A true Christian

[arunangelo]

Though Jesus was God he took the form of a mere human person and came into this world (Philippians 2:7) to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to set at free those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18). The world however did not recognize him (John 1:10). He was therefore wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53: 5 &7). Furthermore, during his suffering and death he forgave his persecutors (Luke 23:34); and was concerned about the suffering they would bring upon themselves by their sins rather than his own suffering (Luke 23:28). Through his chastisement he healed us and set us free of sin; so that we too can love one another as he has loved us, quietly bear each other’s burdens, forgive without any limit and bind each other’s wounds. Christianity therefore is not about our rights, our feelings or our life. It is about sacrifice, undying fidelity, humility, obedience and forgiveness.

[Selasphorus]

amen

[JohnD]

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NASB95)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

1 John 2:3-6 (NASB95)

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NASB95)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Luke 14:26-35 (NASB95)

26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,

30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

[JohnD]

Sobering reminders that we ought not just sit on our laurels thinking the Gospel is only an exit strategy... a keep out of eternal hell fire insurance policy. If that's ALL that it is to us... better reread Matthew 7:21-23 again.

It behooves us to get this right. It's too late to change ladders once you are before the Judge of all only to find you been climbing the wrong one.

BE CERTAIN!

[redroses42]

being a christian is a life style ....one has to live the life to the full ...no cutting corners ...one has to live as the bible says

obedience is the way ...we walk by faith in Christ Jesus

[JTC]

Well said arunangelo .

I am in 1 of the diasater zones left by Sandy. The past few months have been a lesson from God. Not that this is anything new, but we need to obay God. I was without heat, electricity, or hot water for about 7 weeks. My PC was ruined, and this is an old PC swomeone gave me.

Fema never really helped me, and no omne I knew would offer me a place to stay. So I had to stay in my apt with no utilities. I still don't have phone nor internet service. But with the help of many people, I'm ok. But the 3 people who helped the most don't even consider themselves Born Again Christians. In fact 1 is Jewish. With the help of thgese 3 people, especially, I didn't freeze (not too much) nor did I go hungry. I say God took care of me. God took care of me but He did it by laying mercy for me on these 3 people. They haqve the love of God in their hearts, and they proved it through their actions.

I have much to say about all this. But I can't right now.( And please excuse the misspelling and typos. Thgis pc doesn't have spell checker like my old one did) I have missed many of you very much. I don't even know what's going on in the world yet. I noticed a post yestewrday about the pope calling for a 1 world governemnt and a one world religion.

Let me say this. Where I am it looks like we are in the timesw of the end. Sandy covered my area with 3 to 5 feet of water. Me and only 1 other man were brave enough to shut the door of our building. Several weeks later, I founds out this man is a Christian. He also proved it. After all I haqve seen and am still seeing, I don't think I like saying a person is a Christian or not. I prefer saying a person is of God. The word Christian has come to mean almost nothing. Just go visit a disaster area and you'll see what I mean.

I don't think Sandy was a 1 time thing. There will be more disasters like Sandy.

But the person who started this thread described what a Christian should be very well.

Thank you. John

[warriorforJesus]

Being a true Christian means having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not just about how many Bible verses you can read or how many good deeds you do.