Are you REALLY a Christian?

[frienden thalord]

is our obedience TIED into faith...........
what do works have to do with faith one may ask
Your works show your faith
not only that .............and his faith was PERFECTED by works
I think we need ot really read the bible much more.
and I am all for reading it hours daily.................oh sing with me peoples of the LORD
let us be of the same MIND and that MIND of CHRIST ..
the more we FEED of HIM.....................oh how we grow
his flesh is meat indeed..............
EAT of HIS SAYINGS ........DRINK of HIS SPIRIT..........
sing with me peoples sing..........and let us all increase ONLY one book we read
B I B L E
its where I find the feast of words I need by the power of HIS grace
FEED on it..........................feed my peples feed.............

 

[frienden thalord]

Abraham offered up his only SON
OBEDIANCE to GOD
his works SHOWED his FAITH........
and as it says.............
BY faith noah was MOVED with fear to DO something an action
TO BUILD the ark..........
by FAITH Abraham , when he was called
to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance , OBEYED....................notice the TWO big words......faith and OBEY

or james
seest thou how faith wrought with his works
and by works was his faith perfected.........Abraham OBEYED
his Faith in GOD , like if our faith is...............then we will be MOVED to do what so ever
the SPIRIT bids............whatsoever JESUS said to do........
anyway if we like I can bring much more examples of this..........
be blessed now and lets read our bibles .

 

[frienden thalord]

let me sum it up like this
works without faith is death
but faith without works........is dead.......
CHOOSE ye this day WHOM ye shall serve..........
obey the SPIRIT ........and it will always be that which is well pleasing in HIS sight
follow our own minds ,our own doctrines of men....................its that which
is well pleasing in mans sight , our sight.....
THE KEY to being made wise unto salvation.....through faith
THE HOLY SCIRPS of course............read , feed , ingest and love them...........

 

[frienden thalord]

perhaps I see , while looking back....we might need to open a thread
on OSAS.....................
or as I call it.....OSASSLAOCIC
Once you are saved you are always saved..........SO LONG as ONE CONTINUE in CHRIST
however..........if you don't believe me
lets hear what one of the men who preached the gospel more than many
I keep my body under subjection , LEST I too should be cast away
IF a man continues NOT in me..........he is cast forth and men burn them..........
or how about
Be not highminded but fear BELIEVERS
For is GOD spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee..
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of GOD
on them which fell severity
but toward thee goodness, IF you continue in his goodness
otherwise ye shall be Cut off.
IF a branch in me does not bear fruit it is cut off
YE can do nothing without me
CONTIUE IN ME or ye cut off................
want me to bring scrips from Hebrews or how bout peter
or how bout more sayings of JESUS
or how bout revealations.................
when I said we have been lied too.............we have..
READ the bilbe for yourselves.....................man , the churches are in shambles
come out of her..........................men have destroyed the churches with false doctriens
and false hopes..............HOPE IN GOD............and read your bibles

 

[sunshineforJesus]

Am I REALLY a Christian? The moment I had FAITH, I was saved and became a Christian. Do I always REALLY behave as a Christian? No, none us do ALL the time.

While we SHOULD examine our behavior in reference to our WITNESS, our behavior has NOTHING to do with our SALVATION...

I agree 100 %. We are all working out our salvation every day.

 

[Alithis]

A disciple was someone who had the goal of memorizing their rabbi's teachings, of learning to think and act like them, and to essentially become a copy of them. We see this though expressed in places like 1 John 2:3-6, where we are told that we ought to follow his commands and walk in the same way that he walked, in 1 Peter 2:21-22, where we are told to follow his example, and in 1 Corinthians 11:1, where Paul told us to imitate him for he imitated Christ. Jesus was sinless, so he set a perfect example of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, and this is what he taught his disciples by example, and told them to teach their disciples, so if someone calls themselves a disciple of Christ, then that is the example that they need to follow.

Exactly. But no disciples starts out like their master but is transformed to be like their master.
And no disciple is greater then their master but becomes like their master.

 

[Alithis]

YES!

No further explanation required.

Yet give us an answer for the hope within you.

 

[Alithis]

No no no, we are filled with the Holy Spirit the SPLIT SECOND we come to faith...

13 For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13

13 In him you also, when you heard ethe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, fwere sealed with the gpromised Holy Spirit, hthe guarantee4 of our iinheritance until jwe acquire kpossession of it,5 lto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13–14

Read More

So you are baptised in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues.?

For our of the innermost being rivers of life will flow...
Baptism in the Holy spirit is receiving the Holy spirit.
The promise is to them that get baptised in water.After true repentance.
But it is Not automatically received.
Just as Israel went through the red sea water baptism but because of unbelief only 2 received the promise.

Many repent and are baptised but do not then recieve the promised holy spirit.because to receive something you must be a willing receptive party.

 

[Alithis]

I agree 100 %. We are all working out our salvation every day.

But if you have not obeyed..you have not Faith.
For Faith is not a thing you have but an action you do.

 

[frienden thalord]

A big misunderstanding about the Sprit which draws us to Christ
and the baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT.
yes.......its bible time......
lets go to acts.
Peter and John
came down from samaria
they found BELIEVERS.....
now lets read what happened.
Who, when they had come down
prayed for them, that they might receive the HOLY GHOST
for as yet he was fallen upon none of them
only they were batized in the name of JESUS
THEN laid they their hands on them
and they received the HOLY GHOST.
you mean they believed in JESUS and yet had not received
the HOLY GHOST yet............YEAH its what I mean.
lets go look again........
pual had come to Ephesus
and finding certain DESCIPLES.....yeah it means they believed already
he said unto them , HAVE YOU RECIEVED the HOLY GHOST......
I do notice in every case that the baptism of the HOLY GHOST
occurs..........TONGUES is evidence.
ONLY the SPRIIT can lead one to CHRIST ........but the baptism of the HOLY GHOST
is indeed something else........
which many have not received in this generation.

 

[frienden thalord]

we have not even heard of the HOLY GHOST
yeah , they said that too........
IF YE SEEK him , with all your heart
ye shall FIND HIM
but all the heart means ALL the heart........
SEEKING is an ACTION by the way..........but
the HOLY SPIRIT did put it in my heart first to SEEK HIM
so its by grace my friends.
but I bet many do not know this..........
can the HOLY SPIRIT be quenched , put out.......
YOU BET...........sin wars and we cannot remain in it.....
QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT as pual once said......
yall we need to wake up and read the bible for ourselves
man has destroyed the true gospel he has omitted parts
and added parts.................its serious
its real serious. ONLY JESUS can save
but the problem is so many follow a DIFFERENT JESUS
which is NOT JESUS
I am trying to help .....................go back to reading ONLY the bible.
PLEASE..............many have been deceived by men .

 

[frienden thalord]

I spoke once with tongues.......years ago
that was the baptism of the HOLY GHOST

 

[Alithis]

So ，as this brother is adding well to the thread let's delve in more.

-Are you really a Christian???-

Some got immediately offended by the question. Why?do not the scriptures tell us to ask just such questions?
Telling us to “examine ourselves“

“ 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 continuing in a life enslaved to sin?
Serving sin?

No child of God born of the spirit of God can continue in the practice of sin.

Do you have the Holy Spirit.
Its been shown plainly in scripture that we do not receive the Holy Spirit Jesus sent automatically at water baptism..
And That he hi has not the spirit of Christ is not Christ's..

So add these questions to the OP
And examine yourselves...

Jesus was not kidding when he demanded repentance.so serious was the Holy spirit that when Jesus came out of the desert filled with the Holy Ghost the FIRST thing he preached was..
REPENT!!!!
If we think we can believe and not repent but continue in our sin we are niether free not saved.
But sorely deceived.

 

[frienden thalord]

Alithis go to the thread doers of the law.
and by the way to also encourage more
i might add........Look how serious Christ was about to go and sin no more.
it would be better to cut off hand , pluck out eye whatever
than to remain in sin and burn at your end in the lake of fire.
now a servant of sin remains not in the house forever
but the SON remains forever....therefore if the SON shall set you FREE
you are FREE
and now a word from paul.
BEING then MADE FREE from SIN ye became the servants of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
alithis.............please go to the thread doers of the law
let us be fellowhelpers by grace to the truth.

 

[Victor E.]

What sin can I commit after I am saved that is not already forgiven?

I am NOT condoning abusing grace or saying "Since I am saved it does not matter WHAT I do..."

As my signature says, "good works" are a product of salvation, NOT part of the equation...

If you believe "you" can live in sinless perfection after salvation, you are fooling yourself...

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12

 

[frienden thalord]

There is a way which seems right unto a man , but the end thereof are the ways of death.
any sin we do which we cease not from, means we are in darkness not in light.
Tis why any member that errs must be restored asap.
Its why we also must exhort one another daily
lest any be HARDNED through the decieftfulness of sin.
For many have returned to willfill sin, knowing not that if they had the Spirit
its been quenched. put out.
IF we build again the things which once we destroyed we make ourselves transgressors.
Today if you hear this REPENT of your wickedness and be restored in the one true fold of Christ.
CONTINUE NOT in the darkness of sin.
WALK in the LIGHT as HE is in the LIGHT by the power of HIS GRACE. amen.

 

[Susan Swanger Zipf]

Really..? So the day Jesus returns your laying in bed having sex with your neighbors wife you will still be saved because your behaviour has nothing to do with it?
No sure you are greatly deceived.a hearer of the word but not a doer.

Wow.
That jump (from "I call myself a Christian," to "You sleep with your neighbor's wife" was quite a leap.

 

[Susan Swanger Zipf]

People still have time but time is getting very very short till Jesus comes for His bride. Many Christians will find out on that day they were not really saved and will have to be tested during the tribulation.

In the parable of the sower, all 4 different individuals are Christians but only the 4th individual is a disciple, a true follower of Christ.

Luke 8:11-15 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. (this is a Christian who is not saved)

13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. (this is a Christian who is not saved)

14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. (this is a Christian who is not saved)

15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (this is a Christian who is a disciple and is saved)

When He comes for His bride, He'll only take those who's been practicing righteousness in the form of good works towards others --- these are those He calls His disciples. Anyone can accept His gift of salvation but only those who receives it are those who receives His words and obey.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me ~ John 10:27

John 10:27 is the salvation, not James 2:19.

1 John 2:28-29 New King James Version (NKJV)
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Titus 2:11-14 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

The first three are NOT Christians. Christians are those who follow Christ.

This argument is why I believe that, while nothing can push between you and Jesus, you still have free will and can still intentionally walk away from Christ. The only way you can "lose" your salvation is to deliberately put it down and walk away.

 

[Reformed2]

Lots of good insight on this thread. I really like the discussion of being considered a "Christian" versus "disciple". I know many self professing Christians that live in sin, and automatically fall back on grace to justify themselves. These very same people would, I assume, not dare call themselves disciples. The word disciple brings to mind action, and repentance. Whereas the term Christian casts a much larger net, including those who have an intellectual knowledge but are not of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Alithis]

Wow.
That jump (from "I call myself a Christian," to "You sleep with your neighbor's wife" was quite a leap.

It is the presenting of a principle.
Sometimes people say something that makes the topic cloudy and unclear.
They do this to detract from the uncomfortable point. And it takes the principle they are introducing presented in its most extreme form to make them realize you cant use the excuses you think you can use.

Jesus did this in his parables all the time.