Can Someone Please Define What a Christian is?

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Cooper

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invoking “persons” in Yah is not a good idea, imo
There is only One Immortal, Who dwells alone in unapproachable light
I agree. God is not a person. That is another thing wrong with the trinitarian formula.

How does this sound?

There is One God visible and invisible, present in heaven, on earth, and in the hearts of men.
.
 
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Lifelong_sinner

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I agree. God is not a person. That is another thing wrong with the trinitarian formula.

How does this sound?

There is One God visible and invisible, present in heaven, on earth, and in the hearts of men.
.

you need to keep the three persons in your statement. One God, three persons.
 
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amadeus

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they each have their own relationship, yet all three are still co-equal, co-existant, and co-powerful. And yet, i do understand that our understanding of the Trinity is very limited. We simply are too small to understand fully.
So then let us believe what we do while others may do the same believing something else. Will God sort it out as need be? It is all based on faith, is it not? And then...

" Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11:1
 

amadeus

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Yes, I can see that. (Was it Pharaoh or Potiphar? I forget.)

I could totally see it if Pharoh became subordinate to Joseph for a season, and then went on to say Joseph was Pharoh.
.

Joseph was a prisoner in jail when Pharaoh, the absolute ruler of Egypt, needed an interpretation of his dreams.

Joseph was cleaned up and brought before Pharoah. So wisely, as led by God, did Joseph answer that Pharoah spoke then those words making Joseph the number 2 man over all of Egypt.
 

Lifelong_sinner

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So then let us believe what we do while others may do the same believing something else. Will God sort it out as need be? It is all based on faith, is it not? And then...

" Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11:1

well, for one, this is why we have so many different denominations and beliefs, which i dont think is a good thing. And two, the Bible is crystal clear regarding the Trinity so believing in the Trinity isnt a faith issue. What the Bible says, its very real. Its Gods word. It cant be anything but the truth.
 

amadeus

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I apologize. It was a report to Theophilus. You are right.

In acts 1:8, of which the discussion is about, and you "accidently" left out, Jesus was talking to the Apostles when he said the Holy Spirit will come upon them.
And also, as per my post #123..."the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." [Acts 2:39]
 

Cooper

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Joseph was a prisoner in jail when Pharaoh, the absolute ruler of Egypt, needed an interpretation of his dreams.

Joseph was cleaned up and brought before Pharoah. So wisely, as led by God, did Joseph answer that Pharoah spoke then those words making Joseph the number 2 man over all of Egypt.
I remember. I did a scripture exam on Joseph age about 12 years. :)

It has tremendous implications 400 years later.
.
 
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amadeus

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well, for one, this is why we have so many different denominations and beliefs, which i dont think is a good thing. And two, the Bible is crystal clear regarding the Trinity so believing in the Trinity isnt a faith issue. What the Bible says, its very real. Its Gods word. It cant be anything but the truth.
It is "crystal clear" to you perhaps. If it were crystal clear to me and others here, why would we not also embrace the Trinity? Do you not suppose that others, like me, really do want God's truth, whatever it is? I have been searching the scriptures continuously since 1976. I read the Bible and talk with God daily. I strive now to go to that lowest room surrendered everyday allowing Him to elevate as He will...

I have discussed probably every point in the scriptures about the nature of God with people of many different "Christian" beliefs for all of those years including at least 20 years on Christian forums like this one. There really is as Solomon wrote, "nothing new under the sun"!

So no, the Trinity is not crystal clear to everyone!
God is looking at each of our hearts. Who else but God is able to see what is in each heart and therefore able to judge each person fairly?
Not me!
You?
 
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Lifelong_sinner

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It is "crystal clear" to you perhaps. If it were crystal clear to me and others here, why would we not also embrace the Trinity? Do you not suppose that others, like me, really do want God's truth, whatever it is? I have been searching the scriptures continuously since 1976. I read the Bible and talk with God daily. I strive now to go to that lowest room surrendered everyday allowing Him to elevate as He will...

I have discussed probably every point in the scriptures about the nature of God with people of many different "Christian" beliefs for all of those years including at least 20 years on Christian forums like this one. There really is as Solomon wrote, "nothing new under the sun"!

So no, the Trinity is not crystal clear to everyone!
God is looking at each of our hearts. Who else but God is able to see what is in each heart and therefore able to judge each person fairly?
Not me!
You?

so, just for clarification, as a unitarian, are you saying that Jesus is not God??
 

Aunty Jane

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I apologize. It was a report to Theophilus. You are right.
Thank you....much appreciated.

In acts 1:8, of which the discussion is about, and you "accidently" left out, Jesus was talking to the Apostles when he said the Holy Spirit will come upon them.
I accidentally left out nothing.....I was addressing your error not the operation of the Holy Spirit which Jesus said he would send after he returned to heaven. The Holy Spirit was operative on Jesus from his baptism. His first reported miracle was turning water into wine. The power of God’s spirit was also used by the apostles prior to Jesus death by the use of his name. He promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to them in the days to come. They were already familiar with its operation.

If Jesus was God, then he would have had miraculous abilities from birth. There is no account of him being able to perform miracles as a child, and no account that gives his mother any special conception that excluded her from sin. So this is what happens when we venture outside of scripture. Things get invented and added that do not belong in a Christian’s faith.

Jesus had at least six siblings who did not put faith in him until after his death and resurrection. He was just their big brother with whom they had grown up and treated as any other sibling. Mary and Joseph knew of his miraculous birth but there is no record of them ever informing anyone about it. Mary’s relative Elizabeth knew immediately when Mary visited her, that her child was the product of God’s spirit as her own child was, the one who became John the Baptist, and prepared the people for their Messiah. The one who performed the most important baptism in history.
 

Marymog

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Thank you....much appreciated.


I accidentally left out nothing.....I was addressing your error not the operation of the Holy Spirit which Jesus said he would send after he returned to heaven. The Holy Spirit was operative on Jesus from his baptism. His first reported miracle was turning water into wine. The power of God’s spirit was also used by the apostles prior to Jesus death by the use of his name. He promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to them in the days to come. They were already familiar with its operation.

If Jesus was God, then he would have had miraculous abilities from birth. There is no account of him being able to perform miracles as a child, and no account that gives his mother any special conception that excluded her from sin. So this is what happens when we venture outside of scripture. Things get invented and added that do not belong in a Christian’s faith.

Jesus had at least six siblings who did not put faith in him until after his death and resurrection. He was just their big brother with whom they had grown up and treated as any other sibling. Mary and Joseph knew of his miraculous birth but there is no record of them ever informing anyone about it. Mary’s relative Elizabeth knew immediately when Mary visited her, that her child was the product of God’s spirit as her own child was, the one who became John the Baptist, and prepared the people for their Messiah. The one who performed the most important baptism in history.
Ok....thank you!!

Sooooo at the wedding in Cana when Mary pointed out that they were out of wine, and she asked Jesus to do something about it, was Mary expecting Jesus to use his own money to go buy some wine from the local wine maker????

Curious Mary
 

Aunty Jane

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Ok....thank you!!

Sooooo at the wedding in Cana when Mary pointed out that they were out of wine, and she asked Jesus to do something about it, was Mary expecting Jesus to use his own money to go buy some wine from the local wine maker????
She informed her son that they had run out of wine, his response to her was not conclusive, but she said to the attendants, “whatever he tells you, do”. She left it up to him.

She knew what his anointing with Holy Spirit meant. She was the closest human to him and the one, as he was dying, whose care he entrusted to the apostle John because his siblings were not yet believers.
 
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Marymog

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So then let us believe what we do while others may do the same believing something else. Will God sort it out as need be? It is all based on faith, is it not? And then...

" Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11:1
Well, there are some things we do as Christians that require faith. But then other things are "truth". So, in your opinion, does the belief in or the teaching of the Trinity fall under truth or faith?

John 8:32, 16:13, 17:17
 

Marymog

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She informed her son that they had run out of wine, his response to her was not conclusive, but she said to the attendants, “whatever he tells you, do”. She left it up to him.

She knew what his anointing with Holy Spirit meant. She was the closest human to him and the one, as he was dying, whose care he entrusted to the apostle John because his siblings were not yet believers.
Thank you Jane.

You said, "If Jesus was God, then he would have had miraculous abilities from birth." Are you suggesting that Jesus had no miraculous abilities at all?

Also, where in Scripture does it say that Jesus entrusted Mary into the care of the Apostles John because His siblings were not yet believers? That is the first I have ever heard that before....I can't find it in The Bible.

Mary