Can I just believe in Jesus and not change?
2007-06-09 05:22:30 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:1-3
2007-06-09 05:34:59 · update #1
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[d] works, and I will show you my faith by my[e] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? James 2 14-20
2007-06-09 05:37:45 · update #2
No. Becoming a Christian requires "repentance" (literally, to do a U-turn). When you told Jesus that you were sorry for your sins, and that you wanted him to be master of your life, you were, in effect, making a pledge to try your best to stop doing all of those things that you knew that Jesus doesn't like.
God's grace is not a loop hole for sin. God is not stupid.
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15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
~John 14 (NIV)
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
~1 Corinthians 6 (NIV)
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
~James 2 (NIV)
2007-06-09 05:26:54 · answer #1 · answered by Randy G 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You have free will to believe in anything you want to.
If you study the words of Jesus, he will give you the guide lines to live your life by. The rest is up to you. No one is holding a gun to your head. Some churches may put peer pressure on you to believe the way they do but God will love you no matter what you believe. God's Love is endless. God sets up the laws of the universe and if you turn your back on him and them, you suffer the consequences for your behavior. He is always there with his arms out wide to receive you back.
Doing what you want, Jump out of a plane and don't open the shoot and see what happens. In the words of Christ, you have the equipment. If you don't use them, you may fall and not get up.
Rev. TomCat
2007-06-09 12:32:14 · answer #2 · answered by Rev. TomCat 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Indeed not!
For you have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, which didn't come cheap. In fact, it is priceless!
When a person asks Jesus into their life, then the Holy Spirit indwells that person. The Holy Spirit then brings conviction, which should motivate us to change.
2007-06-09 19:07:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I believe that being a Christian has less to do with your actions and more about the nature of your heart. We accept that we will never be perfect, we will always sin. However, if our sins are the result of struggles and mistakes, but we still have the intention of glorifying God in our hearts, God forgives us.
If we view "salvation" as an insurance policy and freely sin with no intent to please God in our hearts, well ... I don't think it works that way. That's why Pascal's Wager isn't valid (Drinking gamers -- have one on me).
Its not just about believing that Jesus existed and died on the cross -- its about accepting and appreciating that sacrifice and giving him our lives in return.
2007-06-09 12:35:40 · answer #4 · answered by ◦Delylah◦ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you kidding me ??? To answer your question :"NO".
You have to have a renewing of your mind , you now are a new creature in Christ, the bible says old things have passed away , I will do a new thing in you. Everything changes at that moment , because you are now not relying on your own strength , but you are trusting in Jesus .
2007-06-09 12:28:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can live how you want to, but I bet if you believe in Jesus, what you want will change. Jesus came so that we could live how we wanted; he gave us the choice whether to sin or not, but he also died so that we didn't have to suffer the concequences. But... he still gave us loads of guidelines, which he thinks is the best and happiest way to live life - so it depends whether you trust him enough to follow what he who created you thinks about how you work!
2007-06-09 12:40:27 · answer #6 · answered by totally_idiotic 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you really accept Jesus Christ and your Lord and Saviour, then you will change. That acceptance means I willfully follow Christ. I allow him to guide me, to lead me. If you do not plan to allow Christ to truly be your Lord, then have you really accepted him?
Some believe that Christ exists or existed, but that is not the same thing as believing in Christ as your Savior. Devils/ demons believe that Christ exist, but they do not accept Christ as the way.
2007-06-09 12:31:25 · answer #7 · answered by ignoramus_the_great 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A true believer in Jesus will change.
A true christian loses the desire to sin (the more they mature the less they desire to sin).
Jesus is the only way to salvation not what a person feels is "good enough works".
2007-06-10 00:03:36 · answer #8 · answered by robert p 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get yourself a New Living translation of the Holy Bible, it is written in plain modern English. Read it, study it, the answers are there. Don't take anyone else's answers, read the answers for yourself from the Creator Himself.
2007-06-09 12:27:20 · answer #9 · answered by Sweet Suzy 777! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No..you can't.
If you really believe in Jesus you would change. It's impossible not to. But you could pretend to believe and then call yourself a Christian and not change.
2007-06-09 12:30:07 · answer #10 · answered by Misty 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋