pub crawler
New Yorker
?
Then why bother posting in this thread?Originally posted by RavenStar:
I have no idea. I'm not xian or do I have any intentions of ever becoming one.
Originally posted by 80sU2isBest:
You must believe in Christ Jesus and his redemptive work on the cross, and subsequent resirrection. You must be born again (accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, follow him).
Originally posted by Lilly:
whoa there 80s, must be born again? let's see, i believ in Christ, but i've never been 1. baptized 2. confirmed 3. anything else like that. so, i'm not a Christian? 'cos silly me, i thought the only prerequisite to 'becoming' a Christian was believing in Christ.
Originally posted by Achtung Bubba:
Lilly, denominations treat baptism differently. Mine, for example, believes it to be only an outward sign of commitment (nothing more), so a person who gave his life to Christ on a Wednesday and died on a Friday will go to Heaven despite the fact that he was to baptised Sunday. Further, we recognize it only as something someone can knowingly participate in (no infant baptisms), and we thus have nothing comparable to confirmation.
I believe 80s was saying that being "born again" is merely accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, and not necessarily discounting you out of the faith.
(John 3:1-7 has Christ Himself speaking about the importance of being born again.)
No offense, but I believe you're jumping the gun.
Originally posted by Vorsprung:
How to convince a sceptic(not an anti-religious) person?????
Lilly, "you must be born again" are Christ's words, not mine. And it doesn't have anything to do with being baptized or confirmed. Those are simply ways that people show the world they hav become Christians. No, being born again is simply what happens when you become a Christian - the old nature, the sin nature is crucified with Christ, and the "born again" part comes in when your new spirit is resurrected with Christ. The Bible says that as Christians, we are dead to sin, the sin nature and has been crucified and we are new creations. "being dead to sin" doesn't mean that our flesh will never sin again, but rather that the Holy Spirit leaves in us now, and while the flesh may sin, the spirit is perfect. "Born again" has nothing really to do with man's efforts or good deeds, but rather simply accepting God's free grace and gift of slavation. That's all "born again" has ever meant. I don't know why people are scared of the term. It's quite Biblical.Originally posted by Lilly:
whoa there 80s, must be born again? let's see, i believ in Christ, but i've never been 1. baptized 2. confirmed 3. anything else like that. so, i'm not a Christian? 'cos silly me, i thought the only prerequisite to 'becoming' a Christian was believing in Christ.
Thanks, Achtung, you explained it wonderfully.Originally posted by Achtung Bubba:
Lilly, denominations treat baptism differently. Mine, for example, believes it to be only an outward sign of commitment (nothing more), so a person who gave his life to Christ on a Wednesday and died on a Friday will go to Heaven despite the fact that he was to baptised Sunday. Further, we recognize it only as something someone can knowingly participate in (no infant baptisms), and we thus have nothing comparable to confirmation.
I believe 80s was saying that being "born again" is merely accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, and not necessarily discounting you out of the faith.
(John 3:1-7 has Christ Himself speaking about the importance of being born again.)
No offense, but I believe you're jumping the gun.
Then why bother posting in this thread?[/B]
Originally posted by RavenStar:
I'm not xian
If you read my last post I apologized for saying that. It is a short form like xmas(christmas)Originally posted by KhanadaRhodes:
and why refer to it as that? last i checked, "xian" is not a word to show religious affliation.
Originally posted by RavenStar:
If you read my last post I apologized for saying that. It is a short form like xmas(christmas)
[/B]
Originally posted by KhanadaRhodes:
and why refer to it as that? last i checked, "xian" is not a word to show religious affliation.
Faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, who lived, died, and was resurrected.
Period.
The "silent" Christian, to me, is the liberal Christian, who generally rejects all that legalism and has more of a personal faith, but is so tolerant that they have no problem with non-believers. Then, of course, it is those right-wing Christians who insist on evangelism to the non-believers, but carry all that legalistic baggage, coming across as a cult member half of the time. As one of those "silent" Christians, I find myself disgusted by many of the actions of the conservative Christians, so I can only imagine what non-believers must think!
I believe that if you are unsure of the above things about Christ, you are not a Christian, because it doesn't have anything to do with what you do, but rather your belief, faith and trust in what was done for you by the Lord Jesus.Originally posted by zoomerang II:
If i am unsure in my mind whether or not JC was actually born to a virgin and actually resurrected from the dead and is actually the son of god...
If I follow Christ's actions and commandments (accepting that this is contradictory to my being unsure about the above points)...
Can i still be a christian?
Originally posted by Angela Harlem:
If there is any grey area, melon and Bubba will disagree. It seemed as though melon just gave a succinct answer, whereas Bubba was more detailed.
I've noticed a lot of born again Christians feel this great need to include the prefix 'born again' when naming their beliefs. Maybe that's what Lilly was getting at.
?
Dunno, I'm religionless.
You're right, BabyGrace, people should be more "tolerant" of other people's beliefs, if "tolerance" means not beating each other up or insulting people for their beliefs.Originally posted by BabyGrace:
but why is it that people feel a need, the whole world over, to blatanttly defy others' beliefs. I cannot comprehend why the 3 major religions in that area are so incredibly intolerant of eachother. Why can't people just accept what other people believe and live their lives in peace? I personally think as Ive said before that all religions go back to one God...why argue the details? People become so possessive of the tiniest little aspects of their belief that they feel the need to violate their own morals just to protect them...
Originally posted by Angela Harlem:
If there is any grey area, melon and Bubba will disagree. It seemed as though melon just gave a succinct answer, whereas Bubba was more detailed.
I've noticed a lot of born again Christians feel this great need to include the prefix 'born again' when naming their beliefs. Maybe that's what Lilly was getting at.
?
Dunno, I'm religionless.
Originally posted by melon:
I do respect others beliefs in this thread, including yours, but I do not share them. It is that simple. With that, I believe that, because of the strict requirements that conservative Christianity has placed on being a Christian, it has driven away far more potential converts than it has attracted. For those here who think that all Christians are like the fundamentalist "Bible Belters," I can assure you that that is wholly incorrect. There are plenty of liberal Christian sects, but they don't televangelize, nor scream of "fire and brimstone" on street corners, nor do they cast the first stone on non-believers.