Heb 11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
Heb 11:2 For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.
There are many kinds and types of Christians today but there is only one that will enter into the Kingdom of God. Abraham followed God, by faith, into a land he had never seen that he and Sarah could become the parents of a great nation. Abraham believed God in spite of the truth of their inability to produce a single offspring before they were about fifty years past the age of birthing a child.
When we study the entire Bible and discard the Oxymoron Ideology of a New Testament Christian, we are taught from the beginning to the end of scripture that we are to have the same “small child-like” faith in God, the Father that we had in our dads when we were 2 to 8 or better years old. Do you remember when your dad knew everything there was to know in the world and he could beat the socks off of Super-man, Bat-man and all the Super Heroes of the Justice League at the same time?
I do! And it is that complete and unreserved faith of a small child that we are to place in God! The doctors tell me that I'm in the final stage of MS and have removed me from the terrible meds they use to fight the disease and I'm happy as a lark... I'm going home! I was saved a little over twenty-one years ago and I have been home-sick ever since. Unlike Paul and John, I have not been to Heaven, neither in spirit nor in body and yet My heart aches to be there! Now, the doctors are foolish for believing they could keep me alive and for believing that they can know when I will die. (Read the book of Job.) God, my Adopted Father, has known that from before the Earth was created but there is no man that knows such things!
And, finally, on this matter of defining a Christian. This is a very dangerous area to walk into in the culture of today, a man can have his fellowship removed at the drop of a hat in this area... requiring both self examination and the examining of one's friends! I am familiar with these reactions, having been kicked out of one church and being banned from a few web sites that have moved over to a “liberal” view of the scriptures. The ?pastor? that booted my family, I should mention, has had his license removed and can no longer preach in a Missionary Baptist Church, even though I did no more than to pray for God's love and leading for the Church Family there. The web sites? I'll not mention them either because there can be no profit for me in Heaven for such and they are prayed for to become aware of the truth of God and to cease leading the Lost into a false sense of security.
So, how do we know a Christian from a pretender? Remember the World's favorite scripture? If you live your life for Christ, you have had Matthew 7:1 used to quiet and to shut your mouth. The truth of the matter is exactly the opposite of the misuse of that single verse ripped out of context, we are to judge by the same standards we wish to be judged by. Couple this with Philippians 2 telling us to work out (to practice) our salvation in our daily lives and it is clearly seen that a Christian, a follower of the Christ, lives as much like Jesus as he or she can and is daily getting closer to perfect.
