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What makes you a Christian is following Christ's instructions to His disciples to "love God and each other" daily and repent when we don't, period! Everything else is human vanity and hubris gone wild.
Well I'll tell you the truth of the matter, Mystic PHD, and that is that I've come to really dislike the term, "Christian" because it has been used by so many people who spoke such horrible things about God. I prefer the term, "believer". If anyone asks me about my faith, I tell them I believe in God and Jesus Christ his son.
When I was a little kid (age five or so) I can remember times talking to my grandmother about God and I always said something like..."God and Jesus love me." So for no particular reason that I can pin point, I never had a trinity problem or thinking of the Father and Son as two distinct entities. I do not take any dogmatic stance on the trinity. If people want to believe in a Holy Trinity or not, what does that matter to me other than the fact that those who insist on one or the other might reject me from their midst if I do not choose a stance. Getting off topic now...
What makes you a Christian is following Christ's instructions to His disciples to "love God and each other" daily and repent when we don't, period! Everything else is human vanity and hubris gone wild.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heart_Song
Well I'll tell you the truth of the matter, Mystic PHD, and that is that I've come to really dislike the term, "Christian" because it has been used by so many people who spoke such horrible things about God. I prefer the term, "believer". If anyone asks me about my faith, I tell them I believe in God and Jesus Christ his son.
When I was a little kid (age five or so) I can remember times talking to my grandmother about God and I always said something like..."God and Jesus love me." So for no particular reason that I can pin point, I never had a trinity problem or thinking of the Father and Son as two distinct entities. I do not take any dogmatic stance on the trinity. If people want to believe in a Holy Trinity or not, what does that matter to me other than the fact that those who insist on one or the other might reject me from their midst if I do not choose a stance. Getting off topic now...
I have been contemplating that very issue for a while now, Heartsong. The mainstream Christians (who I call Bibleians) so egregiously and tenaciously denigrate the term with their judgmentalism, hatred and belief in a wrathful God that Christ's "love of God and each other" is unrecognizable. It is clear from the posts in the forum that the general impression of Christians is very negative . . . NOT positive as it should be. That makes identification with Christianity problematic for those of us who believe God IS agape love and who promote Christ's Gospel of love. It is very troubling to be sure, Heartsong. My soul aches from the ubiquity of it.
Christ means “anointed one” but neither he nor any of his followers commanded us to be known as such. In 1 Pet. 4:16, Peter is saying if you to suffer and people label you with the term "Christian" in association with this suffering, then suffer the derision gracefully. What is clear is that the term "Christian" is used by non-disciples in their persecutions against the disciples. Hardly an endorsement to the followers of Jesus to throw away the term he used for them (disciple) in favor of a new term created by the world and referenced by Peter.
While I myself do not personally identify myself as Christian it's a shame so many Christians make it into a word of reproach by proudly telling ones they are but live contrary to the bible and even in some cases twisting bible scriptures to support their lifestyle choices. Then you have Christian sects that cause further divisions by saying "only our sect of Christianity will be saved" which understandably turns many stumbled Christians and non Christians into agnostic or even atheist thinking. However as was mentioned previously the bible mentioned there would be ones who would weed themselves in, all we can do is try our best to follow Jesus example so as to not cause reproach, apply Gods word the bible to our lives so we can continually make sure we obey his clear commands, treat others as Jesus showed and not be influenced by ones who want to come across as Christians but whose attitude and actions say otherwise.
In the big picture ones be should not made to feel inferior in identifying themselves as a Christian. As a bible student and disciple it was important for me to know the history of the word and its origin. If others want to identify me as a Christian I don't go out of my way to make it a big deal either. If I am to suffer for my beliefs I gladly suffer with other "Christians" and hopefully we can support each other through those times that is sure to come in the future, if not already.
Last edited by MichaelDante; 09-15-2014 at 12:32 PM..
Believing all the Bible, which is the Word of God, does not make you a Christian.
James 2:19 says,
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Being a Christian means you are a follower of Christ and His teachings. As Christ was following His Father, God, so too should a Christian be a follower and child of the Most High God of Abraham.
There are moderators on this forum that will infract you for telling someone they aren't a Christian, regardless of the beliefs they proclaim. I wonder if a voracious meat-eater declared themselves a vegan, if an infraction would ensue when the vegans refuted their claim.
What does this mean? It means that the label of 'Christian' has completely lost any truth or meaning.
Believing all the Bible, which is the Word of God, does not make you a Christian.
James 2:19 says,
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Being a Christian means you are a follower of Christ and His teachings. As Christ was following His Father, God, so too should a Christian be a follower and child of the Most High God of Abraham.
There are moderators on this forum that will infract you for telling someone they aren't a Christian, regardless of the beliefs they proclaim. I wonder if a voracious meat-eater declared themselves a vegan, if an infraction would ensue when the vegans refuted their claim.
What does this mean? It means that the label of 'Christian' has completely lost any truth or meaning.
I had someone tell me the same that all that was required was "believing". I pointed out the scripture you mentioned as well as James 2:14-26 and they told me I was interpreting it wrong. Not sure how much more clearer you can get. They believed once saved always saved and wouldn't hear anymore which I'm not sure how people can come to that conclusion there is no work involved in being a follower except believing (which even the demons do at the least) and being a nice person, which Jesus showed was only part of our worship as well as study, application, teaching, giving, etc.
I had someone tell me the same that all that was required was "believing". I pointed out the scripture you mentioned as well as James 2:14-26 and they told me I was interpreting it wrong. Not sure how much more clearer you can get. They believed once saved always saved and wouldn't hear anymore which I'm not sure how people can come to that conclusion there is no work involved in being a follower except believing (which even the demons do at the least) and being a nice person, which Jesus showed was only part of our worship as well as study, application, teaching, giving, etc.
I have found that the OSAS crowd and the 'backsliding' crowd believe in the same conlusion, they just take different paths. Both start with someone who claims to be a believer and therefore saved and end with that person not being a believer, therfore condemned. The OSAS crowd simply claims that the individual was never genuinely saved in the first place and is therefore condemned. The backsliding crowd believes they were genuinely saved, but they departed the 'narrow path' and are now condemned. Either way, it is simply six of one and a half dozen of the other.
Believing all the Bible, which is the Word of God, does not make you a Christian.
James 2:19 says,
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Being a Christian means you are a follower of Christ and His teachings. As Christ was following His Father, God, so too should a Christian be a follower and child of the Most High God of Abraham.
There are moderators on this forum that will infract you for telling someone they aren't a Christian, regardless of the beliefs they proclaim. I wonder if a voracious meat-eater declared themselves a vegan, if an infraction would ensue when the vegans refuted their claim.
What does this mean? It means that the label of 'Christian' has completely lost any truth or meaning.
Following the teachings of Christ is not predicate on how you personally interpret them, nor that of a label.
To follow the true and living Spirit, one must walk in love towards all of humanity; not just those who believe.
Following the teachings of Christ is not predicate on how you personally interpret them, nor that of a label.
To follow the true and living Spirit, one must walk in love towards all of humanity; not just those who believe.
Believing all the Bible, which is the Word of God, does not make you a Christian.
James 2:19 says,
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Being a Christian means you are a follower of Christ and His teachings. As Christ was following His Father, God, so too should a Christian be a follower and child of the Most High God of Abraham.
There are moderators on this forum that will infract you for telling someone they aren't a Christian, regardless of the beliefs they proclaim. I wonder if a voracious meat-eater declared themselves a vegan, if an infraction would ensue when the vegans refuted their claim.
What does this mean? It means that the label of 'Christian' has completely lost any truth or meaning.
I disagree, insofar that a label only really has any truth or meaning to the person that uses it. I can spend a day looking at ants climbing an anthill and call myself an 'entomologist', but giving myself that title doesn't confer any kind of scientific credentials.
Yes, there are mods that will issue infractions, as you said -- but it's mostly because 'yes-I-am, no-you're-not' inevitably degenerates into name-calling and childish disputes about tiny and mostly-inconsequential points of doctrine.
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