can i call myself a christian?

[emmaeve]

I have recently decided to come out as having Christian beliefs and i am feeling very happy about this as i have sadly kept it a secret for so long. I have read the bible for some time now and pray and try to live a Christian life style loving God and everyone. I have started going to church which is great but people ask me if i am a Christian and i dont know how to answer. I am Christianed but not yet confirmed. I dont know when i should think about this, or what steps to take next. Please help...can i call myself a Christian??
and what shall i do next to further myself towards a Christian life?? Emma Eve xx

 

[Dondi]

emmaeve,

Let me ask you if your ever heard this before:

Romans 6:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

You understand that we ALL sin and come short of His standard. And that no one is worthy of heaven.

Romans 6:23a
"For the wages of sin is death;...."

Here, you need to know there are two types of death 1) Physical - when a person dies and his/her body is laid to rest. 2) Spiritual - Separation from God, which is what this verse implies.

If verse 23 stopped here, then we are all in trouble and in danger of being eternally separated from God. That's the Bad News.

The Good News

Romans 6:23
"...but the gift of god is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"

God has given us a wonderful gift. We can go to heaven because of what Jesus Christ did for us. What did He do?

Romans 5:8
"But God commended His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

2000 years ago God sent His Son to die on the cross for us, taking our sins with Him, so that we can stand before God with our sins forgiven in Jesus Christ. God wants us to know we can escape Hell. How?

Romans 10:13
"For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Whosoever means everyone, even you, emmaeve. God wants us to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts for salvation. If we do this, God promises to save us.

If you haven't acknowledge Jesus before, do want to be saved? If you say yes, you can call upon His Name in prayer. But you have to realize that this is just a step in giving your life to God as you embark of a lifelong journey of loving God and loving others. God will give you His Holy Spirit and come abide in you to help you live for Him. You can come to Him and receive Him as savior in your heart. You can pray this prayer, but it isn't the prayer that saves you, it's your faith that God will save you by his promise, "...whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved":

"Dear Lord,"
"I know that I am a sinner. And that my sins separate me from You."

"Oh, Lord, I ask you in the best way I know how that you save me."

"I receive Jesus Christ as my Savior, that my sins may be forgiven in His Name."

"Thank you, Lord, that according to your Word, the Bible, you promised to save me. And I trust You to do so."

"Thank you for Eternal Life and a home in Heaven."

"In Jesus' name I pray. Amen"



emmaeve,

Let us know if you have come to Christ so that we may encourage you and help you to grow.

Love & peace,

Dondi

 

[Jonesie]

Emma, how happy I am for you. If you put your faith in Jesus and believe that He is God and that He died for your sins than yes, you are a Christian. That is of course between you and God, but if you meant it, than of course you are. Now, about being confirmed. That has nothing to do with your salvation. Neither does being baptized. Baptism is important for several reasons.
1) It shows publicaly the decision that you have made.
2) It is symbolic of leaving your life of sin and being a born again Christian.
3) Jesus did it.

Let me say this again. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BAPTIZED OR CONFIRMED.

 

[JPPT1974]

You just have to accept Christ
As your Savior & Lord
Repent of your sins
Asking for forgiveness

 

[emmaeve]

Thank you everyone that replied, your words mean alot and I feel happy having read them and excited as I do acccept and love Jesus, I am sure of that and I want to grow more as a Christian, any help on how to do this would be much appreciated! Thanks again xx

 

[emmaeve]

Thanks for taking the time out to explain to me, i feel silly being so naive and asking my friends at church. I do want to be a born again Christian and be confirmed. (is there a difference between being confirmed and baptised?) But how long should i leave it and what can i do in the mean time to work towards it? Thank you so much! xx

 

[starelda]

Thanks for taking the time out to explain to me, i feel silly being so naive and asking my friends at church. I do want to be a born again Christian and be confirmed. (is there a difference between being confirmed and baptised?) But how long should i leave it and what can i do in the mean time to work towards it? Thank you so much! xx

You have already been baptised as an infant...christening and baptism are the same. Confirmation is an adult profession of your faith, it's saying that you accept your baptism and now make a public statement of your faith. I don't know what denomination you belong to but this website gives information on the confirmation ceremony in the Church of England (an Anglican church)...

CofE Confirmation site

Just go talk to your pastor about confirmation...many churches have a few classes you can take in preparation for it.

Hope this helps

 

[bethdinsmore]

There are two groups of people who usually call themselves Christians. One group is nominal (in name only) Christians --those who live the Christian lifestyle but have not been born again. Of this group, Christ says "I never knew you."

The second group have been born again. By that I mean that each one has made the decision to rely on Christ alone to pay for all his sins on the cross and to get him to Heaven one day--without relying on any personal good works or promises. (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9) That is what is meant by accepting Christ. If I'm not clear enough, you might want to read Dondi's message again. I hope you will make that decision, if you have not already.

After salvation, the born-again Christian is to rely on God to live a holy life of service for the Lord, based on love for God and others. We can tell you more about that, if you wish.

As far as your confirmation and baptism questions, all born-again Christians are to be baptized. In the New Testament, that was by immersion in water--to show the person's belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is best, therefore, to request to be baptized as soon as one decides to rely on Christ as their sinbearer. One needs to simply tell a pastor that they are born again and want to be baptized. He'll make the arrangements.

Even if we have been baptized as an infant, it is not the baptism that the New Testament describes. Many churches do not practice infant baptism. Instead, for infants they have what is called an (optional) dedication service. This is for the parents to promise to bring up the [infant] in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, recognizing that the [infant] belongs to Him first.

[When a child relies on Christ as his sinbearer (I have known this to happen as young as the age of two), then he is ready to be baptized. That is the water immersion that I was talking about as the custom in the New Testament - because the total immersion into water and then coming up out of it is an outward symbol of the person's belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Even if an infant were baptized, he would not be indicating that belief.]

As far as confirmation, I am not aware that it is a Scriptural command, and I really don't know anything about it, except that some followers of that tradition have told me they believe it saves you--but that belief contradicts Scripture.

By the way,
[sign]WELCOME TO CF[/sign]

Aloha in Jesus, friend

 

[starelda]

Even if we have been baptized as an infant, it is not the baptism that the New Testament describes.

Sure it is. Whole households were baptised in Acts..these would have included children also.

Many churches do not practice infant baptism. Instead, they have what is called an (optional) dedication service. This is for the parents to promise to bring up the child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, recognizing that the child belongs to Him first.

Infant baptism does have a similar aspect to it. It's the parents making vows on the childs behalf and promising to raise the child as a Christian...as well as the child being baptised.

As far as confirmation, I am not aware that it is a Scriptural command, and I really don't know anything about it, except that some followers of that tradition have told me they believe it saves you--but that belief contradicts Scripture.

Confirmation is when a person baptised as an infant takes on the vows their parents made...the promises to follow Christ. It's an adult statement of belief just as adult baptism. Also I've never met anyone who believes it saves you.

 

[bethdinsmore]

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear enough about infant baptism. I went back to the post #8 to clarify, and put the additional comments in brackets.

 

[starelda]

It's clear you and me don't agree on this. Though to further clarify what I was saying...whole households were baptised in Acts and this would have included children....be they infants, young kids or teenagers. Families were baptised and there's no mention of excluding infants. I'm also going on the traditions of the early church...not just the NT. The church started off with baptising infants and this has continued. Baptising infants is not a new thing that some churches do. In fact, the new thing is *not* baptising infants.

However, I think it's pointless for me to argue this further as I'm not here to try to change your mind and nor would I want to. I'm just saying that personally, I believe the OP has been baptised and therefore doesn't need baptising again. I don't know what denomination she is but going on the fact her church teaches confirmation I would think her church also believes her infant baptism is proper and thus she doesn't need baptising again. However, it's up to the OP to decide what she believes.

Personally, I'd say she can call herself a Christian and she should just seek confirmation when she feels ready. Others haven't different beliefs but at the end of the day it's up to her to decide what she believes.

 

[Dondi]

Please, the OP is asking help in her Christian life. Let's not confuse her by delving into a debate about infant baptism. Go do that elsewhere. She does not need that right now. You'll just end up confusing her. Thank you.

 

[emmaeve]

Thanks guys!!! bless u for teaching me!!! Still it is all very confusing!!! There seem to be so many rules and different rules for different denominations etc. But you have helped de baffle me alot!!!! If you have time to answer me, i wondered am i allowed to take holy communion? My (confirmed) boyfriend said it would be fine because it would mean alot to me, even though im not confirmed, but i read under the canon law that you should be confirmed or planning to be. It juts makes me so sad that everyone else can remember Jesus in that way and im left out! What do you think? Thanks!!! Love Emma eve xxx
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[starelda]

Thanks guys!!! bless u for teaching me!!! Still it is all very confusing!!! There seem to be so many rules and different rules for different denominations etc. But you have helped de baffle me alot!!!! If you have time to answer me, i wondered am i allowed to take holy communion? My (confirmed) boyfriend said it would be fine because it would mean alot to me, even though im not confirmed, but i read under the canon law that you should be confirmed or planning to be. It juts makes me so sad that everyone else can remember Jesus in that way and im left out! What do you think? Thanks!!! Love Emma eve xxx
​

I think the requirement is just that you be baptised so yes you would be allowed. This is my experience and I'm sure most Anglicans would say the same. Often the vicar says that those who're baptised may take communion at the beginning of a holy communion service, or sometimes it's just printed on a service sheet.

 

[trinity1234]

>>>>I know nothing about what u are talking about concerning being confirmed....the word says that if u repent of your sins,turn from them,ask Jesus into your heart,believe that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again three days later then u r saved and can consider yourself a joint heir to christ>>>hence a christian......thats it...smile

 

[JPPT1974]

>>>>I know nothing about what u are talking about concerning being confirmed....the word says that if u repent of your sins,turn from them,ask Jesus into your heart,believe that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again three days later then u r saved and can consider yourself a joint heir to christ>>>hence a christian......thats it...smile

Accepting Him as Savior & Lord
Repenting of your sins
Being baptized
Joining a church
Continuing your Christian walk through church going
Prayer and Bible studying