James,
The word "Christian" is terribly misunderstood due to Satan's evil influence as the ruler of this world. And the Bible clearly states that Satan rules here on earth.
To be a true Christian, one must not only follow in Jesus' footsteps and obey his command to spread the good news and witness to Jehovah God's soon to come Kingdom, which very few do, but one must also obey Jesus' Father, Jehovah, and show love for Jehovah by acknowledging, using and proclaiming His holy name. This is exactly what Jesus himself did, and he told us many times in his sermons to do the same.
Take, for example, the very first sentence of The Lord's Prayer or the Our Father prayer found at Matt. 6: 9-13. In the King James bible version, it reads, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." The word "hallowed" means holy, sacred. Therefore God's name, which is Jehovah, is holy, sacred. Jesus instructs us here to pray for God's name to be sanctified, or set apart as holy. And it was once in the Bible over 7,000 times, most everywhere that you now see the titles "Lord" or "God." But these are titles, not names. Why is it not there now? Why has God's holy name been stricken from the Bible and replaced with titles such as God and Lord? The answer is Satan the Devil and the seeds he has sown in mankind.
The fact that most "Christians" don't know this is evidence of Satan's influence. You see, the main theme of the whole Bible is the sanctification of Jehovah's name, which Satan slandered from the start in the Garden of Eden.
I know that your bibles don't contain God's holy name, or, if it's found anywhere, it might be at Ps. 83:18, but even that's doubtful. And I hope you all will realize and come to understand why the Creator of the universe, Jehovah's holy name is missing from your bibles. I have a 1961 King James version, given to me by my late grandmother, which has the holy name in it only 6 times. If you go out and buy a new King James version today, you'll find the holy name in it zero times! What a travesty and a God-dishonoring one at that! What would people do or say if Jesus' name was stricken from their bibles and replaced with titles like Exemplar or Teacher? Yet, his Father, the Almighty God, Jehovah's holy name has been completely obliterated from their bibles.
Now, I ask you, is this showing love for God? Striking His holy name from your bibles? Certainly not!
Another sign of a true Christian is one who obeys God. 1 John 5:3 says, "This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments, and yet his commandments are not burdensome." Now, when God tells us not to be a part of the world, that friendship with the world is enmity with God, why do people not understand that means not to be doing the things the world in general does? For example, God commands us not to kill people. He doesn't say it's okay to kill people in war for our country. No! He says "We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (Acts 5:29) So, when God's laws and man's laws conflict, if we love God, we will obey Him at all costs. God hates nationalistic pride for this is what leads to wars. Think about it. In both World Wars, you had so-called "Christians" on one side killing so-called "Christians" on the other side. American Catholics were killing German Catholics. American Protestants were killing German Protestants, etc., etc. All in the name of country! Do you think God approves of this? Certainly not! This is why true Christians separate themselves from the world and refuse to participate in Satan's wicked system of things, be it politics, pagan-rooted holidays, whatever there is that stems from the world and conflicts with Bible principles.
Speaking of pagan-rooted holidays and such, very few people claiming to be Christians know the truth about these things. All of the so-called Christian holidays, even Christmas with all its lies, which is not Jesus' birthday, stem from pagan worship. Even the cross, which Jesus did not die on a cross, but on a torture stake, a straight upright pole, stems from paganism. All these things are detestable to God, and anyone sharing in them are not pleasing God nor doing His will. Once again, they are things the world does, and the world will soon be destroyed. The "world" here meaning the people, not the physical earth, as the Bible promises us that the earth will remain to time indefinite and be returned to a paradise condition as was God's original purpose for it. Ps. 37:29 says, "The righteous themselves will possess the earth and they will reside forever upon it."
I could go on and on about the truths I've learned about what the Bible REALLY teaches and what the make-up of a true Christian is as compared to what christendom teaches it is, but suffice it to say that I was misled as a Baptist for over 50 years, until one day I finally had developed the right heart condition and stopped slamming the door on true Christians and listened to what they had to say. We have to have that, you know, the right heart condition, before we can learn the truth. Once we develop that, Jehovah God will read our hearts and will draw us to Him, and, as John 8:32 says, "The truth will set you free." Free from what? From false teachings that are leading you to death, from being misled by the religions of christendom, which teach doctrines of man, not of the Word of God. I'll leave you with just one example of this to dwell on, the teaching of instant reward, that when you die, you have an immortal "soul" that immediately departs your body and goes to heaven or hell. Jesus clearly taught that there will be a resurrection of the dead in the last days. You can find this at John 5:28 & 29, John 6:40, 44 & 54. Now ask yourself, why is there a need for a resurrection of the dead and a judgment day if they've already been instantly judged at death and their "immortal soul" sent to another place? Doesn't make sense, does it? No! What's more, that teaching makes Jesus out to be a liar when he promises to resurrect the dead. Plus check out Ecc. 9:5, 6 & 10, which says the dead are conscious of nothing, and Eze. 18: 4 & 20, which says the soul that is sinning will die! How can something immortal die? It can't, and we don't have an immortal soul. Our "soul" is simply the life force actuating our bodies, and when our bodies die, our soul dies, and then we are conscious of nothing, asleep in the grave, awaiting Jesus' promised resurrection in the last days.
Gosh, I guess I got a little carried away here, but it's easy to do when you know the truth and know how many millions of people are being lied to and led to their death through the false teachings of Satan's seed, christendom!
Terry Gill
P.S. I absolutely refuse to get in a debate with anyone over this who is where I once was for over 50 years of my life, lost in christendom. I hope I've found some with the right heart condition and, if so, I will be glad to discuss these things further when I get the time if they will personal message me. It means life or death for you and your loved ones!