Recently, I had someone assert something to me in an attempt to clarify my stand. Because he falsely equates “christian” with “born again,” he basically said that he understands my posts to be against those who claim to be christians, but who are christian in name only. And then he warned me about painting with too broad a brush by making statements against all christianity.
This is what he doesn’t understand (and, I am wholly familiar with his perspective): because of the culture and what we’ve been taught our whole lives, christians naturally associate the term “christian” with that which is positive—something that is to be prized, and a goal toward an acceptable lifestyle. They think “christian” means “born again,” but, that is not what “christian” actually is, spiritually.
The term “christian” in scripture was never something embraced by believers, but used only by the world against believers—as an epithet, an insult. Peter spoke of it in terms of being a shameful label (like murderer, thief, evildoer, or busybody). To them, it meant “little messiah,” and was used only to mock and ridicule.
Many years after Peter had died, some pagans and Jew haters collaborated and invented a new state-sanctioned religion, and called it christianity. It mixed scripture with paganism, and in so doing, created just another pagan religion. That religion has thrived over the centuries, and now, its adherents number in the billions (2.5 billion presently). It wasn’t until its creation in the early centuries that the term “christian” was embraced. The term now simply identifies those who are “adherents of christianity,” as it identifies those who have placed themselves within its false teachings.
To claim that it means “follower of Christ” is a blatant falsehood, as the entire belief system was invented to strip the faith of Christ’s actual heritage, and all of His Father’s traditions that were associated with that heritage.
Christianity and Islam comprise over half of the planet’s population, and the union of the two will be the final kingdom of Daniel’s prophecy, with the head of christianity (the pope) as the antichrist’s right-hand man. Revelation 17 calls this abomination “the great whore of Babylon.”
So, no, my issue is not at all with those who call themselves christians, but don’t live up to what other christians think they should; my issue is with the entire belief system, which is a counterfeit of the true faith. Because christianity is a counterfeit of the faith, if I were to call myself a christian, I would actually make myself an enemy of Christ, for all counterfeits of the faith have one source—the evil one.
I cannot allow myself to stand against Messiah by embracing a tradition of men that denies His truths, and that is what christianity does.
The ultimate end of “being a christian” is shown in Matthew 7:21-23. Paul says that those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are the true Jews (Romans 2:29), and they comprise the true Y’isra-el, who is Messiah’s bride (Galatians 3:28-29). Christianity is the antithesis of that.
For more information: Why I Am No Longer a Christian