What does it mean to be a Christian?
A disciple is a person that follows a specific person, teaching or belief. Jesus’ first followers were called the twelve disciples. They followed Jesus everywhere he went and believed in and practiced his teachings. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, these 12 disciples became the apostles that helped to spread Christianity throughout the world. The people in the city of Antioch created the name Christian according to Acts 11:26,”The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (NIV). Prior to this, we were just known as followers or disciples of Christ. Put simply the word Christian refers to a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ. It is important to remember that you must accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to be a true Christian.
What is the Bible and who wrote it?
The Bible is the written word of God and was written by roughly 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years. These authors were prophets, disciples of Jesus and even a doctor! God inspired the original authors to write each of these books for the express purposes found in 2 Timothy. “All Scripture is
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John says this of Jesus,” I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). This happened just as Jesus promised on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) when all the believers were endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in other tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says,” For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (NIV). All believers are baptized in the holy spirit when they accept Jesus as their personal savior. In the next section, we will look at the holy spirit and his purpose in the life of every
Disciples take someone as their leader and try to do what they say. It is possible to be a disciple of anybody, but all Christians are disciples of Jesus. An Apostle is a selected disciple. There were only 12, and were chosen by Jesus to be leaders of the other disciples. At the time of Jesus, He had a following of about 300-400 ordinary disciples.
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, a Christian is somebody who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ. As spoken of in The Holy Bible, Christ was born 2000 years ago of a virgin mother. In his ministry, he taught that he was the foretold Messiah of the Old Testament. While on the earth, he performed the Atonement, enabling all people to overcome their sins. For his teachings, he was crucified, but was resurrected on the third day. Christ is the basis of many churches, including the Mormon Church.
The Hebrew Bible, better known as the Old Testament, is a collection of tomes that form part of the Biblical canon. Many scholars around the world do not think that a single author wrote the books contained in the Hebrew Bible, but rather that it represents centuries of stories frequently compiled after the events they describe . The stories were created with visions for the future, in order to allow audiences insight into communities and beliefs that were common thought during their era. The stories responded to the issues and problems of their time, but also addressed contemporary climates. While the stories themselves may not be true, they convey truth without needing literal readings. For example, the creation stories in Genesis, portray God as creating the universe, and while this is considered as not ‘literally true’; the stories communicate theological truths about mankind’s relationship with God through the eyes of Hebrew writers .
In the Gospel of Matthew, John didn’t want to baptize Jesus. He claimed that Jesus should be the one baptizing him and not the other way around. Jesus answered “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). John gives in and baptizes Jesus. Right after Jesus was baptized, the spirit of God descended to Jesus in
Modern Day Disciples Following Jesus today is harder than it used to be, but modern day. disciples do not exist. Christians try to see Jesus in other people and they follow Jesus' example and teachings. An everyday Christian would try to see the good in everybody, try to forgive others when hurt or unhappy and apologise for things that they do wrong.
Discipleship is the process of making disciples; students or followers of someone (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). Although discipleship existed long before Jesus, the disciple-making process as expressed by Jesus is the most impactful example for Christianity. The following is an analysis of discipleship as it was applied to Jesus’ ministry, Jesus’ discipleship model in light of modern leadership theories, and a discussion of what can be gleaned from Jesus’ discipleship model.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptiz- ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” ( Matt. 28:19-20 NIV ). The idea of sharing in the death of Christ connects remission of sins with baptism which the death of Christ effected. ( Act 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). Just as physical washing cleanses our bodies from filthiness, so also baptism symbolically cleanses our spirits through participation in the death of Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Cor. 12:13 NIV). In addition, baptism connects with spiritual birth along with the Spirit’s reception. Hence, participation in Christ’s resurrection indicates that the Holy Spirit is presently in our lives. Baptism is an indication of the relationship we have with Christ and wherever we find ourselves in the world, our deportment, attitude and disposition should be in alignment with our confession of faith. Jesus’ baptism should help us realize how much we are loved by God. Jesus died to pay a debt he did not owe to release from a debt we could not pay. Baptism is a two-fold operation because we are symbolically
Jesus had 12 disciples, disciple means follower or pupil, even long after the death of Jesus these disciples would continue teaching about Jesus. The first four books of the bible were written by the Disciple these books are called apostles they are as follows Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus became famous, because he appealed to the rich and poor alike, he had few or no possessions and he traveled all over what was then considered to be the world. Jesus attracted attention from both Jewish and Roman leaders.
Christianity is the belief that the holy trinity which includes Jesus (the son), God (the father) and the Holy Spirit exists as a very real deep connection with an individual whom has received God as their lord and savior. Christians are kind, modest and sincere people who wish to spread the good word to create a testimony to change others’ lives by opening up their hearts and minds to live in peace and harmony. Since, the beginning of time there has been many born again believers whom accept God into their lives. This rules what they believe to be true, honest and a guideline to the success of their lives. “You are my witnesses, “says the Lord, “And my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and I am He. Before me there
Bible as the Inspired Word of God The Bible is the work of various authors, who lived in different continents and wrote in different eras. Furthermore, much of the text does not claim to have been 'dictated' by God and is not always God speaking to people. In parts it consists of people speaking to God, as in the Psalms, and people speaking to people, as in the New Testament letters written by Paul. In light of this, some maintain that it is not possible to treat the Bible as a book of divine oracles, delivered once by God and recorded by its authors through divine inspiration, since biblical authors were products of their time and subsequently their understanding of divine truth was culturally conditioned.
Although many people interchangeably use the words apostle and disciple, these words have very different meanings. “Disciple” is a very broad term, because it refers to all those who have followed Jesus. So the disciples were Christians; however, the disciples were not called “Christians” until the church at Antioch (of Syria) was founded. An apostle is different because these people were specifically chosen by God to do a specific work for Him and they followed His will. They served as the representatives of Jesus. The twelve apostles and all the other apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles, and not all apostles were members of “the
Disciples of Christ A disciple is someone who is a follower of Jesus Christ. We are all
The word Christian means to me that I am a follower of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Being a Christian means going out telling others about what God has done in your life. Becoming a Christian means that I am building my relationship with the
For the meaning of ‘disciple’ see Acts 11: 26. A disciple is a follower – it involved a physical act as well as a commitment of mind and heart. We will see four essential aspects to the cost of following Jesus, being his disciple which is essentially being a Christian: 1. Committing to Christ, Luke 14: 25-26 2.
A disciple, in the general sense of the word, means anyone who chooses to learn from a teacher - however in the religious interpretation, the teacher is represented in Jesus. Disciple is literally translated to ‘learner’ in Greek, but in the Catholic faith, the word takes on a deeper meaning. Discipleship becomes an open call from God to spread the Good News and be a visible symbol of His benevolence. “If you have made the decision to be a disciple of Jesus, you can see through all these other [negative] messages, taking only what is good and true from them.” (Cooper, Vocations, pg. 31)