WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

Part three

Now after studying the meaning of some words and phrases according to Gods word, which kind of Christian do you see yourself as.

Do you call yourself Christian simply because you go to a church that teaches just a little from the Bible and mentions Christ occasionally.

Do you consider yourself Christian just because you are allowed to sing in the choir or on the praise team or perhaps tend children in a controlled setting.

Do you call yourself Christian just because you stand behind a pulpit on Sunday ?

Hell holds many people just like that.

Or are you a true born-again Christian according to Gods Word ?

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?

Are you on fire for Jesus, seven days of the week, or is He someone you only think about whenever convenient or on Sundays only ?

Is Jesus the center of your thoughts, or is the world and your own self interests the center of your life ?

Most people believe that they are a true Christian not because of Gods Word, but because of their own distorted, unbiblical beliefs.

Can you be truthful with yourself on this important subject ?

Most people think they are saved, yet the Bible tells us that only a few will enter into heaven.

Which are you according to Gods Word?

IT IS GODS WORD AND NOT YOUR EMOTIONS THAT WILL JUDGE YOU AT THE JUDGMENT

John 12:48 “He that rejected Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

YOU ABSOLUTELY, UNCONDITIONALLY MUST BE BORN-AGAIN ACCORDING TO GODS WORD, OR…….. YOU WILL PERISH

John 3:3 “ Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.

1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.”

1 John 3:8-10 “He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remained in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

A true Christian is not one that without merit calls himself a Christian or allows others to do so.

A true Christian is one that has been born -again according to the Word of God, which shall judge him. A true Christians actions should bear witness that he has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, not according to what people think, but according to the Word of God.

Question----What type of Christian are you?

Examine yourself by Gods Word to see.

Are you a true Christian, a disciple of Gods Word, a saint in the eyes of God through faith in Jesus Christ, or are you only a nominal Christian?

May I close this teaching with these words regarding the things that you speak?

Is your conversation as a Christians ought to be?

Colossians: 4-6 “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

OR IS YOUR CONVERSATION CENTERED ON THINGS OF THE WORLD?

John 3:31 “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth.”

A worldly, carnal person, their conversation is not focused on Jesus------but on the world.

The carnal worldly person has their own conversation

Ephesians 2:3 “In the lust (of their ) flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and (are) by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

1John 4:5 “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

Philippians 3:19-20 “(Their) End is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly conversations.”

WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER?

To be heard of by the world or heard of by the God of heaven?

Malachi 3: 16-17 “ Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” vs. 18 “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth GOD and him that serveth him not.”

It cannot be stated in any simpler matter, the words of our mouth just may cause GOD to come near and listen!

If you desire to become a true born-again Christian, we invite you to contact us.

It doesn’t matter where you are in thirty eight nations or in any state in the U.S. of A. someone will contact you if that is your desire.

There is no time to waste.

James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeared, for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

Part two of three parts

In part one we laid out some words and phrases, that when understood by scripture will shed revealing light upon what is a Christian, disciple, or saint as defined by the Word of God.

We will continue the study by examining some scripture that will define the words and phrases.

IN ORDER TO BE SAVED, A PERSON MUST COME TO JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE BY FAITH ALONE. Acts 4:12 “ Neither is there salvation in any other: For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are you saved through faith.”

THE CHRIST MUST BE THE CHRIST OUTLINED IN THE SCRIPTURES, NOT SOME OTHER CHRIST DEFINED BY DOCTRINE OF MAN.

Jesus stated in Luke 24:44 “That all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.”

JESUS IS DIETY. HE IS GOD. John 1:1,14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word (which is Jesus) was God. And the Word (which is Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

Jesus is God. It is by him that all things were created.

HE IS THE MIDDLE PERSON OF THE GODHEAD--GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (which is Jesus) and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

A PERSON MUST BE CONVERTED TO CHRIST, NOT TO A CHURCH OR DENOMINATIONAL TEACHING An inner change must take place.

1Corinthians 3:3-4 “Or are you yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? For while one says, I am of Paul, and another says I am of Apollos; are you not yet carnal?”

If you make the claim of being a Presbyterian, Catholic, Baptist , Pentecostal, Evangelical, A of G, C of C, or even Non Denominational, it is carnality.

Matthew 18:3 “Verily I say unto you, except you be converted (the conversion must be to Christ, not to a denomination, theology, church, or charismatic leader).

Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent, and be converted.”

A PERSON NEEDS TO BE CHILDLIKE TOWARD CORRECTION FROM GODS WORD.

Matthew 18:3 “And become as little children (if this conversion and attitude does not occur, the verse is very clear) ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

A PERSON MUST REPENT Luke 13:3 “I tell you , nay: but, except ye repent , ye shall all likewise perish.” To be blunt, most people have never repented of their sins. Most do not even understand what repentance is. Some even deny that they sin at all. The sad fact is that many will perish because of their rebellion in this matter.

A PERSON NEEDS TO HUMBLE THEMSELVES. PRIDE NEEDS TO BE REPENTED OF

James 4:6 “ God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

Mark 7:21-22 “For from within , out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Note that evil thoughts include pride, murders, wickedness.

ONLY BY GODS GRACE CAN A PERSON BE SAVED

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

ONLY AFTER REPENTING AND COMING TO CHRIST BY FAITH is a person under command to be baptized by full immersion in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Sprinkling and infant baptism is not scriptural baptism. It is doctrine established by man, which is contrary to Gods directive.

Romans 6:4 “ Therefore we are buried (covered by water) with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.”

Mark 16:6 “He that believeth (first) and is baptized (second) shall be saved; but he that beleiveth not shall be damned.”

A person cannot be baptized into one in whom they do not believe.

WHEN A PERSON IS TRULY BORN-AGAIN, THE HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS INSIDE THAT PERSON. IF A PERSON DOES NOT HAVE THE HOLY GHOST, THEY CANNOT BE SAVED

Romans 8:9-11 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (Plainly, if any man does not have the Spirit of God, he is not saved and will not enter heaven.) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.”

EVIDENCE OF THE INDEWELLING OF THE HOLY GHOST

If a person does have the Holy Ghost, there will be evidence. One evidence is a desire to read and study Gods Word. 1 Peter 2:2-3 “As newborn babes (a person that is newly re-born) desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” [A person that has the Spirit of God, a person that is truly born-again has a desire for the Word of God so that they can grow in wisdom, knowledge of God, and faith. Faith only comes from Gods Word. It is impossible to have more correct faith than knowledge and understanding.

If a newly re-born Christian does not receive nourishment from Gods Word, he will die.] “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

ANOTHER EVIDENCE IS ATTITUDE

As a person learns from Gods Word a new attitude begins to emerge, and the old worldly attitude begins to fade away. Depending upon a persons heart, this can happen faster in some than in others. It can also happen quicker in a person that spends much time in Gods Word, learning and growing. On the other hand a person that spends little time in the Word, may make many excuses about their not hearing His voice or growing in faith or may even wither and fall away from the faith that was born in them.

Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

A person needs to believe correctly.

JESUS CHRIST IS GODS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, BORN OF A VIRGIN, DIED ON CALVARYS CROSS, ROSE FROM THE DEAD, ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN AND NOW SITS ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN, MAKING INTERCESSION FOR THE SAINTS.

DO WHAT GODS WORD SAYS

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

OBEY GODS WORD

Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.”

KEEP GODS COMMANDMENTS

John 5:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in His love.”

GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIM, WE ARE TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

Philippians 3:8-13 “ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before……”

End of part two

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN ?

Before you read this, the question must be asked: Do you want the truth or not ?

There are several viewpoints on what it means to be a Christian.

1. There is the unbiblical viewpoint which is held by most people.

2. There is the biblical viewpoint.

The two are very different.

1. In the opinion of many, a Christian is a person that attends a Christian church. This can often include cults. If a person is a Roman Catholic, Protestant, or some other denomination that preaches Christ, they consider themselves as Christian and others may think of them likewise.

If a person is a Moslem, or Hindu or of some other religion and transfer over to a Christian church, they are usually called a Christian.

It is quite common for a person, when asked what faith they are, to reply, “I am a Christian.”

They say this only because they go to a church that preaches about Jesus Christ and at least a little something from the Bible.

They have no idea what it truly means to be a real born-again Christian.

The term born-again has become so distorted that the biblical meaning is only understood by a few.

People commit hideous crimes and say that they are born-again.

Many mentally deranged people in this generation claim that they are born-again.

They claim that God told them to do this or that. In the name of God they do unbelievably evil things.

Others that claim they are a Christian or born-again commit suicide, sometimes in mass numbers. God forbid.

Still others who claim to be Christian or born-again, commit adultery, engage in homosexuality, use illegal drugs, or other ungodly acts which often become public, in vain they imagine that their position places them above the restraints placed on the truly blood bought.

Some declare prophecies publicly that are clearly wrong.

Many Christian churches are now teaching doctrines that are far from biblical truth.

The doctrines of great prosperity, worldly psychology, worldly pleasures, gambling, laughing, touching certain objects to receive healing, candlelight meditation, maze searches, pay per miracles, and many other false doctrines are being taught from the pulpits and the airways.

In exchange for these false teachings is the loss of the truth of the fear of God, Gods wrath, Gods judgment, repentance, obeying scripture, the Revelation, Bible prophecy, and the pre-tribulation Rapture all of which are seldom taught in most churches anymore.

It is no wonder that the general unsaved public has such a very low opinion of those claiming to be born-again.

Often those so called Christians will flippantly refer to God as the man up there, the Man upstairs, or some other equally irreverent term.

Even at a funeral, you will rarely ever hear the minister state that this particular person is now in hell.

The will say instead that this person is in heaven or is in a better place.

The fact is that the word of truth the Bible tells us that there are only a few that will inherit eternal life. Matthew 7:14

Isaiah 54:1 “ For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.”

Galatians 4:27 “For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.”

Both of the above scriptures refer to the fact that more of humanity is born of the devil than are re-born in Jesus.

So then, you ask “What is a real Christian ?”

The word Christian or Christians is only mentioned on three occasion in the Bible.

In the Acts of the early church ch 26:28, in 1 Peter 4:16 and in Acts 11:26

The words used several times, saint, disciple and Christian are synonymous.

It could be said that to understand what a Christian is according to Holy Scripture and therefore in the eyes of God, certain words and phrases need to be understood.

Search for yourself the true meaning of the words and phrases that follow

Born-again

Come to Jesus Christ and Him alone by faith alone

The Christ that a person comes to must be the Christ as revealed in the Bible and not another Christ,

Christ is Deity , He is God, He is the middle person of the Godhead- He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Conversion must be to Christ and not to a church or denominational teaching along with a childlike attitude toward correction from Gods Word.

Disciple

Doer of the Word

Evidence of the fruit of the Spirit must be noticeable (Christlike attitude)

Grace

Humility,,,, which requires repentance from pride

Jesus Christ is Gods only begotten Son, born of a virgin, died on Calvary, rose up from the dead, ascended up to heaven and now is seated on the right hand of Gods the Father in heaven, making intercession for the saints

Obedience to God Word

Obey the commandments of God

Personal relationship

Repentance

Only after repenting and coming to Christ by faith in Christ alone as their only hope of salvation is the person under the command to be water baptized by full immersion in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

When a person is truly born-again the Holy Spirit lives inside that person

Many more words and phrases could be used, but these will suffice for now.

END OF PART ONE

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN ?

Indications that we have forgotten

As the calendar speeds by, as our clothes shrink as our bank statement changes for the good or the bad, as our bones begin to pop and creak, as the seasons shift and as life turns we know that nothing remains the same.

All of those things and so many more are indication that our lives never stay the same yet are constantly in motion, sometimes moving towards the better, yet so often heading in directions that we would not desire.

It is the same in our spiritual walk, there are things that we need to guard against with diligence, and take all steps necessary to avoid the pitfall of falling headlong into apathy of our faith.

The following warnings are just a few of the signs that things are not as they should be in our walk with the Lord.

WHEN:

You grow bolder with sin, or with the temptation to sin, than you were in your more watchful state, then be sure that something is wrong.

You make a small matter of those sins and infirmities which once seemed grievous to you and almost intolerable.

You confess but do not forsake sin

You acknowledge but still neglect your duty

You settle down into a course of religion that requires but little labor, leaving out the hard and costly parts.

Your GOD and Savior grow a little strange to you, and your religion consists more in conversing with men about topics read in a book other than in THE Book, the Bible the recorded Word of God.

You grow averse to religious conversation or the company of heavenly minded Christians

You delight more in hearing and talking, than in secret prayer and the Word.

You use the means of grace more as a matter of duty, than as food in which your soul delights

You become more concerned about pleasing some man or an organization who craves authority over you than you do about being pleasing to God

You are more afraid of being judged as too strict than you are of dishonoring Christ

You willingly miss the services of the house of God without just cause

The hopes of heaven and the love of Christ do not interest you, but you are thirsting after some worldly enjoyment and grow eager for it

You spend less time alone with God in Bible reading and prayer than in pleasing yourself with worldly things

Your cheerfulness has more of the levity of the unregenerate than the holy joy of the children of God

The things of the world grow sweeter to you and death and eternity are distasteful subjects

You grow hot and eager about some disputed point, or in forwarding the interests of some party of Christians, more than about those matters which concern the greatest cause of Christ

The faults of others are more a matter of censorious conversation than of secret grief and prayer

You make light of preparing yourself for the Lords day and the Lords Table, and think more of the outward ordinances than you do of your hearts condition.

WHEN: We forget that there is an immediate cure for all of our sin both chosen and negligent.

 

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

What can make me pure within?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can atone for sin

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

Naught of good that I have done

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh, precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.