What are the 5 Characteristics of Christian faith?

Answer 1

Faith is simply to believe in something without proof of it's existance. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This means that faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true.

Answer 2

Many people today profess to have faith, especially religious faith, yet some can't explain why they believe as they do or give a reasonable basis for their faith. Some will say that their "Faith' is based upon The Bible in reconition of the message that Jesus taught, which is too just "believe in Jesus and you will be saved." There are also those who's faith is based on preaching social or political gospels. But in developing and cultivating faith in God the first thing is acquring accurate Bibleknowledge, which is essential. The Apostle Paul told the Christians in the ancient city of Philippi: "This is what I continue praying, that your love may abound yet more and more with accurate knowledge and full discernment." (Phillipines 1: 9) This is important because you need accurate knowledge of God to be able to discern what His will is. This is so because in order to trust and put confidence in someone, you first would have to get to know them. Then comes the motivation within your heart for belief in God. Belief in God without accurate knowledge of the Bible is like a house of cards. A little puff is enough to make it fall. While accurate knowledge is essential to faith in God, more is needed to move one to obey and to serve him. When asked what is the greatest commandment from God, Jesus said: "You must "Love"your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength." (Mark 12 :30 ) "Love" for God builds our Faith and makes us want to serve him from the heart. The Bible Book of Hebrews chapter eleven, particuliarly in verse one gives the definition of the kind of faith according to God's view. Hebrews 11:1 says "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld. Answer # 2 For faith there can be no reason and no season. Faith and spirituality are beyond reason. Faith is the foundation for realisation of GOD. Truth is born of love, which comes from the faith in GOD.

Answer 3

Catholic AnswerBelow is the definition of a Christian from Fr. John A. Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary. From it we can learn that a Christian is:

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1) baptized,

2) professes the essentials of the Christian faith as contained in the Creed,

3) accepts all the teachings of the Catholic Church which teaches with the voice of Christ,

4) participates in the Eucharistic Liturgy and other sacraments of the Church,

5) gives allegiance to his validly consecrated Bishop, and the Holy Father in Rome.

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from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Christian. A person who is baptized. A professed Christian also believes in the essentials of the Christian faith, notably in the Apostles' Creed. A Catholic Christian further accepts the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, participates in the Eucharistic liturgy and sacraments of Catholic Christianity, and gives allegiance to the Catholic hierarchy and especially to the Bishop of Rome.

Answer 4

Catholic Answer

The characteristics of the Catholic faith are summed up in the Great Commandment: Matthew 22:36-40:

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Thus the Catholic faith is a matter of "Luke 9:23And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and takeup his cross daily and follow me."

We do this by following the Ten Commandments of God, the Precepts of the Church and the Corporal Works of Mercy, which Our Blessed Lord tells us we are going to be judged on:

Catholicism is basic, original Christianity as it was established by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, and guided by the Holy Spirit for the past two thousand years. A basic outline of beliefs may be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which may be found online (see link below). Basic beliefs are contained in the following formulas and the COMPLETE Bible, NOT the truncated version that Martin Luther came up with in the sixteenth century and printed by the English as the Authorized Version.

Catholics believe that this short time on earth is the only chance we have to determine where we are going to spend eternity. After you have been in heaven or hell for ten million years, you are going to look back on your incredibly short time on earth and wonder why you squandered a minute of it. This short time on earth is a gift from God to allow us time to make the right decision, to enable us to start following Him, and loving Him with our whole heart, our whole mind, and every bit of strength that he has given us. This means that every single moment from here until death is given to God Almighty. You need to start obeying the Ten Commandments of God, the Seven Precepts of the Church, and practicing the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy are particularly important as these are how you are going to be judged. Also, as your heart must be in them, and you must be free from sin to do any of these, you need to be going to confession weekly, or at the very outside, monthly, and to Mass and Holy Communion as often as possible. Please note that Mass as much as you can get there, but Holy Communion only if you have prepared and are in a state of grace (have been to confession recently).

In addition to the above, I should add that to believe in Jesus Christ means more than just "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior". You must then repent of your sins and live out that belief by following our Blessed Savior throughout your life. If you read the Scriptures you realize that we are going to be judged and judged on our actions, not on saying we believe, but in living out that belief. If you read the Epistle of St. James, which comes near the end of the Bible for a reason:

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing. James 2:14- What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled, " without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

Ten Commandments of God

Exodus XX

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

4. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shalt not commit adultery.

7. You shalt not steal.

8. You shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shalt not covet your neighbor's wife.

10. You shalt not covet your neighbor's goods.

Seven Precepts of the Church

1. To assist at Mass and rest from servile work on all Sundays and holidays of obligation.

2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed by the Church;

3. To go to confession at least once a year;

4. To receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year, and that about Easter time;

5. To contribute to the support of our pastors according to our means;

6. Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred, nor to marry with solemnity at forbidden times.

7. To join in the missionary spirit and apostolate of the Church.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

To admonish the sinner,

To instruct the ignorant,

To counsel the doubtful,

To comfort the sorrowful,

To bear wrongs patiently,

To forgive all injuries,

To pray for the living and the dead.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

Matt 25:31

To feed the hungry,

To give drink to the thirsty,

To clothe the naked,

To visit the prisoners,

To shelter the homeless

To visit the sick,

To bury the dead

To give alms to the poor.

Answer 5

One could go into lengthy detail regarding the prominent attribute of a true Christian. Let it suffice to say "One who keeps the Commandments and even goes the extra mile"

Answer 6

bible, god, holy spirit, and love