Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Christ at the Campfire What makes one a Christian?

I have been lurking around here fore some time and am a little confused as to what makes one a Christian and what makes one not. Mabye you guys can help me to understand.

ak_700,

What makes one a Christian is realizing that you are a sinner. Sin is the transgression of the law of God.

There is none righteous, no not one. (Romans 3:10)

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Cor 15:1-5)

When Jesus Christ went to the cross for our sins, he took all the sin of the world on him -- your sin and my sin. He was a spotless, sinless individual, as the Son of God and God the Son. He suffered for YOUR sins. He shed his blood for your sins. He arose from the dead for your justification.

...As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even as many as believe on his name. (John 1:12)

What is needed is a willingness on your part to repent of your sin (to turn from sin to God) and to receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour by grace through faith.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:11)

For whosoever shall call on thename of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

For by grace are ye save through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift og God; not of works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

If you are convinced of the fact that you are a wicked hell bound sinner, and you are willing to turn to the Lord, he will forgive you of your life of sin if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is God in the flesh. He died and shed his blood as the full payment of your sin. If you will receive THAT payment for your sin, and the best way you know how, trust Jesus Christ to forgive you -- Call on him to save you. He will do it.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

If you, by faith, receive the gift of God in the person of Jesus Christ, in placeof your own vain attempts at saving yourself, he will save you.

Will you do it?

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to send me a personal message, and we can continue this discussion in a morepersonal way.

Well said brother. I will pray for the Lord to work.

Qtip
God,Family,Country!

ak_700,



When I was a new Chirstian I ask lots of folks if they were a Christian. Almost eveyone said, "Yes." I then asked what it takes to be a Christian. Following are some of the answers. The people who gave them seemed quite serious.

"You have to be a republican."
"You have to go to chrch"
"You have to be born in a Christian nation."
"You have to be a good person."
"You can't fish with a hook."
"You can't ride a motorcycle."

You get the idea. Apparently there are many kinds of Christians. If you want to be a saved-from-sin Christian, you have to be born again. Afterall the word Christian comes from Christ. And Christ says, "You must be born again."

My opinion is that a Christian is anyone who desires to believe in Jesus Christ and to live a just life here on earth. A church is any time two or more people are together discussing religion. There are no other requirements.

Note that this opinion will not be shared by the established dogmatists, including ones posting here. Their mileage may vary, which is fine with me.

Indy,



If you don't mind, would you share from where you got this position? How does one "live a just life here on earth"?

Indy,


Quote:
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My opinion is that a Christian is anyone who desires to believe in Jesus Christ and to live a just life here on earth.


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Generically, of course you are correct. Christians are those that profess a belief in Christ, and attempt to follow His teachings.
Of course we must remember that certain steps are necessary before we can enter into His presence in the next life. Namely, Faith in Him, repentance, baptism etc.............

mrmarklin,
[Generically, of course you are correct. Christians are those that profess a belief in Christ, and attempt to follow His teachings.
Of course we must remember that certain steps are necessary before we can enter into His presence in the next life. Namely, Faith in Him, repentance, baptism etc............. ]

You have fallen into error when you add baptism etc. One is a Christian who has come to Christ in saving faith, which does include repentance, and is born again.
Saving faith is more that saying that one wants to be forgiven, and is sorry for his sins. It includes a faith that places one under the authority of Jesus, and truly changes his mind and heart as to who he is, and who Jesus is. That can only be done under the power of the Holy Spirit. It includes a total confidence in the power of Jesus and His promises to GIVE eternal without any effort by the sinner, or any merit.

A result of that true salvation is a desire to follow Christ and to obey Him. But the good works follow justification, and are not a condition to either obraining justification/salvation, or keeping it.

Jerry

(Even) Christ was baptized. I wonder why?
Act 2
37: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin............

It's good enough for me.................

The context of your scripture reference is here:

Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

They gladly received the word and then they were baptized. Not the other way around.

Christ was baptized for the reason he gave -- "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Matt 3:15 Did you notice that he didn't bring forth fruits meet for repentance like everyone else did? Did you notice he never confessed any sins the way that everybody else did? You wonder why? I don't.

Like Jerry said. By adding baptism as a requirement for salvation, you add works to the batter, and it makes the batter corrupt. It is grace through faith plus nothing. Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5

If you noticed in Acts 16, the Philippian jailer asked what he must do to be saved. Baptism was not part of the answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. They got baptized a while later - after they were saved.

Water doesn't make anyone a Christian. It makes them wet.

you must beleive in jesus-repent of your sins- be baptised,spreading the gosiple is a way of pleasing the lord. by doing as he commands......

What about etc? That was an addition also.
Jerry

the_shootist,



Where does It say they were baptized after they were saved? My Bible tells me they went out that very hour of the night and were baptized. It certainly appears you are trying to take some word by Apostle Paul to nulify The Word of Jesus. Jesus says,

"'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.'" Matthew 28:19f
and,
"'He who has believed and been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbeleived shall be condemned.'" Mark 16:16

From Matthew's record we see disciples are made by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In Mark's Gospel we learn from Jesus belief and baptism are escential.

Based on your post you beleive an apostle spoke the Truth. Are you consistant in your belief that another apostle spoke the Truth? Apostle Peter wrote,
"And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you..." 1 Peter 3:21

Why do you want to suggest Jesus made a mistake when He is the One Who will save? To believe Jesus is not adding to His grace. He is instructing how to appropreate His grace.

I have given the following illustration before, but will do it again to show being baptized is not earning or working for your salvation.

If I give you, a person I don't even know, a check for $10,000, what did you do to earn it or work for it? Nothing.
When you went to the mail box and picked it up, did you do anything to earn it or work for it? No.
When you drove to the bank to cash it, did you do anything to earn it or work for it? No.
When you endorse it, are you doing anything to earn it or work for it? No.
When you get out your identification are you doing anything to earn it or work for it? No.

All you are doing is what has been established to appropreate the funds which were yours IF you did what is required. It is the same thing with baptism. That is why the fellow who was chosen by God and instructed by God to go to Paul did not make a mistake when he said to the future apostle, "And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name."

Baptism is such an ancient ritual that I'm suprised anyone with any bible knowledge would question it. The Jews certainly did not question John the Baptist about the efficacy of the rite, they practiced it themselves, and do so to this day.
Then there's always the words of the Lord:


John Chapter 3
5: Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Seems pretty plain to me. It's a saving sacrament. You avoid it at your peril.

You want etc??

Be born of the Spirit.

I could go on. But let's get straight on baptism first.

Christ was baptized for the reason he gave -- "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Matt 3:15 Did you notice that he didn't bring forth fruits meet for repentance like everyone else did? Did you notice he never confessed any sins the way that everybody else did? You wonder why? I don't

I don't either. Of course the Lord was sinless. But He still needed to fulfil all righteousness. And if He did, don't we all?

Just send the cheque, okay. I'll buy you a king James Bible and mail it back to you. What you do with it is up to you.

Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Are we supposed to teach them in the baptismal tank? Just maybe they taught them about the Lord, they got saved and then got baptized. There are some comma breaks in the scriptures there.

The Philippian jailer took the apostles after they had preached the word of God to him, and he washed their stripes, and then he was baptized. There is a flow in the events. He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved. He looked after the guys he had beaten the night before, and then he got baptized with the rest of his house that had gotten saved.

The portion in Mark 16 is so plain, only someone that was trying towrest the scriptures to their own destruction could ball it up. Jesus said in Mark 16:15 -16, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

The flow of events was this:
1. They went as they were told to go.
2. They preached the gospel as they were told to.
3. Some people got saved by believing the gospel.
4. The ones that got saved by believing got baptized.

Notice in the last verse, it does not say that if you believe and don't get baptized you are damned. It says if you don't believe you are damned, and baptism had NO part in the saving, so lack of baptism in the context had no part in the damning.

You, Sir, are muddying the waters of an honest soul seeking to know what it takes to be a Christian. If he gets confused by your ramblings, and does not trust Christ because of this confusion, his blood is upon your hands. Ezekiel 33:7-8 with Acts 20:26 -- in which Paul preached repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21) Without water.

Jesus Christ said get them saved, and then baptize them.

The portion you misquoted from Peter says, "The like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us." What does baptism figure or picture? It pictures what saves you. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at the rest of the verse -- "NOT the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" The water did nothing but draw a picture -- a figure.

I am about to apply a verse of scripture I don't do very often.

1 Timothy 5:20 "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ for your false doctrine on salvation. You are doing damage to the body of Christ, and to a non-believer that is struggling with salvation. Drop it!

There is nothing in the scriptures you quoted that obviates baptism as a necessary sacrament. Baptism is what follows when those that have repented want to be saved. See my previous quote John 3:5. Seems quite clear.

the_shootist,



Here's a tib bit for you to chew on. I used to teach the same thing you are now teaching. As I grew in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, I changed to accept that Jesus is the Savior and we take His Words first and foremost and everything the apostles say has to work inside THAT framework.

While your are rebuking me in the Name of the Lord, perhaps you could rebuke Ananias whom God told to go to Paul and heal his blindness and he said, "'Why do you delay? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'" And maybe you better include Apostle Peter. Let's go to the Book of Acts.

"'And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, "Send to Joppa, and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household."'" Acts 11:11-12

Now let's go back and see what Apostle Peter told them.

"'Surely no one can refuse the water for these to baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we, can he?' And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." Acts 10:47-48a

Don't try to tell us they were saved because the Spirit had fallen on them. The Spirit fell on King Saul and he prophecied and became an enimy of God. Years ago I did a study of the Spirit coming on people recoreded in the Old and New Testaments. Whenever I asked folks to tell me which list was from the Old and New Testament, they couldn't.

Jesus says,

"'He who believes and is baptized will be saved.'"

This is like me telling you, you can load the rifle and pull the trigger to shoot it. If you don't load it you can't shoot it. The idea that the trigger is missing in the second part nulifies the first part makes no sence. You are the one who is distorting God's Word. Baptism shows up throughout the New Testament. It is escential.

One day there will be peace and joy. One day there will be unity between all of the brothers of Christ. What you see here is the reason there are so many denominations today. As I mentioned in another post, there is no universal single church of Christ here on earth today. Sin, pride, personal preference, an honest belief that what you are saying is right.... all get in the way.

Christ prayed "that they all might be one". One day it will be true, but not while the flesh is in each of us.

I'm a baptist, Ringman, so obviouisly I feel baptism is certainly important. In fact, you can't even join my church unless you have "proper" baptism. Baptists ( or at least the group that later became known as baptists) declared non-fellowship with those churches accepting baptismal regeneration only three centuries after Christ. Baptism has to have a proper candidate (a saved person), a proper mode (immersion) and a proper authority ( a church of the Lord that got its authority to baptize from another church, that got its authority from another church, and on back to Christ, who got his authority from John - who wasn't a baptist, but was the Baptist), who was sent by God to baptize. Otherwise we consider it alien baptism and require people to be re-baptized to this day (at least the baptist churches that haven't gone liberal). From the qualifications to get baptized you can see that the person must already be saved.

Baptism is just an act of obedience, it should be the first act after you are saved. It is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, which is why we insist on the mode being immersion, and is, as Peter writes, an act of good conscience toward God.

It is, however, a witness of salvation. (Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works-James 2:18). We have the Spirit as a witness, the blood of Christ as a witness, and our baptism as a witness, and these three agree in one (1st John 5:8), and a three way witness cannot be broken.

Incidentally, Peter could have said anythig else there and it would still have been just as true (He that believest and goes to church- He that believests and reads the Word- He that believests and wears sandles, etc). The emphasis is on belief.

The issue is faith, for only faith saves (Ephesians 2: 8-10). It takes a lot of faith to be baptized when the government might feed you to the lions for it.

Yes, baptism is important, but it doesn't get anyone to heaven. The thief on the cross didn't need baptism for salvation, and neither does anyone else. We do need it to obey Christ, however, and to live for Him. The problem is whether someone is trusting in that baptism to wash away sin. All that will happen is that a lost person goes under the water and a wet lost person comes back up. Baptism is a work that the person does, and as has been said, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be saved. The faith and the trust must be in the blood of Christ to be saved from their sins.

Having said all of that, let me repeat that baptism is important. No one who has the opportunity but fails to be baptized will ever amount to anything for the Lord. They will comprimise and cut corners their whole life. They may well be saved, but as Samson, it will be as by fire, and none of their works will survive the fire for reward.

You can get to heaven and not be baptized, not be a baptist, not even ever have "graced" the inside of a church. But you can't refuse to be baptized when the opportunity was there and not be sorry for it when you stand before the Lord.