CA312

Christian Evidences LESSON 04 of 12

The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

Victor M. Matthews, STD

Former Professor of Systematic
Theology Grand Rapids
Theological Seminary

We are talking about the nature of biblical Christianity. We have

considered that biblical Christianity first of all is or revolves
around a person, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondarily,
biblical Christianity comes to us as final authority, and this final
authority is not rooted in the church or in man but is rooted in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His vicarious work in
history—crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost—and
then in the inspired Word of God.

Now, third, biblical Christianity has to do with a list of basic

characteristics, and I would like to present these characteristics
to you. When we ask about the meaning of this authority and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, the Scripture presents
to us a number of important themes and characteristics.

Christianity Is Personal

First of all from the Scripture we realize that Christianity is

personal in at least two great ways. It is personal in that the
revelation within Christianity is the revelation of a person. God
has not only revealed words to us, but words about a person. The
important thing primarily is not the Word but the content of the
Word. And that always has to do with the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That’s why within the Scripture He is called “the living
Word.” Wherever we open the Bible, we’re always confronted with
a person. When we read the Old Testament, we’re confronted with
the One who is to come. Or when we read in the New Testament,
here we have in the Gospels the description of the One who has
come, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And in all of the rest
of the New Testament we are told what that coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ means to us.

So, Christianity is personal, first of all personal because the very

content of it revolves around a person. And He has made Himself
available to us in the atonement. But secondarily, Christianity
is personal in that my response as a person is demanded within

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Lesson 04 of 12 The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

Christianity. It’s not enough to realize that biblical Christianity is

just objectively the Lord Jesus Christ and His final authority. It’s
important to realize that biblical Christianity has to do with my
response as a person in love and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s why we have these terms “faith and love” so often found
in the same verse in the New Testament. For example, the apostle
Paul in Galatians 5:6 [New King James Version] states that “For in
Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything
[that is, avails to bring the grace of God into one’s life], but faith
working through love.” Notice the great truth of that verse.
What avails to bring the grace of God into a person’s life? It is
not all of the legalism and ceremonialism of the Jewish people.
That’s what Paul was referring to by the term “circumcision.”
Nor is it all of the emotionalism and ecstatic experiences of non-
Jewish religious people. And that’s what Paul was referring to by
“uncircumcision.” What will avail to bring the grace of God into
our lives? It is faith that works by love. That idea emphasizes and
underlines the personal emphasis within biblical Christianity.
Christianity has first of all the characteristic of being personal,
personal in that it is the revelation to me of a person; secondarily
it has to do with my response as a person in faith and love.

Christianity Is Historical

The second great characteristic of biblical Christianity is that

it is historical. Christianity is not only personal, that’s number
one; but Christianity is historical. By this I mean that the
incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, His birth into the world and
His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, and sending the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost all are great deeds in history,
and they really happened. Christianity is not built on myth and
legend and old wives’ fables. Christianity has to do with historical
deeds. The birth of Jesus Christ really happened in history. He
became a member of our human race. He became involved in our
space and time. When the Lord Jesus Christ died, that was an act
within our history. And the resurrection is more than a religious
symbol. The resurrection really happened within our history.
It’s interesting that within the Scripture this is emphasized so
clearly, the resurrection particularly because of its importance.
You remember that well-known verse in Romans 10 where Paul
says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved” [v. 9]. It’s important to realize here that
the apostle Paul under divine inspiration states that a belief in
the historical resurrection of the eternal Son of God is a necessity
for personal salvation. So, it is important that we realize that

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Lesson 04 of 12 The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

Christianity is historical in every way. It’s not a myth. It’s not a

legend. Christianity is historical.

Christianity Is Supernatural

The third great characteristic of biblical Christianity is that it is

supernatural. By this I mean that the deeds of God within history
cannot be explained by natural law. Christianity is the result of
God’s intervention into our space and time. God has come to us.
He has revealed Himself to us. He’s spoken to us in Christ. He has
acted in history for us in these great historical deeds. All of this
is what is described as supernatural, the activity of God within
our space and time, an activity that cannot be fully explained
by the laws of nature or by the scientific method. Christianity is
supernatural.

Christianity Is Redemptive

Fourth, Christianity is redemptive. This characteristic of biblical

Christianity reminds us that the deeds of God are atoning deeds,
that the Lord Jesus Christ has made a provision through His
death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost so that man can be
redeemed. No wonder he said in Galatians 4 that in the fullness
of time, “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman [that’s the
incarnation], made under the law [that’s His representative work
for us now assuming responsibility for the broken law], to redeem
them that were under the law” [vv. 4–5]. So, we have in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ not only a Redeemer from our sins but
also we have within Him a redemption. We can proclaim this as
the truth of God. This is one of the important characteristics of
biblical Christianity: that Christianity is redemptive.

Christianity Is Relevatory

Fifth, Christianity is revelatory. By this we mean that in these

deeds of God performed by Jesus Christ within history, God has
made Himself known to us. Think of the great verses that come
immediately to mind. Romans 5:8 says that “God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.” The word commendeth can well be translated “manifested”
or even “proved.” God has proven His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How do we know that we
are the objects of God’s love? Because Christ died. We ought not
to look at our feelings and circumstances to find an evidence of
the love of God. That’s not the place to look. We need to look
into the revelatory deeds of God in history. That’s what John was

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Lesson 04 of 12 The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

reminding us of in 1 John 4:9–10, where it states, “In this was

manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through
him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation [that is, the sacrifice] for
our sins.” Yes, this is what love really means. When we ask about
Christianity, we realize that Christianity then is revelatory, that
God has made Himself known to us.

Christianity Is Exclusive

The sixth characteristic of biblical Christianity is that Christianity

is exclusive. By this we mean that only through these deeds of
God and only through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ may one
be reconciled to God. One may approach and please God only in
the way that He has specified. There are not many ways to come
to God. There is only one, and that one is through the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder He said in John 14:6, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.” This characteristic of Christianity, that is, that it is
exclusive, is a very important one. This means that Christianity is
the only true religion and, therefore, condemns all other religions
as false. Christ said, “No one comes unto the Father but by me.”
Christianity therefore is exclusive.

Christianity Is Authoritative

The seventh great characteristic of Christianity is that it is

authoritative. We’ve talked about this briefly before. By this
characteristic I mean that the deeds of God form the decisive
foundation for Christianity and structure the very nature and
essence of Christianity. The deeds of God in history, the crucifixion,
the resurrection, the ascension, and Pentecost, these deeds
determine Christianity and make it to be what it really is. That’s
why the Lord Jesus Christ said in Luke 6:46, “And why call ye me,
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” He’s reminding
us here in this verse that He is our final authority, that we must
recognize Him as our Lord, and that we must recognize that
Christianity itself is absolute authority. We may not, therefore,
pervert Christianity and make it non-authoritative in the life of a
person. Christianity is authoritative.

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Christianity Is Representative

The eighth great characteristic of Christianity is that it is

representative. I mean by this that in these deeds performed by
the Lord Jesus Christ we as believers have been represented. This
is one of those great truths of the Bible, the representative work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to understand that when Christ
came into the world, He came as our representative. This is why
in Galatians 4 (the verses I quoted just a moment ago) the apostle
Paul said, “When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law.” To be made under the law meant of
course that Christ was under the law not only as a member of the
Jewish race living during the time of the theocracy—that’s true.
But that’s not quite what the verse is referring to. It means that
when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, He assumed in
a representative capacity our obligation for the demands of God
that are made known in His law.

We know that God demands perfect obedience. When God created

Adam back in the Garden of Eden, He demanded of Adam absolute
and perfect obedience. And since Adam was created in the image
and likeness of God, there was no problem about giving unto His
Creator perfect obedience. But Adam failed. Because of that, all
of us were represented in Adam and all of us are born into the
world under the condemnation of the law of God. But Christ came
as the last Adam. Even as Adam represented us, so Christ came
as our representative. And as Paul states in Galatians 4:4, He
was made not only of a woman (that’s the incarnation) but also
made under the law. That is, He assumed responsibility for us as
believers in the light of the demands of God’s law. He came as our
representative.

Many people make their living in a representative way. It’s not

unusual for a man to be given legal right by a manufacturing firm,
for example, to represent the firm. This man, therefore, can go
into another city or even a foreign country, and he can sit down
at a desk and sign his name to a great sheaf of orders. No one
would think that this man is assuming personal responsibility
for these orders. He’s representing a manufacturing firm. When
he signs his name, technically, legally the president of the firm
at home is signing his name in the person of his representative.
All of the vice presidents are signing their names. All of the
stockholders, and if it’s a profit-sharing corporation, all of the
workers in the manufacturing firm are signing their names when
their representative signs his name. So, what he does as their

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Lesson 04 of 12 The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

representative involves everybody at home. If he does good work,

they are benefitted. If he fails, then they’re all involved in his
failure.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, He came as our
representative. And this is one of these great characteristics of
biblical Christianity. He came as our representative. That’s why
the apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 2:5–6, “Even when we were
dead in sins, God hath quickened [the old English word quickened
means made alive] us together [notice that word together] with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Notice that three times over we have the word together. That
refers to Christ and the believer, that when Christ was quickened
in the grave, in the mind and the eye of God all of us as believers
were quickened. When He was raised up in the resurrection, we
were all resurrected. And when He was seated at God’s right hand
in the heavenlies, all of us as believers were seated there at God’s
right hand. So Christ lived and died and was buried and rose again
and ascended as our representative. That’s a very important thing
to realize. It means that all of the representative work of the
Lord Jesus Christ is automatically written into the spiritual bank
account of all of those who believe upon Him as Savior and Lord.
We lived in Christ when Christ obeyed the law of God. We died
in Christ when Christ died under the penalty of our sin. We were
resurrected from the grave in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we were seated with Christ in the heavenlies in His ascension
and in His exaltation. This is a comforting thing to understand,
so one of the important characteristics of Christianity is that it is
representative.

Christianity Is Covenantal

The ninth characteristic of biblical Christianity is that it is

covenantal. By covenantal, I mean that the deeds of God, the
vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ reflect the provision
that God has made for us, the covenantal provision that God
has made. That’s why the Lord Jesus Christ stated concerning
the Lord’s Table, concerning the Lord’s Supper, “This cup is the
new covenant in my blood.” That is, when we believe upon the
Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are brought by the grace of
God into a covenantal relationship with God. This of course is
what the writer of the Hebrews was referring to in the eighth
chapter where he states, “But now hath [Christ] obtained a more
excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant” [v. 6]. As mediator, it means in part that the Lord

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Jesus Christ is the source, the channel through whom all of the
blessings of the covenant and the provision of God flow into our
lives. Christ is that channel. He is the Mediator. He is not only the
one who’s made it possible. We receive all of the benefits through
Him through receiving Him into our lives. Having done that, we
understand in the Scripture that we are brought into a covenantal
relationship with God, so Christianity is covenantal.

Christianity Is Contemporaneous

The tenth characteristic that I’d like to present to you in this

lecture is that Christianity is contemporaneous. By that I mean
that the deeds and the provisions in Christianity are always
contemporaneous with the people of God. While the Lord Jesus
Christ died and rose again nineteen hundred years ago, that doesn’t
mean that we’re second-rate Christians. That doesn’t mean that
we’re secondhand disciples. The deeds and the provisions in
Christianity are always contemporaneous with us. That’s why
the writer in Hebrews 13:8 said that “Jesus Christ [is] the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” We need to realize that the
provision of God is just as powerful today as it was in the day that
the Lord Jesus Christ died, the day that He came out of the grave,
the day that He ascended, the day that He sent the Holy Spirit, the
day of Pentecost. So Christianity then is contemporaneous.

Christianity Is Dynamic

The eleventh characteristic is that Christianity is dynamic. By

dynamic, we mean that there is within biblical Christianity a
transforming, redemptive power. This is why the apostle Paul in
Romans 1:16 said that he was not ashamed of the gospel. The
reason for that, it was the power of God unto salvation to everyone
who believes. Christianity is more than just a way of life. It’s more
than just a moral philosophy. It’s more than just a group of ethical
propositions. It’s more than just humanitarian service. It’s more
than just a divine or human institution of the church. Christianity
is a transforming, redemptive power. Because of this, we do not
have to be ashamed. Christianity will transform the life of any
persons who will sincerely and honestly receive into their lives
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is dynamic.

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Christianity Is Demanding

The twelfth and the last characteristic that I would present to you
in this lecture is that Christianity is demanding. It is demanding.
The revelation of God to us brings an obligation into our lives.
No one is neutral to this. A person may live as the avowed and
professional atheist. I doubt as to whether there are any genuine
atheists. Certainly people can adopt that type of intellectual
stance if they want to about religion. They can call themselves
an atheist, but we know from the Scripture that all people have
been created in the image and likeness of God. And a part of that
creation means that they have been inescapably related to God.
No person can plead neutrality about the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ or His work in history. We can deny the reality of the Lord
Jesus as the eternal Son of God and think of Him only as a Galilean
peasant. But that doesn’t mean that He’s not the Son of God. And
we can deny the authoritative and the historical atonement of the
Lord Jesus Christ, but that doesn’t deny its authority. The Lord
Jesus Christ did die. The resurrection is true. He did ascend. He
did send the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and that brings
an obligation into our lives. No person can live as though Christ
did not die. And no person can live as though He did not come
forth from the grave.

What does Christianity demand? It demands that I give up myself

as a person. It demands my rightful response as a person. I’m
sure that we can guess what that response is. You remember in
Matthew 22 the Lord Jesus Christ said that the first commandment
was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
strength. To love the Lord, that’s what Christianity demands. It
doesn’t demand our time and how much time we spend in church.
That’s very secondary. It doesn’t demand our money and how
much we give. It doesn’t demand our lip service and how much
we talk about it. All of these things are very, very secondary.
Christianity demands that we give up ourselves as a person, and
this is what love is all about. When you genuinely love a person,
you love without reservation. And you give yourself to that person.
That’s why the Lord Jesus Christ said that the first commandment
is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
strength. That’s the demand within Christianity. It demands that
I respond as a person to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ with
the most important personal response possible, the response of
genuine love.

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Lesson 04 of 12 The Nature of Biblical Christianity, Part 3

When we ask about biblical Christianity, we’ve considered the

fact that Christianity revolves around a person, that Christianity
comes to us as final authority, and that Christianity then has these
characteristics: it is personal, historic, supernatural, redemptive,
revelatory, exclusive, authoritative, representative, covenantal,
contemporaneous, dynamic, and then Christianity is demanding.
Perhaps it would be well for us to think of the analogy between the
content of Christianity’s final authority and the laws of physics.
We recognize that the laws of physics are objective from us. They
are not based upon our subjective feelings about them. They are
true whether we like them or not. We do not make them. They
have been superimposed upon us.

If I am going to make a success of life, I must recognize the

reign of law within natural law. I must recognize my need to
live in harmony with the laws of nature. If I am going to make
a success of my Christian life, I must recognize that just as the
laws of physics are objective, so the authority within Christianity
is objective. And just as I recognize that the laws of physics are
outside of me and have a sense of authority over me, so I must
recognize that the truths of Christianity are outside of me in that
objective authoritative sense and rule over me. If I am going to
succeed, therefore, as a Christian in whatever I do for God, I must
correctly practice biblical Christianity. The first step, therefore,
is to wholeheartedly surrender myself to the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ and to His work in history and then to His inspired
and authoritative Word. Then the second step and continuing
steps would have to do with progressively understanding and
maintaining that surrender in the obedience of faith and love.
When I do that, it means to take the Word of God and then to put
it into practice in my daily life.

We have attempted to answer the question, What is the nature

of biblical Christianity? Christianity is first of all then the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church, the Lord of the
harvest field, the living Word. He is my Lord, my sanctification.
What does that mean in practice? It means then that Christianity
comes to me as final authority. And since Christianity comes to
me as final authority, it demands that I respond correctly to Jesus
Christ, to His work, and to His Word by giving Him His rightful
place of love.

Christ-Centered Learning — Anytime, Anywhere

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