What do Christians believe?

Christianity has a long history, many traditions, and a lot of vocabulary. Under the differences there is a shared core that Christians of almost every kind hold. This guide walks through it in plain words. We write from a traditional evangelical perspective, and we say where thoughtful Christians sometimes differ.

God

Christians believe there is one God who made everything and rules over it. He is personal, holy and loving, and he knows each person.

They also believe this one God exists eternally as three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. No analogy fully captures it, and it remains a mystery, but Christians don't mean three gods. They mean one God in three persons who share one life of love, and they see that love as the reason we exist at all.

People

The Bible says every person is made in the image of God. That gives each human being great worth, whatever their age, background or ability, and it is the root of the Christian conviction that people deserve dignity.

The Bible also says something harder. Every one of us has turned away from God and from each other. The old word for this is sin. It covers more than big crimes. It describes the way we put ourselves at the center, and it leaves us separated from God and unable to fix things on our own. Most of us know this from experience, even if we would never use the word.

Jesus

Here the Christian story turns. Christians believe Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became a human being, fully God and fully man. He lived the life we could not live. He died on a cross as a substitute for sinners, was raised bodily from the dead, and returned to the Father. Our guide on who Jesus is tells that story in more detail.

Grace and faith

If we can't earn our way back to God, how does it happen? Christians answer with two words. Grace means a gift we don't deserve, and faith means trusting the one who gives it.

⁸for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹not of works, that no one would boast.

That passage sums up what sets Christianity apart from many religions. It says to receive what has already been done, and it does not say to try harder. When someone trusts Jesus, Christians believe that person is forgiven, adopted as God's child, and given the Holy Spirit to live in them and change them from the inside. Good works follow as the result of the gift and never as its price.

The Bible

Christians believe the Bible, sixty-six books written over many centuries, is the inspired Word of God and the final authority for what they believe and how they live. It is a library of history, poetry, wisdom, letters and prophecy, and all of it points to Jesus. Christians read it to hear God speak as well as to learn facts. Our guide on how to start reading the Bible is a good place to begin.

The church

The word "church" mostly refers to people, and only secondarily to a building. It means the people who follow Jesus, gathered in local congregations to worship, hear the Bible taught, pray, care for one another, be baptized, and share the Lord's Supper, a simple meal that remembers Jesus' death. The church is meant to be a family, and like any family it is made of imperfect people who need each other.

Churches differ on details such as how to baptize or how to run their meetings. Those differences matter to Christians, but most agree on the core described here. Where believers disagree on secondary matters, the best of them choose charity and humility.

Mission

Jesus told his followers to love God and their neighbor and to make disciples of all nations. In practice that means sharing the good news with words, caring for the poor, working for justice and showing mercy. Faith is meant to show up in daily life.

The future

Christians believe history is going somewhere. Jesus will return personally and visibly. The dead will be raised, wrongs will be judged, and God will make all things new. The last book of the Bible ends with a prayer, and it is where our name comes from.

²⁰He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

"Maranatha" is an ancient Aramaic prayer meaning "Our Lord, come." It comes from people who believed the best was still ahead.

What if I'm not sure?

That's fine. Belief usually grows out of honest questions. You can read the Gospels, talk to someone, and take your time. Our guide on whether it is okay to have doubts may help. If you'd like to talk with a real person about any of this, you can ask us anything.