Is it easy to be a Christian?

[Menotu]

It seems rather easy to be a Christian:
1) Choose the lifestyle that best fits your needs
2) Read the bible
3) Accept Jesus/God
4) Live as best you can based on Jesus/God
5) Ask forgiveness when you fail (if your belief system isn't the 'once saved always saved' type)
6) Repeat as necessary

Or is it more difficult?
If so, how?

[Divine Insight]

Living up to the standards of God is very hard..

What exactly do you find difficult about following the teachings of Jesus?

I would be very interested to know.

Facing persecution mockery and denigration from unbelievers makes things uncomfortable in this life..

Mockery and denigration can only hurt your ego. Why worship your ego? Just let it go. Simply ignore those who mock and denigrate you. Just turn the other cheek, remember? It's easy.

For some Christians in this world this persecution extends to violence and execution..

This is true of all religions. It's also true of many other people for many other non-religious reasons such as racism, sexism, etc.

By the way, if you don't go around publicly advertising your Christianity chances are that no one will even know that your claim to be a Christian. So just don't tell anyone. It's none of their business anyway.

Jesus never taught anyone to go around bragging about being a Christian. In fact Christianity didn't even exist when Jesus lived. So just don't brag about being a Christian and you should be just fine.

If one believes Jesus and trusts in the Atonement Jesus secured on the cross to atone for their transgressions against the will of God then they will be saved.. There is no need to continuously ask for forgiveness for each sin you will commit.. The teaching that you MUST ask for forgiveness for each and every transgression is a WORKS salvation doctrine.. The belief that a person needs to do the work of 100% successfully asking for forgiveness for each sin makes ones salvation dependent on your own efforts in asking for forgiveness.. PS: I do not believe in the Once saved always saved Calvinist doctrine..

Well, there you go. You are defining your own belief. And then you have to live by what you define. So if you have defined a Christianity that is difficult to follow then you have no one to blame for that but yourself.

Why create a monster God when you can just as easily create a loving forgiving God that you can trust?

Are you planning on doing things that you feel would be difficult to forgive?

I apologize if these questions may appear to be personal, but when we define our own beliefs what we are actually doing is defining our own God.

So why define a God that you feel would be difficult to appease?

[Adstar]

Living up to the standards of God is very hard..

What exactly do you find difficult about following the teachings of Jesus?

I would be very interested to know.

Facing persecution mockery and denigration from unbelievers makes things uncomfortable in this life..

Mockery and denigration can only hurt your ego. Why worship your ego? Just let it go. Simply ignore those who mock and denigrate you. Just turn the other cheek, remember? It's easy.

I am a human being.. An imperfect human being.. Everyone has some dificulties living up to the High standards of Jesus.. In one area or another.. King David was a genuine believer and loved God but David had a lot of faults when it came to being tempted by his sexual desires for woman.. Bathsheba being the prime example..

Note there are two sides to this topic..
Being a Christian = Easy .. Because God provides all that one needs to be saved..
Living a christian life here on earth = Hard.. Because faulty human beings like us live Christian lives..

You can go through the Word of God and i have no doubt you will find teachings / that you personally have trouble with.. Different people.. Different weaknesses.. The same Atonement of Jesus covers them all so in respects to salvation, it's easy.. But in regards to being the person one would desire to be as a decent Christian.. Thats hard..

For some Christians in this world this persecution extends to violence and execution..

This is true of all religions. It's also true of many other people for many other non-religious reasons such as racism, sexism, etc.

Thats true.. But their suffering does not mean the suffering of a Christian is any more or less valid.. Not even sure why you bothered to even mention the suffering of non-Christians.. This topic is not about the suffering of Non-Christians it is a question about Christianity and how hard it is to be one..

By the way, if you don't go around publicly advertising your Christianity chances are that no one will even know that your claim to be a Christian. So just don't tell anyone. It's none of their business anyway.

As a Bible believing Christian i believe we Christians are called upon the share the message of God to all nations / peoples.. So advertising Christianity is i believe what God wants me to do..

Jesus never taught anyone to go around bragging about being a Christian.

True and i agree that one should never bragg about being a Christian.. That is prideful and as a Bible believing Christian i believe proverbs 16, 8 when it says ""Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall."" As for me i acknowledge my own human faultiness..

In fact Christianity didn't even exist when Jesus lived. So just don't brag about being a Christian and you should be just fine.

I believe Jesus is raised from the dead and is alive forever more.. So i believe Jesus is alive today in heaven.. And again why do some people think a Christian is automatically bragging when they share the fact that they are a Christian?? I know some Christiasn may do this and they are wrong for doing this.. But why do some people have the perception that this is the case for all Christians??

If one believes Jesus and trusts in the Atonement Jesus secured on the cross to atone for their transgressions against the will of God then they will be saved.. There is no need to continuously ask for forgiveness for each sin you will commit.. The teaching that you MUST ask for forgiveness for each and every transgression is a WORKS salvation doctrine.. The belief that a person needs to do the work of 100% successfully asking for forgiveness for each sin makes ones salvation dependent on your own efforts in asking for forgiveness.. PS: I do not believe in the Once saved always saved Calvinist doctrine..

Well, there you go. You are defining your own belief. And then you have to live by what you define. So if you have defined a Christianity that is difficult to follow then you have no one to blame for that but yourself.

Well i was talking against having to perform up to a 100% standard in saying sorry for each individuel transgression in the above quote.. So i am happy i can live by that achievable standard ( which is a standard where i do not have to achieve it) Seems you have misread or simply do not understand the concept of salvation as a gift had being believing and accepting.. rather then performing up to the standards of God..

Why create a monster God when you can just as easily create a loving forgiving God that you can trust?

I don't believe i have created nor am i able to create any God.. Monster god or fairy god,, no matter what type.. I want to know the real God and follow Him.. It is pointless creating a god that does not exist then follow that mirage..

Are you planning on doing things that you feel would be difficult to forgive?

I know i will be doing sins till the time i leave this body and life... temptations will draw me into doing things which are not good for me.. But the good news ( The Gospel ) is that these things are justly forgiven by God if one believes God and trusts in the Atonement Jesus secured on the cross to pay the penalty for such transgressions.. Except of course blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.. Which is another topic entirely..

I apologize if these questions may appear to be personal, but when we define our own beliefs what we are actually doing is defining our own God.

Well it is my Hope and earnest desire not to create my own god.. That would be just an idol a relection of my own thinking.. People who create their own gods are in fact declaring themselves to be god because their creation comes from their own mind and what they believe God should be.. No need to apologize and sometimes getting personal helps in discussions..

So why define a God that you feel would be difficult to appease?

I don't believe i have.. I believe in a God who is easy to appease.. His yoke is light and easy..

[Divine Insight]

Well it is my Hope and earnest desire not to create my own god.. That would be just an idol a relection of my own thinking.

But how could you possibly prevent this? Creating your own vision of God is the only option you have available to you.

Even if you claim to be defining God through scripture you are still stuck with having to chose for yourself which parts of scriptures should override other parts, as well as introducing your own interpretations of what you think they should mean.

You really have no choice but to create your own version of God and Jesus.

People who create their own gods are in fact declaring themselves to be god because their creation comes from their own mind and what they believe God should be..

Agreed. But this is all anyone who interprets the Bible can ever hope to do. Not only this, but we can clearly see that not all Christians interpret the Bible in the same way, thus proving that Christians are not being guided in their interpretations by any Holy Spirit. For if that were the case then all Christians would be on the same page, and they clearly are not.

So you are truly left with no choice but to create your own personal vision of Jesus and God. There are no other options available.

[JehovahsWitness]

It seems rather easy to be a Christian:
1) Choose the lifestyle that best fits your needs
2) Read the bible
3) Accept Jesus/God
4) Live as best you can based on Jesus/God
5) Ask forgiveness when you fail (if your belief system isn't the 'once saved always saved' type)
6) Repeat as necessary

Or is it more difficult?
If so, how?

7) preach the good news to strangers in all weather's nd circumstances
8) take the time to make teach and make disciples
9) meet together for fellowship and worship no matter how difficult
10) face various degrees of pressure, opposition and persecution
11) live by bible standards in a world that increasingly disapproves of this
12) keep your faith alive throughout your life
13) love those that hate you, hate your people and hate God

Without Gods spirit and help doing the above would not just be difficult it would be impossible.



JW


FURTHER READING : Faith under test (modern day experiences of Jehovahs Witnessess)
https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesse ... /faithful/


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[Bust Nak]

It seems rather easy to be a Christian...

3) Accept Jesus/God...

Step 3 is not easy at all.

[Adstar]

Well it is my Hope and earnest desire not to create my own god.. That would be just an idol a relection of my own thinking.

But how could you possibly prevent this? Creating your own vision of God is the only option you have available to you.

Even if you claim to be defining God through scripture you are still stuck with having to chose for yourself which parts of scriptures should override other parts, as well as introducing your own interpretations of what you think they should mean.

You really have no choice but to create your own version of God and Jesus.

I believe in the Holy Spirit of God and that God's Holy Spirit guides humans/ moves humans.. So i rely on Gods Holy Spirit to give me wisdom so i can understand scriptures correctly.. This is a part of the Faith ( trusting ) each Christian needs to have to be a follower of God.. And no Christian,, me included,, understands God and His will completely and thus trusting that God's will is correct is needed.. For example every Christian who reads the Bible will have difficulties understanding and accepting parts of the Bible.. Some more.. Some less.. The ones who have more trouble will necessarily need to have more Faith ( trusting God ) because there is more in the Bible that challenges their ideas of what a God should teach and do..

If i will use a Bible doctrine for an example..

The doctrine of the eternal Lake of Fire where fallen angels and humans who have rejected the will of God shall be cast into after the final judgement and they shall be tormented for ever and ever in it.. Now if it was my will i would never want such a place to exist.. So if i was creating my ""own vision of God"" I would reject the eternal lake of fire and would be more attracted to the doctrine that some hold called annihilationism.. The belief that those who will be cast into the eternal lake of fire will be destroyed and cease to exist.. That after a very quick death they would cease to exist. So no eternal torment.. But since i Trust that the Bible is truth and that Gods will is right then i accept that the eternal lake of fire will be a place of torment for ever and ever for those cast into it..

So i have not created my own god on this point.. And there are a lot of other points that i faced while reading the Bible for the first time that i either disagreed with or i had trouble with.. But because i trusted in God and earnestly asked for wisdom guidance for His Holy Spirit i came to understand much.. So my need for faith in many things ceased to be a need.. The more knowledge one has been blessed with about the will of God the less Faith / trusting one needs to have about the will of God..

But as i said before no one knows it all in regard to the will of God so therefore every Christian needs at lest some Faith ( trusting in God) to cover things they must believe on Faith..

People who create their own gods are in fact declaring themselves to be god because their creation comes from their own mind and what they believe God should be..

Agreed. But this is all anyone who interprets the Bible can ever hope to do.

Not if they are being guided by the Holy Spirit and they are able to accept His guidance..

Not only this, but we can clearly see that not all Christians interpret the Bible in the same way, thus proving that Christians are not being guided in their interpretations by any Holy Spirit.

I disagree.. That's a false assumption.. For instance in science there have been many different and competing theories about many area's of research.. To say that the differences in opinion of scientists over their theories proves that science is false is just illogical..

For if that were the case then all Christians would be on the same page, and they clearly are not.

Well i do not believe all Christians are Christians...

I will also add that Christianity has two divisions..

1)The core doctrines of salvational importance..
2) The side doctrines.. disputable matters that don't have an effect on salvation no matter what side one comes to support..

An example of 1) would be the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ.. Believing that is essential to ones salvation.. You will find very few Christians who would disagree with this doctrine..

An example of 2) Would be the doctrine that woman must wear head coverings in Church.. Some Christians may support this doctrine while others will be opposed to it. But it matters not when it comes to salvation because it is not a doctrine of salvational importance..

So you are truly left with no choice but to create your own personal vision of Jesus and God. There are no other options available.

Well obviously i disagree..

[Divine Insight]

So if i was creating my ""own vision of God"" I would reject the eternal lake of fire and would be more attracted to the doctrine that some hold called annihilationism.. The belief that those who will be cast into the eternal lake of fire will be destroyed and cease to exist.. That after a very quick death they would cease to exist. So no eternal torment.. But since i Trust that the Bible is truth and that Gods will is right then i accept that the eternal lake of fire will be a place of torment for ever and ever for those cast into it..

But that's still just your interpretation. So even though your getting the fodder for these ideas from the Biblical doctrine it doesn't make your interpretation correct.

Moreover, what sense would it make for a creator God to torture humans for eternity in a hell fire? You'd need to believe that your God is an extremely evil and uncaring God. Is that what you believe? And if not, then how to you explain his extremely evil behavior when it comes to hell.

As you point out, most humans recognize this to be something quite disgusting.

Why should anyone choose to believe in a disgusting God?

Well i do not believe all Christians are Christians...

But now look where you are at. Your going to accuse everyone who doesn't agree with your Biblical interpretations of not being true Christians.

Now you've got a theology that turns you against your own brothers. All because you interpret things different from how they do.

In other words, the God that you have created doesn't match up with the God that they have created from the very same stories.

Wouldn't you need to think that you are quite special to have gotten it right when they got it all wrong?

Why should that be the case?

[1213]

It seems rather easy to be a Christian:
1) Choose the lifestyle that best fits your needs
2) Read the bible
3) Accept Jesus/God
4) Live as best you can based on Jesus/God
5) Ask forgiveness when you fail (if your belief system isn't the 'once saved always saved' type)
6) Repeat as necessary

Or is it more difficult?
If so, how?

It may be quite subjective matter. In Bible Christian means a disciple of Jesus. And disciple of Jesus is a person who remains in the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
John 8:31-32

It can be difficult, if you have conflict in what Jesus says and what you want to do. For example, if you could lose your job, or life because of that, it may become difficult.

[Menotu]

Easy to be a Christian? Not according to Jesus.

[Mar 8:34 KJV] And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

What Jesus asks of us is not a life of happiness and ease. What he asks is for us to die to ourselves. What makes it hard is our own pride. Because of our prideful nature, we are not willing to lay down our lives for others, love our enemies, give our money and time away, and put others first.

Seems there are a couple of kinds of 'easy' (for lack of a better definition):
Easy in that you can go about your day without sin/temptation and easy meaning you have 'God on your side' and if you screw up, it's an easy apology and things are all good again.

That and, as happens many times, you have the death bed confessions. Someone did bad/evil for decades and now, all of a sudden, they ask forgiveness and boom - they're heaven bound.
While being 'heaven bound' isn't 'being a Christian', it is the ultimate goal and, as such, can be legitimately compared.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 18 by Menotu]

DOES GOD ACCEPT "DEATHBED CONFESSIONS"?

• Jehovah (the God of the bible) is a loving and merciful God who holds out the option of forgiveness for almost any sin if the person sins in ignorance or is genuinely repentant. This means that if a person comes to acknowledge his need to change but has no time to act because his death is imminent, God will kindly accept that and provide him with future life to prove the sincerity of his intentions.
  
  This seems to have been the case for the criminal executed next to Jesus. We cannot be sure why but this man that had evidently committed serious crimes, possibly murder, expressed faith in Jesus, but he evidently had a change of heart and asked to be remembered. Jesus indicated that he would indeed be granted future life in paradise.

DOES THIS MEAN ONE CAN DELIBERATELY LIVE A SINFUL LIFE COUNTING ON A LAST MINUTE CONFESSION?

• This idea seems to be rooted in the Catholic dogma that forgiveness is automatically granted by simply following a particulat ritual of "confession" before dying. This idea is not biblical. The ransom sacrifice of Jesus does not cover deliberate sin.
  

  JAMES 4:17 - Berean Study Bible
  Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
  

  Someone that knows that his actions are bad but goes ahead and does them in a calculated and premeditated way figuring he will simply follow a formulistic request for pardon just before dying, has entirely missed the point of divine forgiveness.
  

  JUDE 4
  ungodly men, turning the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for loose conduct and proving false to our only Owner and Lord, Jesus Christ.

  No one can fool God who reads the heart, nothing escapes his notice including our motives (see Genesis 20:3-6). He knows if someone had lead a sinful life counting on a last minute reprise and is only apologising because he wants to avoid facing the consequences of his actions, or whether that person was genuinely ignorant of the seriousness of his sin. Biblically speaking, there will be no forgiveness of those God judges as wicked.

PSALMS 104:35 - NWT
The sinners will vanish from the earth and the wicked will no longer exist

JEHOVAHS WITNESS





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