From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
What I find curious is why you find the word "Christian" so sacred that it must only include those who truly believe in Christ. Does one come into relationship with Christ by joining the Christian religion, or by simple faith in Jesus Christ?
Well, I have always taken "Christian" to mean a disciple of Christ...one who believes in and follows Him (see note below). However, if you want to open up the definition to include everyone who may use the name of Christ in the name of their Church, or may claim to believe in Him but does not, and says they follow Him, but do not, or claims that some strange alien jesus from Kolob is the same one as the is in the Bible, then you pretty much have lost the essence of what a Christian is, and anyone can then claim to be a Christian for any reason. At that point, the term becomes totally meaningless because you lose all distinction of what the word means. Under your definition, I understand why you may consider Mormons to be Christians. Under your definition my dog may be a Christian.
One comes to be a Christian by having faith in Christ. However, not all that say they are Christian do have faith in Christ. An example is one who is born into a family that professes to be Christian, and they go their whole life thinking they are a Christian, but never really understanding what believing in Jesus is all about...they say the have faith, but do not. They may live exemplary lives, and appear on the outside to have all of the characteristics one expects Christians to have, but still never have trusted in Christ for their salvation. I have sensed this attitude in many "Christians" I have met. I know that scripturally entire families (households?) have been saved because of the faith of one member, but I am not sure this is generally so.
Note: When I say "believes in" Christ, it is much more than just believing that He was a real person. It involves a knowledge that I am a sinner, understanding that there is no way I can make myself worthy enough to stand before a Holy God, and then believieng and trusting that Jesus' atonement for my sins will justify me before God, and that this is the ONLY way I can stand before Him. And "follows him" means that, after placing my faith in Him, I study scripture, pray, and work to know Him better and discern his will for my life, and then exeute that will to the best of my ability.
A note to DaveH: I have sent this to you directly (BCC) in case you are not following this thread...you asked for my definition of Christian.
Perry
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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