My Faith in
Christ
After the winter snows a wind of healing blows,
And
thorns put forth a rose, and lilies cheer us;
Life's everlasting spring has
robbed death of his sting,
Henceforth a cry can bring our Master near us.
... John Masefield
I believe that the universe and all that is in it was created by God.
And I believe He did it as written in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God
created mankind in perfection after his own image, with an eternal spirit, and
placed them in a perfect world. And man and woman had a very close relationship
with God, their Creator. Through rebellion against God, mankind ruined that
perfect relationship with God, and sin entered the world. When sin entered the
world by disobedience, the world and the entire universe, changed from
perfection to imperfection.
Because of mankind's sinful nature and
rebellious spirit, there was no longer the close and perfect relationship that
once existed between God and mankind. A system of sacrifices was set up to
atone for the sinfulness of man and to pay the penalty as a substitution for
mankind's sin. I believe sacrifices point to the Messiah as predicted many
places in scripture. The coming of the Messiah was fulfilled in the person of
Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. He was the human incarnation of God, that
is, God come down to earth in human form. Jesus claimed to be God on a number
of occasions. Because of this claim, he was a "stumbling block" to the first
century Jews, who were looking for a Messiah to free the Jewish people from the
bondage of the Roman Empire and establish God's eternal Kingdom on earth.
Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life and was the supreme example of
submission to God, His heavenly father. He was crucified on a cross and was
dead three days. On the third day he came back to life, proving his claim to be
God, and triumphing over death. His perfect sacrifice for all of mankind's sin
now makes it possible to renew the right relationship with God that man and
woman had when first created. His sacrifice was the payment for our sin, and
was credited to us in full and complete payment for our rebellion and
sinfulness.
Every man and woman is sinful, and separated from God. And
the Good News of Jesus' payment for our sin is the single most merciful and
gracious act of God our Creator. Every human born is accountable to God for how
he or she responds to the knowledge of this Good News. No one can do it for
you. And, man can not appease God for his sin either. It is impossible to do
so, so great is the gulf between righteous God and sinful man. Only the
sacrifice of Christ can pay the penalty and renew man to a right relationship
with his Creator. Man must acknowledge his sinfulness, and accept the free gift
of new life in Jesus Christ. The payment has been paid for our sins, yet we
must acknowledge it and receive it. And it is received through faith, not by
any works, penance, or good deeds.
Here is a short series of verses
from the Bible that explain the process of becoming right with God:
• Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
• Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
• 1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."
• John 11:25, 26 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'
• Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved...
• John 16:31 "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life."
• Romans 4:3 "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."
• Romans 10:9,10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
• John 8:12 "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
• 1 John 5:13 "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."
If you have more questions about the Christian faith, or doubts about
what is true and what is not true about Christianity. Please email me with your
comments or questions at kkrugh@gmail.com.
For another
explanation about how to know Christ, please visit the following page at Prison
Fellowship Ministries:
http://www.pfm.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID2230_CHID100523_CIID367711,00.htm
A
good website to answer common doubts and questions about Christianity is:
10 Reasons to Believe in the
Christian Faith at http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/rtb/
Beginnings
My Grandmother, Abbie
Krugh, befriended my mother while she dated my father. Having no church
background, my mother was encouraged to attend, and and my grandmother took her
along to the small, rural Middlebury Methodist Church. This simple, one room,
steepled, white building without electricity or running water is also the first
church in my memories. I can still see the men seated on the left side of the
church and the women on the right. And the routine fascination when one of the
men would wind up the old clock and start the pendulum swinging just as the
congregation gathered. Everything had to be in order and at the right time. We
attended this humble church until the doors closed in the late sixties due to a
consolidation of three neighboring rural Methodist churches. But by then, my
early thoughts and ideas about God, and foundation in scripture, had been laid
by my faithful and very elderly Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Velma Owens. She
was the one who introduced me to the ten commandments written by Moses on
tablets of stone. From her I learned of the birth of Christ in the manger, the
Good Friday crucifixion, and the Easter resurrection.
Saved
Mrs. Opal Bolenbaugh taught Bible
once a week at the Wren Elementary School I attended. She also ran a one week
Vacation Bible School in the summers. I can still hear the theme song played at
every Vacation Bible School assembly: "Boys and girls for Jesus, this our
earnest song. Boys and girls for Jesus, at home, at school, at play and
everywhere..." With flannel board beside her to illustrate the story, and a
flip chart with words to the songs, Mrs. Bolenbaugh clearly presented the
gospel of Jesus Christ each week, with an invitation to "ask Christ into your
heart" at the conclusion of most talks. One particular day, when I was in
second grade, I felt a clear conviction in my young spirit to pray the sinner's
prayer when she gave the invitation. And so I prayed after her in my heart,
"Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus is God's son and died on
the cross for my sins. Please forgive me and help me to live a life pleasing to
You. I accept you, Jesus, as my Savior. Amen." I remember the occasion
clearly, and praise God for the faithfulness of Mrs. Opel Bolenbaugh.
About four years ago I saw Opel at my mother's church and personally
thanked her for her faithfulness and for leading me in that simple prayer when
I was but seven years old. And two days ago, my mother handed to me a poem
written by Mrs. Bolenbaugh. In her honor and to the glory of God I include it
here:
|
"Who Cares About a Kid Like Me?" |
 |
Wandering
In my adolescent years I
attended church faithfully with my family, sang in the church choir, and
attended youth group. Being a Christian was a very "normal" thing to be given
my surroundings. It cost me little, so I paid little attention to it. I
professed being a Christian, and even felt God guiding and directing my paths.
But little spiritual growth ensued. In my later years of high school I went
drinking with the guys. And on my eighteenth birthday I was out all night,
never making it home till much later the next morning. Between high school and
college I experimented with marijuana. Praise God I never got killed driving
home high or intoxicated. I worried my poor mother
unmercifully.
College Friends
I
believe God had mercy on me, and actively pulled me back into the fold during
my college years. It was during my Freshman year that I met several solid
brothers in Christ who provided accountability and challenged me to mature in
Christ. Chris was a member of the Church of the Brethern, and Paul was a
Southern Baptist. The conflict of two worlds was still present at first:
partying at the fraternities, and going to Sunday school with my Chris and
Paul. Eventually, I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and made a serious
recommitment of my life to Christ. I have never looked back. Yet I have not
always proved faithful, even though God has been perfectly faithful to me. He
has provided more joy, peace, and contentment than I ever dreamt of. My walk
with Christ has been sweet, and my failures a bitter disappointment. Still, I
have never been disappointed by the grace and mercy of the
Lord.
Pentecostal Years
In the fall of
1976, my senior year at college, I met my wife who was in her second year of
college. Val grew up in the Assemblies of God church, and through her and her
family, I was introduced to the Pentecostal Christian experience. The first
words Val's aunt said to me are indelibly imprinted on my mind: "Have you
received since you believed?", quoting from Acts 19:2. What, exactly, did she
mean? This started a year long search for the meaning of this question, and the
understanding of Pentecostal distinctives. I began attending my wife's Assembly
of God church when I visited her before we were married, and attended an AG
church in Cincinnati. Many books were given me on the subject, and suffice it
to say that on Superbowl Sunday 1978 it happened: I attended an evening service
at the AG church and I was touched in an undeniably real way by God. My
Pentecostal tenure had begun. As a result, I began a truly deeper walk with the
Lord, gaining courage and boldness in His love, and a greater commitment for
service in His Kingdom.
Val and I were married in 1979, joined the AG
church and plugged into the ministry program there "big time". Val started
teaching at their Christian School, and I became involved in a ministry to
boy's similar to Boys Scouts, the Royal Rangers. I served two terms as a deacon
on the church board, and helped on Sunday mornings running the sound board. Our
two daughters were born during this period, who attended the church daycare
center and then the Christian school. All our friends and acquaintances were
either associated with the church or the school. God was faithful and
true.
Upheaval
Without question, the
hardest thing I have ever had to do was leaving the Pentecostal movement. I
will not say why we left. That is not important to the saga of God's
faithfulness in our lives. But there were several reasons why leaving was so
difficult, not all of them theological.
Our daughters grew up in the AG
church. More precisely they were conceived, born, dedicated, baptized, burped,
diapered, and educated there. Most of their contacts and friends attended our
church. To pull them away from this when they were ten and eight years old was
not without tears.
And the same for myself, to a large degree. I was
very involved with the Royal Rangers, and all my accountability lay in the
brothers I worked with in this ministry. When we left the AG church, 95% of my
Christian friends were left behind.
And theologically, by leaving the
Pentecostal movement, was I backsliding? Had I denied forevermore the work of
the Holy Spirit in our lives? Was I depriving my daughters of the "Full Gospel"
and powerful workings of the Holy Spirit? Would my Pentecostal brothers and
sisters decry me a reprobate? Thank God the answer to all these questions was
no.
God's Provision
My wife and I both
knew that we had to get plugged into another church as soon as possible. But we
had no clue as to where to start looking. Someone suggested I visit an
Evangelical Free Church, and so I bought a Saturday newspaper and found the
closest Evangelical Free Church to our home. And on a weekend when Val and the
girls were out of town, I found myself in the parking lot of Grace Evangelical
Free Church asking God what in the world I was doing there. I did not know a
single thing about the denomination, and certainly knew nobody at this church.
It turned out to be another of God's great acts of faithfulness and provision
to our family.
The Sunday School class I attended that day was studying
the book of Acts, and, of all things, the Day of Pentecost as told in the 2nd
chapter of Acts. The sermon preached was meant for me. I could have sworn that
the pastor was privy to my inner thoughts, sins, and needs, because his message
was specific and convicting. Of course he didn't know anything about me or my
spiritual needs at the time, but God's Holy Spirit did.
We visited a
few other churches, but ended up at the church I visited on my own, Grace
Evangelical Free Church. Over the past seven years I and my family have matured
in the knowledge and goodness of God through powerful, Spirit directed teaching
and sincere, humble worship. We are growing in Him, as He is ever faithful to
us.
The following is a Statement of Faith of The Evangelical Free Church of America. It is what I believe doctrinally.
Statement of Faith of The Evangelical Free Church of America.
The doctrinal position of The Evangelical Free Church of America is summarized in our twelve-article Statement of Faith.
We Believe:
1. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.
2. In one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. That Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is now our High Priest and Advocate.
4. That the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct and empower the believer for godly living and service.
5. That man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is, therefore, lost, and only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.
6. That the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit and, thus become children of God.
7. That water baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed by the Church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as means of salvation.
8. That the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head.
9. That only those who are, thus, members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.
10. That Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs.
11. In the personal premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this "Blessed Hope" has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
12. In the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment.
For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant. ... Martin Luther (1483-1546)
last updated 2005 January 15.
