What Is A Christian?

[TheGoldenThread]

There are many denominations who all believe in the same person... Jesus. This shouldn't be so!

Let us try and come together to find a united approach on what a Christian means, so we can try and put together the body of Christ. The first century Christians are a good example of what followers of Jesus looked like.

Acts 2:44-47,"
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;


45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.


46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Where is this singleness of heart that the first Christians experienced? Let's strive to bring that back to what we call Christianity today.

What do you believe is a Christian? Please give a thoughtful and prayerful answer. Leave the debates out of this. Let's work towards unity trying to set aside our differences and come to Christ with a broken and contrite heart.

In peace

 

[dianegcook]

There are many denominations who all believe in the same person... Jesus. This shouldn't be so!

Let us try and come together to find a united approach on what a Christian means, so we can try and put together the body of Christ. The first century Christians are a good example of what followers of Jesus looked like.

Acts 2:44-47,"
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;


45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.


46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Where is this singleness of heart that the first Christians experienced? Let's strive to bring that back to what we call Christianity today.

What do you believe is a Christian? Please give a thoughtful and prayerful answer. Leave the debates out of this. Let's work towards unity trying to set aside our differences and come to Christ with a broken and contrite heart.

In peace

A believer in Christ
Christ man

 

[Tessa]

A Christian, in my belief, is a person who has accepted The Lord as their saviour. They have openly declared that Jesus Christ is The Son of God, that He was born of the virgin Mary, He suffered and died for our sins, and rose from the dead, He is now sitting next to God the Father, and through Him we can accept forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life, which is given by grace through faith.

A Christian loves God with all their heart, mind and strength, and loves their neighbour as themselves. They follow in the footsteps of Jesus and because of their love for Him they try to be as like Him as possible. He is the truth, the way and the life.

The apostles were told to love each other as Jesus had loved them. They met, ate and prayed together, as we should do also.

A Christian shares both spiritually and possessions. What a Christian is would be a post pages long.

They welcome others into their homes and look after them.

Leaving the rest to others to post. Nice thread TheGoldenThread

 

[GodsGrace]

This is a Christian:


Nicene Creed (325 AD)

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

[TheGoldenThread]

A believer in Christ
Christ man

How does one believe in Christ according to scripture?

In peace

 

[dianegcook]

How does one believe in Christ according to scripture?

In peace

Through the HOLY Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Eph.6:17

John 6:44
No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.

 

[Who Me]

Where is this singleness of heart that the first Christians experienced? Let's strive to bring that back to what we call Christianity today.

Why do you believe this is not present today among Christians?

Do we have to all wear the same style of cloths or worship in the same way, sing the same songs etc etc

Look at creation, how lavish God is in the range of plants, flowers, animals. birds, insects etc
Do you think variety in Christian churches, ways of worshipping and even theology offends him?

 

[dianegcook]

Why do you believe this is not present today among Christians?

Do we have to all wear the same style of cloths or worship in the same way, sing the same songs etc etc

Look at creation, how lavish God is in the range of plants, flowers, animals. birds, insects etc
Do you think variety in Christian churches, ways of worshipping and even theology offends him?

Yes, we all have different gifts.
There are several parts to a body.

Some still on milk, some not....

 

[for_his_glory]

A Christian has no religion as in denomination or non-denomination, but a disciple of Christ who picks up their cross to follow in the footsteps of Christ being obedient to God's commands and statures.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

 

[Christ_empowered]

I think Christians should eventually become noticeably different from the surrounding world..."..in the world, but not of it..." and at some point, there should be signs of genuine change from before Jesus to in Christ....

and what kinda scares me, as a Christian, is that so many people in the world say that Christians are no different from those in the world, which I'm thinking might be more a scathing indictment of the modern church than Christians as a whole.

 

[for_his_glory]

I think Christians should eventually become noticeably different from the surrounding world..."..in the world, but not of it..." and at some point, there should be signs of genuine change from before Jesus to in Christ....

and what kinda scares me, as a Christian, is that so many people in the world say that Christians are no different from those in the world, which I'm thinking might be more a scathing indictment of the modern church than Christians as a whole.

This is what separates us from the world that the world needs to see in us.

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

[ezra]

Christians
Χριστιανούς (Christianous)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's Greek 5546: A Christian. From Christos; a Christian, i.e. Follower of Christ. / a new creation

 

[Truthfrees]

awesome thread

 

[Senior]

Believe it or not ... the NT teaches us:
True saving faith = deep enduring heart belief
+ deep enduring trust + enduring obedience

There is no one word (in any language) which
encompasses everything that this word "believe" means.

Some Greek words can up to 40 different meanings,
depending on the context.

Some Greek words have a slightly different meaning
in the secular world than in the New Testament.

Don't take my word for it ... you need to research it yourself.

 

[for_his_glory]

Believe it or not ... the NT teaches us:
True saving faith = deep enduring heart belief
+ deep enduring trust + enduring obedience

There is no one word (in any language) which
encompasses everything that this word "believe" means.

Can you give us the scriptures for this as believeing alone does not make one a child of God as it takes faith, which is Christ through God's grace and faith without works is dead.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

 

[Senior]

Can you give us the scriptures for this as believeing alone does not make one a child of God as it takes faith, which is Christ through God's grace and faith without works is dead.

Please ... haven't you noticed the dozens of warnings in the NT
about losing salvation, gaining eternal death, not being allowed
into the Kingdom of God and Christ, being blotted out of the
Book of Life, not being able to enter into the New Jerusalem, etc.?

All of these verses are the reason why Ephesians 2:8-9 is
referring to the grace given allowing you to become a BAC.
But, this grace is NOT promised to continue until you die!
YOU have a part to play in your salvation.
All of these verses are supposed to teach you this fact.

 

[Truthfrees]

Believe it or not ... the NT teaches us:
True saving faith = deep enduring heart belief
+ deep enduring trust + enduring obedience

There is no one word (in any language) which
encompasses everything that this word "believe" means.

Some Greek words can up to 40 different meanings,
depending on the context.

Some Greek words have a slightly different meaning
in the secular world than in the New Testament.

Don't take my word for it ... you need to research it yourself.

Can you give us the scriptures for this as believing alone does not make one a child of God as it takes faith, which is Christ through God's grace and faith without works is dead.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

i think i get what he is meaning about true saving faith = deep enduring heart belief trust obedience -

 

[Truthfrees]

Please ... haven't you noticed the dozens of warnings in the NT
about losing salvation, gaining eternal death, not being allowed
into the Kingdom of God and Christ, being blotted out of the
Book of Life, not being able to enter into the New Jerusalem, etc.?

All of these verses are the reason why Ephesians 2:8-9 is
referring to the grace given allowing you to become a BAC.
But, this grace is NOT promised to continue until you die!
YOU have a part to play in your salvation.
All of these verses are supposed to teach you this fact.

i see it differently - i see that when one is truly born again he has deep enduring faith trust obedience -

 

[Who Me]

come together to find a united approach on what a Christian means, so we can try and put together the body of Christ.

Well you've got an answer that shows just how diverse Christians are.
However for all our differences we are all part of the same body of Chrisrt, we don't need a single visible organisation.

 

[Edward]

i think i get what he is meaning about true saving faith = deep enduring heart belief trust obedience

You are exactly right Brother. We have to act in faith. This really is not hard at all and everyone acts in faith every day every moment of every day whether they realize it or not. Acting in faith is a decision. We do it automatically. Do I turn left or right? I have faith (know) that a right turn will take me where I'm going. So I make the choice to put my faith into a right turn. Same thing.

Acting in faith towards our Lord is having faith in the unseen and not being afraid to act on it. Scripture tells us to look to the unseen. Because there is the Lord. He's playing Hide and Seek but He is very real and He responds to ALL acts of faith. One can not receive it until the make the choice to believe it and look to it...look to Him, Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith.

He has never let me down when I cried out to Him to help in faith. How many testimonies would you like to hear?!, lol!