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Who and What Is a True
Christian?
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In Afrikaans - Translated by
Helmut Burger
The world has various ideas about who and what a “Christian” is or
isn’t. Some think a Christian is anyone born into a
Christian-professing family and christened by a priest or minister.
Others say a Christian is one who has “given his heart to the Lord” and
is “born again”—or perhaps one who simply claims to be
a Christian.
Is it possible, however, for someone to live and die assuming
that he or she is a Christian—only to find out in the Judgment that God
never recognized their brand of “Christianity”?
Christ, in fact, warned of that very possibility in Matt. 7:21-23.
What truly makes a person a Christian? How does GOD describe a
Christian in His inspired word—the Bible?
Serious followers of Christ will diligently study their Bibles to
understand the true definition of a Christian—and to make sure that they
are, indeed, true Christians (II Tim. 3:15-17). They will have
their minds and hearts set to love God the Father and Jesus Christ with
all their hearts and all their minds and all their strength (Mark
12:28-30). They will be committed to live by every word of God
(Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4; Deut 8:3), proving all things from the Scriptures
(I Thess. 5:21; Acts 17:10-12).
No Longer Under the Penalty of Sin
Crucial to understanding the Bible definition of a
Christian is the fact that all human beings have been sinners, including
ourselves (Rom. 3:23). The penalty for sin is permanent death
(Rom. 6:23). A Christian is one who has come to realize that he or
she had been under that death penalty and in need of a Savior. A
Christian understands that Jesus Christ paid that penalty
by dying on the cross when He was completely innocent of any sin (II Cor.
5:21; I John 2:2; 4:10; Rev. 1:5; 5:9).
A Christian learns just what, specifically, is sin—and
what brought the death penalty upon them in the first place.
Again, the world has its own ideas about what sin is or isn’t, but the
Bible defines sin for us as the transgression of the law
of God (I John 3:4).
A true Christian, then, is one who has had the blood of Jesus
Christ’s sacrificial death applied to him or to her—but only after
having acknowledged and repented of their sins
(toward God the Father) and accepted Christ as their personal Savior
(Acts 3:19; 2:38; Ezek. 18:21-23). Repentance literally means a
change of mind and attitude, as well as a complete change of
conduct. In repentance, one literally turns from
the way of sin (breaking God’s law) that leads to death (Prov. 14:12;
16:25; Matt. 7:13) and begins walking God’s way—the true, Christian way
of life (John 14:4-6; Acts 16:17; 18:25-26; I John 2:3-6).
Living in God’s Grace
In order to become a Christian one has to be baptized, by full water
immersion, into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
After the laying on of hands (Heb. 6:2), the new convert receives the
gift of the Holy Spirit from Christ and the Father, by which a person
is begotten as a new creation in Jesus Christ (Mark 1:8; Acts 2:38;
8:14-17; II Cor. 1:22; I John 3:9, 22-24).
By simply believing in Jesus Christ and in His name, repenting of
sin, and asking God the Father’s forgiveness, one comes under God’s
saving grace (Rom. 3:23-26; 6:23) This grace (which is
so precious!) is a free gift from God—totally
undeserved by anyone. No amount of effort by anyone could ever come
close to earning this gift of God’s favor. Being a “good person” will
not earn you salvation—for God does not “owe” salvation to anyone!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially
is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8-9).
Once baptized—and having received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit—what
should the newly converted Christian then do? Can a true Christian
continue living as before? Does being “under grace” mean that one can go
back and continue practicing what he or she supposedly repented of?
Absolutely not! The apostle Paul makes it clear that one is not to
continue to live in sin—continually transgressing the
laws and commandments of God. Notice Romans 6:1-3: “What then
shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may
abound? MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin, how
shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant that we, as
many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?”
A New Life in Christ
Notice how Paul goes on in Romans six to describe the
new life of a true Christian.
“Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death;
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness
of life. For if we have been conjoined together in the
likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of
His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was
co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be
destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin; because the
one who has died to sin has been justified from sin. Now
if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead,
dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him. For when
He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives
unto God. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin rule in your
mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof. Likewise, do not yield
your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield
yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom.
6:4-13, emphasis added).
In both the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:11-27) and the parable of
the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) Christ makes it clear that once having
received a gift from God, one is not expected to sit on it or bury
it—but to build on it, to increase it. Christians are
to grow spiritually to become ever more like Jesus and the Father (II
Pet. 1:3-11; 3:18; Eph. 4:11-13; 5:1). With this goal in mind, the true
Christian studies his or her Bible regularly (II Tim. 2:15) to learn to
follow the example set by Christ when He walked the
earth in the flesh (John 13:15; 14:6; I Pet. 2:21; I John 2:6). In
this way, God leads one through the power of His Holy Spirit and
creates in each Christian His godly character (Eph. 2:10) and the mind
of Christ (Phil. 2:5).
Christ’s Example Shows the Way
What was the example Jesus Christ set for His followers?
For starters, He perfectly kept His Father’s commandments (John
15:10). His life’s example, however, was not merely a legalistic,
letter-of-the-law obedience—it was obedience from the heart, because He
loved the Father with his whole being. A true
Christian is to love God the Father and Jesus Christ with all his heart,
all his mind, all his soul, and all his strength— which is the
greatest commandment of all (Matt. 22:37-40). In this passage
Jesus declares that LOVE, whether toward God or neighbor, is the basis
for all of God’s spiritual law. Each precept of the law merely
tells us how to love. Also, there is a
spirit and intent behind every law or command of God—and that
intent is best summed up in one word, LOVE. If God tells us to do
(or not to do) something, His motivation is always love (I John 4:8).
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5, 6, 7), Christ outlined how the
spirit and intent of the law translates into personal conduct.
Belief in the principles He has taught, however, is not enough—for they
are of value only IF one applies and lives by them
(Matt. 7:24-27). A true Christian—who loves God and knows that His
laws are based on love—will in faith obey from the heart whatever He
asks of him or her (John 14:15; I John 5:3). And a Christian’s
obedience will not be based on fear (of losing salvation, etc.), or
because it “earns” them anything—but will be motivated by their love
toward God, and because they understand that heartfelt obedience
empowers them to become more and more like God the Father and Jesus
Christ.
Many, unfortunately, mistakenly think that love and
obedience to God’s commandments are somehow opposites—in conflict
with one another. Nothing could be further from the truth! Often,
those who claim to be Christian will say they “love the Lord” or “know
the Lord”—yet they fail to obey Him. The apostle John has an
answer for such people. “And by this standard we know that we
know Him: if we keep [obey] His commandments. The one who says, ‘I
know Him,’ and does not keep [obey] His commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. On the other hand, if anyone is
keeping [obeying] His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being
perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him.
Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk
even as He Himself walked” (I John 2:3-6).
A Spirit-led Life
Many churchgoers assume they are already pretty good people.
The apostle Paul, on the other hand—after relating how he also did that
which was not right—said of himself, “O wretched man that I am!” (Rom.
7:14-24). Why did a holy apostle and man of God call himself
“wretched”? Because he understood that his own human nature was
not godly—and he was honest and humble enough to admit it. He
likewise admitted that—even after conversion—his old carnal nature still
led him to sin for which he had to repent and ask forgiveness.
Notice his explanation of human nature in Romans 8:7-14: “Because the
carnal mind [the mind of the unconverted] is enmity against
God, for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can it
be. Now then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you.
But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Him. Now if Christ be within you, the body is
indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. Now if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from
the dead is dwelling within you, He Who raised Christ from
the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit
that dwells within you. So then, brethren, we are not debtors to
the flesh, to live according to the flesh; because if you are
living according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the
Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall
live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God” (emphasis added).
A true Christian is one who is led by the Spirit of God.
In order to grow in that Spirit, which is needed to obey God and grow
more like Him, a true Christian draws on the Holy Spirit through regular
prayer and Bible study and occasional fasting. Christ taught His
disciples to pray (Matt 6:5-15; Luke 18:1-14) and set an example by
beginning each day with prayer (Mark 1:35). The Bible is the
“God-breathed” words of God (II Tim. 3:16; I Pet. 1:11-12), and is also
a powerful source of God’s Spirit. Concerning the very words which He
spoke, Christ said “they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). He
also taught the right approach to fasting (Matt. 6:16-18).
One might ask, “How does faith fit into all of
this?” In the 11th chapter of Hebrews (often called the “faith
chapter”), we find example after example of those who “by faith”
performed something that God had commanded. In each
case, those faithful demonstrated their faith by obedience to God.
Clearly, faith and obedience go hand in hand (Heb.
11:7-38; Rev. 14:12). To think they are somehow at odds with one
another is a gross error. A true Christian’s faith will
show in what he or she does (James 2:17-18, 26). It was
Abraham’s obedience to God, by faith, that made him
“the father of the faithful” (James 2:21-24). When Christ returns,
He will bring His reward with Him and render to each person “according
as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12).
Finally, a true Christian will fellowship with others of like mind
when possible— again following the example of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:21;
Heb. 10:25). By fellowshipping with one another, Christians also
fellowship with God (I John 1:3)—thus strengthening their relationship
with God and growing in His Way. A true Christian demonstrates
his or her love for one another by serving and giving
materially to those in need (Matt. 25:31-46; I John 3:17, 18)—as well
as by praying for and encouraging one another (James 5:16). All of
these are expressions of the true love of God.
This, then, is the Bible description of a true Christian—one
who, through God’s grace, has turned from a life of sin and death to a
life of love, obedience and the good works of faith as led and empowered
by God’s Holy Spirit.
Article
taken from the book
Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days - Which?
By Fred R.
Coulter
ISBN
978-0-9675479-7-0
Copyright
2006 ©
York Publishing
Company
Post Office Box 1038
Hollister, California 95024-1038
All New Testament Scriptures
used in this article are quoted from:
The New Testament In Its
Original Order-A Faithful
Version With Commentary
ISBN 978-0-9675479-3-0.
Old Testament Scriptures
quoted are from the
Authorized King James Version
unless otherwise noted.
All rights reserved. Except for brief
excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or used in any form or by any means—electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval
systems.
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