Who defines Christian?

Question

Does it get defined in the Bible, in those pesky whosoever passages allegedly spoken by Jesus or does it get defined by Christians as whoever they agree with this moment?

If you are a Christian, and you base whether or not someone is Christian on actions not whether they believe in your deity form or not, how do you justify it? When you "sin," do you become not a Christian?

If you remain a Christian even when you are "a sinner," can you ever say that those who "sin" are therefore not Christians?

I only ask because it seems every few years Christians call themselves the True Christians and say Christians in the past (inquisitors, "Witch" hunters, segregationist churches, crusaders, etc.) were not "True Christians" and everytime some loony who is a BAD Christian does something s/he's "not a True Christian," to someone and everytime someone mentions a problem with a local church, the old "True Christian" nonsense is trotted out.

Where is /that/ in the Bible, anyway?

Words are cheap? Who said anything about words? In the Bible, Jesus is pretty clear it's belief in him that makes people his followers, not their actions or words, but beliefs....

Or are you saying the words of the Bible are cheap?

Answer 1

These are the central doctrinal beliefs, with bible citations, of a Christian:

1. God is sovereign (1Ti 6:15), good (Psalms 86:4), loving (1 John 4:16), Holy (Isaiah 6:3; Rev 4:8), and righteous (Psalms 7:11).

2. Every unregenerate person is a sinner (Rom 3:23), dead in his sins (Eph 2:1), possessing a deceitful heart (Jer 17:9), is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23), unable to understand spiritual truth (1Co 2:14), does not seek for God (Rom 3:11), is a slave to his own sin nature (Rom 6:14-20), is hostile in mind and deed to God (Col 1:21), and naturally and rightfully are objects of God's wrath (Eph 2:3).

3. Because of their sinful condition (Rom 6:14-20), the unregenerate do not and cannot freely choose to believe the gospel (Rom 3:10-12; Rom 6:14-20) and that they cannot come to God unless it has been granted to them from the Father (John 6:65) who appoints them to eternal life (Acts 13:48) and grants that they believe (Phi 1:29).

4. God in His love and mercy and out of the kind intention of His own will (Eph 1:5), from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), elected (Mark 13:20; Rom 8:33), chose (2Th 2:13-14), and predestined (Eph 1:5,11) some of the lost to salvation and left the others to go their natural way, to damnation (Eph 2:3).

5. God's sovereign predestination was not based upon God looking into the future to see who would pick Him (this would mean that God learned) for no one would pick Him because they are slaves to their sinful natures (Rom 3:10-12; 6:14-20), full of evil (Mark 7:21-23), enemies of God (Rom 5:10), with nothing good dwelling in them (Rom 7:18), hateful, disobedient, and enslaved to their lusts (Titus 3:3).

6. The elect's believing is based solely on the grace of God (Eph 1:7; 2:8), not the will of man (John 1:13; Rom 9:13), and not based upon any foreseen goodness in man (Rom 9:11-13). If God elected based upon the foreseen goodness or choice of someone, then God would be a respecter of persons since He would be showing favoritism based on something in the sinner. God's decisions are according to His own will, according to His own purpose (Eph 1:5), because God is not a respecter of persons (Rom 2:11).

7. Furthermore, those who receive Christ (John 1:12) are justified by faith alone (Rom 5:1), through grace alone (Eph 2:8), in Christ alone (John 14:6).

8. God loves the world (Mat 5:43-48; John 3:16), not just the Jews (John 7:35; Rom 1:16; 2:10), and gave His Son as a propitiation (1 John 4:10), not only for the Jews to whom the Son was sent (Mat 15:24; Acts 13:46), but also for the whole world (1 John 2:2), both Jews and Gentiles (Rom 1:16).

9. As many as receive Christ (John 1:12) do so because they have been appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48), granted that they believe (Phi 1:29), granted that they repent (2Ti 2:25), and caused to be born again (1Pe 1:3), not by their own wills (John 1:13).

10. The atoning work of Jesus who is God in flesh (John 1:1,14; Col 2:9), the second person of the Triune Godhead (John 1:1-3; John 10:30; Philippians 2:5-7; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3), who became sin on our behalf (2Co 5:21), who bore our sins in His body on the cross (1Pe 2:24), who died, was buried, and rose from the dead (1Co 15:3-4), in the same body that He died in (John 2:19-21; Luke 24:39; John 20:27), whose sacrifice was sufficient to save all, but was intended only for the elect and therefore, Jesus only bore the sins of the elect (John 10:11,15; Rom 5:18; 2Co 5:14).

11. God first regenerates the hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27) and minds of the unsaved so that they are then able to respond to the gospel message and then, by faith, they receive Christ as is evidenced in the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:22-23), the third person of the Triune Godhead, and that they are born again not of their own wills, but of God's will (John 1:13) who has caused them to be born again (1Pe 1:3).

12. Because the salvation of the elect is completely grounded in Christ, they cannot fall away (John 10:27-28; 1 John 2:19).

You mention the "true Christian" issue. I prefer to refer to persons whose actions disagree with the above as "self-professed Christians".

Even Christians who adhere to the above doctrines will sin. Everyone is a sinner. Sinning and being a Christian are not exclusive. So, yes, Christians will sin. The real test of a Christian's heart is through examination of their works (fruits). Faith without works is dead. Even the demons and Satan believe, but that does not make them Christians.

There are many who claim to be Christians, yet from their actions (fruits) it is clear that they are not. Christ was very clear in stating that "many are called, but few are chosen", meaning that many who claim to be Christians will be found wanting at the Judgment Throne of God.

Answer 2

The doctrines of the Christian faith are based on the Bible. As it has not changed in 2000 years, neither have the basic doctrines.

The "tenants" of the Christian faith, which is how it as walked out in the practical world, have changed and adpated with each generation. For example, before the invention of the computer, there was no Christian church teaching that Internet porn was bad. There was no Internet porn. The doctrine against porn has never changed, the apllication of the doctrine (tenant) has changed.

Some of the things you listed have changed because society has changed. And the application 0f those doctrines have changed with it. Others are examples of evil people who have abused Christianity (just have evil has abuses everything) as an excuse or justification of the evil.

On the question of a Christian who sins: Salvation is not based on whether or not you sin. We all do. It is based on whether or not you have ever entered into a living relationship with God. For example, if you are not a part of a family, then your actions neither join you to or take you from that family. Only be born into the family will do that. If you are born into the family, your actions do not remove you from the family. That is controlled by brith, not action.

To be a Christian, Jesus said you have to be "born again". You have to be born into his family. That, not works, is the basis of salvation. Once you are saved, then your family relationship will begin the process of getting the actions dealt with you. (You only disciple your own kids.)

Answer 3

Christians are those who follow Jesus. Now here is where it gets muddy.

Jesus stated that there will be those who claim to be following Him, but are not. They are so deluded by their belief they only discover in the end that they were not following Him.

Those who do the will of His Father in heaven are the Christians.

I think this transcends the church as man has created it, it can include those who have never heard of Jesus, and those who reject the man made Jesus exiled by many modern church groups.

Jesus also talks about last days and judgment where one can see there are those who were followers, yet they are surprised - "when" they ask. There are also some that are surprised to discover they were not followers - again they ask "when?".

So, not to make it a works thing, there are specific works that flow from the life of a christian, whether or not they profess Jesus verbally. There are also specific works that flow from the life of a non-christian, whether or not they profess Jesus as their Lord.

There are many in here who appear to act Christian but have rejected the church. There are also many churchians who act nothing like a christian.

But that is not mine to judge - I bring condemnation to none.

When Jesus was here, His harshest criticisms were laid against the religious people who thought they had it all figured out. I think He continues this today.

Answer 4

First, let us define what "sin" is. It is an old English word in archery that means "missed the mark". If you did not hit the bullseye, you were called a "sinner". Now there are many sins (little s and plural) but there is only one Sin (capitol S and singular). Sin is a positional state that separates you from God. When Christ died, He saved us from Sin. That is, the positional state of being "in Sin" has been eliminated. Now do we continue to commit sins? Yes. It is hard to walk in this world and not get your feet dirty. 1 John 1:8 states,

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

That is why we need a Savior. As for works, works are an evidence, not a means to an end. If it were works that gained salvation, how would you ever know there were enough? Who would set the arbitrary line? Would you ever feel secure in your walk? Muslims pray, what, 5 times a day toward Mecca. Is that enough? Some believe that martyrdom in Jihad is instant "free pass", but based on what passage in the Qu'ran?
Salvation via works is an absolutely false concept. How will you EVER know that you have done enough good, or if it will balance out the bad?

The truth is, before you accept Jesus as Savior, none of your good deeds are taken in to account, only the sin you have committed in violation to the law. After you accept Jesus as your Savior, your sins are deleted from the record and only the good you do in the Spirit remains. (1 Cor. 3)


You cannot buy your way into heaven with tithes, keeping of traditions or rules, rituals, singing in the choir or good deeds. THAT is why Jesus had to come and die in our place.

Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

2 Timothy 1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

Answer 5

It's really easy. A Christian is a Christian because they trust God through Jesus Christ.

The Bible is the text for knowing what God promised to do, and the Christian trusts Him to do it.

All those who think that a Chrisitan has to 'appear perfect' or 'live a clean and pure and good life' are not understanding what a Christian is.

I'm going to keep this short, otherwise I'd be showing you all kinds of scripture to illustrate this.

Answer 6

I would define a Christian as the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (www.religioustolerance.org) do: A Christian is anyone who sincerely, truly believes they are Christian.

Blessed Be,
Amina

Answer 7

Webster’s Dictionary defines a Christian as “a person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ or in the religion based on the teaching of Jesus.” While this is a good starting point in understanding what a Christian is, like many secular definitions, it falls somewhat short of really communicating the biblical truth of what it means to be a Christian.



The word Christian is used three times in New Testament (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. It was originally used by the unsaved people of Antioch as a kind of contemptuous nickname used to make fun of the Christians. It literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or an “adherent or follower of Christ,” which is very similar to the way Webster’s Dictionary defines it.



Unfortunately over time, the word "Christian" has lost a great deal of it significance and is often used of someone who is religious or has high moral values instead of a true born again follower of Jesus Christ. Many people who don’t believe and trust in Jesus Christ consider themselves Christians simply because they go to church or they live in a "Christian" nation. But going to church, serving those less fortunate than you, or being a good person does not make you a Christian. As one evangelist once said, “Going to church doesn’t make one a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes one an automobile.” Being a member of a church, attending services regularly, and giving to the work of the church cannot make you a Christian.



The Bible teaches us that the good works we do cannot make us acceptable to God. Titus 3:5 tells us that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” So, a Christian is someone who has been born-again by God (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23) and has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” A true Christian is someone who has repented of his or her sin and put faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Their trust is not in following a religion or a set of moral codes, or a list of do’s and don’ts.



A true Christian is a person who has put his or her faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and fact that He died on the cross as payment for sins and rose again on the third day to obtain victory over death and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. John 1:12 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” A true Christian is indeed a child of God, a part of God’s true family, and one who has been given new life in Christ. The mark of a true Christian is love for others and obedience to God’s Word (1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:10).

Answer 8

Christian-follower of Christ.
I assume people who act as Christ would act are Christians.But I am not always right, some are nice just to get their way.

Answer 9

Who would be stupid enough to be a christian anyways...

Here's some FACTs about christians:

hell was created by christians - so shall they go there, to their hell!

christians have KILLED more people in the history of humanity than any other group.

christians have persecuted millions of "non-believers" just because they DIDN'T believe in "christianity!

christians are by far the most brain-washed - brain-dead believers in the world today!

Here's the Solution to christianity and religion:

Create a private, personal, direct, divine Relationship with Our Creator and save your Soul from religion.

Only with Our Creator's Love and Peace will we be Truly Free!

Love and Believe in Our Creator;
Love and Believe in Yourself.

"religion is Spiritual fraud"; "religion is the Worse invention of humanity" - Jesus Christ, Buddha and any one else with Spiritual intelligence.

Without God, there is No Love; Without religion, there are No Wars!

atheists = all the people in religion

Answer 10

Simple his actions as words are cheap