death of our Savior for our sins on the cross, it carries the fact that Christ rose again. If it is Christian, it will be Bible-centered. Scripture says, “Be doers of the word. … Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this … to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:22, 27). If one is a Christian, there will be obedience to God’s Word. Christianity is a serious business. Only the Christian faith follows its Leader who died and rose again and is alive.

Christians may want to be relevant; however, the more relevant we become to a sin-dominated world, the more irrelevant we actually are to God. One can have religion and not know Christ. It is having a personal relationship with Him that counts, and that cannot happen without coming to faith in Christ and Him alone. These are His terms and they are unchangeable. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Christians are a foreign influence, a minority group in a pagan world. The day is coming, however, when followers of Jesus Christ will reign with Christ. But while the great day is in the future, today Christians are to take their places in society with moral courage to stand up for that which is right, just, and honorable. But the majority of the world rejects the truth of Christ and this will not change until He returns in glory.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

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