Exploring Islam and Christianity

1. Exploring Islam and Christianity

2. Who Is Your Savior?

3. I. The Reality of SIN

4. SIN: What Is It? • 1 John 3:4, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” • Rom. 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” • Jas. 4:17, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

5. SIN: Its Severity • 1 John 3:6, 8, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him…He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. • Rom 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

6. SIN: Its Consequences • Rom 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” • 2 Thess 1:8-9, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power”

7. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works • Surah 2:62, “Surely the believers and the Jews, Nazareans and the Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and whomsoever does right, shall have his reward with the Lord and will neither have fear nor regret.” • Surah 6:51, “Warn those who fear, through this (Qur’an), that they will be gathered before their Lord, and they will have none to protect or intercede for them apart from Him. They may haply take heed for themselves.” • Surah 11:114, “Remember that good deeds nullify the bad.”

8. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works • Surah 64:9-10, “The day He will gather you together on the Day of Gathering, will be the day of Judgment. He who believed and did the right, will have his evil deeds expunged by God and admitted to gardens with rivers flowing by, and abide there perpetually. This will be the great achievement and success. Those who did not believe and denied Our revelations will be inmates of Hell, where they will abide forever, and how evil a journey’s end!”

9. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works • Surah 2:81-82, “Why, they who have earned the wages of sin and are enclosed in error, are people of Hell, where they will abide forever. But those who believe and do good deeds are people of Paradise, and shall live there forever.”

10. 5 Pillars of Islam • Faith – reciting the Shahada • Prayer – Salat • Almsgiving – paying Zakat • Fast – during Ramadan • Pilgrimage – the Hajj to Mecca

11. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works Scales of Judgment • Surah 7:7-9, “We shall recount (their deeds) to them with knowledge, for We were never absent (and saw all they did). And the weighing will be just on that Day. Then those whose (deeds) are heavier in the balance will find fulfillment, And those whose (deeds) are lighter in the scale shall perish for violating Our signs.”

12. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works Scales of Judgment • Surah 23:102-104, “Only those whose scales are heavier in the balance will find happiness. But those whose scales are lighter will perish and abide in Hell forever. Their faces will be scorched by flames and they will grin and scowl within it.”

13. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works Allah is Absolute • Surah 14:4, “God leads whomsoever He wills astray, and shows whoever He wills the way: He is all-mighty and all-wise.” • Surah 2:284, “To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; and whether you reveal what is in your heart or conceal it, you will have to account for it to God who will pardon whom He please and punish whom He will, for God has the power over all things.” • Surah 3:129, “To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth: He may pardon whom He please and punish whom He will. Yet God is forgiving and kind.”

14. II. Islam: Sin is Overcome by Works Peril of Works • It is Bad for Allah! • It is Bad for Muslims/ Mankind!

15. The Hope of Suicide The closest thing to assurance in Islam is death in Jihad! Surah 47:4-6, “So, when you clash with the unbelievers, smite their necks until you overpower them, then hold them in bondage. Then either free them graciously or after taking a ransom, until war shall have come to end. If God had pleased He could have punished them (Himself), but He wills to test some of you through some others. He will not allow the deeds of those who are killed in the cause of God to go to waste. He will show them the way, and better their state, And will admit them into gardens with which he has acquainted them.”

16. The Hope of Suicide The closest thing to assurance in Islam is death in Jihad! Surah 3:157-158, “If you are killed in the cause of God or you die, the forgiveness and mercy of God are better than all that you amass. And if you die or are killed, even so it is to God that you will return.”

17. III. Christianity: Sin is Overcome by the Savior • Isa 64:5-6, “You are indeed angry, for we have sinned — In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. • Ps. 51:4, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. • Rom. 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

18. III. Christianity: Sin is Overcome by the Savior Cross: Love & Justice • 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” • Rom. 3:26, “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” • Romans 3:23-26; 5:6-8

19. III. Christianity: Sin is Overcome by the Savior • Exodus 12 Shadow/ Type: Passover Lamb

20. Jesus Christ: The Lamb of God “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” – John 1:29

21. Jesus’ Blood • Washes away Sin (Rev. 1:5) • Remission/ Forgiveness (Matt. 26:28) • Redemption (Eph. 1:7) • Justifies (Rom. 5:9) • Purchased Church (Acts 20:28) • Peace b/w God & Man (Col. 1:20)

22. III. Christianity: Sin is Overcome by the Savior Salvation Offered to All • Ephesians 2:8-10 • 1 Tim. 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” • 2 Thess 2:14, “to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

23. Obey the Gospel! • Faith & Obedience • Belief • Repentance • Confession • Baptism

24. Washes away Sin (Rev. 1:5) Remission/ Forgiveness (Matt. 26:28) Redemption (Eph. 1:7) Justifies (Rom. 5:9) Purchased Church (Acts 20:28) Peace b/w God & Man (Col. 1:20) Washes away Sin (Acts 22:16) Remission/ Forgiveness (Acts 2:38) It Saves (Mk. 16:16) It Saves (1 Pet. 3:21) Added to Church (Acts 2:40-41, 47) Sons in Christ (Gal. 3:26-27) BloodBaptism

25. Who Is Your Savior?