Well, what a confused world we live in. There seems to be such confusion with the American people on what they feel defines a Christian. Before I get to defining what a Christian really is, I’d like to first point out what a Christian is-Not. A true Christian cannot be supportive of the ongoing worldly issues such ‘Homosexuality’ and ‘Abortions’. These two issues alone have been so controversial over recent years and yet the Christian viewpoint always gets shut down. I don’t know about you but I’m really tired of worldly people winning over issues against God.
Here is an example of how some people are just confused about what a Christian is. Recently while at work, I was in a conversation over the religion beliefs of President Obama and Mitt Romney. I know, this is not the discussion to have at work. Anyway, a co-worker made the statement that “Obama is a Christian” and so I had to respond. I said, “Do you know that Obama supports Gay Marriages” and this co-worker said “So, I’m a Christian and I support Gay Marriages too”. My initial thought here was none other than ‘Wow’! so naturally I changed the topic over to something work related as hope to come back to this discussion later. This co-worker did however; ask for me to show him some facts to back up why I feel so strongly against Gay Marriages. I did show him in the Bible what God says about Homosexuality and said that according to God’s word, a Christian obedient to the word of God cannot be supportive on issues like Gay Marriages or Abortions.
Our President has been back and forth on the issue of supporting Gay Marriages since his race for Office but here are just a couple of supporting quotes which of course confirms he is not a Christian.
In 1996 while running for the state senate in Illinois, he says “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,”
Again in October 2011 as president while speaking at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner he says that “Every single American – gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.”
Just this past January 2012, President Obama quoted the following in support of another issue against God – Abortions as quoted “I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose”
What does God’s word in the Bible have to say about abortions? Here are just a few scriptures:
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” You see, men and women think that their babies were all because of them. Not True, God formed us all in our Mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Well, this is pretty straight forward, God put us together, Mother’s and Father’s get to pass down traits of them to the babies which were created by God. Sex may be the act but creation is given by God!
Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward” By this statement alone, abortion destroys the God-given reward given to women.
My point here is that we need to pay attention to not only who professes to be a Christian but also to how we are presenting ourselves as a Christian. If our words and actions do not match with our belief in Christ, then we need to check ourselves by prayer and by reading of the word.
Am I perfect? Yes…Just kidding…of course not and none of us will ever be perfect until we get to Heaven! We can however; change what we do, what we say and how we act and strive each and every day to set an example to this world we live in as a light for our Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, to get back to where I started out, here is what God has to say about Homosexuality.
Leviticus 18:22 “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination”.
Leviticus 20:13 “”If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them”.
Now this does NOT mean that God doesn’t love homosexuals. God loves everyone but has given mankind the right to choose and what He wants is for them to REPENT (turn away) from that which is NOT pleasing in His sight. Can homosexuals be saved? Yes, but Only IF they will repent (turn away) from that which is wrong. It isn’t the sinner that is hated; it is what he or she does (the sin). Is there such a thing as a Christian homosexual? No! As I stated earlier, you can either be a Christian, or you can be a homosexual, and you can either be a Christian or you can support abortion, you cannot be both!
1st Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God
So to answer the question of the Title for this document ‘What is a Christian’?
A Christian means to be ‘born again’ and the short version means that you believe in Christ and stop living in accordance to fleshly (worldly) desires and start living in accordance to the Word.
The long version means you must first acknowledge that you are a sinner and ask God to forgive you for all your sins, Second accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, He rose from the dead on the third day and is in Heaven as your Lord and Savior. Accept this as the truth and ask Jesus to come into your life so that from this day of acceptance on, His word will start spiritually maturing in your body from the inside out. He (Jesus Christ) paid the price for you and me (Our Sins)! We are made righteous through His sacrifice!
Jesus Christ said in (John 14:6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”
· He didn’t say that I am one of many ways…He said that He is the Only Way!
There are five (5) main things to remember about being a Christian.
1. You must ‘Choose’ to ‘Believe’. 2. Believe that God is real in Heaven and that He did in fact create everything including the Universe, the Earth and Mankind. We did not just somehow evolve out of nothing including apes, we were actually created! And as you read earlier, God has been creating us over and over all these years because the scriptures mentioned earlier shows that our parents only helped us get into this world but God creates us in our Mothers’ wombs before we even get to be born. 3. God really did send His only Son Jesus Christ to earth to be born from the Virgin Mary to teach mankind the truth and ultimately save mankind.
4. Jesus Christ really did die on the Cross for us to pay the price for all of our sins (Past, Present, and Future Sins) and that we are made righteous only through His sacrifice. 5. Jesus Christ is because of what He has done for us our Lord and Savior and He will in fact come back some day during the ‘Rapture’ for us (Christians) to take us home to Heaven.
As an Add-On to the five things mentioned above, it is our duty as Christians to be obedient to the word applying to every area of our lives and to spread the Gospel of Christ (Truth) around the world so that others may believe and become saved as a Child of God.
Romans 3:22 says “This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”
John 3:18: “He who believes in Him [Christ] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Colossians 1:16-17 The Apostle Paul wrote: “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: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist”
The Gospel: 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
NOTE-1: Believing is everything!
Unfortunately, Jesus is not walking the earth anymore, so we cannot just go visit Him and so we have no choice but to “Believe” however; please note also that Jesus did not leave us empty handed, He left us a comforter (Holy Spirit) to be with us in His absence. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us (each one of us) to help us grow in our relationship with Christ and to help us Grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. You see the Bible is a Living book because it is the very Word of God and the Holy Spirit helps that Word to live inside of us and we grow, that Word becomes visible on the outside of us to shine our Light to the World!
NOTE-2: The world teaches that ‘Seeing is Believing’.
This is why so many people are lost because if they are not following Jesus Christ then they are following Satan. That may sound mean but that is the truth because Satan loves to deceive people and cause them to not believe in God or Jesus or the Bible so Satan’s deceitful plan is working through Scientist, News Media, Wrongful Teachings in our Schools, Television, Music and many forms of Technology. This is destroying our children as much as the adults!
As Christians grow in Faith and Understanding of God’s Word, the more it hurts to see those we love around us living in the world and the more we see the corruption all around the world.
I am personally going through this now with my 17 year old teenager who grew up hearing the Word but has been listening to so-called friends who do not know of or believe in God. Now, I hear things like “how can you prove the Bible is better than any other religion Bible” or “How do I know that God is any different than the Muslims God or the Jehovah Witnesses God or even the Buddhist” and finally I am hearing “People can believe Science because their research and discoveries are based on things that people can See and Touch”. My brother’s life is a miracle from God and yet my daughter can’t see that as physical proof enough. Even though the Bible is something she can See and Touch, that doesn’t seem to be enough to prove God.
If I am having a difficult time with this as a Christian than many other Christians must be going through this too. I really feel for today’s teenagers who don’t have Christian parents because they are even more lost than my daughter. Our children need help and guidance and we Christians need to constantly be finding ways to help them to see the truth and not the world.
It is time for all Christians to STAND TOGETHER against the evil that is destroying our children and our Countries and get Biblical Values back into our Families across the Globe!
· Christians need to stop hiding in the shadows and stand up for our Creator against a corrupt world!
· Christians need to unite and send in mass complaints to our State Congressmen and our President!
· Christians need to have rally’s in the streets and on the front lawn of the white house
· Stand strong against Gay Rights and Abortions and Push back on Biblical Values.
· Stand Against Government invasion of privacy and destruction of our constitution
· If Muslims can push their beliefs into the great USA, then why can’t Christians do it?
· If Jehovah Witnesses can go door-to-door pushing their beliefs, why can’t Christians?
· If Hollywood can use Television Shows, Commercials and Talk Shows to push their rights, why can’t Christians do the same thing?
· IT IS TIME FOR A Great Revival all around the World!
· STAND UP CHRISTIANS!
Mark 16:15 “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.”
John 3:17-18 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”.