Who should I consider "not Christian"?

Lambslove, I don't think Jesus Christ is GOD I believe he is the Son of GOD and I would like to consider myself just as Christian as you believe you would think yourself.

Jesus, was the first of GOD's creation. He would of not created himself.

Originally posted by webboffin
Lambslove, I don't think Jesus Christ is GOD I believe he is the Son of GOD and I would like to consider myself just as Christian as you believe you would think yourself.

Jesus, was the first of GOD's creation. He would of not created himself.

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Hi, (you might like to look these up in the King James)
you are wrong. Christ is as eternal as what we now call the Father, and as is God the Holy Spirit. When you think of God the Son., read Rom. 4:17's last part of the verse. Remember that God cannot lie, and the Everlasting Gospel PLAN is an eternal one!

Heb. 1:5 tells us of the prophecy's fullfillment that was to come, that is recorded in Psalms 2:7.

So who was God talking to in creation saying, let US make man in OUR IMAGE? Gen. 1:26. Or Gen. 3:22, again 'one of US'? ('us' is again, PLURAL)
And in Gen. 10:7? again we see TWO OF US. (in the GodHead) Remember that they have am image! (make man after [our] image)

Now: The Word of God clearly says Holy Spirit & Holy Ghost. And that 'HE' does not testify of HIMSELF, but uplifts Christ. Yet, HE is the third part of the God/Head. (John 16:7-14) The Holy Ghost is just that, this part of the God/Head is 'Spirit'. (remember God is a Spirit?)
Gen. 1:1-2 tells us GOD & the SPIRIT of GOD created! John tells us that it was Christ that spoke the Words in creation! (God spake and and it stood fast!)

I realize that this is not very deep in verses? But the Word is full of verses if one looks for them. Try Rev. 14:6 for the Word Everlasting Gospel! And just define the Word Everlasting, to mean what? (eternal) Now use the Word GOSPEL. Add the two together for AN ETERNAL CHRIST!! Even the PLAN (of becoming a Son) came forth at the needed time/frame. Yet, CHRIST IS EVERLASTING AS HIS EVERLASTING GOSPEL!
--P/N/B/

I do not want to argue as I don't think that is what God would want of us. But do feel I can express my personal beliefs here.

I have read the bible several times and many different versions. That isn't to say I am a bigger expert than anyone else but my point is this, I haven't based my opinion on one scripture or one version of the bible.

In reading the bible without any prior belief system I never read anything that indicated to me that Jesus was GOD. I won't get into too many points in one letter but just want to point our that I do believe Jesus was the son of GOD and am taking nothing away from him and the fact that he is our saviour and without him there is no hope for redemption.

There are just too many things that indicate to me that he isn't GOD. The bible calls Jesus the first of GOD'S creations. Rev 3:14 refers to Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness as the first of GOD's creations. If GOD has always existed then he wasn't created and if he were also Jesus than he would have no need to be created. GOD didn't create himself as he has always existed? And this wasn't referring to his human self. It says the first of all creation, before the earth was created. The book also says that at the end that Jesus would hand over the kingdom which had been brought to perfection to his father. If Jesus were GOD, why would he have to hand anything over to him? Wouldn't it already be his. While Jesus was on the earth he spent many hours praying to GOD. If he were GOD who was he praying to? In the garden he prayed, let not my will but yours be done? If he was GOD what sense would that statement even make? When he was killed he was resurrected from the dead? If he were dead and he was God, who was alive to resurrect him? Which brings about another point to me. He also said when being persecuted, "Father, fogive them for they know not what they do". If he were GOD then he would have already forgiven them, who was his petitioning for mercy for the people?

Jesus came and died because of Adam's sin. Adam was a perfect man so a perfect man had to make the sacrifice. A corresponding price had to be paid. What is man that GOD himself would have to die to cover their sins? I dont' mean to be sarcastic but wouldn't GOD dying to cover mans sin be a little overkill? He said that a sacrifice, a death would cover the sins. If Jesus was GOD and GOD can't die then no death ocurred and that would make the whole ransom a hoax. I do not say that with sarcasm or intent to be rude, it just doesn't make sense to me. Either Jesus died or he didn't and since GOD can't die then Jesus could not have been GOD.

Whenever there has been a vision of heaven, rather it be in the Old Testement or the New, the person has, rather it is Daniel, Ezekiel or John always talked about seeing the throne of GOD and someone like the son of man (Jesus) at his right hand. In the heavens why would a distinction need to be made , there wouldn't, but there is always two seperate individuals mentioned as being seen. And never is there a third individual, Holy Spirit mentioned.

Jesus never made the claim to be GOD. He always claimed to be the Son of God.

Again, these are my opinions and what I have gleaned from reading the bible. It is not my intent to tell anyone that what they believe is wrong or to convince anyone that what I believe is true. It is simply what I have come to understand from my own reading of the bible.

Originally posted by Drought
Does anyone have a sort of.. well.. like a list,

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Yes, I have a list of things that make up the mind of Christ. http://home.neo.rr.com/johnr7/MindChrist/

Also, if your interested I could give you a list of some of the different garments we are to wear as christians. Let me know, thanks, JohnR7

Originally posted by webboffin
I don't think Jesus Christ is GOD I believe he is the Son of GOD 

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Jesus is the express image of the Father. Everything we can know about God the Father, we find in Jesus.

They have different personalitys. But they have all the thoughts, the same mind, the same attitude.

Originally posted by JohnR7
I could give you a list of some of the different garments we are to wear as christians.

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A list of garments? Is this a metaphor, or are you talking about real garments, i.e. clothing?

 

JN 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.


JN 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is God's Human/Physical Form

Originally posted by kern
Uhhh....care to name one of these 'non-Christian' denominations you're talking about here? I suspect it rhymes with "batholic", but I'll read on:



Good thing you can speak for "most" Protestants! I was under the impression that most people considered Catholics brothers in Christ (as we consider Protestants to be). I guess I was wrong.



I wouldn't lump too many people in with you here -- most people on the boards are not (openly, at least) anti-Catholic.

It sounds like you have the usual misconceptions about Catholicism. Might want to give the FAQ in the One Bread, One Body section a read.

-Chris

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Dear Kern,

I apologize for not being more specific. I should have said "likely the majority of us who are born-again evangelicals/charismatics . . . ."

[Allegedly] In Him, jim

(1) 16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good[1] Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
17So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?[2] No one is good but One, that is, God.[3] But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Notice, He did not tell the man he was wrong in calling Him
good.

FOMWatts<><

Where do you think the doctrine of the Trinity came from?

If you said early Catholic church councils held by priests and bishops, overseen by the Bishop of Rome then you are correct. It's funny how the very group that hammered out the doctrine of the Trinity is considered non-Christian. Has any Protestant ever considered that the word Trinity is nowhere in the Bible? And yet we believe it is a necessity to be Christian. Because if we didn't have the doctrine already set we might go astray like those who say, "Jesus never claimed to be God, he claimed to be the Son of God." "It is simply what I have come to understand from my own reading of the Bible." No offence intended, I'm just trying to make a point.

Thanx, Luv
Theresa

"Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved...."

The Lord's name is Jesus.

Therefore eveyone who confesses Jesus as Lord is a Christian. They may not be "good" Christians who behave as they should. But they are Christians.

&nbsp;

Therefore,&nbsp;a person who does not confess Jesus as Lord is not a Christian.

Originally posted by FOMWatts&lt;&gt;&lt;
(1) 16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good[1] Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
17So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?[2] No one is good but One, that is, God.[3] But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Notice, He did not tell the man he was wrong in calling Him
good.

FOMWatts&lt;&gt;&lt;

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Dear FOMWatts,

That's not true, but merely your conclusion.

The scripture you quote could be taken one of two ways:

1) It could be inferred, that Jesus, when He asked, "Why do you call ME good?", was saying HE should not be called good, but only God, and therefor it was a somewhat indirect denial.&nbsp;Or,

2) It could be as you say, and although Jesus wasn't admitting to being good or God, He was coyly [for lack of a better word] using the person's addressing Him as "good" as implying it to be a prophetic word.

When our hearts are clouded with our doctrines held as idols, we will only see one viewpoint. The ideal is to be free of any and all idols of the heart, and worship Jesus only in Spirit and not hold Him and His Words as idols of worship. Then, as He supernaturally reveals the truth regarding specific issues, we can allow their being written upon our heart by the hand of God, and not held their by our own fleshly efforts through the intellect and to protect and justify any hidden sin for which we're unaware.

(Such purity also then allows us to unbiasedly see all sides of an issue, not being challenged in heart and therefor not forced to defend something just to keep our heart shrouded from any awareness of its sin. We are then guided by His Spirit and not our emotions and its source of flesh.)

"The flesh profits nothing. It's the Spirit which gives Life."

Originally posted by didaskalos
"Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved...."

The Lord's name is Jesus.

Therefore eveyone who confesses Jesus as Lord is a Christian. They may not be "good" Christians who behave as they should. But they are Christians.

&nbsp;

Therefore,&nbsp;a person who does not confess Jesus as Lord is not a Christian.

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Dear didaskalos,

While true, your too concise of a statement leaves much ambiguity.

Recall how Jesus stated many who call Him Lord will someday be met with His denying them - "I never knew you."

To form a doctrine on who is and who is not a Christian, we must assemble all scriptures regarding the topic and consider their collective implications.

If you really want the complete truth regarding this, might I suggest you buy one of those inexpensive two dollar paperback Bibles, and go through it physically cutting out all passages that deal with man's salvation. You could then assemble and catagorize them according to their specific aspects, and finally see the whole of it. (Or, if it's easier or seems blasphemous to cut up a Bible, use a copy-and-paste method with Bible softwear.)

"Dear Timothy . . . ALL scripture is good for . . . doctrine . . .."

Well, there are perhaps two different issues here.

1. Who is a true Christian?
and
2. Who should I consider Christian?

My viewpoint is this: For #1, only God knows. We can quibble over the definition of "true Christian" and what the Bible says, but God is the only one who truly knows a person's heart.

So for #2, I think that if someone calls themselves a Christian you should consider them a Christian. Otherwise I feel that you are judging something that you do not have the full information to judge.

-Chris

Originally posted by kern
Well, there are perhaps two different issues here.

1. Who is a true Christian?
and
2. Who should I consider Christian?

My viewpoint is this: For #1, only God knows. We can quibble over the definition of "true Christian" and what the Bible says, but God is the only one who truly knows a person's heart.

So for #2, I think that if someone calls themselves a Christian you should consider them a Christian. Otherwise I feel that you are judging something that you do not have the full information to judge.

-Chris

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kern,

Your #1: Amen!

Your #2: I agree with the latter half, insofar as it could be separated from what I would have to disagree on regarding your first sentance.

I would suggest rather than "consider them a Christian," we would do better to just not consider them either way unless circumstances require it.

IF any considering is needed for whatever reason, such as perhaps when we need to know if we intend to enter into some kind of relationship with them, then it's imperative we find out. But since, as you so correctly stated, only God knows, only He can reveal to us the genuineness of another's salvation.

I knew of a man who had been living with a women about 6 or 7 years. They had a child together. This man then was born-again one day. He somehow immediately recognized both the fact he was living in sin by cohabitating with the mother of his child, but he also knew God forbids the believer to be "unequally yoked."

Expressing both these points to his mate the following day, she immediately recounted to him a story about how she had one time been led to pray some "Sinner's Prayer" by the mother of one of her friends.

Of course, the man wanted to believe this more than anything , so he acceptrd her word and they God married. Well, just as "a house divided cannot stand," it was within a year that they were divorced.

The same goes for relationships with those in our church. While Jesus encourages those of us who are strong enough to stand, to intermingle with the lost in the hopes of them seeing the Gospel, He also warns us not fellowship with those claiming to be our brothers and sisters, and yet who live solely by the works of self-righteousness.

("Whoever is not [truly] for Me, is at work against Me." [para.])

In other words, while we are to seek unity with brethren of all denominations, there exists in the world two very dichotomus Christian bodies. One is the true, composed of all those who through Grace by Faith were instantly and supernaturally transformed into a child of God, there also exists this other body who simply use the principles of Christianity as the basis for mere religion - and God hates religion.

So, yes, let's be "gentle as doves" and not judge another's trueness based on our fleshly judgments, but be also deligent and "wise as serpents" with those who want to have fellowship with us in whatever form, to be certain we are not entering into a relationship of impropriety. Light must not have fellowship with darkness. There can be no unity here.

Originally posted by brotherjim
Dear didaskalos,

While true, your too concise of a statement leaves much ambiguity.

Recall how Jesus stated many who call Him Lord will someday be met with His denying them - "I never knew you."

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Quite true that this was said... but who was He talking to? Get your two dollar bible out and Look again:

"...I never knew you..."

He was talking to people who never knew Him. Not to people who knew Him and just behaved badly. He was talking to people who were wolves in sheeps clothing... not to sheep who behaved like wolves. &nbsp;The other side is true also... He will not say this to people who had ever come to know Him. That is He will not say it to me, or you, or anyone else reading this who is saved.

To form a doctrine on who is and who is not a Christian, we must assemble all scriptures regarding the topic and consider their collective implications.

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Is it not quite that easy... one must rightly divide these&nbsp;scriptures. For instance.. in the passage you quoted... who was he talking to? He was not talking to Christians. There were none yet.&nbsp;He was talking to Jews who were&nbsp;still attempting to be justified by the&nbsp;law. &nbsp;Over all, He was not talking about what it takes to be a Christian. He was proving the impossibility of being saved by&nbsp;the law.&nbsp;I think what you are implying is not&nbsp;the definintion of a true Christian.. but the definition of&nbsp;a&nbsp;Judaized Christain. That is a&nbsp;believer who found salvation by faith... and then went the way of the Galatians who thought they had to go back under the law&nbsp;in order to stay saved.

&nbsp;

If you really want the complete truth regarding this, might I suggest you buy one of those inexpensive two dollar paperback Bibles, and go through it physically cutting out all passages that deal with man's salvation. You could then assemble and catagorize them according to their specific aspects, and finally see the whole of it. (Or, if it's easier or seems blasphemous to cut up a Bible, use a copy-and-paste method with Bible softwear.)

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Thanks for the advice.. I actually did this back in the seventies. Marked and cut up a lot of good Bibles. But I am not sure this "shake and bake" method always leads to sound doctrine. I have found some pretty confused people who don't really know what to believe because they are trying to believe everything and end up believing nothing. For every truth they find, they also find a contradicting truth to counter it. In the end, all these "truths" cancel each other out, and they do not know what to believe.

"Dear Timothy . . . ALL scripture is good for . . . doctrine . . .."

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I have read some stuff on these&nbsp;very boards where people would quote things from Eccesasties,&nbsp;Job, and other places... which really did not make for sound&nbsp;doctrine. It was from the scripture, and it held truth... but&nbsp;it was never intended to be used as Christian truth for faith.&nbsp;

Originally posted by lambslove
Anyone who says that there is another way of salvation besides Christ should not be considered a Christian. Anyone who says that everyone is saved, regardless of their faith, should not be considered a Christian. Anyone who says that Christ is not God should not be considered Christian.

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That's not enough. Mormons reject the Triune God, but claim that Jesus is God. With them, there are many gods. They also believe that the Atonement was Christ's suffering in Gethsemane and that the atonement provides a general salvation for all humans regardless of what they believe. This general salvation equals a reprieve from physical death, but only by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Mormon church can an individual go to the Celestial Kingdom. I apologize if this has already been addressed. I haven't read all the posts.

We can easily say that Mormonism is not Christianity. If a Mormon finds the Lord in spite of the Mormon teachings, he's a Christian, but he would hightail it out of that organization because he'd have a hunger for the truth.

Christians believe in the Triune God. If you have another god, he isn't the God of the Bible.

Originally posted by webboffin
Lambslove, I don't think Jesus Christ is GOD I believe he is the Son of GOD and I would like to consider myself just as Christian&nbsp;as you believe you would think yourself.

Jesus, was the first of GOD's creation. He would of not created himself.

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&nbsp;

Jesus was not created.

John 1 : 1 (KJV)
<SUP>1</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

<SUP>14</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And the Word 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.
<SUP>15</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

&nbsp;

Colossians 1 : 10 - 20 (KJV)

<SUP>10</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
<SUP>11</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
<SUP>12</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
<SUP>13</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
<SUP>14</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
<SUP>15</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
<SUP>16</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
<SUP>17</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
<SUP>18</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
<SUP>19</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
<SUP>20</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.&nbsp;


&nbsp;
GOD IS ONE GOD

1. Deuteronomy 6 : 4 — There is only one God, Jehovah.

2. Isaiah 43 : 10-11— He is the LORD and only Savior.

3. Isaiah 44 : 6 — He is the&nbsp;first and the&nbsp;last.

4. Revelation 1 : 8 — He is the Lord God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega.

5. Revelation 22 : 13, 16 — Jesus is the&nbsp;first and the&nbsp;last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.

6. Revelation 1 : 17-18 — The one God who was the&nbsp;first and the&nbsp;last died and rose again!

7. Hebrews 1 : 1, 2, 8 — God the Father calls the Son, "God."

8. Acts 5 : 3-4 --Peter calls the Holy Spirit, "God."

9. John 6 : 27 --Jesus calls the Father, "God."&nbsp;


The Trinity Revealed in the Resurrection&nbsp;

1. Acts 10 : 39-40 — God raised Christ from the dead.

2. 1 Thessalonians 1 : 10 — God the Father raised the Son from the dead.

3. Romans 8 : 11 — God the Spirit raised the Son from the dead.

4. John 2 : 19-22 — God the Son raised Himself from the dead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Isaiah 43 : 10 (KJV)

10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

There's only one God. There was&nbsp;never any&nbsp;other&nbsp;God. There&nbsp;never will be any other&nbsp;God.

Exodus 20 : 3 (KJV)

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Hi,
there will be 'folk' who will be saved who have NEVER even heard of Christ as we know Him! (see Rom. 2:13-*15) Verse 15 is the one to highlight though, for we see that they are born again & did not even know it!
(some times we think that we are SO necessary, huh?)

But please do not miss the 'LAW OF GOD WRITTEN IN THEIR HEART'!
Now: If they had known or heard of our Master, as we now know Him, what would have been their reaction? All mankind will have been judged by the LIGHT that they have accepted or rejected! (see Luke 12:47-48)
P/N/B/

1st November 2002 at 02:01 AM Drought said this in Post #1

I read the forum rules, and understand that the definition of "Christian" is by the Niscene Council decree, but I admit that I don't really know enough of other alleged denominations to know offhand whether or not I should consider them Christians or unsaved.

For instance, I'm sure Mormons would tell me they belive the entire Creed, but I've seen them specifically referred to as "not Christians" on this site. I don't know enough about their doctrine to know where they differ, though. I've also heard (other places, not here) Catholics being referred to as "not Christian", for totally different reasons.

Does anyone have a sort of.. well.. like a list, or know of one, so I know how to better relate to people who belong to smaller groups calling themselves Christian? Even one just pertaining to these boards? I'd be very grateful.

~Drought

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Greetings, Drought.

&nbsp;The first thing that sprung into my mind upon reading the title to the post was this verse:

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Phillipians 2:3

&nbsp;And this, to me, illuminates a part of the Mind of Christ (as the chapter proceeds to say) :

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
&nbsp;&nbsp;Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
&nbsp;&nbsp;But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
&nbsp;&nbsp;And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phillipians 2:5-8

You'll notice here that the very life of Christ impressed upon Paul the importance of taking on the nature of a servant. A servant's job is not to judge, not to make decisions, but to obey the Master. And the Master said this:

"&nbsp;But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
&nbsp;&nbsp;And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:11,12

&nbsp;It comes back to us looking on ourselves first. Realizing we have our own sin and that we are called to Christ - not to judge others, but to run the race for ourselves. In that chapter in Matthew 23, Jesus goes on to speak about those that made the long prayers and travelled all over just to make a single convert but were hypocrites. They themselves were not entering into the kingdom and prevented others from doing so. As hypocrites, they would receive the harsher judgement. So if we do decide to adjudge someone as a believer or not, we should be ABSOLUTELY certain and have no doubt before we do so. And our first goal should not be deciding who is and who isn't a christian, but living for Christ that those who are around us may see our good works AND GLORIFY OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. Judgement doesn't do that. And if we are of our Father in Heaven, then He will receive the praise because it will be evident in our actions that we work&nbsp;not for ourselves, but for Him.

&nbsp;One final passage that, to me, shows the extent to which Jesus wanted His own to go for all men - whether believers or not:

"&nbsp;Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:&nbsp;
&nbsp; But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.&nbsp;
&nbsp; And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

&nbsp;Matthew 5:38-48

After all, this is how God behaves towards ALL men, regardless of who they are. So should we. Even Jesus said He didn't come to judge but that He was the light that would expose the darkness. Man's own words would judge him before God the Father when the time comes.


&nbsp;So I would be very careful about even deciding whether someone is a believer or not. We simply do not know, and it should NEVER change how we act towards that person.