Well, like the title implies, I am, in-fact, Christian. Actually I call myself a Believer/Follower of Christ. Let me tell you why. Not many people truly comprehend what a Christian is. They think that anyone that believes in Christ, and anyone who believes in God is a Christian, which really isn’t true. So…what is a Christian? A Christian does believe in one God that goes by many names; Elohim, Hashem, Adonai–just to name a few.
Well, with or without those names you may be wondering “Who is this God?” Well, both Jews and Christians believe in the same all powerful God. All powerful meaning just what it implies, He has all power. Now, many people will tell you that God can do anything, but in reality, there are things that he can’t do. He cannot lie, which makes since, if he’s all powerful, anything he says becomes true. And, He cannot effect free will, he promised that he wouldn’t, and he doesn’t lie remember? (this accounts for all the evil in the world, but that’s another post) So, one all powerful God. We also believe that he created the world and universe and that he loves everyone on a personal level. All powerful, Creating, Loving, Personal God.
Christians, all of them, Believe in Jesus the Christ (only Messianic Jews believe in the Messiah). So who is He. He was born to the Virgin Mary, which means he was born with out original sin–after Adam and Eve ate the “apple,” everyone born after was born with original sin that separates us from God. And the big point, he is Gods only Begotten Son, John 3:16. Back when there was no Jesus, the only people that believed in God were Jews, and God promised them he would give them a Messiah–Jesus. So, Jesus is the Savior that the Jews were promised. Of course you may have heard that a lot of the Jews actually hated Jesus and wanted him crucified. Anyway, I digress, Jesus came for the Jews originally, and because of a Samaritan woman, gentiles were also saved, John 4. So Christians believe in the same God as the Jews, and we believe in the Messiah, that God sent to cleans of us sin, so that we could be with him in Heaven. If you believe that, and ask for repentance from sins then you receive salvation, and with that comes life after death in eternal paradise with God. Christians also Believe in the Holy Spirit. The guider. He lives in the hearts of the faithful, and leads them in their walk. Read the book of Acts in the Bible and you get a lot of information about the Holy Spirit, and I’d recommend that. (BTW just a disclaimer–Jewish people also believe in the Spirit)
Then there is the Trinity, which says that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three persons in One God (I’ll explain this in a later post).
So you may be asking, “If you believe all of these things, then aren’t you a Christian?” Personally, I believe the answer to that is No. Belief in these things makes you a Believer/Follower of Christ (if you believe in Christ you believe in God, I can’t remember the scripture, but that’s somewhere in the New Testament). You are a Christian if you live the Christian lifestyle.
So many people will say, “I am a Christian,” and then go and live an unchristian lifestyle. Christans are not called to judge people (tell people they are going to Hell), they are called to love people. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean they associate themselves with everyone, but it does mean that they will try to show you God, and they will try to be nice and accepting of you. I can’t promise that they’ll always get it right, I mean we all are human. But Christians strive to be Christ-like, and Christ was perfect. He never sinned.
So why do I call myself a Believer/Follower of Christ and not a Christian? It’s not because I don’t strive to be Christ-like (which is what Christian means) it is because I believe that others should look at me and determine for themselves if I am a Christian by the way I act.
~Amanda~
P.S. These are the things I was taught, and the things I’ve discovered on my own. Minus the scripture and facts, and anything that can be found in the scriptures, These are my opinions. Just thought you should know.
