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What is your definition of a true Christian

C

ChristineES

Guest
I read these threads, I find them fascinating and I do learn from them.

I am interested, in what different people define as a true Christian.

My definition: A person who believes in Christ and obeys His commandments.

Going to Church every Sunday does not necessarily mean a person is a true Christian. Shouting out praises to God in public also does not mean necessarily mean someone is a true Christian.
 
Honestly I am struggling a bit with a definition. Follower of Christ sounds good, but there are two problems I have with it. First of all it does not seem to account very well for the imperfections of a man stuggling to follow Chirst, but doing it very imperfectly perhaps at first, and secondly, it seems to imply that one becomes a Christian, simply by starting to follow Chirst. Most certainly we are to follow Christ but for me I guess a Christian is one who has the lifegiving grace of Christ in his soul. He has been cleansed of his sin. At that point he is a Christian. Then he has the grace and the ability to follow Chirst. So I would have to say that a Christian is a regenerate soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
A Christian is a person who has Christ truly dwelling in them and they hear and follow his voice.
 
A Christian is who can live for God and others with all their might.
 
A person who worships God and follows the example of doing so by imitating Christ....
 
Georges said:
A person who worships God and follows the example of doing so by imitating Christ....
Click to expand...

Good one Georges!!! Don't know what could be added to that.
 
Shouting out praises to God in public also does not mean necessarily mean someone is a true Christian.
Click to expand...

This is kind of anti-christ like.

Matthew 6:5 (King James Version) And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
 
I believe only one out of 9 has come close to defining what a true believer is - :o and even that one I wouldn't split hairs over - just some terminolgy but in essence the poster was right.

This thread is an example of what I've been saying all along and that is the majority of "christianity" today does not understand justification.

You've got to get the difference between standing and state and position and practical. Quit making the practical the basis for your position.

OK - I'll go back into my cage :-D

God bless 8-)
 
::whips AV and shuts gate::

Thats right... into your cage you Independent Baptist animal!

:lol: ;-) :-D
 
My definition of a true Christian is a person who realizes how much of a sinner they are. A true Christian also understands and believes that God will judge those who have sinned and the only way for one to be saved from damnation is by not only repenting of sin but accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, who loved them so much that He gave His life to atone for their sin. Following a repentance of sin a true Christian then accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, and in doing that they are saying Jesus died for their sins and rose on the third day conquering death and enabling the gift of salvation for those who believe. A true Christian not only accepts Jesus they accept Him for who He is, fully God and fully man. They also understand that the only true Jesus is the one proclaimed in the Bible; not the counterfeit Jesus’ of Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, or of the New Age religions.
 
A true Chrisitian is...

...I don't know if there is a definition on Earth to describe it adequately enough; for being a true "Christian" is a spiritual pursuit.

Believing that Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected to the right hand side of His Father in Heaven, is the beginning of salvation. Experiencing this belief on a day to day basis and applying it to everything you do however; is how we get to know the loving nature of our Father in Heaven too.

A true Christian has to first be a sinner willing to accept the Salvation of our Lord; but secondly is prepared to grow in the Spirit to do His works as He foretold in the bible for the end to come. Often that work will call us to be humble and not to boast; so do we ever really get to witness a true Christian in all the Lord's glory?

Maybe that day will come upon His return and we will all have our answer then... :wink:
 
According to Jesus, there is one criteria before any other for entering the kingdom of heaven. And that is, you must be born again. Now if you want to define a Christian outside of this one criteria, go ahead. Because it makes no difference what words you put around the description of a Christian and it make no difference what qualities you think define a Christian. If you are not born again, it doesn’t matter.

The problem is, many in Christendom have no idea what it means to be born again but since there is such a definitive statement made by Jesus as to its necessity, perhaps the question should be “What does it mean to be born again?†I believe, then and only then would we discover what it means to be a Christian.
 
Ok - my opinion - out of twelve responses it appears to me that most have said a true Christian is based upon what people do.

My point is a true Christian is based upon what Christ did.

Most people today place emphasis on what one should do after they become a Christian. That is why folks seek to make their walk the basis of their salvation - they got it backwards. One's walk does not determine their standing before God.

Should saints walk worthy of their vocation (Eph. 4:1)? Of course - but not to become a true Christian. What sinners are doing (whether they know it ornot) is they are trying to make themselves a true christian by their walk. How do I know this? I read what they put down in writing.

I understood the question to be "What is a true Christ?" Maybe I am reading it wrong - I took it to mean what is a good Christian (noun) not what a true Christian does (verb).

Get the issue settled of what a true is before you determine what a true Christian should do.

Example - What they are is found in Eph. 1-3. What they should do is found in Eph. 4-6.

God bless
 
True Christians serve and follow Jesus with all their might.
 
True Christians hold to the Trinity and that Christ was divine. You cannot be a true Christian with a false view of God.
 
Thessalonian said:
True Christians hold to the Trinity and that Christ was divine. You cannot be a true Christian with a false view of God.
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I'm looking in scripture to see if I can find it . . . wait . . . here it is.

In the gospel according to Thessalonian. "Unless you believe in the Trinity and that Jesus is God, you cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Thess, I know God and he knows me. I am in Christ and He is in me. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me. And I will let Jesus be the judge of whether or not that is so. Because that is the authority the Father has given the Son.
 
mutzrein said:
Thessalonian said:
True Christians hold to the Trinity and that Christ was divine. You cannot be a true Christian with a false view of God.
Click to expand...

I'm looking in scripture to see if I can find it . . . wait . . . here it is.

In the gospel according to Thessalonian. "Unless you believe in the Trinity and that Jesus is God, you cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Thess, I know God and he knows me. I am in Christ and He is in me. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me. And I will let Jesus be the judge of whether or not that is so. Because that is the authority the Father has given the Son.
Click to expand...

This notion was a fourth century invention that essentially followed after the decree of Emperor Theodosius in 380. I think people need to start accepting this. God is not real hung up on our description of his ontological nature anymore than my wife would be hung up on my description of her respiratory system. He was us to know him - entirely different idea.
 
Haha! I agree completely. The interaction with a living God is the most important aspect of a christian.

I don't think you can tell one except by the outcomes of their actions. Hopefully, knowing God ourselves helps us recognize when others are seeking Him versus being false.

I know that there IS also an interaction between doctrine and a relationship with Christ. For instance, we can't seek Buddha and be a Christian. We must seek Christ. However, I don't think defining this can be reduced to a doctrinal statement of any kind. And many Buddhists may seek Christ in the light they are given...there's food for thought. :wink:
 
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