What is a Christian?

[MahogonySnail]

In scripture, sanctification which means ceremonial cleansing/purifcation, occurs when one puts their faith in Christ, and is based solely upon Christ's merits not our own. So your claims that it is a life long process is really a works-based doctrine and not what the bible teaches. You are either 100% sanctified the moment you trust in Christ, or 0 % sanctified. There's no such thing as being 30% sanctified by the time you are 40, and 70% sanctified by the time you are 80, and 80% sanctified by the time you die. You need 100% sanctification to get into heaven.

That is where you are wrong when you support evil, then that shows where you stand with God, as Davis said......

That is not the issue. The issue is YOUR problem of judging strangers based upon petty and false and exaggerated presumptions.

 

[cookie39]

I agree santification is a life long process, and I am also in total agreement with the rest of your post.

yes that is true by the Word of God;
Romans 12:2...And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

and this one God use to calm me down while the Holy Spirit convictions made me feel like I wanted to die before I sinned again. it is Roman 7:14-25...For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. and as Jesus said we can not do it ourselves that is on reson why we have the Holy Spirit....

 

[MahogonySnail]

1 Corinthians 6:11
"Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

We mustn't lose sight of our positional sanctification "in Christ", that leads to works-based living. Is practical obedience a process? Well no, we should be committed to being obedient and sanctified from the word go, as soon as we become a christian. If we are still yet to be sanctified in the future, we aren't really a christian now in the present, yet.

This false idea that Jesus Christ did enough to save you and justify you, but not enough to sanctify you right now this very moment, should be thrown out the window.

 

[cookie39]

A MESSAGE FROM JESUS TO ALL WHO WANT TO BELIEVE AND THOSE WHO ALREADY BELIEV;
JOHN 15...I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. 26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning..

 

[cookie39]

1 Corinthians 6:11
"Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

We mustn't lose sight of our positional sanctification "in Christ", that leads to works-based living. Is practical obedience a process? Well no, we should be committed to being obedient and sanctified from the word go, as soon as we become a christian. If we are still yet to be sanctified in the future, we aren't really a christian now in the present, yet.

This false idea that Jesus Christ did enough to save you and justify you, but not enough to sanctify you right now this very moment, should be thrown out the window.

in the Greek definition of the word santify is; hagiazo; to be set apart, set aside, make holy, it can mean active dedication and service to God; or the act of regaurding or honouring as holy, hallowed; holy.
now in the Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordiance of the Bble, has Hebrew and Greek dictonary for precise word studies, abd when we use words in scripture we must know that the word can have a different meaning in different scriptures. and when God speaks of sanctification through faith. is the setting aside for himself . as God is a sanctified God, he is set apart from all other, so-called-gods. and we are set spart to serve the only true and living God. we are set apart as a holy generation, a royal priest hood, a perciular people. set aside for service to be servents in the kngdom of God. set aside to be meet for the master's uses.

 

[concernedguy]

What is a Christian? Is it simply a person who calls himself a Christian, or do you first have to accept responsibility, and if so, what is the responsibility you have to accept?

A Christian is someone who realizes their sinful nature, repents and ask Christ to forgive them. Then
starts living a Christ-like life and following God's Word and Laws as God commanded while building a
personal relationship with Christ.

Many repent. Many accept Christ as their Saviour but many never follow Christ, His teachings or
build a personal relationship with Him.

Many think Christianity is a religion. It is not. Christianity only has this name due to man's need to
define and categorize everything he knows about. In doing so, man imposed his limited knowledge
of God and God's Word to force God and God's Word into one of his little boxes of definition so man
could feel as though he controls everything.

Christianity is a personal relationship with the Living God. It is not man's attempt to know God. It is
God's attempt to restore man's relationship with Him. God reached out to man because God wanted to
have a relationship with man - his creation - like He did when creation first started. But man was and is
stubborn and prideful and still standing between God's blessings and and still has a need for control over
a universe that God has proved repeatedly that only He controls.

There were many in Jesus day that claimed to be religious. They did all the right things but Jesus said,
"You do all the right things but your hearts are far from me". Jesus said this because being a Christian
is about a personal relationship with the Living God and having a heart for Him that He knows. It's
about pushing your self, your goals, your dreams, your aspirations aside and seeking God's plan for you,
God's dreams for you, God's goals for you and God's inspirations for you to attain to.

Knowing God is not about following the rules in the Bible. You can follow those rules till the day you die
and you will still go to hell. Knowing God is about knowing the Person Of God. By knowing the Person of
God, you learn Who He Is and develop a love for Him. Out of this love for Him, you read His Word and
follow His Laws, precepts and concepts because you love Him as God, not because He is God.

God's Word says, "If you love me, you will keep My Commandments". It does not say if you keep My
Commandments, you will learn to love Me. Just as those feelings of fondness that you feel for a new
relationship cause you to focus on the person of your attention and devote your time to learning all
you can about them, so should your relationship with God be.
God seeks a relationship with each person that is based on love. If you love something, you seek it.
If you love someone, you seek them. If you love someone, you seek to spend time with them. If you
love someone, you seek ways to show them how much you care. It is this same type of love of God that
God seeks in each of His Children and He looks forward to the time you spend with Him as you read His
Word, learn about Him and implement His Commands, precepts and concepts in your life.

Many Christians do not read God's Word very often and some not at all. The Bible is the Bible but it
is also The Living Word of God because God's Word and not just His Word, it is Him also. God said, "In
the beginning was The Word and The Word was God".

By reading God's Word, we are spending time with God and learning Who He Is. After reading God's
Word, we should take a few minutes to allow God to speak to us. Reading God's Word is communication
between us and God. Contemplating on God's Word after studying it while sitting quietly and clearing
our mind of the daily clutter that fills our minds while asking God to send His Holy Spirit to minister
to us is God speaking to us.

God does speak but not usually in a voice. It is more of a burden He lays on your heart to do something
or a thought that seems to dominate your thoughts most of the time. As you learn more about God and
spend time with Him, you start to understand how He does things just as you see a pattern of how a
friend you currently have does things. We all have a personality that can be used as a guide by others
to predict how we will most likely respond in a certain situation. God is no different but there is one
exception. God tells us Who He Is and what He wants in writing.

To know how your friend will respond in a certain situation, you must spend time getting to know them,
how they perceive things and their value system. God is no different. Remember, we were created in
His likeness. We have a need for others in our life because we were never meant to be alone just as
God was never meant to be alone without man. It is the loneliness which God felt that was left once the
relationship between God and man was severed that caused God to reach out to man and save all He
could that would allow Him to save them.

God's main interest in any one of us is a personal relationship with Him just like Adam and Eve had
thousands of years ago. Following His Word is a demonstration of our heart-felt love for Him, not a
demonstration that we can follow some heartless, cold rules. If following rules were the case, there
was no need for Jesus to die to forgive our sins since we already had the Ten Commandments to follow.

 

[pickles]

Well said concerned guy.
God bless, pickles

 

[MahogonySnail]

in the Greek definition of the word santify is; hagiazo; to be set apart, set aside, make holy, it can mean active dedication and service to God; or the act of regaurding or honouring as holy, hallowed; holy.
now in the Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordiance of the Bble, has Hebrew and Greek dictonary for precise word studies, abd when we use words in scripture we must know that the word can have a different meaning in different scriptures. and when God speaks of sanctification through faith. is the setting aside for himself . as God is a sanctified God, he is set apart from all other, so-called-gods. and we are set spart to serve the only true and living God. we are set apart as a holy generation, a royal priest hood, a perciular people. set aside for service to be servents in the kngdom of God. set aside to be meet for the master's uses.

Yes, there is different uses of the word. But in all uses of the word, whether our position in Christ, or our day to day obedience, it's not a process, it's a state of being. You are either on God's side, or you are not. There is no "in between" where tomorrow you will be "more sanctified" than you were today. You're either holy or unholy, set apart or not set apart, living for God or not living for God, a Christian or not a Christian, saved or unsaved, set aside or not set aside. There's no such thing as being more set aside in 10 years time than you are now. There's no such thing as being more of a child of God today than you were yesterday, you either are or you are not. That's why I don't see it as a process, but as a state of being between two possibilities.

 

[loveschild]

You have to believe that Jesus is Lord. That he died on the cross for you. In 3 days he came back to life. Christian means Christ like. You are to try and be like Christ. Mainly it means to love.

 

[Elijah23]

Although it is true no man is good, no, not one.

I think this is a good point. Perhaps you were referring to this Scripture:

[17] And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
[18] And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Matthew 10:17-18 RSV

 

[wattie]

on a side note- Jesus saying 'why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."

He isn't saying- I am not good.. and I am not God...

He is saying- I am good.. I am perfect.. I am God.. and you do not know what you are saying by calling me 'good'

 

[Indra]

What is a Christian? Is it simply a person who calls himself a Christian, or do you first have to accept responsibility, and if so, what is the responsibility you have to accept?

The World defines a christian of a man who attends church and reads the Bible. The Word defines a christian for one who has given the ears to hear, one who repented from all sins and accepted that Jesus is Lord and their life no longer belongs to them but to Him. The Word defines a christian to be born again and thus gained a new spirit given through baptism of the Holy Spirit, and spreading the Gospel, healing the weak and casting out demons. For a christian is a follower of Christ and a disciple. A job description one shouldn't take lightly.

 

[Elijah23]

He is but we judge BY HIS Word.
I see you completely looked over the begging of that verse. the who can know it does not mean no one knows it. Jeremiah makes it perfectly clear at how our hearts are nothing but evil.
and the fruits not an accurate reading? really have you understood the Gospel at all? where they came from? it does not matter. for all are the same. If they are truly Christian it does not matter where they came from you can see it by Their Fruit.
let me ask you if you understand the Gospel.
Why did Jesus die maddog?

I don’t think Jesus made any trivial statements. If he said we would know people by their fruits, I imagine he meant it. I’ll copy a relevant Scripture at the end of this.

I suppose one might legitimately ask, “What is a good fruit?”

[16] You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?
[17] So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit.
[18] A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
[19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
[20] Thus you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:16-20 RSV

 

[DinoDillinger]

I think this is a good point. Perhaps you were referring to this Scripture:

[17] And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
[18] And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Matthew 10:17-18 RSV

It's also in Isaiah I believe, and quoted in the NT at some point.