Posted by
Sparky Man on Friday, March 02, 2007 2:54:13 PM
What Is A Christian, according to the Bible? (KJV-God's roadmap for lifes' journey)
by Josh Sparks
Be forewarned:
If your idea of what being a Christian is limited to being religious (going to church, community activities, rituals, dogmas, etc.) then you will not like what I am about to write, and my suggestion would be to stop reading at this point. If you do not heed this advice, then do not send me a nastygram or post a nasty/uncivil comment because you are offended.
First, I would like to define my terms, a technique that I have been practicing since my days under the tutelage of Dr. Walter Martin, author of the fine reference volume The Kingdom of the Cults, and (former) host of the Bible Answer Man radio program, which I listened to in the 1980's.
Christian: One who has been born again (John 3:3) by receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior, having called upon God in prayer to save them, in repentance from sin and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby being sealed with the Holy Ghost, according to the precious promise of the heavenly Father.
Bible: My authority and desire to write these words comes from the ultimate (divinely inspired) book, commonly called the KJV, or Authorized Version, originally translated in 1611. In saying this, I explicitly reject the validity and pretended authority of the so-called 'modern versions' such as the NKJV, RSV, NIV, etc., ad nauseam. In this I depart from the practice and beliefs of Mr. Martin, God rest his soul. I do believe that if he were still here on the earth, though, he would defend my right to believe as I do, though he would disagree with my stance in this area.
I am often asked why there are so many different denominations and sects of so-called Christianity throughout the United States and the world. The person doing the asking nearly always does so in an attempt to attack me personally for my faith, or acting as a scoffer/unbeliever toward belief in God and the Bible. The answer is really fairly simple, once a man has been at this sort of thing as long as I-it can be summed up in one word-apostasy. What does that mean? you may ask. It means that somewhere along the historical line in every denomination or church there was a pastor, bishop, or leader who decided to place his (and recently, her) opinion or tradition above what the Bible says is true and right. Since scripture is written in a plain-spoken fashion, this can only be for two basic reasons, both having to do with spirituality. Since the Bible was written by and for the faithful (Saints and Christians) either the one rejecting it is not a Christian, or only thinks he is, when in reality he is not. The other case would be one who is sent in by Satan as a tare, and has been transformed into a 'minister' by the evil one [see 2 Corinthians 11] in order to destroy a Church or movement, which happens in all ages and times, including the present one.
God is not the author of confusion, [1 Corinthians 14) and certainly did not intend for there to be a church for every type of religious belief, opinion, or persuasion, though that is essentially the present situation, particularly in the U.S. The churches (notice the plural) were not more than one because of their divergent beliefs, but rather because of their scattered geographical location, particularly in the days of animal transportation, as in the First Century. This is not to say that each church believed exactly as all the others (this can be seen to be true via a reading of Paul's epistles, and his detailing of the differences between them) did, but the Bible was their ultimate and final authority for those beliefs and practices held common to them all.
When a shepherd (real or pretended) goes astray, his flock naturally goes astray with him. I believe that is why God places such a heavy premium and emphasis upon being a faithful leader, shepherd, and steward in His Word. When this standard is lowered, the result is always a negative one, and the religious Babel that America has become is it's fruit. This is a primary reason why I will stick to the Old Book until I die, or am raptured.
http://av1611bible.faithweb.com/