True Christian--What is a true Christian?

Slippery slope: What is a "true" anything ? This is the kind of question that has started countless arguments,fights and all out Wars.

I  really hope there's not going to be a test on this later.

Dues paid in full.

I guess the question is "Who is a true Christian" not what. A true Christian is a person who acknowledges his sinful nature, asks for the forgiveness if his sins, repent of his sins and, is baptized, accepts the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as atonement for his sins, and accepts Him as Lord, King ans savior. If it is done from the heart, rather than from the mind, the Holy Spirit becomes a living presence in the life of the person and initiate a transformation that changes the life for good and for the good.

Wheres my cheat sheet...

People who have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, repented from their past life, and follow His Word as best they can are Christians.

Somebody who tries to follow the example of Christ. We all pretty well suck at it, it seems, but those little moments where we do succeed make God smile.

Anyone who sincerely attempts to follow the Golden Rule is being true to The Master Teacher, whether he or she claims to be Christian or not.So-called Christian theology is mumbo-jumbo, apparently designed for the purpose of avoiding the core lessons taught by Yeshua.http://tinyurl.com/yt832o

I would say that any person who believes in the Nicene Creed or the digest version, the Apostles Creed, is on the short list for being a Christian. Here is the Nicene Creed that I took from the Lutheran Churches Book of Worship: "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and t... Read more

A  true Christian is when a person recieves Christ as their Savior, and trusting what He did (1 Cor 15:1-4) and accepts the free gift of Salvation which is all part of trusting the Gospel, as shown in 1 Cor 15:1-4. But, you must see yourself lost before you can get saved to be a Christian, knowing that you are guilty of all sins, (Romans 3:19-25) A Christian is not about doing some stupid golden rule, doing good deeds, or being baptized, join a church, clean up and turn over a new leaf, that is NOT what makes a Christian today. The religious system in this world would tell you, YOU have to do things in order to be saved, NONSENSE! Christ said It is finished, and It's by grace! What a wonderful hope we have in Christ in what He did on that cross, but so many, actually, most people want to work their way to God, and many don't believe Christ paid the sin debt for all. What makes a Christian is when you finally get rid of your ego and self, and trust in His grace and His finish work at ca... Read more

Fitman, I'm gonna challenge your assertion of the "Golden Rule" being the gold standard by which a person is a Christian. I know personally several people who live by the Golden Rule, but who swear no allegiance to God and what the Word teaches us about God. Are they still good people? Yes they are. Are they Christians? No. Does that condemn them? That is not for me to say. As for what defines us as Christian, I think it is those who follow Christ's example in their daily lives. It is those who believe and accept the free gift of grace, and share that Good News through action, not to earn the gift, but to say "Thank You" to God who gave it freely. Now I could be off in left field on this, but it is how I understand my faith. :)

John 14:15  If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments .  John 14:21 He that hath my commandments , and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.  1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments , is a liar, and the truth is not in him;  1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments : and his commandments are not grievous. Simple as that.

From the book The Crucifixion: The compassion and love that was Jesus comes through clearly when we learn that we not need to seek forgiveness, for we are not condemned;we do need to be saved, for we can never be lost; we do not need to seek eternal life for that is what we are.

Some people make it far more complicated than I, personally, believe it to be. I believe simply, that true Christians are those that believe Jesus (the son of God) lived and died for them. That He is the path to their salvation.

A Christian is someone who believes that God is the only true and living God. That God sent his son Jesus, to die on the cross for all Sin. He or she is a man or Women who has been forgiven for their sin against God and has asked that Christ would be their Lord and Savoir. A Christian lives and abides by Gods word and follows God’s commandments.

I have read with great interest some of the other comments in this category and I figure if it works for them, more power to them. But my long time friends here at RIA who have read my other posts on the subject know I prefer to look beyond the complications and bring things down to their basic premise, such as my post on whether every word in the Bible is true. (Sometimes we get so caught up in every word and little nuance that, in my view, God's message to us goes right over our heads) With that having been said I see a true Christian as one who has given his or her life to God and has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Someone once asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment and he said to love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as you love yourself. I figure if one accepts Christ, loves God with all their heart, and loves their neighbors as they love themselves, they are true Christians. I don't sweat the small stuff.

One who believes Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. Believe that Jesus died for you personally. If you believe that, you will WANT to do good things and live a good life, and you might even be called to tell others about this.

A Christian and I mean a TRUE Chrisitan is not someone that wears a rosery or a crucifix, goes to church every Sunday and every single church meeting under the sun or starts lecturing people about their rights or wrong in their life and quoting every single verse and chapter in the Bible, but someone who treats people accordingly, kindly and well by their everyday actions. I've seen too many people who "act" like Christians and claim to be holier than thou, but are the most ruthless people on this planet. These people for me who claim to go to church every Sunday and claim to be Christians are no more better than someone who goes to MacDonald's everyday claiming to be a hamburger.

Someone who has accepted Christ is a true Christian.

One who not only talks the talk but, walks the walk. There are tons of un-resonable facsimiles causing hate and discontent. But, that's pretty much true of members of any belief system going.

A follower of Christ. One who believes in Jesus, his death and his resurrection. One who accepts Christ as their savior by repenting and following his commandments.

The suffix "ian"... ian ( a person associated with, or something like that which is spoken of ). Therefor, a true Christian tries to follow, to the best of his ability, what was taught by Christ. Never try to be holier than Thou. We are not God and never will be. To try to be perfect will likely kill you! It makes for a type A personality, loaded with stress and never feeling adequate. We all fall short.

A person who accepted God/Jesus in his heart and follows his teachings.

A Christian is someone who has been born-again by God (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23) and has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. A true Christian is someone who has repented of his or her sin and put faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Their trust is not in following a religion or a set of moral codes, or a list of dos and donts. A true Christian is a person who has put his or her faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and fact that He died on the cross as payment for sins and rose again on the third day to obtain victory over death and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. John 1:12 tells us: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. A true Christian is indeed a child of God, a part of Gods true family, and one who has been given new life in Christ... Read more

I think that a true Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus into their hearts, and lives by the word. Someone who preactises what they preach and tries to live without sin as much as possible. Someone who follows the laws of Jesus Christ, and helps other people and lives a Christian life.