Is this the forum are there any Christians

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Is this the forum are there any Christians treating their faith seriously


I am a Catholic, I'm wondering about my salvation

I often break the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, it is not adultery per se , but it does not feel good about it.

There are Christians of various religions here, and many seem to take their religions a little too seriously, if you ask me.

Be that as it may, it all boils down to a few simple questions:

• Do you believe in the one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible?
  
• Do you believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, only begotten of the Father, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made on Earth and in the heavens; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered, and the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead?
  
• Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, who is coexistent with the Father and the Son, being as one with them, and who is now extant upon the Earth to comfort and guide us?

If you can answer "Yes" to each of these questions with all your mind, all your soul, and all your body, then you are a Christian.

That's all it takes.

You do not need a man in robes and mitered hat to intervene on your behalf, because (according to the Bible) Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Light to eternal life. Neither should you pray to the saints, but only to God the Father in Jesus' name.

Read your Bible and learn what it actually says, so that even the most pious of Christian leaders can not lead you astray. Remember that faith and religion are two different things, and that faith without works is a dead faith.

Blessed Be.

If it ain't adultery per se, then it ain't adultery.

If it doesn't feel good, then why do it?

I'm Eastern Orthodox. Crappy performing Christian I guess, but I still am one. I wonder of my salvation, too. "Only a few find it" after all.

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner." seems the best we can do. I used to have grandiose ideas about my religious life, how I'd be able to preach the Gospel to the world, but unfortunately my own life is in shambles and sucks. I do not know how I can help repair other's souls if my own needs repair. Oh well.

I am Eastern Orthodox as well. I hate the media stereotype that everyone with autism is an atheist "beause it's not logical to believe in God"!

I also do not like this stereotype

To many people Aspie = Vulcan (an alien from star trek devoted to science and logic ) a materialist who doesn't believe in anything except pure science


I am a believer, maybe I am a sinner but believing sinner , certainly not an atheist

I'm Eastern Orthodox too. I think a lot about spiritual issues and about the way to live a Christian life. AChristian life to me means a life filled with love and compassion for God's creation and creatures. A Christian life to me means standing up against injustice and evil. It means not harming others and doing good whenever possible. Because of this, I am a huge human rights supporter, thus entering in conflict with some of the views held by the church (e.g. I love LGBT people and honor them as God's creatures). I wonder about salvation, but I tend to believe that many people will get it. I put my faith in universal salvation, to be honest. Our God is a God of love and He loves us. That's a wonderful thing, I guess the most wonderful thing ever...

The goyim are everywhere.

ruveyn

Yep, there's no getting away from us!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

I'm a Lutheran myself. My suggestion to the OP is to know that God isn't a monster taking pleasure in your suffering and damnation. Rather, take heart that he's taken all of your sins on himself, and that you are forgiven. So, I wouldn't sweat breaking the sixth in thought.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

The discussion is getting old.. but I'd want to say that I am not religious, but not because of use of logic. It's illogical. A journey in mind and consciousness revealing primitive tendencies and otherworldy feelings and phenomenons. Which makes the idea of a god unnecessary and redundant. Insanity as we know it contains a lot of information we're not used to explore and take seriously. But it says a lot about us, and religious thinking, societies and culture.

Actually, that is not all it takes. That is not what the Bible says on the subject of how to be a Christian. The things you are quoting from are taken from some man-made crede or confessional of some kind. They are not God's instructions on how to be a Christian. The Bible does not say that if you believe in the existence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, then you are a Christian. On the contrary. The Bible says that devils believe in God as well - and devils are certainly not Christians, are they?

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19


There you are, you see. The demons fulfil your three criteria, and they're not exactly Christian, are they?



You would do well to take your own advice, and go and read in the Bible the two things that Jesus and the apostles all said that Christians had to do in order to be saved: REPENT and BELIEVE.

1. Repentance means turn from your sins, and stop doing them.

2. Belief means belief in Jesus, who took your punishment for you so that you would not have to go to the lake of fire.


Jesus says: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15

OP, if you are committing adultery and your conscience is bothering you about it, it's good you have a tender consience. You need to REPENT (stop doing the sin) as well as believing in Jesus. If you carry on being an adulterer, the Bible states quite clearly that you will NOT go to heaven at all. You will be thrown into the lake of fire instead.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10

The Bible specifically says BE NOT DECEIVED. That means if anybody tries to deceive you and tell you "it's ok, you can carry on committing adultery, I'm sure God will let you into heaven anyway" you should NOT BELIEVE THEM. Believe God instead. Repent of your sins, and stop doing them.

See what I mean?

I consider myself something of a Gnostic.

To me, belief has more to do with realizing your own divine potential within. You maintain the belief, the faith, that you can transcend the pettier side of human nature. Its a meditative state of mind that one holds daily, and by meditating on being more Christ-like, you can become an improved person. Christ is a powerful archetype and represents the human potential for belief in the higher form of love he spoke of, since Jesus believed so much in universal love that he died for this ideal, as well as the real world application of it. If you can use Jesus as a template for unconditional love for others, so much the better.

I don't think Jesus, specifically, is necessary for spiritual awakening, but rather the spirit of what Jesus represents. Ultimately I think the type of consciousness Christ and the holy spirit represents is nameless and that the labels we use as humans are arbitrary. Buddhist enlightenment, Hindu Nirvana, as well as being entered by the holy spirit are all human conceptualizations that potentially lead to the same state of nameless awareness that leads to transcendence of the retched side of human behavior .

I think that to define this nameless state of mind and heart as specifically, salvation through Jesus Christ, enlightenment, transcendence, Gnosis, etc or whatever other arbitrary utterances the human tongue can muster, is just another arrogant attempt by man to confine holiness. To me, this is the ultimate blasphemy. I think the concepts that the Bible provide, or any other text for that matter, are only valuable as long as the reader keeps in mind that they are just concepts. The moment they mistake the concepts for the actual experience they represent, it loses all value, since it ceases to be a tool for attaining the experience it road maps.

Its just like the word "love". Its an actual experience that really isn't done true justice by being summed up with a one syllable word. That's why the Greeks had several words for love, and that's why the Apostle Paul elucidated so clearly and poetically in his letter to the Corinthians what it was and what it wasn't. Its ultimately an ineffable experience, and words are, at best, a road map that leads one to or inspires the actual feeling, and, at worst, a set of irrelevant symbols that have lost all original context.

yes. it is my default as well(atheist), and my bad upraising in the Christian faith all but destroyed any possible belief in God entering my early 20's.

I think even most aspies who are religious, especially us apologists types, we won't admit it to ourselves, but even if we have read the evidence and are come to full blown belief in God, there will always be an atheist impulse deep down, asking "prove it"... asking to see material, concrete facts, as we carry our selves in that way with regards to everything, not just God.

The existence of God is the one thing I guess I let slide, because my intellect has been sufficiently satisfied with the simple existence of the Torah and all that it says in there.