Are You really a Christian?

[acerrak]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

The statement the word has been watered down, lets me know someone views and compares others walk with thier own and we are instructed over and over again that we are not to judge one another.

well brother when a sinner says he is a christian yet there is no visible fruit, yea i dont have to judge, im just looking at what kind of tree is producing the fruit. yet they want the same label as some one who is actively walking in a relationship with God. so i think u missed the point on this

[Godsdrummer]

Originally Posted by acerrak

well brother when a sinner says he is a christian yet there is no visible fruit, yea i dont have to judge, im just looking at what kind of tree is producing the fruit. yet they want the same label as some one who is actively walking in a relationship with God. so i think u missed the point on this

What fruit are you looking for?
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Or maybe you see the works of the flesh that you are calling lack of fruit,

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

First the fruits are not something you will see are they? You have to get to know someone to know if the fruit is in thier lives. So then you must be judging by some outward apperance.

Jesus said we shall be known by our love one to another. Again this is not something one can see on the outside.

No Brother you are missing the point, you don't know if someone has or is walking in relationship with God or not, until you get to know them. And futher just calling oneself a Christian does not make you a Christian either.

Just some thing to think about, In all the ministry of Christ there was not one bit of difference between him and anyone else on the outside. It was not until you got to know him personaly. We must stop trying to hard to be so different from the world by dress, and be different by spirit.

[Blessed56]

When we begin to agree with the word of God, we will speak differently, think differently, and love like Jesus Christ loved.......we will stop pointing our fingers at other denominations declaring "Were Right" because we follow certain passages in the word, we will manifest Christ 30-60-100 fold, and it will come with seeking the Kingdom, which by the way, comes without Observation........Heaven is within you....
This is my thoughts, looking a certain way does not make you a christian, and going to church does not qualify you either..........We must conform to the image of Jesus, and that comes through much tribulation.....and a constant repented mind and heart, always willing to seek and agree with the Word.

[acerrak]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

What fruit are you looking for?
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Or maybe you see the works of the flesh that you are calling lack of fruit,

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

First the fruits are not something you will see are they? You have to get to know someone to know if the fruit is in thier lives. So then you must be judging by some outward apperance.

Jesus said we shall be known by our love one to another. Again this is not something one can see on the outside.

No Brother you are missing the point, you don't know if someone has or is walking in relationship with God or not, until you get to know them. And futher just calling oneself a Christian does not make you a Christian either.

Just some thing to think about, In all the ministry of Christ there was not one bit of difference between him and anyone else on the outside. It was not until you got to know him personaly. We must stop trying to hard to be so different from the world by dress, and be different by spirit.

A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

when a person who confesses themselves as christians. curses like a sailor, and no regards to those around them, or carries themself in a manner not depicting I.e. being a drunk living in adultry, etc etc, yet still call themselves christians.
who produces evil fruit, back biter, slandering or gossiper, You know there fruits


sir God gave us a spirit of discernment, its almost like your trying to defend the black sheep in the fold saying well there not mean wolves.

yes sir i can look at there fruits, i know we are not perfect, but there is a attitude adjustment that happends with everyone, <-- everyone not just someone when they come to Christ.

Im not talking about standards or the way they dress, or how long there hair is, or if there wearing jewlery. Im talking about the intentions of there heart.

and if the tree is producing bad fruit, then its not good. and if you cant see that you need to ask God for a discerning spirit.

Man i preach at a rescue mission, they have no standards, so please dont give me this external lecture. A person comes up to me cuts a dirty Joke, bad tree, some one cursing on there cell phone, bad tree.

some one who doesnt care about God, bad tree. you dont have to know anyone in depth to figure this out. use your discerning Spirit

[Godsdrummer]

Originally Posted by acerrak

A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

when a person who confesses themselves as christians. curses like a sailor, and no regards to those around them, or carries themself in a manner not depicting I.e. being a drunk living in adultry, etc etc, yet still call themselves christians.
who produces evil fruit, back biter, slandering or gossiper, You know there fruits

sir God gave us a spirit of discernment, its almost like your trying to defend the black sheep in the fold saying well there not mean wolves.

yes sir i can look at there fruits, i know we are not perfect, but there is a attitude adjustment that happends with everyone, <-- everyone not just someone when they come to Christ.

Im not talking about standards or the way they dress, or how long there hair is, or if there wearing jewlery. Im talking about the intentions of there heart.

and if the tree is producing bad fruit, then its not good. and if you cant see that you need to ask God for a discerning spirit.

Man i preach at a rescue mission, they have no standards, so please dont give me this external lecture. A person comes up to me cuts a dirty Joke, bad tree, some one cursing on there cell phone, bad tree.

some one who doesnt care about God, bad tree. you dont have to know anyone in depth to figure this out. use your discerning Spirit

Thank you that is all I wanted you to come out and say and in these things I agree.
On the flip side I have known many many profesing Christians that spoke in tongeus, wore their holiness standards like a banner, on the outside they looked holy, at least in their minds.
But when you got to know some of them over time you found they were the worst gossip, they would lie, (stretch the truth) and could become short and judgmental if a person did not see things they way they did.

This should not be so.

[Godsdrummer]

Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
Mat 12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

Has Satan found the way to divide the house and kingdom of God? In the early begining of this country communities were happy to have just a church that they could come worship God together regardless of thier diffrences, today we have divided the kingdom of God by our differences.

God poured out his spirit in the early days of the 1900's not to separate but to unite his kingdom with power, man has taken what God has given to drive a wedge between others of faith intead of bringing together the body with power, we have made the out pouring of the gift of God into a salvational issue, there with dividing the kingdom, accomplising his purpose in silencing the moral majority. We are no longer the salt that salts the earth, or the light.

We preach our rules and regulations as the phraise of Christ day and forget that Jesus said "we will be known by our love one for another" Paul and Peter tried to preach that we should let our holines be that good man of the heart. We have twisted those words to mean the opposite of what was said. And preach we are to let the world know us by our clothes, not by our humble spirit. Jesus taught "turn the other check", we preach you do me wrong, I won't get even I will get one up.

And we wonder why we can't reach the world with our message.

[TGBTG]

Bump...

[TheIndependent]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

Are a Christian


Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

What is a Christian? The word Christian means follower of Christ. But what does it mean to follow Christ? Many today go by the standard of Christian, but are they truly followers of Christ.

We first have the life of Christ as an example, he was a teacher, healer, and a friend. His was a message of Love, turn the other cheek, if some one ask for your shirt give him your coat also, he was a giver. He gave his own life for the sin of all mankind.

Paul taught us that if we are a follower of Christ we shall have the fruit of the spirit. This does not mean we put forth like we have the fruit, it means the fruit is who we are. Just the word fruit is telling, it is produced naturally. That which is natural. There is no way a apple tree cannot produce peaches without outside help this is not the way nature was made. The same way we can condition ourselves to be nice but in the long run our real nature will come forth.

So again I ask are you a Christian? You might say of course I am a Christian, I was saved, I obeyed what ever formula the church I attend ask of me. That makes me a Christian. I obey all the rules said assembly prescribes I need to obey to be saved. This is the attitude of many so called Christians. They follow a book, and a man reads his own understanding of the book. This is like trying to learn how to play a guitar or musical instrument from a book. Sure you can accomplish a simultude of playing the instrument but if you really want to play you want to learn from a pro, someone that has experience.

This is the way allot of Christians are they think they have found the answer by following the bible. But as Christ told the religious leaders of his day. You study the scriptures and think you have found eternal life, but they only speak of me. We over look this passage of scripture and it is important to the life of a true Christian. It is a life line, a true Christian knows the word of God only leads one to relationship with God. From there we have a direct communication with God. And by his spirit we learn the true meaning of his word.

Remember the clothes we wear, the places we go or don't go to, those things are not what the world looks for in a true Christian. As Paul told Timothy and in Peters writting, our Christian reputation should not be in the clothes we wear, but rather in our spirit. Or in other words we should not dress to be called a Christian, but rather our meek, humble spirit should be how they know we are a Christian.

So you say your a Christian how do others view you?

So ironic you post this! My inlaws and I were just talking about this very subject last weekend. I love the way you presented it. It has me re-analyzing some things, and should do the same for everyone elst too.

[Godsdrummer]

Originally Posted by TheIndependent

So ironic you post this! My inlaws and I were just talking about this very subject last weekend. I love the way you presented it. It has me re-analyzing some things, and should do the same for everyone elst too.

Never stop re-analyzing I was raise in a holines church, I thought the spirit of God moved when we were running the aisles and rolling on the floor etc. When I was pastoring I had a sister leave because she had started to study certain standards and found the what we said scripture said was not true. I started a journey I questioned everything for myself. I wanted to beleive the things I was taught for myself. For me the deeper I got into the word with prayer and fasting the more I found things were not the way we preached. My relationship with God got deeper.

Today I have four adult children that all are serving God, I have 5 grandchildren that to see them in church services praising God is a true blessing. I regrete not one day I began to walk in grace and not works.

[jen4yeshua]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

Never stop re-analyzing I was raise in a holines church, I thought the spirit of God moved when we were running the aisles and rolling on the floor etc. When I was pastoring I had a sister leave because she had started to study certain standards and found the what we said scripture said was not true. I started a journey I questioned everything for myself. I wanted to beleive the things I was taught for myself. For me the deeper I got into the word with prayer and fasting the more I found things were not the way we preached. My relationship with God got deeper.

Today I have four adult children that all are serving God, I have 5 grandchildren that to see them in church services praising God is a true blessing. I regrete not one day I began to walk in grace and not works.

My husband and I have left a major oneness denomination just over a year ago with our three children. I was talking to someone last week about how there seems to be a point where the teenagers in the "old" church either become really "religious" (and fit the OP image to a "T") or rebel and start going out nightclubbing and roll their eyes at stuff that goes on in church. I really found it difficult to deal with the fact that any time I didn't fit the "standard" in the previous church culture there was a distinct feeling of being disapproved of by most of those around me. I am so glad that my kids are in an environment where they can be themselves and figure out what God requires of them without having people breathing down their necks and judging them. I want my children to serve God from a pure heart, with the understanding that we can't earn His love, nor do we need to. And that we don't need to earn anyone else's "love" or approval either.