The word Christian is used three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because they believed in Christ and followed His example; they were called Christians because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. While the first-century Christians did follow the teachings, practices and example of Jesus Christ at that time, today, the term has virtually lost its meaning—as it’s usually not accompanied by the same way of life and understanding.
Today many claim to be Christians yet don’t really follow Jesus’ teachings. A couple of billion people on the planet all claim to be Christians, but their beliefs, doctrines and practices vary widely. Who then, in the real sense of the Word, is a Christian? Let's take a quick look at what the Bible says a Christian is.
HOW NOT TO IDENTIFY A CHRISTIAN
Before addressing this theme positively, let us consider some false standards by which some are perceived as Christians.
1. Nationality
A few might think, "My country is a Christian nation; and I am a citizen of this nation; thus, I am a Christian". The major premise of the argument is false. No nation (except that spiritual nation, the church – Matthew 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9) is Christian. One is not a Christian by virtue of residence.
2. Family Background
There are people who think they are good enough as they were born and bred... far from it! Psalm 51:5 states that we all come into the world as sinners: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Ephesians 2:2 says that all people who are not in Christ are “sons of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:3 also establishes this, saying that we are all “by nature children of wrath.” If we are all “by nature children of wrath,” it can only be because we are all by nature sinners — for God does not direct His wrath towards those who are not guilty. God did not create the human race sinful, but upright. But we fell into sin and became sinful due to the sin of Adam, and every child is born in the same sinful nature.
3. Morality
Some think that if one lives by high moral principles, he or she is surely a Christian. If one is a providing father, loving mother, or benevolent neighbor then the individual is perceived as a Christian.
Consider the case of Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher who was once asked this question: “Can an agnostic be a Christian?” He replied: "If you mean by a “Christian” a man who loves his neighbor, who has wide sympathy with suffering, and who ardently desires a world freed from the cruelties and abominations which at present disfigure it, then, certainly, you will be justified in calling me a Christian (1975, 289)."
Was Russell a Christian in any sense of the term? Far from it! He once gave a lecture, later printed and widely distributed, titled “Why I am not a Christian” (1967). One is not a Christian merely because he endorses certain moral principles that are taught in the Scriptures.
4. Theism
Some would argue, perhaps, that anyone who believes in God is a Christian. Certainly all Christians believe in God, but not everyone who believes in God is a Christian. Jews believe in God, and so do Muslims, but neither are Christians—nor do they profess to be.
We must remember that belief in God, without a corresponding faith in Christ, is worthless. Jesus declared: [He] that rejects me, rejects him that sent me (Luke 10:16). I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).
5. Faith Only (Belief System)
There are now a vast body of people that endorses the concept that anyone who believes in Christ (i.e., he subscribes to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God) is a Christian but this is not true. The story recorded in John 8 indicates that as the Lord taught, “many believed on him” (8:30). Christ then spoke to those who “had believed him” (8:31). As the dialog became heated, Jesus charged: You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do (8:44). They were believers in a sense, yet still unregenerate.
Again, as recorded in John 12: 42-43 "Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God." Will anyone be so reckless as to contend that these “believers” were right with God? It takes more than mere mental belief in the Lord to bring about one’s salvation.
6. Church Membership
Some will say that that so long as one is a member of some church he or she must be a Christian. What of those who are members of the Unitarian Universalist Church? These folks do not even believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God! Are they Christians simply because they are members in a “church”? Many even attend "Born again Churches" yet their lifestyle and conduct is nothing close to being Christ-like. Certainly, all Christians must belong to a local Church, but not all “church members” are Christians.
7. Baptism
A lot of people believe that anyone who has submitted to or been made to go through a form of “Christian baptism” is obviously a Christian. The problem with this is that not every person who has surrendered to “baptism” has yielded to the genuine rite, as the ordinance is set forth in the New Testament. It is possible to be immersed and still not be a Christian, provided the teaching received prior to the act was either incomplete or inaccurate. The case in Acts 19 demonstrates this. When Paul arrived in Ephesus he encountered twelve men who had been immersed with the baptism that had been operative during the ministry of John the Baptizer. These men were thus not Christians. However, they became such when they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
WHO THEN IS A CHRISTIAN?
The word “Christian” literally means, “Belonging to the party of Christ” or a “follower of Christ. Therefore a Christian is someone who has realized and acknowledges that he is by nature a sinner, admits the sinfulness of his lifestyle- Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come “short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), and consequently received and believed the gospel (good news of what Jesus did on the cross – died for your sins and was raised by God on the third day). A Christian is someone who having believed the gospel, has made a willful decision to turn away from sin and the sinful state and turn to Jesus to be his personal Lord and Saviour by confessing Him as such.
Rom. 10:9-10. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
However, it doesn’t end there- Someone who genuinely has become a Christian will have a credible evidence of a changed and changing life and attitude to sin, God, people of God and the world based on his repentance and acceptance of Jesus, and will be irrevocably committed to following Jesus and His will and word in all issues of life.
ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
From everything we have discussed thus far, can you really say you are a Christian? If not, I implore you to go through the criteria listed above again and make amends where need be. If you would like to confess Jesus as your personal Lord and saviour, please say this short prayer:
“Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. I know that I’m a sinner and cannot save myself. But Jesus died for me, He shed His blood that I might be saved, today I accept Jesus as my personal Lord and saviour, forgive me all my sins, wash me with your blood and make me whole. I forsake the devil, the world and all sinful habits, I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus in my Lord. Father I thank you because you have saved me in Jesus name. Amen.”