Christianity

[LovetheChaos]

I have been having a 'friendly' argument with Dh tonight. A bit of background first....

DH was brought up a 'Born again Christian' his dad was a pastor. He was bought up in a strict christian family he was baptised at 13, and has since made a conscious decision not to follow that way of life which means that he will probably go to hell (in his opinion) but still has very definate opinions about religion (which confuses me).

I was bought up Anglican, I was baptised as a baby (which my husband says doesn't count), went to Sunday school when I was younger, celebrated the Christian holidays etc, have always believed in God and Jesus.

Tonight DH told me that unless i have been 'born again' I am not a Christian, I told him that because I believe in God and Jesus I am Christian. He also said that if you are Christian it is wrong to get drunk, swear etc. always making a conscious decision to follow Christ.

So we have been debating this he says that you can't be half half, you are either fully Christian or you are 'spew' and going to hell, so in his opinion, no swearing, drinking etc you have to be an example at all times.

My issue with this is that I have always believed that as long as you believe in god and have some sort of relationship with him whether it mean you go to church or you pray or whatever you feel comfortable with you are a Christian.

I was just wondering what you think it means to be Christian, are there exceptions to the rules or is it all or nothing.

Thanks!!!

[Vanessa84]

Each denomination has a different belief and each person in each denomination can have varied beliefs so I don't think you'll get a clear/definitive answer.

I'm Catholic and I beleive baptism as a baby counts. I think that being a 'perfect' Christian would be exactly that, perfect. However no body is perfect. Everybody has faults whether it be swearing, drinking, judging, or whatever. If going to heaven meant being perfect, no body would be there except Jesus and God. I beleive God forgives our faults if we ask for forgiveness. I don't think admittance into heaven is a result of following a set of rules (do this, don't do that = entry to heaven). I think that's a very old fashioned/traditionalist view. I think God looks into the heart of the person and sees what kind of person they are, they don't have to be Christian to enter heaven.

Personally, a Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ was the son of God and try to follow his words in their lives. I think that a general definition of a Christian covers all demoninations (Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Born again, Pentecostal, Orthodox... there's so many)

[pebblemuncher]

I personally, believe you have to be 'born again'. But for me that means admitting you've done wrong, that you believe Jesus died on the cross for you and you want Him in your life. I don't think it has anything to do with 'doing' the right things (baptism, not swearing etc).
The actions (not swearing etc) come from the commitment to want to live in a way that's pleasing to God. So the actions are a result of the faith. (not to say though that you can't do those actions and have to be a Christian to do them IYKWIM).

Just as a side note thingie, there's nowhere in the bible that says that drinking alcohol is wrong, it specifically says not to get 'drunk' but having a few drinks doesn't make you drunk - unless I guess you can't handle your alcohol well lol

The biggest thing I had to get my head around before I became a Christian was the fact that I wasn't ever going to be perfect, I had it in my head that because Christians wanted to live up to the bible that they expected people to be perfect, which is a total misconception. Noone (besides Jesus IMO) is perfect, we're always going to fail in that.
For me, a huge part of being a Christian is admitting my faults and not just to my DH or to God, but to people I'm in every day contact with. Im' the first person to put up my hand and say "I'm not perfect".

I don't know if this helped lol

[mummymel]

not sure if this helps or not, but IMHO...


You're right and he's wrong!!!!


I believe technically anyone that believes in Christ is a Christian. Whether you are a practising Christian is a different story altogether - ie go to church, follow your religions beliefs, etc.

Although I am in a similar boat to your DH - I choose not to go to church, but I still have beliefs that I throw into conversations and I think my DH is confused by that too!!!

[xTESSx]

This thread couldn't have come at a better time! Lastnight i was talking to a wonderful fellow birther about the same issues.

I was brought up Catholic + Anglican and I am newly born again although i havent been re-baptised yet as i don't feel i am completely ready. Until lastnight i was struggling with not being perfect and feeling like i was losing the person i was. I have since realised that everyone makes mistakes but as long as its an innocent mistake and i havent blatently gone out to do the wrong thing then it can be forgiven.

To me being a Christian is to Welcome God into your life and live your life how he would have wanted and seek guidance through prayer.

I have definatly done wrong things in my life and i didn't feel worthy to be welcomed into heavan and to have God in my life because i am newly seperated from my husband, i swear, i have pre-marital sex with a few different people and at a young age. I am in the process of asking God for forgivness.

So to answer your question i believe that you are both right in a way. I personally don;t think that you will go to heaven if you just believe in God, you need to have more of a relationship with him.

Not sure if this actually answered your question but just letting you know where i come from

[xMaryx]

Isn't being so judgemental anti Christian. I was under the impression that it is God's job to do the judging.

[Infinity]

well put Mary!!

my DH has always said God is not interested in religion as religion is man made. i think he has an excellent point.

I read a very interesting book recently called "So what is the Difference? Biblical Christianity. What does that mean?..."" by Fritz Ridenour.
it looks at about 20 different contemporary religions and their doctrine compared to Biblical Christianity. i didn't really understand what it meant to be a Biblical Christian until i read this book.
there seems to be different 'types' of Christians and each have their own doctrine that they follow, believing that their actions and/or beliefs will save them for eternity. again i think it comes down to a question of religion. some Christians believe that you need to be born again and others disagree. this seems to be only one of many points of contention between the different Christian religions.

Infinity

[Harlu]

Check out Zeitgeist on youtube. Thats an eye opener.

[TimeTraveller]

Originally Posted by xMaryx

Isn't being so judgemental anti Christian. I was under the impression that it is God's job to do the judging.

i think many "christians' missed that lesson Mary... and for that reason i wouldn't want to be in eternity with them anyway

[Nezz]

Originally Posted by xMaryx

Isn't being so judgemental anti Christian. I was under the impression that it is God's job to do the judging.

Spot on Mary!!!

Originally Posted by Infinity

my DH has always said God is not interested in religion as religion is man made. i think he has an excellent point.

What a great way to put it!!