American Christianity

[Cameron143]

@Cameron143

So brother it is possible, everything is possible with God, we have to strive to be better, to listen to each other , to bear each others burdens, to have more patience, to not fight with eachother over things that don't matter, to love unconditionally YES !
actually we are to shine so much that unbelievers will see and come to us.
so we must start in the church to be loving towards one another, even when its hard, even when we don't agree, even when we feel the others have wronged us, we need to not take things personally but forgive 77 times a day if be, it starts with ourself.

i encourage you to do this to those around you my dearly beloved brother in Christ.

It's easy to identify problems. Most Christians know what is required of them. But how to perform it, they know not. Many Christians are tired of hearing how they need to again pull themselves up by their bootstraps and keep some aspect of the law. So...tell us how.

 

[Cameron143]

No we go in faith just like Abraham did when he took his son to be a sacrifice, he acted upon his faith, he didn't just sit and say ok Lord.
we do all things through God, we take a leap of faith and then we take the step, and walk obediently in his commands, this is possible when we deny ourselves and our own will, and walk in his Spirit.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Php 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.



Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them



1Ti 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

1Ti 4:7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

1Ti 4:8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

1Ti 4:9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

1Ti 4:10 For to this end we toil (work hard) and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Now we're getting somewhere. How does someone tap into the power of God?

 

[Derobo]

Again, you are doing an excellent job of relaying what should be done without showing how it is done.

Jesus and the Apostles have already shown us plenty scriptures of how we should live in holiness and in love towards one another, i don't think its up to discussion its all over the Bible. i could quote scriptures all day.
and i know what the Apostolic fathers preached, they knew the apostles they preached the Gospel and Love and Holiness.
this is true christianity my brother, and its only possible with Jesus, meaning unbelievers will not be able to live this way because they are slaves to their flesh.



1. Faith and belief in Jesus Christ. = Equal Salvation.
2. After salvation good works will be produced by those who truly are the children of God.



2Co 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.



Eph 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Eph 4:19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Eph 4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Eph 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Eph 4:23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

Eph 4:24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Eph 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Eph 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Eph 4:27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Eph 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

 

[Derobo]

It's easy to identify problems. Most Christians know what is required of them. But how to perform it, they know not. Many Christians are tired of hearing how they need to again pull themselves up by their bootstraps and keep some aspect of the law. So...tell us how.

They are tired of hearing it because they are walking in their flesh, and fulfilling the pleasures of the flesh.
living like a christian has always been about denying oneself, american christianity is a compromise, and im grieved because of it.

its not hard actually, i have been back and forth and learned what it means to live in the spirit and live in the flesh in my sanctification process

when you live in the Spirit, you put your mind on things of God Bible, Prayer, Fasting, and that's where you heart will be, and you will walk in his commandments, it won't be as hard, you have to deny yourself and walk with Jesus.

but if you walk in the flesh, ( doing what the world does ) seeking your bodily pleasures, then you will become weak spiritually since you are feeding your flesh and not the spirit, and that's when it becomes the hardest.

 

[Derobo]

@Cameron143

Anyway brother nice talking with you its really late or early over here in Scandinavia.
God bless you over there!

 

[Cameron143]

Jesus and the Apostles have already shown us plenty scriptures of how we should live in holiness and in love towards one another, i don't think its up to discussion its all over the Bible. i could quote scriptures all day.
and i know what the Apostolic fathers preached, they knew the apostles they preached the Gospel and Love and Holiness.
this is true christianity my brother, and its only possible with Jesus, meaning unbelievers will not be able to live this way because they are slaves to their flesh.



1. Faith and belief in Jesus Christ. = Equal Salvation.
2. After salvation good works will be produced by those who truly are the children of God.



2Co 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.



Eph 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Eph 4:19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Eph 4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Eph 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Eph 4:23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

Eph 4:24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Eph 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Eph 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Eph 4:27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Eph 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

All those verses simply tell the Christian what to do; not how to do it. Ephesians 1 says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us. How do we tap into that power?

 

[Cameron143]

They are tired of hearing it because they are walking in their flesh, and fulfilling the pleasures of the flesh.
living like a christian has always been about denying oneself, american christianity is a compromise, and im grieved because of it.

its not hard actually, i have been back and forth and learned what it means to live in the spirit and live in the flesh in my sanctification process

when you live in the Spirit, you put your mind on things of God Bible, Prayer, Fasting, and that's where you heart will be, and you will walk in his commandments, it won't be as hard, you have to deny yourself and walk with Jesus.

but if you walk in the flesh, ( doing what the world does ) seeking your bodily pleasures, then you will become weak spiritually since you are feeding your flesh and not the spirit, and that's when it becomes the hardest.

No, they are tired of hearing it because people are telling them what they ought to do without teaching them how it is possible to live in the power of the risen Christ.

 

[Lifted_by_the_word]

Gods love to us is different from what im talking about, his love is out of this world and its perfect,

what im saying is our love one towards another in Christ and even other people that are not believers, i don't see this, very rarely indeed, God hates those who sow discord among brothers and sisters, yet the american church is as divided as it gets, people fight over denominations and doctrines and have no love, this grieves me so much, it was never Jesus will to be like this, The Bible even says we are all supposed to be in complete unity of Faith.

His Love is different because it is a spiritual love.God is love,and he is spirit.So that love can only come through the Holy Spirit.
The people who don't have that forgiveness in them toward those who wronged them have never felt that love because if they did,they would have overcome that unforgiveness in their heart.
A lot of them will even deceive themselves into believing that they have forgave, but that forgiveness didn't come from the heart.It's only in the mind where that forgiveness came from.And it didn't go down from the mind to the heart.
That is the mercy seat.Our hearts are the offering unto the Lord.
God's love overcomes all things that are not righteous and pure.

1 john 4:8
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

John 4:24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

[Cameron143]

@Cameron143

Anyway brother nice talking with you its really late or early over here in Scandinavia.
God bless you over there!

Grace and peace.
And I'm not picking on you. If you believe you have the gift of exhortation, by all means, exercise it. But if you do not also teach others how to perform what you exhort them to, you will only frustrate many who are earnestly trying to live lives pleasing to God.

 

[wattie]

There were no physical churches back then, and Ephesisans 4:11:16 is talking about the body of Christ / the believers which WERE the church and still is, its not a church building, they went from house to house and had fellowship, just like we can have fellowship here online now.

let me quote you the scripture.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.


So as it says in verse 16, the body is joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply, we are each a body part and we each have a gift and responsibility to make an increase of the body of Christ, if we say we are believers, which is why we have to be in unity, a body cannot function if the bodyparts do not agree with each other, we have to do this by listening to those elders in verse 11 who are given the gift of God to be Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, instead of lone wolfing and thinking we can interpret the bible as we want and cherry pick as we want and then share our interpretation.

but i really feel the issue is we are in the end days and that's why so many are cold and don't want to pick up the cross dying to oneself which means loving others as he did among other things.

all i want is to encourage the true believers to walk in love, denying yourself, put others before you in meekness and show the true light of Jesus through your actions, this way there are hope that other people will get saved or come back into the faith, pride is the biggest problem.

writing this i feel so grieved and sad, but i will not give in to the devil, i want to show the light wherever i go, i want to put God first and do good to others, putting them before myself, doing this as i would do to Jesus, because if i reject people and have no love then i have no love for Jesus because he defined love and commanded these things and indirectly i would show no love for him by showing no love for people.

I pray everyone in here will feel encouraged to be better and to walk obediently with Jesus, shining his light through love, the love that he defined and through spreading his good news.

God bless you.

Derobo

The churches were not physical buildings..but local assemblies of saved, baptised believers..covenanted together to carry out the great commission and commandment

That'd what the church at Antioch, Ephesus, Phillipi.. etc were.

 

[Aussie52]

No, they are tired of hearing it because people are telling them what they ought to do without teaching them how it is possible to live in the power of the risen Christ.

We tap into God's indwelling power by faith.

 

[Lifted_by_the_word]

I appreciate that you are exhorting believers to holiness, but you are exhorting them basically to try the best they can in their own strength. What they need is to learn to walk in Jesus' strength by walking in the Spirit. Otherwise, it will end up being an exercise in futility. If men could please God and obey apart from Christ, we have no need of the Holy Spirit.

I been thinking idols and worship recently.An idol can be anything like work,videos games,or even family without God.People will worship those things over God,and so it is if you have God in your life.
Having your mind and heart for God is just like worship.like in the OT when the Israelites made an offering on the alter,that is a form of worship.
The same goes for our bodies with the Holy Spirit/heart as an offering.

 

[Nehemiah6]

,,,yet the American church is as divided as it gets, people fight over denominations and doctrines and have no love,

Is it only the American Church? What about other countries? Are they showing that kind of love there?

But you are right. There needs to be more Christian love among God's people. Not to say that there is absolutely none (according to you). There are many Christian folk who do show Christian love in action. So are you American, or some other nationality?

 

[Subhumanoidal]

I don't know what BDF means my friend im sorry.

- well, i have faith that at least the people who love God, will wake up a bit, we have to remind each other of the things which Jesus commanded us, if we just turn silent then we are part of the problem.

Bible Discission Forum. The forum you're currently posting in.
Oh. And it is an international site, so all that I said above goes beyond America.

😂
Well intentioned but many have tried to change things in here and no one has had the least success. That's been at least a decade.
I've seen many new users quit the site over the years for no other reason than the BDF. Sometimes after one day.
I believe it's allowed to continue because it's the most active section of the forums.

 

[Inquisitor]

Gods love to us is different from what im talking about, his love is out of this world and its perfect,

what im saying is our love one towards another in Christ and even other people that are not believers, i don't see this, very rarely indeed, God hates those who sow discord among brothers and sisters, yet the american church is as divided as it gets, people fight over denominations and doctrines and have no love, this grieves me so much, it was never Jesus will to be like this, The Bible even says we are all supposed to be in complete unity of Faith.

Your on a winner here.

1 Timothy 1:5
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.

Love is the ultimate gift of the Holy Spirit.

God is love!

You can identify a real Christian by the love they have for others.

John 13:35
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

 

[Inquisitor]

Hey, i don't want to step on anyones toes, but im tired of american christianity.
you might ask me why?
well, because i see a lot of people saying they are christians, and even preach on the street, yet they lack the most fundamental thing of christianity, which is charity/love.
the bible is clear about what love is and i just wanna remind you brothers and sister what love is biblically:


1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.


And here Paul explains that even with faith he is nothing without love :

1 Corinthians 13:2
2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.


So the conclusion is that love is a fundamental part of being a christian, its a very different love than the worldly love, its a love that can only be manifested when someone is fully walking with the Lord, because it takes so much self denying.


Jesus even said, there are no greater commandment than to love God and to love your neighbour like yourself, because no one hates oneself, so the commandment is to love your neighbour or anyone out in the world, like you love yourself, you know how hard that is? but it is indeed possible when your rooted in God, in his word with prayers and self denying.

Mark 12:30-31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.


GOD BLESS EVERYONE OUT THERE. <3

Jesus gave us a new commandment.

John 13:34
I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you,
that you also love one another.

Love as Jesus loves and you can only do that by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are not under the law trying to love others as we love ourselves.

Love is mentioned 233 times in the New Testament.

 

[Cameron143]

We tap into God's indwelling power by faith.

I appreciate the answer, but again, this is a platitude. Yes, it is correct, but again, it is what to do.
We access the power of God as we are connected to Him...John 15. It is in the very real presence of God that we are changed from glory to glory. Hence, we are given spiritual disciplines.
Matt 6...we pray. But not simply pray. We enter into our closet. Why? Because our Father is in secret. He is truly there. And we meet with Him there and are changed.
Matthew 18...we fellowship. Why? Where 2 or more are gathered in His name, there shall He be. Again, entrance into the very real presence of the God who is really there, and we are changed.
The same is true of Bible study, meditation, fasting, and other spiritual exercises. While the exercises themselves have some value, their real value is that they place us in the very real presence of God. And as we spend time with Him, we are changed by Him, and made more and more in the image of Christ. But it is possible to do all these exercises, and not enter the presence of God. And connecting with God is the only way to be empowered to live the life the Christian is called to. And many are earnestly trying and frustrated because people tell them WHAT to do without teaching them HOW to do.

 

[Derobo]

Is it only the American Church? What about other countries? Are they showing that kind of love there?

But you are right. There needs to be more Christian love among God's people. Not to say that there is absolutely none (according to you). There are many Christian folk who do show Christian love in action. So are you American, or some other nationality?

Did i say there are absolutely none? if i did then im sorry, it wasn't my intention, of course there are true christians out there, but its getting bad and i feel like we are in the end times.

the reason why im mentioning america is because its the last standing western nation where you can at least find christianity and true believers, there other western nations have fallen away almost completely, including the country im living in (Denmark) i don't even count them in.

and i love the united states and its people, many good preachers come from there and are on fire for God!!

 

[Derobo]

Jesus gave us a new commandment.

John 13:34
I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you,
that you also love one another.

Love as Jesus loves and you can only do that by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are not under the law trying to love others as we love ourselves.

Love is mentioned 233 times in the New Testament.

I don't see what's wrong with what i said? i agree with that, we are to love others as he loved us, that's exactly what i said above in the comments that if we feed the spirit with the things of God then we can shine to others, and that's what isn't present in majority of the churches, its not the Love of Jesus.

 

[Derobo]

No, they are tired of hearing it because people are telling them what they ought to do without teaching them how it is possible to live in the power of the risen Christ.

I told you many times my friend how to do it but you don't see it for some reason.

*when you live in the Spirit, you put your mind on things of God Bible, Prayer, Fasting, and that's where you heart will be*
if you live in the spirit you will automatically do as God commands, because he is in you and you in the things of God.

im gonna let this discussion stop because im saying things you don't understand, so maybe its best not to go further.