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What is Christianity? Who is a Christian and who is not?
There are literally thousands of "Religions" out there
and many claim to teach from the Bible and teach about Jesus.
This was something that I struggled with personally before coming
to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior....
How can so many religions claim to be teaching about the same God
and the same Jesus and yet be so different...
This confusion caused me to stay away from the Church. I
guess in my mind it was better to form my own opinion of who God
was, what He wanted from me and what He required for me to get into
Heaven than to find out the Truth.
This decision could have cost me live
out eternity in hell.
Unfortunately, I have found that this mind set was not limited to
just me. Hopefully these next few pages will help open your
eyes and your heart to what it is to be a Christian.
1. The American
Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton
Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
2. Webster's Revised
Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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What worked best for me
was starting with some basic definitions. There are 2 that I
would like to draw your attention to:
Christianity:
"The Christian religion, founded on the life and
teachings of Jesus"1
Christian:
"One who believes, or professes or is assumed to
believe, in Jesus Christ, and the truth as taught by Him;
especially, one whose inward and outward life is conformed to the
doctrines of Christ."2
In the big picture, the definition of Christianity
fits well. In order to be a Christian or part of a Christian
Church, your or your Church's beliefs should be based on the
teachings of Jesus Christ.
However, there is a problem with the definition of
Christian above. The problem arises from the word "assumed"
in the definition. This is actually a two-fold problem.
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The definition implies that if somebody assumes
you are a Christian then you are one.
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That is exactly what
is happening today. People assume that many
of the cultists and even people that go to Christian
Churches are Christians when they are not. This is
what causes much of the confusion about Christianity.
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Soldier
of Christ
