Factual Christianity

[A]nd my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. -- 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

The claims and doctrines of Christianity are true.  There are people who debate these things and dispute with both believers and non-believers.  Any reasonable person can see for themselves that there is, at the very least, a measure of validity to the historical narrative of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Apologetics has some value to believers in helping them refute and resist the encroachment of worldly theories and opinions. For the unbeliever, arguing these facts might get someone to change his mind about, well, facts.

Agreement about ethics and lifestyles is not sufficient to make a person a Christian.  Faith resting upon what Paul calls the "wisdom of men" will not hold up.  On the other hand, demonstrations of the Spirit are not parlor tricks or embarrassing displays.  It is internalizing, not facts, but the Truth itself that begins the process of conforming a person to the image of Christ.

What makes the gospel the good news that it is is the hearer's recognition of the fallen state of man in general and of himself in particular.  One who has never been convinced (or allowed himself to be convinced) by the Holy Spirit of "sin and righteousness and judgment" will never be a Christian.  The gospel is meaningless to the earth-bound, to the person comfortable in his own state -- whatever it may be. 

An infidel is not a bad man but quite often virtuous and even religious in so far as it is beneficial to his life in this world of flesh and blood.  He will adhere to the Christian creed if that seems practical and pleasing to those around him.  Such a person is liable to tell that union with Christ is a metaphor, that Christ in us is another way of saying that following the teachings of the New Testament.  They cannot imagine a more literal meaning. 

Those, however, who are touched by the Spirit, indwelt and filled by the Truth, have come to regard this world and all it contains, all it celebrates and covets rather lightly.  The believer has understood the necessity of the Cross and the redemption he is offered.  The old man is flawed beyond repair, and so is this world until man becomes what he is meant to be.