A Christian is one in whom the one true God dwells.

• Romans 8:9, 14 "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.... [14] for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
  (If we "have not the Spirit of Christ" we are not his... not Christians . But, if, and only if, we "are led by the Spirit of God" we are the sons of God ...Christians.
  The word "Christian" does not just mean"a follower of Christ," but, rather, it means "belonging to Christ." A Christian possesses eternal life through the Spirit of Christ that is in him or her.
  Christians are not those who just blandly follow the teachings of Jesus because they think it is a nice way to live and behave. Christians are not those who just look to Christianity as some kind of cure-all for a nation's social ills.
  Jesus came here and died a gruesome death so that we might have eternal life. He loves us, and wants us to live forever with him. That is the fact, and the subsequent hope, that a Christian bases his or her life on.)
• Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
  (There is no other witness, including that of "good Christian behavior," of and by itself, that bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Only the Holy Spirit in us can beget us as children of God. We cannot claim kinship with God unless we accept this full born-again relationship with him.)
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
  (The church is the temple of God, and its true members all share of the Holy Spirit that dwells only in that holy temple.)
• 1 Corinthians 6:15-17, 19 "Don't you know that your bodies are the members of Christ: Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. [16] What? Don't you know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For he says, two shall be one flesh. [17] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. [19] What? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own."
  (A Christian is the very property of God, a holy child of the Royal Household. It is the Holy Spirit that makes our spirit one with the Lord. There is no other way to be a part of that household but through the Spirit.)
• 1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
  (It is the Holy Spirit that makes us a part of the church. Being on the membership roster of a denomination has no bearing on whether or not we are Christians.
  Please note: this is not to say we should avoid mutual fellowship. A truly converted Christian hungers for the fellowship of the body, and does not avoid his or her brothers and sisters in Christ. Read 1 John and 2 John, among other scriptures, and you will clearly see that to be a "lone wolf Christian" is an oxymoron, an impossible contradiction of terms.)
• Galatians 4:6 "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, 'Abba, Father'"
  (The presence of the Holy Spirit in us creates a bond with God that is closer than blood family ties. The word "Abba" is an Aramaic word, somewhat similar in usage to "Daddy." Jesus addressed his, and our, Father as "Abba" in Mark 14:36.
  If we truly know God, then, as perfect love casts out fear in our lives, we should become comfortable thinking of him as a warm and loving Father, Abba, our Dad. Can we accept this kind of relationship? This is what he desires. It is what the Spirit in us urges us to desire, and empowers us to enjoy. The Spirit of his Son in our hearts is crying, "Abba, Father.")
• Galatians 5:24-25 "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
  (The Holy Spirit in us enables and empowers the Christian to walk the Christian walk. The Christian lives in the Spirit.)
• Ephesians 2:19-22 "Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, [20] and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, [21] in whom all the building fitly joined together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord, [22] in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit."
  (The household of God to which Christians belong, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and on the chief corner stone Jesus Christ, is a spiritual temple. Without the Spirit, one cannot be a part of it.)
• 1 Thessalonians 4:6-9 "No one is to transgress, and defraud his brother in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger of such things, as we also have forewarned you and testified. [7] For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. [8] He therefore that despises [i.e, a brother], despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his Holy Spirit. [9] But concerning brotherly love, you don't need me to write to you, for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another."
  (This is a warning. Since all true Christians possess the Spirit of God, and Christ dwells in them, if we despise a fellow Christian [the word translated as "despise" here is "atheteo", meaning "to displace, to set aside." It can also be translated as "reject."] we are not only rejecting the person, we are rejecting God , who dwells in that person.
  We are saying, in effect, "Sorry, God, I just can't accept your judgment in calling this wretched individual to yourself." This can be a grave transgression. That is why Jesus warned, in Matthew 5:22, "But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca' ['empty-headed'], shall be in danger of the council, but whoever shall say, 'You fool' [i.e., 'graceless wretch', or, 'morally worthless'], shall be in danger of Gehenna fire."
  To think of another Christian in these terms, perhaps because of their denominational affiliation or doctrinal leanings, is a deeply offensive transgression. The sentence for each of these progressively worse states of mind is proportionally just. After all, it is the rejection of God in the man, not just rejection of the man, that receives the judgment of Gehenna.)
• 1 Peter 4:14 "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part, he is evil spoken of. But on your part, he is glorified."
  (Again, when a Christian is reproached for being a Christian, God considers that it is he himself that is 'evil spoken of,' but the Christian is in fact glorified by his sharing in the reproach of Christ, and bearing it on Christ's behalf.)
• 1 John 3:24 "And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. Hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us."
  (Like Romans 8:16 (quoted above), it is the Holy Spirit that he has given us that is our proof that he abides in us. The Holy Spirit alone is the verification and the proof that one is a Christian. Christianity is not just "a chosen life-style"; it is a state of being.)
• Jude 18-19 "...how they told you there would be mockers in the last times, who would walk after their own ungodly desires. [19] These are those who separate themselves, sensual, not having the Spirit."
  (Jude here differentiates sensual people (oriented toward things of the physical life) who have "crept in undetected" into the church (see Jude 3) but reject Christ and the supernatural, from the others in the church who have the Spirit of God. Note that one of their identifying traits is that the mockers separate themselves. Why? Those who are led by the Spirit are led to unity and peace in the Spirit. Those who are not led by the Spirit cannot dwell peacefully with those who are, or even with each other.)
  

(Please click on any of the highlighted boxes ( ) below to go to the in-depth study of each statement.)

The Holy Bible is God inspired.
The Holy Bible contains all the truth necessary for salvation.
Different translations of the Bible, and various interpretations of scripture and doctrine, may contain errors, but in all major translations the errors are not a barrier to salvation.
Salvation is by grace, a gift from God.
Christian works are the acts of Jesus dwelling in us.
Jesus lives in the members of the church, and the church is his body in this age.
Everyone sins and breaks the spiritual law, even Christians.
To love God and to love our neighbor is the fulfillment of all spiritual law.
God's forgiveness is ongoing and limitless, and available to all who truly accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
God will never leave us, nor forsake us.

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