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What It Means To Be A Christian




It behooves us to revisit the essentials of our faith frequently. We must daily remind ourselves of what God has done and walk in a living faith with Him. As we examine our doctrines, I would like to lay them out with the help of Mark Stick:
“Christianity is properly defined by certain doctrines that are revealed in the Bible.  It is not defined by simply saying that as long as you believe in Jesus, you're a Christian.  Mormons believe in Jesus, but their Jesus is a brother of the devil in the pre-existence.  The Jesus of the Jehovah's Witnesses is Michael the Archangel. So, just saying you believe in Jesus doesn't make you a Christian.  This is why the Bible tells us who Jesus really is--God in flesh (John 1:1-3, Colossians 2:8-9), creator of the universe (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-18).  Likewise, there are essential doctrines; and if any of those essential doctrines are violated, then a church would only appear to be Christian but not really be Christian.  What are these doctrines?  The Bible informs us: 

  1. God is a Trinity, One God in Three Persons of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 18:1-11).
  2. There is only one God the Trinity, and we are to serve no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8).
  3. Jesus is both God and Man (John 1:1, 14; 8:24; Col. 2:9; 1 John 4:1-4).
  4. Jesus rose from the dead physically (John 2:19-21; 1 Cor. 15:14).
  5. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ Alone (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-2; 5:1-4, Philippians 3:9, and Galatians 1:25).
  6. The Gospel (Evangelion) is the death by crucifixion, burial, and resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Gal. 1:8-9).
  7. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary in the town of Bethlehem(Matt. 1:25).
  8. Jesus Christ Ascended into Heaven (Acts 1:1-11)
  9. The Holy Spirit descended in power at Pentecost and the powers are available to us (Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 14:26-34) 
  10. Jesus Christ will return physically and in a body to judge the world (Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16).” (Mark Stick, Carm.org, with edits by Jeffrey Pendragon). 
To be a Christian, one must unanimously believe and confess these doctrines, not as mere ideals but as truth, life, and reality; the very truth of God. This is a living faith and relationship with the Triune God. We must defend it (apologeia) against the false christs and churches (Galatians 1:8-9, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Unitarians, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and other cults are not our brothers or sisters, but those who twist the truth with destructive heresies, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1). We must be vigilant in the True Protestant Faith that is the faith of 33-100 A.D. restored to us from the Babylonian Captivity of Rome and Constantine. To do this we must know our confession of faith and know true theology and doctrine as written in the God-breathed Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16). 

We must beware of the counterfeit churches that pretend at Christianity, but in reality impose the law and cut people asunder from Christ (Galatians 5;4, Hebrews 10:29, Galatians 2:21, Acts 15:1-11). For Jesus himself spoke of false christs that would arise, “Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you in advance. So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” (Matthew 24:4-5, 24-26)


It is essential we champion the essential doctrines, beliefs we Christians know to be true. Let us not be quiet in a sea of charlatans who use Christ’s name in vain to achieve their cultic ambitions. The True faith as laid out in the 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments must be trumpeted in these times! Amen: 

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