What is a True Christian

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19

Because of this verse, I disagree with the dictionary definition of a Christian. A Christian, as most of us define it, would be one who is saved according to Romans 10:9&10:

That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

For me, to be a Christian is to live as Christ did, and as is set forth for us in God's Word...to be Christ like. In this I fall short.

The Greek dictionary says a Christian is of the Holy Spirt or a follower of Christ. Lastly, I have forgotten if it has been addressed here, but the word Chrisitan is in the Bible three times:

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts 27:28

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on is behalf. I Peter 4:16

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the diciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Acts 11:26
 
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Atown said:
i think there may have been a misunderstanding, when we say "true" christian thats on a large scale, its just that a small minority of christians think they are christians but prolly wont see heaven due to misunderstandings or ignorance to the word (i.e go to sunday and listen on how we should not vandalize or lust then goes off and slash their bosses tires or has an affair), out of my youthgroup i would say out of 80-90 people who come maybe 5 of them call themselves christians but dont live the lifestyle at school the next day. rough estimate and im not saying there are people like that at my youthgroup, if there was i dont know em since i havent had a chance to get into the full swing of things due to school
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I disagree.

In my experience the term "true christian" is preceded by finger pointing and the words "you aren't a".

Just look at the threads in the forum regarding this topic.
 
Looking at the wording of your post, Atown, I can see why DV disagrees. Allow me to attempt to clarify what you're saying...

Being a true Christian, as I said, is individual, but decided by God.

Humans should not JUDGE by pointing fingers, but can WARN of the POSSIBILITY that another is not in the light based upon the knowledge given through the Bible for the sake of redirecting or improving one's relationship with God. Sadly, when a person WARNS another who thinks he/she is a true Christian as being a false one, it's often taken to be a judgement.
Often times the finger pointing IS a judgement, and Christians aren't supposed to do that. But even true Christians are fallen; they will make mistakes too. It's not like just because one is a true CHristian that he/she knows what exactly to look for in another person that determines whether or not this person is a true Christian or not.

There is no way to really determine who is or what is a true Christian unless you have the eyes of God. We can only TRY to see, and try to improve ourselves and others based upon what we see.

Bottom line, false Christians and true Christians are both hypocrites one way or another. yet that doesn't mean nobody's a true Christian; True Christian doesnt necessarily mean Not Hypocrite, because we ALL make mistakes that contradict what we believe and what we do/say.
It's all a matter of what you're trying to do. In other words, motive; what's in your heart. After all, God looks into the heart.
 
Azzie said:
Bottom line, false Christians and true Christians are both hypocrites one way or another. yet that doesn't mean nobody's a true Christian; True Christian doesnt necessarily mean Not Hypocrite, because we ALL make mistakes that contradict what we believe and what we do/say
.
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I disagree strongly with this argument.

hypocrite: A person who pretends to have moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., he does not actually possess.

According to that definition which is from Webster's, you cannot say that all Christians are hypocrites. We make mistakes, but we admit that we make mistakes. That is not hypocritical.

For example, we all know the Bible says not to covet. It is wrong to covet and we try not to. Is it then hypocritical to feel a moment of covetousness when we see our neighbor with the exact pick-up that we have wanted for years? No! What we do as a result of the covetous thought determines whether it is a hypocritical situation. If we repent and ask God to take the feelings away and try our best to be happy for the person, then it is not hypocritical. If we feed on the negative thoughts for days and become spiteful toward the person then there is an argument for hypocricy.
 
My apologies, Didasko, you are correct.

"Hypocrite" is much too strong a word, I confess again. I was mainly referring to something much milder, like "a person who says he/she believes one thing, but does another."
Similar, but one is more extreme. I meant to use the word in the less extreme way. Thanks for clarifying that, though.
 
hehe nice job azzie, but yeah i have a tendancy to not being able to clarify my statements very well, most people here useally have to clarify for me >_<
 
Good thing we have brothers and sisters to help us on our journey!!!!!Don't let any one of us be the one staring at empty pews on sunday. Because we know there will be some doing just that!!!
 
yeah...and i've finally come to realize (after like, 2 weeks...) that my post above had a MAJOR mistake that Didasko thankfully pointed out....I hope that's clear to everyone.
 
Azzie said:
"Hypocrite" is much too strong a word, I confess again. I was mainly referring to something much milder, like "a person who says he/she believes one thing, but does another."
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Strong word or not, isn't that the definition of hypocrite, a person who says or believes one thing but does another? Truth is, I will find myself in a position that I am a hypocrite. Thats the thing with sin, and Paul mentions this in Romans. He talks about how he finds himself doing the stuff he knows not to do and not doing the stuff he knows he ought to be doing. In otherwords, he himself admits that he finds himself in the position of a hypocrite.
 
So...my saying "one way or another, Christians are hypocrites" does work (in context, of course)?
 
Of course, in context. The trick is realizing when you find yourself doing what you know you ought not be doing or not doing what you know what you ought to be doing, and change it.
 
I believe a true christian is this. You accept Jesus into your heart, but when you do you give him your heart. You give him your life. By saying Jesus come into my heart you are saying Jesus take control of my life. So many christians think that if they say the "sinners prayer" then they go to heaven. A person who humbles himself and accepts Jesus because he wants a new life he will be reborn through Christ. Now why did Jesus die for you and me? Was he a liar? if Jesus was a liar then somehow he convinced a whole lot of people. Was he a fool? do you honestly think people would follow someone crazy and that fool would go through the most painful death experiences known to man? No, a liar nor a fool would do this. Jesus loved us. We were his creation and he wanted us to live for him. Insted we didn't want Gods rightousness but ours. Did God turn his back on us? No, He saw you, he saw me and he didnt want us to go to hell becuase hell wasnt made for you and me but for the rebellious angels who were made to love God. No my friends God didnt want our destiny to end in a burning lake of fire. So Jesus came to this world. He didnt need to but he loved us. He went through one of the greatest tortures designed for man for you and me. So what is a true christian? I believe a true chrisian is one who says to Jesus you didnt die for me in vain. I've been placed here for a reason and i want to live for you. I want my life that YOU died for to glorify you. When you ask the Holy spirit God gives you gifts. You feel on fire on the time and can speak in many in togues. A true christian has faith, faith to heal faith to change a nation. A true christian can love those that have never been loved a true christian can sacrifice his life for someone who didnt deserve it. Are you willing to give up your life to Christ? Are you satisfied with the relationship you have with him? Ask my friends ask he will answer your prayer. Come before him humbled and ask him to use you.
 
Good post Levite. Your definition sounds similar to one I proposed:

We accept as Christian any individual or group who devoutly, thoughtfully, seriously, and prayerfully regards themselves to be Christian. Included are: the Roman Catholic church; the Eastern Orthodox churches, conservative, mainline, and liberal Christian faith groups; The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons); Jehovah's Witnesses and a thousand or so other religious organizations who view themselves as Christian.
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From religioustolerance.org

Unfortunately, most of the Christian members on this board disagreed with that definition and will most probably disagree with yours.
 
Dark Virtue said:
Good post Levite. Your definition sounds similar to one I proposed:

From religioustolerance.org

Unfortunately, most of the Christian members on this board disagreed with that definition and will most probably disagree with yours.
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There seems to be a bit of confusion. Levite is correct, those who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour. My definition is one who lives like Jesus lived and God would expect us to live. Those who accept Christ would fall under my definition as being saved. Surely you jest on closer look thinking that we can all be lumped together!

If you go to the pope and tell him you are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, you can get yourself removed from the Catholic church.
http://www.carm.org/catholic/rc_justification.htm
Eastern Orthodox think they can pray you out of hell.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/8410/get-clean.html
That teaching has always scared me to death! I feel loved by many, but to trust them with my very soul?
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
http://www.carm.org/lds/ldsdialogue.htm
Or Mormons...that is some way out space stuff!
Jehovah Witnesses
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/jwbeliefs.htm
Yea, some way out things there, too. Basically, along with their beliefs, you must be a JW to go to Heaven! Sort of a Church of Christ with a twist!
 
Don't all those denomninations, however weird or however much you dislike them, don't they all accept Christ and their savior, thus making them Christian under your definition?
 
I don't think ANYONE on this board has any idea how a 27AD Jewish activist and preacher lived - let alone living like him.

Anyone know what food they ate? What the local laws were? How occupation by the Romans was compared to the rule of their own kings? What were the roads made of? The clothes? The shoes? The money? The geography? The philosophy? What sports did they play? What plants filled the fields and parks? What topics of conversation filled the forum?
 
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