What is a Christian
This is a portion of a BLOG that I posted about a year ago.
Let’s define the term Christian. Simply put, a Christian is a follower of Christ. Now, within this statement is a vast gulf between what we think is correct and what reality actually is. If we are following any other Jesus that is not the Biblical Jesus, then we are following a false Christ. Let’s look to the scriptures:
1 John 2:3-6 states, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” Also look at John 3:36, “36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Both of these scriptures point to obedience as the means of knowing Christ.
So we must look to the commands of God. From where do they come? The correct (and very simple) answer is the Bible. There is no other book that fits the description as God’s Word. On a side note: this post’s purpose is not to defend the Bible as the only inspired Word of God. I don’t need to prove this. If someone believes that this is not true, let them show us how the Bible is either not true or that it needs other books to “support” it to make it true. The Bible is true because it is God’s Word. Period.
So, if we look back to 1 John 2 we see that if we do not do what the Bible commands, the truth is not in us. Understand, though, that I am not talking about situational disobedience, I am talking about the unrepentant lifestyle. So, 1 John 2 takes us a step further and points out that we must walk as Jesus did if we claim to be in Him. Why do I point this scripture out? Because we, in America, have this view that if we do the “christiany” things and live a pretty good life, that God will let us into Heaven. This is humanistic moralism and there is nothing in scripture to support this notion. We must look to the whole of scripture to get the “whole of God.” If we focus in on all the “Jesus loves me” scriptures then we only have a partial picture of who He is. While I agree that Jesus is a God of love, mercy, understanding, etc.; He is also a God of justice, wrath and vengeance. We know from scripture that God commands / demands our obedience above all else (1 Samuel 15). We also know from scripture that just believing in Him cannot get us through the gates of Heaven (James 2:19).
Ephesians 2:1-10 tells us that, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We know from Scripture (v 3) that we all were (or are) objects of his wrath. We also know that we were dead in our transgressions. If you consider the term “dead” for a moment and consider what something that is dead can do to help itself to be saved. The answer: NOTHING. This is why we see, “it is by grace you have been saved.” The whole work of salvation is caught up in Christ. It has nothing to do with our “works,” our “prayer of salvation (which occurs nowhere in the Bible),” our walking an aisle, our anything. It is the free gift of God to the people of His choosing (John 1:13, John 6:44, Romans 9, Ephesians 2:1-5). And because he has chosen some to be saved then we must obey and serve Him because of what He has done for us. All this to say that a Christian is a follower of the Biblical Christ who He has called and seeks, desires, and is obedient to His commands. Anything short of this is not a Christian.
