FLANDIDLYANDERS
When I am slain may my corpse lie facing the Enemy
Do we need a definition at all?
Why not just get to know each other and find Jesus there?
Why not just get to know each other and find Jesus there?
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[open]What Makes a Christian a Christian?
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Kaonashi
If God is thy father, man is thy brother.
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Why don't we use the definitions that the one who started all this jazz gave us?
Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
Mat 22:35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
Mat 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.
Mat 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Mat 25:31 But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;
Mat 25:33 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
Mat 25:36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink;
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
Why would we want to be separated from Non-Christians anyways? We are no better then them.
Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
Mat 22:35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
Mat 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.
Mat 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Mat 25:31 But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;
Mat 25:33 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
Mat 25:36 naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink;
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
Why would we want to be separated from Non-Christians anyways? We are no better then them.
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HannahBanana
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My personal definition of "Christian" is "one who has sincerely and willingly accepted Christ as their savior." Nothing more, nothing less. 
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JulySheMustFly
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I have no idea what makes other people christians. I personally can't stand the word anymore for what others have made it.
I'd rather be a follower of Christ and to follow him I need to accept that He is the way, the truth and the life. From there I can only attempt to follow that example.
I think there are many who can follow the example set by Christ but they do not accept that He is truth. So, from there I have no idea if I'll see them again but I hold on hope that God finds them christian.
I'd rather be a follower of Christ and to follow him I need to accept that He is the way, the truth and the life. From there I can only attempt to follow that example.
I think there are many who can follow the example set by Christ but they do not accept that He is truth. So, from there I have no idea if I'll see them again but I hold on hope that God finds them christian.
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i agree and great point.
and i personally don't think we need a definition. like Kanoashi pointed out, we are no better than them. and for me to add on from that (hope you don't mind bro) i agree. i see no use to seperate ourselves from the non-Christians. if God sees it in that light, so be it. nevertheless, i'm still part of the wheat that get sifted through as either good product, or wasted product.
it's just something i sometimes wonder tho. how people define things.
plus it came back to me when someone special to me, answered my question when i asked this person. the answer shocked me. the person didn't know how i've changed some views that i've mentioned that i was questioning, but still the answer kind of took me back.
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fellowshippingwithjesus
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Hello,
What makes a Christian a true Christian?
LOVE.
True and Sincere LOVE for one another.
God bless you friends.
JESUS LOVES US! YaY!
Thank you LORD 
fellowshippingwithjesus
GOD IS GOOD & GOD IS LOVE!!
What makes a Christian a true Christian?
LOVE.
True and Sincere LOVE for one another.
God bless you friends.
JESUS LOVES US! YaY!
Thank you LORD
fellowshippingwithjesus
GOD IS GOOD & GOD IS LOVE!!
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brightmorningstar
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Well a Christian is someone who is seeking to be a disciple of Christ.
The basic premise of the thread is surely incorrect as Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to love God and love each other and ones neighbour. Indeed He said if we obey His teachings and commands we love Him and love God. Not all His teachings were helping the poor, some of them were honouring God in the way lives are lived and testifying to God's love through Jesus. Faith in Jesus Christ is essentially the difference between Christians and non Christians.
The basic premise of the thread is surely incorrect as Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to love God and love each other and ones neighbour. Indeed He said if we obey His teachings and commands we love Him and love God. Not all His teachings were helping the poor, some of them were honouring God in the way lives are lived and testifying to God's love through Jesus. Faith in Jesus Christ is essentially the difference between Christians and non Christians.
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UberLutheran
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A Christian is a person who believes that Christ was fully divine and yet fully human, and who believes Jesus Christ crucified, died and was resurrected in propitiation for our sins.
I think there are good Christians (those who sincerely try to model and follow Christ in all their actions) and bad Christians (legalists or people who simply don't care); and I'm comfortable saying that the strength and quality of our belief can be demonstrated in our works (though our works do not save us).
I think there are profoundly moral, even great people of other faiths. I believe that each of the world religions is a path to God, and that people of other faiths do go to Heaven, just as we do; but I would not call a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew, a Baha'i, etc. a Christian. Each world religion has its own specific sets of beliefs which are unique to that religion.
I think there are good Christians (those who sincerely try to model and follow Christ in all their actions) and bad Christians (legalists or people who simply don't care); and I'm comfortable saying that the strength and quality of our belief can be demonstrated in our works (though our works do not save us).
I think there are profoundly moral, even great people of other faiths. I believe that each of the world religions is a path to God, and that people of other faiths do go to Heaven, just as we do; but I would not call a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew, a Baha'i, etc. a Christian. Each world religion has its own specific sets of beliefs which are unique to that religion.
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brightmorningstar
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Dear Uberlutheran,
I believe that each of the world religions is a path to God, and that people of other faiths do go to Heaven,
I am not disputing anyone can or cant go to heaven, I think thats up to Jesus.
But as to a path to God, Jesus says that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28), that He will judge the nations (Matt 25), that He is the truth the way and the life and that no-one comes to the Father except through Him.
I am baffled. As other religions dont believe Jesus is the only path to God, surely you as Christian should?
I believe that each of the world religions is a path to God, and that people of other faiths do go to Heaven,
I am not disputing anyone can or cant go to heaven, I think thats up to Jesus.
But as to a path to God, Jesus says that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28), that He will judge the nations (Matt 25), that He is the truth the way and the life and that no-one comes to the Father except through Him.
I am baffled. As other religions dont believe Jesus is the only path to God, surely you as Christian should?
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UberLutheran
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While I believe there are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahai's, Sikh's, etc. etc. and they each have their own unique sets of beliefs, I also believe that they are all paths to God.
Being a Christian doesn't make anyone more or less spiritual than being a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, etc.
The various religions are for our benefit, not God's.
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UberLutheran
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I've heard this said in AA and Al-Anon meetings:
Religion is for people who are afraid of going to Hell.
Recovery is for people who have already been to Hell. (Some of the most profoundly spiritual and/or religious people I've ever met were those who are alcoholic and hit particularly hard "bottoms" -- and recovered; or families and friends of alcoholics and also hit particularly hard "bottoms" -- and recovered.)
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UberLutheran
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WOW -- you really DO know how a lot of us feel!!!
THANK YOU for saying that: there are days over in Ethics and Philosophy when I'm truly embarrassed to call myself "Christian", especially after seeing how nasty, hateful and condemning some of the other "Christians" can be!
And these same people seem to think their behavior is really "cool".
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brightmorningstar
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But what makes a Christian is one who knows there is no condmenation in Christ. Anyone feeling condemned is also not knowing this as those who condemn. But what I find mostly is people are offended by the teachings of Jesus Christ more than the Christians who speak His testimony.
I think it was Ghandi who said He liked Christ but he didnt like Christans.. Thats the whole point about Christianty, its about Jesus Christ and who we are in Him.
I think it was Ghandi who said He liked Christ but he didnt like Christans.. Thats the whole point about Christianty, its about Jesus Christ and who we are in Him.
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