Jesus wasn’t a Christian? How can you say such a thing?
Especially here in the USA, when we think of Jesus we think of Christianity. Actually Christianity is just another religion. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. Men started calling those who followed Christ as Christians, but in our modern era, Christianity is thought of as a religion more than it is a lifestyle of following Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t belong to any particular religion. He loves and accepts people no matter what they believe. He came to show the love of the Father to the human race, not start a new religion for people to fall in line and follow.
If we mean Christian as being a follower of Christ, then there is nothing wrong with using this word to describe our fellowship with Him. If we use Christian as a sense of belonging to a particular church, following a particular doctrine and set of rules, then I would rather not have anything to do with that term.
Jesus is the Son of God, and He loves all people. He doesn’t see Muslims, Jews, Christians or any religion. He loves people. He sees people who need the love and acceptance of God. The only way people are going to come to true fellowship with God is through Christ…not Christianity.
It’s time we stop looking to the organized world of religion as our way of becoming acceptable and pleasing to God. We need to look to Christ and allow Him to live through us and let Him love all those we meet each day. Stop demanding that people come to follow your doctrine, your rules, your beliefs and accept people as they are. Show the love of Christ to them and let God work in them the way He sees fit.
We are never going to completely agree with each other on doctrine and religion. Only through Christ and the love He gives will we be able to love and accept others. Let us be known by the true sense of the meaning of Christian, being someone who is doing the works of Jesus, and letting Him reign as Lord of lords and King of kings.
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Glad you are finding freedom in the love and grace of God. Thanks for reading the article and for your comment.
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We were brought out of the practice of Roman Catholicism-HALLELUJAH-but I was quite shocked at how many “Protestants” have joined hands with the RCC!
I have finally come to the same conclusions as you write about!
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Very good comment Mitch. Thanks for posting.
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“Christianity is not a religion, so instead of casting it off, we should simply inform others of the true definition of what a Christian really is: a Christ-follower”
Uh, whether it was meant to be or not, Christianity is most definitely a religion, and the labeling IS part of the problem. By labeling yourself a Christian you are simply trying to distinguish yourself from your fellow man so you can tell him he is wrong. Jesus would never approve of such, even if done in his name. Why don’t people understand this?
Jesus was clearly non-religious. He taught that obedience to God was the sole purpose of living, and gave a clear model as to what obedience to God meant. He doesn’t care if you believe in him or not; that doesn’t change that he existed and accomplished what he was sent to do. He wants you to be obedient to God by acting like him, realizing you’ll sometimes fall short.
Know that God is real, pray for things that help you serve your purpose, study the model of Jesus, and live. Don’t buy into any of this other religious BS. It is headed by an agenda that wants to build political support to wage a war that will lead to the death of millions of innocent poor people. Are we that stupid that we are convincing ourselves that Jesus would somehow approve of this???????
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Reblogged this on OAU CHRISTIANS.
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I agree with your points on Jesus not coming to start a religion, but there are a few things I wanted to mention.
1) Jesus does indeed love all people from all religions, but he cannot accept those who deny him. If he let all people into heaven simply because he loves them, then there would be no reason for us to follow him.
2) The Bible is essential to our growth as we follow Jesus. He gave many instructions and words of wisdom that have been recorded, and without that, we would not be strong enough or wise enough on our own to know how we should treat others or properly spend our lives. The scripture, or the Old Testament is essential as well, because it gives us the law that God gave to his people. Without knowing about the law and how far we fall short of God’s rules, we wouldn’t know how much we needed Jesus to come take the place of the law. He even says many times that the scriptures must be fulfilled in him.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” ~1 Timothy 3:16-17
3) There is no room for any other “religions” or beliefs if you believe in the Bible and what Jesus says, because Jesus clearly states the way to eternal life, and it cannot be taken any other way. If you don’t believe what the Bible very clearly states, then you cannot believe in the God of the Bible or his son.
4) Lastly, while the term “Christian” has definitely become distorted and identified with religion, we should still be labeling ourselves as such. We probably should not, however, be telling others about Christianity as much as we should be sharing Jesus with them. Christianity is not a religion, so instead of casting it off, we should simply inform others of the true definition of what a Christian really is: a Christ-follower.
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Very wonderfully said Mike. This is precisely where the Lord is bring me to, after searching all of my life for truth. Jesus said He had sheep not of this fold. Now many have tried to define who these sheep are, but to me, the more important thins is that He is not limited to Jews, Christians, what have you. I could be wrong be so be it.
The fact is, right now, I am very conflicted about so much if what I thought was true. I have set it aside for now, and will let Him teach me otherwise.
Thank you for just being honest about where you are at – this is so rare these days.
FYI – I hope to return to Thailand in March to spend more time with Sao. She is not, nor am I, a Christian. Yet I have never met anyone so selfless, so other-centered. Americans have such a narrow view of the world, of what God approves or not, of where He is working. Yet Jesus is the gate, there is no other, but we fell unless we have this or that label we cannot nor have not entered into this gate.
I have personally lost 3 good brothers recently over this, and as sad as this is, I say good riddance. I will follow my heart and my God. I will ever follow men or religion or a book (even the Bible) again. The Bible has one purpose, stated by Jesus Himself, to point a soul to Him. Thats all. It is not a manual for the human race. It has one single and essential purpose – to reveal Christ. Once you have come to Him, if you still continue to make the bible an idol, then your are in for big trouble. I know, for I have done this all my life.
Thank you my brother. I hope you are well. Not sure what will become of our fellowship when I start 5 days a week, but maybe we can move to evenings or some other time, to just get together when we can and let God do the rest.
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