What Makes a Christian Different From Everybody Else?

[writetrain]

In order to answer this hard-hitting question; there are a couple of facts that must be considered. Fact number one: Like every other person, a Christian is a human being. Fact number two: All human beings were born to this earth, enshroud or cloaked in the sin-like nature of Adam; the first man.

Consider the story of the first man, Adam:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen. 2:16-17).” This command was addressed to Adam. Eve, Adam’s wife, was created after the command was given to Adam (Gen. 2:18-22). Sometime after Eve’s creation, however; she was tempted of the serpent; took of the fruit, and did eat. Not only did she eat, but she gave also unto her husband; and he did eat (Gen. 3:6).” Adam’s partaking of the fruit was his disobedience to God; his Creator. Here, is where “sin” began for all of humankind (Rom. 5:17).

Sin is the transgression against divine or moral law. Law is the divine boundary between good and evil. Sin is an overstepping of that boundary. Sin, against God, is precisely what Adam did. After Adam; every member of the human race was born to this earth; in sin (Job 14:1; Ps. 51:3-5; Rom. 5:12).”

Because of Adam, and due to sin, each person till this present day falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Falling short; is imperfection; a separation from God. This separation leaves each individual subject to evil; makes him less than perfect; prone to lie, and subject to mistakes and shortcomings, in general. This faulty human condition is the makeup of every man (also woman) throughout his earthly life.

Even if a man or woman becomes religious, or a churchgoer on earth (in the natural); he or she is still subject to the universal, sin condition of human-kind. He is still prone to the faults and failures of man. He still falls short of the glory of God. Falling short means failure to meet divine standards (Rom. 3:23). It is falling short of the mark. It is the error; a deviation from right or truth; a blunder (Rom. 1:18). It is iniquity.

Iniquity; of which, every man is guilty; is the lack of moral principles; a condition inherently wrong (Rom. 1:18 – 28; Jas. 2: 10). Even when a person is right, he is also capable of being wrong (Rom. 7:21). Therefore, we conclude; the only thing that makes a Christian any different from everybody else is the Christian’s spiritual reconnection with God; through acceptance of and adherence to; His Son, Jesus (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 5:17; Col. 1:20-21). This reconnection or reconciliation is spiritual and seen only through God’s eyes (1 Sam. 16:7). Earthly man can never be sure of the spiritual status of another person. At best, man can only guess whether a person is or is not spiritually reconnected with God.

The reconnection that God sees is also known as the “new birth” or “born again (John 3:3).” The term; “born again” is also referred to as the “second birth.” As a person is born of Adam, in sin, into this earth, his second birth allows him to be born, or reconciled back, into the realm or into the kingdom of, God.

The Christian is born again. The non-Christian or everybody else is not.


*Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations here are taken from the Schofield Reference Bible; Copyright © 1909, 1917, Copyright renewed, 1937, 1945, 1957, by Oxford University Press, Inc.

 

[Dream]

Hi writetrain, nice to meet you. I noticed that you have posted that exact post on at least two other forum boards where you got a very rude response. That is really too bad. I like the way you put in parenthesis around your scripture verses and that it is conversational. One of the responses you got on that other forum, that your interpretation is too literal, may have some merit. Then again, your view is sacred as you are made in the image of God.

In reference to this I refer to your second sentence where you mention a Christian is first of all a human being.

 

[Dream]

Writetrain, sorry the above post was not finished, because I ran out of time. (Often I forget to put a check in the box when I sign in.) I did not mean to be curt. You made a very well thought out and careful post.

 

[wil]

namaste and weclome writetrain,

Well my buddy Dream was so nice.... I don't know about the other forums, I can only comment about this one and your post here.

I was gonna answer your question with arrogance.

Yeah, that was gonna be my answer, that is what often seperates us Christians from the rest of the world...our arrogance.

But your post said it better.

As this is a discussion forum, I thought you were actually asking a question, and not simply pontificating, live and learn I suppose.

I recently posted this somewhere.....a not so literal translation of the same story...

A while back my kids in Sunday School read this, I had them divide into three groups and work out a skit and come back and perform it for us...two did it quite literally, G!d, Adam & Eve, the devilish snake and even some other animals... One group modernized it. The teacher (G!d) told the students she had some work to do in the back of the room, and when they finished their test as they should drop it on her desk and they can have a piece of candy. But one, thing, don't take the red ones, you can have any other candy. A couple kids went up and honored her wishes, but then the sneaky little troublemaker got a red one...and encouraged others to get red ones.
The teacher coming back to her desk and noticing most of the red ones gone commented, "Good, thank you, I don't like the red ones"
Great kids eh? So the question is, do you think the Omniscient, Omnipresent couldn't wouldn't know what would happen? Or the one that knows all and keeps all in the book of life didn't know where A&E were, or what they had done? The story doesn't make sense as it is. Unless G!d intended them to eat, and enticed them to eat by the very recommendation not to eat in the first place.....

but back to your literal story...yeah, man begins with blame....he obviously knew what was going on otherwise he wouldn't have hid when G!d was playing his fee fi fo fum game.... another thought...what about gen1 where it is said

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

So no Gen2 sleep and rib extraction, and no warning, and no Gen3 snake story....just eat anything it is for you...and be fruitful and multiply....

How do you reconclle litterally the Yahweh/Jerusalem story with Elohim/Bethlehem story?

 

[Thomas]

Hi Writetrain —

The Christian is born again. The non-Christian or everybody else is not.

I would rather suggest it's not as simple as it might seem:
"The Spirit bloweth where he will; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
John 3:8
I think who is and who isn't is known to God, and not always to us.

God bless,

Thomas

 

[Thomas]

Hi Wil —

Great kids eh?

Well, we'll have to see. It seems they've been taught it's OK to steal if you can get away with it, and it's OK for kids to engage other kids in criminal activity, to spread the blame, if you don't.

Some wise teaching ...

So the question is, do you think the Omniscient, Omnipresent couldn't wouldn't know what would happen? Or the one that knows all and keeps all in the book of life didn't know where A&E were, or what they had done? The story doesn't make sense as it is.

Unless, of course, there's more to the story than meets the eye ... sometimes people use rhetorical language to make the audience think. Personally, I credit the authors of Scripture with more common sense (and spiritual insight) than you appear to.

Unless G!d intended them to eat, and enticed them to eat by the very recommendation not to eat in the first place ...

What, you think your G!d tricked humanity so that it would be driven from paradise into a life of toil, suffering and death?

The operation of human free will has no place in the story? Man is a puppet — they plaything of a capricious deity?

No chance, I suppose, that the compilers of Scripture saw that, and offered the inherent contradiction as a key to make the reader think beyond the text? It seems, from all the evidence we have, that Hebrew narratives are quite sophisticated in semantic technique.

I mean, as no-one, rich or poor, can get through the eye of a needle, then no-one gets into heaven.

And this man Jesus, what is He? A door? A loaf of bread?

What about gen1 ... no Gen2 sleep and rib extraction, and no warning, and no Gen3 snake story....just eat anything it is for you...and be fruitful and multiply....

What about the teaching that Genesis one is a mythopoeic commentary on cosmology, and genesis 2 on anthropology? That works.

Maybe the compilers of Scripture saw something you don't see?

But maybe it's because they're old, you think they can't possess wisdom or insight?

C'mon, brother ... credit where credit is due. My Daoist friends have more reverence for, and see more in, the Scriptures than you appear to.

God bless,

Thomas

 

[Quahom1]

Hi Writetrain —

I would rather suggest it's not as simple as it might seem:
"The Spirit bloweth where he will; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
John 3:8
I think who is and who isn't is known to God, and not always to us.

God bless,

Thomas

Well said. A "Christian" is not one who professes a particular denomination or sect, but rather one to accepts the declaration of Jesus and who accepts the gift given, then tries to act according to the expectancy of the Lord.

Instead of saying "I'm a Christian" for example, I prefer to state "I try to be Christ like".

I'm a work in progress.

Q

 

[wil]

Hi Wil —


Well, we'll have to see. It seems they've been taught it's OK to steal if you can get away with it, and it's OK for kids to engage other kids in criminal activity, to spread the blame, if you don't.

Some wise teaching ...

Surely you understand the concept of acting and a play or skit Thomas. No they weren't taught stealing is ok or engaging others in criminal activity was ok. sheeesh

Unless, of course, there's more to the story than meets the eye ... sometimes people use rhetorical language to make the audience think. Personally, I credit the authors of Scripture with more common sense (and spiritual insight) than you appear to.

isn't that exactly what I've always said? Suddenly you take me for a literalist?

What, you think your G!d tricked humanity so that it would be driven from paradise into a life of toil, suffering and death?

Surely you don't believe G!d couldn't find Adam and Eve in the garden as they hid, and 'he' 'walked' around 'looking' for them and 'calling' for them?? and that if it wasn't for that everyone would live forever in the garden??? Thomas??? thomas???

The operation of human free will has no place in the story? Man is a puppet — they plaything of a capricious deity?

One could easily suppose that by reading much of the bible. but I don't, I believe there is many more lessons in the mythology than simply that.

No chance, I suppose, that the compilers of Scripture saw that, and offered the inherent contradiction as a key to make the reader think beyond the text? It seems, from all the evidence we have, that Hebrew narratives are quite sophisticated in semantic technique.

exactly

I mean, as no-one, rich or poor, can get through the eye of a needle, then no-one gets into heaven.

The camel and the eye of the needle, Hebrew NT Application - Biblical Hebrew

And this man Jesus, what is He? A door? A loaf of bread?

both, depending on the scripture you wish to quote. for me, my elder brother and wayshower...

What about the teaching that Genesis one is a mythopoeic commentary on cosmology, and genesis 2 on anthropology? That works.

no matter the syllables or age or veneration of a text it seems not productive to take myth as literal

Maybe the compilers of Scripture saw something you don't see?

undoubtedly, and vice versa as we've got hundreds of years of historians and science on them

But maybe it's because they're old, you think they can't possess wisdom or insight?

C'mon, brother ... credit where credit is due. My Daoist friends have more reverence for, and see more in, the Scriptures than you appear to.

God bless,

Thomas

and so you are defending carte blanche the opening post? Or simply countering my discussion with the poster?

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

a born again Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside them, a born again Christian can meet God face to face no one else can do this.

 

[Quahom1]

a born again Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside them, a born again Christian can meet God face to face no one else can do this.

This is simple fact.

 

[Thomas]

Surely you understand the concept of acting and a play or skit Thomas.

OK. A bit tough of me ... 'soz', as my kids are fond of texting ...

Surely you don't believe G!d couldn't find Adam and Eve in the garden as they hid, and 'he' 'walked' around 'looking' for them and 'calling' for them??

I read it as they lost sight of Him, as the text alludes ... their eyes were opened (which I read as the eye of the soul was shut), they hid ... and we still are, hiding, I mean ... whenever we find God, He's always there, waiting ...

and that if it wasn't for that everyone would live forever in the garden???

I think death would not be quite the extinction it became.

... no matter the syllables or age or veneration of a text it seems not productive to take myth as literal

Oh I can agree with that.

... as we've got hundreds of years of historians and science on them

I'm not so sure, personally. I think we've got tone of empirical evidence, so much so that we think that's all there is ...

and so you are defending carte blanche the opening post? Or simply countering my discussion with the poster?

The latter. I think Christ reveals Himself to others in ways we cannot know, or even sometimes understand. Then they are reborn, then they are of His Church (in the wider sense).

I thought you were saying that Genesis is nonsense.

God bless,

Thomas

 

[wil]

a born again Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside them, a born again Christian can meet God face to face no one else can do this.

This is simple fact.

Yes, that is what I was speaking of.

I thought you were saying that Genesis is nonsense.

God bless,

Thomas

Heck no, just that reading it litterally I have issues with. But those are my issues I suppose.

I enjoy the emails I get from the chabbad folks, great stuff, but still get a chuckle out of the dates...

For instance...yesterdays

What Does it Mean to "Believe in G-d"?
Tevet 23, 5771 · December 30, 2010
By Manis Friedman

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Even the honest atheist will agree that a first cause, an original being, must have preceded the universe. This original cause or source is what so humbled Einstein, although he incorrectly described it as a religious experience. The questions of faith begin with how we understand this First Cause, its nature, and its relationship to us and to the universe.
The statement, "I believe there is a G-d" is meaningless. Faith is not the ability to imagine that which does not exist. Faith is finding relevance in that which is transcendent. To believe in G-d, then, means not that you're of the opinion that He exists, but that you have found relevance in Him. When a person says "I believe in G-d" what s/he really means is "G-d is significant in my life".
In discussing our relationship with G-d, the question we first need to ask, is, Who cares? In what way is He relevant?
For some people, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the origins of existence. For others, G-d is relevant because they are concerned with the afterlife, and faith is a prerequisite for getting to heaven. Finally, for others, G-d is relevant because they believe that life has purpose.
In Judaism, particularly in Chassidism, the interest in G-d comes from the conviction that life has meaning. The recurring question in Chassidic thought is: Why is a soul sent into the world to suffer in a physical body, for 80, 90 years? We know there is a purpose, that G-d is the author of that purpose, and we want to know and understand it.
Chabad Chassidism teaches that the mind is the soul's capacity to detect logic, the heart is the soul's capacity to respond negatively or positively. The respective functions of the mind, heart and soul are often confused.
One who lives by his heart exclusively, trusts only what he feels. One who lives by his mind exclusively, trusts only what fits. But neither of these tells you the truth. The mind demands that logic be trusted, the heart demands that the emotions be trusted. Yet both can be mistaken. They do not reveal inherent truth. For that, we turn to the soul, the neshamah. Because the soul is a part of the Divine -- and that is truth. When we have faith, when we find relevance in G-d, we are trusting that instinct in the soul that tells us that G-d is the purpose of life.
In pragmatic terms, the mind, the heart and the soul must each fulfill their function: when we know all that can be known, when we come to the edge of knowledge and logic itself tells us that we have reached its outer limits and it cannot handle what lay beyond this point, faith enters. Where the mind is no longer adequate, the soul responds to truth. This is faith.
This faith, this soul response, is necessary in the fulfillment of that category of mitzvot known as chukim, supra-rational laws, laws that do not subscribe to reason.
If someone has difficulties with these particular commandments, that is an indication that they may be relying on the mind and heart at the expense of their own capacity to react to truth -- the expression of their soul. When a Jew fulfills a mitzvah before they've fully intellectualized it, they are allowing their neshamah to respond to truth.
It is an ability that often needs to be cultivated. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), recounts in his memoirs that as a small child, he once asked his father to explain to him why we follow a particular custom with regard to the saying of Modeh Ani upon waking in the morning. Instead of giving the answer, the Rebbe's father led him to an elderly, simple Jew, and asked the Jew, "Why do you say Modeh Ani in this particular way?" To which the man responded, "Because that's how my father taught me to do it." The Rebbe's father might have just as easily given him the rational reason for the custom. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to exercise his ability to respond with faith.
This is why in Chabad-Lubavitch it is our approach to invite a Jew -- even one who claims not to believe -- to do a mitzvah, before we engage them in a discussion on faith. Because in consideration of the existence of the soul, we can assume that we don't have to convince people of life's Divine purpose. We just have to get them started, and with each mitzvah they do, their neshama asserts itself more, and questions become answered of themselves. By way of analogy, if a woman's maternal instinct appears to be absent, you don't argue the philosophy of motherhood with her. Just put the baby in her lap and her maternal response will emerge.
The relevance we find in Him will differ from person to person. Being that He is everything, people will experience G-d in every possible way. He is the G-d of Abraham and Isaac, of Benevolence and Might. And it is also true, as G-d says, "I am known according to my deeds." Some will know Him as a rewarding G-d, others as a G-d who punishes, who provides, who saves, who enlightens, who inspires, and so on and on..
In the beginning, G-d revealed Himself as the creator, master, king -- all very impersonal roles. In Halachah (Torah law) G-d reveals His laws, but doesn't allow His "personal feelings" to show. Later, in the Kabbalah, G-d makes Himself vulnerable; He shares intimate details. He is humanized in a two-way relationship. So the Halachist has great respect for the wisdom of the commandments, while the mystic sees G-d as taking the mitzvot personally. When G-d says, "don't cut down fruit trees," if we were sensitive we would not only hear a commandment, but we'd see something about G-d. Kabbalah reveals that something. The halachot are the details; Kabbalah reads between the lines.
Kabbalah gives us a very different perspective on G-d's "anthropomorphic" behavior. It reminds us that Torah comes to teach us about G-d, and that expressions such as "G-d spoke," "G-d's hand," "G-d's anger," need to be considered from Torah's or G-d's perspective. We are not the reference point for G-d's behavior; G-d should serve as a reference for our behavior. He created the world. Speech, hand, anger, jealousy -- these are all His creations, these are all Divine rights. Our speech, our hand, our anger, our jealousy -- these are only metaphors for the real thing, not the other way around. When we read that "G-d raises His hand" and splits the sea, we need to measure our own hand against that. When we raise it, what happens? Nothing. We learn then that we are not quite as powerful as G-d. When we read that G-d gets angry and punishes because He created a world with a Divine purpose, and that purpose is frustrated, we ought to measure our own anger against that. What have we created? Nothing. We may not, therefore, get angry and punish as G-d does. Considering G-d's anger and other attributes in this way brings us to a humbling recognition. Only when our anger or jealousy is an expression of moral indignation does it reflect true, Divine qualities. Only then, may we exercise such expressions. Whatever truth there is in anything in us, it is the extent to which we embody what it is He tells us about Himself.

 

[Thomas]

Yep.

As we say, faith and reason are the wings on which the soul ascends ...

God bless,

Thomas

 

[writetrain]

Earth may be a better place than many people think. On earth, everybody has an opinion. Only time can prove how valuable each man's opinion (1 Cor. 3:9-13).

 

[iBrian]

Earth may be a better place than many people think. On earth, everybody has an opinion. Only time can prove how valuable each man's opinion (1 Cor. 3:9-13).

Excellent - so is your opinion equal to everyone else, or are you about to evangelise otherwise?