Christianity: Define Christian

Ronald raises a good point though...if you really wanted to follow Jesus, why reject all those Jewish rituals/traditions that Jesus kept?

anders said:

Nice post, Allan, but the theme of this topic is how to define a Christian. What is your definition, which do you think are the crucial points, without which a person is no Christian, and which beliefs deny that definition?

Click to expand...

My definition.

Crucial is the point, The Cross. Crossing over from human nature to the nature of Jesus. Crucifying the flesh nature.

I have explained and defined a Christian indirectly. But I don't like using the word because of the preconceptions and misconceptions it produces.

A Christian is a person who should be actively pursuing a goal of Divine Love.
That is the ultimate goal. It is energizing, gentle and pure and it is achieved through a supernatural experience in the nature of Jesus.

A person who is being transformed would have spiritual gifts.

I would expect to see a Christian who is wanting to follow Christ to be in a process toward a substantial nature change and and to take the opportunity that has been freely given to know God the Father directly.

A person wouldn't be a Christian if they hadn't had an initiation of the Holy Spirit as a fore taste of God's power and Love.

An unconverted resistent persons mind would be active in the human realm
and although they could be nice people, intelligent they would hinder the process of reaching God's Love for others.

A person can say something and not believe it. They can Lie. Belief is something that needs to be discerned. People generally test, and says things they don't really mean.

I know what is active in me and when someone is "hearing" what is being said I am aware of it. If someone is resistant the Holy Spirit doesn't build.

The biggest problem would be a person who accepted Jesus Christ the name but denied the working of the power of the Holy Spirit which is in the process of reaching the goal of Divine Love.

The religion of Christianity denies the power and the process of reaching the goal of Divine Love.

It is possible to believe about something but not in something.

Believe in God.

Which beliefs deny that definition - I think Ive been at the computor too long ask that a different way.

Allan said:

I think the Romans called the Christians by that name. It loosely means they were in the nature of Jesus.

Click to expand...

Acts 11:26
And when he (Barnabas) had found him (Saul), he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Note: that names in parenthesis I placed there for clarity. (Ref Acts.11:25)

Where to start - - -

True Christianity is believing on Jesus as your Lord and Savior and confessing this with your mouth

Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

If this is not part of one's belief system, then one shouldn't call oneself a Christian. However many people do anyways. And you usually can tell because thier belief system is 'all over the place'.

In order to believe as Romans 10:9 says, you must also believe that Jesus is God, that He came to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for mankind, That He died and arose again, that He is in Heaven intervening for us, that He sent the Holy Spirit for us (means the Holy Spirit exists), and that He is comming again soon. Why? Because He (Jesus) said so. He quoted 'Old Testament' Scripture (Jewish Law) time and time again as truth, and as historical fact.

The Nicene Creed, the original of which dates from the first ecumenical Council, which was held at Nicæa, A.D. 325 Lists out the basics of what Christians must believe in order to call themselves Christian.

Someone up above said something about Christians not believing in the Holy Spirit. I don't think that exactly true; but there are many Christians who do not believe in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself said that the only sin that was unforgivable was blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So He meant for us to believe in the Holy Spirit as a part of the Trinity.

I hope this helps. I know it is kind of a 'shotgun' reply.

God Bless

paul_an_apostle said:

Acts 11:26
And when he (Barnabas) had found him (Saul), he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.


Antioch is in Greece and the Roman Governor resided there.

What does the word Christ mean?

Note: that names in parenthesis I placed there for clarity. (Ref Acts.11:25)

Where to start - - -

True Christianity is believing on Jesus as your Lord and Savior and confessing this with your mouth



Todays Christianity is confessing with the mouth only and they look to this as accreditation amongst the simple minded, and a good IQ requirement amongst the hierarchy .

I am familiar with mainstream Christianity.


The Holy spirit actively assists belief in the heart.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

By faith we know that the world was framed by the word of God so that which appears was not made by that which is seen.

The word is actively manifesting everything right now.

I have had intimate contact with the creator of the universe.


Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.



For with the heart one belives to righteousness and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

If this is not part of one's belief system, then one shouldn't call oneself a Christian. However many people do anyways. And you usually can tell because thier belief system is 'all over the place'.



In order to believe as Romans 10:9 says, you must also believe that Jesus is God, that He came to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for mankind, That He died and arose again, that He is in Heaven intervening for us, that He sent the Holy Spirit for us (means the Holy Spirit exists), and that He is comming again soon. Why? Because He (Jesus) said so. He quoted 'Old Testament' Scripture (Jewish Law) time and time again as truth, and as historical fact.

The Nicene Creed, the original of which dates from the first ecumenical Council, which was held at Nicæa, A.D. 325 Lists out the basics of what Christians must believe in order to call themselves Christian.

Someone up above said something about Christians not believing in the Holy Spirit. I don't think that exactly true; but there are many Christians who do not believe in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself said that the only sin that was unforgivable was blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So He meant for us to believe in the Holy Spirit as a part of the Trinity.

I hope this helps. I know it is kind of a 'shotgun' reply.

God Bless

Click to expand...

Having had a supernatural experience I went into Christian churches and found they were active in the realm of the human mind as much as any one.

This realm produces all the conflict and poor life judgement we see.

False prophets still abound, out of control Pastors and as you said belief systems all over the place.

The experience that God drew me into, revealing, the nature of Jesus and many concepts relating to the immediate and intimate connection God my Father has in the manifestation of everything also showed me how humans cannot know God.

God is Close at hand.
A rebellious nature removes humans from God's immediate sight.
Rebelliosness is as witchcraft.
Witchcraft is used by every human.
Humans use witchcraft penetrating the subconscious to make others fell good, to feel bad to be angry to be envious etc.

So how does this work. Look around you, how do you interact with people.
Are you perfect.
Are you tested or are you in a safe environment.
People change under pressure, do you have good attributes.

What mental (mind) changes would need to occur to be seperate from using witchcraft?

The Christian Church has placed itself in a safe place and a wall of unbelief has placed it in the human realm of the mind. They use natural human power to generate feelings. Any mass congregation of people has power, such as football and self empowerment seminars.

Bible intellect (a Pharisee Mentality) has drawn attention away from reality.

Satan is within the expression of own self (by using witchcraft), by magnifying the power that is more familiar and humanly natural, you are more likely to get what you want. It is very natural but against God.

Jesus resisted this realm and didn't shrink back from telling the intellectual religious their father was Satan, the father of lies.

If the above sounds a bit personal I am generalizing.

If you trully believe you will hear what is being said.

What is a Christian?


Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul (Luke 9:23-25).
A Christian realizes (by the grace of God) that he or she is a sinner and that by nature is dead in tresspasses and sin(Ephesians 2:1-9). A Christian realizes that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven above to this sin cursed world to die on the cross to satisfy the wrath of a holy God. A Christian understands that he or she is only a child of God by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. The christian has nothing in themselves by which to boast (galatians 6:14). A christian, through the power of the Holy Spirit should always seek, not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of their mind(Romans 12:2). A Christian seeks to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themsleves. A christian realizes this one thing:
There will be no one in hell that does not deserve to be there; And there will only be One in heaven that deserves to be there.

Ceridwen018 said:

Nice definition, Ronald.

Personally, I agree with Maize. CHRISTianity is about following the teachings of Jesus. As for the other stuff added by organized religion, although perhaps unecessary, what harm does it do? 'Christian' is a pretty broad term as it is. You can have your purists who reject all the flowery ritual and you can have your everyday practitioner who recognizes holy days etc. Both of these, however, have Jesus in common.

Click to expand...

The harm anything extra added does, it binds up true worship. Idol worship is setting up stumbling blocks or impediments to a goal.

The goal of true belief is Divine Love and a pure heart. When talking out of a pure heart there is no human mind input. It is Holy and perfect.

In my experience it was only when I ceased all my own activities and turned every distracting thought toward a new nature in Christ for 3 weeks that I achieved this. Almost every word and thought completley directed toward what I believed. Fasting and praying for purity and to be made Holy. Speaking out loud, intuitive thoughts that were not my thinking but revelations, inspiring and energizing.

I think there is a little danger in what I did for an uninitiated person.

It is like self hypnosis, brain washing and self induced mind control and good acting, or that is how it starts out but something benevolent takes over and it gets better and better and when complete the realization comes that this is a true experience of God.

And the realization comes that this is impossible to achieve in a western culture. And the realization comes that the end of human endeavour is destruction unless there is intervention in the mind of the human.

Well Christian is definitive of one who believes that JESUS was and is the Messiah.So that is the first thing.Secondly, JESUS said, " My sheep will hear my voice" so I would say 'A True Christian' would be highly read in both Testaments since JESUS gave teachings from the OLD TESTAMENT.Thirdly a 'TRUE CHRISTIAN' would be avidly living out the directives of JESUS.Each according to the leading of HIS HOLY SPIRIT.

I know that is not a specific but as the Holy Spirit moves us individually we must recognize that each of us will assume a different role in the body of Christ.Scripture teaches that 'you will know them by their fruits'. I define those fruits to be that shedding away by repentance of those worldly weakness's we each have inhierant in our nature.As those weaknesses are shed then the fruits of the spirit are magnified and that is how we recognize a 'TRUE CHRISTIAN'. My opin.

By emphasising 'TRUE CHRISTIAN' I do not imply that new comers to the faith will know these things. A new believer has only HIS personal acknowledgement that JESUS is HIS/HER LORD. That is enough, but if the acceptance is in truth then the fruits will be forthcoming.Repentance means a changing from the old to the new.

By emphasising 'TRUE CHRISTIAN' I do not imply that new comers to the faith will know these things. A new believer has only HIS personal acknowledgement that JESUS is HIS/HER LORD. That is enough, but if the acceptance is in truth then the fruits will be forthcoming.Repentance means a changing from the old to the new.[/QUOTE]

There is a problem in relating what needs to be escaped from because most Christians think they are saved and then remain in a static condition.

The level of belief that needs to be achieved isn't even known to exist.

The Holy Spirit is a crucial part in first experience as it gives a fore taste of power and a Knowledge that God is true and the nature of Jesus is an experience that can be attained.

Being purified from the inside.

A Christian is someonethat believes Christ is the Savior and redeemer of the world.

Anything added to that definition breaks into the realm of sectarian division. If you bring up specific doctrine you seperate yourself from other Christians. If you want the definition of a true follower of Christ that's another story, but this definition has to be general or it is biased.

dan said:

A Christian is someonethat believes Christ is the Savior and redeemer of the world.

Anything added to that definition breaks into the realm of sectarian division. If you bring up specific doctrine you seperate yourself from other Christians. If you want the definition of a true follower of Christ that's another story, but this definition has to be general or it is biased.

Click to expand...

Hello Dan,

What is belief? There can be some depth to this.

Most Christians will say something and not truly believe it but just to snuggle into a Church culture.

If the talk sounds right then that's enough evidently. Talk the talk but what about the walk.

This holds all worship back and it is important to commune with God but this can not be done in an unworthy manner.

The church worship can then attempt to take a corrupt nature into a Holy Place. The emmotional wellbeing of the participants suffers. (charismatic)
Power is placed on the belief in self rather than belief in God.
Demons attach to the self and then have to be "cast out".

Some Churches play it safe and every ones development is static. The spiritual process is stopped. They are places of comfort, social places.

The process is meant to purify,

There is a big ? hanging over Christianity.

A true christian is cognizant of a great reality. They simply believe that they are what the Word says they are; They believe they have what the Word of God says they have; They believe they will be what the Word of God says they will be. And they believe that they have the power that the Word of God says they have even though they are an earthen vessel. The critical factor is that the excellency of the power in them is not of themselves, but of God. Their excellency is of God and He is within them through Christ.

I think anyone who takes the name of Christ upon himself deserves to be called Christian. Whether or not he's doing the Lord a service by that representation has nothing to do with a label. Christianity as a whole has more bugs to work out than we can know, but it maintains its title. A true follower of Christ really doesn't worry about titles at all. A true follower of Christ has the Spirit of the Lord as his guide and prefers to act according to the will of God before anything else. I know there are true followers of Christ in almost every Christian sect, so I think doctrine shoudln't be taken into account. I believe there is only one church with the correct authority and the correct interpretation of things, but I don't think that church has a monopoly on righteousness. Anyone can have the Spirit of the Lord in there life, Jewish, Christian Muslim or whatever. It's not about church membership, it's about loving God for the right reasons.

I agree with wilieha (on the first post page), it is not enough for someone to simply 'believe' in Jesus/God/Holy Spirit (Not going into the trinity), but also to follow Jesus' example and teachings trying to do His will...
Afterall I believe that the war in Iraq exist/ed/s but I don't neccesarily agree or go along with it...

Personally it is essential to accept Jesus as your personaly Saviour, ask for forgiveness of your sins, and thus try to, with all your will, do His will...

Christian- christ like

Christians should be people who believe in "Jesus" and try to emulate him in every way possible. Many Christians are in fact people, who worship money and don't realize how much this is their true motivation (example Matthew Chapter 19)

019:021
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

So Christians believe that they will have riches in Heaven, but why wait?, let's have them now, even though it goes on to specify:
019:023
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Why do the leaders of Christian Churches always drive nice cars, own nice homes, etc?

huajiro said:

Why do the leaders of Christian Churches always drive nice cars, own nice homes, etc?

Click to expand...

If you would really like to discuss this, I suggest starting a new thread.

This thread is about what defines a Christian.... not about the wealth of some Christian leaders.

Thanks,
Scott

SOGFPP said:

If you would really like to discuss this, I suggest starting a new thread.

This thread is about what defines a Christian.... not about the wealth of some Christian leaders.

Thanks,
Scott

Click to expand...

Done :

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5587

This is what I say every Sunday at Church. This defines who we are, and what we believe. There is more dogma, traditiona and ritual that goes into our Denomination, but this to us is fundemental.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell. (Let's not get into this on this thread)

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.