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Originally Posted by SlayerOfLight
Well when I was a Christian I tried very hard to build a relationship with the non cross-dressed God, even going so far as to make an utter fool of myself. And as well placing all my trust in him despite my numerous personal issues he never bothered to look at. But let me offer you some words of my own wisdom: Believing in an invisible friend and the magic of prayers is all fun and games until your life suddenly hits rock bottom and there's literally nothing you can do about it, and no amount of prayer, not even if the entire world prays for you, is gonna move a single grain of sand. That's how I got my wake up call to leave religion.
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I'm not having a go at you personally SlayerOfLight. I've heard this referenced countless times from former Atheists and Ex-Catholics that have said much the same things.
The reason why many people today claim to be former Christians is simply because they were never
BORN AGAIN to begin with.
To unsaved people; Christianity is nothing more than a philosophy. So when they decide to change their philosophy, they are sincere when they say,
“I used to be a Christian.”
Now, they may have once been in a Christian church, and had learned Christian teachings; but they certainly never found Christ as their personal Savior. Many people join a church, listen to the Gospel message, but they have NO faith in God! This is exactly what happened to the Jews in the Wilderness during Moses time. “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
Many people hear the saving Gospel message of Christ crucified, but they have no faith in what they are hearing. Today's pulpits are packed full with such Christ-rejecters. What a sad paradox!
CONCLUSION: Either you are saved now, and always will be; or else you aren't saved now, and never were to begin with! If saved, always saved! Whatever experiences you may have had in the past, or Christian teachings you held for a time, cannot qualify as having BEEN A CHRISTIAN.
"Ye must be born again!"
Christianity began as a new birth in Jesus Christ. When it went to Greece it became a philosophy. When it went to Rome it became an organization. When it spread throughout Europe it became a culture. And when it hit America, it became a business.
Most of what is considered “Christian” today is nothing of the such. Without a doubt, the term “Christian” is the most abused, misused and misunderstood terminology of the word widely expressed today.
Any attempt to improve humanity that ignores the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is religious humanism, not Christianity.
Much of the teachings that we hear these days is religious humanism, which denies the sinful nature of mankind and abandons the complete and finished work Jesus did at the cross.
So the next time someone claims
“I used to be a Christian,” they've simply never been born-again to begin with, because the second birth is as irreversible as the physical birth. Salvation is NOT reformation, nor rehabilitation, nor education, nor legislation; but rather, regeneration by the Spirit of a Holy God.
(Credit to David J. Stewart)