There is a teaching that all paths lead to God, and all religions. This is a false teaching which is called “ecumenicalism”. It is a heresy. Muslims, Buddhists, etc do not serve the true living God.
However, on the other side there is another dangerous teaching, and it’s called “my version of Christianity is best and everyone outside my church is going to hell”. This is equally as dangerous and false.
What is a Christian? A true Christian is one who serves the true living God and, by definition, believes in Christ as savior. That’s why we are called “Christians”. People who believe in Christ.
What is faith?
But belief alone is not all. Because “even the demons believe – and shudder” (James 2:19).
So what is a Christian then? The Bible says that works are the evidence of faith, and there is no faith without works (good deeds / righteous behavior), because without works, faith is dead. Therefore, to have faith it requires more than belief.
Now, some Catholics will say that Protestants are going to hell. Some Orthodox will say Catholics are going to hell, and some Protestants will say Orthodox are going to hell. But most people don’t even know what their own faith is, much less have a strong opinion on it.
The way I see it is that there are definitely some Protestants, some Orthodox, and some Catholic that will attain eternal life with God through Christ. There will also be some people who claim to be Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox, but they will go to hell.
“Many will say in that day, ‘Lord Lord’… And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)
Many grace-alone people will say, but you missed the other half of verse 22, where it says, “have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
I left it out for a reason, because now I added it above to display the point, because the grace-alone people will misinterpret this to say “see! It says works cannot save!” but actually the verse says the opposite in the next two verses – it says that people will SAY they did good works, but Jesus will reply their works were wicked, and then the people leave out the next verse:
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:” (Matthew 7:24)
Clearly these 3 verses are about people who do NOT do good works, but actually the works they did were evil, but they said they did good but had done evil, because they did not read or know the scriptures.
The whole point of what Jesus taught is that many will say they are Christians and even think they did good things, but actually Jesus will reply that they did evil works, and didn’t even have a relationship with Jesus, because he never knew them.
Jesus’ teaching was that people should hear AND DO the teachings of Jesus, if they want to attain eternal salvation, and that they must have a personal relationship with him.
How to have a personal relationship?
Having a personal relationship with God requires prayer, alone with God, pouring your heart out to Him, on a daily basis. Just like if you don’t talk to your spouse or spend time with them there is no relationship, if you don’t talk to God and spend time with Him then there is no relationship.
So in summary, what is a Christian? Which religion is correct: Protestant, Orthodox, or Catholic? None is the so-called “correct” version: there are some people that follow each of these which will go to heaven and others from all 3 who go to hell. The Christian sect you follow isn’t what makes you a Christian.
Being a Christian is believing in the true God, believing in Jesus as savior, and following God with all your heart including doing all you can and sacrificing yourself every day for the sake of God and Christ.
Whether you are a Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or Nondenominational Bible-believer, if you believe in Christ and truly follow God with all your heart, and this is evident in your life in your behavior and interactions with others, then it is clear to me that you are my brother or sister in Christ.
And if you have not yet given your life to God and accepted Christ as your savior, I hope and pray you read this and believe, so that one day those few of us can see you too in eternity with Christ – and in the meantime, help make this world a better place while you are here, and spread the light of Christ to others everywhere you go.
If you haven’t before – ask God. Simply ask Him. Just say,
Give me faith and help me change my life to be more like you. And thank you for giving us your son Jesus the Christ to die as a sacrifice for me and save me from my sins. I want to serve you now, so be with me all my days and I will serve you with everything I am.”
Are you a Christian now if you prayed this? Yes! But now begins a lifelong change. Every day God requires us to give everything to Him. We call this the process of sanctification – the transformation of your mind and actions to be like God wanted you to be.
And if you are a Christian, you can still pray this and rededicate your life to Him. Make a commitment to spend every day giving God everything and to change your life to be more like Him.
And find a small group of believers, even just 1 is enough to start, and start living life together and holding each other accountable. If you don’t know where to find someone you can try a local church. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, but it definitely helps find other Christians to build a community, and this is called Church – a gathering of 2 or 3 believers in the name of Jesus.