Why are you a Christian?

[other one]

19 hours ago, Innocent Stephen said:

Why are you a christian?

 

That's an interesting question.  It can be taken in more than one way.

For me personally, because I was taught about Jesus and his resurrection from birth, but it wasn't until I was in my 30s that I actually became a Christian.  The night that Jesus snatched me out of the hand of Satan and I decided I could not exist by myself and allowed/made him my Lord and intend to do so for eternity.

Did I decide to save myself...   not really, the offer was made and I simply said yes.    I know people who have said no.

[FreeGrace]

17 hours ago, Innocent Stephen said:

Many are christians because they were born into Christianity.

A lot more are because they want the public to know.

Many don't care about the poor at all yet they say they are christians

Christ wouldn't have done what you do but you say you are a Christian

Why are you a christian?

There is only one a person is a biblically defined Christian.  By believing the promise of eternal life that is received on the basis of trusting in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, who paid our sin debt.  The gift of eternal life is free for the believing.

No one is "born" into Christianity and is therefore a Christian.

Wanting the public to "know" doesn't make one a Christian.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world (mankind) that He gave His only born Son so that whosoever believes on Him receives eternal life.

No one else.

Faith alone in Christ alone.

[PATrobas]

16 hours ago, Neighbor said:

1; "Many are christians because they were born into Christianity."   Don't think so. Though all have been known to God  Romans 8:28-30

2; "A lot more are because they want the public to know."   Definitely not the case, nowhere near many bother to share of the awesome gospel of my Lord and Savior Jesus with the public at large, or even the brother and sisters in Christ. Yet many others do so sarcificially with word, deed,  finances, giving their very lives to doing so.

3; "Many don't care about the poor at all yet they say they are christians"   Most everyone is poor themselves whether Christian or not. AND most share of what they have with others whether in need or not. Charity itself is not limited to Christians. What is limited is the sharing in the name of Jesus. Christians do share without seeking acknowledgement, in fact avoiding any " public" acknowledgement when possible.

4;  "Christ wouldn't have done what you do but you say you are a Christian"  Aah, absolutely true. True on both accounts for Jesus is perfect and no Christian, but one or maybe two, in the record of Biblical history have ever been seen by God as acceptable in their own right. I am saved by grace of God alone and not by merit on my part at all.

5; "Why are you a Christian?"   I am  Christian solely because God answers prayers. People prayed for me. I didn't want to be a Christian! I tried to resist  being one, but found that this side of my own sanity I could not. The Holy Spirit turned me about from my sin against God to my worship of my Lord Jesus.

 

Are you Christian?

 

There is none righteous.

ALL are born dead in Adam.

Not even one or two are accepted in their own right.

Ephesians 2:8-9.

I am a Christian because God called me and presented the truth of the death, and burial of Jesus paying for my sins, then gave me His eternal life because of His resurrection, all that because I believed Him. "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him..." Heb 11:6

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by PATrobas
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[AnOrangeCat]

I was raised in a very Christian family. Part of it fell away later but before then I saw the Gospel Bill Show and accepted Jesus while watching that as a little kid. Didn't really understand it all that time but it stuck with me, and I'm glad for that. Growing up I got to see the clear divide between the lifestyles of the Christian side of the family (my grandparents) and my more worldly parents. Night and day.

[Neighbor]

44 minutes ago, PATrobas said:

There is none righteous.

ALL are born dead in Adam.

Not even one or two are accepted in their own right.

Ephesians 2:8-9.

I am a Christian because God called me and presented the truth of the death, and burial of Jesus paying for my sins, then gave me His eternal life because of His resurrection, all that because I believed Him. "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him..." Heb 11:6

 

Hi, I think you may have added this response above to a post I had made, but put it within the quote of what I had written. That makes it appear as though I had said it and not you.Is that what has happened?

BTW When I reference "one or two" I am thinking Enoch, Elijah, and perhaps even Job, with Enoch and Elijah both being taken without dying. Job was presented to Satan as being  blameless, upright....

[SpiritSong]

In reply to the OP, I am Christian because once I was a slave to sin but now I am free in Christ, I was blind but now I see, I was lost but now I am saved by the blood of the Lamb of God which was shed for all the world.

You can't be born a Christian physically, but only by spiritually becoming born again in Christ Jesus. That takes faith, and the fruit of that faith are the good works that include taking care of the poor, etc.

 

That's why I am a Christian. 🙂

 

 

 

[PATrobas]

1 hour ago, PATrobas said:

 

Yeah, I guess I'm not good at how to respond yet...still new to this web site. As to your response, no matter how good Enoch, Elijah or Job appeared to be, they were still born dead in Adam and God had to declare them to be righteous by faith. Again, Rom. 3:23 NONE righteous, no not one. We all started out this way and can only be saved by faith in the finished work of God.

[B Judson]

I came from a bad family situation and got in to drugs, drinking, chasing girls, etc, etc.

The year after I got out of high school one of my party buddies got born again at an assembly of God church and the day I first saw him I could tell something about him was really different.  He seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted off of him and he was at peace (something I did not have at the time)

So, he invites me to a Wednesday night service and when I went the preacher was preachin hell fire and brimstone!  I heard all that and decided it was a very bad to decision to end up in hell... so when he made the alter call, I went down and got saved.

They didn’t lead me in the sinners prayer but the pastor was speaking that those getting born again should be willing to turn from your sinful lifestyle, ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior... so I did, and I I cried like a baby for about 15 minutes on the alter down front.  They just left me there and the Lord whacked me!

Since then (this was about 39 years ago ) of course I’ve learned there is much more to being a Christian than just not going to hell.  I found out that the Lord is the Father I never had growing up and was truly what was missing from my life.  I cannot imagine not walking with the Lord now and will not be turning away!

Edited July 10, 2023 by B Judson

[B Judson]

You might try blessing others anonymously.  One way to do that is have another person deliver the blessing and ask them to please do not tell anyone (you may have to explain why you want to keep it private)

Another way is to ship blessings to people privately although it's always possible it could get lost in the mail.  I prefer UPS since I can print a UPS shipping label (I have my own online account) to PDF and then use my PDF editor to put in a different return address other than mine.  (Like maybe put in your church's  address as return address if they are OK with that).

There's nothing wrong with being a little "sneaky" so to speak when you are giving money or stuff to someone in need so they don't know who is giving it to them... which means they can only thank the Lord for the blessing!

Edited July 10, 2023 by B Judson

[farouk]

On 7/9/2023 at 4:54 PM, NConly said:

Because I am not innocent and finally realized it

@NConly All part of the wonder of the Cross which attracts the repentant sinner, by God's grace..........