accepting christ, getting saved, making a profession (obviously Christian content)

[fairfarmhand]

What terminology do you use for making a decision committing to Christ?

 

I dislike the term "getting saved." as if this decision is something that you buy at the grocery store. In my area it is often used very lightly. You know, people who live sinful lives say. "Oh, yeah, I got saved last week. It was the day before I was arrested for DUI and wife beating." (tongue in cheek of course!!!)

 

Accepting Christ sounds sort of out there, and really does not express the depth of what happens when Christ changes you.

 

I want some terminology that really tells of the change that Christ brings without being trite or obscure for non-churched people.

 

suggestions?

[Mandylubug]

I like the phrase, "My life changing event/moment"

[QueenCat]

I guess "accepting Christ" but honestly, I don't remember "accepting Christ". I've always believed, and known from the time I was very young that God loves me, and I belong to him.

[Mimm]

I say that I became a christian. But I am more likly not to place emphasis on that moment and simply say that I am a christian.

[Bluegoat]

I would just say that I became a Christian, or that I had made a kind of re-commitment if I had fallen away before. My tradition doesn't really talk about people "getting saved" in that way though - people are understood to be having these moments all the time, although some may be more pivotal/notable than others. Each day we decide in what we do to allow Chist to shape us, or not to. That can even be true of those who have not any real knowledge off him because he works in us even before we recognize him.

[swellmomma]

IN my kids old sunday school program they called it asking Christ into your heart. That resonated with me. Mainly because I fought against it for so long, when it came time for me to make that decision I really was asking him into me to change my heart kwim. Or I simply say When I became a Christian, or refer to my baptism. But asking Christ into my heart sounds nicer than some of the ways I heard it expressed.

[jamajo]

I am a Christian means absolutely nothing these days other than I am not atheist or Muslim or some other category.

 

I made a decision to commit my life to Christ could mean you were already a Christian but decided to fully commit to Christ and all that means or it could mean that I decided to place faith in Jesus Christ for the very first time.

 

Born again believer - now a non Christian will have absolutely no clue as to what that means.

 

Why must you describe yourself to a non Christian? If a change has truly taken place as a result of placing your faith in Christ it will be obvious to the non-churched (as you say) and to everyone else for that matter. If anyone is interested in what that change is about then you are at liberty to give the reason for the change in whatever terms necessary. You don't need a label.;)

[JenniferB]

Some terms and phrases used in the Orthodox Church to describe what you are saying:

 

illumined or newly illumined

baptized into Christ

I have put on Christ

a member of the Body of Christ

 

However, these are somewhat insider terms and might seem strange to some ears. To those who are asking from another tradition I would simply say, "I am an Orthodox Christian." That usually raises enough eyebrows and conversation can spring forth from there to explain what that means, if interest is there.

[Peaceful Isle]

I made Jesus my King. :)

[fairfarmhand]

I am a Christian means absolutely nothing these days other than I am not atheist or Muslim or some other category.

 

I made a decision to commit my life to Christ could mean you were already a Christian but decided to fully commit to Christ and all that means or it could mean that I decided to place faith in Jesus Christ for the very first time.

 

Born again believer - now a non Christian will have absolutely no clue as to what that means.

 

Why must you describe yourself to a non Christian? If a change has truly taken place as a result of placing your faith in Christ it will be obvious to the non-churched (as you say) and to everyone else for that matter. If anyone is interested in what that change is about then you are at liberty to give the reason for the change in whatever terms necessary. You don't need a label.;)

 

hmmm...interesting point of view. You know I guess what is seems so trite to me is that the change that Christ brings is TOO BIG to be defined by a small phrase. It is huge and it seems that people try to simplify it by creating "insider phrases" (to quote a pp) Maybe instead of defining myself by a short phrase, I should give people the longer version.

[mytwomonkeys]

if i am referencing that time specifically, i simply say i became a christian in february of 1997. i didn't grow up in church, so for me, i do have a specific time in my life that i made the choice to follow christ. the term "saved" or "born again" (or other like terms) when talking about oneself has never been offensive to me, even when i wasn't a christian. it was only offensive when people were trying to label me and tell me where i stood with god or how he perceived me.

[mktkcb]

ditto this. or "Christ changed my life", or "I became a Christian", or "I was born again" (which I know is not understood by many, but it's biblical terminology).

[6packofun]

I, personally, tend to say, "When I gave my life to Christ..." or "When I decided to follow Christ..." because that's what I did! No one phrase can put into words the complete salvation message, IMO, though, so we do the best we can and explain further when asked.

[milovany]

Are are referencing the one point in time type of "salvation"? In our tradition (Orthodox Christianity), salvation is a process, so we talk about "being saved" as well as "was saved" and "will be saved." If we're talking about it, this is, which we don't a lot. We just live, and try to focus on becoming more like Christ through our life in the church. We often phrase it in terms of being part of the church, participating in its life.

 

I'm working right now, so hopefully I'm making sense. I'm typing quickly! Hope I answered your question from this perspective.

Edited May 17, 2012 by milovaný

[mytwomonkeys]

Are are referencing the one point in time type of "salvation"? In our tradition (Orthodox Christianity), salvation is a process, so we talk about "being saved" as well as "was saved" and "will be saved." If we're talking about it, this is, which we don't a lot. We just live, and try to focus on becoming more like Christ through our life in the church. We often phrase it in terms of being part of the church, participating in its life.

 

I'm working right now, so hopefully I'm making sense. I'm typing quickly! Hope I answered your question from this perspective.

 

That's the same with all of us:). Even if the terminology varies, Christianity is a walk, not a step.

[mom2jjka]

I say "Christ saved me", since I don't believe it had to do with any action on my part.

 

:iagree:

I grew up believing that I had 'accepted Jesus as my personal Savior' at a young age.

But the more I studied the Bible I learned that we cannot participate in our own conversion or our own coming to faith. We can only come to faith in Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit. To receive faith is, from start to finish, a work of God.

[milovany]

Yeah, the one point in time where your heart changed from being against Christ to being for Him. The process you are talking about is what we call sanctification - the transformation into becoming more like Christ everyday until we die.

 

Oh, okay ~ I see. In Orthodoxy, these things are not separated from each other, they are one and the same (salvation = conversion + sanctification, but that sounds so formulaic; it's more of a total relationship, not a math equation, LOL). Thank you for explaining!

[Bluegoat]

Yeah, the one point in time where your heart changed from being against Christ to being for Him. The process you are talking about is what we call sanctification - the transformation into becoming more like Christ everyday until we die.

 

Well, I don't think an Orthodox Christian, or an Anglican like myself, would say that. Justification and sanctification are not really separable, they are not separate things but a unity. And for many people there isn't an obvious moment where such a change is made from being against Christ to being for him.

[Bluegoat]

I never said they were separate.

It's like having an Equation; within that Equation, there is Addition, Subtraction, and Division. You can't stop after Division to get the answer the whole Equation would give you (which is the only right answer). However, it helps to know that within the Equation, there are specific parts that are worked a certain way.

 

You wouldn't tell someone you keep "getting saved" every single day of your life. That is point A in the Equation and is worked a certain way (by God's work in your heart, if you will). Point B is the process of transformation. And so on...there's a whole slew of other doctrinal terms to describe the points from where God opens your eyes to see the truth, to the time you are glorified in Heaven. No part can be separated from the others without breaking down the whole Equation. But, for me anyways, it helps to knows what the parts are. YMMV.

 

And yeah, the whole thing still works the same if you never had the single Ah ha! moment.

 

Well, actually, we would tell someone that we "get saved" every day - indeed every moment - of our lives. We are saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved. Our salvation is accomplished, we only have to decide at each moment to allow Christ to live more fully in us and to instantiate him in the world.

[butterflymommy]

Isn't this what "born again" means?

 

An interesting aside, the Talmud calls converting to Judaism being "born again" and converts are referred to as "newborns." So Jesus was using the language of conversion when he discussed being born again.

[milovany]

Well, actually, we would tell someone that we "get saved" every day - indeed every moment - of our lives. We are saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved. Our salvation is accomplished, we only have to decide at each moment to allow Christ to live more fully in us and to instantiate him in the world.

 

Yes, Bluegoat, thank you. This is what I was thinking and trying to say. If someone asked me when I was saved, I wouldn't really have a satisfactory answer, I don't think (based on what the question might be implying). I guess I could give the date of my baptism, if a date is wanted, but as for turning toward Christ -- I've done (and not done that) at different times throughout my life. Sometimes more seriously than others.

[Kathryn]

Are are referencing the one point in time type of "salvation"? In our tradition (Orthodox Christianity), salvation is a process, so we talk about "being saved" as well as "was saved" and "will be saved." If we're talking about it, this is, which we don't a lot. We just live, and try to focus on becoming more like Christ through our life in the church. We often phrase it in terms of being part of the church, participating in its life.

 

I'm working right now, so hopefully I'm making sense. I'm typing quickly! Hope I answered your question from this perspective.

 

Oh, okay ~ I see. In Orthodoxy, these things are not separated from each other, they are one and the same (salvation = conversion + sanctification, but that sounds so formulaic; it's more of a total relationship, not a math equation, LOL). Thank you for explaining!

 

Well, I don't think an Orthodox Christian, or an Anglican like myself, would say that. Justification and sanctification are not really separable, they are not separate things but a unity. And for many people there isn't an obvious moment where such a change is made from being against Christ to being for him.

 

:iagree: though I did go from atheism/agnosticism to becoming an Episcopalian pretty quickly three years ago. I say I "became Christian."

 

I never said they were separate.

It's like having an Equation; within that Equation, there is Addition, Subtraction, and Division. You can't stop after Division to get the answer the whole Equation would give you (which is the only right answer). However, it helps to know that within the Equation, there are specific parts that are worked a certain way.

 

You wouldn't tell someone you keep "getting saved" every single day of your life. That is point A in the Equation and is worked a certain way (by God's work in your heart, if you will). Point B is the process of transformation. And so on...there's a whole slew of other doctrinal terms to describe the points from where God opens your eyes to see the truth, to the time you are glorified in Heaven. No part can be separated from the others without breaking down the whole Equation. But, for me anyways, it helps to knows what the parts are. YMMV.

 

And yeah, the whole thing still works the same if you never had the single Ah ha! moment.

 

Our former rector LOVED to tell people who asked when he was saved, "last night before i went to bed, this morning when I woke up, before I ate my breakfast, right after I yelled at my son..."

 

 

Well, actually, we would tell someone that we "get saved" every day - indeed every moment - of our lives. We are saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved. Our salvation is accomplished, we only have to decide at each moment to allow Christ to live more fully in us and to instantiate him in the world.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[milovany]

Depends on the tradition. For some, being born again means placing faith in Christ; the spirit is born again. For some, being born again is being baptized in water because of faith in Christ. Both the body and spirit are born again. For example, I would now say I was "born again" on the date of my baptism (which was just over two years ago). Before I converted to the Orthodoxy church, I was protestant for almost 25 years. Back then, I would have said I was "born again" on the night I prayed a prayer to "receive Christ" in college. I wasn't baptized for several years.

[Aelwydd]

I'm a rogue Anglican, so don't hold my statement as any kind of example of of official church doctrine, or some such.

 

If people ask me when I became a Christian, I tell them I was saved the moment Christ was slain, which is before the foundation of the world.

 

With regard to other Christians, it doesn't matter what they profess, or if they profess at all. I treat and consider all people, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Wiccan, Jewish, Taoist, atheist, Pastafarians, or whatever--my "Christian" brethren. They are my Church.

 

I don't care what the status of their baptism, or their beliefs. I don't have a litmus test of sin-to-sanctification ratios in my head to figure out how much sinnin' is excusable in a baptized believer, and how much just makes you a fake or a Pharisee.

 

That's all Christianese talk to me.

 

David said that God knew him while he was still in the womb. I wonder if the Church Proper, knew my entire life like that, would they consign me to "unsaved" or "saved" status, and at what point would they mark that delineation? At birth? Baptism? Re-commitment? Death?

 

There have been many defining moments in my life, but none that I could credit with being the point in which I became saved. That moment was already credited, some 2,000 years ago, to a dying man on a Roman cross.

 

So if I can't even determine at what point that spiritual neon sign went off over my head, then it's the height of hubris for me to assign an arbitrary judgment to another person. Oh yay, that person got saved. Oh, they're a Christian, because they got baptised, and they changed their life, stopped drinking, and joined the choir, love and serve God. That makes them saved. As opposed to that Hindi guy on the side who worships multiple deities and beats his wife. Or opposed to that atheist guy who draws sacreligious pictures of Jesus and urine and posts them on his Facebook page.

 

Yeah, it's all so neat and clear cut.

 

Except, I'm not there at the moment of their deaths, and or for all the moments before that time. I don't know anything of them but snap shots. And I don't know the moment they meet God what kind of person they have become, or what their inner conversation with Him as been.

 

I also don't know what ace God has up His sleeve.

 

I figure, the Man who said, "But the unforgivable sin won't be forgiven in this life, nor the next," was not an unintelligent Person. As such, He surely understood that by adding on that last little qualifier, the next logical question is: "Ok, but if you are going to the trouble to discount forgiveness in the next life for this one case, does that mean there are other sins for which forgiveness in the next life may be attainable?"

 

Otherwise, why make such a disclaimer at all?

 

And Paul's cryptic statement to the churches about baptisms for the dead.

 

Yeah. The whole saved/ unsaved thing? Better left to those who actually have a grasp on non-linear, multidimensional effects of God's grace upon a creation that is limited by an entropic existence. So, I just save myself the trouble of trying to see outside and around my little one-dimensional timeline, and just accept all people as "Christians," in the sense that they are all God's saved, and all God's chosen.

 

Because, how could I know any different? And really, if I have to err, I'd rather err on the generous side, and not be stingy.

[PeacefulChaos]

I still don't know what to call it officially, tbh.

Around here, a lot of people say 'started my walk with the Lord'/ 'started walking with the Lord' or something to that effect. I don't mind it, but I don't know what it sounds like to someone who isn't familiar with all the terminology, kwim? The other most common one here is 'accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior' or something along those lines.

[Kathryn]

I'm a rogue Anglican, so don't hold my statement as any kind of example of of official church doctrine, or some such.

 

If people ask me when I became a Christian, I tell them I was saved the moment Christ was slain, which is before the foundation of the world.

 

With regard to other Christians, it doesn't matter what they profess, or if they profess at all. I treat and consider all people, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Wiccan, Jewish, Taoist, atheist, Pastafarians, or whatever--my "Christian" brethren. They are my Church.

 

I don't care what the status of their baptism, or their beliefs. I don't have a litmus test of sin-to-sanctification ratios in my head to figure out how much sinnin' is excusable in a baptized believer, and how much just makes you a fake or a Pharisee.

 

That's all Christianese talk to me.

 

David said that God knew him while he was still in the womb. I wonder if the Church Proper, knew my entire life like that, would they consign me to "unsaved" or "saved" status, and at what point would they mark that delineation? At birth? Baptism? Re-commitment? Death?

 

There have been many defining moments in my life, but none that I could credit with being the point in which I became saved. That moment was already credited, some 2,000 years ago, to a dying man on a Roman cross.

 

So if I can't even determine at what point that spiritual neon sign went off over my head, then it's the height of hubris for me to assign an arbitrary judgment to another person. Oh yay, that person got saved. Oh, they're a Christian, because they got baptised, and they changed their life, stopped drinking, and joined the choir, love and serve God. That makes them saved. As opposed to that Hindi guy on the side who worships multiple deities and beats his wife. Or opposed to that atheist guy who draws sacreligious pictures of Jesus and urine and posts them on his Facebook page.

 

Yeah, it's all so neat and clear cut.

 

Except, I'm not there at the moment of their deaths, and or for all the moments before that time. I don't know anything of them but snap shots. And I don't know the moment they meet God what kind of person they have become, or what their inner conversation with Him as been.

 

I also don't know what ace God has up His sleeve.

 

I figure, the Man who said, "But the unforgivable sin won't be forgiven in this life, nor the next," was not an unintelligent Person. As such, He surely understood that by adding on that last little qualifier, the next logical question is: "Ok, but if you are going to the trouble to discount forgiveness in the next life for this one case, does that mean there are other sins for which forgiveness in the next life may be attainable?"

 

Otherwise, why make such a disclaimer at all?

 

And Paul's cryptic statement to the churches about baptisms for the dead.

 

Yeah. The whole saved/ unsaved thing? Better left to those who actually have a grasp on non-linear, multidimensional effects of God's grace upon a creation that is limited by an entropic existence. So, I just save myself the trouble of trying to see outside and around my little one-dimensional timeline, and just accept all people as "Christians," in the sense that they are all God's saved, and all God's chosen.

 

Because, how could I know any different? And really, if I have to err, I'd rather err on the generous side, and not be stingy.

 

I LOVE this post.

[DawnM]

I am enjoying this thread.

 

I have been struggling with the Evangelical concept of "moment of salvation" for a long time. Some of you are helping me through my thought process.

 

Dawn