Church language

"Saved" and "Born again" are GREAT terms however they have been used (over-used) in so many meaningless ways that they have lost a lot of their power I think. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use them though; that's just my observation.

the church as a whole needs to expand the common vocabulary to include other great phrases such as "regeneration", "justification", and "propitiation."

 

I think people have changed the words saved and born again to the popular phrases of today like, I accepted the Lord, or I gave my life to Jesus, or I committed my life to the Lord, or I made a proffession, I made a decision. When i hear someone use phrases like these to describe their salvation i immeditaly wonder if some proffesional religious used car salesman pitch man has led them down the road to easy believism.

 

:thumbs::thumbs: Precisely what I was meaning. You have a great way with words.

 

If you can change the words but not change the message...and still reach people for Christ..why should that bother anyone? I did not watch the video..just my opinion!

 

Well, we do not have to speak King James to lead them to Christ! If they have accepted Christ as their Savior..that is what matters most!

 

Wonder how he would criticise the One who called others children of the devil?

or has he forgotten that paul called it the OFFENSE of the Cross when preached/taught to siiners?

 

The words "saved" and "Born Again" do not scare anyone away. That is just silly. Now if we are hitting people up with a short 5 minute presentation of the gospel that will "scare" people away. But some it will not scare away. That is what we need to stop doing.

But do you know what else will scare people away? Telling them that they are sinners and they need Jesus to atone for their sin.

People do not reject the gospel because of the words in the gospel. They reject it because:

Joh 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Joh 3:20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Joh 3:21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

 

Salty,

Read my sentence in the full context, not cut off half way through. I wasn't saying that the words themselves are overused and should be dropped. By no means! Instead they have been used in so many meaningless ways that they've lost their power. The lost have heard these phrases applied to those who show NO fruit of regeneration and therefor think they are meaningless. When in reality these phrases ought to give us pause as we consider the radical implications of what "born again" and "saved" really mean. The only ones that really get the meaning are the ones that are truly born again.

Truth:thumbsup:

 

thank god the early Church did not have problem with "offending sinners", or else there never would have been a generation surviving the persecutions under the Roamn empire!

 

:thumbs: I wholeheartedly agree! And I do the same thing. 90% of the time the person does not give a convincing testimony. Usually involving a repeat-after-me prayer or infant baptism (lots of Catholics in my area).

.
Yup. Unfortunately I think that's WAY more common than we realize.

Interesting facts.

 

No doubt in the future someone will come out with a new version of the bible that says, Verily Verily i say unto thee, Ye must have therapy in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

 

isn't that the message? :tongue3:

 

I have come to the point where I am careful about the use of the term Christian.

If you're trying to determine someone's spiritual situation, I suggest that you not ask "are you a Christian." The term means different things to different people.

I have come to prefer the term "believer." I believe it's easier to quickly define the term than to try to define "Christian."

Interesting thing. Several years ago, a contingent from my home area went on a mission trip to Romania. There, Romanian Baptists described believers as "Repenters."

Our use of the terminology relating to salvation and other matters should clarify, not confuse.

 

That's really cool. Probably rolls off the tongue better in Romanian. :smilewinkgrin:

I too try to avoid the term "Christian", like you I prefer "believer" or "disciple"

OOPS, I wasn't clear.. I meant "The Message" as in that abomination masquerading as scripture... but that works too