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I’m A Christian Because…. (An Open Letter)

By now you have likely heard of the viral video, “I’m a Christian But…” where people say stuff like I’m a Christian but I’m NOT (x, y or z). Usually along the lines of, “I’m a Christian but I’m not perfect”.

Let me tell you, if being perfect were the prerequisite to being Christian, there wouldn’t be any Christians.

Matt Walsh got it right when he said instead of saying “I’m a Christian but…”, we need to be saying “I’m a Christian because…”

Well, I’m a Christian because….

*I know there is a Higher Being who created the universe and His name is Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH….the Great I AM. In short, the God of the Bible.

*I believe the Bible to be God’s inerrant, authoritative Word. Check out the tab above for details on how I know the Bible is True.

*Because I know the Bible is true, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.  Boy do I know this. I realize I may come off a bit strong sometimes, some may even call me judgmental. I can be judgmental. God has standards that are holy. We are called to be holy as He is holy. I fall short of this DAILY, even as a Christian. Those 10 Commandments? Yeah, I’ve broken every one of them in some degree or another either by deed or thought. I can have a short fuse. I can be selfish. I can be proud. I have said things I should not have said. I have gossiped. I have been lazy. I have dishonored my parents. I have rebelled against authority, including God Himself. The list goes on and on and oooonnnnn! I do not say this because I want you to pat me on the back for being so willing to admit my sins, for admitting I am not perfect. No, I ashamed of these things.  I’ll get back to that statement in a moment.

* I trust Jesus Christ as both my Savior and my Lord. There is no other name by which we must be saved. It is through Him alone that I am deemed righteous before God. There is absolutely nothing I can do to save myself. Ever. It is only through Christ. Always Christ.

*I have confessed my sins and need of a Savior before men, repented of them and my old self was buried in baptism in the name of Christ and arose a new creation in Him. I made a commitment to follow Him because He loved me enough to die for me. It is through Him that I have life eternal. Because He conquered death, so will I.

* upon my belief and baptism, I received the Holy Spirit to dwell within me.

*this brings me to my shame of my sins. No, as a Christian I am not perfect. I still sin. a lot. BUT I DON’T WANT TO! The Holy Spirit of God dwells within me and He is in conflict with my sinful nature. I am inclined to do all those things I listed, and more, but the Spirit directs me away from them. No I was not zapped and poof I’m a robot incapable of making decisions, but the Spirit leads me and directs me down the path of righteousness….molding me to be more like Jesus. When I sin, I am deeply ashamed because I only want to honor Jesus. I WANT to be more like Him. I want to please Him. I want to turn away from the ways of the flesh and to walk by the Spirit. He enables me to do this, but I must want Him to and then let Him. He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and it is His Grace that carries me through. I believe that. I trust that. With my very soul. Jesus says if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. I love Him and I want to honor Him with my life. Sometimes I fall way short of that, but His grace is sufficient to see me through.

*I realize to continue in my sin after giving it over to Jesus is ridiculous at best.  Paul said in Romans chapter 6:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?² God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?³ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

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If you claim to be a Christian but willfully continue living in sin, you may want to reevaluate your beliefs. Jesus said,

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3

And then Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12

Being buried in Christ (through baptism) means we die to ourselves and rise again in newness of life in Him, living for Him.

⁵ Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. ⁶ For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷ and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, ¹⁰ and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—Colossians 3

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Folks, it is easy to see we are living in some screwed up times. Believers and nonbelievers alike can tell that sooner or later something’s gotta give. But you know what? The Bible says it is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. None of this comes as a surprise to one who studies Bible prophecy. Do you know that every single prophecy written about Messiah’s first coming came true? It’s all in the Old Testament of the Bible and every one came true. Isn’t it thus reasonable to assume that every prophecy concerning the second coming of Christ will also come true? Some already have! We are seeing the fulfillment of prophecy every single day!

Why do you think the whole world is so focused on that tiny little nation called Israel? The Arab (Persian if Iran) and Muslim people have this vast piece of the middle east yet all the nations of the world think Israel ought to give them more. All of this was predicted in the Bible! The Bible also says that those who go against Israel and try to divide the land will be cursed and fall into the hands of the Almighty God! The very fact that Israel was reborn as a nation after nearly 2000 years is a fulfillment of prophecy!

All the wars and rumors of wars? The disease? Famine? Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? All foretold in the Bible.

Let me get to the point: Jesus IS returning soon; we ARE living in the last days of history as we’ve always known it. This is not just the ramblings of fundamentalist nut jobs holding up signs on the side of the road. This is reality and one day soon you will be unable to deny it; though many will do so out of the hardness of their heart.

Terrible times are coming upon the earth and unfortunately Jesus said not everyone who calls Him, “Lord, Lord” will enter into His kingdom. The way is narrow but not elusive. You can have eternal life, in Jesus. Take a moment to read the “Are You Ready” tab above.

If you don’t know Jesus, if you have never died to yourself to live in Him, I implore you to do so before it is too late!!!

In closing I want to push home one last point. The world likes to call we Christians “haters”. They like to accuse fundamental Christians, those who take the Bible as God’s inerrant Word, as looking down our self-righteous noses and passing judgment on everyone who disagrees with us. This simply isn’t true. Because I know the Bible to be True, I know God means what He says. I know that we are all sinners in need of the Savior. God’s standards become my standards; and as I said, I hold myself to these standards more than I try to force them on anyone else. I can control only myself. However, I know that the wages of SIN is death. Anyone not found to be washed in the blood of Jesus is destined for the lake of fire. GOD IS LOVE! He manifested that love by taking our sins upon Himself so that in Him we may have life! He saved us because we cannot save ourselves. However, He isn’t going to force Himself on anyone. Everyone must choose Light or Darkness. Life or Death. It is amazing to me how many people choose death, just because they don’t want to accept Jesus’ gift, but they do. Will you be one of them? For me to applaud and encourage you in your sin is the most HATEFUL thing I could do, yet the world expects that of me. I am accused of hating when what I really do is love. God doesn’t want anyone to perish, that is why He died, and neither do I! God is love and He is also Just. The wages of sin is death. Sin must be paid for, either by Jesus or by each individual who rejects Him. Don’t reject Him a moment longer. Please, time is so short. I do not know how short, but events are happening so fast the season of His return is apparent. If you claim to know Christ but think you can still keep one foot in the world; if you think tolerance of sin means you are showing love, REPENT or perish. Yes, we are to love everybody. But do we “love” them straight to hell? The decision is for every person to make on his or her own. We all think we have so much time on this earth to make a decision…later….but sometimes later never comes. Once that last breath is taken, your fate is sealed. Others think that once it is obvious we are in the last days, like after the rapture or when the antichrist is revealed, then they will live for Christ. You may not live long enough! You may die as a result of the rapture (an unmanned car plows into you; a plane falls from the sky etc.) or any other number of horrors that await the Tribulation period. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus is the Way! Surrender to Him now, won’t you? I love you, I do! More importantly, God loves you and wants fellowship with you and is knocking at the door. Won’t you let Him in?