Five Pillars of Faith and Truth by Jafar bin Salaam

Pillar 1 – There is One True God and He wants us to know Him and His will for our lives.

God is the ALL-POWERFUL (omnipotent) Creator of the universe. He has the ability to reveal Himself and accomplish His purposes. While God is transcendent and apart from His creation, He is not far away. With His ability to be EVERYWHERE at the same time (omnipresent), He is near. God knows EVERYTHING (omniscient). Because He knows everything about us, He wants us to know Him and His will for us so that we can fully experience His Goodness and Mercy. He desires a relationship with each of us… men, women, and children.

Pillar 2 – God is Loving and Just, and He wants us to be holy because He is Holy. Yes, God is Holy. He is perfect and sinless. God is Just. He does not scheme or act inconsistently with his character and nature. It is amazing, but wonderful, that God is Love! He has good intentions and desires for those who will accept Him for whom He is and will trust Him even when His ways are difficult for us to understand. His standards are extremely high … we too must be perfect even as God is perfect. This creates a perplexing dilemma for all people. Pillar 3 – Because no person is perfect and sinless, we all suffer the Shame and Dishonor of our ungodliness and come under the divine justice of God.

Our unholy and sinful thoughts, words, and actions make each of us imperfect and sinful people. It doesn’t matter how small the imperfection, any spot, flaw, or failure causes even the most upright person to be disgraced in the light of God’s pure holiness. We are guilty, not just ignorant. We are condemned without any means to escape punishment by our own efforts. Can anything be done to remove the shame, dishonor, and spiritual death brought on by our sin?

Pillar 4 – In His Love and Mercy, God offers a unique solution to the horrible consequences of God’s Wrath. Jesus Christ, the ONLY sinless one, acting with HONOR, gave himself as the covering sacrifice to remove our sin and SHAME.

Isa al-Masiih (Jesus the Messiah) is the Word of God and the Spirit of God manifested in the human flesh. Contrary to misconceptions by many, this is not “shirk” or associating another with God. What is the difference between God, His Word, and His Spirit? There is no difference as each is only a manifestation or expression of that One True God. Many Muslims believe that the Qur’an is eternal and uncreated and yet they are not accused of shirk because it [the Qur’an] is physically present in this world as ink on paper! It is the same with the person of Jesus. As the very expression of God, Jesus is the only means of removing the shame of our sin, imperfections, and unholiness. No amount of education or good works could ever do that before a Perfect, Holy, All-Knowing, and Just God. God Himself initiated and paid the price to restore honor to us through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Pillar 5 – If, by FAITH, we recognize our sin and shame, turn away from it, and SUBMIT to God’s unique solution in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then our honor will be restored, a relationship with God will be established, and eternal life will begin. It is the Will of God for everyone to receive His solution to our problem of sin and shame, however, He does not force us to conform. God establishes the context for forgiveness (a perfect, sinless, sacrifice), the condition for forgiveness (faith in God’s unique provision for sin), and the consequence of our response to God’s gracious gift (submission = eternal life, rejection = spiritual death and hell). Being forced to do something is not honorable, but choosing to make the right decision is VERY honorable. God honors us and gives us dignity as humans by allowing us to choose. We honor God when we acknowledge our need for Him and submit to (accept) His provision for our imperfections and failures. Will you honor God and have your honor restored by receiving Isa al-Masiih (Jesus, the Messiah) into your heart and life by faith? For more information, visit: http://www.mygcx.org/AskJafar

copyright © 2009 Jafar bin Salaam