Faith... to what/whom?

[OnyxCougar]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
Jim, you have to understand, that to be a true Christian, a person has to have absolute faith. If they say “that’s what I believe, but I could be wrong and you could be right”, then they don’t have absolute faith, hence are not true Christians. While I do maintain that Christians that feel they must save everyone else’s soul, are the most obnoxious people on earth, I understand why they can’t accept that you *might* be right in your beliefs.

I agree with that. A true Christian *does* have absolute faith in God and Jesus Christ and the Bible as infallable word of God.

Also, true Christians *are* concerned for the salvation of their fellow man. They have to be. It was said so many times in the bible to "go and bring them unto me..." and it's a function of the true christian's love for his fellow man... If you love all men (and women), then you don't want to see them miss out on eternal life. Therefore, if you love them, you'll try to lead them to God.

Now, you can be obnoxious about it, like Kirk Cameron and his "Way of the Master", which tries to scare people into becoming Christians, but IMO, that is the wrong reason to become a Christian. (It's a reason, but it shouldn't be the only reason.) IMO, you should become a Christian because you want to have a personal, loving reasonship with the marvelous God that created you, and has a purpose for you. Yes, you have to follow some rules...but if you follow the first one Jesus told us was most important, "Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. That is the first and great commandment," (Mark 12:30) then you will naturally follow the rest.

You can't be a homosexual (just as an easy example) and love God. The arguement that God loves the sinner but not the sin is true. IMO, though, the homosexual (that engages in sexual activity) that says he's a Christian is a liar. If you're a Christian, and you are loving God with all of you and you know from the Bible that homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord, then you will not practice (or "give in" to) your sinful nature because you LOVE god, and you don't want to disappoint him. It's a choice you make. Yes, you're forgiven thru Jesus, but that doesn't mean you can purposely ignore the rules. (Catholics do this alot.) I know one or two people that are gay that have made a choice not to have sex because it's a sin against God. They still find men attractive, but they have made a choice NOT to give in to the wants of the flesh, in order to receive the gifts Jesus promised. THAT is a true Christian.

So yeah, I have a problem with most "evangelists" that try to scare folks to Christ. That is particularly the reason people get saved, then "fall off the Jesus truck". True Love is forever, fear is fleeting.