Can we stop using the terms ';Real Christians'; or ';True Christians';?

Anyone else think this is really annoying? It's just a divisive term used mostly by other Christians for those who don't agree with their exact beliefs or someone they think is not mistaken in their actions. People can be a Christian (believe Jesus is the son of God and try to live their life for Him) and have all kinds of differing beliefs and they sometimes don't act in a ';Christian'; way.





Not to say all those beliefs or actions are correct or should be accepted, but just because someone believes something that doesn't line up with your doctrine or just because they say or do some things that are not Christian-like does not invalidate their Christianity.





Christians should do their best to present Christ to the world, but people make mistakes and misunderstand things, so who are we to tell someone they are not a ';real'; Christian?





I will acknowledge someone has a Christian, but I will inform them in a loving manner if I believe they are not presenting Christ well.Can we stop using the terms ';Real Christians'; or ';True Christians';?
Starbrite, as difficult as it may be to accept. There are genuine Christians and pseudo Christians the same as there are real diamonds and fake ones, genuine pearls and simulated pearls, real currency and counterfeit currency, real


doctors and bogus doctors, etc., etc. To be identified as real,


genuine, or true there are strict standards to be met, requirements to be lived up to. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tells us that not all who bear the name of ';Christian'; are really disciples of his at Matthew 7:21 - 23: ';Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one DOING THE WILL of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and expel demons in your name and perform many powerful works in your name?' And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.';





The identifying marks of ';true'; Christians are set forth in the Holy Scriptures. One of the most outstanding being love for


one another that would be evident. John 13:35 says, ';By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.'; ( this leaves no allowance for going to war and killing our neighbors/brothers) Their religion is a way of life not simply a set of teachings or performance of rituals as attested to in Acts !9:9 %26amp; 23; 1 Corinthians 11:1. Followers of Christ (Christians) would put aside the works of the flesh, %26amp; manifest the fruits of the spirit spoken of at Ephesians chap 4 verses 17 %26amp; 19 - 24. They would have no divisions among themselves, they would be a worldwide brotherhood with no sects, First Corinthians 1:10, John 10:16. They would be faithful witnesses as ';imitators'; of Jesus Christ their Savior; Revelation chap1 verse 5. and they would glorify the father according to Romans :15:5,6 and make his name known John 17:6, John 12:28 and Isaiah 12:4,5Can we stop using the terms ';Real Christians'; or ';True Christians';?
so many ppl are portraying to be Christians, but yet some sinners act more Christ like then they do. just cause you believe in Jesus doesn't make you a christian, just cause you a good person doesn't make you a christian. yes we all fall short, but we ask for forgiveness and move forward. we dont stay in the sin. we were warned bout ppl coming and teaching bout another doctrine from what we were taught, to not believe it. not everyone can come and say ';I'm a christian'; and i believe it, (I'm not that gullible). we have to show the fruits of the spirit, to be as Christ like as human possible. remember the scripture ';not everyone that comes to me and says Lord will make it? there are plenty of wolves in sheep clothing, and alot hang out in this r %26amp; s section.
I look at it like this: I was baptized in the name of Christ, because I believed that it was my affirmation attesting to the truth of His teachings. This makes me a Christian. Real or true does not matter. I follow the Love.





And if that does not make me a ';real'; or ';true'; Christian, who cares? What matters is not what anyone else thinks and feels; what matters is what I think and feel.





Peace.
I agree,how about ';genuine'; Christians?





Seriously,there is only one kind of Christian...you either are or are not,however... The Apostle Paul warned the Galations,that there was another Jesus and another Gospel. We are also warned about wolves in sheep's clothing...';They went out from us,in testament that they were not all of us';(paraphrase),By their fruits,you will know them.
christians need to get real!
go girl go!!!





YES!!!
Sure, as soon as you can deny that the bible teaches to be on guard against the false gospel, and those who propogate it.





Galatians 1:9


As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.





I will continue to point out those who are decieved by the false Christ, and the false gospel, as long as God gives me breath to do so.





Luke 21:8


And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
I don't mind that people define what a Christian is; as many have pointed out here, it's pretty clearly laid out in the Bible.





What I do mind is the assumption by some that they know exactly what another's relationship to Christ is, based only upon their denomination. Unfortunately, that's how the term ';true/real Christian'; is most often employed -- to accuse someone of being the opposite.
Exactly. When was the last time you heard an atheist refer to themselves as a ';real atheist';? When was the last time you heard a pagan refer to themselves as a ';true pagan';? Truly ridiculous stuff christians and you wonder why we don't take you seriously.
Well, here's where I would use one of those terms - for someone who claims the name Christian but who preaches or teaches false doctrine. I'm not talking about disputable matters like whether or not you eat pork or whether your Sabbath is one day of the week over another or if your women wear dresses vs. pants. I am talking about things like that Fred Phelps guy who claims to be a follower and preacher of Christ who spreads lies and slander about who Jesus Christ is and what His feelings are towards sinners. If someone is taking Christ's name in vain or profaning His name by false teaching, yes, I will name it the false doctrine that it is.


I do agree with your general premise, though, that we should reserve the use of these terms for very specific behaviors and inform people in a loving manner when we believe they are not presenting Christ well.
I do see what you mean but when you look at the bible there are clearly times when you have to make a distinction. Just one example is from Jesus himself. Math 7: 21 He said ' Many will say to me on that day ,'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ' I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!'





Jesus was not talking to unbelievers here. Unfortunately to take Jesus at his words is to be called a fundamentalist these days. If that is what people want to call me then fine. I have to answer to Jesus - not to people.





Now on the other hand to be fair. The people that Jesus rejected in the above scripture were more than likely fundamentalist (driving out demons, miracles etc) who had gone bad - as liberal Christians tend to shy away from anything they deem 'extreme.'





On a last note - if Jesus walked our streets today would you call Him a fundamentalist. More than likely many of you would? The religious people of His day did and crucified Him.





God bless
There are real and true christians.


There are also those that think God has to tolerate and accept anything they want to believe and do.


Some say the bible isn't true (how do they gauge their christianity without believing the bible which teaches us about Jesus,salvation,and how to believe).


God never was PC and hasn't changed His mind.
A ';real'; or ';true'; Christian is someone who has the Spirit of God dwelling in them according to the Bible.





Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
You want to use sheep and goats like in Matt 25?
God gave us His inspired word for a blueprint to live our lives by if a person is not doing that but still believes he could be a Christian yet not in Gods will but living in the world not in the flesh,nevertheless a Christian at heart/ but will come to repentance
I don't think you posing this question will actually stop the tide. Although I haven't seen the term used a whole heck of a lot. It must REALLY be bugging you. Don't let yourself be bothered by such trifles. Only God can truly read the hearts of men. This alone satisfies me.
no because a'; true'; or ';real ';Christian walks in the spirit for the most part and is displaying the Fruit of the Spirit. I use to call myself Christian because I believed in god and Christ but I was doing my own will, I was an alcoholic, a drug user and had an abortion all the while believing in Christ. a true or real Christian has RECEIVE him they do more than believe they put their faith in action...Faith without works is dead. Besides people of all kinds of groups like the KKK for one call themselves Christians, but they are not walking in Love as Jesus said you will be able to tell if a person is TRULY HIS DISCIPLE.. last word, Jesus said '; not everyone who calls Lord Lord will see t he kingdom, but only those who do the will of the Father'; Not at all saying that once a person gives their life to Christ that they become perfect, but there will be evidence by their behavior. Peace.
The problem in America is we have become a nation of ';nominal'; Christians. That is Christians in name only.





I was talking the other day to a Lutheran Seminary professor the other day on the phone who mentioned that the head of another Lutheran Synod did not believe Jesus rose from the dead.





Can we call someone a Christian if they deny the resurrection of Jesus?





Jesus said we must be born again in John chapter 3.





Can we call someone a Christian if they have not been born again?





Jesus said we must be converted in Matthew 18:3.





Can we call someone a Christian if they have not been converted?





What about someone living in deliberate sin?





Paul told the church in Corinth to kick a guy out of the church because he was living in sexual sin.





Now once the guy repented, Paul had to encourage them to forgive him and re-admit him to Christian fellowship.





Some go so far as to claim that Adolph Hilter was a Christian.





Where do we draw the line?





I believe we need to let the Bible tell us where to draw that line.





Pastor Art
Wow! I can't believe some people actually try to justify their judgementalism by misquoting scripture and trying to say Jesus said anything about what it means to be a Christian! First of all, Jesus was a Jew! All that is to say, Amen to not judging the validity or sincerity of anyone's faith. Jesus made it pretty clear we are not to judge, as in place judgement on the state of another person's faith.
i hear this term all the time.


even in church (mom drags me to chruch)
i agree with Jhon M.





however the most of the time that i see this terminology used it is people defending their previous crimes.





Crusades...not real Christians.


witch burning....not real Christians..





etc...





it is a simple cop out for what the organized church has done in the past. i would rather someone say...


Yeah we did that, everyone makes mistakes. but now we are trying to move past that.





for example. I am a Celtic Pagan that prizes peace. the Celts were known to hunt the heads of their enemies. i do not say that they were not true celts. i say that what i do is preserve the things that they had that was of spiritual or social value. and explain to people what customs led to headhunting, and the use of the death penalty in celtic society. in many cases it can be equated to any modern war.





as can the Christian crimes against humanity. what bothers me is that they will not take responsibility for them. that they actually seem to be in a state of denial that these things never happened, or that their church and religion did not do them.
Heh heh. I was thinking about this earlier today.





Why is it- That whenever an atheist commits a crime, you don't hear other atheists saying, ';Oh, but he wasn't a TRUE atheist!';?
A pastor from a Church I used to attend came back from a conference and told me about a conversation he had with his peers. The theme of the conversation dealt with how the secular world has its own definitions of what it means to be a Christian. Many times these secular definitions are not backed up and conflict with scripture.





Some of these pastors agreed that it might be more clear to the secular world for a Christian to say they are a follower of Jesus.





From my perspective, false teaching is something everyone needs to be watchful. Reading the Bible and following the scripture will not lead you astray.





Even when attending church and listening to a sermon, Christians (followers of Jesus) need to have their Bible in hand and need to use the Bible to confirm the message.
It is obvious to me that the questioner is not looking for ';truth'; in the answers but has her own mangled agenda.





The answers I see of what make a ';true Christian'; verses that of a false one are very simple.





There are many who come in wolves clothing professing to be something that they are not. BEWARE OF THESE ONES FOR THEY ARE NOT ';TRUE CHRISTIANS'; but demons in disguise.





Nothing too hard about that. To you intelligent ones, the questioner is only seeking to REVILE and hoard argumentation instead of realizing ';truthful'; responses.





Don't worry intelligent ones, YOUR DEDICATION IS TO JEHOVAH GOD';, not a reviler who obviously lacks accurate knowledge herself. Talk about ';false Christian';.





Blah....I cannot wait until Armageddon. Just think we won't have to see this kind ever again. AMEN
Christian literally means ';Christ-Follower.'; so you either are that, or you are not. you can't be a ';real'; or ';true'; Christian.
I just want to say that i agree with you.
I agree with you, but I don't if you get my meaning? I don't believe that people with different beliefs are wrong or aren't ';real'; Christians, but there are people who aren't ';real'; Christians. Scripture said they would ';put on a form of godliness.'; But as Christians we should love them anyway and should try not to judge.
Very well said;-} there is so much divisiveness shown here.


It was our Lord's own prayer, that: ';They may all be one.';


We need to join forces against evil %26amp; injustice in the world.


Not wasting so much time %26amp; energy tearing down each other.
Well its like this - there are many people who call themselves Christians and think themselves to be Christians, but that clearly are not Christians! Jesus says that in order to be a Christian, one MUST be born again. And He says that Christians will produce fruit to show everyon that they are truly Christian.





I have friends who are alcoholics, gamblers, and porn and drug addicts that call themselves Christian!





So see what I mean?????????
If your ';Saved'; your a ';Child of GOD';.





If you can Command the Weather as a ';Child of GOD';, then you have Learned ALOT from Walking with GOD Almighty (Jesus) and you have Earned the RIGHT to be Called a


';Christian'; which means ';Christ-Like';.





Period.


Dit==========to!
No, we cannot stop using ';true Christians'; because there are so many false religions promoting what is untrue and blasphemous to God and truthful Bible principles.





There are many false Christians, but fewer true ones. As long as there are false religions of which there will be until Armageddon destroys all of Christendom (the whole of false Christianity) and destroys all of false religion period, there will be false Christians and then 'true' ones.





That is not hard to comprehend for any intelligent person.





End..