As a Christian I do not follow the entire Bible. Only Jesus.

[karzma]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.

My own "personal religion" is very small compared to most other forms of Christianity. I don't have any beliefs of what heaven or hell is like, what god "looks like" (if he does "look like" something), or stuff like that.

My entire religion is just a large set of laws. A large set of "do's" and "do not's". If Jesus said do it, do it. If Jesus said do not do it, do not do it.

However, I know the Bible does not contain everything Jesus ever said. And of course, there are some problems in life that Jesus did not tell us how to solve (Like what do we do if someone has a gun and is about to shoot us?). Still, I look to the Bible to learn anything about Jesus and his teachings that I possibly can. Everything else is up to my own personal morality to try and figure out.

for example, Jesus was never asked the question "What do you do if a man is about to kill you?". Jesus probably would have said, "It is ok to kill a man only if it is a last resort to stop him from killing you. That is the basic form of self defense. You have a right to defend yourself".

But, alas, Jesus was never asked that question (thankfully so). So really, that is up to interpretation, in my religion anyway, for me to figure out if it is OK or NOT OK to kill in Self Defense as a last resort becuase Jesus never directly said so therefore "you should never, ever, kill someone" is not a clear-cut law in my religion.

However, on the other hand, Jesus was asked the question "What do you do if someone is beating you up" and Jesus said "Turn the other cheek". So I do follow his teachings on that.


From what I can see, Jesus is pretty much perfect in his teachings. Jesus never told any of his followers to kill (unlike Muhammad, the muslim prophet, I have read a lot of the holy book of Islam and Muhammad told people to kill non-believers for no reason).



Am I wrong to follow Jesus this way? Should I follow the entire bible? Should I follow religious authorities? From what I remember, old laws before Jesus said that a woman should be stoned to death for committing adultery, and Jesus said "no, do not stone her to death, thou amongst you who is without sin my cast the first stone". So old mosaic laws of stoning women to death and Jesus' law contradict eachother. Things like that is why I decided to follow only Jesus, and not the entire bible.

Am I wrong about this?

 

[holyrokker]

It's a good place to start. However, none of us has enough knowledge or ability to understand all that we need to live a successful life with Christ.
Jesus told us that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in this life.
Jesus also told the apostles to make disciples of all nations. I think part of making disciples (which can also mean "students") is teaching.
So I think that Jesus meant for the apostles to teach us what He taught them.
Some of the things the apostles taught make up the New testament.
Early accounts show us that the believers devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles.
One of the things taught in the New Testament (by the apostles) is that the Holy Spirit has established (in part) teachers and pastors to instruct us in the things of God.
So, yes, we should learn from our church authorities.

As for the woman caught in adultery: The religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus. The law (Old Testament) said that if someone committed adultery, both the man and the woman were to be brought to trial. It also said that there needed to be at least 2 proper witnesses. If it was determined (by trial) that indeed the man and woman committed adultery, they were both to be stoned.
The problems with this particular case were that 1) the man wasn't brought 2) there weren't 2 witnesses 3) there wasn't a trial. So according to the law, the woman should not have been stoned. So there was no contradiction. Jesus wasn't setting aside the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus often quoted from the Old Testament as testimony to His ministry.
On top of that, the reason the religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus wasn't to uphold the Old Testament law, rather they had hoped to trap Jesus.

 

[TamiinKS]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.


Am I wrong about this?

Short answer?

Yes.

By deciding what parts of the Bible - God's Word - you will or won't follow, you are putting yourself in God's position. That breaks the first commandment.

 

[Yekcidmij]

Jesus said over and over "It is written". Jesus used scripture.

 

[Matthan]

You are definitely on the right track. Just a few comments. First, your "religion" is Christianity, and your denomination or sect is whatever you describe. And Jesus told us Himself that His burden on us is light. Paul emphasizes that fact when he tells us about the simplicity that is Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3, then 2Corinthians 1:12). That simplicity is found best stated in John 3:15, 16, and 17-18. Any person who believes in Jesus as the Son of God, and who repents of their sinful ways, will be baptized spiritually by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and they are "born again" of the Spirit from that instant onward to eternity.

So just keep up the good work, and rely on Jesus...

Matthan

 

[HumbleUnderdog]

Since Jesus is written throughout the entire bible, from Genesis to Revelation, then you must trust in the entire bible.

 

[Nachtjager]

Read it all, believe what speaks to your soul. Trust that the Holy Spirit will enlighten you as to what you should and shouldn't latch onto. The teachings of Christ are by far the best to be found in the Bible, but there is so much more in there.

I have many problems with the history of the old testament, but there is much to be learned there as well.

Sticking with just the four gospels is certainly okay, but I'd recommend you broaden your spiritual horizons a bit.

Take care and God bless!

 

[Celticflower]

There is much to be learned from the OT. Of course a lot of the old laws are not binding on us, but there are examples of how much God cares for His creation and why Jesus had to come to earth in the first place. Without the OT you are missing out on part of the story -- kinda like coming into a movie in the middle.

 

[Yekcidmij]

Read it all, believe what speaks to your soul.

How about believing it all, not what just speaks to your soul?

I have many problems with the history of the old testament, but there is much to be learned there as well.

Problems with the old testament require a deeper study not just to disregard them.

 

[desmalia]

Jesus is God. All of Scripture is God-breathed. In essense, Christ authored the Bible. So ignoring parts of it for any reason is really not acceptable or what God wants for us. Without the proper context of the whole Scripture, it is incredibly easy to contort portions to mean what we want instead of what God's truth actually is. Karzma, I encourage you to take some time to really study the Bible and at least try to make an educated decision as to whether it is authentic and authoritative before you throw parts of it out. Who is the Jesus you follow? The one spoken of in Scripture, or one that you have predetermined in your mind?
May the Holy Spirit work in your heart and mind and reveal His perfect truth to you.

 

[Tyndale]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.

Many Christians, or should I say in today's world, [those who acknowledge Christ as God in the flesh] haven't the slightest idea about how to understand the bible, primarily because they just acknowledge Christ as God in the flesh and haven't accepting him to live with them.

When Moses killed a man, does that mean you can do also, because the victim was an Israelite? ...I would like to think you have answered no.

When Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice, should we offer our worldly loves to God also?...Again, I would like to think not.

Many, co-called Christians today think the OLD Testament is redundant, and to a certain degree, it is, but what we have to learn and understand is that while there were laws, rules and customs beyond what we, after Christ's resurrection, would think as ludicrous, we have to understand the Old Testament was preaching Christ. The Old Testament is Christ, the problem is some of it's people couldn't understand Christ before they knew him. The OT is a valuable tool for understanding how those men of Old tried to rationalise God's word, his promise of a Messiah and how to look upon him for Salvation.

What we as Christians should be thinking about, is, how and if we would be as faithful and believing as those close to God in the Old Testament.

Today, we somewhat get it easy, we know the Messiah has come and is resurrected, but those in the Old Testament hadn't that knowledge.

 

[KarrieTex]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.

My own "personal religion" is very small compared to most other forms of Christianity. I don't have any beliefs of what heaven or hell is like, what god "looks like" (if he does "look like" something), or stuff like that.

My entire religion is just a large set of laws. A large set of "do's" and "do not's". If Jesus said do it, do it. If Jesus said do not do it, do not do it.

However, I know the Bible does not contain everything Jesus ever said. And of course, there are some problems in life that Jesus did not tell us how to solve (Like what do we do if someone has a gun and is about to shoot us?). Still, I look to the Bible to learn anything about Jesus and his teachings that I possibly can. Everything else is up to my own personal morality to try and figure out.

for example, Jesus was never asked the question "What do you do if a man is about to kill you?". Jesus probably would have said, "It is ok to kill a man only if it is a last resort to stop him from killing you. That is the basic form of self defense. You have a right to defend yourself".

But, alas, Jesus was never asked that question (thankfully so). So really, that is up to interpretation, in my religion anyway, for me to figure out if it is OK or NOT OK to kill in Self Defense as a last resort becuase Jesus never directly said so therefore "you should never, ever, kill someone" is not a clear-cut law in my religion.

However, on the other hand, Jesus was asked the question "What do you do if someone is beating you up" and Jesus said "Turn the other cheek". So I do follow his teachings on that.


From what I can see, Jesus is pretty much perfect in his teachings. Jesus never told any of his followers to kill (unlike Muhammad, the muslim prophet, I have read a lot of the holy book of Islam and Muhammad told people to kill non-believers for no reason).



Am I wrong to follow Jesus this way? Should I follow the entire bible? Should I follow religious authorities? From what I remember, old laws before Jesus said that a woman should be stoned to death for committing adultery, and Jesus said "no, do not stone her to death, thou amongst you who is without sin my cast the first stone". So old mosaic laws of stoning women to death and Jesus' law contradict eachother. Things like that is why I decided to follow only Jesus, and not the entire bible.

Am I wrong about this?

In a nutshell, yes you are.

To know Christ is to understand and study the OT as well. For He came to fulfill the Law. It is important to understand why He came as He did and how He died the way He died.

There is much more in the OT that confirms and affirms the NT and what Christ was saying.

I would encourage you to read the Bible in it's entirity

 

[thereselittleflower]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.

My own "personal religion" is very small compared to most other forms of Christianity. I don't have any beliefs of what heaven or hell is like, what god "looks like" (if he does "look like" something), or stuff like that.

My entire religion is just a large set of laws. A large set of "do's" and "do not's". If Jesus said do it, do it. If Jesus said do not do it, do not do it.

However, I know the Bible does not contain everything Jesus ever said. And of course, there are some problems in life that Jesus did not tell us how to solve (Like what do we do if someone has a gun and is about to shoot us?). Still, I look to the Bible to learn anything about Jesus and his teachings that I possibly can. Everything else is up to my own personal morality to try and figure out.

for example, Jesus was never asked the question "What do you do if a man is about to kill you?". Jesus probably would have said, "It is ok to kill a man only if it is a last resort to stop him from killing you. That is the basic form of self defense. You have a right to defend yourself".

But, alas, Jesus was never asked that question (thankfully so). So really, that is up to interpretation, in my religion anyway, for me to figure out if it is OK or NOT OK to kill in Self Defense as a last resort becuase Jesus never directly said so therefore "you should never, ever, kill someone" is not a clear-cut law in my religion.

However, on the other hand, Jesus was asked the question "What do you do if someone is beating you up" and Jesus said "Turn the other cheek". So I do follow his teachings on that.


From what I can see, Jesus is pretty much perfect in his teachings. Jesus never told any of his followers to kill (unlike Muhammad, the muslim prophet, I have read a lot of the holy book of Islam and Muhammad told people to kill non-believers for no reason).



Am I wrong to follow Jesus this way? Should I follow the entire bible? Should I follow religious authorities? From what I remember, old laws before Jesus said that a woman should be stoned to death for committing adultery, and Jesus said "no, do not stone her to death, thou amongst you who is without sin my cast the first stone". So old mosaic laws of stoning women to death and Jesus' law contradict eachother. Things like that is why I decided to follow only Jesus, and not the entire bible.

Am I wrong about this?

Jesus instituted religious authority in the Christsian Church and faith.

How can you follow only Jesus if you reject what He instituted and gave to the Church, His Body?

How can you follow only Jesus without being part of His Body?

If you are part of His Body, how can you follow Jesus if you reject the leadership and religeous authority He put over His Body on earth?


.

 

[billwald]

There isn't a single verse in Exo thru Deut that obligates gentiles in New Jersey or refers to one's status in the next life.

 

[Mathetes the kerux]

I do not follow everything that is written in the Bible. I consider myself Christian. I only do something is Jesus said to do it.

My own "personal religion" is very small compared to most other forms of Christianity. I don't have any beliefs of what heaven or hell is like, what god "looks like" (if he does "look like" something), or stuff like that.

My entire religion is just a large set of laws. A large set of "do's" and "do not's". If Jesus said do it, do it. If Jesus said do not do it, do not do it.

However, I know the Bible does not contain everything Jesus ever said. And of course, there are some problems in life that Jesus did not tell us how to solve (Like what do we do if someone has a gun and is about to shoot us?). Still, I look to the Bible to learn anything about Jesus and his teachings that I possibly can. Everything else is up to my own personal morality to try and figure out.

for example, Jesus was never asked the question "What do you do if a man is about to kill you?". Jesus probably would have said, "It is ok to kill a man only if it is a last resort to stop him from killing you. That is the basic form of self defense. You have a right to defend yourself".

But, alas, Jesus was never asked that question (thankfully so). So really, that is up to interpretation, in my religion anyway, for me to figure out if it is OK or NOT OK to kill in Self Defense as a last resort becuase Jesus never directly said so therefore "you should never, ever, kill someone" is not a clear-cut law in my religion.

However, on the other hand, Jesus was asked the question "What do you do if someone is beating you up" and Jesus said "Turn the other cheek". So I do follow his teachings on that.


From what I can see, Jesus is pretty much perfect in his teachings. Jesus never told any of his followers to kill (unlike Muhammad, the muslim prophet, I have read a lot of the holy book of Islam and Muhammad told people to kill non-believers for no reason).



Am I wrong to follow Jesus this way? Should I follow the entire bible? Should I follow religious authorities? From what I remember, old laws before Jesus said that a woman should be stoned to death for committing adultery, and Jesus said "no, do not stone her to death, thou amongst you who is without sin my cast the first stone". So old mosaic laws of stoning women to death and Jesus' law contradict eachother. Things like that is why I decided to follow only Jesus, and not the entire bible.

Am I wrong about this?

I would say that all of the info that you have about Jesus is from the Bible . . . so why would the rest be bad other than the specific saying OF Jesus?

In fact all the rest of the New Testament flows directly from Him (we would say the Old Testament too . . . but that is a little deeper than need be now).

 

[Tkjjc89]

There isn't a single verse in Exo thru Deut that obligates gentiles in New Jersey or refers to one's status in the next life.

This only applies ONLY if you DO NOT partake of the fruit of the Spirit. As if you do, then it IS recorded quite clear.

Exodus 12
47"All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48"But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

Do you or don't you wish to be included in the house of Israel, which is the fullfillment of Jesus Christ? We are circumcised of the heart, but circumcised never the less.

 

[Leah]

In reference to the OP's question: First off, to say that you don't follow all of the bible for whatever reason doesn't make sense because Jesus IS the Word. Therefore, I encourage you to keep studying the bible. The Holy Spirit will never lead you do to something that is contrary to the Word, so make sure you correctly understand what you're reading by asking Him for help in that aspect.

Christianity is not laws and rules. It's not your life, christianity and you juggling the two trying to make it work. It won't and you'll fail in trying to do so. Christiantiy is a lifestyle. It's who you are, why you do what you do, and giving to not only to God, but to others (I'm not just talking materialistically, either).

Christianity is about having and keeping a kingdom mentality.

 

[R3quiem]

I think you are fine in your beliefs.

I don't believe in the whole bible myself, I belive it was written by men who make mistakes.

I think the best way to answer questions is through prayer- ask god personally to guide you to the Truth.

 

[Paleoconservatarian]

It isn't Christianity, and it isn't what Jesus taught. Good luck following those laws, by the way (e.g., "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"). If you want my advice, you should honestly examine yourself according to the law that Jesus actually did teach, and see how you stand. We'll be waiting when you're ready for the gospel.

 

[IamRedeemed]

It's a good place to start. However, none of us has enough knowledge or ability to understand all that we need to live a successful life with Christ.
Jesus told us that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in this life.
Jesus also told the apostles to make disciples of all nations. I think part of making disciples (which can also mean "students") is teaching.
So I think that Jesus meant for the apostles to teach us what He taught them.
Some of the things the apostles taught make up the New testament.
Early accounts show us that the believers devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles.
One of the things taught in the New Testament (by the apostles) is that the Holy Spirit has established (in part) teachers and pastors to instruct us in the things of God.
So, yes, we should learn from our church authorities.

As for the woman caught in adultery: The religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus. The law (Old Testament) said that if someone committed adultery, both the man and the woman were to be brought to trial. It also said that there needed to be at least 2 proper witnesses. If it was determined (by trial) that indeed the man and woman committed adultery, they were both to be stoned.
The problems with this particular case were that 1) the man wasn't brought 2) there weren't 2 witnesses 3) there wasn't a trial. So according to the law, the woman should not have been stoned. So there was no contradiction. Jesus wasn't setting aside the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus often quoted from the Old Testament as testimony to His ministry.
On top of that, the reason the religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus wasn't to uphold the Old Testament law, rather they had hoped to trap Jesus.