WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?
What is a real Christian?
I will define my idea here in these four definitions.
1) They are saved by the Grace of God.
2) Living under the Lordship of Jesus.
3) Understands they live in a fallen world.
4) Accepts what they cannot change, but attempts to influence those around them the way Jesus and the apostles did.
The first two ideas are found by taking the good test and seeing if you are a sinner (have broken any of Gods laws) and then upon accepting that they are a sinner, repenting and finding salvation through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Here is the good test, take it yourself and see where you are in your relationship with God. Here are the questions I would ask you if we were face to face. Please honestly answer the questions as you go along, listen to your conscience.
Me: Do you consider yourself to be a 'good' person?"
You: You’d probably say, “Yes. I do consider myself to be a good person.”
Me: “Have you ever told a lie?”
You: If you are honest with yourself you will say, “Yes”. (Don’t try and justify yourself by saying that it makes you "human, or normal, or someone who told a lie, or like everyone else.)
Me: “I myself have broken all the Commandments in spirit, if not in letter. What do you call a person who tells a lie?”
You: An honest answer would be, “a liar”.
Me: “Think back, have you ever stolen anything in your life? Could be something small and insignificant, even as a child.”
You: A realistic answer should be, “yes”.
Me: “What do you call a person who steals?
You: “A thief”.
Me: “Have your ever lusted? Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ {Exodus 20:14}, But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Who really hasn’t done that?”
You: (a truthful answer here now) “Yes”
Me: By your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart, and have to face God on Judgment Day. Do you think you will be innocent or guilty on that Day if God judges you by the Ten Commandments? Will you go to Heaven or Hell?
You: (Your own conscience will tell you "Hell".) Hell
Me: “Doesn’t that concern you? Here is a question, “would you sell me one of your eyes for 1 million dollars? How about both eyes for 10 million?”
You: “No”
Me: “I didn’t think so, how much more is your soul worth than your eyes?”
We have all as individuals broken Gods law. Because God is as Holy as He is Just, He can not and will not allow sin into His kingdom of heaven. Therefore in James 2:10 it tells us, “For whoever keeps the whole law (the Ten Commandments) and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” In the eyes of God all sin is equal in that He cannot allow you into heaven if you have broken even one part of His law. The good news is that someone has paid the penalty for you. He came to earth and lived a perfectly sinless life, always obeying Gods laws and then dying on the cross as a sacrifice for sinners. We in turn must believe that Jesus is who he said he was and repent of our sins. Repentance is when we turn from living our lives the way we want and begin to live with Jesus as Lord of our lives. We sacrifice our life of sin to a way that emulates Jesus. We start this by praying, that is talking to God and admitting we know we are sinners and asking God to accept Jesus sacrifice on our behalf. Then submitting to living a life that glorifies God through our thoughts and actions. We cannot work our way into heaven by being good to start with as we have already seen we can’t “be” good. We do good things as a show of gratitude for what Jesus did for us. The Holy Spirit is a person who will come and live inside you to help explain the Bible and lead into making good choices. We must allow Jesus to be our substitute and then read our Bible and do what it says. A good prayer to see how what God expects in an attitude of repentance is Psalm 51. This is King David’s prayer after realizing he had offended God. If you had cheated on your spouse and wanted to make things right with them how would you go about it? Your spouse would want your thoughts and words to tell them how you feel inside. If you truly want to get right with God you find the words within yourself to make it right.
I will define my idea here in these four definitions.
1) They are saved by the Grace of God.
2) Living under the Lordship of Jesus.
3) Understands they live in a fallen world.
4) Accepts what they cannot change, but attempts to influence those around them the way Jesus and the apostles did.
The first two ideas are found by taking the good test and seeing if you are a sinner (have broken any of Gods laws) and then upon accepting that they are a sinner, repenting and finding salvation through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Here is the good test, take it yourself and see where you are in your relationship with God. Here are the questions I would ask you if we were face to face. Please honestly answer the questions as you go along, listen to your conscience.
Me: Do you consider yourself to be a 'good' person?"
You: You’d probably say, “Yes. I do consider myself to be a good person.”
Me: “Have you ever told a lie?”
You: If you are honest with yourself you will say, “Yes”. (Don’t try and justify yourself by saying that it makes you "human, or normal, or someone who told a lie, or like everyone else.)
Me: “I myself have broken all the Commandments in spirit, if not in letter. What do you call a person who tells a lie?”
You: An honest answer would be, “a liar”.
Me: “Think back, have you ever stolen anything in your life? Could be something small and insignificant, even as a child.”
You: A realistic answer should be, “yes”.
Me: “What do you call a person who steals?
You: “A thief”.
Me: “Have your ever lusted? Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ {Exodus 20:14}, But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Who really hasn’t done that?”
You: (a truthful answer here now) “Yes”
Me: By your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart, and have to face God on Judgment Day. Do you think you will be innocent or guilty on that Day if God judges you by the Ten Commandments? Will you go to Heaven or Hell?
You: (Your own conscience will tell you "Hell".) Hell
Me: “Doesn’t that concern you? Here is a question, “would you sell me one of your eyes for 1 million dollars? How about both eyes for 10 million?”
You: “No”
Me: “I didn’t think so, how much more is your soul worth than your eyes?”
We have all as individuals broken Gods law. Because God is as Holy as He is Just, He can not and will not allow sin into His kingdom of heaven. Therefore in James 2:10 it tells us, “For whoever keeps the whole law (the Ten Commandments) and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” In the eyes of God all sin is equal in that He cannot allow you into heaven if you have broken even one part of His law. The good news is that someone has paid the penalty for you. He came to earth and lived a perfectly sinless life, always obeying Gods laws and then dying on the cross as a sacrifice for sinners. We in turn must believe that Jesus is who he said he was and repent of our sins. Repentance is when we turn from living our lives the way we want and begin to live with Jesus as Lord of our lives. We sacrifice our life of sin to a way that emulates Jesus. We start this by praying, that is talking to God and admitting we know we are sinners and asking God to accept Jesus sacrifice on our behalf. Then submitting to living a life that glorifies God through our thoughts and actions. We cannot work our way into heaven by being good to start with as we have already seen we can’t “be” good. We do good things as a show of gratitude for what Jesus did for us. The Holy Spirit is a person who will come and live inside you to help explain the Bible and lead into making good choices. We must allow Jesus to be our substitute and then read our Bible and do what it says. A good prayer to see how what God expects in an attitude of repentance is Psalm 51. This is King David’s prayer after realizing he had offended God. If you had cheated on your spouse and wanted to make things right with them how would you go about it? Your spouse would want your thoughts and words to tell them how you feel inside. If you truly want to get right with God you find the words within yourself to make it right.
posted by STOCKTON at 12:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home