Several weeks ago, we sent you a few questions about the Christian faith. Some of the various responses are as follows:
Do you consider yourself a Christian?
The answers to this first question varied from
“Absolutely” to “Yes, but I need to be a BETTER one” to
No, because of the sin or lack of fruit in his/her life.
What does it mean to be a Christian?
“To do the will of god, to believe in him completely. I could go on…..”
“Putting God and others before yourself.”
“To deny your self take up the cross and follow Jesus”
“That you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your PERSONAL savior and because of that you have been saved from your sins.”
“That I believed Jesus died for our sins and rose again and sent us out to 'save' others.”
“To me it means to live according to how Jesus wants me to live, to talk the way he want me to talk and to act the way he wants me to act. I don’t think that it means that you have to be in a church every Sunday morning or every time the doors are open, but I do think it means to have a constant communication with God. Have him in your thoughts every day and be in constant search of him and his will, read his word and to pray throughout the day to him.”
“To be a Christian, means several things: It means first and foremost that you've repented of your sins and asked Jesus Christ to live in your heart, and confessed that he is indeed our Lord and Savior. I believe it also means that we're called to carry out the work of Christ. In other words, we're called to do what he did while he was on earth (short of doing miracles). We should try our absolute hardest to live as he did and relate to people as he did. Our ultimate purpose should be to help others find salvation as well.”
“To be a Christian is to be just like the apostles.”
“It means to believe, follow, and love Christ by your thoughts, words and actions.”
Ephesians 2: 8-10 (NLT) – 8God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Romans 10:9-11 (NIV) - 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Article: What is a Christian?
What is faith?
"Believing and knowing that God can do all things."
"Knowing and believing that God is and always will be there."
"Complete trust in the thing that you believe in."
"Not having to have answers to everything - BELIEVING and TRUSTING that you are in His hands and that everything happens according to His plan."
"To me it is basically...'the evidence of things unseen'; just because I can't see it doesn't mean that it's not there."
"Faith to me… I would have to say Faith to me is to believe in God and know He is real when people are trying to say there is no God and trying to take Him out of our lives. To also know that He is with us daily and knows our thoughts and prayers and He answers them. Not always what we want but what we need and knowing that God knows what we need more then we do."
"Believing in something (typically something that you can't see)."
"Faith is the ability to completely rely on Him, in our case, without reserve."
"What is faith? I don’t know. I haven’t mastered that one yet."
"To me faith is calling on Jesus and never doubting for a second that He has always been there."
"Faith is believing without seeing."
(Dictionary Definition) Faith - The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
Hebrews Chapter 11
What does the word “church” mean to you?
"One the body of our Lord Jesus Christ... meaning the people."
"My “extended” family, fellowship, re-fueling for each week ahead. Keeping me on the RIGHT track."
"Vessels of mercy affecting their social Circumference through love and consistency in their character...or you could say: Christians affecting their circle of influence through the love of Christ and being Jesus to everyone."
"My Christian family, my school for learning God’s word and the one place my Son would rather be more than any other – which means the world to me."
"For a long time I always thought that it was the building that we meet in, but here lately, I've been learning that church is more of the people in that building, if you have a building, church is about the fellow believers that meet together to praise God and to follow his will."
"Church to me is not the building, but the family and outreach to others. Sometimes church is just sitting amongst friends and sharing God’s word with them and learning more than we knew prior to talking with them."
"To me, a church is a "fellowship of believers". Non believers are encouraged to be a part of the fellowship in order that they may find salvation. Our ultimate goal as this body of believers should be to seek those that are in need and help them to find exactly what they need."
"Church is all day every day. The church is one body, and as one accord, will remain acting as the church not just on Sunday."
"It means one body with many parts working together in harmony."
"A body of people gathered to give thanks to God."
The Body of Christ
