SO YOU THINK YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN

Most of Americans call themselves Christians because they claim to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is the Redeemer of mankind, If they choose to accept Him as their Savior. But there is a problem with this sort of "Christianity". I know of some 7th Day Adventists and some Mormons and some Catholics that call themselves Christians, but they are not. Why? Because even "the Devil believes"....(a quote from scripture) and we can guess that he is not a Christian. So, what is it that makes someone a Christian, according to the Bible and what is it that differentiates the "professing" Christians from the real Christians?

The following is an excerpt, a good representation of the defining difference, from a magazine. Please read it and determine whether or not you can actually call yourself a Christian.

 "Abstract thought is a thought process where ideas are separated from real objects.  If we said, "George Washington was a patriot," we tie the term patriot to the life and service of the first president.  If, however, we say, "A patriot is one who..." we sever the term patriot from a real person and make it an abstraction which demands definition.  Abstract thought simplifies communication because it leaves concrete details ambiguous, vague, or undefined.  ...

The more general the collective term, the more vague it becomes.  A case in point would be the commonly used term "nature."  Nature is often credited (thanks to evolutionary thought) with oversight, wisdom, design, and governance.  These are all part of man's definition of his own abstract which he has called "nature."  The problem with abstract thought for the Christian, however, is when it is applied to theology or to God himself.

The rationalist sees truth as an abstraction which man must decipher and define.  This means the human idea of "truth" is over everything.  Even if truth is used in reference to God, truth as an abstract principle is put over God.  Men can then shamelessly ask, in so many words or not, "Is God's Word true?" ...  In reality, they are not holding up truth, but their own abstract definition of what they have declared truth to be.

Creating abstract ideas to which we hold God is common to modern thought.  One of the reasons men of all religions and ideologies can refer to "god" is that all they have in common is the term "god."  Each may be defining "god" in his own way by his own criteria.  The evangelical churches are also very prone to speaking of God in terms of attributes they have defined.  For example: 

1) "God is good." ... If, however, we have any human-conceived standard of goodness to which we hold God we have subsumed God to our abstract notion of goodness. ...

2) "God gives all men an equal chance at salvation. ...  Scripture, of course, teaches no such thing.  God is not democratic; He is the "Lord," or "Master" of man.

3) "God is love, so He would not send anyone to hell." ... Learning love from God and His revelation of Himself is far different than creating an abstract concept of what love means, then holding God to that concept and dictation what He would or would not do based upon this humanly defined paradigm called "love." ...

4) "The God I believe in would not predestinate people to hell." ... The God of Scripture does predestinate; if you believe in a god that does not predestinate, you believe in another god, one of your own imagination.  You have created an abstract god, one divorced from the Sovereign Creator Who revealed Himself in Scripture and in Jesus Christ.  This abstract god, as your creation, is now held accountable to your standards. 

5) "Our God is an awesome God." ... Are you defining awesomeness as God's love, mercy, grace, and promises and then saying, "This is why God is awesome"?  If so you have created a limited definition of God, an abstract concept and used it to describe Him as awesome.  On the other hand, when you say those words, are you proclaiming that God is awesome for all that He is"  Are you saying God is great and good in everything He does, even in His justice, His law, and His judgment? ...  We cannot pick and choose the aspects of God we prefer; God is real and we must praise Him for all that He is.  ...

God is not an idea; He is a  person, He identified Himself to Moses as "I am that I Am" (Exod. 3:14), that is the self-defining One Who is not limited by human description. ...

All thinking about God based on abstract ideas of God is idolatrous.  They violate the first and second commandments because they first create (even if only conceptually) a false, fictitious deity, one separated from the self-defining God of Scripture.  Such false gods are then worshipped as the true God.  When we call these false gods by the name of God, we violate the third commandment and we use His name in vain.

Some of the popular televangelists of recent years are obvious examples of such worship of false gods.  ... They speak of positive thinking, joy and blessing, but some have freely admitted they do not preach sin, obedience, or judgment lest they turn people away.  God for these men is an idol they have defined, one who serves man's purpose.  Such men quote the Bible often, as many evil men have over the years, but they do not believe or teach the every Word of God.  Their abstract ideas of God make Him and all His Word dependent on man's thinking; man's word then becomes the authoritative word."

From the magazine "Faith for all of Life" and authored by Mark Rushdoony.
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Now then, what kind of Christian are you? Have you subordinated God to you own idea of whom God is and how He should act and treat mankind?
Then, what is your world view? What is it based on?  Are you residing in idolatry? Are you the authority over God?