What is a Christian?

[kroz]

For those who have never heard the gospel message and are not sure how it works.  This is for you.

God is the Creator of Life

Romans 1:20-21: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." God reveals himself to us - His divine nature and personal qualities - through creation. We must acknowledge God as the Creator and sustainer of life.

Why We Need Salvation?

Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We must recognize that we are sinners and that we do not meet God's perfect standards. Sin is serious in God's sight and includes thoughts, words and actions. All sin (i.e. hatred and lust) makes us sinners not just the big, obvious sins like murder and adultery (Romans 5:12).

Man's Inability:

Romans 3:10: "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."No one can earn right standing with God. We must understand that our good deeds or religion are unacceptable to God because our good works cannot cancel out our sin. For a view of man's sinful condition, read Romans 3:10-18.

The Penalty of Sin:

Romans 6:23a: "For the wages of sin is death." God's holiness demands a penalty (consequence) for our sin, which is death. Eternal death is separation from God forever in Hell. God is a just God, and He demands punishment for every sin. Justice is getting what we deserve, because of our sin, we deserve death.

God's Plan of Salvation:

Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross. God is a God of mercy and He sent Jesus to take our sin upon Himself and the punishment we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, we deserve death, and Jesus took our place.

God's Promise of Eternal Life:

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eternal life is a free gift from God, there is nothing we can do to earn eternal life. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Because of God's amazing grace, He has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ!

Man's responsibility:

Romans 10:9-10: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." We must believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who died for us on the cross, rose from the dead, and is Lord. We must put our trust in Jesus alone to make us right with God. Salvation involves believing in our hearts (inward belief) and an outward confession that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 10:13: "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." There is no complicated formula to salvation; Jesus paid the price of our sin for us. Our response is to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we do, we will be saved from eternal death in Hell to eternal life in Heaven.

Results of salvation:

Romans 8:1: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." By accepting Jesus' death as a payment for our sins, we will never be condemned for our sins.
Romans 5:1: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Peace with God means we have been reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. We can now have a relationship with the living God because sin no longer separates us from Him.

How to Receive God's Grace:

.  Admit that you have sinned against God and ask Him for forgiveness.

.  Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who died for you on the cross, rose from the dead, and is             
    Lord.

.  Call upon Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior.


There is no other way to God.  Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but through Me."

[dadman]

Amen to the Romans Road ....
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it

[kroz]

Yes, it is the Romans pathway to God.

And if this information spares one single soul from an eternity of dispair, it will be a blessing.  Many people do not understand God's plan for man.  They think that if they just believe in God, that is all that is necessary.  But Satan himself believes in God.   Creation demands that we believe in a higher Being.  But intellectual assent is not enough.

A saving faith in God requires that we surrender our will to His will.... allowing Him to guide our lives.

People tend to be unwilling to surrender their lives....... to a merciful and loving God.  But those who do will be blessed beyond belief. 

[walkstall]

Yes, it is the Romans pathway to God.

And if this information spares one single soul from an eternity of dispair, it will be a blessing.  Many people do not understand God's plan for man.  They think that if they just believe in God, that is all that is necessary.  But Satan himself believes in God.   Creation demands that we believe in a higher Being.  But intellectual assent is not enough.

A saving faith in God requires that we surrender our will to His will.... allowing Him to guide our lives.

People tend to be unwilling to surrender their lives....... to a merciful and loving God.  But those who do will be blessed beyond belief.

I would say if people had met God first hand like "Satan" has.  People would have no problems also.

[kroz]

I would say if people had met God first hand like "Satan" has.  People would have no problems also.

That is very true, walkstall.   But that does not change the fact that intellectual "belief" in God is not sufficient for us.  That is why Romans is so important to our understanding of God's expectations from us.

[milos]

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Not only that God is the Creator of life, but God is the Life Himself. Jesus may sound like some bully telling the quoted words above, like it's "join me or die". But He is simply telling the truth. Because, those who are not with Life are with death. God had given us free will, and so when we sin, we condemn ourselves to death. And when we choose not to sin, we choose the Life.

My comprehension of Creation is that it is kind of form of God's mind, which is called Logos in Greek, it should mean something like meaningful thought or meaningful word. So, when we sin, we distant ourselves from God's mind, from Logos, we lose meaningfulness, and that way we finish in Hell, far away from God. But, when we live a meaningful life, that is a life with accordance to God's means, to Logos, then we live in God.

[kroz]

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Not only that God is the Creator of life, but God is the Life Himself. Jesus may sound like some bully telling the quoted words above, like it's "join me or die". But He is simply telling the truth. Because, those who are not with Life are with death. God had given us free will, and so when we sin, we condemn ourselves to death. And when we choose not to sin, we choose the Life.

My comprehension of Creation is that it is kind of form of God's mind, which is called Logos in Greek, it should mean something like meaningful thought or meaningful word. So, when we sin, we distant ourselves from God's mind, from Logos, we lose meaningfulness, and that way we finish in Hell, far away from God. But, when we live a meaningful life, that is a life with accordance to God's means, to Logos, then we live in God.

Logos is Greek for "Word".

The Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God and the Word was God.  ,,,, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  The Word is clearly Jesus.

In the Genesis account of creation, it says "Let us create man in our image."  This is clearly a plural statement.  The Trinity was all present at the creation....  God [YAWEH], Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

When we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior, the Spirit of God indwells us and helps us live a godly life.  That does not mean a sinless life.  It means that we have the power of God to help us and quicken our hearts to make godly decisions in life.  The Spirit is also God's seal upon us for eternity.  He will never leave us.

So, it is not what WE do.  It is what God does for us.  By His grace we are saved.


And you are absolutely right milo.  There is no fence to sit upon.  You are either with Him or you are against Him.

[milos]

Logos is Greek for "Word".

Yes, but not just any word, but word of reason, of sense. Greek language has different words for word depending of meaning.

So, it is not what WE do.  It is what God does for us.  By His grace we are saved.

Yes, thank you for clarification, I was just pointing out our part, because God won't save us if we don't want to be saved.

I would like to ask you for your opinion about the concept of free will, because I am not sure if I understand it. And here is where I get confused. When God created us, He created us together with our will, so He knew what our will would be like. How come He gave us free will then, if He knew what our will would be? I know that we do take consequences for our deeds in practical life because we have free will, but I don't understand what is free in our will, because God created us with our will, and so we can't actually choose our will.

[kroz]

Yes, but not just any word, but word of reason, of sense. Greek language has different words for word depending of meaning.

Yes, thank you for clarification, I was just pointing out our part, because God won't save us if we don't want to be saved.

I would like to ask you for your opinion about the concept of free will, because I am not sure if I understand it. And here is where I get confused. When God created us, He created us together with our will, so He knew what our will would be like. How come He gave us free will then, if He knew what our will would be? I know that we do take consequences for our deeds in practical life because we have free will, but I don't understand what is free in our will, because God created us with our will, and so we can't actually choose our will.

Thank you for your nice post milo.

You have asked an excellent question that Paul answers in Romans chapter 9. 

You can read it all in your own Bible but I will pick out the key elements to keep this post from being too long.


He begins by quoting God from the OT before the birth of Jacob and Essau. 
   
for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,
"THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER."  "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."

So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

(Now comes your question milo!)

You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

(And here is Paul's answer to you.)

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
-------------------------------------

So, we see that God does things to show us certain things about Himself.  We should accept some things as beyond our knowledge by God's design.  He has His purposes and we should not question His design for man.  We just accept it as God's right to do as He pleases.

I hope this helps answer your question, milo.  Thanks for asking.

[milos]

So, then, why do we need to repent, to forgive others, to pray? When it looks like nothing is up to us. But God gave us His commandments, and Church has commandments too, and Jesus taught us how to pray. Why? It sems like the whole life is staged, and everybody just has to play their part. I believe Elvis had some song on that topic, lol. It's kind of disturbing.

But eventually only God has true freedom, and I probably shouldn't take men's free will literally.

[kroz]

So, then, why do we need to repent, to forgive others, to pray? When it looks like nothing is up to us. But God gave us His commandments, and Church has commandments too, and Jesus taught us how to pray. Why? It sems like the whole life is staged, and everybody just has to play their part. I believe Elvis had some song on that topic, lol. It's kind of disturbing.

But eventually only God has true freedom, and I probably shouldn't take men's free will literally.

Oh, no, milo.  That is not true at all.  We do have a free will in almost everything.  However, as many will find offensive, that does not include our salvation. It is God who initiates salvation by convicting the heart of His chosen.  And if we are convicted, we will respond to God..... because that was determined earlier by God.

In Paul's letter to the Ephesians (chap 1), he says that "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will..."

This is a difficult teaching that we don't really understand fully.  It immediately causes us to ask questions of God..... why? who?..... that doesn't sound fair.  But if we want fairness, none would be saved.  God intervenes in the hearts of some and bestows His redemption.  We do not know why but we are unworthy recipients of His grace.

God's method of accomplishing this is to call people to preach His word and others to minister in other ways.  He gives us an opportunity to participate in this process of calling His sheep.  To the degree that we respond to the Spirit's prompting of our hearts to do things for the kingdom, those are things that are remembered in heaven.

We don't have to obey the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit that convicts us when we disobey and calls us to repent.  We can quench the Spirit and walk in our own willful way.  And we will regret that in heaven.

Salvation is not the only time God intervenes in the lives of men...... He sometimes intervenes when we pray... He answers our prayers, or when we are disobedient He disciplines us, and He sometimes intervenes in the world political powers and judges cities or nations for their ungodliness and evil.

We are called upon to do two basic things as Christians.... trust .. and obey.   God has given us directives in His word and we should trust the Scriptures and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit that indwells us.

To the degree to which we do this, we will receive crowns in heaven.  The Bible talks about many different types of crowns available to the believer.  In the same vein, the unbeliever can expect different levels of punishment in hell based upon the extent of their evil on earth.  Jesus told the Pharisees that they would reap a more severe judgement (for leading people astray from God's covenant promises and the Messiah.)

Why would you despair and be discouraged?  There is much to be thankful for and rejoice.  God has providentially chosen you to be His son.  That is exciting!!!

Show your love and appreciation of this free gift by following God's commands and spreading  the good news to others!  You are laying up treasures in heaven.

God bless.

[milos]

Why would you despair and be discouraged?  There is much to be thankful for and rejoice.  God has providentially chosen you to be His son.  That is exciting!!!

Show your love and appreciation of this free gift by following God's commands and spreading  the good news to others!  You are laying up treasures in heaven.

I don't know if God has chosen me to be His (adopted) Son. I am truly satisfied with my personality which God has created. But, I must say that I have never experienced God's love towards me, on the contrary, I have experienced some truly disastrous evils in my childhood, which appear as eternal torment because I will never be able to erase their inpact on my personality, which I didn't cause, but was just a victim when I didn't stand any chance to defend myself, and God didn't want to help me. I am being disturbed by the fact that God has created some people for Heaven and some for Hell, that God loves some of His creation, and some He does not love. I have a feeling I am one of those of His creation He does not love. But anyway, I believe I can see the truth in Jesus, and I can't be any different but a Christian.

There is another thing that is bugging me, and I would appreciate your thoughts on that matter. It is a question of eternity. God exists in eternity, it is so logical and obvious. But, I have a question. When you live in eternity, how can you remember your past, or know your future, when they are infinite? It's like you are counting numbers, and numbers are infinite too, and you can't ever count them all. And also, I am frightened by the thought that there was a time in history when I didn't exist. I mean, if you exist now, how could have you not existed in the infinite past? Does it mean I will not exist in the infinite future, too? Lots of questions, lol.

[kroz]

I don't know if God has chosen me to be His (adopted) Son. I am truly satisfied with my personality which God has created. But, I must say that I have never experienced God's love towards me, on the contrary, I have experienced some truly disastrous evils in my childhood, which appear as eternal torment because I will never be able to erase their inpact on my personality, which I didn't cause, but was just a victim when I didn't stand any chance to defend myself, and God didn't want to help me. I am being disturbed by the fact that God has created some people for Heaven and some for Hell, that God loves some of His creation, and some He does not love. I have a feeling I am one of those of His creation He does not love. But anyway, I believe I can see the truth in Jesus, and I can't be any different but a Christian.

There is another thing that is bugging me, and I would appreciate your thoughts on that matter. It is a question of eternity. God exists in eternity, it is so logical and obvious. But, I have a question. When you live in eternity, how can you remember your past, or know your future, when they are infinite? It's like you are counting numbers, and numbers are infinite too, and you can't ever count them all. And also, I am frightened by the thought that there was a time in history when I didn't exist. I mean, if you exist now, how could have you not existed in the infinite past? Does it mean I will not exist in the infinite future, too? Lots of questions, lol.

I see you have many questions and fears.

First of all I would like to address your concerns about the infinite and how you personally relate to that.  This is my opinion.

If God chose us before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians chap. 1) then we must have existed then...... at least our souls existed then.  So, we existed in eternity past and will exist in eternity future.  But remember.... past and future are terms that relate only to God's creation.  Time does not exist in eternity therefore there is no past or future as we know it.  And we cannot relate to infinity which is what exists outside of creation.

Our existence in eternity is completely different than it is here and we cannot compare the two.  It is impossible to "think" on earth as we will "know" in eternity.  We will know all things in eternity.  That is beyond our realm of understanding.  It is pointless to contemplate these things.  God gives us as much information as He deems necessary for us.  It is what it is.  We should be satisfied with what God gives us.... and trust Him.

Now, I also want to clarify something else that I think you misunderstand.  The "love" mentioned in Romans 9 is not an emotion.  When the Scripture says, "Jacob I loved and Essau I hated", love is an action verb.... not an emotion.  It means.... God did something for Jacob and did not do it for Essau.  That is referring to God's sovereign choice of Jacob over Essau... before they were born.

When you have mentioned that God doesn't love everyone, I think you were speaking of a heart attitude on God's part.   I think Scripture teaches that God loves His creation.  He is not willing that any should perish.... He so loved the world (creation) that He gave His Son so that some could be redeemed.  However, God is glorified when there is a contrast between good and evil in the world.  That requires that evil people are allowed to exist.  It doesn't mean that God emotionally hates some people.  It means that he uses some people for His purpose of teaching us His mercy.  If evil did not exist we would not realize our need for God. 

You say that you have never experienced God's love.  Are you sure?

You say that you experienced some trauma in your youth and God did not spare you from that.  But have you ever thought about the fact that He brought you through it?  God doesn't always spare us from evil.  Look at the Christians in the ME that are being beheaded at the hands of ISIS.  God is not seemingly protecting them either.  However, we should not question God's motives.  Romans 8 tells us that "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."  That includes evil things that happen to us.  That is where our faith must kick in and we must trust Him.  His ways are higher than our ways.

Milo, I think you have a heart for the Lord.  You seem very sensitive to His Spirit.  These things make me think that you are among God's chosen.  I have no way to know for sure, but if you have asked God to forgive your sins and embraced Him as your Savior, you should be assured that you belong to Him.  You may not feel saved, but salvation is not a "feeling".  It is a fact.  Apart from God's drawing you to Him, you will not be convicted of your own sin.  If you have felt that conviction in your heart, it was God that put it there.  If you are not convicted that you have sinned, God has not yet called you.   That does not mean that He never will.  If you seek Him, you will find Him.

Please do not despair.  God is good.  Each day that you live is a gift from God.  Each breath that you take has been given to you by God.  You are here for a reason.  If you want to dwell on anything, dwell on that.  Pray for God's wisdom and direction in your life.  I will pray for you also, milo.

God bless.

[milos]

Please do not despair.  God is good.  Each day that you live is a gift from God.  Each breath that you take has been given to you by God.  You are here for a reason.  If you want to dwell on anything, dwell on that.  Pray for God's wisdom and direction in your life.  I will pray for you also, milo.

Thank you, you are so kind.

[kroz]

Thank you, you are so kind.

milos, if you continue to struggle with memories from your youth, consider finding a Christian Counselor.  They can be very helpful in situations like you expressed.