What Is A Christian?

The writer will begin by saying what a Christian is not. A person is not a Christian because they are religious (See Acts 17:22)[1]. A person is not a Christian because they attend Church. It does not matter if they attended the same Church for fifty years, serve as a deacon, teach Sunday School, or is involved in the homeless ministry, feed the hungry and visit convalescent homes. A person is not a Christian because they are a gifted singer that leads the choir (good lookin out Gee)! A person is not a Christian because they can play an instrument or multiple instruments on the praise team. A person is not a Christian because their Father is a Pastor, and their Mother is an Evangelist. Proxy saves no one. A person is not a Christian because they “feel Jesus in their heart.” Salvation is never based on our subjective sentimental feelings. A person is not a Christian because they have been water baptized. Baptism has never saved anyone. A person is not a Christian because they wear a crucifix around their neck and kisses it. You’re not a Christian because you have graduated from Seminary or Bible College. A Church cannot make someone a Christian just like someone standing in a garage will not make them a Mercedes Benz.

All the above are charitable deeds, but they are works of the flesh that can never save the soul. The Bible declares that no works of the flesh can justify us or make us right with God (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16).

The word Christian was not given to believers by believers. It came from the Greeks. Believers in Christ were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26). They mostly meant it as a pejorative. The only other times the word Christian is used in scripture is Acts 26:28 when King Herod Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian,” and in 1 Peter 4:16.

A Biblical definition of Christian is one who belongs to the party of Christ or one who is a disciple of Christ. Now, back to the question. How does one become a Christian? A person is saved upon hearing the gospel message and has repented of their sins and has placed their faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

To repent means to change your mind. We agree with God that our sins are egregious in His sight. All sin must be judged and punished. Worst of all sin breeds death (Romans 6:23). When one places their faith in Christ substitutionary atoning sacrifice, He takes away their sin, thus forgiving them and grants them His righteousness. This results in the sinner receiving eternal life. But in order for us to be made alive, Jesus had to die. Why? Because he bore our sins on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Believers realize that salvation has nothing to do with anything they have done, but with all that Jesus has done. Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast.”

Man is completely impotent in this process. The grace and faith are gifts that are given to the redeemed sinner to empower them to believe. The Prophet Jonah said it best, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

Another passage that describes true conversion is Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 4:24b-25 says Jesus was raised from the dead who was first delivered up because of our offences and was raised because of our justification. Did you catch that reader? Jesus HAD to die because of our sin, and He HAD to raise from the dead in order for us to be justified before God the Father. The famous hymn “Jesus Paid It All” is true.

What a Christian does and must develop into

True believers work out their salvation daily (Philippians 2:12-13).

They endure numerous trials realizing tribulation builds character (James 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:1-6)

They always pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

They study the Word to show themselves approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15)

They fulfill the great commission to preach the gospel and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)

They fight against their sin and are broken when they are defeated by it (Read Romans 7, entire chapter)

They pickup their cross and live a life of self-denial (Matthew 16:24-25)

They are continually confessing their sins, not for salvation but for ongoing fellowship with the Lord and continual cleansing and righteousness (1 John 1:9)

They exhibit the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

They support their brothers and sisters caught in sin without judging them realizing their own propensity to sin themselves (Galatians 6:1)

They are always forgiving others realizing Christ has forgiven them (Ephesians 4:28-32)

They desire to live peacefully with all people and refuse to take personal vengeance (Romans 12:17-21)

They love and pray for their enemies (Matthew 5:44)

They remain morally and sexually pure (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)

They boldly defend the Word of God and rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9)

They hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6)

They realize that being a witness for Christ could mean their death (Acts 1:8). The word witness in Greek is Martus or Martur where we get the English word Martyr. Yes, the cost of discipleship is very high.

 

 They long for the Lord’s return (Revelation 22:20)

Sadly, the “Christianity” that many have embraced is cultural and social, but not biblical or salvific. A lot of people like a lot of things they see in Christendom like feeding the hungry, visiting the sick or being kind to the homeless. This makes us feel good about ourselves. But, when it comes to living a holy life, defending the faith, rebuking false teachings, or submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and sharing the gospel they are not

committed. Only those who do the will of the Father will ever reach heaven. Pretenders will be left out (Matthew 7:21-23).

We perform good works because we are saved. We do not perform good works to get saved. If unrepentant vile sinners can merit salvation by what they do, then God the Father was most cruel in sending Jesus to be beaten and crucified, shed His precious blood and die for nothing.

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[1] The word religious in this passage is where we get the word superstitious. It means fear of gods or demons

Have You Spoken To Any Dogs Or Pigs Lately?

 I realize this is a very strange title for an article, but rest assured I will explain. I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with some members from my Church and another Church this past Saturday. As we walked in the neighborhood, we encountered a gentleman who engaged us, but also ridiculed everything we said regarding Jesus, sin and the need for repentance and forgiveness. This is no surprise to me as I have encountered people who have mocked God after I have shared His word, or even if they “agreed” with me, they told me what sins they were about to engage in letting me know the word had no penitential effect on them.

My point being is when sharing the gospel truth to someone face to face, or online, we must be discerning. We are not to waste our time with those who have no desire to hear the truth. This is not a harsh response; it is a Biblical one. When Jesus was preaching the sermon on the mountain, He said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, less they trample them under feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6).

Proverbs 26:4-5 tells us the following, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in own eyes.”

The preceding verses appear to contradict one another, but they do not. Verse four is commanding us not to stoop down the level of a fool when they are being foolish. Verse five is commanding us to correct a fool in their foolishness otherwise they will feel emboldened and confident in their stupidity. All these exchanges can and often happen in a gospel presentation. We must know how to respond to someone being foolish.

When Jesus sent out the disciples to preach the gospel one of the things He said is, “And whoever will not receive your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:14)! What a terrifying thought. For those who reject the gospel, they are worse than the evil homosexuals who were in Sodom and Gomorrah (Read Genesis 18 & 19).

The Gospel of Christ is described as a treasure in earthen vessels. The earthen vessel described here is representatively speaking of frail humanity. An actual earthen vessel was a clay pot that was easily breakable and replaceable. It was useful for storing items like jewelry, money, or documents. The reality that God would entrust frail, sinful humans with His precious truth lets us know how much He loves us. So, the power is never in the presenter, but the message the clay pot presents so that God receives the glory (2 Corinthians 4:7).

So that I am clear, we are to share the gospel with all. We also need to be aware of who is receiving your message, and who is not. Based on the responses of those listening determines if you continue speaking or if you need to walk away. Remember, what we have is most the precious treasure of all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News! Do not give what is holy to the dogs; those that return to their own vomit, or pigs; they go back to the mud after they have been cleansed (Proverbs 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22).

Those that reject this Good News will be subject to the worst news, God’s holy wrath (John 3:36).

In The World but not of it

As time marches on, it is more difficult to strike a balance between engaging our culture, and at the same time not succumbing to its evil trappings. We live in a world of tempting compromise. What I have discovered is that if you stand your ground, and stick to your moral convictions, you’re a bigot, phobic, conspiracy theorist, hypocrite, religious zealot, intolerant and unloving. You’ll get canceled on the largest social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. While free speech is our constitutional right, not everyone likes what others who have a different opinion than theirs have to say. In a lot of instances, many people hate worldviews that do not agree with their own - especially Biblical worldviews. These disagreements can degenerate to venomous shouting matches, violent fights, and worst of all some become fatal.

As a Christian, we are commanded to love all people. This is never easy since so many people are hateful. The world has love twisted though. They believe that love means accepting and celebrating their sins. We cannot do that. We MUST love them and lovingly expose their sins. Why? Because we want the world to know that God’s wrath (i.e. His anger) is abiding on them (John 3:36). We must provide a balanced gospel presentation. In order for someone to appreciate the good news, they must be aware of the bad news - they are spiritually dead because of their sins (Eph 2:1: Cols 2:13). This means they are disconnected from their Creator and are currently on their way to hell. I know it's a hard truth to deliver and for most hard to swallow, but we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

Once someone is clearly aware of their spiritual condition (provided they want to hear you), it's time to deliver the good news. They can be forgiven of all their sins by repenting and placing their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus was sent by God the Father to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This is the best way we as Christians can engage the world without compromising our commitment to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:11 commands us to not get involved in the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them. This is where the tension is the hottest. Once a believer exposes the sins of the wicked, the heat is on! If the person’s heart is hardened, they will not hear you. As a matter of fact, they will harden themselves more and increase their sin to anger you. Why? Because they love their evil (John 3:19). This is a spiritual battle between light (the believer) and darkness (the non-believer). 

The Bible commands us to not love the world or the things in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him / her (1 John 2:15). When God commands us not to love the world He means the world system - its ungodly trappings like I said in the beginning. We are not to love the fame, fortune and carnal pleasure. It’s all passing away.

How many Christians have compromised and dimmed their light because they want to be accepted by this deceptive evil world system? Listen to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 

Therefore

“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

God is challenging and testing us to see if we love Him more than ourselves and others. The questions we need to constantly ask ourselves is, “Who do I want to please, God or man?” And, “Who would I rather have mad at me, God or man?”

You see if we give in to the world’s corrupt ways, then we are no good to ourselves or the kingdom of God. We destroy our witness for Christ and we will be defeated and disqualify ourselves for usefulness. Think about that! Do you really want to be defeated by the enemy? I don’t. Wayward Christians are hypocrites. Is that the way you want to represent Jesus - our blessed Savior who was humiliated, beaten beyond recognition, bloodied and died to save our souls?

Too many professing Christians want the best of both worlds. They want Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord. They want the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of carnal pleasure. The Lord requires that we submit our lives to Him. Our lives are no longer our own for we have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). I struggle with this reality everyday. Let these words be a reminder to all of us-as we know we are not being as effective for the kingdom as we could be.

At the end of the day, Jesus said that not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven. He went on to say many will come to Me and say, “Lord we prophesied in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and did mighty works in your name. Then Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Now when Jesus said He never knew someone, that doesn’t mean He does not know who they are for He knows everyone. What He is saying is that He does not have an intimate personal relationship with them. He is not their Savior. They are not one of His sheep (John 10:26). God knows everyone creationally, but He does not know everyone relationally. Simply put, everyone is NOT a child of God. Most are children of Satan (John 8:44). This should be obvious by the politics in the White House all the way down to the violence in our streets.

Concluding believers, we must inject God’s truth and love in the culture. This is not an easy thing to do. It is very easy to get discouraged and afraid when we know for the most part people are not going to listen. Remember, we are in a spirit and truth war. Souls are at stake. Once a person is regenerated by God’s Spirit, then real and lasting change will occur. Only God’s power can convert the soul. It’s our job as much as humanly possible to convince the world of this truth. So let’s keep getting the word out. God is the only one that can do the saving.

Is there a difference between our spirit and soul?

The first thing that needs to be done is to define our terms. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh. The Greek word is Psyche. Several words are used to define it. It means breath, self, life, person. It is the immaterial real you. In Genesis 2:7 it says God breathed into the nostrils the breath of life and man became a nephesh, a living being or soul. The soul of man is the living breath of God. When we use phrases like, I put my heart and soul into this or that, what we mean is we gave it our all. The real us cannot be seen with the naked eye, but we reveal who we are by what we say and do. We can also define soul as the seat of our emotions, desires, appetites, and choices. Our will is derived from our soul. This is the innate component that makes us in the image of God. Let me make this clear: we do not have a soul, we are souls. Our physical body houses our soul. The Lord designed us that way. Our bodies are animate because the soul empowers it. At death the body will decay, but the soul lives on forever – with or without God.

The Hebrew and Greek words of Spirit are Ruach and Pneuma respectively. Both mean breath, wind, and spirit. How the spirit relates to man, it seems almost identical to that of the soul. Is there a difference between the spirit and the soul or are these terms synonyms? Admittedly the scripture seems to use the words interchangeably. But here are some differences to acknowledge. 1) Christians have the Spirit of God, but we are not spirits. The Bible tells us God is Spirit (John 4:24). God the Father does not have a physical body although throughout scripture physical attributes are used to describe Him[i]. 2) Our soul / life is what God saves when we repent and believe the gospel.

The Holy Spirit who is God (third member of the Trinity) bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). It is with our spirit that we have and develop an intimate relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. When we submit to the Spirit of God, that is what the Bible calls being Spiritual or being Spirit led. When we do not submit to the Holy Spirit, we are operating in what the Word says is the flesh which is sin.

Again, the soul is the inward faculty that makes us who we are. The spirit of man is that immaterial part of us that allows us to connect with God through the Holy Spirit that resides in us. It’s clear that our soul and spirit work together to do God’s will. From our soul comes our mind (our thinking / intellect), our desires, will (decision making and choices), and emotions. When we submit all of that to the will of God, we are walking in the Spirit of God. That equates to holiness and sanctification.

An unbeliever cannot do this. Why? Because although they have life (i.e. soul), they are spiritually dead (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). They are disconnected from God due to unforgiven sin and unbelief. They do not have the Spirit of God in them. They have physical life, but they need a re-birth in order to have spiritual life (John 3:3). We can only connect with the Godhead through the Holy Spirit.

Concluding, because of sin, man’s soul / life has been severed from God. Unredeemed sinners are zombies because of the disconnect from their Creator. In order to get your soul reconciled to God you must repent of sin and believe the gospel today! When one does that, they are eternally saved, and their whole being, soul, spirit and body belong to Jesus who purchased it with His blood (1 Corinthians 6:20).

 

P.S.:

“What will profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what can man give in exchange for his soul” (Matthew 16:26)?

As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways (Ezekiel 33:11)!

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[i] Describing God with human features is a doctrine called Anthropomorphism.